Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE YUKON ADVENTURE 149could completely circumvent them. At this stage of thejourney it was noted that print could be read quite easily bynatural light at midnight, and for a time it was difficult to getaccustomed to the absence of darkness.A start was made at daybreak on May 31, a strong headwindhaving cleared away the ice. Thirty Mile river wasclose at hand, and as its current was very swift, rapid progresscould have been made, had the head-wind abated. Hootalinquawas therefore made the goal for that evening, but thehead-wind increased and after struggling against it untilmidnight, the party was forced to spend the night on the banksof the Thirty Mile river, which was found to be very swiftand full of rocks.The next day head-winds again prevailed, and the partyhad a particularly narrow escape from a sunken rock, whichnearly capsizedthe canoe. Theyencountered some Indianswho were fishing, but these were principally women, children,and a few old men, who knew no English. Overtures for thepurchase of fish in exchange for silver were unsuccessful, butsome men who were passing in boats shouted to the party tooffer sugar or tobacco. A few cupfuls of sugar and a coupleof plugs of tobacco at once procured a most excellent mess offish, which was a great treat, as all hands were by this timethoroughly tired of bacon and beans, and beginning to castreflections on Tommy's ability as a chef. The real troublewas that he was never given time to prepare anything morethan a hasty snack, as the "Dawson or bust" fever had acquiredsuch a dominant hold over the party that all stops were verybrief. This day seventy miles were covered, and the stop forthe night was made near a police post, half way between Bigand Little Salmon rivers. One of the police constables here,named Solly, wanted to know in the worst way who had won"the boat race." He was a Cambridge man, and dilated on"the stupid blighters" who had passed that way before ourparty and who could not grasp what race he had in mind.On June 2 a good day's progress was made, thanks to the