Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE YUKON ADVENTURE 157the whole trip to Dawson to unload the scow in order toget her off a bar. Inthe swift Thirty Mile river considerabledifficulty was experienced in avoiding rocks, and severaltimes they ran on sand bars. On one occasion the steamerran on a bar which the scow was able to avoid, and the latter,being heavier than the steamer and carried on by the rapidcurrent, dragged the steamer over. Another time the steamertook one side of an island and the scow the other, but thecrew of the scow were able to cast off the lines in time, andhad no difficulty in joining the steamer a few miles lowerdown. In navigating the rivers, there was always one manat the bow and another at the stern of the scow, handlingthe sweeps, and this was the hardest part of the task, as somedays they would run for nineteen hours. The longest day'srun was 110 miles in a swift current.At Five Finger Rapids they cast off from the steamer andran through alone. Later they took a line from the steamerand went through the Rink Rapids, although at their firstapproach they were caught in an eddy and badly scared,and had to go back a quarter of a mile to make a fresh start.At Stewart river some time was lost owing to sand bars, andin one case the wrong channel was taken, on the advice ofIndians who, they were subsequently told, made a practiceof doing this with a view to wrecking scows and securing achance of stealing supplies. In some cases loss of life hasbeen attributed to these Indians and their schemes. Thelast day's run was from Stewart river, which they left at 6 a.m.on June 14, reaching Dawson at 3 p.m., a distance of aboutseventy-five miles.Immediately upon the arrival of the scow all hands fellto and worked until a late hour unpacking books, stationery,scales, etc., so as to be ready for business on June 15. Abrave little canvas sign, nailed to a frame about two and ahalf feet wide by eightas follows :feet long, and reading on both sides