C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

156 THE LADIES, THE GWICH'IN, AND THE RAT~ " I .i I tv .. -/ J"Buildings as I foundthem. " Anglican MissionHouse and Church, andnew Church underConstruction, Old Crow,August 1926. Rev ArthurCreighton McCullum.Collection of Edward~allry, courte~ JeanMcCullum.perennial existence and even conquers new territory. Now and then we passedrocky cliffs, backed by forest. These outcrops of rock occurred only beside theriver, so that after a while whenever we saw a cliff face reared up ahead among thetrees, we knew that it marked our course. At one point, while Gwen and Davidwere paddling together, we passed high mud cliffs grooved by melting ice.Reverberating echoes accompanied each falling chunk of ice from this cliff,chunks that would at once disintegrate into mud and splay out fanwise on theedge of the water. So the river's work goes on, ever eating into the heart of theland and widening itself.The sloughs or backwaters also interested us deeply, they were so very deceptive.We could have sworn that the Old Crow River flowing into the Porcupinewas a backwater flowing out of it and then, later, there was a backwater leading outof our river that we mistook for a new tributary coming in. We passed one cabinthat day which was perched on the edge of the river, within a yard of the bank, itwas doomed at any moment to slip into the water. Needless to say, it was notinhabited. David told us that he could remember when, some r6 years ago, thatcabin stood a hundred yards back from the river. There was nothing unusualabout this, he said.