now A purer and lovlier
grave man never filled. we marked the place and summoned our courage and
left the Old Texan who was reared amid the flecy cotton, sleeping his
last long sleep amid the white flakes in far away Alaska.

We were unfamiliar with this kind of sickness but after we were
experienced we knew our pard was afflicted with Spinal Fever. This is
caused by the rubbing of a heavy load on the back, it causes
perspiration then followed with fatigue the patient in weariness is
constrained by this fatighue to lie down upon the ground, and a severe
cold is contracted resulting in death. No traveler in that cold barren
region should ever under any circumstances lie down upon the naked
earth. Tom and we were all used to lying on the earth and thought
nothing of. ignorance and eagerness caused his death, as it has the
untimely death of many a mother's boy.

We took up our march sorrowfully and silently till we rached the
Horalinqua River. Here he halted and searched for Gold. May I add that
the craze for gold lead us into this region of ice and snow. We were
unsuccessful but in our rambles we came to Pelley River and found Marten
very thick, so we concluded to trap there the next winter. We left our
outfit here and began the journey down to Dawson, we had to shoot the
far famed Whitehorse rapids. there are seven of them and they are about
3 miles long, and run like lightling, we boarded a raft were cut loose
by a half breed Mucklock and away we went almost a mile a minute riding
on the crest of the rapid rooling river. Here after the passing of the
rapids we first met Swift water bill. so named by the Sourdoughs because
he would never shoot the rapids. His was a queer experience. he dug out
his fortune amid the bars of the river and then went back to Seattle and
married a daughter having three homely sisters, and his wife was twice
as holely as them all. each year following for four years he returned to
Seattle and married a sister every time. and at last having wed the last
girl, he broke all rules of life and married his Motherinlaw.

In this locality we made quite a stay mining and prospecting for hunting
and trapping till the following spring. which hardly shows his face when
autumn drives him off.

It was necessary for us to larn a few lessons so here we began to study.
first we were taught how to bridle a boat. this is done by tieing a rope
around the nose of the boat about one third the way aft. then we lear