t City. Here the low water prevented their going
farther. She, in company with others, made her way to Rampart as best
she could, rested and "outfitted" for a trip to Dawson over the ice.
Finally, with sleds and provisions, eight dogs and four men, she
started. It was a journey of about eight hundred miles. Before leaving
Rampart she experimented with fur sleeping bags, and finally made one in
which she could sleep comfortably on the ice and snow. Rice and tea were
their staple articles of diet, being more quickly prepared in hasty
camps at night, and being found most nourishing. After a perilous trip
of thirty-five days in the dead of winter, they reached Dawson in good
shape, two days ahead of a party of men with whom a wager had been made.
With these, and similar stories, we whiled away the long evening hours
by the fire. Many short stops were made along the river. A few little
settlements were passed during the night. At Holy Cross and Russian
Mission we saw flourishing Catholic schools for the natives.

The Yukon was now getting wider and wider, the water was shallow and
more shallow, then suddenly we felt a heavy jar. The big stern wheel
refused to move,--we were stuck fast on a sand-bar! Here we remained all
day, dreading a hard freeze which was liable to settle down upon us at
any time, fixing our boat and us in the ice indefinitely. But we were
now in the Aphoon, or eastern mouth of the Yukon, and near enough to
Behring Sea to get the benefit of the tides; so that in the early
evening we again heard the thud of the big machines,--the steamer
quivered,--the stern wheel again revolved,--we had entered the Behring
Sea!

By four o'clock next morning we were in St. Michael Bay, having covered
the sixty miles from the mouth of the river during the night. Snow was
falling heavily through which we saw the lights of the harbor, and a
number of vessels at anchor. By daylight we counted eleven ships and
two revenue cutters lying under the lee of the island.

Breakfast was served on board, and an hour later we went ashore. We now
sought the steamer company's hotel, and had no difficulty in getting
good rooms and seats at table; for we were still in their care, having
bought through tickets to San Francisco. Here we were to wait for the
ocean steamer "Bertha," which was now nearly due from that place, and we
anxiously watched the weather signs hoping all would be favorable, and
that she would very soon put in her appearan