DOWN THE MACKENZIE AND UP THE YUKON IN 1906 [Illustration: _Copyright Ernest Brown_ S.S. WRIGLEY AT THE JUNCTION OF THE MACKENZIE AND LIARD RIVERS] DOWN THE MACKENZIE AND UP THE YUKON IN 1906 BY ELIHU STEWART FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF FORESTRY FOR CANADA WITH A MAP AND THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS LONDON : JOHN LANE : THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK : JOHN LANE COMPANY TORONTO : BELL AND COCKBURN : MCMXIII _SECOND EDITION_ THE BALLANTYNE PRESS TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN LONDON TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE EARL GREY FORMER GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA WHO DURING HIS TERM OF OFFICE FOUND TIME TO ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH MUCH OF OUR NORTHERN WILDERNESS THESE PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED ERRATUM The Photograph entitled “A Moose and Indian Tepee,” reproduced to face page 218 and on the wrapper, is the copyright of Ernest Brown of Edmonton PREFACE The following narrative is based on a report which I made to the Government of Canada, dated November 16, in the year 1906, shortly after my return to Ottawa from the far North. In writing this report I had to resist the temptation to give many details which were present in my mind at the time but which would be scarcely warranted in an official document. In the following pages I have allowed myself more latitude and have also included several illustrations, the greater number of them being photographs taken by myself. Many of these were snapshots taken from the deck of one or other of the steamers on which I was a passenger, and for that reason are not as good as when time exposures were obtained. I cannot allow this little narrative to pass out of my hands without expressing heartfelt thanks for the unfailing kindness and hospitality, as well as assistance, that I received from the officials of the Hudson Bay Company, as well as from the agents of the independent trading Companies, from the Missionaries, and also the natives of the country. PUBLISHER’S NOTE Mr. Elihu Stewart’s opening words are strangely significant. “Perhaps no portion of America has received greater attention from the explorer during the last three centuries than the sub-arctic regions of Canada, and yet they remain practically unknown to the present day.” The author relates his experiences in traversing what was practically virgin soil. That he should have carried out his immense programme without fear or accident is no mean feat, and this narrative should be found intensely interesting by all who recognise the great commercial and historical future in store for the vast Dominion, as well as those to whom the adventurous side of life especially appeals.