Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail: Being the Adventures of Two New England Boys in Alaska and the Northwest TerritoryThompson, Arthur R. (Arthur Ripley)
General
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail: Being the Adventures of Two New England Boys in Alaska and the Northwest Territory
Thompson, Arthur R. (Arthur Ripley)
Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries -- Fiction
The cache was reached after a half-hour's walk along the pebbly beach,
and as provisions were now plentiful once more, the lake trout was
served for dinner in bountiful style with applesauce, desiccated
potato, and bannocks,--the latter baked in tin plates before an open
fire. The remainder of the day and the night were spent at the cache,
since all were in need of rest, and some changes would have to be made
in the packs before proceeding to Alder Creek.
Not far away two men were encamped with a large outfit. They said they
had come in with sleds and had taken claims on the Kah Sha River; but
by the time they were ready to continue toward Dawson City, the ice of
the lake was too treacherous for heavy sledding, so they had decided to
build a boat. This boat was now finished and lay bottom up on the beach.
It was constructed of spruce boards whip-sawn with great labor from dry
tree-trunks, and was tightly calked with oakum and putty, but lacked
paint because the builders had brought none. They were confident,
however, that the craft would prove water-tight and seaworthy. It was
to carry one mast, and they were making a sail out of the fly of their
tent. It was also provided with seats, rowlocks, and a rudder. By the
time the ice broke up, the two voyagers would be ready to begin their
cruise of over fifty miles by lake and river, to the point where they
must take the trail.
One of the men asked David if he had any map of the region, and David
hunted up a railroad folder which contained a map of Alaska. But on
examining it in the light of his own experience he found many serious
errors. Klukshu Lake, for instance, had been confused with some lake
farther to the east, and appeared under the name of Lake Maud. Its
outlet, instead of flowing from the south end and emptying into the
Alsek just above Dalton's Post, was represented as flowing from the
north end and reaching the Alsek thirty miles below. Then instead
of lying within four miles of Lake Dasar-dee-ash, as he knew to be
the fact, it was placed at least twenty-five miles to the east. Lake
Dasar-dee-ash appeared of a decidedly wrong shape, and its outlet was
made to flow almost directly west, instead of northward, as it did for
many miles. As for all the smaller lakes he had seen, the large stream
flowing into Dasar-dee-ash from the east, which they had crossed on
the jam of logs, and the Kah Sha River and its tributaries, they were
nowhere to be found,--all of which went to show how little was known in
the outside world of the region into which they had penetrated.
David therefore drew a rude but reliable map of the trail, to which he
added from time to time as his travels warranted.
Toward the middle of the afternoon, when the boys had finished cleaning
the rifle and shot-gun, Coffee Jack, who had been roaming through the
woods for no apparent purpose, came running breathlessly into camp,
shouting, "Beer! beer!" and pointing straight behind him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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