Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled | Page 9

without
salient landmarks. The current is so swift that many stretches run open
water far into the winter, and blow-holes are numerous. There is little
travel on the Flats in winter, and a snow-storm accompanied by wind
may obliterate what trail there is in an hour. The vehicle used in the
Flats is not a sled but a toboggan, and our first mistake was in not
conforming to local usage in this respect. There is always a very good
reason for local usage about snow vehicles. But a toboggan which had
been ordered from a native at Fort Yukon would be waiting for us, and
it seemed not worth while to go to the expense of buying another
merely for three days' journey.
The second mistake was in engaging a boy as guide instead of a man.
He was an attractive youth of about fourteen who had done good
service at the Circle City mission the previous winter, when our
nurse-in-charge was contending single-handed against an epidemic of
diphtheria. He was a pleasant boy, with some English, who wanted to
go and professed knowledge of the route. The greatest mistake of all
was starting out through that lonely waste with the thermometer at 52°
below zero. The old-timers in Alaska have a saying that "travelling at
50° below is all right as long as it's all right." If there be a good trail, if
there be convenient stopping-places, if nothing go wrong, one may
travel without special risk and with no extraordinary discomfort at 50°
below zero and a good deal lower. I have since that time made a short
day's run at 62° below, and once travelled for two or three hours on a
stretch at 65° below. But there is always more or less chance in
travelling at low temperatures, because a very small thing may
necessitate a stop, and a stop may turn into a serious thing. At such
temperatures one must keep going. No amount of clothing that it is
possible to wear on the trail will keep one warm while standing still.
For dogs and men alike, constant brisk motion is necessary; for dogs as
well as men--even though dogs will sleep outdoors in such cold without
harm--for they cannot take as good care of themselves in the harness as
they can when loose. A trace that needs mending, a broken buckle, a

snow-shoe string that must be replaced, may chill one so that it is
impossible to recover one's warmth again. The bare hand cannot be
exposed for many seconds without beginning to freeze; it is dangerous
to breathe the air into the lungs for any length of time without a muffler
over the mouth.
Our troubles began as soon as we started. The trail was a narrow,
winding toboggan track of sixteen or seventeen inches, while our sled
was twenty inches wide, so that one runner was always dragging in the
loose snow, and that meant slow, heavy going.
[Sidenote: SUNRISE AND SUNSET]
The days were nearing the shortest of the year, when, in these latitudes,
the sun does but show himself and withdraw again. But, especially in
very cold weather, which is nearly always very clear weather, that brief
appearance is preceded by a feast of rich, delicate colour. First a
greenish glow on the southern horizon, brightening into lemon and then
into clear primrose, invades the deep purple of the starry heavens. Then
a beautiful circle of blush pink above a circle of pure amethyst
gradually stretches all around the edge of the sky, slowly brightening
while the stars fade out and the heavens change to blue. The dead white
mirror of the snow takes every tint that the skies display with a faint but
exquisite radiance. Then the sun's disk appears with a flood of yellow
light but with no appreciable warmth, and for a little space his level
rays shoot out and gild the tree tops and the distant hills. The snow
springs to life. Dead white no longer, its dry, crystalline particles glitter
in myriads of diamond facets with every colour of the prism. Then the
sun is gone, and the lovely circle of rose pink over amethyst again
stretches round the horizon, slowly fading until once more the pale
primrose glows in the south against the purple sky with its silver stars.
Thus sunrise and sunset form a continuous spectacle, with a purity of
delicate yet splendid colour that only perfectly dry atmosphere permits.
The primrose glow, the heralding circle, the ball of orange light, the
valedictory circle, the primrose glow again, and a day has come and
gone. Air can hold no moisture at all at these low temperatures, and the
skies are cloudless.

[Sidenote: AN ESCAPADE ON THE YUKON]
Moreover, in the wilds at 50° below zero