Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/117

 skin, and the huts are built so low that a man can scarcely stand erect inside. Quantities of salmon hang from the roof, partly dried, but still undergoing a smoking process from the dense clouds of smoke that arise from the fire. The dogs sleep in the house, lying around on the floor. In the winter the Ayans cover their tents thickly with skins and then bank them about with snow.

As the party followed the river from this Indian village, they found the mountains becoming higher and grander, while—by way of contrast—the mosquitoes grew more annoying. The whole region swarmed with them, and the newcomers longed for veils. They were obliged to use small bushes to brush away the mosquitoes.

The water of the Yukon became very muddy, so that it was impossible to fish with a rod and fly. At the Yukon flat lands, reached by our travelers after three weeks of traveling through this flat region, the river widened and was filled with low, sandy islands. The fort is situated on a curve of the river which happens to be almost directly upon the Arctic circle, and is called the Great Arctic bend.

Fort Yukon is about one thousand miles from the mouth of the river, which at this point is seven miles wide. The river steamer, named the Yukon, was moored at the fort, and her cannon greeted the raftsmen. The settlement consists of a few old houses and the old fort built by the Hudson Bay Company. The Fort Yukon tribe of Indians live in the vicinity, but the hunting and fishing are poor, and the tribe is small and nomadic.

After the river men had traded with the Indians the steamer proceeded upstream, while Schwatka and his party started downstream again on the raft. In a little while the country began to grow hilly once more, greatly to the delight of the travelers, for the low region had been