105. AURORA AT NULATO.
During the winter Mr. Whymper made many capital sketches out-of-doors, while the temperature was sixty degrees below freezing-point. Among these is a remarkable aurora borealis on the 21st of December. It was not the conventional arch, but a graceful, undulating, ever-changing snake of pale electric light; evanescent colors, pale as those of a lunar rainbow, ever and again flitting through it, and long streamers and scintillations moving upward to the bright stars, which shone distinctly through its hazy ethereal form. The night was beautifully calm and clear; cold, but not intensely so, the thermometer standing at +16°.
So passed the long winter months. Early in April there came signs of summer—for in the Arctic regions there is properly no spring or autumn. On the 9th flies made their appearance. Next day the willows were seen budding. But for another fortnight the weather was variable. On the 28th the first goose put in his appearance. But for another fortnight the ice in the river remained unbroken. The first sign of breaking up was on the 12th of May. That day mosquitoes showed themselves. Next day came swallows and wild geese in abundance. Still another fortnight, during which a steady stream of broken ice came down, bearing with it whole trees torn up from the banks. On the 24th of May the river was tolerably clear of ice.
106. BREAKING UP OF THE ICE.
The Russians had already got ready for a trading-excursion up the Yukon to an Indian trading-place 240 miles above, the farthest point ever visited by them. They had a huge skin boat, fitted with mast and sail, manned by eight men, carrying, besides men and provisions, two tons of goods. The Americans went with them, though meaning to go far beyond. They had their own little boat, laden with six or seven hundred pounds of stores of all kinds. The river was still full of ice and drift-wood. A large tree would sometimes pass under the bow of the Russian boat, and fairly lift it out of the water. These skin boats seem to be the best of all for this kind of navigation. They give way without harm to a blow which would break through a bark canoe.
One can scarcely conceive the rapidity with which summer comes on in these regions. On the 27th of May the river was yet full of ice. Ten days after they had to lie by during the noontide heat, the thermometer standing at 80° in the shade.
The Americans reached Fort Yukon on the 9th of June, having, in twenty-nine days, rowed and tracked six hundred miles. A few weeks later, with the current in their favor, they descended the same space in seven days. Fort Yukon lies a little within what was formerly Russian America, and the Hudson’s Bay Company paid a small sum for the privilege of its occupancy. Here the Americans remained a month, being hospitably entertained. The fort had quite a civilized look. There were freshly-plastered walls, glazed windows, open fireplaces, magazines, store-houses, and a great fur-room. Camped around were Indians of many tribes, locally designated as “Foolish Folks,” “Wood Folks,” “Birch-bark Folks,” “Rat Folks,” “Hill Folks,” and the like. Some wore their native costumes; others were tricked out in the odds and ends of civilized attire. The fur-room was a rare sight. From the beams hung marten-skins by the thousand, while the cheaper sorts were lying in huge heaps on the floor. Skins are here the regular currency. The beaver is the unit, estimated at about half a dollar. Two martens count as one beaver, and so on by a recognized scale. Fox-skins are numerous. The most valuable is that of the black fox, worth twenty times more than any other. There is a story that an unlucky employé of the company once bought the skin of a white fox, which the Indian seller had cunningly dyed black, paying for it more pounds than he should have paid shillings. The overplus was deducted from his salary.
107. FORT YUKON.