f the river, were spread with a thin covering of snow;
enough at least to give a wintry aspect. This added to the leaden sky
above, made the warmth of big coal fires acceptable indoors, and fur
coats comfortable on the decks.

At Fort Yukon the low water prevented our landing. We were told,
however, that the place contained one hundred log houses, as well as an
old Episcopal Mission, in which Mrs. Bumpus had lived and taught the
natives for twenty years. Many of the Eskimo girls are trained as
children's nurses and make very satisfactory ones.

Into the Yukon Flats empty the Porcupine River, Birch Creek and other
streams. Fort Yukon was established by the Hudson Bay Company many years
ago, all supplies coming in and shipments of furs going out by way of
the McKensie River and the great Canadian Lakes.

Toward evening one day, while the stevedores were busy handling wood, we
went ashore and visited an Eskimo family in their hut. It was built on
the high river bank among the trees, quite near the steamer's landing.
On the roof of the hut, there lay, stretched on sticks to dry, a large
brown bear skin. Near by we saw the head of a freshly killed moose, with
the hoofs of the animal still bloody.

[Illustration: YUKON STEAMER "HANNAH."]

As we stooped to enter the low door of the cabin, we felt the warmth
from the fire in the little Yukon stove which was placed in the corner
of the room. Next to this was a rude table, on which lay a quarter of
moose meat, looking more or less tempting to travelers living on canned
goods.

A bed stood in one corner, upon which two or three little children were
playing, and upon a pile of rags and skins on the floor sat an old
Eskimo woman, wrinkled and brown. These were her children and
grandchildren, and she was spending her life on the floor of the cabin,
watching the little ones play around her, for she was paralyzed.

There were no chairs in the cabin, and but few rude utensils and
playthings. A box or tin can, which had contained provisions, was now
and then utilized.

After a few moments with the Eskimos, we backed out into the open air
again, for the atmosphere of the hut was peculiar, and not altogether
agreeable to our southern olfactories. It reminded us of Mrs. Peary's
description of native smells in Greenland.

The short path back to our steamer lay through a poplar grove, and
under our feet was spread a carpet of brown and yellow leaves, which, in
the cool night air, s