r 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 deg. below zero the