NAHLIN MOUNTAIN 45

the view, which, to say the least, was imposing. The
wind had freshened a bit and had driven away the
rain clouds, and the sun was shining. To the north
I could see far into the Yukon Territory, and the moun-
tains around Atlin and Lake Teslin. Eastwards
stretched what appeared to be interminable tundras
with single isolated peaks of volcanic appearance,
and over on those large barrens we were later on to
hunt moose and caribou.

Below us stretched a deep valley, which separated
us from the Nahlin Mountain proper, and as the last
patches of fog were driven away, I got a fairly good
idea of the mountain itself. This, too, was evidently
of volcanic origin and appeared to be criss-crossed
by deep gulches, and I could also trace the contours
of an old crater. The mountain consisted of two high
snow-covered peaks separated from each other by a
deep valley, where a beautiful little stream flowed.

Down by this little stream and at the forest edge
we made our camp. The forest at this altitude con-
sisted mostly of Balsam Fir, to my mind a very poor
material for fuel, as the ashes are light as down and
float about at the least breath of wind, driving those
who have to prepare the food nearly desperate.

When everything was in order in camp, I took my
little double-barrelled twenty-eight bore and strolled
off along the little stream. Willows and dwarf birch
grew thickly everywhere, and also a kind of creeping
conifer called “jack pine.’ I noticed considerable
numbers of tracks of caribou about, but they were all old.
Climbing up the mountain peak to the right of me, I
finally reached the rim of the snow, and here I found the
first tracks of sheep, but neither were these quite fresh.