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Haldane among its most valiant peaks. mind saying my teeth chattered and it was They found nothing unusual and reported not with cold, either! Right across the the facts to a sergeant of the Royal ravine, on the side opposite to that where Canadian Mounted Police who, though we were camped, the boulders were rolling sceptical and humorous, agreed to join heavily into the bottom, as a gigantic black them in the hunt for the monster. and hairy animal slowly and heavily One evening, tired out after wading ascended the grade. through sloughs and frozen tundras, they "From the comer of its mouth, a blood- pulled up near the summit of a rock gulch stained frothy slime dripped. Its horrid and lit a campfire, as evening was coming jaws were munching, munching, munching. on. The pine logs blazed brightly and there The priest, the sourdough and Buttler es UNCONsCioUsly clasped each other by the " arms and tried to shout, but could net utter I calculated he was around a sound. And well for us was it that they 50 feet long. He hada sort were stricken dumb! Our Indians crouched of rhinoceros horn on top on the ground, their faces ashy and their Rese i bodies trembling like aspen leaves. They of his jaws and his carcass pressed their faces on the ground to shut was covered with black stiff out — suddenly got up and . . . tore down the bse bristles like those of a wild “Luckily, the monster had not sighted us! boar." He stopped barely 100 paces from us. Then, propping his huge belly on a big flat sock, he stood motionless, gazing into the was the pleasant odour of turpentine and glaring eye of the red and setting sun! It balsam mingling with the more pleasant was a sight that may have been not unfa- smell of bacon and porky beans cooking at miliar to our giant forefathers in a remote the fire. The red sun had his orb about age. The monster stood still for 10 min- level with the top of the divide. Dupuy utcs, as did we. He actually swivelled later wrote: round his huge neck, and still did not see "Wa law hy the fire ralavad aur aching uc Dawson City as the crow flies. Here, inthe Haldane among its most valiant peaks. mind saying my teeth chattered and it was neighbourhood of Partridge Creek, the They found nothing unusual and reported not with cold, either! Right across the party encountered a terrible monster that the facts to a sergeant of the Royal ravine, on the side opposite to that where seems to have been an Arctic dinosaur. Canadian Mounted Police who, though we were camped, the boulders were rolling | One Buttler, an American, and another sceptical and humorous, agreed to join heavily into the bottom, as a gigantic black prospector were one day hunting three them in the hunt for the monster. and hairy animal slowly and heavily large moose at the mouth of Clear Creek One evening, tired out after wading ascended the grade. when, all of a sudden, as they were stalking through sloughs and frozen tundras, they "From the comer of its mouth, a blood- the moose downwind, they saw a huge bull pulled up near the summit of a rock gulch __ stained frothy slime dripped. Its horrid moose raise his head from the moss and and lit a campfire, as evening was coming jaws were munching, munching, munching. lichens where he had been quietly brows- on. The pine logs blazed brightly and there The priest, the sourdough and Buttler ing, and give three bounds. ANC 10S T_T unconsciously clasped each other by the uttered a loud bellow—given only whena = arms and tried to shout, but could not utter mortal enemy is near, or when the moose is I calculated he was around a sound. And well for us was it that they badly wounded—and the three moose set 50 feet long. He hada sort were stricken dumb! Our Indians crouched off at a frantic gallop to the south. H on the ground, their faces ashy and their The men cautiously approached the spot, of rhinoceros horn on top bodies trembling like aspen leaves. They which was partly screened by pines and of his Jaws and his carcass pressed their faces on the ground to shut undergrowth, when they saw in the snow was covered with black stiff out the sight. Buttler suddenly got up and tore down the hill... the imprint of the body of some monstrous . * . animal whose belly had left in the slime of bristles like those of a wild "Luckily, the monster had not sighted us! the riverbank an impression two feet deep, boar." He stopped barcly 100 paces from us. 30 feet long and 12 feet wide! Four gigan- Then, propping his huge belly on a big flat tic paws, deeply impressed in the nuckL, i rock, he stood motionless, gazing into the had left prints five feet long and two-and-a- _ was the pleasant odour of turpentine and _ glaring eye of the red and setting sun! It half feet wide. There were also the prints balsam mingling with the more pleasant was a sight that may have been not unfa- of sharp claws which measured one foot smell of bacon and porky beans cooking at miliar to our giant forefathers in a remote long, and were deeply embedded in the the fire. The red sun had his orb about age. The monster stood still for 10 min- mud. The men measured the impression of level with the top of the divide. Dupuy utcs, as did we. He actually swivelled a tail 10 feet long and 16 inches wide at the later wrote: round his huge neck, and still did not see middle! "We lay by the fire, relaxed our aching us. They trailed the monster's tracks up a__ limbs, and let our eyes roam over the "I calculated he was around 50 feet long. valley until, after about six miles, they marsh, glittering with icicles and hoar frost He had a sort of rhinoceros hom on top of entered a ravine called Partridge Creek. crystals, that we had just crossed. The tea his jaws and his carcass was covered with Here, the tracks abruptly and unaccount- was steaming ready in the pail when, all of _ black stiff bristles like those of a wild boar. ably ended. It looked as if the monster had a sudden, we were startled by the sound of The hair was plastered with mud and given a tremendous bound up the cliff of falling stone tumbling down into the bot- frozen muck. I'd put his weight at all 50° the ravine. Deciding that the location was tom of the ravine, followed by larger boul- tons. As we watched, a sound like the unhealthy, the men made tracks for an out- ders. Then came a harsh and appalling crunching of bones came from his dripping post. Dupuy, when he was told the story, roar, We sprang to our feet, and I don't jaws. Then he reared on his hind legs, laughed and joked at Buttler. “Say,” he said, "but you ain't half wetted your whis- ue! Tell us what trading guy sold you that Bourbon. He must have a rare powerful brand of kill-'em-at-40-rods hooch!" Buttler angrily retorted that he and his pal were more sober than most judges when they trailed that monster's tracks. It was arranged that Buttler should guide Dupuy, the French priest, Padre Pierre Lavagneux, a Yukon sourdough, and half a dozen Indians to the spot. For a whole day the party searched the banks of the McQuesten, the flats of Partridge Creek, and the whole countryside between the lit- tle township of Barlow, on the embouchure of the McQuesten with the Stewart River which flows into the Yukon, and a lofty snow-covered range which numbers Mt Bo NEXUS61 JUNE - JULY 1994