There was never food enough to winter the whole population. The A.
C. Company worked hard to freight up the grub, but the gold hunters
came faster and dared more audaciously. When the A. C. Company added
a new stern-wheeler to its fleet, men said, "Now we shall have
plenty." But more gold hunters poured in over the passes to the
south, more voyageurs and fur traders forced a way through the
Rockies from the east, more seal hunters and coast adventurers poled
up from Bering Sea on the west, more sailors deserted from the whale-
ships to the north, and they all starved together in right brotherly
fashion. More steamers were added, but the tide of prospectors
welled always in advance. Then the N. A. T. & T. Company came upon
the scene, and both companies added steadily to their fleets. But it
was the same old story; famine would not depart. In fact, famine
grew with the population, till, in the winter of 1897-1898, the
United States government was forced to equip a reindeer relief
expedition.
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