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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^I? tlje game ^urijor* '•^y^ ' A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations from Ancient and Modern Authors. 8vo, full gilt, i^4.oo. The most complete and exhaustive r 6 THE NEW ELDORADO. all of which evinces a local capacity for produc- tion far beyond our computation. How mar- velous is the change from the conditions existing in this region a few years since, when millions of buffaloes roamed unmolested over these plains, valleys, and hills from Texas to Manitoba I The skeletons of these herds still sprinkle the prairies, bleached by the summer sun and crumbled by the winter's frost. Hundreds of carloads are annually shipped eastward to the factories which manufac- ture fertilizers. As we speed on our western journey day and night, gliding through long tunnels and deep rock cuttings, over airy trestles, immense embankments, bridges, and viaducts, representing the skillful ac- complishments of modern engineering, we carry along with us the domestic conveniences of home. The train, in fact, becomes our hotel for the time being, where we bathe, eat, sleep, and enjoy the passing scenery seated in luxuriously upholstered easy-chrtirs, which at night are ingeniously trans- formed as if by magic into soft and inviting beds. The elegance and comfort of these parlor, dining, and sleeping cars is calculated to make traveling what it has in a measure become, an inviting lux- uiy. The miraculous cap of Fortunatus would seem to have been pressed into our service. So thoroughly perfected is the transcontinental rail- road system that it is quite possible to enter the cars in an Atlantic citv say at Boston or New York, and not leave the train until five or six days have expired, when the objective point on the Pa- cific coast is reached. A NIGHT RIDE ON THE ENGINE. )roduc- ' mav- sisting ions of plains, ! The rairies, by the mually anufac- lay and ep vock omenta, Iful ac- e carry E home, he time ijoy the olstered Ly trans- ig beds. , dming, ; raveling ting lux- 8 would ice. So ital rail- nter the or New six days 1 the Pa- While passing through deep gorges at night, or creeping over a mountain top, the effect from one's seat in the cars is weird and curious, especially when the winding track makes long curves in the train, so that the panting iron horse is seen from the rear, all ablaze and emitting dense clouds of smoke. The snow-tipped peaks on one side and the threatening gulch of unknown depth on the other assume a mantle of soft, gauze-like texture in the clear moonlight. At times one half believes the rails are laid upon the tree-tops, the branches of which loom up so close to us. Away in the val- ley, two thousand feet and more below our level, a rippling stream sparkles in the silvery light while on its way to swell some larger watercourse which drains the rocky hills. Looking far across the valley we try to make out the distant moun- tains, but only dim phantoms of gigantic size are seen, gliding stealthily away in the darkness. We make interest with the conductor and en- gineer of the train for a special pn'^pose. We are in search of a new sensation, to wit, such as may be derived from a night-ride on the engine, where one can see all the engineer sees, which is indeed little enough. The headlight of the locomotive throws its rays dimly on the darkness for a few rods in advance of the train. But what does that amount to, so far as being able to avoid danger ? That brief space is passed in a second of time, and it is impossible to see what is beyond. The faith- ful engineer stands with both hands upon the ma- chinery, one with which to instantly apply the 8 TEE NEW ELDORADO. brakes, the other to shut off tlie steam if danger shows itself aliead. That is all he can do. What a boisterous, asthmatic monster it is that drags the long train through the darkness at the rate of a mile in two minutes! How its hot breath belches forth, and how it springs and leaps over the iron track, fed incessantly with fresh fuel by the stoker ! To one not accustomed to the oscil- lating motion, it is nearly impossible to keep his footing, much more difficult than on board of a pitching or rolling ship at sea. The motion is short, quick, and incessant. Black, — black as Erebus ; how venturesome it seems to dash into such darkness! What a tempting of fate! Yet how few accidents, comparatively, occur ! " The law of averages is what we calculate upon," said the engineer of No. — ; " about so many people will be killed annually out of a given number of railroad travelers. We take all reasonable pre- cautions to prevent accidents, but there are thou- sands of exigencies beyond our control." If any one proposes to you, gentle reader, to indulge in a night-ride on a locomotive, take our advice, and don't do it. One does not linger in bed when passing through a country famous for its scenery. The experienced traveler has learned that the opening hours of the day are those in which his best and clearest impressions are received. He therefore rises betimes to enjoy the cool, dewy freshness of the morning. Now and again a prairie-owl is seen groping its winged way to shelter from the IMMENSE GRAIN-FIELDS. 9 increasing light. He is sure to see plenty of coy- otes, gray wolves, and graceful antelopes on the rolling prairies, each of these animals exhibit- ing in some special and interesting manner its natural proclivities. The prairie -dog nervously diving into and leaping out of its little prairie mound ; tlie wolf bravely facing and glaring at the passing train, though careful to keep at a wholesome distance ; and the antelopes in small herds hastening away by graceful bounds over the nearest hills, far too pretty and far too ornamen- tal to slioot, suggesting in form and movements that most picturesque of wild animals, the Tyro- lean chamois. Minnesota presents to the eye of the traveler a grand and impressive country in the form of roll- ing prairies, diversified by lakes, — of which there are said to be ten thousand in the State, — forests, and inviting valleys, the latter particularly adapted for raising wheat and for dairy farming. Vast fields of ripening cereals are seen stretching for miles on either side of the railroad, without a fence to break their uniformity. This State pos- sesses among other advantages that of a climate particularly dry, invigorating, and healthful. Four hundred miles of our route is through Northern Dakota, where the farming lands are easily tilled, well watered, and wonderfully proliilc in crops. The choicest wheat grown in America, known as hard spring wheat, comes from this section, which has been called " the granary of the world." The gigantic scale on which wheat-raising is here con- 10 THE NEW ELDORADO. ducted would seem incredible if faithfully de- scribed to an old-time New England farnu'r. The improvement which has betin made in machin- ery connected with sowing, reaping, harvesting, and threshing grain enables one man to do as much in this western country as a dozen men could accomijlish twenty-five or thirty years ago. There are wheat farms here enibracing twenty thousand acres each, where economy in labor is of the utmost importance, and where the employees are so numerous as to be kept under semi-military organization. The author has seen the big grain- fitdds of Russian Poland in their prime, but they are as nothing when compared with those of Northern Dakota, nor are the farming facilities which are generally employed throughout Europe nearly equal to those of this country. At Bismarck, capital of the State, which is a small but energetic and thriving place, the Missouri River is crossed by a magnificent iron bridge, hung high in air, which cost a million dollars. This is the acme of successful engineering, pass- ing our long, heavy train of cars over a track of gleaming rails from shore to shore without the least perceptible tremor, or the deflection of a ingle inch. The great waterway which it spans L ^asures at tliis place fully twenty-eight hundred fe» '" from bank to bank, though it is at this point two thousand miles from its confluence with the Mississippi. The route we are following soon takes us through what are called the Badlands, a most THE BADLANDS. n uUy fle- T. The miichin- rvesting, do as ;en men 'ars ago. ; twenty ibor is of nployees -military lig grain- but they those of facilities t Europe hicli is a ! Missouri n bridge, 1 dollars, ing, pass- L track of thout the tion of a \ it spans ; hundred this point with the takes us 3, a most singular reiorion, where subterranean and surface iires are constantly burning, where trees have become petrified, and where the natural blue clay has been converted into terra cotta. This local- ity, extending for miles and miles, has been called Pyramid Park, on account of its fantastic forms presented in a singular variety of colors, and be- cause of its mounds, domes, pyramids, and rocky towers. These vary as much in height as in form, some measuring ten feet, some two hundred, v hile all are clad in harlequin costume, black, white, blue, green, and yellow. It is called Badlands in contradistinction to the adjoining country, which is so very fertile, but the district is im- proved as good grazing ground for many thousands of cattle which supply our Atlantic cities with beef. Some of the best breeds of horses furnished to the Eastern States are raised, fed, and brought into marketfible condition on these peculiar lands. This region forms a sort of tangible hint of what we shall experience still farther on our Wonderland journey in the interesting and un- equaled valley of the Yellowstone, where there are abundant evidences of volcanic force and sub- terranean fires, and where Nature is seen in her most erratic mood. Just as we pass from Dakota into Montana, a short distance beyond the Little Missouri River, a lofty peak called Sentinel Butte is seen, at an elevation of nearly three thousand feet above sea level. Tho teeming, vigorous young life of the Northwest is manifest all along the route, with 12 THE NEW ELDORADO. its wonderful energy and its almost incredible rate ol ^ "' gress. We were told that in the State which we had just left three thousand miles of raih'oad had been built and properly equipped before it contained a single town of more than five hundred inhabitants. In the State of Montana we find a more hilly country than that through which we have so re- cently passed, yet it is well adapted to farming and possesses large areas of excellent grazing land. Indeed, there is scarcely any part of this territory, except the mountain ranges, where the climate is not sufficiently mild for cattle to win- ter out-of-doors. Undoubtedly they will thrive better for being housed at night in the coldest weather here or anywhere, but this is not abso- lutely necessary. No food is required for them except the native bunch grass, which cures itself, and stands as hay until the succeeding spiing. Cattle are very fond of and will quickly fatten upon it. Sheep husbandry is also a great and growing interest here. We observe now and again a thrifty floch, tended by a boy-shepherd accompanied by his -^og, recalling similar scenes in Tasmania and on the plains of Russia. Statistics show that there are over two million acres now under cultivation in Montana, and that the territory is also fabulously rich in minerals. The present output of gold, silver, and copper is at the rate of three million dollars per month, and the yield of the mines is steadily on the increase. As we hasten on our way, looking on one side CLIMBING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 13 far down into sombre depths, and on the other at threatening, overhanging bowlders, or backward at the road-bed cut out of the solid rock which forms the cliff, we wonder at the successful auda- city which conceived and built such a difficult highway. We have seen few instances of similar engineering so remarkable as is exhibited at cer- tain points on the Northern Pacific Railroad. Equal difficulties ha^e been overcome on the Zig- zag Railway over the Blue Mountain Range, near Sidney, Australia, and also in Northern India, where the narrow gauge railroad climbs the foot- hills of the Himalayan Range to Darjeeling, about eight thousand feet above the plains of Hindostan, but in neither of these instances is the work so thorough, or on so gigantic a scale, as where the Northern Pacific crosses the Rocky Mountains. We are quite conscious of being on an up grade, the large engine panting audibly from its extra exertion, and the train moving forward no faster than one could walk. Presently tall, snow-capped peaks come trooping into view, like mounted Bedouins clad in fleecy white, as the small city of Livingston is reached. This locality is about forty-five hundred feet above thj sea. The town is situated in a beautiful valley, with nothing to indicate its altitude except the snow- crowned mountains not far away, standing like frigid sentinels. The observant traveler will also notice a certain rarefied condition of the atmos- phere. Here we are about midway between the . .i'** ii I ■1 ■ f r ' I \ I i 14 THE NEW ELDORADO. Great Lakes and the Pacific coast, — between Superior, the largest hike on the globe, and the Pacific, the largest ocean in the world. Livingston contains three thousand inhabitants, and is a thriving place, the frequent resort of man}' lovers of the rod and giin, both large and small game being found in uhundance hereabouts. Forty miles north of Livirgston is Castle Moun- tain mining district, rich in silver ores, and from whose argentiferous soil millions of dollars have been coined and hundreds of enterprising pros- pectors enriched. A branch road is taken at this point which runs directly southward to Cinnabar, a distance of nearly fifty miles, from which place coaches convey the traveler about six miles far- ther to the Wonderland of our continent, — the Yellowstone National Park. The terminus of the railroad is known by the name of Cinnabar because it is situated at the base of a mountain bearing that title, remarkable for its exposure of vertical strata of three distinct geolog- ical periods. Here is a famous place known as the Devil's Slide, a singular formation caused by the washing out of a vertical stratum of soft material between one of quartzito and another of porphyry. The slide is two thousand feet high, and being of different color from the rest of the rocky mountain side is discernible for many miles away. We have now reached one of the most remark- able points of our excursion, which demands more than a passing notice, sharing with the great gla- ciers of Alaska the principal interest of the pres- ent journey westward across the continent. THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 15 — between e, and the [^habitants, t resort of large and hereabouts, istle Moun- B, and from lollars have rising pros- ,ken at this ;o Cinnabar, which phice X miles fav- inent, — the lown by the id at the base kable for its jtinct geolog- known as the aused by the soft material of porphyry. , and being of cky mountain my. most remark- leniands more the great gla- it of the pres- tinent. This magnificent territorial reservation is situ- ated in the northwestern part of Wyoming, em- bracing also a narrow strip of southern Montana and southeastern Idaho, lying in the very heart of the Rocky Mountains. It was wisely with- drawn from settlement by an act of Congress in 187'2, and is beneficently devoted forever to " the pleasure and enjoyment of the people." It forms a great preserve for wild animals, and a natural museum of marvels free to all. The well con- ceived liberality of this purpose is only commen- surate with the unequaled grandeur of the Park itself, though at the time of passing this law com- paratively little was actually known of the stu- pendous marvels contained within its widespread borders, besides which fresh discoveries of intei-est are still being made annually. Of all those who have endeavored to depict this locality, none have been able to convey with the pen an adequate idea of its wild magnificence, or to give a satisfactory description of its acccumu- lated wonders. The eye alone can appreciate its indescribable beauty, majesty, and loveliness. By the judicious expenditure of public money and the liberal outlay of corporate enterprise in road and bridge building, not to mention other fa- cilities, one can now pretty thoroughly explore the Park in the brief period of a week or ten days. To do this satisfactorily heretofore required thrice this length of time, besides which, camping out was necessary ; but it is no longer so, unless one chooses to play the gypsy. This plan is adopted "ir iV P !.l ; « f i 16 THE NEW ELDORADO. by a few summer tourists, who take with them a regular camp outfit, depending upon the fish they catch for a considerable portion of their food sup- ply during this out-of-door life. The Park is under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. A local superintendent lives here, who is assisted by a few game-keepers and gov- ernment police, besides which there is a small gang of laborers constantly at work during the favora- ble season, building roads and bridges, opening vistas here and there, and clearing convenient foot- paths, under the direction of an army engineer. Two companies of United States cavalry make their headquarters in the Park during the summer months, distributed so as to prevent any unlawful acts of visitors. The size of the reservation is sixty-four miles in length by fifty-four in width, thus giving it an area of over three thousand six hundred square miles. Or, to convey perhaps a clearer idea of its extent to the reader's mind, it may be said to be nearly one half the size of the State of Massachusetts. It is a volcanic region of incessant activit}', with mountains ranging from eight to twelve thousand feet in height, and embracing a collection of spouting geysers, hot springs, steam holes, petrified forests, cascades, ex- traordinary canons, and grand waterfalls, such as are unequaled in the known world. We do not forget the well-known geysers of Ice- land, or the Hot Lake district of New Zealand, with which the traveled visitor finds himself con- trasting the phenomena of the Yellowstone. 4i... THE HOT SPRINGS TERRACE. 17 The writer of these pages happened lately to see an article upon our National Park, written by the Earl of Dunraven, in which that gentleman ques- tions whether the singular natural exhibitions here are not exceeded by those of New Zealand. We are familiar with both localities, and shall dismiss such a supposition simply by saying that the hot springs of the British colony referred to are no more to be compared .vith those of the Yellow- stone Park, than is an artificial Swiss cascade com- parable with Niagara. If Nature has anywhere else shown so wonderful a specimen of her handi- craft, it has not yet been our lot to see it. All the natural objects best worth visiting in the Park are now accessible by daily stages, which start at convenient hours from the hotel at Mc«.n- moth Hot Springs, making the round of the inter- esting sights ; thus affording the general public every needed facility for examining the strangely attractive vicinity. Near the hotel is an area of two hundred a'^res and more, covered here and there with boiling, terrace-building springs, which burst out of slop- ing ground in ceaseless pulsations, at an elevation of about a thousand feet above the Gardiner River near by, into which the main portion of the chem- ically impregnated waters flow. Five hundred ftiet from the base of the springs the water be- comes cool, tasteless, and perfectly clear to the eye, as refreshing to drink as any water from the purest mountain rill. In ordinary quantities it has no evident medicinal effect, but is thought to 18 THE NEW ELDORADO. I \ u 1 1 i I be a wholesome tonic, with blood-purifying power. Some springs in the Park, though inviting in ap- pearance, are to be avoided on account of cer- tain objectionable medical properties which they possess. The hot springs adjacent to the hotel issue from many vents and at various elevations, slowly building for themselves terrace after ter- race with circular pools, held in singularly beauti- ful stalactite basins, formed by depositing in thin layers the choinical substances which they contain. Some are infused with the oxide of iron, and pro- duce a coating of delicately tinted red ; others are exquisitely shaded in yellow by an infusion of sulphur ; while some, from like causes, are of a dainty cream color. Upon numerous basins there are seen wavy, frill-like borders of bright green, indicating the presence of arsenic. Here and there the margins of the pools are scalloped and edged with a delicate bead-work, like Oriental pearls, while others are curiously honeycombed, and fret- ted with singular regularity. No artistic hand, however skillful, could equal Nature in these deli- cate and exquisitely developed forms. The grand terrace, viewed as a whole, is like a huge series of stairs or steps, two hundred feet high and five hundred broad, decked with variegated marble, together with white and pink coral. This im- mense calcareous formation might represent a frozen waterfall, or a congealed cascade. The water, in most instances, is at boiling heat as it pours out of the various openings, chai'ged with iron, magnesia, sulphur, alumina, soda, and other THE PARK BY MOONLIGHT. 19 ing power, ing in ap- nt of cer- vhicli they I the hotel elevations, 5 after ter- arly beauti- ing in thin ley contain, n, and pro- ; others are infusion of }s, are of a basins there right green, re and there I and edged ■ntal pearls, ed, and fret- tistic hand, n these deli- The grand huge series ligh and five ited marble. This im- represent a 3cade. The g heat as it charged with a, and other substances. Every spring has its succession of linipi.l pools spreading out in all directions, the basins varying in size from ten to forty feet across their openings. When the sun penetrates the half enshrouding mist, and brings out the myriad col- ors of these beautiful terraces, the effect is truly charming ; it is as though a rainbow had been shattered and the pieces strewn broadcast. While thus wreathed in vapors, as the evening ap- proaches and the whole is touched by the rosy tints of the setting sun, the entire facade glows with softest opaline blushes, like a conscious mai- den challenged by ardent admiration. For a mo- ment, as we gaze upon its illumined expanse, it I seems like a gorgeous marble ruin half consumed and still ablaze, the fire of which is being extin- guished by an avalanche of snow-clouds. Such a scene cannot be depicted by photography; it can- not be represented faithfully by the artist's skillful touch in oils, because, like the vivid beauty of a sunset on the ocean, the light and shade are mo- : mentarily changing, while the prismatic hues :^ gently dissolve into each other's embrace. f If possible, let the visitor witness the magic of |l the spot by moonlight. It is then fairy-like in- I deed, shrouded in a thin, silvery screen, — " mys- I terious veil of brightness made," — like the trans- ;| parent yashmak of an East Indian houri. i ■' "-"■ '"T t u bird, it is siiid, flying across the entrance close enough to inlmle the vapor will drop lifeless to the ground. We are not prepared to vouch for this, — indeed we very much doubt the guide's story, — but it naturally recalled the Grotto del (^ane, near Naples, where it will be remembered the guides are only too ready to sacrifice a dog for such visitors as are cruel enough to permit it, by causing the animal to inhale the poisonous gas which settles to the lower part of the cave so named. There is another cave not far from the hotel very seldom resorted to, and which appears to have once been the operating sphere of a large geyser, but which is now only a dark hole. Into this one descends by a ladder. It is a weird, uncanny place, requiring torches in order to see after entering its precincts. Aroused by the arti- ficial light, myriads of bats drop from the ceiling, until the place seems alive with them. Now and then in their gyrations one touches the visitor's hand or cheek with its cold, damp body, causing an involuntary shudder. Verily, the Bats' Cave is not an inviting place to visit. One of the first places which the stranger seeks after enjoying the attractions of the terraces and a few curiosities near to the hotel is the Middle Falls of the Gardiner River, situated three or four miles away in a southerly direction. Here we look down into a broad, dark canon consider- ably over a thousand feet deep, and whose rough, precipitous sidpa are nearly five hundred feet ^- 11 THE GRAND CANON. 26 ce close eless to )uch for guide's •otto del embered 1, d(^g for lit it, by lous gas ) cave 80 the hotel ppears to if a large ole. Into J a weird, der to see )y the arti- the ceiling, Now and he visitor's dy, causing Bats' Cave anger seeks ;erraces and the Middle (d three or tion. Here on consider- hose rough, iindred feet apart at the summit, gradually narrowing towards the bottom. The Gardiner River flows through the gorge, iiaving at one j)lace an unbroken fall of a hundred feet; also presenting a mad, roaring, rushing series of cascades of three hundred feet descent. The aspect and general characteristics of this turmoil of waters recalled the famous Falls of Trolhiitta, in Sweden. The hoarse music of the waters, rising through the branches of the pines which line the gorge, pierce the ear with a thrilling cadence all their own, while the dark canon stretches away for many miles in its wild and sombre grandeur. It is well to visit this spot before going to greater distances from the hotel. Impressive as it is sure to prove, there is yet a much superior feature of the Park, of similar character, which remains to be seen. We refer to the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone River, where an immense cataract is formed by the surging waters near the head of the gorge, which here narrows to about one hundred feet. The volume of water is very great at the point where it rushes over a ledge nearly four hundred feet in height, at one bold leap. This is known as the Lower Fall, the>e being another half a mile above it, called the Upper Fall, which is one hun- dred and fifty feet high. These falls are more pic- turesque, but less grand than the Lower. They are presented to our view higher up among the green trees, where lovely wild flowers and wav- ing ferns cling to the rocks, and under the inspir- ing rays of the sunlight j\dd to their brightness f I ■vi ■' t V. \W ill ill Mi 26 THE NEW ELDORADO. and crystal beauty. A waterfall, like an oil- painting, may be hung in a good or a disadvan- tageous position as to light, and b >th are largely dependent upon this contingency for their inspir- ing charm. The Great or Lower Fall of the Yellowstone Caiion is twice as high as Niagara, while the beau- tiful blazonry on the walls of the deep gorge, like some huge mosaic, all aglow with matchless color, marvelous in opulence, adds a fascinating charm unknown to the mammoth fall just named. These varied hues have been produced by the snow and frost, vapor and sunshine, the lightning and the rain of ages, acting upon certain chemical constituents of the native rock. This is said to be the most wonderful mountain gorge, when all of its belongings are taken into consideration, yet discovered. It is over twenty miles long, and is in many places from twelve to fifteen hundred feet deep. The author has visited the imposing canons of Colorado, the thrilling gorges of the Yo- semite, and some of still greater magnitude in the Himalayan range of northern India, but never has he seen the equal of this Grand Canon of tlte Yellowstone, or beheld so high a waterfall of equal volume. A safe platform has been err c I at the edge of the fall, where one can s^and and witness its amazing phmge of over three Imndred and fifty feet. The stianjjer instinctively holds his breat!i while watching the irresistible volume of water as it advances, and follows it with the eye into the VIEW FROM INSPIRATION POINT. 27 an oil- isadvan- largely • inspir- owstone he beau- rge, like jss color, g charm named. [ by the lightning chemical s said to when all ation, yet ig, and ia hundred imposing )f the Yo- ide in the but never ion of the iterfall of the edge ivitness its . and fifty his breath )f water aa re into the profound depth of the caRon. The best view of the gorge, however, is that obtained from Lookout Point, situated about a mile south of the Lower Fall. A half mile farther in the same direction, and at the same elevation, lies Inspiration Point, from whence a more comprehensive outlook may be enjoyed. The grouping of crags, pinnacles, and inaccessible points is grand and inexpress- ibly beautiful. Eagles' nests with their young are visible at eyries quite out of reach, save to the monarch bird itself. On other isolated points, far below us, are seen the nests of fish-hawks, whose builders look like swallows in size as they float upon the air, or dart for their prey into the swift, tumultuous stream that threads the valley. Gaz- ing upon the scene, the vastness of which is be- wildering, a sense of reverence creeps over us, — reverence for that Almighty hand whose power is here recorded in such unequaled splendor. At last it is a relief to turn away from looking into the sheer depth and reach a securer basis for the feet. Still we linger until the sunset shadows lengthen and pass away, followed by the silvery moonlight. Every hour of the day has its peculiar charm of light and shade as seen upon the canon and its churning waters. The excursion out and back from the hotel to view the principal points of interest in the neigh- borhood covers a distance of about seven miles through the wr ds and along the threatening brink of the g 'Age. A rude Indian trail affords the only means of reaching the several outlooks. Saddle- ■■*•%, 'fl I 28 THE NEW ELDORADO. <|M horses are supplied for the excui'sion by the hotel proprietor, and visitors generally avail themselves of this mode of transportation. The horses em- ployed for the service are remarkably sagacious and sure-footed. Understanding exactly what is required of them, they overcome the deep pitches and abrupt rises of t) e narrow, tortuous way with great ingenuity acav ^5uu •». At times one is borne so near the brink ot the awful chasm as to make the passage rather exciting. It must be ad- mitted that a single misstep on the part of the ani- mal whi^"^! bears him would hurl horse and rider two thousand feet down the caHon to instant de- struction. There is no barrier between the cliff and the few inches of earth forming the path. Visitors are cautioned at srarting to rive the horses their heads, and not atteaipt to guide them as they would do under ordinary circumstances. The intelligent animals fully c< mjreiiend the exi- gencies of the situation. 0»i the occasion of the writer's visit the equestrian pari;, '.ciisisted of nine persona, including the g'.lde ; of '<«"-, two ladies and one gentleman abai'idoned the ? ddles after the first mile, finding the seeming danger too much for their nerves, and completed the long tramp on foot. " What wonderful majes^^y and beauty are hid- den here from an unconsc ij :. world," said an ex- perienced member of our ii;- vartywhom chance had brought together at the brink of tha gorge. *' Er.>'yb{, Ij t'isits Niagara," he continued, " but few, com[)a?'»^'vely, participate in the glory and A GLASS ROAD. 29 the hotel emselves n'sea em- sagacious what is pitches way with IS one is asm as to list be ad- af the ani- and rider nstant de- n the cliff the path, five the uide them Lirastances. nd the exi- siun of the ted of nine two ladies es after the too much g tramp on loveliness of this place, and yet how superior in attraction it is to those lines of summer travt;, the Natural Bridge of Virginia, the Mammoth Cave of Kentuckv, or even the iustlv famed Yosemite Valley ; " — a sentiment which all heartily indorsed. In these pages we pass rapidly from one great attraction to another, because we have only a limited space in which to speak of them, but the intelligent and appreciative visitor will be more leisurely in his examination. Hours may be prof- itably occupied in the careful observation and thorough enjoyment of each locality, the interest growing by what it feeds upon. One hardly real- izes the passage of time when occupied in the contemplation of such strange and absorbing ob- jects, and is apt to linger thoughtfully until he is warned by the business-like suggestion of the guide. Another interesting spot which the stranger will hasten to visit is the Obsidian Cliffs, situated about a dozen miles from the hotel. These sin- gular and, so far as we know, unique cliffs are formed of volcanic glass, and measure a thousand feet in length by nearly two hundred in height, recalling in general effect the Giant's Causeway in the north of Ireland. They rise in almost vertical columns from the eastern shore of Beaver Lake. The color of the glass is dark green, like that of which cheap quart bottles are made, and though the glass glistens like jet it is opaque. A carriage road has been provided, — a glass road, — a quarter of a mile long, running by the base 30 THE NEW ELDORADO. of the cliffs. To construct this road large fires were built upon the obsidian mass, which, when thoroughly heated, was dashed with cold water, causing it to crack and crumble to pieces. It was a tedious undertaking, but an available roadway was at last the result. Close at hand is Beaver Lake, of artificial ori- gin, having been created by the industrious ani- mal after which it is named. A colony have here built a series of thirty dams, thus forming a sheet of water of considerable depth, half a mile in width, and two miles long, framed by tall, straight pines, and covered near the shore with aquatic flowers. As we passed the lake, in its shady cor- ners were seen flocks of ducks in gaudy colors and of many differeiit species, while on the fat side representatives of the beaver tribe were kind enough to exhibit themselves for our amusement. The series of dams which these little creatures have constructed hereabouts have falls of from three to six feet each, extending for a distance of nearly two miles. The lily plants which bordered Beaver Lake were of a curious amber color, grow- ing here and there in groups of great density. At a snap of the driver's whip a bevy of wild ducks rose, but lazily settled again upon the water close at hand. " They have read the printed reg- ulations of the Park," said the driver, "and know that no one will attempt to shoot them." Beyond the lake are broad patches of level meads, sprin- kled with lovely wild flowers, in which yellow, purple, and white prevailed. The delicate little THE ABORIGINES. 81 irge fires ich, when Id water, 3. It was roadway .ficial ori- rious ani- liave liere ig a sheet a mile in 11, straight th aquatic shady cor- udy colors ;he far side were kind musement. J creatures Is of from distance of ill bordered !olor, grow- sat density, vy of wild n the water printed reg- " and know ." Beyond leads, sprin- ich yellow, jlicate little phlox, modestly clingi'ig to the ground, was fra- grant above all the re^t. Occasional spots border- ing the pine woods showed the exquisite enamel of the blue violets, which emitted their familiar and welcome fragi'ance. These were dominated by a tall, regal flower, clustering on one stem, whose name we know not, but which formed great masses of purple bloom. Close to the curious and interesting Obsidian Cliffs is a pleasant resort called Willow Park, a cool, sliady spot, where a clear stream of good water flows through a stretch of rich pasture land, forming a delightful rural picture, full of peaceful and poetic suggestiveness. This is a favorite camping gi'ound for those who adopt that mode of visiting the several sections of the Park. The stranger looks about him in silent amaze- ment, \ ondering how long Nature has been dis- playing her erratic moods after the fashion exhib- ited here, now smiling with winning tenderness, and now frowning with implacable sternness. He sees everywhere evidences of great antiquity, and beholds objects which must date from time incal- culably remote, but there is no recorded history extant of this strange region. The original Indian inhabitants of the Park were a very peculiar peo- ple, — a sort of gnome rroe, — a tribe individually of Liliputian size, who lived in natural caves, of which there are many in the hills, where rude and primitive implements of domestic use belonging to the aborigines have been found. They do not seem to have possessed even the customary leg- 32 THE NEW ELDORADO. ( ', i 'i! ends of savage races concerning their surroundings and their origin. This tribe, the former dwellers here, were called the Sheep-eating Indians, be- cansQ they lived almost solely upon the flesh, and clothed themselves in the skins, of the big-horn sheep of these mountains, — an animal which is found running wild in more or less abundance throughout the whole northern range of the Rocky Mountains, even where it reaches into Alaska. These natives are represented to have been a timid and harmless people, without iron tools or weap- ons of any sort, except bows and arrows, to which may be added hatchets and knives formed of the flint-like volcanic glass indigenous to the Park. They were an isolated people from the very na- ture of their country, which was nearly inaccessible at all seasons, and entirely so during the long and severe winters. Other native tribes were debarred from this region through superstitious fear, induced by the incomprehensible demonstrations of Nature ex- hibited in boiling springs, spouting geysers, and the trembling earth, accompanied by subterranean explosions. This seemed to them to be evidence of the wrath of the Great Spirit, angered, perhaps, by their unwelcome presence. The Sheep-eaters, born among these scenes, gave no special heed to them, and rather fostered an idea which prevented others from interfering with the surrounding game, and which also gave them immunity from the otherwise inevitable oppression of a stronger and more aggressive people than themselves. As INDIAN IMPROVIDENCE. 33 civilization advanced westward, or rather as the white man found liia way thither, this Yellowstone tribe gradually dwindled r^way or became united with the Shoshones of loiva. Their individuality seems now to have been entirely lost, not a trace of them, even, being discernible, according to more than one intelligent writer upon the sub- ject. No Indians of any tribe are now permitted in the reservation, otherwise, lazy as these aborigines are, they would soon make reckless havoc among the fine cuUectic" of wild animals which is gath- ered here. The Indians are all in the annual receipt of money and ample food supplies from the government ; and the killing of extra game and selling the hides would furnish them with only so many more dollars to be expended for whiskey and tobacco. These tribes have no idea of economy, or care for the future. The reliance they place upon government supplies promotes a spirit of recklessness and extravagance. If their potato crop fails, or partial famine sets in from some extraordinary cause, it finds them utterly unprepared to meet the exigency. Oftentimes it is found that the government rations and supplies have been sold, and the money received therefor lavifhly squandered. CHAPTER III. 1 1 Noma Geyser Basin. — Fire beneath the Surface. — A Guide's Ideas. — The Curioua Paint Pot Basin. — Lower Geyser Basin. — Boiling Springs of Many Colors. — Mountain Lions at Play. — Midway Geyser Basin. — "Hell's Half Acre." — In the Midst of Wonderland. — " Old Faithful."— Other Active Geysers. — Erratic Nature of these Remarkable Fountains. A PLEASANT drive of twenty miles in a south- erly direction from the Hot Springs Hotel, through the wildest sort of scenery, over mountain roads and beside gorgeous canons, will take the vis- itor to the Norris Geyser Basin, a spot which promptly recalled to the writer somewhat similar scenes witnessed at the aboriginal town of Ohine- mutu, in the northern part of New Zealand. Clouds of sulphurous vapor constantly hang alike over both places, produced by a similar cause, though the scene here is far more vivid and de- monstrative. This whole basin is dotted by hot water springs and fumaroles, which maintain an incessant hissing, spluttering, and bubbling, night and day, through the twelve months of the year. The water which issues from these sources is of various colors, according to the impregnating prin- ciple which prevails, the yellow sulphur vats being especially conspicuous to the sight and offensive to the smell. What a strange, weird place it iai I^o ""»«; A GUIDE'S IDEAS. 36 — A Guide's lower Geyser juntain Liona alf Acre." — Other Active Fountaiua. in a south- el, through itain roads e the vis- spot which tiat similar 1 of Ohine- V Zealand, hang alike lilar cause, vid and do- tted by hot aaintain an bling, night -ii the year, ources is of nating prin- r vats being offensive to e it is I No art could successfully imitate these extravagances of Nature. Some of the rills are cool, others are boiling hot; some .are white, some pink or red, and one large basin, fifty feet across, is called the Emerald Pool, because of its intensely green color ; yet it appears to be quite pure and transparent when a sample is taken out and examined. Each spring seems to be entirely independent of the rest, though all are situated so near to each other. An almost constant tremor of the earth is realized throughout this immediate region, as though only a thin crust separated the visitor from an active volcano beneath his feet ; and, notwithstanding the various scientific theories, who can say that such is not actually the case ? " I know all about the idea that these eruptions of boiling water, steam, and sulphurous gases are produced by chemical action," said our guide. " I 've heard lots of scientific men talk about the subject, but I don't believe nothing of the sort." " And why not ? " we asked. "Do you believe," he said, " that chemical ac- tion in the earth could create power enough, first to bring water to 212° of heat, and then force it two hundred feet into the air a number of times every day in a column four or five feet in diameter, and keep it up for quarter of an hour at a time ? " " Well, it does seem somewhat problematical," we were forced to answer. " After living here summer and winter for six years," he said, " I have seen enough to satisfy me that there is a great sulphurous fire far down 36 THE NEW ELDORADO, m the earth below us, which, if the steam and power it acccumulates did not find vent through the hundreds of surface outlets distributed all over the Park, would seek one by a grand volcanic outburst." "Put your hand on the ground just here," he continued, as we walked over a certain spot where our footfall caused a reverberation and trembling of the soil. " It is almost too hot for the flesh to bear," we said, quickly withdrawing our hand. " Too hot ! I should say so. Now I don't be- lieve anything but a burning fire can produce such heat as that," he added, with an expression of the face which seemed to imply, " I don't believe you do either." " The original volcanic condition of this whole region seems also to argue in favor of your deduc- tions," we replied. "That's just what I tell 'em," continued the guide. " Them big fires that first did the business for this neighborhood are still smouldering down below. You may bet your life on that." This rather startling idea is emphasized by a smoking vent close at hand, which is also con- stantly sending forth superheated steam and sul- phurous gases, like the extinct volcano of Solfatara, near Naples. Sulphur crystals strew the ground, and are heaped up in small yellow mounds. NoL far away an intermittent geyser bursts forth every sixty seconds from a deep hole in the rock-bed of the basin, showing a stream of water six inches in ia»*«»** GIBBON PAINT POT BASIN. 37 team and t through d all over I volcanic here," he ;pot where trembling bear," we I don't be- oduce such sion of the relieve you this whole y^our deduc- itinued the he business lering down Li. isized by a is also con- iin and sul- 3f Solfatura, the ground, funds. NoL forth every rock-bed of jix inches in diameter, and sending the same skyward thirty or forty feet. Here also is a powerful geyser called the Monarch, which leaps into action with great regularity once in twenty-four hours, throwing a triple stream to the height of a hundred and thirty feet, and continuing to do so for the space of fif- teen or twenty minutes. Beneath the sun's rays all the colors of the prism are reflected iu this ver- tical column of water, and not infrequently the distinct arch of a rainbow is suspended like a halo about its crown. Nature, even in her most fantas- tic caprice, is always beautiful. There are several other high-reaching and pow- erful geysers in this vicinity, but we will not weary the reader by pausing to describe them. Gibbon Paint Pot Basin is next visited, being a most curious area, measuring some twenty acres, more or less, situated in a heavily-wooded district, not far from Gibbon Canon. Here is a most strange collection of over five hundred springs of boiling, splashing, exploding mud, exhibiting many distinct colors, which gives ris" to the name it bears. One pot is of an emc.aid green, another is as blue as turquoise, a tl> /. s as red as blood, a fourth is of orange yellow, another is of a rich cream color and consistency. The visitor is struck by the singularity of this ho' -spring system, which produces from vents so close together colors dia- metrically opposite. The earth is piled up about the seething pools, making small mounds all over the basin, and forming a series of pots of clay and silicious compounds. Near the entrance of Gibbon I. 88 THE NEW Ei DO. CaSon is a remarktible collection of extinct gey- sers ; the tall, slim, crystallized structures, origiimt- ing like the Liberty Cap already described, look like genii totem poles, corrugated by the finger of time, and forming significant monuments of by- gone eruptions, while the surrounding volcanoes were slowly exhausting their fury. Even about these long-extinct geysers there is an atmosphere indicating their former intensity, though it is quite possible they may have been sleeping for ten cen- turies. The locality known as t nver Geyser Basin is filled with striking and somewhat similar volcanic exhibitions, though there are more hot springs here than other phenomena, the aggregate number being a trifle less than seven hundred, including seventeen active geysers. In some respects this spot exceeds in interest those previously visited, being more readily surveyed as a whole. The variety of form and the large number of these springs are remarkable. As a rule they are less sulphurous and more silicious than those already spoken of. Here, as at the teiraces near the hotel, the last touch of beauty is -imparted by the sun's rays forcing themsehes through the white vapory clouds which are thrown off by the mysteriously heated waters. One of the large basins, meas- uring forty by sixty feet, is filled with a sort of porcelain slime, notable for its soft rose tints and delicate yellow hues, which are brought out with magic effect under a cloudless sky. This basin has an elevation of over seven thousand feet above MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN. 8^ the level of the sea, and is surrounded by heavily- timbered hills which are four and five hundred feet higher. Numerous as these springs and gey- sers are, each one is strongly individualized by some special feature which marks it as distinctive from the rest, atid renders it recognizable by the residents of the Park, but which, however inter- esting to the observing visitor, would only prove to be tedious if here described in detail. While sitting at twilight on the piazza of the rude little inn wliere we passed the night in this basin, there came out from the edge of the wood on to a broad green plateau a couple of long tailed mountain lions. They were not quite full grown, and were of a tawny color. These creatures, savage and danijerous enough under some circum- stances, seemed half tame and entirely fearless, playfully romping with each other, and exhibiting catlike agility. The proprietor of the inn told us that not long since, upon a dark night, they came to the house and attacked his favorite do^, killing and eating him, leaving only the bones to explain his disappearance in the morning. They, too, roust have read the regulations, " No firearms permitted in the Park." The Midway Geyser Basin is situated a few miles directly south of that just spoken of, and contains an extraordinary f^roup of hot springs, among which is the marvelous Excelsior Geyser, largest in the known world. It bursts forth from a pit two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, worn in the solid rock, and which is at all times nearly 40 THE NEW ELDORADO. full of boiling water, above which there is con- stantly floating a dense column of stcaui, which rising slowly is borne away and absorbed by the atmosphere. The water which flows so continu- ously over the brim has formed a series of terraces beaming with beautiful tints. This stupendous fountain is intermittent, giving an exhibition of its startling povveis at very irregular periods, when it is said to send up a column of water sixty feet in diameter to a height of from fifty to one hun- dred feet! So great is the sudden flood thus pro- duced in the Firehole River, which is here between seventy- five and a hundred yards broad, that it is turned for the time being into a furious torrent of steaming, half-boiling water. The E\2eisior has also a disagreeable and dangerous habit of throw- ing up hundred-pound stones and metallic debris with this great volume of water, while the sur- rounding earth vibrates in sympathy with the hidden power which operates so mysteriously. Visitors naturally hasten to a safe distance during these moments of extraf)rdinary activity. About midway between Firehole and the Upper Geyser Basin is a strange, unearthly, vaporous piece of low land, which is endowed with a name more expressive than elegant, being called "Hell's Half Acre." Here again it seems as if this spot is separated from the raging fires below by only the thinnest crust of earth, through which numer- ous boiling springs find riotous vent. The soil in many parts is burning hot, and echoes to the tread as though liable to open ;*.c any moment and HELL'S HALF ACRE. 41 swallow the ventui'esome stranger. During the season of 1888, a lady visitor who stepped upon a thin place sank nearly out of sight, ami though in- stantly rescued by her friends, she was so severely scalded as to be confined to her bed for a month and more at the Mammoth Springs Hotel. The air is filled with fumes of sulphur, and the place would seem to be appropriately named. There are forty springs in this " Half Acre," which, by the way, occupies ten times the space which tjje name indicates, where the seething and bubbling noise is like the ngonized wailirjg of lost spirits. The place has another, and perliaps better, desig- nation besides this satanic title, namely, Egeria Springs. Great is the contrast between the heav- ens above and the direful suggestions of the earth below, as we behold it under the serene beauty of the blue sky which prevails here in the summer months, and which renders camping out in the Park delightful. " You should come here during a thunder-storm," said our companion, who is a dweller in this region. " I have done so twice," he c«mtinued, ''simply to witness the fitness of the association: rolling thunder overhead and flashes of lightning in the atmosphere, through which the boiling vjvts, hissing pools, and steaming fissures are seen in full operation, as though they were a part and parcel o£ the electric turmoil agitating the sky." It is impossible to appreciate these various phe- nomena in a single hurried visit. Like the Falls of Niagara, or the Pyramids of Gizeh, they must 42 THE NEW ELDORADO. if lit: ;'■'!' 'Mi 11 become in some degree familiar to the observer before he will be able to form a complete, intelli- gent, and satisfactory impression which will re- main with him. On. «nnot grasp the full sig- nificance of such accumulated wonders at sight. We look about us among the green trees that bor- der the open areas, surprised to behold the calm sunshine, the tuneful birds, and the chattering squirrels, moved by their normal instincts, utterly regardless of these myriad surrounding marvels. The grandest spouting springs are to be found in Upper Geyser Basin, where tlu^re are twenty- five active fountains of this character. Here is situated the famous "Old Faithful," which, from a mound rising gradually about six or eight feet above the surrounding level, emi js a huge column of boiling water for five or six minutes in each hour with never-failing regularlt}', while it gives forth at all times clouds of ste-'tm and heated air. The height reached by the waters of this thermal fountain varies from eighty to one hundred and twenty feet, and it has earned its expressive name by never failing to be on time. It seemed, some- how, to be a more satisfactory representative of the spouting spring phenomenon than any other in the entire Park, though it would be diflBcult to say exactly why. Its prominent position, dominating the rest of the geysers of the basin, gives it special effect. Irrespective of all other similar exhibi- tions, the stately column of " Old Faithful " rises heavenward with splendid effect in the broad light of day, or in thn still hours of tlie night, once in THE BEEHIVE AND THE GIANTESS. 43 every sixty minutes, as uniformly as the rotation o£ the second-liand of a watch. The effect was ghostly at midnight under the sheen of the moon and the contrasting shadows of the woods near at hand, while not far away, across the Firehole River, the lesser geysers were exhibiting their er- ratic performances, casting up occasional crystal columns, which glistened in the silvery light like pendulous glass. There is quite a large group of geysers in this immediate vicinity, which perform with notable regularity at stated periods. There is one called the Beeiiive, because of its vent, which has a resemblance to an old-fashioned straw arti- cle of the sort, the crater being about three feet in height. The author saw this spring throw up a stream three feet in diameter nearly or quite two hundred vertical feet for eight or ten minutes, when it gradually subsided. There are over four hundred geysers and boiling springs in this basin. Among them is the Giantess, situated four hun- dred feet from the Beehive, which does not dis- play its powers oftener than once in ten or twelve days; but when the eruption does take place, it is said to exceed all the rest in the height which it attains and the length of time during which it operates. It has no raised crater, but comes forth from a vent even with the surface of the ground, thirty-four feet in length and twenty-four in width. When it is in action, so great is the force expended that miniature earthquakes are felt throughout the immediate neighboi-hood. There are seen, not far away, the Lion, Lioness, Young '. ti = al ill I 44 THE NEW ELDORADO. Faithful, the Grotto, the Splendid, etc., each one more or less operative. We have by no means enumerated all the active fountains in this basin, seeking only to designate their general character. However well prepared for the outburst, one can- not but feel startled when a geyser suddenly rises, mysteriously and ghost-like, close at hand, from out the deep bowels of the earth, its white form glowing taller and taller, while the spray expands like weird and shrouded arms. To heighten this sepulchral effect the atmosphere is full of sulphur- ous vapors, while strange noises fall upon the ear like subterranean thunder. What puzzling mys- teries Nature holds concealed in her dark, earthy bosom ! Let us not forget to mention, in this connection, one of the largest fountains of the Firehole Basin, namely, the Grand Geyser, which is placed next to the Excelsior in size and performance. This fountain has no raised cone, and operates once in about thirty-six hours. Of course the visitor is not able to see each and all of these strange foun- tains in operation. He might remain a month upon the ground and not do so ; consequently, he is obliged to take some of the dimensions and per- formances on trust ; but most of the statements which are made to him can easily be verified. When this Grand Geyser is about to burst forth, the deep basin, which is twenty feet and more across, first gradually fills with furiously boiling water until it overflows the brim ; then it becomes shrouded by heavy volumes of steam, out of which VARYING ACTION OF THE GEYSERS. 45 come several loud reports, like the discharge of a i;| small cannon, when suddenly the whole body of water is lifted, and a column ten or twelve feet < in diameter rises to a height of ninety feet, from the apex of which a lesser stream mounts many |,, feet higher, until the earth trembles with the force of the discharg'i and falling water as it rushes towards the river. This strange exhibition lasts for eiglit or ten minutes, then the fountain slowly subsides, with hoarse mutterings, like some re- treating and overmastered wild beast, growling sullenly as it disappears. It will thus be seen that these geysers vary greatly in their action, in the duration of their eruptions, and in the intervals which elapse be- tween the performances. Some of them labor as though the water was slowly pumped up from vast depths, some burst forth with full vigor to their highest point at once, while others become ex- hausted with a brief effort. There are a few that subside only to again commence spouting, being thus virtually continuous; but these are not of ■[' such power as to throw their streams to a great height. One group of this sort is called the Min- ute Men, some of which spout sixty times within the hour ; others eject small streams incessantly. This immediate valley is very irregular in sur- face and thickly wooded in parts, showing also the ruins of many extinct geysers. It is a dozen miles | long and between two and three wide, literally crowded with wonders from end to end. It con- tains a collection of boiling and spouting springs ] ■ ■ .-•^i^ ■ i'f i' ■^1 , i; 46 THE NEW ELDORADO. iu\ on a scale which would belittle all similar phenom- ena of the rest of the known world, could they be brought together. As the reader will have understood, the period of activity with all the geysers is more or less irregular, except in the instance of Old Faithful. We have no knowledge of a simultaneous erup- tion having ever taken place. Many of these active springs which now exist will, doubtless, sooner or later subside and new ones will form to take their places, a process which has been going on, no one can even guess for how many ages. CHAPTER IV. The Great Yellowstone Lake. — Myriads of Birds. — Solitary Beauty of the Lake. — The Flora of the Park. — Devastating Fires. — Wild Animals. — Grand Volcanic Centre. — Moun- tain Climbing and Wonderful Views. — A Story of Discovery. — Government Exploration of the Reservation. — Governor Washbiirn's Expedition. — " For the Benefit of the People at Large Forever." In the southern section of the Yellowstone Park, near its longitudinal centre, is one of the most beautiful yet lonely lakes imaginable, framed in a margin of sparkling sands, and surrounded by Al- pine heights. One stretch of the shore about five miles long is called Diamond Beach ; fhe volcanic material of which it is formed, being entirely ob- sidian, reflects the sun's rays like brilliant gems, while the beach is caressed by wavelets scarcely less bright. Surrounded by many wonders, the lake is itself a great surprise, lying in the bosom of rock-ribbed mountains at an elevation of nearly eight thousand feet above the sea. We know of but one other large body of water on the globe at any such height, namely, Lake Titioaca, in South America, famous in Peruvian history. The Yel- lowstone Lake is always of crystal clearness, and is fed from the eternal snow that piles itself up on the lofty peaks which surround it, and which are sharply outlined in all directions against the iii 48 THE NEW ELDORADO. blue of the sky. The outlet of the lake is tho Yellowstone River, which issues from the noithern end, while the Upper Yellowstone runs into it on the opposite side. The lake is twenty-two miles long by fifteen in width, and has an area of a hun- dred and fifty square miles. Its greatest depth is three hundred feet, and it is overstocked with trout, many of which, unfortimately, are infested by a parasitic worm which renders them unfit for food ; but this is not the case with all the fish ; a large portion are good and wholesome. Geologists find sufficient evidence to satisfy them that this lake, now narrowed to the dimensions just given, in ancient times covered two thirds of tlie present Park. Aquatic birds abound upon its broad sur- face, and build their myriad nests on its green islands. They are of many species, comprising geese, cranes, swans, snipe, mallards, teal, cur- lew, plover, and ducks of various sorts. Pelicans swim about in long white lines ; herons, in their delicate ash -colored plumage, stand idly on the shore, while ermine -feathered gulls fill the air with their loud and tuneless serenade. Hawks, kingfishers, and ravens also abound on the shore, the first-named watching other birds as they rise from the water with fish, which they make it their business, freebooter-like, to rob them of. The lake has many thickly-wooded islands, and there are several long, pine-covered promontories which stretch out in a graceful manner from the main- land, the whole forming a grand primeval solitude. Now and again a solitary eagle, on broad-spread YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 49 pinions, sails away from the top of some lofty pine on the mountain side to the deep green seclusion of the nearest island. li^ven the presence of this proud and austere bird only serves to emphasize the grave and solemn loneliness which rests upon the locality. It is a charming feature of this placid lake which causes it to gather into its bosom a picture of all things far and near : the clouds, " those playful fancies of the mighty sky," seem to float upon its surface ; the blue of the heavens is re- flected there ; the tall peaks and wooded slopes mirror themselves in its depths. As we look upon the lake through the purple haze of sunset, a pic- ture is presented of surpassing loveliness, tinted with blue and golden hues, which creep lovingly closer and closer about the quiet isles ; while there come from out the forest resinous pine odors, de- lightfully soothing to the senses, accompanied by the soft nmsio of swaying branches, and the low drone of insect life. To linger over such a scene is a joy and an in- spiration to the experienced traveler, who, in wandering hither and thither upon the globe, places an occasional white stone at certain points to which memory turns with never-failing pleas- ure. Thus he recalls a sunrise over the silvery peaks of the grand Himalayan range ; a thrilling view from the Mosque of Mahomet Ali at Cairo, localizing Biblical story ; or a summer sunset-glow on the glassy mirror of the Yellowstone Lake. Along the mountain side, east of the lake, are 60 THE NEW ELDORADO. ancient terraces, indented shorelines, and other evidences which clearly prove that, at no very remote geological period, the surface of this grand sheet of water was at least five or six hundred feet higher than it is at the present time. Nearly two hundred square miles of the Park are still covered by lakes. As to the flora of the Yellowstone Park, seventy- five per cent, of the whole area seems to be covered by dense forests, the black fir being the most plen- tiful, often growing to three or four feet in diam- eter and a hundred and fifty feet in height. The white pine is the most graceful among the indig- enous trees, and is always remarkable for its stately symmetrical beauty. The thick groves of balsam fir are particularly fine and fragrant, while the dwarf maples and willows are charming fea- tures as they mingle abundantly with larger and more pretentious trees. Wild flowers. Nature's bright mosaics, are found in great variety during the summer, th(>ui;h tliere is rarely a night in this neighborhood without frost, while the winters are truly arctic in temperature. The larkspur, col- umbine, harebell, lupin, and primrose abound, with occasional daisies and other blossoms. Yel- low water-lilies, anchored by their fragile stems, pvofusely sprinkle and beautify the surface of the shady pools. Exquisite ferns, lichens, and vel- vety mosses delight the appreciative eye in many a sylvan nook which is only invaded by squirrels and song-birds. Here, as in the valley of the Yosemite, it is i WILD ANIMALS. 61 1^ melanclioly to see the track of devastating firea caused by the hiilf-extinguished bhize left by care- less camping parties. Jt is difficult to realize how intelligent people can be so wickedly reckless as to causa such destruction. Many a forest mon- arch stands bereft of every limb by the devouring flames, and large areas are entirely denuded of growth other than the shrubbery which springs up quickly after a sweeping fire in the woods, as though Nature desired to cover from sight the devastating footsteps of the Fire King. The grasses grow luxuriantly, especially alpine, timo- thy, and Kentucky blue grass. There are many wild animals in the Park, such as elk, deer, antelope, big-horn sheep, foxes, buf- falo, and what is called the California lion, a small but rather dangerous animal for the hunter to encounter. The buffalo is rarely seen in the West, and it is said is now only to be found wild in this Park. The streams and creeks also swarm with otter, beaver, and mink. These animals are all protected by law, visitors being only permitted to shoot such birds as they can cook and eat in their camps, together with any species of bear they miiy chance to fall in with ; and there are several kinds of the latter animal to be found in the hills. At least this has been the case until lately ; but stricter rules have been found neces- sary, and no visitors are now permitted to take firearms with them while remaining in the Park. The purpose of the government is to strictly pre- serve the gauie, the effect of which has already 62 THE NEW ELDORADO. been to render the animals gathered here less shy of human approach, and to greatly incrt-ase their number. So abundant are the evidences of grand vol- canic action throughout the lake basin th;»t i' has been looked upon by scientists as the remains or centre of one enoruious crater forty miles across ! Dr. Hayden, the profound geologit,t, who was sent professionally by the government to report upon the Park, declares it to have been f.he former scene of volcanic activity as great as thiit of any part of this pi. net, a conclusion which the o't- server of to-day is quite ready to admit, inuoui .»ili as the subsidence has yet left enough of tht^ orig- inal forces to demonstrate the sleeping power which still lurks restlessly beneath the soil. We wonder, standing amid such remarkable surround- ings, how many centuries have passed since the valley assumed ita present shape. Everything is indicative of high antiquity, and it is probably rather thousands than hundreds of years since this volcanic centre was at it? mai '^'un power and activity. The vaP' )een partly exca- vated out of ancient ci ane rocks, artly out of later stratified forn >ns, • nd partly from masses of lava that were jioui d forth during a succession of ages whicli make up the different epochs of the earth's long history. The lowest level of the Park is about six thou- sand feet above the sea, and the average elevation, independent of mountains, is much over this es^'- mate. It is veiy properly designated as the sum- MOUNT WASHBURN. 63 mit of the continent, and gives rise to three of the largest rivers in Nortli Americji, namely : on the north side are tlie sources of the Yellowstone ; on the west, three of the forks of the Misyoiiri ; and on the southwest are the sources of the Snake River, which flows into the Cohimbia, and thence to the distant Pacific Ocean. If possible, before leaving the neighborhood, the visitor should ascend Mount Washburn, the higliest point of observation within the great reservation, a feat easily accomplished on horse- back. Such an excursion is particularly desirable since all the scenery of the Park is circumscribed while we are at the level of its springs, geysers, and lakes. The grand view from this elevation will repay all the time and effort expended in its accomplishnient. Its height above the base is five thousand feet, its height above the sea five thou- sand more. A clear day is absolutely necessary for the proper enjoyment of such an excursion, in order to bring out fairly the panorama of for- ests, lakes, priiries. n^d i^^ountains, decked by the golden glory of the sunshine. In some direc- tions the vision reaches a hundred and fifty miles through space. Here, on the summit of Mount Washburn, we virtually stand upon the apex of the North American continent, if we except one or two of the sky-reaching peaks of the Territory of Alaska. As we face the north, just before us lies the valley of the Yellowstone, and in the distance, looming far above its surroundings, is the tall 54 THE NEW ELDORADO. Emigrant Peak. To the eastward Index and Pilot peaks pierce the clouds, beyond which stretches away the Big Horn Range. In the west the summits of the Gallatin Mountains fol- low one another northward, while trending in the same direction, but farther towards the horizon, is the lofty Madison Range. We gaze until be- wildered by peak after peak, mountain beyond mountain, range upon range, mingling with each other, all combining to form a glorious view em- bodying the indescribably grand characteristics of the Rocky Mountain system, the equal of which we may never again behold. The tall range of mountains which girdle the Park are snow-covered all the year round, frigid, giant sentinels, which long pi'oved a complete barrier to organized exploration, forming an amphi- theatre of sublime and lonely scenery. The story of the discovery of this Wonderland is briefly told as follows : It seems that a gold-seeking prospector named Coulter made his way with infinite per- severance into th.e region in 1807, and after many hair-breadth escapes from Indians, wild beasts, poIsoMous waters, and starvation, finally succeeded in rejoining his comrades, whom he entertained with stories of vv);at he had seen, which seemed to them so incredible that they believed him to be crazv. Afterwards, first one and then another ad- venturer found his way iiither, and though each of them corroborated Coulter's story, they were by no means fully credited. IJut public attention and curiosity were thus aroused, leading the govern- GOVERNOR WASHBURN'S EXPEDITION. 55 ment to send Professoi* Haydon and a amall ex- ploring party to carefally examine the region. This enterprise not only corroborated the stories already made public, but greatly added to their volume and amazing detail. It was found that the representations of Coulter and those who followed him, so far from exaggerat- ing the wonders of the Yellowstone., in reality fell far below the truth. During the year 1870 Governor Washburn, accompanied by a small body of United States cavalry, entered the Park by the valley of the Yellowston*:, and thoroughly explored the canons, the shores of the great lake, and the geyser region of Firehole River, together with the various in- teresting localities oE which we have spoken. On returning he declared that the party had seen the greatest marvels to be found upon this continent, and that there was no other spot on tlie globe where there were crowded together so many natu- ral wonders, combined with so much beauty and grandeur. Finally Congress, foreseeing that the greed of speculators would lead tliem to monopolize this Wonderland for mercenary purposes, promptly took acticm in the matter, setting the region aside as a National Park and Reservation, for the benefit of the people at large forever, retaining the f(^e and control of the same in the name of the gov- ernment. Not many persons have ever attempted to traverse the Park in the winter season, but it has 56 THE NEW ELDORADO. been done by a few hardy and adventurous people, who nearly perished in the attempt. Such in'^i- viduals have reported that the raging snow-storms and blizzards which they encountered were on a scale quite equal to the other demonstrations and natural curiosities of the place. The trees in their neighborhood were beautifully gemmed with the frozen vapor of the geysers, and the heated springs seemed doubly active by the contrast between their temperature and that of the freezing atmos- phere. It was only by camping at night upon the very brink of these boiling waters that life could be sustained, with the atmosphere ai forty degrees below zero. One who comes hither with preconceived ideas of the peculiar sights to be met with is sure to be disappointed, not in their want of strangeness, for the Park is overstocked with curiosities having no counteipart elsewhere, but the features are so thoroughly unique that his anticipations are tran- scended both in the quality and the quantity of tlie food for wonder which is spread out before him on every side. CHAPTER V. Westward Journey resumed. — Queen City of the Monntains. — Crossing the Kockies. — Butte City, the Great Mining Centre. — Montana. — The Red Men, — About the Aborigines. — The Cowboys of the West. — A Successful Hunter. — Emigrant Teams on the Prairies. — Immense Forests. -Tuget Sound. — The Famous Stampede Tunnel. — Immigrntion. After a delightful, though brief, sojourn of ten clays in the Yellowstone Pai'k, realizing that twice that length of time might be profitably spent therein, we returned to Livingston, where the Northern Pacific Railroad was once more reached, and the westward journey promptly resumed. The Belt Ra^ige of mountains is soon crossed, at an elevation of over five thousand five hundred feet. A remarkable tunnel is also passed through, tlnee thousand six hundred feet in leugth, from which the train emerges into a grand canon, and soon arrives at the city of Bozeman. Tiiis place has ft thrifty and intelligent population of over five thousand, and is notable for its rural and pictur- esque surroundings, in the fertile Gallatin Valley, which is encircled by majestic ranges of moun- tains, shrouded in " white, cold, virgin snow." Having passed the point where the Madison and Jefferson rivers unite to form the headwaters of that great river, the Missouri, whence it starts 68 THE NEW ELDORADO. upon its long and winding course of over four thousand miles towards the Mexican Gulf, we arrive presently at Helena, the interesting capital of Montana. This is called the " Queen City of the Mountains," and is famous as a great and suc- cessful mining centre, the present population of which is about twenty thousand. It is said to be the richest city of its size in tlie United States, an assertion which we have good reasons for be- lieving to be correct. The vast mineral region surrounding Helena is unsurpassed anywhere for the number and richness of its gold and silver- bearing lodes, having within an area of twenty- five miles over three thousand such natural deposits, the ownership of which is duly recorded, and many of which are being profitably worked. The city is lighted by a system of electric lamps, and has an excellent water-supply from inex- haustible mountain streams. We were told an authentic story illustrating the richn<>ss of the soil in and about Hdenn, as a gold- bearing earth, which we repeat in brief. It seems that a resident was digging a cellar on which to place a foundation for a new dwelling- house, when a passing stranger asked permission to remove the pile of earth that was being thrown out of the excavation, agreeing to return one half of whatever value he could get from the same, after washing and submitting it to the usual treat- ment by which gold is extracted. Permission was granted, and the earth was soon removed. The citizen thought no more about the matter. Aftei- a NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY. 59 couple of weeks, however, the stranger returned and handed the proprietor of the ground thirteen hundred dollars as his half of the proceeds real- ized from the dirt casually thrown out upon the roadway in digging his cellar. Between Helena and Garrison the main range of the Rocky Mountains is crossed, and at an elevation of five thousand five hundred and forty feet the cars enter what is called the Mullan Tun- nel. This dismal and remarkable excavation is nearly four thousand feet long. From it the west- ern-bound traveler finally emerges on the Pacific slope, passing through the beautiful valley of the Little Blackfoot. The region tlirough which we were traveling stretches from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, on the Pacific coast, and spreads out for many miles on either side of the Northern Pacific Railroad, known as the " Northern Pacific Country." No portion of the United Sates ofxers more favorable opportunities for settlement, and in no other sec- tion is there as much desirable government land still open to preemption, presenting such a variety of surface, richness of soil, and wenlth of natural productions. Intelligent emigrants are rapidly appropriating the land of this very attractive region, but there is still enough and to spare. Europe may continue to send us her surplus popu- lation for fifty years to come at the same rate she has done for the past half century, and there will still be room enough in the great West and North- west to accommodate them. M 60 THE NEW ELDORADO. I I ' 'i .';• ii As we left the main track of the Northern Pp- cific Railroad at Livingston to visit the Yellow- stone Park, so at Garrison we again take a branch road to Butte City, situated fifty-five miles south- ward, and which is admitted to be the greatest mining city of the American continent. Here, on the western slope of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, stands the "Silver City," as it is gen- erally called, though one of its main features is its copper product, which rivals that of the Lake Superior district in quantity and quality, giving employment to the most extensive smelting works in the world. There are thirty thousand inhab- itants in Butte, and it is rapidly growing in terri- tory and population. Its citizens seem to be far above the average of our frontier settlers in intel- ligence and thrift. The Blue Bird silver mine is perhaps the richest in this locality, yielding every twelve months a million and a half of dollars in bullion ; while the Moulton, Alice, and Lexing- ton mines each produce a million dollars or more in silver yearly. There are several other rich mines, among them the Anaconda copper mine, which gives an aggregate each year larger in value than any we have named. The Parrott Copper Company, also the Montana and Boston Coj)per Company, each show an annual output of metal valued at a million of dollars. In place of there being any falling off in these large amounts, all of the mines are increasing their productiveness monthly by means of improved processes and enlarged mechanical facilities. Rut we have gone MONTANA. 61 sufRciently into detail to prove the assertion al- ready made, that Butte City is the greatest mining town on the continent. Eight tenths of its popu- lation is connected, either directly or indirectly, with mining. " It would seem that the United States form the richest mineral country on the globe," said an English fellow-traveler to whom these facts were being explained by an intelligent resident. " That has long been admitted," said the American. "And what country comes next?" asked the Englishman. *' Australia," was the reply. " But the United States," continued the American, " have another and superior source of wealth exceeding that of all other lands, namely, their agricultural ca- pacity. There are here millions upon millions of acres, richer than the valley of the Nile, which are still virgin soil untouched by the plow or harrow." Not mining, but agriculture forms the great and lasting wealth of our broad and fertile West- ern States, rich though they be in mineral deposits, especially of gold and silver. Before proceeding further on our journey, let us pause for a moment to consider the magnitude of this imperial State of Montana, which measures over five hundred miles from east to west, and which is three hundred miles from north to south, containing one hundred and forty-four thousand square miles. This makes it larger in surface 11 ',! it '•V"' Vi^ t 62 THE NEW ELDORADO. than the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Mary- land, Ohio, and Indiana combined. With its vast stores of mineral wealth and many other advan- tages, who will venture to predict its future possi- bilities? It would be difficult to exaggerate them. The precious metals mined in the State during the last year gave a total value of over forty million of dollars, which was an increase of six million over that of the preceding year. Between forty and fifty niillion dollars in value is anticipated as the result of the local mining enterprise for the current twelve months, and yet we consider this to be the second, not the first, interest of Montana; agriculture take the precedence. Returning to Garrison, after a couple of days passed at Butte City examining its extremely in- teresting system of mining for the precious metals, we once more resume our western journey. Along the less populous portions of the route groups of dirty, but picturesque looking Indians are seen lounging about, wrapped in fiery red blankets. These belong to various native tribes, such as the Sioux, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes. Bucks, squaws, and papooses gather about the small railroad stations, partly from cu- riosity, and partly because they have nothing else to do ; but they are ever ready to sell trifles of their own rude manufacture to travelers as sou- venirs, also gladly receiving donations of tobacco or small silver coins. The men are fat, lazy, and useless, scorning even the semblance of working THE WARDS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 63 for a livelihood, leaving the squaws to do the trading with travelers. These are " wards " of our government, who receive regular annuities of money and subsistence, including flour, beef, blan- kets, and so on. Support is thus insured to them so long as they live, and no American Indian was ever known to work for himself, or any one else, unless driven to it by absolute necessity. When the author first crossed these plains, nearly thirty years ago, before there was any transcontinental railroad, the Indian tribes were very different people from what we find them to- day. The men were tiiin in flesh, wiry, active, and constantly on the alert. They were ever ready for bloodshed and robbery when they could be perpetrated without much danger to themselves. Contact with civilization has changed all this. They have become fat and lazy. They have bor- rowed the white man's vices, but have ignored his virtues. When not fighting with the pale faces, the tribes were, thirty and forty years ago, incessantly at war with each other, thus actively promoting the fate which surely awaited them as a people. Their pride, even to-day, is to display at their belts not only the scalps of white men and women taken in belligerent times, but also the scalps of hostile tribes of their own race. We believe most sincerely in fulfilling all treaty obligations between our government and the In- dians, to the very letter of the ccmtract, nor have we any doubt that our official agents have often been unfaithful in the performance of their duties; 64 THE NEW ELDORADO. i /I i i /i! k^ ' C! n but wlien we attempt to create saints and martyrs out of the Red Men, we are certainly forcing the canonizing principle. They are entitled to as much consideration as the whites, but they are not entitled to more. They are crafty and cruel by nature ; this is, perhaps, not their fault, but it is their misfortune. Nothing is really gained in our fine-spun moral theories by attempting to de- ceive ourselves or others. The plain truth is the best. A little way from the railroad station on the open prairie the camps of these aborigines may often be seen, consisting of a few rude budalo hides or canvas tents, while a score of rough look- ing ponies are grazing hard by, tethered to stakes driven into the soil. Here and there in front of a tent an iron kettle, in whicli a savory compound of meat and vegetables is simmering, hangs upon a tripod above a low fire buiit on the ground, presided over by some ancient squaw, all very much like a gypsy camp by the roadside in far off Granada. The male aborigines wear semi-civilized cloth- ing made of dressed deerskins, and woolen goods indiscriminately mixed ; their long coarse black hair, decked with eagle's feathers, hangs about their necks and faces, the latter often smeared with yellow ochre. Now and then a touch of manliness is seen in the bearing and facial expres- sion of the bucks ; but the larger number are de- bauched and degraded specimens of humanity, who impress the stranger with some curiosity, but i COWBOYS. 66 with very little interest. Like the gypsies of Spain, they are incorrii^ible nomads, detesting the ordinary conventionuiities of civilized life. The Indian women are clad in leather leggings, bine woolen skirts and waists, having striped blankets gathered loosely over their shoulders. No one can truthfully ascribe the virtue of cleanliness to these squaws. The papooses are strapped in flat baskets to the mothers' backs, being swathed, arms, legs, and body, like an Egyptian mumtny, and are as silent even as those dried-up remains of humanity. Whoever heard an Indian baby cry ? The mothers set ned to be kind to the little creatures, whose faces, like those of the Eskimo babies, are so fat that they can hardly open their eyes. We are sure to see about these railroad stations in the far West an occasional " cowboy," clad in his fanciful leather suit cut after the Mexican style, wearing heavy spurs, and carrying a ready revolver in his belt. His long hair is covered by a broad felt sombrero, and he wears a high-col- ored handkerchief tied loosely about his neck. He enjoys robust health, is sinewy, clear-eyed, and in- telligent in every feature, leading an active, open- air life as a herdsman, and being ever ready for an Indian fight or a generous act of self-abnegation in behalf of a comrade. He will not object on an occasion to join a lynching-party who happen to have in hand some horse-thief or a murderous scoundrel who has long successfully defied the laws. These cowboys are splendid horsemen, sit- T I!. \h^ 66 THE NEW ELDORADO. n ting their high -pommeled Mexican saddles like the Arabs. They are oftentimes educated young men, belonging to respectable Eastern families, seeking a brief experience of this wild, exposed life, simply from a love of independence and ad- venture. They are chivalric, and nearly always to be found on the side of justice, however quick they may be in the use of the revolver. Their life is spent amid asHociations, and in regions, where the slow process of the law does not meet the exigencies constantly occurring. The reader may be assured that they are nevertheless gov- erned by a sense of " wild justice," in which an element of real equity predominates. To realize the skill which they acquire, one must see half a dozen of them join together in " rouiuling up " a herd of several hundred cattle, or wild horses, scattered and feeding on the prairie, and from the herds collect and sort out the animals belonging to different owners, all being distinctly branded with hot irons when brought from Texas or elsewhere. In doing this it is often necessary to lasso and throw an animal while the operator is himself in the saddle and his horse at full gallop. No eques- trian feats of the ring equal their daily perform- ances, and no Indian of the prairies can compare with them for daring and successful horseman- ship. Indeed, an Indian is hardly the equal of a wiiite man in anything, not even in endurance. "An intelligent white man can beat any Indian, even at his own game," says Buffalo Bill. Each one of the aborigines has his pony, and some have PRAIRIE SCnOONERS. 67 two or three, but they are as a rule of a poor breed, overworked and underfed. They are never housed, never supplied with grain, but subsist solely upon the coarse bunch gruss of the prairie. The poor, uncared-for animals which are seen as described about the natives' encampments tell their own doleful story. The Indian ponies and the squaws are alike always abused. As we cross these plains straggling emigrant teams are often seen, called " prairie schooners." The wagons as a rule are much the worse for wear, being surmounted by a rude canvas cover- ing, dark and mildewed, under which a wife and four or five children are generally domiciled. A few domestic utensils are carried in, or hung upon the body of, the vehicle, — a tin dipper here, a wuter-pail there, a frying-pan in one place, and an iron kettle in another. These wagons are usually drawn by a couple of sorry-looking horses, and sometimes by a yoke of oxen. Beside the team trudges the father and husband, the typical pioneer farmer, hardy, independent, self-reliant, bound west to find means of support for himself and brood. Many such are seen as we glide swiftly over the iron rails, causing us to realize how steadily the stream of humanity flows west- ward, spreading itself over the virgin soil of the new States and Territories, and producing a growth in population no less legitimate than it is rapid. These pioneers are almost invariably farmers, and by adhering to their calling are sure to make at least a comfortable living. " G8 THE NEW ELDORADO. Wliile stopping at a watering-place in the early morning, the picturesque figure of a hunter was seen with rifle in hand. Over his shouhler hung the body of an antelope, while some smaller game WHS secured to his leathern belt. He had just cap- tJired these in the wild brown hills wliich border the plateau where our train had stopped. Coop- er's l^eather-Stocking Tales were instantly sug- gested to the mind of the observer, as he watched the careless, graceful attitude and bearing of the rugged frontiersman, whose entire unconsciousness of the unique figure which he presented was espe- cially noticeable. After traveling more than five hundred miles in Montana, which is surpassed in size only by Alaska and Dakota, we enter northern Idaho, at- tractive for its wild and picturesque scenery, — a territory of mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and prairies combined, second only to Montana in its mineral wealth, and possessing also some of the choicest agricul.ural districts in the great West, where Nature herself freely bestows the best of irrigation in uniform and abundant rains. While traveling in Idaho we find that the route passes through a magnifiijent forest region, where the trees measure from six to ten feet in diameter, and are of colossal height, such growing timber as would challenge comment in any part of the world, consistirjg mostly of white pine, cedar, and hemlock. We soon cross into the State of Washington,, its northern boundary being Ijiitish Columbia I SPOKANE FALLS. 69 and its southern boundary Oregon, from whicli it is separated tor more than a hundred miles of its length by the Columbia River. Its form is that of ;.\ parallelogram, fronting upon the Pacific Ocean for about two hundred and fifty miles, and liaving a length from east to west of over three hundred and sixty miles. This State has im- mense agricultural arei,s, as well as being rich in coal, iron, and timbei. We pause at Spokane Falls for a day and night of rest. It is on the direct line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and is the principal city of eastern Washington, having the largest and best water-power on the Pacific slope. Government engineers report the water fall here to exceed two hundred thousand horse- power, a small portion only of which is yet im- proved, and that as a motor for large grain and flouring mills. Here we find a thrifty business community nrmbering over twelve thousand, the streets traversed by a horse railroad, and the place having electric lights, gas and public water works, with a Methodist and a Catholic college. It com- mands the trade of what is termed the Big Bend country and the Palonse district, and is the fitting- out place for the thousands of minors engaged in Cffiur d'Alene County. In spite of the late dis- astrous fire which she has experienced, Spokane, like Seattle, will rapidly rise from her ashes. Official reports show that over nine million acres of this State are particularly adapted to the rais- ing of wheat. Our route, after a brief rest at Spokane Fulls, lies through Palouse County, where 70 THE NEW ELDORADO. this cereal is raised in quantities proportionately larger than even in Dakota, and at a considerably less cost. Thirty-five to forty bushels of wheat to the acre is considered a royal yield in Dakota and the best localities elsewhere, but here fifty bushels to the acre are pretty sure to rev»^ard" the cultivator, and even this large amount is soiae- tinies exceeded. One enthusiastic observer and writer declares that Palouse County is destined to destroy wheat-growing in India by vi .' of its immense crops, its favorable seasons, iu '■'■ momy of production, and its proximity to the seaboard. In the western part of the State, on Puget Sound, the lumber business is the most ir.iportant industry, giving profitable employment to thou- sands of people. The productive capacity of the several sawmills on the sound is placed at two mil- lion feet per day, and all are in active operation. A new one of large proportions was also observed to be in course of construction. The forests which produce the crude material are practically inex- haustible. The pines are of great size, ranging from eight to twelve feet in diameter, and from two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet in height. No trees upon this continent, except the giant conifers of the Yosemite, surpass these in magnitude. United States surveyors have de- clar«»d, in their printed reports, that this State eontains the finest body of timber in the world, and that its forests cover an area larger than the entire State of Maine. The most productive hop districts that are IN I: I IMMIGRATION. 71 known anywliere are to be found in the broad valleys of this State, where hop-growing has be- come a great and increasing industry, yielding remarkable profits upon the money invested and the labor required to market the crop. The course of the railroad is lined with these gorgeous fields of bloom, hanging on poles fifteen feet in height, phinted with mathematical regularity. Large fruit orchards of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and other varieties are seen flourishing here ; and residents speak confidently of fruit rais- ing as being one of the most promising future in- dustries of this region, together with the canning and preserving of the fruits for use in Eastern markets. We are reminded, in this connection, that the United States crop reports also repre- sent Washington as producing more bushels of wheat to the acre than any other State or Terri- tory within the national domain. This grand region of the far northwestern portion of our country is three hundred miles long, from east to west, and two hundred and forty miles from north to south, giving it an area in round numbers of seventy thousand square miles. That is to say, it is nearly as large as the States of New York and Pennsylvania combined. The immigration pouring into the new State of Washington is simply enormous, its aggregate for the year 1889 being estimated at thirty-five thousand persons, the majority of whom come hither for agricultural purposes, and to establish permanent homes. One train observed by the BHl 72 THE NEW ELDORADO. V (\ If',; i! ■^l author consisted of nine second-class cars filled entirely with Scandinavians, that is, people from Norway and Sweden, presenting an appearance of more than average sturdiness and intelligence. As the Pacific coast is approached we come to the famous Stampede Tunnel, which is nearly ten thousand feet long, and, with the exception of the Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts, the longest in America. On emerging from the Stampede Tun- nel the traveler gets his first view of Mount Tacoma, rising in perpendicular height to nearly three miles, the summit robed in dazzling white- ness throughout the entire year. 3 III ■ i'; liMh I CHAPTER VI. Mount Tacomn. — Terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. — Great Inland Sea. — City of Taconia and its Marvelous Growth. — Coal Measures. — The Modoc Indians. — Embark- ing for Alaska. — The Kapidly Growing Ciiy of Seattle. — Tacoma with its Fifteen Glaciers. — Something about Port Townsend. — A Chance for Members of Alpine Clubs. The city of Tacoraa takes its name from the grand towering mountain, so massive and sym- metrical, in sight of which it is situated We cannot but regret that the newly formed State dii not assume the name also. This is the western terminus of €ke ^forthprn Pacific Railroad, and is destined to become a great commercial port in the near future, being situated so advantagtK)usly at the kt^ad of the sound, less than two hundred miles ff*>«n the Pacific Ocean. Its well-arranged system of wharves is already a mile and a half lori^^, while there is a sufficient depth of water in any part of the sound to admit of safely mooring the largest 8hij:>s, The reports of the United Statts Coast Survey describe Puget Sound as having sixteen hundred miles of shore line, and a surface of two thf«isai!*d st^uare miles, thus forming a gTMMl inland •!«, smooth, serette. and still, often appropriaiteh spoken of as tbe Medit»'rranean ■»( the North Pacific. It is in- -74 THE NEW ELDORADO. 1 n dented with many bays, harbors, and inlets, and receives into its bosom the waters of numerous streams and tributaries, all of which are more or less navigPi.ble, and upon whose banks are estab- lished the homes of many hundred thrifty farmers. History shows that long ago, before any Pil- grims landed at Plymouth, Spanish voyagers planted colonies on Puget Sound. From them the Indians of these shores learned to grow crops of cereals, though according to the ingenious Igna- tius Donnelly's "Atlantis" they brought the art from a lost continent. Puget Sound may be described as an arm of the Pacific which, running through the Strait of Fuca, extends for a hundred miles, more or less, southward into the State of Washington. Nothing can exceed the beauty of these deep, calm waters, or their excellence for the purpose of navigation ; not a shoal exists either in the strait or the sound that can interfere with the progress of the largest ironclad. A ship's side would strike the shore before her keel would touch the bottom. Storms do not trouble these waters ; such as are frequently encountered in narrow seas, like the Straits of Magellan, and heavy snow-storms are unknown. The entire ex- panse is deep, clear, and placid. Tacoma has about thirty thousand inhabitants to-day ; in 18S0 it had seven hundred and twenty ! The assessed valuation eight years ago was half a million dollars. It is now over sixteen mil- lion dollars, and this aggregate does not quite represent the rapid increase oi real estate. Here, T A CO MA. 76 montlis have witnessed more growth Jiiid progress in permanent business wealth and value of prop- erty than years in the history of our Eastern cities. At this writing there is being built a large and architecturally grand opera house of stone and brick which will cost quarter of a million dollars, besides whiiih the author counted over forty stone and brick business edifices in course of construc- tion, and nearly a hundred two and three story frame-houses for dwelling purposes, of handsome modern architectural designs. Away from the business centre of the city the residences are uni- versally beautiful, with well-kept lawns of ex- quisite green, and small charming flower gardens fragrant with roses, syringas, and honeysuckles, mingling with pansies, geraniums, verbenas, and forget-me-nots. It is astonishing what an air of leisure and refinement is imparted to these dwell- ings by this means, — an air of retirement and cul- ture, amid all the surrounding bustle and rush of business interests. The city claims an ocean commerce surpassed in volume by no other port on the Pacific except San Francisco. Its substantial and well- arranged brick blocks, of both dwellings and storehouses, lining the broad avenues, are suggestive of per- manence and commercial importance, while a gen- eral appearance of thrift prevails in all of the surroundings. Pacific Avenue is noticeably a fine thoroughfare, — the prin. 6^ ^ rv 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 873-4503 # # >> L

ny ancient myths are told by these im- aginative aborigines. For more than twenty-four hours after sailing from Victoria the irregular, kelp-fringed shore of Vancouver, which is three hundred miles long, is seen on our left, until presently the largo, iron- bearing island of Texada, with its tall suiomit, appears on the right of our course. The magnetic ore found here in abundance is of such purity as to render it suitable for the manufacture of the highest grade of steel, and it is shipped to the furnaces at Seattle and elsewhere for this purpose. It is found in pursuing the voyage northward that the fierce tide- way prevailing in some of the deep, narrow channels produces such turbulent rapids that steamers are obliged to wait for a favorable condition of the waters before attempt- ing their passage, as the adverse current runs at 102 THE NEW ELDORADO. the rate of nine miles an hour. This was espe- cially the case in the Seymour Narrows, which is about nine hundred yards wide, and situated at no great distance from Nanaimo, in the Gulf of Georgia. It is a lax more tumultuous water-way, at certain stages of the tide — which has a rise and fall of thirteen feet — than the famous Mael- strom on the coast of Norway. The latter is also caused by the power of the wind and tide, though it was long held as the mystery and terror of the ocean. The author remembers in his school geography a crude woodcut, which depicted a ship being drawn by some mysterious power into a gaping vortex of the ocean, and already half submerged. It was intended to represent the terrible perils of passing too near the Maelstrom, off the Lofoden Islands. In after years he sailed quietly across this once dreaded spot in the North Sea, without experiencing even an extra lurch of the ship. Thus do the marvels and terrors of youth melt away. Travel and experience make great havoc in the wonderland of our credulity, and yet modern discovery outdoes in reality the miracles of the past. A powerful steamer which attempted to pass through the Seymour Narrows at an unfavorable state of the water, last season, was unable to make way against the current, and came near being wrecked. By crowding on all steam she succeeded in holding her position until the wa- ters subsided, though she made no headway for NANAIMO. 103 two hours. It was here that the United States steamer Saranac was lost a few years since, being caught at disadvantage in the seething waters, and forced upon the inid-chaniiel rocks. Her hull now lies seventy fathoms below the surface of the sea. Since this event took place the United States ship Suwanee struck on an unknown rock farther north, and was also totally wrecked. Per- haps after a few more national vessels are lost in these channels our government will awaken from its lethargy, and have a proper survey made and reliable charts issued of this important coast and its intricate water-ways. A single ves- sel is now engaged in this survey, but half a dozen should be employed in Alaskan waters. Nanaimo is situated on the east side of Vancou- ver Island, seventy miles from Victoria, with which it is connected by railroad. It is a thrifty little town, mainly supported by the coal interest, though there are two or three manufacturing es- tablishments. The extensive coal mines in ita neighborhood are of great value, and are con- stantly worked. These coal deposits are of the bituminous sort, particularly well adapted for steamboat use, and are so situated as to facilitate the growing commerce of these islands. Many thousands of tons are shipped during the summer months to San Francisco. We are told that It cost the proprietors of these coal mines one dollar and a half a ton to place the product on board steamers, which on arriving at San Francisco fetches from twelve to fifteen dollars per ton. 104 THE NEW ELDORADO. Thore are five mines worked here, giving employ- ment to some two tliousand men, who receive two dollars and a half per day as laborers. There is not a lighthouse npon any headland amid all of these meandering channels, though it must be admitted that navigation is rarely im- peded for want of light in summer, as one can see to read common print at midnight upon the ship's deck without artificial aid any time during the traveling or excursion season of the year. Now and again we look ahead inquiringly as we thread the labyrinth of islands and wonder how egress is possible from the many mountainons cliffs rising, sullen and frowning, directly in the steam- er's course. The exit from this maze is. quite in- visible ; but presently there is a swift turn of the wheel, the rudder promptly responds, and we gracefully round a projecting point into another lonely, far-reaching charnel framed by granite peaks a thousand feet in height. At night, when all but the watch were sleep- ing, how gaunt and weird stood forth those tall, black sentinel ro» ks, past which we were gliding so silently, while t 'erheHd was spread the broad firmanent of space, 'mly lighted by heaven's dis- tant lamps ! How b ^gestive the dark, myste- rious shadows ! how act. e the imagination ! Was the atmosphere indeed eopled with the invisible spirits of bygone ages? Did the air-waves vibrate with the history of the long, long past, the un- known story of these silent fjords and deep water gorges ? Is it only thousands, or tens of thou- THE GULF OF GEORGIA. 105 sands, of years since the first liuman beings ap- peared and disappears I among these now wild, untrodden shores? The inlets which are found at the head of tlie Gulf of Georgia, northeast of Vancouver Island, '^re miniature Norwegian fjords, deeper and darker than the sombre Saguenay ; a himdred and eighty fathoms of line will not reach the bottom. They are from forty to sixty miles in length, with an average width of nearly two miles, being walled by abrupt mountains from four to seven thousand feet in height. A grand elevation, whose name has escaped us, stands eight thousand feet above the sea at the head of Butte Inlet, while Mount Alfred, at the head of Jarvis Inlet, is still higher. A remarkable feature of these elongated arms of the sea is their great depth, some of them meas- uring over three hundred f^'thoms. It is a popu- lar idea that the phosphorescence of the sea is exhibited in its strongest effect in the tropics ; but we have seen in the Gulf of Georgia, after sunset, so brilliant an illumination from this cause that it was only comparable to liquid fire, quite equal in intensity to anything the author has wit- nessed in the Indian Ocean or the Caribbean Sea. It is impossible to convey by the pen an idea of the novel splendor of the scene. A drop of this flame- like water, dipped from the sea in equatorial or Arctic waters and placed under the microscope is found to be teeming with the most curious living and active organisris. These myriads of tiny creatures are so minute that, were it not for the 136 THE NEW ELDORADO. ' \ revelations of the microscope, \7e should not even know of their existence. i^.^* are these infini- tesimal objects the smallest representatives of ani- mal life ; glasses of greater power will show still more diminutive creatures. Persons who are accustomed to make sea-voy- ages do not forget to supply themselves with a good but inexpensive microscope, for use on ship- board. The abundant specimens of minute ani- mal and vegetable life which the sea affords, form a source of instructive amusement by which many otherwise monotonous hours are pleasantly beguiled. A little familiarity with the instru- ment enables one to profitably entertain a whole ship's company with its powers. In the region between Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Island we cross an open reach of the sea, and while the Pacific swell tosses us about after the usual erratic fashion of its unpacific waters, we observe a few ocean sights which serve pleas- antly to vary the experience of the trip. A school of humpback whales put in an appearance, full of sport and frolic, in such extraordinary numbers that three or four are seen in the act of spouting all the while. In spots the sea is yellow, where its surface is covered for acres together with that animated food for other piscatory creatures, the jelly-fish. The shining, furry head of a sea-lion comes up to the surface now and again, gazing curiously at us with big, glassy eyes, and turning its face nimbly from side to side. A school of porpoises play about the hull of the steamer, leap- ON THE PACIFIC. 107 ing high out of the water and falling back again in graceful curves. The only shark we chanced to meet with on the entire voyage was observed in our wake just before entering Smith's Sound, south of Calvert Island. In this region the huge gona-bird was seen sailing slowly on the wing, re- calling the albatross of the low latitudes in its long, lazy sweeps, as well as by its size and grace- fulness. These bird-monarchs of the north meas- ure eight feet from tip to tip, and glide with or against the wind on their broad, outspread pin- ions without the least visible muscular exertion, a mystery of motive power which is sure to chal- lenge the observer's curiosity. In the narrow pass-iges the tall peaks, arched by the soft gi'ay of the clouds and the clear blue of the sky, cast deep shadows where the water looked like pools of ink, whose blackness intensi- fied the fact of their great but unknown depth. The American whalers have never been accus- tomed to seek their big game in these immediate waters, preferring to attack the leviathans in lesser depths, such as the waters of Behring Sea, or far- ther north in the vicinity of the strait, between the frozen ocean and the North Pacific. There, if a whale dove after being struck by the harpoon, he was sure very soon to fetch up in the muddy bottom ; but here, among the channels of the isl- a:.ds, he might dive, and dive again, to almost any depth, and unless great care was taken he was lia- ble in his lightning-like velocity to carry down with him a whole boat's crew and all their be- 108 THE NEW FLDORAr)0. longings. Were it not that the whaling industry has gradually declined here, as it has done in all other sections of the globe, the possession of Alaska, with its great number of safe harbors, would be an invaluable boon to those of our coun- trymen engaged in that branch of commercial en- terprise. Inland sea travel is the perfection of steamboat- ing, but the rapidly-clianging landscape of these wild Alaskan shores, rimmed with sharp volcanic peaks, at last wearies the senses, and one is forced to seek a brief intermission by finding rest in sleep, only, however, to again renew the charm with greater zest on the morrow. m\ CHAPTER VIII. Steamship Corona and her Passengers. — The New Eldorado. — The Greed for Gold. — Alaska the Synonym ■•' Glacier Fields. — Vegetation of the Islands. — Aleutian Islands. — Attoo our most Westerly Possession. — Native Whalers. — Life on the Island of Attoo. — Unalnska — Kodiuk, former Capital of Russian America. — The Greek Church. — Whence the Na- tives originally came. Our journey through that portion of Alaska known as the Inland Sea was made in the steam- ship Corona, Captain Carroll, a commander who has had long experience in these waters. His pleasure seemed to lie in the degree of enjoy- ment which he could afford his passengers, and the amount of information which he was enabled to impart to them. There were on board the Co- rona the members of a large excursion party con- ducted by Raymond & Whitcomb of Boston, numbering some eighty persons. We have rarely Been together a large party of ladies and gentle- men embracing so many cultured and agreeable persons. They had already occupied some weeks in a tour of Mexico and southern California. It was exceedingly pleasant to see the courtesy and consideration exercised among them towards eacli other, — amenities which go so far to lighten the inevitable inconveniences of travel, and to en- hance its enjoyments. Oftentimes friendships are 110 THE NEW ELDORADO. 1 1 formed under such circumstances which continue through every exigenc}' to the very end of life. Having reached latitude 54° 40' (the fifty-four forty or fight of 1862), we come to the boundary line between British Columbia and the United States, Dixon Entrance being on the left and Fort Tongas on the right. Here the far-reaching Port- land Canal, or more properly channel, penetrates the mainland for a great distance, precisely like the Norwegian fjords, presenting, with its various arms, stupendous watery carions, whence arise mountain precipices thousands of feet high on either side of the deep narrow course, their heads shrouded in perpetual snow. This channel, or fjord, runs nearly due north, and forms a boundary line to its head between the English and United States possessions. Opposite and just south of Fort Tongas lies Fort Simpson, on British soil, and close at hand is Metla-katla, where that self-sacrificing mission- ary, Mr. Duncan, gathered and established a vil- lage of a thousand Christian residents from the various savage tribes of the vicinity. By his indi vidual effort, with almost miraculous success, he raised from the lowest depths of barbarous life a law-abiding, religious, industrious, and self-sup- porting community, who justly considered him their moral and physical savior. Official persecu- tion drove Mr. Duncan from Metla-katla to the nearest available American island, namely, An- netta, lying some sixty miles northward. Eight hundred of these aborigines whom he had re- ii THE METLA-KATLA INDIANS. Ill claimed from savage life and its terrible practices have followed him with their families, freely aban- doning all their property and improvements at Metla-katla, and are now struggling to create for themselves a new and permanent home under the United States. The Senate committee, whose members lately visited Alaska, made a call at Annetta, and ♦'found," as one of its members writes to the press, *' the Indians living in an apparent condition of contentment, and engaged in almost all the pur- suits of the whites. Their execution of artistic designs upon silver wrought by themselves into bracelets, rings, and all kinds of jewelry is mar- velous. Baskets made in brilliant colors from stripped reeds constitute a beautiful and artistic employment of most of the women of the tribe. Their particular ambition is their anxiety to pos- sess lands in severalty, or to have certain parcels set aside for them, that they may cultivate and hold in individual right. They ask that the whole of G ravine Island be given to their tribe. They found the state of the morals^of the Indian women at Annetta, or, as they call it. New Metla-katla, far above the average of Indian women of this Terri- tory. At Sitka the committee visited the habita- tions of the Indians, and learned much from per- sonal intercourse as to their habits and needs. It was found that the companionship and virtue of the women is a matter of simply dollars and cents, and not difficult to negotiate for." "The committee were surprised to observe such .'If *• I I ill ( I I >■>■ I > I il 112 THE NEW ELDORADO. an apparent freedom from rowdyism, quarrels, and disturbances of any character in any portion of the Territory, and remarked the entire absence of six- shooters about the person of a single individual, a feature always so prorainant in the mining camps of the West." Until Alaska — The New Eldorado — came into our possession, it was from the persistent and adventurous fur-traders that our k..>jwledge of the country was^ almost solely obtained. To most of the public it was (and is still to many) scarcely more than a geographical expression, occupying an insignificant space on the extreme northwest portion of the maps of North America, without any regard being paid to the scale on which the other States and Territories of the country are deline- ated. The fact nevertheless stares us in the face, that Alaska is nearly as large as the whole of the United States lying east of the Mississippi River, or three times as large as France. Within the last twenty years greater intelligence has been shown, in part through missionaries, — self-sacrificing and devout men, — who have sought by their teachings to abolish the wild superstitions of the natives, together with their cruel rites of Shamanism. Or- ganized companies of explorers, as well as enter- prising miners and prospectors, have also liberally furnished us with general information relating to this great outlying province, which has been found to be so full of mineral wealth and future promise. But so vast is the Territory, so varied the climate, and 80 undeveloped are the means of access to its ( 1 AGENTS OF PROGRESS IN ALASKA. 113 several parts, that our information as regards de- tail is still very meagre. There are not ten miles of roadway in all of Alaska outside of the island of Kodiak ; or rather, we should say, the island just opposite Kodiak, namely, Wood Island, which has a road constructed completely round it, cov- ering a dozen n)ilcs or thereabouts. The only road at Sitka is not over a mile and a half in length, and these two are the only ones in this vast Territory. Two objects of commercial gain, the profitable fur-trade and seeking for gold, have been the great agents of progress and development thus far in Alaska. In a like manner it was the greed for gold that first sent the Spaniards to Mex- ico and Peru ; in pursuit of the lucrative fur-traf- fic the French and Britons opened the way for civilization in Canada. Here in Alaska it will not be philanthropy, — some of whose noblest ex- ponents are upon the ground, — but self-interest; not government enterprise, but the seeking for precious metals, which will gradually unfold the great wealth and resources of this extensive prov- ince, whose area is greater than the thirteen orig- inal States of this Union. The hope of commer- cial gain has doubtless done nearly as much for the cause of truth and progress as the love of truth itself. The course of multitudes, guided by the natural instinct of selfishness, will be overruled by a higher power for the general good. The very name of Alaska has to the popular ear a ring of glacier fields and snow-clad peaks, conveying a frigid impression of the climate quite 114 THE NEW ELDORADO. Ji '' » contrary to fact. The most habitable portions of the country lie between 55° and 60° north, about the same latitude as that of Scotland and south- ern Scandinavia, but the area of this portion of Alaska is greater than that of both these coun- tries combined. The name is derived from Al- ay-ck-sa, which was given to the mainland by the aborigines, and which signifies " great coun- try." On the old maps it is very properly desig- nated as Russian America, and so it really was until its transfer from the possession of that gov- ernment to our own. It was at the request of Charles oumner, whose able, eloquent, and con- sistent advocacy did so much towards its acquire- ment, that the aboriginal title of Alaska was adopted. The portion of the country which is at present visited by excursionists is the south- easterr coast line and the archipelago of the Sit- kan Islands or Alexander group. If one desires to reach the vast country and islands lying to the west and northwest, the proper way to do so is to sail direct from San Francisco for Unalaska and Kodiak. The last named island lies south of Cook's Inlet, one of the most remarkable volcanic regions in the Territory. Sitka is five hundred and fifty miles to the eastward of Kodiak. Cook's Inlet is well named, as the great discoverer sailed to its very head in 1778, being the first white man who ever did so, and, indeed, few have done it since. This was while he was prosecuting his vain search for a northwest passage around the continent of America. The finest and largest li DOMESTIC GARDENING IN KODIAK. 115 salmon which were ever known are taken in Cook's Inlet, reaching the weight of one hundred pounds in some instances, and measuring six feet in length. The island of Kodiak is also famous for its excellent and abundant salmon fisheries. In 1874 a committee from the Icelandic resi- dents of Wisconsin, aided by our government, made an excursion to Alaska to determine whether it would be advisable to recommend their people in Iceland to seek homes in and about Kodiak. The report of this committee, which consisted of three experienced and intelligent men, was pub- lished from the government printing-office in Washington, and from it we quote as follows : — " Potatoes grow and do well, although the na- tives have not the slightest idea of how they should be cultivated, which goes to show they would thrive excellently if properly cared for. Cabbages, turnips, and the various garden vege- tables have great success, and to judge from the soil and climate there is no reason why everything that succeeds in Scotland should not succeed at Kodiak. Pasture land is so excellent on the island, and the hay harvest so abundant, that our countrymen would here, just as in Iceland, nrake sheep breeding and cattle-raising their chief method of livelihood. The quality of the grass is such that the milk, the beef, and mutton must be excellent ; and we had also an opportunity to try these at Kodiak." The purpose of colonizing portions of Alaska with people from Iceland is being revived, and 116 THE NEW ELDORADO. I „ HI ilill active measures to this end are now progressing. The people of that country are eager to avail themselves of such an opportunity. They are being gradually crowded out of their native land by the increased flow of volcanic matter over their plains and valleys. Alaska, while it affords them in certain portions, say the valley of the Yukon, a climate similar to their own, offers them also many advantages over the place of their nativity. It is authoritatively stated that over fifty thousand souls will gladly avail themselves of this chance to emigrate to Alaska, provided our government will aid them in the matter of trans- portation. At this wi'iting, in the village of Afognak, on the island of Kodiak, with a popula- tion of three hundred natives, over one hundred acres of rich land is planted in potatoes and tur- nips, and has yielded annually a large crop of ex- cellent vegetables for three or four consecutive years. If it were necessary we could ])oint to several other successful agricultural developments in islands even less favorably situated than is the Kodiak group. Nevertheless, there are plenty of writers who assert that domestic vegetables will not grow in Alaska. One has no patience with such perversion of facts. Miss Kate Field says in a late published article relative to Alaska : " In agriculture Alaska is not promising, but the country is by no means as impossible in this respect as it has been repre- sented. ' There is not an acre of grain in the whole territory,' wrote Whymper. Because there ATT 00. 117 was no grain grown, it by no means follows tliat grain cannot be grown in ceitain localities. Hun- dreds of acres of land near Wrangel can be drained and cultivated. Tlie Indians on tlie neighboring islands raise tons of potatoes and turnips for their own consumption. Butter made for me by the Scotch housekeeper of Wrangel mission was a sweet boon, and proved that cows were a success in that region, and that dairies were a mere ques- tion of time." The island of the Aleutian group situated the farthest seaward is named Attoo, and forms the most westerly point of the possessions of the United States. This island is situated about seven thousand five hundred miles in a straight line from the eastern coast of Maine, and is a little over three thousand miles west of San Fran- cisco, making that city about the central point between the extreme east and west of this Union. It would be nearer, if one desired to reach Eng- land from Attoo, to continue his journey west- ward, rather than to travel east and cross the Atlantic. A few moments' examination of the globe or a good map of the world is especially desirable in this connection, and unless one is already familiar with this region will prove in- teresting and instructive. The Aleutian group, besides innumerable islets and rocks, contains over fifty islands exceeding three miles in length, seven of them being over forty miles long. Uni- m<>k:, which is the largest, is over seventy miles long,*with an average width of twenty. 118 THE NEW ELDORADO. \ i V m It seems almost impossible to conceive of these islands having ever been densely populated, where human life is so sparsely represented to-day, and yet scientific investigation gives ample proof that in the far past every cove and bay echoed to the cry of the successful otter hunter, and the beaches now lined with numberless bidarkas or native canoes. The mummies which W. H. Dall brought hence may have been ten centuries old. This able investigator tells us of ruined villages and deserted hearths, to be found in almost any sheltered cove or favorably situated upland. A few strokes of the pick and the spade is sure to unearth arrow-heads, stone axes, and chipped im- plements of flint, or perhaps even the singularly proportioned bones of a now extinct human race. Bones have been exhumed on these islands which have puzzled scientists to account for. When these ishinds were discovered by the Russians the inliabitar.ts of Attoo were numer- ous, warlike, and l-rr' ve, being well supplied with otter skins, and altogether were a self-reliant and thrifty tribe. Now the place contains but one small village, numbering about a hundred and twenty souls, situated on the south side of the island in a sheltered cove. There are residents living upon Attoo to-day who have in their time witnessed two v. iCcks of Japanese vessels upon their shores ; and who can say that Attoo was not originally peopled in this manner by Asiatics thousands of yeais ago? It was so late as 1861 thiit the last Japanese junk ATTO WHALERS. 119 was stranded upon the island ; three of the Japa- nese sailors surviving were ultimately sent home by way of Siberia overhiiid. The sea-otter has been driven from this im- mediate neighborhood by too vigorous and indis- criminate pursuit, but the sea-lion, various water- fowls, and plenty of cod, halibut, and salmon still abound among these lonely islands of the North Pacific. Occasionally a dead whale is stranded on the shore, which is considered a cause for great rejoicing, every part of the animal being utilized by the natives. No matter how putrid the flesh may be, it is eagerly eaten by these people, both raw and cooked. When a school of whales appears in sight of these shores, the natives go out in their frail boats, and with lances so prepared as to work into the vitals of the big creatures, they pierce them in the most vulnerable places, leaving the animal to die where it will, and trusting to the currents to carry the body where they can reach it. To their lances there are securely attached inflated sealskin buoys, which render diving a very laborious exertion to the whales, and which aid finally in securing the carcass. In tliis way, it is said, the natives get one whale out of fifteen or twenty which they succeed in harpoon- ing. Whales, singular to say, are more esteemed as food by all the Alaskan shore tribes than any other product of the sea, or, in fact, any other sort of food. The securing of one is an event cele- brated with limitless feasting and rejoicing. A New England whale-ship captain told the writer 120 THE NEW ELDORADO. tliat,,he liHd seen these natives cut long strips of blubber from the body of a stranded whale, which had been so long dead that it was with difficulty he could breathe the atmosphere to leeward of the carcass, and chew upon tlie sauie with the greatest relish until it had entirely disappeared down tlieir throats, the oil dripping all the while in small streams from the corners of their mouths. This is not a practice confined to the Aleuts, but ex- tends throughout the several grou|>s of islands, and is also a marked habit of the Eskimos proper, living both north and soutli of Behring Strait^ and on the coast of the Polar Sea. "The natives would rather have a deiid whale drift ashore," says Mr. George Wardman, United States Treasury agent in Alaska, "than to own the best crop of the biggest farm in the United States. Dead whale is a great blessing in the Aleutian part of our Alaska possessions, and agu- cultural products are but little 8f)ught after or valued. 1'he dead whale may be so putrid that tlie effluvia arising from it will bhicken tlie white paint of a vessel lying one hundred yards distant, but, all the same, the whale is a blessing." There is a variety store kept on Attoo by an agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, where the natives exchange their furs for tea, sugar, and hard biscuit, besides tobacco and a few fancy articles. The mountains which surround the settlement are two or three thousand feet in height, "rock- ribbed ai.d ancient as the sun," and are white ■^^ DRIFT-WOOD. 121 f^ with snow for a considerable portion of the year. These Aleutiiin Islands, bounded by wave-battered rocks, stretching far out in the Pacific towards Asia, have no trees, the soil not having sufficient depth to support them, but they are thickly cov- ered with a low-growing, luxuriant vegetation in great variety. Between the mountains and the sea are many natuial prairies, with a rich soil of vegetable mould suitable for domestic gardening. The wood consumed bv the inhabitants as fuel is the product of drift-logs or trees reclaimed from the sea. On the breaking up of winter in the large isii.!Tds at the northeast and on the mainland, the unsealing of the ice-bound rivers sends down from the great forests through which they flow thousands of fallen trees, many of which are very large. This is especially the case with the Yukon River, which empties its immense accumulation of ddbris into Norton Sound, and the Kuskoquin, emptying into a hay of the same name one hun- dred and fifty miles farther south. When these trco trunks find their way to the tpen sea, the prevailing currents bear them southward to the Aloiitian Islands, where a large number become stranded at Attoo, and are promptly secured and stored for use as fuel. It would seem to be rather a precarious source of supply to depend upon for this purpose, but we were told that, as a rule, it was ample to me«t the demand. There is also a stocky vine growing in great abundance upon the islands, whicli the native women gather and dry, and this makes a quick, strong fire. At Mi 4: H • i 122 THE NEW ELDORADO. * ); certain seasons the women may be seen in long lines coming from tiie hills, each one bearing upon her back a monster bundle of this product, which they store for use when the other source of fuel fails them or proves insufficient. The people of At- too have tamed the wild goose, of which they rear considerable flocks for domestic use, similar to ou* New England custom with the tame bird, and it r. said they are the only tribe in Alaska who do so> Long since the blue fox was by some means intro- duced upon the island, and being at first properly protected, the place has become fairly itockod with them, a certain number only being killed annually by the natives, and from their valuable fur these Aleuts realize quite a large sum. Were it neces- sary, lumber could be brought in small qnantities from the island of Kodiak, or even from the main- land far away ; but there is very little use for it in Attoo, the houses being built of drift-logs and not of boards. Besides the low, thrifty species of shrubbery growing on these islands, there are also wild berries in great abundance, the original seeds having probably been brought by the birds from the mainland. Grasses grow luxuriantly, being cut and cured to feed a few small Siberian cattle through the winter months, though it is hardly necessary to house them at all. They are kept on only one or two of the larger islands of the group. Domestic animals might do well here with a little care, but the attention of the iKitives is given almost exclusively to the pr^ .u'its or the sea, whose very bounty demoralizes them. tv.. Una- UNALASKA. 123 laska, of this same group, the natural grass grows to six feet in height, and with such body that one must part it by exerting considerable force in or- der to get through The natives braid it into use- ful and ornamental articles, hats, baskets, mats, and the like. This prolific growth is represented to be remarkably nutritious, and cattle are very fond of it. W. H. Dall predicted that this Aleu- tian district will yet furnish California with its best butter and cheese ; while Dr. Kellogg, bot- anist of the United States Exploring Expedition, wrote : " Unalaska abounds in grasses, with a cli- mate better adapted for haying than the coast of Oregon. The cattle are remarkably fat, and the milk abundant." This is the refitting station for all vessels \ ssing between the Pacific Ocean and Behring Strait, and here also is the principal trad- ing post of the Alaska Commercial Company, Mr. George Wardman, United States Treasury Agent, that stated on his late visit to this isl.'.nd be saw in one warehouse sea-otter skins ready for shipment which were worth quarter of a million dollars in the London market. This will repre- sent, perhaps, two thirds of all this class of pelts furnished to the world annually, as comparatively few go from any other quarter. Other land furs are brought here for shipment to San Francisco, two fur companies having headquarters at Una- laska. The place has some sixty native houses, and perhaps five hundred inhabitants. Unalaska is known to be rich in both gold and silver mines, one of which is owned by a San Francisco com- 124 T^^E NEW ELDORADO. n I pany, and which it is proposed to fully develop and work during the comirtT year, careful tests hav- ing proven its prospective value. "j / t oUine fertility seen at Unalaska exists also at Re and Atagnak, where the small breed of cattle ti;..^ live upon the grass are as fat as seals, and require no sheUer all the year round. There is a small ship-yard near the first named island, where vessels of twenty-five and thirty tons are built for fishing in the neighboring sea. These two islands, situated just off the eastern shore of the Alaska Peninsula, are called the garden spots of this region, enjoying more sunshine and fair weather than any other part of the Territory. They contain rich pastures, beautiful woodlands, and broad open fields, which during the summer are carpeted with constant verdure and wild flow- ers. Kodiak was for a long time the capital of the Russian American possessions, but the govern- ment headriviarters were removed for some reason to Sitka. On Wood Island, opposite Kodiak, is the clear and spacious lake which so long fur- nished ice to the dwellers on the Pacific coast, but particularly to the people of San Francisco. The whole range of Aleutian Islands from Attoo to Kodiak contains between four and five thousand inhabitants, nearly all of whom are called Chris- tians, being members of the Greek Church. They are very generally half-breeds, tliat is, born of in- termarriage between emigrant Russians and native women. Professor Davidson was struck by the strong resemblance of the aboriginal tribes inhab- NATIVE ARTISTS. 125 iting these islands to the Chinese and Japanese, and was satisfied that they came originally from Asia. There are many very intelligent persons among them. *' They are docile, honest industri- ous, and very ingenious," says Professor Davidson. The women of Unalaska have always been noted for the beauty and variety of their woven grass mats and various other ornamental work, particu- larly in the combinations of colois and unique designs. This cunning of the hnnd and artistic ingenuity is not confined to tlie worn^n ; the men are also skillful carvers and engravers. Whenever they have been afforded a fair degree of instruction, i.nd the opportunity to exercise their ability, they have proved themselves to be adepts especially in this last mentioned briiach of skilled labor. We have seen artistic work prcduced by a native Un- alaskan which it was difficult to believe was not the performance of some experienced and thor- oughly educr.ted European. The thirty -eight charts in the Hydrographic Atlas of Tebenkoff were all drawn and engraved on copper by a native Aleut. On the island of Unga, one of the Shuraagin group, situated half way between Una' vska and Kodiak, is a small settlement of a score of white men and about a hundred and fifty natives. By a regulation of our Treasury Department, only natives are allowed to hunt the sea-otter, and therefore these white men have married native wives, thereby becoming natives in the eyes of the 'ill ii |J i' 126 THE NEW ELDORADO. Ill law. The revenue derived from the sea-otter trade on this island is said to average from six to seven hundred dollars a year to every family. Off the southern shore of the Shumagin group is the best cod fishing bank that is known. It is estimated that a million good-sized cod were taken here last season and shipped to San Francisco. This me- tro y.uis of California once depended upon the product of our Newfoundland fisheries for its salted cod, but has drawn its supply for the last few years almost entirely from the coast of Alaska, and the consumption has increased every year. « ■I CHAPTER IX. Cook's Inlet. — Manufacture of Quasa. — Nntv.e Piety. — Mum- mies. — The North Coast. — Geographical Position. — Shal- lowness of Behring Sea. — Alaskan Peninsula. — Size of Alaska. — A " Terra Incognita." — Reasons why Russia sold it to our Government. — The Price Comparatively Nothing. — Rental of the Seal Islan-l". — Mr. Seward's Purchase turns out to be a Bonanza. Cook's Inlet, which lies to the north of the ishind of Kodiak, was esteemed by the Russians to be the pleasantest portion of Alaska in the summer season, with its bright skies and well wooded shores. It stretches far inland in a north- easterly direction, and is quite out of the region of the fogs which prevail on the coast. Gold has been profitably mined for some years on the Kak- ny River, which empties into the eastern side of this extensive inlet, and good coal abounds in the neighborhood. When the Russians first came to this region they taught the natives to make what they called quass, a cooling and comparatively harmless acid drink. To produce this article rye meal is mixed with water, in certain proportions, and allowed to remain in a cask until fermentation takes place and it is sour and lively enough to draw. Lat- terly the natives have learned to add sugar, and thus to produce a fermented liquor of an intoxica- i ,1 III 128 THE NEW ELDORADO. s I \ H'i \ ting nature. Progress in this direction has been made until now they mix a certain portion each of sugar, flour, dried apples, and a few hops, when they can be obtained, putting the v/hole into a close barrel or cask. When fermentation has taken place and the mixture has worked itself clear, it forms a strong intoxicant. This article proves the cause of a thousand ills among the abo- rigines. In each of the scattered villages among the islands there is sure to be seen a few broken- down victims of this active poison, who have im- poverished their families and wrecked their own constitutions. In each of these Alentian islands there is found a Russian - Greek chapel and a regularly ap- pointed priest, this religion being preferred by the natives to that of all other sects, captivating their simple minds by its gorgeous show and its mystery. Their honest devotion, however, to a religion which they cannot comprehend may be reasonably questioned. There can be no doubt that their idolatrous customs and original panthe- ism have been almost entirely abandoned, — cere- monies which were elaborately described by the early voyagers, and which involved strange incan- tations and even human sacrifices. Intercourse with the whites has at least had the effect of abolishing the most objectionable features of their early superstitions. The bishop of the organiza- tion is a Russian and resides in San Francisco, whence he controls these parishes, which he occa- sionally visits, being amply supplied with pecu- ii NATIVE PIETY. 129 niary means by the home government at St. Pe- tersburg. Tile piety of these Aleuts is very pro- nounced, so far as all outward observances go, and we were told that they never sit down to their nieids without briefly asking a blessing upon their rude repast. Golovin, a Russian who lived many years among the Aleuts, says : " Their attention during religious services is unflinching, though they do not understand a word of the whole rite." The same author goes on to say, " During my ten years' stay in Unalaska not a single case of mur- der happened among the Aleutians. Not an at- tempt to kill, nor fight, nor even a considerable disp..te, although I often saw them drunk." Hunt- ing is the principal source of their support, and to get the sea-otter they often make long, exposed trips in their undecked boats, and experience many trying hardships. When they return to their homes at the close of the season, having been nearly always reasonably successful, the quass barrel is brought into requisition, and its contents partaken of to excess, drunken orgies following with all their attendant evils. The Aleuts are a very honest people, quite un- like the Eskimos of the north, who are natural pilferers. They are also possessed of a certain stoicism which compels admiration. When they are sick or suffering great pain they utter no com- plaint, and outwardly are always content, no mat- ter what the future may send as their lot. An Aleut is never known to sigh, groan, or shed a tear. If he feels it, he never evinces immoderate 130 THE NEW ELDORADO. w i It joy, but is always quiet, moderate, and grave. They are in a great degree fatalists, and believe that which is decreed by the power in the sky will come to pass, whatever they may do to pre- vent it. It is Kismet. It is an interesting fact that before these islands were discovered by the Russians, the natives were in the practice of preserving their dead in the form of mummies, and this had probably been their habit for centuries. Satisfactory evidence is afforded by what is found upon the islands to show that they have been the residence of popu- lous tribes for over two thousand years. Mr. Dull, in his indefatigable researches, was able to secure several examples of the mummified dead on these outlying islands, eleven of which came from one cave on the south end of Unalaska, but none were ever found or known to have existed upon the mainland. This fact is looked upon by ethnologists as an important addition to our knowledge of the prehistoric condition of these peculiar people of the far Northwest, now part and parcel of our widespread population. The mummies of Peru and those of Alaska are now arranged side by side in the cases of the Smith- sonian Institution at Washington, and what is very singular is that they seem, in their general appearance, to be almost identical. The interior of Alaska and its more Arctic regions north of the valley of the Yukoi \ No more is 'main ily partially exploi iiy known of it than of Central Africa. It would be POINT BARROW. 131 anything but a pleasure excursion, at present, to penetrate the extreme northern liarbors of the ex- tended coast line, which are mostly uninhabited, and which are tempest-swept for a large portion of the year. Northwestern Alaska shares with northeastern Siberia the possession of the coldest winter climate in the world, but we must remem- ber it is not always winter, and thousands of Es- kimos here find life quite tolerable. Beyond 70" of north latitude no trees are to be found ; even shrubs have disappeared, giving place to a scanty growth of lichens and creeping wood-pl.:ints. Even here, however, Nature asserts her prerogative and brings forth a few bright flowers and blooming grasses in the brief midsummer days. Point Barrow is what might be termed, in common par- lance, " the jumping-o£f place ; " the beginning of that mysterious ocean where the compass needle, which lies horizontal at the equator, attracted by an unexplained influence dips and points straight downward. There is no lack of animal life in this frozen region, the sea is as full as :.. the tropics; the whale here finds its birthp 'vt,. and herring issue forth in countless columns to seek more southern seas, while the air is darkened by innumerable flocks of sea-fowl. The woli ^s, the polar bear, and other fur-bearing animals afford meao ,'ind clothing to the Eskimo to an extent far exceeding his requirements. Only thoroughly organized expeditions and a few adventurous whalers attempt to ptiss Point Barrow, a long reach of low barren land, and the most northerly ".I I i !«L m i m m 132 THE NEW ELDORADO. portion of the Territory, which pioje( ts itself into the great Arctic Ocean very nmcli after the fash- ion of the North Cape of Norway, in the eastern hemisphere, at latitude 71° 10'. There is a village at Point Barrow containing about a hundred and fifty people, living in houses partly under ground as a protection against the cold. The roofs are supported by rafters of whale jaws and ribs. This people we call the Eskimo proper. They have a severe climate to contend with, but are abundantly supplied with food and oil from the sea. They have a strange aversion to salt, and any food thus cooked or preserved they will not eat unless driven to it by dire neces- sity. Our government is just about to erect a comfortable structure here as a sort of refuge to shipwrecked navigators of the Polar Sea, this being the verge of those unknown waters which guard the secret of the Pole. A peninsula makes out from near the centre of the western coast of Alaska, the terminus of which is the nearest point between this continent and Asia, the two being separated by Behring Strait, where the East and the West confront each other, and where the extreme western bound- ary of our country is the line which separates Asia from America. This is called Cape Prince of Wales, a rocky point rising in its highest peak to twenty-five hundred feet above the sea. Here is a village of Eskimos numbering between three and four hundred souls, who do not bear a good reputation. They are skilled as fishermen on the I i CAVE-DWELLERS. 133 sea and hunters on tho land, to which it may be added that they are professional smugglers. Here it is quite possible in clear weather to see the Asiatic coast — Eastern Siberia — from United States soil, the distance across the strait being about forty miles. There are two islands in the strait, known as the Diomedes, almost in a direct line between Cape Prince of Wales on one side and East Cape on the other ; st<'pping-stones, as it were, between the two contino Is. Occasional in- tercourse between the natives of the two opposite shores is maintained to-day by means of sailing craft, and doubtless has been going on for hun- dreds, if not for thousands, of years. So moderate are the seas, and so calm the weather hereabouts at some portions of the year, that the passage is made in open or undecked boats. On King's Island, fifty miles south of Cape Prince of Wales, there is a tribe of veritable cave- dwellers. The island is a great mass of rock, with almost perpendicular sides rising seven hun- dred feet above the sea. On one side, where the angle is nearly forty-five degrees, the Eskimos have excavated homes in the rock, about half a hundred of which are two hundred feet above the sea. These people openly defy the revenue laws, and are the known distributers of contraband arti- cles, especially of intoxicants. Behring Sea, whei-e it washes the shores of Alaska, from Norton Sound to Bristol Bay, is slowly growing more shallow, having but fifteen fathoms depth, in some places, forty miles off the i- ■H 134 THE NEW ELDORADO. west shore of the mainland, and growing shal- lower as it approaches the continent. This has caused a speculative writer to suggest the possible joining of Asia and America, at some future period, by the gradual filling up of Behring Sea. The reason of this is obvious. The Yukon River brings down from its course of two thousand miles and more many hundred tons of soil daily which it deposits along the coast, while the Kuskoquin River, second only to the Yukon in volume, is en- gaged in the same work about a hundred and fifty miles south of where the greater river empties into Norton Sound. These large water-ways carry, like the Mississippi, immense deposits to the sea, and the process has been going on night and day for no human being knows how long. One hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of this Kuskoquin River the Moravians of Beth- lehem, Pa., support a missionary establishment. The station is named Bethel, one of the most iso- lated points in Alaska, receiving a mail but once a year ! Truly, nothing save fulfilling a conscien- tious sense of duty could compensate intelligent people for thus separating themselves from home and friends. We have spoken of a peninsula making out at the north towards Asia, but this comparatively insignificant projection from the mainland should not be permitted to confuse the reader's mind as regards the Alaska Peninsula, properly so called, which extends from the southern part of the Ter- ritory, ending in the islands which form the Aleu- I VOLCANOES. 185 tian group. This pen"nsula is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable in the world, being fifty miles broad and three hundred long, literally piled with mountains, some of v hich are but partially extinct volcanoes, emitting at the present time more or less smoke and ashes, sometimes accom- panied by blazing gases discernible at night far away over land and sea, appearing to the mid- night, watch on board ship like a raging confla- gration in the heavens. The principal islands of the group of which we have been speaking, and which stretch far away from the southwestern corner of the Alaska Peninsula towards Kara- schatka, as though extending a cordial hand from the Occident to the Orient, are as follows : Uni- mak, with a volcanic peak nine thousand feet high ; Uualaska, whose peak is five thousand seven Imndred feet high ; Atka, with a height of four thousand eight hundred feet ; Kyska, which is crowned by an elevation of three thousand seven hundred feet ; and Attoo, whose tallest peak is over three thousand feet. This island is just about four hundred miles from the Asiatic coast. Uni- mak has a large lake of sulphur within its borders, and all of these islands have more or less hot springs. From those in Unalaska loud reports issue at intervals, like the boom of cannon, recall- ing our late similar experience in the Yellowstone Park. Alnska constitutes the northwestern portion of the American continent, and has a coast line ex- ceeding eleven thousand miles. The extreme I 136 THE NEW ELDORADO. m. lengch of tlie Territory, nortli and south, is eleven hundred miles, and its breadth is eight hundred. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by British Cohimbia, on t outh by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by Behring Strait and the North Pacific. Our geographies and encyclopeedias help us to little more than the boundaries of this great Territory, which contains nearly six hunc'T-ed thousand squai'e miles. The latest published estimates give the aggregate number of square miles as nineteen thousand less than the amount we have named, but Governor Swineford and other residents of the Territory believe it to be an underestimate. As there is no actual survey extant, the figures given can only be a reasonable approximation to the true num- ber. The boundary dividing Alaska and Britisli Columbia was settled by treaty between England and Russia in 1825, and the same line is rec >g- nized to-day as separating our possessions in this quarter from those of Great Britain. Alaska is as large as all of the Now England and Middle States, with Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee combined. So far as size is concerned, the Territory is, there- fore, an empire in itself, being equal in area to seventy-one States like Massachusetts, and con- taining as many square miles as England. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzer- l.ind, and Belgium united. It has been estimated by competent judges that, with its islands, it has a coast line equal to the circumference of the ■ II A TERRA ly COG Air A. 137 globe. Very few of our people, even among the educated class, have an adequate idea of the im- mensity of this northwestern Territory, two thirds of which abounds in available resources, only awaiting development. Were Alaska situated on our Atlantic coast it would extend from Maine to Florida. Miss Kate Field, in a comprehensive article already quoted from, published in the " North American Review," justly censuring Congress for its supineness and ignorance in relation to Alaska, says: "American citizens, living comfortably on the Atlantic seaboard, knowing their own wants and dictating terms to their submissive representa- tives, take little heed of those new additions to the United States which are destined to be the crowning glory of the Republic. Wlien a nation is so big as to render portions of it a terra incog. nita to those who make the laws, there's some- thing rotten this side of Denmark ! . . . The march of empire goes on in spite of human falli- bility, and now the land of the midnight sun knocks at the door of Congress. She is twenty- three years old, and nsks to be treated as though she were of age. The big-wigs at Washington rub their eyes, put on their spectacles, and wonder what this Hyperborean hubbub means?" In examining the geographical characteristics of Alaska, Ave observe a peculiarity in its outlying islands which is also found in the construction of the continents. Tliey all have enst of tlieir south- ern points series of islands. Thus, Alaska has !l ^ 138 THE NEW ELDORADO. the Sitkan or Alexander group ; Africa has Mada- gascar ; Asia has Ceylon ; Australia has the two large islands of New Zealand ; and America has the Falkland Islands. Alaska is the great island region of the United States. It is not for us to enter into the brief history of the country, that is, brief as known to us, but it is well to fix in the mind the fact that Russia's title was derived from prior discovery. Behring first saw the continent in this region of North America, July 18, 1741, in latitude 58° 28', and two days later anchored in a bay near a point which he called St. Ellas, a name which he also gave to the great mountain overshadowing the neighboring shore. It is sufficient for our pur- pose that we know this Territory was purchased from Russia by our government in 1867, after that country had occupied it a little more than a century, paying therefor the sura of seven million two hundred thousand dollars. It has been truly said that it was practically giving away the coun- try on the part of Russia ; but doubtless diplomatic reasons influenced the Tzar, who would much rather have presented it outright to the United States than to have it, by conquest or otherwise, fall into the hands of England, who was known to crave its possession as connected with her Pacific coast interests. So when the first Napoleon sold us Louisana, he did so not alone in considera- tion of the mone\% which was doubtless much needed by his treasury, — amounting to sixty mil- lion francs, — but because he was not willing A BONANZA. 189 to leave this distant territory a prey to Great Britain in the event of hostilities between France and England, which were then imminent. He was glad, as he remarked, " to establish forever the power of the United States, and give to Eng- land a maritime rival destined to humble her pride;" adding, "It is for the interest of France that America should be great and strong." Alaska was a white elephant to Russia, but in our hands it has already proved a bonanza. Any one can now see that the sum named as an equivalent for this colossal territory was a trifling value to place upon it, when its great extent is realized, together with its vast mineral wealth and inexhaustible supply of fish, fur, and timber. It is in fact the only great game and fur preserve left in the Western world, inviting the trapper and huntei' to reap a rich return for their industry. Nowhere else on this continent do wild animals more abound, or enjoy such immunity from harm, as is afforded them in the dense, half-impenetrable forests of Alaska, where Nature herself becomes our giimekeeper, preventing the too rapid extinc- tion of animal life. From a lease in favor of the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco, giving them the ex- clusive right to take seals on the Prybiloff group of islands, our government has received four and one half per cent, interest, annually, during the last nineteen years, on the entire purchase-money paid to Russia. This same company, whose term is just about to expire, would gladly renew the •'t 140 THE NEW ELDORADO. ■I i! : lease with our government at a considerable ad- vance upon the amount heretofore paid ; but it is an open question whether the continuance of this great monopoly is for the best interest of Alaska, when considered in all its bearings. Undoubtedly this contract is a real benefit in one way. The company, through its agents, will take good care to si o that no outside interest in- terferes with their rights so as to permit any indis- criminate slaughter of the seals. Whereas, were the capture of these peltries not guarded, an end of the product would be brought about in a very short time. There is a manifest injustice in all monopolies, as we view them ; but of two evils, in this instance we should perhaps feel inclined to choose the least by selling the privilege to a re- sponsible company. It must be admitted that the high-handed course of the present company, their arbitrary assumptions, and their treatment of the natives generally, are represented in a very bad light by many residents of Alaska ; but little else, however, could be expected of so great a monop- oly. One thing is certain, and that is, th'^ com- pany has realized a great fortune by its contract. There were plenty of people who ridiculed the acquisition of this Territory at the time when it was brought about ; but there were also some fai-- seeing statesmen, influenced by no selfish motives, who felt very different about the matter, among whom was Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, and to whom the credit is mostly due for con- summating the important purchase. That able iiiiii i SEWARD'S CROWNING GLORY 141 diplomat considered the tiivnsaction to have been the most important act of his official career, and put himself on record to that effect. He remarked, in discussing the matter at a public meeting, " It ma}' take two generations before the purchase is properly appreciated." Mr. Seward was right. It was a crowning glory for him to have added a new empire to his country's domain, though in 1867 its great commercial importance was hardly known, even to himself. Its valuable gold depos- its were then thought possibly to exist ; but sub- sequent developments have already far outstripped anticipations in that direction, and the large yield of the precious metal is annually increasing. " I thought when Alaska was purchased, in 1867," says that keen observer and clever writer. Captain John Codman, " that it might answer for a great skating park; but now I know, from merely coasting along its southeastern shores and landing at a few of its ou^^: -dts, that the seven million two hundred thousand dollars paid for it is less than the interest of the sum that it is worth. A great part of it is yet unexplored, for its whole area is three times gi-eater than tlie republic of France ; but what has been discovered is invalua- ble, and what lias not been discovered may be valuable beyond calculatlim." So little did we, as a people, appreciate the new acquisition that it was almost enliri'ly neglected for seventeen years. Not Uacil 1884 was it granted a territorial government, Hon. John H. Kinkead, ex-governor of Nevada, being the first ml SM I if J 142 THE NEW ELDORADO. governor appointed for Alaska. "Twenty years ago," says Governor Swineford of Alaska, " I made political capital out of Seward's purchase. I called it the refrigerator of the United States. I heaped obloquy on William H. Seward. I shall spend the rest of my life in making reparation to what I have so foully wronged." Such has been the general testimony of all who speak from personal observation, and uninfluenced by sinister motives. si i't CHAPTER X. Territorial Acquisitions. — Population of Alaska. — Steady Com- mercial Growth. — Primeval Forests. — The Country teems with Animal Life. — A Mighty Reserve of Codfish. — Native Food. — Fur-Bearing Animals. — Islands of St. George and St. Paul. — Interesting Habits of the Fur-Seal. — The Breed- ing Season. — Tlieir Natural Food. — Mammoth Size of tlie Bull Seals. The subject of the addition of Alaska to the United States suggests the fact that our territo- rial acquisitions from time to time form certain decided and interesting landmarks in the history of the country. Thus, in 1803 we acquired Lou- isiana from France by the payment of fifteen mil- lion dollars. In 1845 Texas was annexed and her debt assumed, amounting to the sum of seven million five hundred thousand dollars. In 1848 California, New Mexico, and Utah were acquired from Mexico, partly through war, and by the payment of fifteen million dollars. In 1854 Ari- zona was purchased from Mexico for ten million dollars. And last, but by no means least, Alaska, as has been stated, was obtained from Russia in 1867 for seven million two hundred thousand dol- lars. '• By this purchase," said Charles Summer in his able speech before Congress, " we dismiss one more monarch from this continent. One by one they have retired ; first France; then Spain; il ;h- 144 THE NEW ELDORADO. '1 ! V- ■' then Fiance again ; and now Russia; all give way to the absorbing Unity which is ileclared in the national motto, E Plur'ihus Unum." At the time of the transfer of Alaska, the native population, Russians, half-breeds and all, did not probably exceed forty thousand ; indeed, careful inqciiry seems to indicate that this is an overesti- mate. Since that period the native population has steadily decreased, but the white population has increased, it is believed, sufficiently to make good the estimated aggregate of twenty-two yi'ars ago. In 18G7 the commerce of Alaska was offi- cially reporfpd as being two million five hundred thousand dollars for the current year. The pub- lished estimate for the last year made it a fraction less than seven million dollars, of which about a million five hundred thousand dollars was in gold bullion. Certainly this shows a very steady if not rapid commercial growth. Competent indi- viduals estimate that the commerce of the Terri- tory for the year 1889 will reach ten million dol- lars in amount. The increase in the number of fish-canning establishments alone will add two millions to last year's aggregate. The shipment of preserved salmon exported in tins and barrels is increasing annually. The available timber now standing in the Ter- ritory might alone meet the ordinary demand of this continent for half a century. Tliough the extreme northern part of Alaska is treeless, its southern shores, both of the islands and mainland, are covered witli a dense forest growth, the Aleu- FORESTS. 145 tian group excepted. It is the visible wealth of the country, and a source of admiration to all ap- preciative visitors. Fort Tongas is very near the southeast point of Alaska, and about ten miles north of Fort Simp- bon ; the former American, the latter English territory. When the ground was cleared to estab- lish the American fort, " yellow cedar-trees," says W. H, Dall, " eight feet in diameter were cut down. The flanks of all the islands of this archi- pelago bear a magnificent growth of the finest timber, from the water's edge to fifteen hundred feet above the sea." It must be a cedar of mag- iiificent proportions out of which the natives can hew and construct a canoe seventy feet long capa- ble of carrying one hundred men. 1 his the Haidas do, producing models both swift and seaworthy, the prows extending in a peak not unlike the ancient galleys of Greece, decoviited with totemic designs. These magnificent forests, having never felt the stroke of the axe, present a growth natu- rally very dense and peculiar, the branches of the tall trees being often draped with long bLick and white moss, dry and fine as hair, which it resem- bles. This characteristic recalled the same effect observed upon the thickly wooded shores of the St. John River in Florida, and the Lake Pontchar- train district of Louisiana. The fallen trees and stumps are cushioned by a growth of green, vel- vety moss, nearly ten inches in thickness, and are also decked with creeping vines in the most pic- turesque manner ; among which is seen here and fi ip 148 THE NEW ELDORADO. f 'I If * ii^ there deep red clusters of the bunch-berry. The timber is pronounced by good judges to be as val- uable as that of Oregon and Washington, com- pared with which our forests in Maine are hardly more than tall undergrowth. A very large per- centage of the Alaska timber grows at the n.ost convenient points for shipment, making it espe- cially available. The white spruce, called the Sitka pine, rises to a height of from a hundred and fifty to a hundred and eighty feet, and meas- ures from three to six feet in diameter. When this growth is cut into dimension lumber it very much resembles our southern pitch-pine. There is also found in these forests the usual variety of cedar, fir, ash, maple, and birch trees, mingled with the others of loftier growth. The yellow cedar of this region grows nowhere else of such size and quality. It is much prized, and best adapted for slijpbuilding, having been found to be unequaled for durability, and also because it is impervious to the troublesome teredo, or boring worm, which destroys the ordinary piles under the w) rvf at Puget Sound, as well as at Sitka, so r .; to render it necessary to renew them eve ree or four years. Southern latitudes, in the u ghbr.- hood of the Gulf of Mexico, suffer equally f i .)ra the depredations of this active marine pest. The Alaska cedar is also a choice cabinet wood, pos- sessing a very agreeable odor, considerable quanti- ties of it being shipped for select use in San Fran- cisco and elsewhere. The cc»a3t of the Alexan- der Archipelago comprises nearly eight thousand AN INEXHAUSTIBLE C.VMBER SUPPLY. 147 miles of shore line, forming long straight avenues of calm deep water many miles in length, sprin- kled with islands densely wooded from the water's edge, while the number of good harbors is almost countless, in which vessels may lay alongside the land and receive their cargoes of timber or lumber in the most convenient manner. When the woods of Maine and Michigan cease to yield satisfactorily, as they must do by and by, we have here a ready source of supply which no ordinary demand can exhaust in many years. One enthusiastic writer upon this subject predicts that this part of the North Pacific coast will eventually become the ship-yard of the American continent. One is hardly prepared to indorse so sweeping a prediction, but that there is a nearly inexhausti- ble supply of the necessary tir. ber for such a pur- pose even an inexperienced visitor caimot fail to realize. It is gratifying to know that these forests are free from all danger by fire, which often proves so destructive in the State of Washington and elsewhere. This immun'Lj r.v^m a 'nucli dreaded exigency is owing to the frequent rains, which keep the undergrowth in Alaska so moist that the flames cannot spread. Speaking of Fort Tongas, we should not forget to mention that a native couule, educated by the missionaries, are here teaching a school of young natives numbering fifty pupils, for which our gov- ernment pays them five hundred dollars pei nn- num. The success attained by these instructors in teaching the ordinary branches of an English 148 THE NEW ELDORADO. V'' w education is surprising. Tongas, it \v\\\ be remem- bered, is the most southerly point of our Alaska possessions. The country teems with animal life. The sea ■which laves its shores and the outlying islands is 80 full of excellent fish as to have been a wonder in this respect since the days of the earliest navi- gators. The same may be said of its rivers, inlets, and lakes, the former being famous for the abun- dance, size, and excellence of the salmon which they produce, and which are annually packed for exportation in such large quantities to various parts of the world. We were told by the over- seer of the canning factory at Pyramid Harbor that the entire product of the establishment was already — the season but just commencing — en- gaged by a Liverpool house. To secure the deliv- ery the foreign merchant had cheerfully advanced five hundred pounds sterling. " The Alaska banks would be an ocean paradise to the Newfoundland fishermen," says Professor Davidson. " The eastern part of Behring Sea ' is a mighty reserve of cod,' and the area within the limits of fifty fathoms of water is no less than eighteen thousand miles." " Whuc I have seen," said W. H. Seward at Sitka, in 1869, "has almost made me a convert to the theory of som.e natural- ists, that the waters of thd globe are filled with stores for the sustenance of animal life surpassing the available productions of the land." The coast also abounds in oysters, clams, mussels, and crabs. The oysters are small, but of excellent flavor, and FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. 149 might be greatly improved by cultivation. Claiiis and mussels are much esteemed by the aborigines, the first-named being large and of prime quality. They dry the clams, as they do salmon and cod, using no salt in the process, but stringing them by the score on long blades of strong grass, and in this shape laying them away for winter use. There is certainly some special preservative qual- ity in the atmosphere here which enables the natives to keep clams unfrozen in good condition for several months. The matter of " ripeness," however, makes no difference to these Indians, who seem actually to prefer their fish a little putrid, and oil is purposely kept until it becomes 80 before they will use it. The hills and valleys of the islands and the mainland support more fur-bearing animals than can be found on any other part of this continent, and we certainly believe of any other part of the world. The great variety includes bears of several species, wolves, beavers, deer, foxes, caribou, mar- tens, mountain goats, moose, musk-oxen, and others. Herds of walruses are found on the far north coast, as well as in Behring Sea, which yield food to the natives, and the best of ivory for sale to the traders. It is a curious fact that no reptile, toad, lizard, or similar animal is to be found in Alaskan territory. The waters of the North Pacific, from the most westerly of the Aleu- tian Islands up to Behring Strait, swarm with cod, haddock, sturgeon, large floimders, and hali- but, while our hardy whalemen successfully pursue i:fi if 150 THE NEW ELDORADO. li t their inaiiiniotli game both north and south of the strait. When the country was first discovered, there was another important animal found here in considerable numbers, known as the sea-cow, whicli furnished Vancouver and his crew with wholesome and palatable meat, and which had formed a source of food supply for the aborigines probably for centuries. But this large, amphib- ious animal, thirty feet long and seal-like in shai)e, has now entirely disappeared. This was owing to merciless slaughter by the Russians, who found the sea-cow an easy prey to capture, because of its inactivity and clumsiness in the water, besides which, the creature is said to have been utterly fearless of man, making no effort to escape when attacked. They are represented to have been fierce when attacked bv the wolves, and to have been fullv able to defend themselves. Two islands lying to the north of the Aleutian group form a favorite resort of tiie fur-vseal, which so abounds in this region that nearly a century of active war waged upon them by the hunters, for the sake of their valuable skins, has produced no perceptible diminution in their numbers. This is partly owing, however, to the fact that of late years the killing has been restricted as to the aggregate annual number, and also as to the sex and age of the seals. The pelts sent from Alaska have not fallen short of a hundred thousand annu- ally for the last twenty years, and it is believed by those who should be able to judge correctly that this number has been very much exceeded. > i\ THE SEAL ISLANDS. 161 There is hardly an uninterested person in the Territory who will not express this opinion. The two islands referred to in Behring Sea, namely, St. Paul and St. George, together with two smaller and unimportant ones named respec- tively Otter Island, which is situated six miles south of St. Paul, and Walrus Island, about the same distance to the eastward, are known as the Prybiloff group. St. Paul is thirteen miles long by four broad ; St. George is ten miles long and between four and five broad. Neither of them have any harbor in which vessels can safely lie, but they anchor half a mile or more off shore, and freight is taken or delivered by means of light- ers. So violent is the surf at times on these islands in mid-Ocean that if the wind is unfavor- able no attempt at landing is made. Otter Isl- and is peculiar in being nothing more nor less than an extinct volcano, with a still gaping, threat- ening crater, and an elevation of three hundred feet above the surrounding sea. Its only occu- pants consist of water-fowl and blue foxes, both as plentiful as peas in a pod. The animals were introduced long ago for breeding purposes, and have greatly increased. These are the "seal islands " so often spoken of, and which furnish four fifths of all the sealsl;ins used in the markets of the world. This sounds like an extravagant estimate, but it is believed to be quite correct. The islands are of volcanic origin, having been thrown up from the bottom of the Sv^a in compara- tively modern times. When one speaks of geolog- V If 152 THE NEW ELDORADO. ical facta, one or two tlionsand years are considered very brief periods. At the time of their discovery, St. George and St. Paul were uninhabited, but native Aleuts, the nearest of whom lived about two hundred miles south of these islands, were brought liither and domesticated, to work for the Russian Fur Company. Since the transfer to our govern- ment these people have worked uninterruptedly for the Alaska Commercial Company, which has, in addition to the headquarters of the seal-fishery, some forty trading stations in the Territory. We speak of the " seal-fisheries," but there is in reality no fishing about the business. Ths seals are all taken on land. The employees of the company get between the seals and the water and drive such as are selected inland like a flock of sheep. They move slowly, pulling themselves along by their fore flippers, as a dog might do with his hind legs broken, but they get over the ground at the rate of one or two miles in the hour, and are driven the latter distance to the warehouse before the killing takes place. It is curious that these two islands only, with a few small spots in the North Pacific, should pos- sess the peculiar conditions of landing-ground and climate combined which are necessary for the per- fect life and reproduction of the fur-soal. H. W. Elliott, who acted as United States government agent for four seasons at the seal islands, and who is good authority upon this special subject, says : " With the exception of these seal islands of Behring Sea, there are none elsewhere in the (•,1 OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 153 world of the slightest importance to-day. When, therefore, we note the eagerness with which oui' civilization calls for sealskin fur, in spite of fashion and its caprices, and the fact that it is and always will be an article of intrinsic value and in de- mand, it at once occurs to us that the government is exceedingly fortunate in having this great am- phibious stock-yard, far up and away in this seclu- sion of Behring Sea, from which it can draw continuous revenue, and on which its wise regu- lations and its firm hand can continue the seals forever." This writer's remarks should be qualified, how- ever, so far as to state that the Russians possess some profitable " rookeries " situated on the Com- mander Islands, seven hundred miles to the south- west of the Prybilofi^ gi'oup, where the same policy of protection for breeding purposes is enforced as govern the traffic on our own islands. It is true that the product of the Russian islands is as noth- ing compared with that of St. Paul and St. George. A small number of fur-seal are also secured on the coast of Brazil, and at the Shetland and Falkland Islands, giving perhaps twenty thousand pelts an- nually from other sources than those named in Alaska. It is our own opinion that at least forty thousand pelts are sent to market by unauthor- ized people from the islands and coast of Alaska, which number should be added to the hundred thousand which the regular company are entitled to export, in getting at the aggregate produced by the Territory. J' li I i II ( 164 THE NEW ELDORADO. The two seal islands leased to the Alaska Com- mercial Company are about thirty miles apart, and are seemingly among the most insignificant landmarks known in the ocean. It is only on very modern maps that they are designated at all, but they afford to the seals the happiest isolation and shelter, tlieir position being such as to envelop them in fog banks nine days out of ten during the entire season of resort. Neither the seals nor the natives can long bear the glare of the sum- mer sun, and so find no fault with this prevailing screen between them and the sky. There are no icebergs, properly so called, in these waters. Behring Strait is too shallow for anything but light field ice to pass into the North Pacific or Behring Sea ; there is therefore no fear of visits from the polar bears often seen floating about in the frozen sea at the north. They would make sad havoc among the seals were they to get so far south, and drive them away altogether. Ice floats off from the immediate shores in the spring, but encountering the thermal current, this soon dis- solves, and is no impediment to navigation. It is marvelous that the natives dwelling on the group do not die of the poisoned atmosphere arising from the thousands upon thousands of seal car- casses annually slaughtered, and which are left to decay upon the ground. The stench thus created is so powerful that vessels sailing to leeward, three or four miles off shore, are permeated by it, and though their captains may not have been able to get a solar observation for many days, they can HABITS OF THE SEAL. 155 e'j,8ily tell their exact latitude and longitude by " dead reckoning." Naval surgeons have been detached by governnaent to visit and examine the physical condition of the people on St. George and St. Paul, touching this very matter, and they have reported that the natives enjoyed good health, the mortality among them being at a very low average compared with that of other semi-civ- iiized communities favorably situated. There is a church and school-house on each of the islands, with white teachers, and also a skilled physician, who is paid for his services by the Commercial Company. The fur-seal traffic has heretofore exceeded all other regular business in value conducted in this Territory, though the product of the precious metals will in future probably take the lead, hard pressed by the rapidly growing development of the fisheiies. The habits of the seal are interest- ing and very peculiar. It is a social animal, and evinces a degree of intelligence nearly approach- ing that of the dog. Occasionally a young one is found domesticated among the natives of the more populous islands, and when thus brought up among human beings they become very tractable, and are easily taught many amusing tricks. They move in herds, coming to the breeding grounds in large numbers, and at regular periods of the year, that is in the latter part of May and early in June. The contrast between the male and female seal is great, the former being large, bold, and ag- gressive, the latter small, peaceful, and quiet ; both 156 TnE NEW ELDORADO. are models of grace and symmetry after their kind. While the males are specimens of great physical strength, the females are delicate, timid, and affectionate. The young are born blind and so remain for a couple of weeks, or more. When they are about six weeks old the mother takes them into the water to teach them to swim. They are very shy of the sea at first, but persist- ent effort on the mother's part soon makes them expert swimmers, and rapidly develops that side of their nature. During the breeding season the old males remain on shore, fasting all the while, and growing extremely thin, living by absorption of the blubber which they accumulate while at sea, so that upon retiring at the end of the season they are but a mere shadow of their former selves. Tliey return again the next season, liowever, as plethoric as ever. ''All the bulls," says Mr. Elliott, "from the very first, that have been able to hold their posi- tions, have not left them from the moment of their landing, for a single instant, night or day ; nor will they do so until the end of the rutting season, which subsides entirely between August 1st and 10th. It begins shortly after the coming of the cows in early June. Of necessity, there- fore, this causes them to fast, to abstain entirely from food of any kind, or water, for three months at least ; and a few of them actually stay out four months, in total abstinence, before going back into the ocean for the first time after ' hauling up.' They then return as so many bony shadows ON TUE BREEDING GROUNDS. 157 of what tbey were a few months previously, cov- ered with wounds ; abject and spiritless, they labo- riously crawl back to the sea to obtain a fresh lease of life." The natural food of the seal is believed to be small fishes and kelp, that prolific product of the ocean which is found floating in nearly all lati- tudes, being torn from its rocky bed by storms and carried everywhere on the tides and currents. The females seldom give birth to more than one at a time, and though they are naturally a very do- cile animal, the mother will fight savagely for her young. The old males weigh from two to three hundred pounds each, when they first land, soon gathering a harem about them of a dozen females or more, and permitting no other bull to approach the circle. There are occasional elopements among the females, enticed away by young bachelor seals, who have no family ties to occupy them, but as a rule the females remain loyal, at least during the season. The full grown male reaches seven feet in length, and the female about five feet ; the latter averages about a hundred pounds in weight, the former weigh twice as much and often more. Nature seems to produce a much larger number of females than of males, besides which the law protects the female from the hunter. The killing of these sinimals on St. Paul and St. George is nearly all done in six weeks of each year, say from the 10th of June to the 20th of July. As regards the fur, a seal at four years of age is thought to yield the best, and is therefore con- 158 THE NEW ELDORADO. I sidered to be at that time in his prime. It is the males of this age, accordingly, which are selected for slaughter. So numerous are these animals that the shore is often black with them, three or four thousand being in sight within the space of a hundred square rods. The pups are full of play- fulness, rolling and tumbling about like a litter of kittens. The rule not to kill the old bulls and female young is a necessary precaution to prevent the extermination of the race, which indiscrimi- nate slaughter has probably done in so many other places. \ CHAPTER Xr. Tl :i Enormous Slaughter of Seals. — Manner of Killing. — Bnttlea between the Bulls. — A Mythicnl Island. — The Seal as Food. — The Sea-Otter. — A Rare and Valuable Fur. — The Baby Sea-Otter. — Great Breeding-Place of Birds. — Banks of the Yukon River. — Fur -Bearing Land Animals. — Aggregate Value of the Trade. — Character of the Native Race. Surgeon J. B. Parker tells us in a published article upon the fur -seals of Alaska, ihat just previous to the transfer of the country to this government five hundred thousand sealskins were being taken from these islands annually, though it was pretended by the Russians that they restricted the number to one quarter of this total. The strange instinct of the animals which causes them to return yearly in such marvelous numbers to be slaughtered is a mystery difficult to solve. Per- sistent cruelty exercised towards them for a cen- tury has not disturbed their affection for this chosen breeding-place of their ancestors in Behr- ing Sea. The seals are universally killed by a sharp blow upon the head from a club, which fractures the skull and produces instant death. The natives are so skillful in dealing this blow that a second one is not necessary, and the seal cannot reason- ably be supposed to suffer any pain, so that the operation is robbed of all cruel features. The f re- 11 1 1 ' 160 TUB NEW ELDORADO. quent battles fought between the old bulls to main- tain possession of their chosen ground and their harems are represented to be of the fiercest char- acter, sometimes ending in the death of one of the combatants, though they are so very hardy and tenacious of life that this is by no means common. The breeding season is at its height in the middle of July. Early in September, the pups having learned to swim, the " rookeries " are gradually broken up for the season, old and young departing together ior the deep-sea feeding grounds, nothing being seen of them again as a body until the fol- lowing May or June. It is quite a mystery as to where they go, but that they promptly disperse in various directions seems most probable, as no seals are met with in large numbers by navigators of the Pacific or the South Seas, and they only land for breeding purposics. The author has seen a few in the month of March off the Samoan group of islands, also in the month of December near the coast of Cochin China. And again, in crossing the Indian Ocean from Bombay to the mouth of the lied Sea, in February, an occasional head of the fur-seal would appear above the surface of the ocean, showing how widely dispersed these ani- mals are. There is a theory which has long ex- isted, to the effect that when the seals depart from Behring Sea they seek a lonely island group in the central Pacific Ocean, somewhere between SS** and 55° north latitude, and longitude 160° to 170° west, where they pass their winter months in peace and plenty. Expeditions have been fitted out at "ALASKA PARK." 101 San Fnincisco for the purpose of discover'mg tliese possible islands, but no one lias ever seen them. Those must conversant with seal-life do not enter- tain this supposition, and for good ivasons. If any such land existed In the region designated it would surely have been discovered, as it is too near the direct track of commerce not to have been sighted long ago. The flesh of the ur-seal is eaten by the natives, and the blubber also serves for fuel, as well as fur- nishing a much-used oil. The stench of the burn- ing fat is extremely disgusting to one not accus- tomed to it. There is but little lean meat on the animal ; nearly the whole body is composed of blubber. The whites eat the flesh of the young seal, which is not unpalatable when properly pre- pared, and is called Alaska pork. When the fe- males arrive at the " rookeries," like the old males, they are in remarkably good flesh, so much so, in- deed, as to render locomotion difficult ; but though they do not fast like the bulls, they nevertheless become quite thin by the end of the season. St. George and St. Paul islands contain about three hundred and fifty Aleuts, whose sole busi- ness is killing and skinning the seals, and after- wards salting and packing the pelts for shi{)ment. They are all in the regular employment of the Com- mercial Company, which leases the islands. By the terms of the lease from our government, only natives of the Aleutian group of islands can be em- ployed to kill the seals ; no whites except the over- seers are permitted to remain on the two islands. 'I i •■ ' i\ 162 THE NEW ELDORADO. An agent of the United States occasionally visits them to see that the spirit of tlie lease is faithfully adhered to ; otherwise they are quite isolated from the outer world. Under the protective system, which is presumedly adhered to, the number of seals is said to be on the increase, and the space on the shores which they occupy is enlarged yearly. It has been officially estimated, after actual in- spection, that over one million seals are born on these islands every year. It is asserted that double the number of pelts now authorized could safely be taken from the Pribyloff group annually, and it would certainly seem so, when this extraor- dinary fecundity is realized. Rut it must also be tiiken into consideration that man is not the only enemy which the fur-seal has to encounter. When the young ones leave the shore to begin their deep- sea life, they become the prey of many marine cormorants, among which the sliark is said to be the most active. This tiger of the ocean does not attack the large, full-grown seals, who are too wary and active for him, but the young ones often fill his capacious maw. The aborigines employed upon the seal islands do not reach a* very old age; persons of over fifty years are beldom found among them. Consump- tion is the most fatal disease wiiich they en- counter; this runs its course with singular speed after being once contracted. All attempts of the physicians are in vain; the patient, falling into a condition of hopeless indid'erence, soon passes away. We were told that the natives of Alaska I !i^ THE SEA OTTER. 163 generally were very difficult to treat medically, ig- noring the benefit of medicines, and generally refusing to take them. These semi-savages will not hesitate to resort t . incantations to exorcise evil spirits (or disease, which to them is the sanie thing), but they fear to use the white man's agent to remove these evil influences. For a number of years the manufacture of oil from seal blubber was followed by the (ur com- pany witli profit, thus disposin*:; of the carcasses of the animals whose skin had been renr oved ; but oil-making on the seal islands has been discon- tinued, as being no longer ? paying business. The sea-otter is a large aniniai, having fine, close black fur, sprinkled with long, white-tipped hairs, which strongly individualize it and add much to its beauty. Its pelt is used mostly for trinvr, ing, being both too heavy and too expensive for making up into entire garments. The size of a full-grown skin is about four feet in length by about t\'0 and a half wide. It is a solitary marine animal, n^ver seen in numbers, rarely even witli a mate, and is extremely shy, demanding great patience and shrewdness in the hunter to insure its capture. This animal rarely lands except to bring forth its young, and the natives say that it sometimes gives birth to its progeny on floating sedge or kelp at sea. Of this material the ingen- ious creature makes a sort of buoyant nest, ac- cording to the natives' ideas. When sleeping, it floats upon its back, carrying its young clasped to its body in a ludicrously human fashipn. The if rr I 164 THE NEW ELDORADO. ]{■ ^ r \. I I Indians hunt the animals by going out a consid erable distance to sea in their frail canoes, and watching for the appearance of the otter's nose above the water, they paddle silently towards it so as not to disturb the game. At the proper moment the well-balanced and delicate lance is thrown with unerring aim. A careful watch is then kept for the reappearance of the otter, which must soon come to the surface to breathe, being a warm-blooded, respiratory animal. A second lance is pretty sure to disable the otter, when it floats helpless on the surface, falling an easy prey to the pursuer. At times six or eight natives in single canoes join in the hunt, so as to form a broad circle ; the nearest one to the otter when he rises after being wounded is the one to throw the second lance. The hunters obtain from the local traders between forty and fifty dollars for a full-grown otter skin, and sometimes double that amount, so that if successful in the pursuit they are well rewarded for many hours of pa- tient watchfulness, aside from which thev realize ft/ a keen enjoyment in the pursuit as sportsmen. The hunters oftenest pursue their game alone, and if a native secures an otter after a whole week of watching he feels well repaid, though during that time he has lived on a scanty supply of food, and has slept nigfetly in the open air exposed to the rain. Sometimes his watch is kept in his boat upon the sea, and sometimes among the rocks on the shore, in a bay where the otters are known to resort occasionally. A few years of THE FUR OF THE SEA-OTTER. 165 such rough life and exposure ages even an Alaskan Indian, and it is not surprising that rheumatism and consumption should so prevail among them. Up to a certain stage such a life may harden the hunter, but the turning-point comes at last, and when the native begins to fail in physical strength he does so rapidly; simply giving way to the first attack, i-ejecting all medicine which the white man may olTer, and unless he is an impor- tant member of his tribe, a chief or a leader of some sort, even the shamim or medicine man with liis incantations is not called in. Good nursing is discarded, the invalid considers it to be his fate to die, and seems to go half way to meet the grim destroyer. The fur of the sea-otter varies in beauty of texture and value according to the animal's age and the season of the year in which it is captured. They are considered to be in their prime when about five years old, and those skins which are taken in winter are always of a more beautiful texture than those which are secured in summer. Of all animals hunted bv man it is most on the alert, and, as we have said, most difficult to ob- tain. One intelligent statement declares that be- fore they were so systematically hunted eight thousand skins were shipped from Alaska in a single year, but we believe that from four to five thousand otter skins would be considered a good twelve months' yield in these days. The Saanack islets and reefs are the principal resort of these animals on the coast, and hither the natives come 16d THE NEW ELDORADO. I 1' i A ! from long distances to hunt them, camping on the main island. F'requent attempts have been made to rear the young sea-otter, specimens being often taken when the mother is captured, but they al- ways perish by starvation, never partaking of food after being separated from the mother ; a well-known fact, which was referred to with not a little sentiment by the experienced hunter who related the circumstance to us. " Him die of broke heart," said the native, attempting an ex- piession of tenderness upon his egg-shaped fea- tures, which proved a ludicrous caricature. We saw a stuffed specimen of a young sea-otter in a native cabin at Juneau, consisting of the skin only, but very cleverly mounted and preserved by the hunter who had captured its mother. It is somewhat singular that the world's sup- ply of otter fur, like that of sealskin, comes almost entirely from the coast of Alaska, in the North Pacific and Behring Sea. Otter fur may be said to be almost confined in its geographical distribution to the northwest shores of America. The successful pursuit of the animal, so far as the natives are concerned, is of even more impor- tance than that of the fur-seals, for contingent upon its chase, and from the proceeds of its pelts, some five thousand natives are enabled to live in comparative luxury. It requires, as we have shown, great energy, hardihood, and patient ap- plication to effect its capture, but the sea-otter is a most beneficent gift of Providence to these ab- origines, and administers, as well, to the pride of BIRDS. 167 the fashionable world. The natives in former times attached gienl itnportance to preparing themselves for hunting the sea-otter, fasting, bath- ing, and performing certain mystic rites before embarking for the purpose. After bis return from a successful hunt the Aleut was accustomed to destroy the garments which he wore during tlie expedition, throwing them into the sea, so that the otters might find them and come to the con- clusion that their hite persecutor had been drowned and there was no further danger in fre- quenting the shore. This practice, ridiculous as it seems to us, serves to illustrate the superstitious character of the Alaskan natives, who seldom fail to see omers in the most trifling every-day occur- rences. The interior and northern parts of Alaska are the greatest breeding - places for binls in "iic world, being the resort of innumerable flr»ck8, which come from various parts of this continent, and others which make the tropical islands tWiir home a large portion of the year on both -he Atlantic and Pacific sides of America. These myriads of the featl)ered tribes consist largely of geese, ducks, and swans, coming hither for nest- ing, and to fatten upon the wi J Siilmon berries, red and black currants, cranb«»mes, biackU'n tes, bilberries, and the like, which greatly abound dur> ing the brief but intense Arctic stsaaaitr. Tber* are eleven kinds of edible berries whicli mature iflii August, among wliich the wild strawberries are the finest flavored we have ever euien. U is said I 1 / ''. 168 THE NEW ELDORADO. W that the geese especially become so fat feeding upon the plentiful supply of wholesome food that at the close of the season they can hardly fly, and are thus easily caught by the natives, who, in turn, feast luxuriously upon their tender and suc- culent flesh. Explorers tell us that they have seen on the banks of the Yukon — the great river of central Alaska, and the third in magnitude in America — the breeding-place of the canvas- back ducks, which has been heretofore a matter of some mystery. They prepare on the banks of this northern watercourse broad platforms of sedge, mingled with small twigs and bushes, laid compactly on marshy places, and without build- ing a carefully arranged nest deposit their eggs in untold numbers. That keen and scientific observer, the late Major Kennicott, says he saw on the banks of the Yukon acres of marshy ground thus covered with the eggs of the canvas- back ducks, in numbers defying computation. " The region drained by the Upper Yukon is spoken of by explorers," says Mr. Charles Hal- lock, editor of "Forest and Stream," "as being a perfect Eden, where flowers bloom, beneficent plants yield their berries and fruits, majestic trees spread their umbrageous fronds, and song- birds make the branches vocal. The water of the streams is pure and pellucid ; the blue of the rip- pled lake is like Geneva's ; their banks resplen- dent with verdure, and with grass and shining pebbles." At the first approach of winter the augmented THE II AIR-SEAL. 169 ,c T- 3 le ?- n- millions of birds take flight for the low latitudes, or their homes in the temperate zone, the old birds accompanied by the broods which they have hatched in the solitudes of the far north. Those which have come from the neighborhood of the Caribbean Sea turn in their flight unerringly in that direction ; those from the South Pacific islands heading as surely for that tropical region. Only the ptarmigan and the Arctic owl, with a few of the white-hawk family, remain to brave the wi.iter cold of northern Alaska, with the hardy Eskimo, the walrus, and the polar bear. The smaller tribes of birds are well represented here in the summer season, even including several species of swallows, martins, and sparrows, these tiny creatures seeming to follow some general bird instinct. Even the domestic robin is seen as far north as Sitka. Limited scientific research has recognized and classified one hundred and ninety -two different kinds of birds which are found in this Territory, a considerable number of which were unknown to science previous to 1867. We have said nothing relative to the hair-seals, or sea-lions, of Alaska, because their importance is comparatively insignificant, having no commer- cial value. Nevertheless, they are utilized by the ingenious natives in various ways ; the hides serve as a covering for a certain class of boats, made with wooden frames, and are also employed for several domestic purposes. The walrus is found in largest numbers on the north coast, iu the true Arctic region, affording some valuable ( H y^i I' I 170 THE NEW ELDORADO. • t oil, together with considerable ivory, in carving which the natives are very expert. Though the fur-tiade of the land is by no means equal to that of the sea, still iis aggregate results are very con- siderable. It employs numerous hunters and gives profitable business to many white traders, nearly all of whom make a permanent home in the Territory. Undoubtedly the most prolific and valuable fur-yielding district on the main- land is the valley of the Yukon, where the beaver, marten, several kinds of besira, with the wolf and fox, afford the best fur. We saw at the princi- pal store in Wrangel many packages of bearskins prepared for shipment to San Francisco. These packages would average five hundred dollars each iu value, and had been gathered from those brought in by the natives during the two weeks intervening between the arrival of the regular steamers. Single bearskins sell here, according ta their marketable character, for from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars each. The natives make little or no use of these skins, preferring the woolen blanket of commerce. The red and cross fox is found everywhere in the Territory, and its skin is comparatively cheap. It is singular that the blue fox is found only on the islands of St. Paul, St. George, Attoo, and Atkha, while the white fox is to be sought only at the far north. There is also the black fox, which, however, is a great rarity, thought to be an occasicmal accident of nature; the skins always bring extravagant prices from the traders. The black fox is not found in any i! THE FUR-TRADE. 171 special locality, but occurs now and again in any part of the Territory. The skin of the silver fox is also highly prized, and proves a valuiible peltry to the native hunters, forty dollars each being the usual price paid by the white traders. Oidy a few hundred are taken yearly. The land-otter and the beaver so abound as to make up a large total value annually. The latest official records show that there has been produced and shijipcd from Alaska annually an average of fifty-seven thousand beaver skins ; eighteen thousand land- otter skins ; seventy-one thousand foxes' skins of the v.arious sorts ; and of musk-rats two hundred and twenty-one thousand. These figures should be largely added to in each instance (we were told by one ofhcial that this aggregate estimate should be doubled), in order to include the un- registered pelts which are annually secured by various hunters, both whites and natives, and which find their way to distant markels through irregular channels, more especially over the bor- ders of British Columbia. This fur-trade is open to all, but requires capi- tal, organization, and persistency to make it profit- able. 'J'he natives do nearly all of the hunting and trapping, and will oidy engage in it, as a rule, to supply themselves with means to procure cer- tain luxuries from the trader's store, such as sugar, tea, and tobacco. We are sorry to add to these comparative necessities the article of whiskey, which is only too often furnished illicitly to the eager natives. When these wants are supplied '1 r 1! 172 THE NEW ELDORADO. [ they idle away their time until stimulated once more by their necessities to go upon the trail of the fur-bearing animals. Of course there are some exceptions to this, many of them being steady and willing workers, but we speak of the average na- tive. There is no fear of the supply of furs being exhausted under this system of capture ; even a combined and vigorous effort on the part of the hunters could not accomplish that in many years. Unlike our western Indians, these Alaskans are a comparatively thrifty race, entirely self-sustain- ing, and never require support from the govern- ment, notwithstanding idleness is their besetting sin, as is, indeed, characteristic of uncivilized peo- ple everywhere. We were told of several of these aborigines who had learned the lesson of thrift from the whites to such good effect as to have saved sums of j I money varying from one to five hundred dollars, I which they had deposited in the Savings Bank of San Francisco, and upon which they drew their aimual interest ; an investment, the safety and economy of which they fully appreciated. CHAPTER XII. Climate of Alnskn. — Ample Grnss for Domestic Cattle. — Win- ter and Summer Seasons. — The Jnjianesc Current. — Tem- perature in the Interior. — The KHliimos. — Their CuHtoms. — Their Homes. — These Arctic He^Mons once Tropicnl. — The Mississippi of Aliiska. — I'laccr Mines. — The Natives. — Strong Inclination for Intoxicants. It is a well-known fact, proven by official ob- servations, that the climate of the Pacific cosiat is considerably more temperate than that of the same latitude on the Atlantic side oL the conti- nent. The record of ten consecutive years, kept at Sitka, gave an annual mean of 46° Fah. This is in latitude 67" 3' north, and is found by comparison to be four degrees warmer than the average of Portland, Me., or six degrees warmer than the temperature of Quebec, Canada. The average winter is milder, therefore, at Sitka than it is at Boston, however singular the assertion may at first strike us, in connection with the com- monly entertained idea of this northwestern Ter- ritory. The mean winter temperature of Sitka and Newport, R. I., are very nearly the same, and there is only a difference of six degrees in their mean yearly temperature, though there is a differ- ence of sixteen degrees of latitude. We have before us a printed letter which ap- peared in the " Philadelphia Press," signed by \ r\ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. O /<* ^ ///// ^ 7i 1.0 I.I 1.25 '- IIIIIM m — IIIH 112.2 :r m '"— t IIS 2.0 1.8 ^^ !-4 . 1.6 Photographic Sciences Coiporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 "f A. ;% L# ^i 'w 174 THE NEW ELDORADO. I?] Mr. C. F. Fowler, late an agent of the Alaska Fur Company, who has resided for twelve years in Alaska, in which he says : *' You who live in the States look upon this country as a land of per- petual ice and snow, yet I grew in my garden last year, at Kodiak, abundant crops of radishes, let- tuce, carrots, on'ons, cauliflowers, cabbages, peas, turnips, potatoes, beets, parsnips, and celery. Within five miles of this garden was one of the largest glaciers in Alaska." In a certain sense it is surely a country of paradoxes. The harbor of Sitka is never closed by ice, which cannot be truthfully said of Boston or New York. Dr. Sheldon Jackson, long resident in the Ter- ritory as United States general agent of educa- tion for Alaska, tells us that the temperature of Sitka and that of Richmond, Va., are nearly iden- tical. Mr, McLean of the United States Signal Service, who has been located at Sitka for several years, says, " the climate of southern Alaska is the most equable I ever experienced." There is in Alaska a very large section of coun- try, composed of islands and the mainland, where the average temperature is higher than at Chris- tiania, capital of Norway, or Stockholm, capital of Sweden, — where the winters are milder and the fail of rain and snow is less than in southern Scandinavia, which is the geographical counter- part of Alaska in the opposite hemisphere. Sitka harbor is no more subject to arctic temperature than is Chesapeake Bay. " It must by a fastidi- TEMPERATURE. 175 ous person," said Mr. Seward in his speecli upon Alaska, *' who complains of a climate in which, while the eagle delights to soar, the humming- bird does not disdain to flutter." If it is some- times misty and foggy on the coast, it is not so to a greater extent than is the case during a large portion of the year in the cities of London and Liverpool. Both the islands and mainland of this latitude afford ample grass for cows, sheep, and horses, also producing, with ordinary care, the usual do- mestic vegetables, as we have shown, the asser- tion of certain writers to the contrary notwith- standing. We have not far to look for the cause of this favorable temperature existing at so north- erly a range of latitude. The thermal stream known as the Japanese Current, coming from the far south charged with equatorial heat, is precisely similar in its effect to that of the better known Gulf Stream on our Atlantic coast, rendering the climate of these islands and the coast of the main- land of the North Pacific remarkably warm and humid. We speak especially and at length of this subject of the temperature of Alaska, because a wrong impression is so generally held concerning it. At a distance from the coast the temperature falls, and most of the inland rivers are closed by ice half the year. Even in the interior we are in about the same latitude and average temperature of St. Petersburg. Thus on the line of Behring Strait the annual mean at Fort Yukon, which lies just inside of the Arctic circle, six hundred miles 176 THE NEW ELDORADO. inland from Norton Sound, is 16.92° ; this is in latitude 64° north. Along the coast of southern Alaska the fall of snow is not greater in amount than is experienced during an "ordinary winter in the New England States, and it disappears even more quickly than it does in Vermont and New Hampshire. In the interior and at the far north, the quantity of snow is of course much greater, and covers the ground for about half the year. But where the sun shines continuously through- out the twenty-four hours, the growth of vegetable life is extremely rapid. , The snow has hardly dis- appeared before a mass of herbage springs up, and on the spot so lately covered by a white sheet, sparkling with frosty crystals, there is spread a soft mantle of variegated green. The leaves, blos- soms, and fruits rapidly follow each other, so that even in this boreal region there is seed-time and harvest. The annual recurrence of this carnival season is all the more impressive in the realm of the Frost King. The Japanese Current, already referred to, strikes these shores at Queen Charlotte Island in latitude 60° north, where it divides, one portion going northward and westward along the coast of Alaska, and the other southward, tempering the waters which border upon Washington, Oregon, and California; hence their mild climate. Sea captains who frequently make the voyage between San Francisco and Yokohama have told the au- thor that this Japanese Current — with banks and bottom of cold water, while its body and sur- DIVERSITY OF CLIMATE. 177 face are warm — is so clearly defined as to be dis- tinguishable in color from tlie ordinary hue of the Pacific Ocean, and that its deep blue forms a visi- ble line of demarcation between tlie greater body and itself along its entire course. The thermom- eter will easily define such a current, and this the author has often seen demonstrated from a ship's deck ; but it must be a very keen eye that can dis- tinguish such differences of color at sea as the above assertion would indicate. In so extended a territory as that of Alaska, with broad plains, deep valleys, and lofty moun- tain ranges, it is reasonable to suppose there must be a great diversity of climate. The brief in- land summer is represented to exhibit marked extremes of heat, aiid tlie winter corresponding extremes of cold. W. H. Dall, an undoubted au- tliority in all matters relating to the valley of the Yukon, though his book upon the country was published some twenty years since, says : " At Fort Yukon I have seen the thermometer at noon, not in the direct ravs of the sun, stand at 112°, and I was informed by the commander of the post that several spirit . thermometers graded up to 120° had burst under the scorching sun of the Arctic midsummer." Fort Yukon is the most northerly point in Alaska inhabited by white men. It is estimated that ten or twelve thousand Eski- mos live in the uninviting region north of the Yu- kon valley. They are a most remarkable people, who are struggling with the cold three quarters of the year, and who seem to be strangely content r.; 'Ml 11 178 THE NEW ELDORADO. with a bare existence. Their days and nights, their seasons and years, are not like those of the rest of the world. Six montlis of day is succeeded by six months of r'ght. They have three months of sunless winter, three months of nightless sum- mer, and six months of gloomy twilight. No Christian enlightenment or religious teaching of any sort has ever found its way into this region. The people believe in evil spirits and powers who are in some way to be propitiated, but have no conception of a Divine Being who overrules all things for good. Like the southern Alaskans they are superstitious to the last degree, and discover omens in the most ordinary occurrences. The decencies of life are almost totally disregarded among them, their highest purpose being appar- ently the achievement of animal comfort and gorging themselves with food and oil. Their sky is famous for its beautiful auroral dis- play ' — gorgeous pyrotechnics of nature — in the long, chill winter night, when a brilliant arch spans the heavens from east to west, marked with oscil- lating hues of yellow, blue, green, and violet, ren- deiing everything light as day for a few moments, then falling back into daikness. So ofif the coast of Norway among the Lofoden Islands, the hardy men who pursue the cod-fishery in that region, during the winter season, depend upon the Aurora Borealis to light their midnight labor, that being considered the most favorable hour of the twenty- four to secure the fish. Without this nocturnal meteoric illumination, it would be darkness indeed in the polar regions for half the year. \ THE ESKIMOS. 179 ■■.V I This phenomenon in its Arctic development is so much intensified as to quite belittle the exhi- bition with which we are familiar in New Eng- land, and which is called the Northern Lights. It is certainly very odd that these boreal natives, the Eskimos proper, should have precisely the same mode of salutation which the New Zealand Maoris practice, though they are separated by so many thousand miles of ocean, namely, the rubbing of noses together between two persons who desire to evince pleasure at meeting. No matter how oily the Eskimo's nose may be, or however dirty the Maori's face, to decline this mode of salutation when offered is to give mortal offense, either in tropical New Zealand or in arctic Alaska, at Point Barrow or at Ohinemutu. " The home of the Eskimos," says Bancroft, in his excellent work on the natives of the Pacific coast, " is a model of filth and freeness. Coyness is not one of their vices, nor is modesty ranked among their virtues. The latitude of iimocency characterizes all their social relations ; they refuse to do nothing in pub- lic that they would do in private." They seem to live in a primitive state, without craving anything of the white man's possessions, except tobacco and rum, which are smuggled to them by contraband- ists, who come on to the coast to trade for furs and ivory. This t i of traders, sailing from San Francisco, and stopping at the Hawaiian Islands to procure a few hogsheads of the vilest intoxicant which is made, pass along the northern coast of Alaska, touching at certain places where they are i 180 THE NEW ELDORADO. expected annually. The walrus not only sup- plies the Eskimo with food, but its tusks are used as the common currency among them, and are secured in considerable quantities by the il- licit traders. The encroachment of unscrupulous contrabandists renders the utter extinction of the walrus only a question of time. It is to be re- gretted that the wholesale slaughter of this ani- mal cannot be prevented. If this could be brought about, as in the instance of the fur-seal, we might continue to get ivory from the shores of the Frozen Sea for all time. The natural enemy of the walrus is the polar bear, but his most relent- less pursuer is man. These Eskimos wrap their dead in skins closely sewed and lay them in the tundra, together with the worldly possessions of the deceased, without any funeral ceremonies. It would be sacrilege for any one to disturb this property left with the body, and no member of the tribe would think of doing so. In the Yukon Valley the remains of elephants and buffaloes are found fossilized, as those of the rhinoceros were discovered on the opposite conti- nent in Siberia, thus showing that this now arctic region was once tropical, a conclusion, nevertheless, which seems to be almost impossible to the traveler while gazing upon Niagaras of frozen rivers in the month of July. The Yukon River is the Mississippi of Alaska, forming with its several tributaries the great in- land highway of the Territory. As yet there are THE YUKON RIVi^R 181 no roads in the country, everything is transported by water or on the backs of the natives ; the great importance of such an extensive water-way can therefore be readily understood. The magnitude of the Yukon — one of the twelve longest rivers in the world — will be realized by the fact that it is still a matter of doubt among different writ- ers which of the two rivers named is the largest with respect to the volume of their currents, though Ivan Petroff, in his report as agent of the Secretary of the Interior, speaks thus confidently upon the subject : " The people of the United States will not be quick to take the idea that the volume of water in an Alaskan river is greater than that discharged by their own Mississippi ; but it is entirely within the bounds of honest statement to say that the Yukon River, the vast deltoid mouth of which opens into Norton Sound, of Behring Strait, discharges every hour of re- corded time as much, if not one third more, water, than the 'Father of Waters' as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico." This writer does not seem to us given to exag- geration, but still we are a little inclined to question the accuracy of his estimate as to the volume of water borne seaward by this great Alaskan river. The Yukon rises in the Rocky Mountain range of British Columbia; entering Alaska at about 64° north latitude, and pursuing its course nearly from east to west across the entire Territory, it finally empties, as stated, into Behring Strait through Norton Sound. The river is navigable for !ti 182 THE NEW ELDORADO. fifteen to eighteen hundred miles, while its entire length is computed at over two thousand miles, with an average width of five miles for half the distance from its mouth. There are several places on the lower Yukon where one bank is invisible from the other. It is seventy-five miles across its five mouths and the intersecting deltas. At some places, six or seven hundred miles inland, the river expands to twenty miles in breadth, thus forming in the interior a series of connected lakes, which explorers pronounce to be deep and navi- gable in all parts. This great water-way can only be said to have been partially explored, but those persevering pioneers who have made the attempt to uiu'avel its mysteries have given us extremely interesting details of their experiences, all uniting in bearing witness that its banks are rich in fur- bearing animals, and that its waters are stocked with an abundance of fish, including the all-per- vading salmon. These valuable fishes follow the same instinct which they exhibit in other parts of the world, in their annual pilgrimage of reproduc- tion, that is, after entering a river's mouth, to advance as far as possible towards its source. Besides fish and fur-bearing animals, the region through which the Yukon flows contains abundant deposits of gold, silver, copper, nickel, and bitu- minous coal. Some placer gold mines which were worked on its banks and in its shallows, so long as the season permitted, are credibly reported to have yielded to one party of prospectors nearly eighty dollars per day to each man. THE INLAND TRIBES. 183 The trouble to be encountered in working theso placers is owing to their remoteness from all sources of supply, and the exposure to the long winters which prevail in the placer gold-producing regions. These are obstacles, however, which will one of these days be overcome by the erection of suitable shelter, and a rich new mining field will thus be permanently opened. There are a number of trading-posts along the course of the Yukon at which white men reside permanently to traffic with the natives, purchasing furs from such as will hunt ; and there are many who are represented to be industrious and provident, supplying the whites with meat and fish as well as with pelts, fully ap- preciating the advantage of steady habits and reg- ular wages. In this respect the inland tribes dif- fer materially from most of those living on the coast ; the latter care little for work or wages until they are driven by necessity to seek employment. We speak in general terms ; there are of course many worthy exceptions, but savage races have little idea of thrift, and like the wild animals are aroused to action only by the demands of hunger. In equatorial regions where the nutritious fruits are so abundant that the natives have only to pluck and to eat, they are sluggiah, dirty, and heedless, living only for the present hour. In this Arctic region where the sei>. is crowded with food and the fields are covered with berries, the same listlessness prevails as regards the future with nine out of ten of the aborigines. These remarks do not apply to the Aleuts, from whom the Com- 'm ^m i 184 THE NEW ELDORADO. mercial Company obtains its workmen. These are mostly half-breeds, who are far more civilized than are our Western Indians. The proprietors of the Treadwell gold mine, Douglass Island, and of tlie works at Silver Bow Basin, employ large numbers of the natives, find- ing them to be reliable and industrious laborers. " Where we can separate these Alaskan natives from the objectionable influences which are apt to grow up in populous centres, and especially from multitudes of adventurous miners who come from a distance, we find them to be faithful and tracta- ble workers," said an employer to us. *' How about the Chinese "^ " we asked. " They are excellent workers," was the reply. " Set them a task, sliow them how to perform it, and it will surely be done. They are almost like automatons in th's respect and require no watch- mg. " Then why not employ them more generally? " " Because of the prejudice, the unreasonable prejudice, against them. Our other workmen re- bel if we keep many Chinamen on the pay-roll." This corresponded exactly with the author's experience elsewhere, in various parts of the world where the Chinese have sought a new home out- side of China. John is not perfect, but he is in- finitely superior to a large portion of the drinking, rowdy, and restless foreign element which fills so large a place in the labor field of this country. The greatest care is necessary to keep spiritu- ous liquors away from the aborigines, a craving w NATIVE DESIRE FOR INTOXICANTS. 185 for which is beyond their control where there is a possibility of its being obtained. When they fall under its influence they seem to utterly lose their senses, and become danc^'^rous both to themselves and to the whites. As ;'9 been intimated, the only means of locomotion i., afforded by the water- courses, and the nat? • j, bei.jg exr iient canoeists, find ample employment oi this nature, both in traversing the rivers ar,l uiong the shore of the islands. Thu waters of the Yukon, like those of the Neva at St. Petersburg, freeze to a depth of five or six feet in winter. I rm a !ir" Ihi ni ij! CHAPTER XIII. Sailing Northward. — Chinese Labor. — Unexplored Islands. — The Alexander Archipelago. — Rich Virgin Soil. — Fish Can- ning. — Myriads of Salmon. — Native Villages. — Reckless Habits. — Awkward Fashions and their Origin. — Tattooing Young Girls. — Peculiar Effect of Inland Passages. — Moun- tain Echoes. — Moonlight and Midnight on the Sea. Let us observe more order in these notes, and resume the course of our experiences in consecu- tive form. As we speed on our sinuous course northward, inlialing with delight the pure and balmy atmos- pliere, bearing always a little westerly, winding through narrow channels which divide the richly wooded wilderness of islands, avoiding here and there the ambuscaded reefs, the pleasurable sen- sation is intense. The scenery, while in some respects similar to that of the St. Lawrence River and tlie Hudson of New York, is yet infinitely su- perior to either. After having reached latitude 64° 40' we come upon Dixon Entrance, a reach of the sea which separates Alaska from British Columbia, and from this point we are sailing ex- clusively in the purple shadow of our own shore, and in the waters of the United States. At times we pass islands as large as the State of Massachu- setts, whose picturesque and irregular mountain- ous surfaces are covered with immemorial trees, NATURE ALONE ANTIQUE. 187 and whose unknown interiors are believed to be rich in coal, iron, silver, and other metals. The axe has never echoed in the deep shade of these dense plantations of nature ; they form a pathless wilderness, solemn and silent, save for the stealthy- tread of wild beasts, the mournful music of wav- ing pines, and the occasional notes of wandering seabirds. The migratory flocks of the tropics as a rule go farther north' to raise their broods, but a few, weary of wing, shorten their aerial journey and build nests on these islands. For many cen- turies past the great columnar trees have grown to mammoth size, and have then fallen only by the weight of years, enriching the ground with their decayed substance and giving place to another similar- growth, which, in its turn, has also flourished and passed away. How like the course of human races ! This process has been going on perhaps for twice ten thousand years. *' Nature alone is antique," says Carlyle. The past history of Alaska, except for a comparatively short period, is a blank to the people of the nine- teenth century. Day after day there is a continuous and un- broken chain of mountain scenery. On the right of our course is a broad strip of the mainland, an Alpine region, thirty miles in width, which forms a part of southern Alaska, bounded on the east by British Columbia, and on the west hj the many spacious islands, which create so perfect a break- water that the constant swell of the contiguous ocean is not felt. Some of these islands lie within m •'li' m 188 THE NEW ELDORADO. I; II 'i a quarter of a mile of each other, on either side of our way, and yet the water is far too deep to admit of anchoring, the peaks rising abruptly from unknown depths to thousands of feet above the sea. The channels seem still more narrow from the great height of the mountains which line the course. The eye catches with delight the bright ribbons of waterfalls tumbling down their sides, in gleeful uproar, foaming and sparkling to- wards the depths below. These are fed by melt- ing snow and hidden lakes far up in the cloud- screened summits. Some of these waterfalls, narrow and swift, leap from point to point, now forming small cascades, and now continuing in a perpendicular form like a column of crystal. Others, so abrupt and precipitous are the heights from which they are launched, fall in an unbroken stream, clinging to the cliffs at first, but quickly expanding into a tnin sheet rivaling the Bridal Veil of the Yosemite, and reaching the base in a constant gauzelike spray. The wide, open tracks seen now and then on the steep, thickly-wooded mountain sides, reaching from high up to the snow-line down to the very surface of the water, are the pathways swept by giant avalanches. What immense power and lightning-like speed are suggested by the broad, clean swath that is left ! The wind caused by the rushing avalanches is almost equally resist- less, the trees on either side of the track being torn into splinters by it. Now and again, above the tops of the giant THE ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO. 189 pines, one can see moving objects on the exposed peaks and cliffs, almost too far away and too small for identification, but we know them to be wild mountain goats, — the Alaskan chair^ois, — quite safe from the hunters in these perilous heights, never trod by the foot of man. The ten- der glow of twiliglit enshrouding mountain peaks, emerald isles, and the gently throbbing bosom of the sea, added daily a witching charm to a scene which already seemed perfect in beauty. The principal island group lying off the shore of southwestern Alaska is named the Alexander Archipelago, in honor of the Tzar of Russia. It ex- tends about three hundred miles north and south, and is seventy-five miles from east to west, em- bracing over eleven hundred islands, scarcely one of which has been explored. The group reaches from Dixon Entrance to Cross Sound, in latitude 68" 25' north. Upon landing at one of these islands it was found to be covered by an impervi- ous forest ; the mass of timber and undergrowth was so compact as to defy our progress. The tan- gle of bushes, roots, vines, and branches formed almost as impenetrable a wall as though built of masonry. The wildest jungles of India are not more dense. Where not covered and hidden by trees, the earth was flecked here and there by the sun, being carpeted with moss and ferns so thickly spreau as to form a spongy surface, upon which only the velvety feet of small wild animals could be sustained. A human pedestrian, were he to attempt to pass over it, would sink in this !■;{- 'mi ■ 1,1 iii ii il I 1 190 THE NEW ELDORADO. II'-, (V, : 'Ml vegetable compound knee -deep at every step. There are no paths in these jungles ; the natives have no occasion to penetrate them, their living comes from the sea, and the river courses are their hunting grounds. This virgin soil, were it to be drained and cleared of trees, would be rich beyond calculation, while the climate is such as to warrant the growth and ripening of any vegetation which will thrive on the Atlantic coast north of Chesapeake Bay. One who has not seen it in Alaska knows not what rank and luxuriant forest undergrowth is. No tropical islands can surpass the Alexander Archipelago in this respect. Thus far no one has come to this region with the idea of testing its availability for agricultural purposes; it is otiier business which has attracted them. Nothing of any account has ever been done in the way of stock-raising, though the winters of southern Alas- ka, of Kodiak, and the Aleutian Islands are much milder than are those of Wyoming or northern Dakota, and there is plenty of food for innumera- ble herds all the year round. If government will but give the Territory of Alaska proper land laws, this region will promptly invite emigration, and be rapidly peopled by thrifty stock-growers. As we increase our northern latitude forests of tall cedars, spruce, and hemlock still line the shore of the mainland, and cover the countless islands with a mantle of softest green. It is not surprising that artists become enthusiastic over the infinite variety of shades found in these ver- FISH-CANNING. 191 dant woods, an effect which we have never seen excelled even in equatorial regions. Gliding over the still, deep, pellucid surface of the ocean, we behold these clitfs, forests, and mountains, with coronets of snow reflected therein, as though there was another world below, like that above the rose- tinted sea. One finds almost exactly repeated here the bold, towering peaks, and low-lying rocky isles of the Lofoden group in the far North Sea of the opposite hemisphere, whose sharp, jagged pinnacles have been aptly compared to shark's teeth. Near Cape Fox, on the mainland, there are two large fish-canning establishments, where salmon are packed in one pound tin cases for shipment to distant markets, and in which a few Chinamen are employed. Some Indian women also find occupation in the establishment, while their hus- bands capture and bring in the fish in large quan- tities. This is a rapidly growing and profitable business in this region, there being already forty or fifty such factories along the coast and among the islands north of Cape Fox. Kasa-an Bav makes into Prince of Wales Isl- and twenty miles, more or less, from Clarence Strait. Here there are several villages of Kasa-an Indians. No spot on the coast is more famous for the abundance and excellence of its salmon ; at certain seasons the waters of the bay swarm with them. Here is a large cannery, or fish-packing station, where native women do most of the indoor work. Two thousand barrels of salted salmon )\ ''J ^1 I % i! 'i!: V'! ; 'lit |J:i . i I'' 192 THE NEW ELDORADO. were shipped from this bay last year. This was independent of those used in canning. There would seem to be no limit to the expansion of an industry that can furnish such desirable, every way wholesome, and nutritious food to be sold in all parts of the world. The North Pacific Trading and Packing Com- pany of San Francisco has been doing a profitable business on the coast for many years. In spite of government neglect, commerce is steadily increas- ing and developing Alaska ; it invades all zones, proving the greatest of civilizing agencies. Not only is it the equalizer of the wealth, but also of the intelligence, of nations, and this one branch alone is gradually populating whole districts. When the active packing season is over there is still profitable employment for all. Some are oc- cupied in making the tin cans to hold one pound each ; others are taught to become coopers, fur- nishing the casks for shipping such fish as are split, salted, and exported in that form ; while oth- ers are occupied in making pine-wood boxes to contain two dozen each of the filled cans. Thus a well-conducted fish-packing establishment employs many people, and presents a busy scene all the year round. The salmon are so plenty in the regular season that an Indian will sometimes deliver at the can- ning factory three or four canoe-loads in a single day. They are mostly caught by net or seine, but often during the height of the season the natives absolutely shovel the salmon out of the water and n * Im BEARS. 193 on to the shore with their paddle blades. We were told that as many as three thousand salmon, and even more, are sometimes taken at a single haul of the seine; also that fish of this species weighing from twenty to thirty pounds were com- mon here. Great numbers are discarded at the factories because they do not prove to be of the high pink color which is required bj' the purchas- ers and consumers. It seems that the bears know very well when the run of salmon commences, and that there are certain quiet inlets where the fish are sure to get crowded and jammed, so that Bruin has only to reach out his paws and draw one after another on to the shore and eat until he has his fill. The bear-paths leading to these spots are strongly marked, and the animals are thus easily tracked and shot by the hunters. It is the white men who capture them most generally, as the natives have some mysterious reverence and fear combined re- garding this animal. They do hunt them, how- ever, but shrive themselves of all sense of wrong by going through some mystic rites. Mr. Charles Hallock says : " There are bears enough in Alaska, grizzly, cinnamon, and black, to fu^-nish every man on the Pacific with a cap and overcoat, and leave breeding stock enough for next year's supply." The grizzly bear is a dangerous animal to encoun- ter single-handed. A bullet seems to have no more effect upon him, unless it strikes a vital spot, than it does upon an elephant. It is necessary to use guns of large calibre when hunting the animal, and the whites rarely seek them unless several tried men band together for the purpose. ■:t U ' h I • A i. i m n ■A-A ,4ti ill !^Si 1 194 THE NEW ELDORADO. From time to time small native villages are seen on the islands and the mainland, all typical of the people, and quite picturesque in their dirtiness and peculiar construction. Some of their cabins are built of boards, but mostly they are rude, bark- covered logs. In front of these dwellings stand to- tem-poles, presenting hideous faces carved upon them in bold relief, together with uncouth figures of birds, beasts, and fishes. A portion of these tall posts are weather-beaten and neglected, signifi- cantly tottering on their foundations, green with mould, unconsciously foreshadowing the fate of the aboriginal race. Groups of natives in bright- colored blankets, with scarlet and yellow handker- chiefs on their heads, come into view, watching us curiously as we glide over the smooth water, while bevies of half-naked children are seen shifting hither and thither in clamorous excitement. What wonderfully bright, black eyes these children have ! Some of the women are gathering kelp, for the shores are lined with edible algaj, posses- sing not only fine nutritious qualities, but being also a recognized tonic, with excellent medicinal properties. This sea-product is collected in the most favorable season of the year, and after being pressed into convenient sized and esculent cakes is stored for future use. The native hamlets are always built near to the shore, accessibility to the water being the first consideration, because from that source comes nine tenths of their subsistence. To clear the forest and secure open fields presup- poses more thrift and application than these na- AWKWARD FASHIONS. 195 tives possess ; but it would unveil some of the richest soil in the world. These Alaskans have no idea of sewerage, or the proper disposal of do- mestic refuse. All accumulations of this sort are thrown just outside the doors of their dwellings, to the right and left, anywhere in fact which is handiest. The stench which surrounds their cab- ins, under these circumstances, is almost unbeara- ble by civilized people, and must be very unwhole- some. These natives have broad faces, r>mall, pig-like eyes, and high cheek bones, not very nice to look upon, yet not without a certain expression of real intelligence gleaming through the accumu- lated dirt. "What is needed here," said a humorous ob- server to us, " is the mission teacher with his Bible, spelling-book, and — soap ! " The women cut their hair short on the fore- head, nearly even with the eyebrows, causing one to surmise that these Thlinkits — a generic name given to the tribes in this vicinity — must have set the fashion of " banging " the hair, which is so popular among civilized belles. Just so the Japa- nese women originated the hideous fashion of the " bustle." The author saw this awkward and un- becoming appendage worn upon the backs of the women of Yokohama, Tokio, and Nagasaki three years before it appeared upon the streets of Bos- ton and New York. And now we hear of the " clinging " style of drapery, in which underskirts even are discarded, called the Grecian or classic style. Alas ! will nothing but extremes satisfy the m m -1^: r 196 THE NEW ELDORADO. importunate demands of fashion ? Heaven send that we do not import another fasliion from Alaska or the South Seas, namely tattooing. It is quite common here, among young girls of about twelve years of "2®» whose cheeks and chins are often thus disfigured by irregular lines. The more the natives associate with the whites, however, the more rarely this tattooing is resorted to, and it may be said, as a fashion, to be going out in Alaska, though it is undoubtedly one of the most widely diffused practices of savage life, from the Arctic to the Antarctic circle. The Alaskans have an original way of produ- cing this indelible marking, the color being fixed by drawing a thread under the skin, whereas the usual mode among various savages is by pincking it in with a needle. The favorite colors are red and blue. We were told that common women were permitted to adorn their chins with but one vertical line in the centre, and one parallel to it on either side, while a woman of the better or wealthier class is allowed two vertical lines from each corner of the mouth. The New Zealand Maori women tattoo their chins in a very similar manner, keeping the rest of the face in a natural condition. We had threaded the intricate labyrinth of islands, bays, and channels, guarded by miles upon miles of sentinel peaks, nearly all day, on one oc- casion, under a depressing fog and rain, when sud- denly a bold headland was rounded, which had seemed for hours to completely bar our way, and MOUNTAIN ECHOES. 197 we passed out from under the shadow of the frowning cliffs and the gloom of the dark fathom- less waters just as the sun burst forth, warm, bright, and resistless, while the view expanded before us nearly to the horizon. The mist, like shrouded ghosts, stole silently away, vanishing behind the rocks and cliffs. Every dewy drop of moisture, on ship and shore, glittered like dia- monds in the dazzling rays of the new-born light, changing the verdant islands into a glory of color, and the whole view to one of majestic love- liness, through which we glided as smoothly as though in a gondola upon the Grand Canal at Venice. When approaching a landing or anchorage, a signal gun is fired from the forecastle of the ship, creating a series of echoes deep, sonorous, and startling, but especially remarkable for the num- ber of times the sound is repeated. One single gun becomes multiplied to a whole broadside. The report is taken up again and again by other localities, and thus is conveyed for miles away, finally sinking to a whisper, as it were, among the foot-hills of the giant elevations. The most impressive scenes realized by the trav- eler are those of moonlight and midnight. How a love of the stars and the sea grows upon one, and life has so few moments of perfect contentment 1 What melody and magic permeate the pure, placid atmosphere, bounded by the sapphire sea and the azure sky 1 How tender and beautiful is the utter stillness of the hour ! Such scenes of i\ 198 THE NEW ELDORADO. gladness make the heart almost afraid, — afraid lest there should be some keen sorrow lurking in ambush to awaken us from pleasant dreams to the stern, disenchanting experiences of real life. CHAPTER XIV. I.I The Alaskan's Habit of Gambling. — Extraordinary Domostic Carvings. — Silver Bracelets. — Prevailing Superstitions. — Disposal of the Dead. — The Native "Potlatch."— Canni- balism. — Ambitions of Preferment. — Human Sacrifices. — The Tribes slowly decreasing in Numbers. — Influence of the Women. — Witchcraft. — Felich Worship. — The Native Ca- noes. — Eskimo Skin Boats. The aborigines of Alaska are slow in their movements, and in this respect resemble the Lapps of Scandinavia, having also a drawling manner of speech entirely in consonance with their bodily movements. They are as inveterate gamblers as the Chinese, often passing whole days and nights absorbed in the occupation, the result of which is in no way contingent upon intelligence or skill, until finally one of the party walks off winner of all the stakes. Their principal gambling game is played with a handful of small sticks of different colors, which are called by various names, such as the crab, the whale, the duck, and so on. The player shuffles all the sticks together, then count- ing out a certain number he places them under cover of bunches of moss. The object seems to be to guess in which pile is the whale, and in which the crab, or the duck. Individuals often lose at this seemingly trifling game all their worldly possessions. We were told of instances m Hi 200 THE NEW ELDORADO. ' |i i i I where, spurred on by excitement, a native risks his wife and children, "nd if he loses, they be- come the recognized property of the winner, nor would any one think of interfering with such a settlement. These extreme cases, of course, are rare. It is impossible to see the aborigines eagerly absorbed in the game without recalling Dr. John- son's characteristic definition of gambling, namely, " A mode of transferring property without pro- ducing any intermediate good." Inside of the rude native houses one finds many hideous carvings, representing impossible animals and strange objects of all sorts, after the style of the totem-poles, of which we shall have occasion to speak. Many of their small domestic uten- sils are made from the horns of the mountain goats, and are also curiously carved with night- mare objects, as evil to look upon as African idols. Yet some of these articles show consider- able skill and infinite patience in execution. We have seen specimens that it was diflBcult to be- lieve were executed by the hand of rtn uncultured savage. Before the Russians introauced iron and steel knives, the aborigines seem to have carved only with copper and stone implements, produ- cing remarkable results under the circumstances. The young women wear silver bracelets, pounded out of American dollar pieces, some of which are an inch broad, and are covered elaborately after civilized models, others bear native heraldic devices of birds, beasts, and fishes, which are said '■m SUPERSTITIONS. 201 to represent the arms of the wearer's family, it being customary for each tribe and person to adopt some distinctive aeal or crest. They much prefer silver ornaments to those of gold or other material ; though they are not slow to realize in- trinsic values, probably they choose the less expen- sive metal because it is Alaska fashion. In spite of all the missionary effort which is made to enlighten these natives, they are still slaves to the most debasing superstitions. Scarce- ly a month passes in which the civil authorities are not called upon to interfere with the people for cruelty. We were told of one instance which lately occurred at Juneau, A native was seriously ill, and the medicine-man, having failed to relieve him by his noisy incantations, charged an old member of the tribe with having bewitched the invalid. He was consequently seized, tied up, and whipped until nearly insensible, being left for three days without food. By chance the authorities heard of the case and released the old man. The two prin- cipal natives who had been guilty of the maltreat- ment were tried and fined twenty dollars each. The very next day the old man was missing, and it was found that he had again been tied up and whipped. The two culprits admitted repealing their cruelty, saying they had paid for the right to whip out the witch from the old man, and it must be done before the invalid would recover. These ignorant creatures entertained no malice to- wards the old native ; it was only a matter of duty, as they thought, to exorcise the evil one which h'- i t' t.'i ill m I 202 THE NEW ELDORADO. had possessed the invalid. This is a fair sample of the superstition of the average Alaskans. When a member of the family dies, the body is not removed for final disposal by the door which the living are accustomed to use, but a plank is torn from the side or back of the dwelling, through which the corpse is passed, after which the place is at once carefully made whole. This, the/ say, is to prevent the spirit of the defunct from find- ing its way back again, and thus bringing ill luck upon the living. A still more superstitious and savage custom prevails among some of these igno- rant natives. If a person dies in a cabin, it is held that the place becomes sacred to his spirit, and there- fore is unfit for the living. To avoid this difii- culty the dying are passed out of the domicile through some temporary hole into the open air to breathe their last, so that neither the house nor the threshold may be sacrificed to the spirit of the dead. Slaves, besides poor widows and or- phans, when they die, are often disposed of in the most summary and unfeeling manner, being exposed in the woods, or cast into the sea as food for the fishes. In this connection we re- member that the highly civilized and rich Par- sees of Bombay do not hesitate to give the dead bodies of their cherished ones to the vultures, in those terrible Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill. The cerv^monies which follow all funerals among these aborigines are peculiar affairs, and for the carrying out of which each person saves more or Ill FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 203 less of his worldly effects to leave after death. As soon as the body of the deceased is disposed of, then commences what is here called a " potlatch," signifying a " big feast," conducted very much after thb style of the New Zealanders on a similar occasion. Everybody is invited and a free spread or feast nrovided, the same being kept up for sev- eral days and nights, so long, indeed, as the pur- chasing power lasts. Whiskey is freely dispensed, when it can be had, but if not obtainable, as it is a contraband article, then " hoochenoo," made from flour and molasses well fermented, takes its place, being equally intoxicating and maddening. Dancing, wailing, singing, fighting, and grave in- decencies follow each other, until the means to keep up the potlatch left by the deceased are ex- hausted, and his surviving family oftentimes im- poverished. Cremation is the Thlinkit's favorite mode of disposing of his dead. The bodies of slaves and " witches " are disposed of with great secrecy. They are not considered worth burial, and are sometimes cast into the sea, but water burial is infrequent. The bodies of chiefs lie in state sev- eral days ; the people observe certain rites ; then the body is cremated and the ashes are encased in the base of a totem erected to his memory. Sha- mans (doctors) are never cremated. After lying in stato four days, one day in each corner of the cabin, the body is taken out of the house through the smokestack, or some opening other than the door, and conveyed some distance to a deadhouse I I)! Ill ill ijljj. It! 204 THE NEW ELDORADO. i \\ built for this particular occupant. There in its last resting-place the body is seated in an upright position. The paraphernalia of his rank and office, some blankets and household effects to add to his comfort in the spirit-land, are entombed with the remains. Another occasion for indulging in the potlatch is when some one is desirous of securing extraor- dinary influence in his tribe, generally a chief seeking to establish superior position or popular- ity over some rival. Natives have been known to save their means for years, augmenting them by industry and self-denial, in order finally to give a grand and unequaled feast of this character. When the time arrives not only are all the host's own tribe invited, but those of the next nearest tribes not akin to his own. Such a festival often lasts for a whole week, until the last blanket of the giver is sacrificed. These strange festivals, we were told, are fast passing into disuse, at least among those tribes brought most in contact with the whites, though on a smaller scale they do still exist all over the southern region of Alaska. There is, perhaps, no positive evidence that ca»- nibalisra ever prevailed among the Indians of this region, yet it is gravely hinted that it did on the occasion of these funeral potlatches years ago. To sacrifice the life of one or more of the slaves of the deceased we know was common, and if their bodies were not barbecued and eaten, then these natives of the North Pacific were entirely differ- ent in this respect from those who lived in the DECAY OF THE RACES. 205 South Pacific. The medicine-men, even to-day, devour portions of corpses, believing that they ac- quire control of the spirit of thj deceased thereby, and gain influence over demon spirits in the other sphere. Such practices are, however, rare, though Mr. Duncan of Metla-katla tells us he has wit- nessed the repulsive performance. The places near each hamlet where the dead are finally placed often number many more graves, or square boxes containing the bodies, than there are present in- habitants in the settlement. All this region was formerly many times more populous than it is to- day. Here, as in Africa, New Zealand, Califor- nia, and Australia, where the white man appears permanently, the black man slowly but surely vanishes. The progress of civilization, as we call it, is fatal to native, savage races all over the world. Catlin, who lived among and wrote so well about our Western Indians, summed up the matter thus : " White man — whiskey — toma- hawks — scalping-knives — guns, powder and ball — smallpox, debauchery — extermination." But it is not alone gunpowder, rum, and lasciviousness which are the active agents to this end ; there is also a subtle influence which is not clearly under- stood, and which it is diflBcult to define, but which is as potent, if not more so, than the agencies above suggested. The destiny which heaven de- crees for a people will surely come to them. This has been clearly exemplified in the instance of the North American Indians, as well as among the South Sea Islanders in Australia and the Ha- lf ii 4- ] i!i jM \l h I. i; ; 11 r'l ' M 206 THE NEW ELDORADO. waiian Islands. Of an entire and intelligent peo- ple, the aborigines who once occupied Tasmania, there is not to-day a living representative ! The land is solely possessed and occupied by white Europeans, before whom the natives have steadily vanished like dew before the sun. Mr. Frederick Whymper, who wrote about the Northwest some twenty years ago, speaking upon this subject, refers to the experience of a Mr. Sproat, a resident of the region near Puget Sound, who employed large numbers of natives as well as whites in manufacturing lumber. Mr. Sproat conducted his large business and the place where it was established on temperance principles; no violence or oppression of any sort was permitted towards the natives. They were in fact better fed, better clothed, and better taught than they had ever been before. It was only after a con- siderable time that any symptom of a change was observed among the Indians. By and by a listlessness seemed to creep over them, and they "brooded over silent thoughts." At first they were surprised and bewildered by the presence of the white men, and the machinery and steam vessels which they brought with them. They seemed slowly to acquire a distrust of themselves, and abandoned their old practices and tribal hab- its, until at last it was discovered that a higher death-rate was prevailing among them. *' No one molested them," says Mr. Sproat ; " they had ample sustenance and shelter for the support of life, yet the people decay<;d. The steady bright- INFLUENCE OF THE WOMEN. 207 ness of civilized life seemed to dim and extin- guish the flickering light of savageism, as the rays of the sun put out a common fire." Upon the same subject and people, H. W. El- liott says : " These savages were created for the wild surroundings of their existence ; expressly fitted for it, and they live happily in it ; change the order of their life, and at once they disappear, as do the indigenous herbs and game before the cultivation of the soil and the domestication of animals." We shall not cotnment upon these remarks, though to us it is an extremely inter- esting subject ; the reader must draw his own inference. The men of these native tribes are strong and vigorous ; the women are, however, forced to per- form most of the domestic labor, and all of the drudgery, yet it was observed that they held the purse strings. That is to say, a native buck al- ways defers to his wife in any matter of trade as to the price either to ask or to pay. The women of Alaska are certainly in a better condition and are better treated than those belonging to any of our Western Indian tribes, with whom we are ac- quainted. Though they are called upon to do much menial work, they do not seem to be actu- ally abused. The male Alaskan performs a cer- tain liberal share of domestic duties, but not so with the Indian of our Western reservations. The latter makes his wife a beast of burden. They are generally clothed in the garments of civiliza- tion, though of coarse material and of the cheapest ■'f? mv m ' m\ !l lii I n I 208 THE NEW ELDORADO. manufacture. The ready-made clothing store has reached even the islands of the North Pacific. Polygamy is common among the aborigines, chas- tity is little heeded, and young girls are sold by their mothers for a few blankets, she and not the father hav^ing the acknowledged right of dispos- ing of them. Dr. Sheldon Jackson writes most feelingly as follows : " Despised by their fathers, sold by their mothers, imposed upon by their brothers, and ill-treated by their husbands, cast out in their widowhood, living lives of toil and low sensual pleasure, untaught and uncared for, with no true enjoyment in this world and no hope for the world to come, crushed by a cruel heathenism, it is no wonder that many of them end their misery and wretchedness by suicide." It was found on inquiry that the ratio of births among the Alaskan shore tribes was considerably greater than among civilized communities, but the death-rate is, on the other hand, excessive. The wretched ignorance of the mothers as to the ob- servance of the simplest sanitary laws, as well ns the gross exposure of their infants, is the principal cause of this needless mortality. The aborigines, where not brought in contact with the government schools and missionaries, still retain their system of fetich worship, be- ing very much undei control of their medicine- men, who pretend to influence the demons of the spirit world, so feared by the average savage. Their moral degradation is extreme, and their practices in too many instances are terrible to ^ NATIVE CANOES. 209 relate. Slaves are sacrificed, as already stated, at the owner's death, that they may go before and prepare for his arrival in the future state. Vile witchcraft is still believed in among most of the tribes, and murderous consequences follow in many cases. All kinds of barbarity are inflicted upon women, children, and slaves. We are told by Dr. Sheldon Jackson that it was surprising to see how quickly these savage practices yielded to the power of Chi-istian teachings, and how rapidly they faded away before the influence of association with a few intelligent, conscientious white teachers. What these people need is education and Christian influ- ence, which will work a great and rapid reiorm among them in a single generation. The canoes of the tribes about the Alexander Archipelago are dug out of well-chosen cedar logs, and are given the really fine lines for which they are remarkable by means of hot water and steam, together with the use of cunningly devised braces and clamps. The wood being once thoroughly dried in the desired shape, will retain it. Wonder- ing how the exquisite smoothness was produced in forming their boats without a carpenter's plane, it was found by inquiry that the natives dry the coarse skin of the dogfish and use it as we do sandpaper. The time spent upon the construction and ornamentation of these canoes is apparently of no consideration to the native, and the market value of the best will average one hundred dollars. It is the Alaskan's most necessary and most prized piece of property. Some which we saw were .1 t:, 1 ff 210 THE NEW ELDORADO. m. If'! I i •f eighty feet in length, and capable of holding one hundred men. It must be remembered that al- most the entire population live on the coast or river banks in a country w^here there are no roads. These canoes have no seats in them ; the rower places himself on the bottom, and thus situ- ated uses his paddles with great dexterity. They are quite unmanageable by a white man who is not accustomed to them, as much so at least as a birch canoe, such as the Eastern Indians build on the coast of Maine. But the Alaskan boat is far superior to the birch-bark canoe in every respect. We saw one paddled by a boy at Pyramid Harbor, neat and new, which the lad, say twelve years of age, had dug out of a spruce log with his own hands, quite unaided. Its lines were admirable, and the finish was excellent. When the sun beats down upon these boats, the owner splashes water upon the sides about him to prevent their warp- ing, and for this purpose carries a thin wooden scoop. When not in use they are carefully cov- ered up to shelter them from the sun's rays. Some tribes use a double paddle, that is, an oar with a blade at each end, which they dip on one side and the other alternately ; other tribes use the single- bladed paddle. Each one of the males among the natives has his canoe, for the water is his only highway, and without his boat he would be as helpless as one of our Western Indians on the plains without his pony. When the "dug-outs" are drawn up upon the shore in scores, they present a curious appearance, packed with grass and cov- I 1. i. ESKIMO SKIN BOATS. 211 ered with matting to keep them from being cracked and warped by the sun. The bows and stern of many of them are elaborately carved to- tetn-fashion, and also painted in strange designs with a black pigment. The for* part of the boat rises with an upward sheer, and is higher at the prow than at the stern. There is another form of boat used by the Eskimos and natives of the out- lying islands, being a simple frame of wood, cov- ered with sea-lion skin from which the hair has been removed. These boats are covered over the tops as well as the bottoms, being almost level with the aea, leaving only a hole for the occupant to sit in, thus making them absolutely water- tight, a life-boat, in fact, v^hich will float in any water so long as they will hold together. The waves may dash over them but cannot enter them. These skin-covered boats, admirably adapted to their legitimate purpose, are known on the coast as " bidarkas," in the management of which the natives evince great skill, making long journeys in them, and braving all sorts of weather. Like the Madras surf-boats, no nails are used in their con- struction, either in the skeleton frame or in put- ting on the covering, the several parts being lashed and sewed together in the most artistic fash- ion with sinews and leather thongs, which enables them to bear a greater strain than if they were held together by any other means. The thongs admit of a certain degree of flexibility when it is required, an effect which cannot be got with nail fastenings. .1 if :!iP . i ill i\ ^ore good qualities than the average foreigners who seek a home on our shores. A LEDGE OF GARNETS. 237 The scenery of the Stickeen River is pronounced by Professor Muir to be superb and grand beyond description. Three hundred ghiciers are known to drain into its swift running waters, over one hundred of which are to be seen between Fort Wrangel and Glenora. Near tiie mouth of the river is the curious ledge of garnet crystals, which furnishes stones of considerable beauty and bril- liancy, though not sufficiently clear to be used as gems. Choice pieces are secured by visitors as cabinet specimens, however, and can be had, if desired, by the bushel, at a trifling cost. They occur in a matrix of slate-like formation, some so large as to weigh two or three ounces, and dimin- ishing from that size they are found as small as a pin-head. It requires three days of hard steam- ing against the current to ascend the river as far as Glenora from the mouth, whereas the same distance returning, down stream, has frequently been made in eight or ten hours. So necessarily rapid is the descent of the Stickeen as to make the downward trip quite hazardous, except in charge of a careful pilot. In the neighborhood of Fort Wrangel there are some veiy active boiling springs, which the natives utilize, as do the New Zealanders at Ohinemutu, by cooking their food in them. In the crater of Goreloi, on Burned Island, is a vast boiling spring, or rather a boiling lake, which has never been intelligently described, and which is represented by those who have seen it to be unique. This strange body of water is eighteen i I 238 THE NEW ELDORADO. miles in circumference. The natives are well supplied with legends relating to these remarka- ble natural phenomena, including the extinct and active volcanoes. Genii and dreaded spirits are supposed by them to dwell in the extinct volca- noes, and to make their homes in the mountain caves. They believe that good spirits will not harm them, and therefore do not address them- selves to such, but the evil ones must by some active means be propitiated, and to them their sole attention is given, or, in other words, their religious ceremonies when analyzed are simply devil worship. All of the tribes, if we except the Aleuts, are held in abject fear by their con- jurers or medicine-men, who seemed to us to be the most arrant knaves conceivable, not possess- ing one genuine quality to sustain their assump- tions except that of bold effrontery. This seems particularly strange, as the aborigines of the North- west are more than ordinarily intelligent, com- pared with other half-civilized races, both in this and other lands. They are firm believers in signs and omens. When Rev. Mr. Willard and wife first came to the Chilcat country the winter was one of deep snows and stormy weather. The natives said that the weather-gods were angry at the new ways of the missionaries. A child had been buried instead of burned on the funeral pyre in accordance with their customs. The mother of the child became alarmed and felt that her life was in jeopardy for permitting her child to be buried, so she kindled BELIEF IN OMENS. 239 a fire over the grave in order to appease the gods and bring fair weather. At school the children had played new games and mocked wild geese. So the girls of the Sitka Training School brought on a very cold spell of weather by playing a game called " cat's-back," and which caused a commo- tion at the native village. A white man out with some natives picked up some large clam-shells on the beach to bring home with him ; the natives remonstrated with him, saying that " a big storm may overtake us, our canoe might capsize, and all be drowned the next time we go on the water." In tempestuous weather the native propitiates the spirit of the storm by leaving a portion of tobacco in the rock-caves alongshore, but in calm weather he smokes the weed himself. It was noticed, however, that the aboriginal Alaskans were little given to the use of tobacco, less, in- deed, than any semi-civilized race whom the writer has ever visited. Governor Swineford, in his annual report to the department at Washington, dated 1886, says : " I have no reason to change or modify the estimate I had formed on very short acquaintance of the character of the native Alaskans. They are a very superior race intellectually as compared with the people generally known as North American Indians, and are as a rule industrious and provi- dent, being wholly self-sustaining. They are shrewd and natural-born traders. Some are good carpenters, others are skillful workers in wood and metals. Not a few among them speak the English 4 i(t ii'1 •t!.. >l! f i!i 240 THE NEW ELDORADO. language, and some of the young men and women have learned to read and write, and nearly all are anxious for the education of their children." Our government should act upon this hi;il t^nd freely establish the means of educai'on among the Alaskans. True, it is systematically engaged in promoting the cause in various ways, though not very energetically, Congress having votod forty- five thousand dollars to be expended for the pur- pose during the year 1889. " School-house.i are the republican line of fortifications," said Horace Mann. " Among thost, best known," says Dr. Shel- don Jackson, speaking of the native tribes, " th*') highest ambition is to build American homes, pos- sess American furniture, dress in American clothes, adopt the American style of living, and be Amer- ican citizens. They ask no special favors from the American government, no annuities or help, but simply to be treated as other citizens, protected by the laws and courts, and in common with all others furnished with schools for their children." It was made the duty of the So ret; y of tuo In- terior, by the act providing a "government for Alaska, to make needful and the education of all children oi reference to race or color, and all tr te friends of progress and humanity will urge the matter until a common school is established in every native tribe and settlement having a suflBcient number of children. We were told thao chere is good hunting inland a short distance from Fort Wrangel ; winter, er provisio for loo^ 26 ^^'ilhout THE ULUHJITOUS MOSQUITO. 241 ! however, is the otily season when tliis can be suc- cessfully pursued near to the coast in the wild dis- tricts. The marshy " tundra " is then frozen and covered with snow, making it possible to crosp, This is the period of the year also when the na- tives of the interior prosecute their most success- ful trapping and hunting, coming down to the coast by the river in the summer to sell their pelts and to purchase stores of the white traders. The Russians have long since taught the aborig- ines to depend much upon tea, but they care very little for coffee. Rifles are greatly prized by them, and though they are contraband nearly every In- dian manages to possess one and knows how to use it most effectually. They are very econom- ical of ammunition, and never throw away a shot by carelessness. The pestiferous and ubiquitous mosquito is not absent from these high latitudes. They are very troublesome during the short summer season in northern Alaska as well as among ^b-^ islands of the Alexander Archipelago. Strange '.hat so frail an insect should have reached as far north as man has penetrated. Even while climbing the frosty glaciers the excursionist will find both hands re- quired to prevent their biting his face from fore- head to chin. If they are a persistent pest in equatorial latitudes, they are ten times more ven- omous and voracious in these regions during cer- tain seasons. The author has experienced this fact also in Norway at even a much higher latitude than he visited in the western hemisphere. The I' 'f : 11 ' 242 THE NEW ELDORADO. bites of these mosquitoes fortunately, like all flesh wounds in this northern region, heal quickly, ven- omous as they are, owing to the liberally ozon- ized condition of the atmosphere as well as the absence of disease germs and orgiinic dust. It is said that when the otter hunters or others among the aborigines get wounded in any way, their treatment is simple and efficacious, and however severe the wound may be, it is nearly always quickly healed. The victim of the acci- dent puts himself uncomplainingly on starvation diet, living upon an astonishingly small amount of food for a couple of weeks, and the cure follows rapidly. Frederick Schwatka, in his excellent book en- titled " Along Alaska's Great River," tells how the mosquitoes conquer and absolutely destroy the bears, and it seems that the native dogs are some- times overcome by them in some exposed districts of the Yukon valley. The great brown bear, having exhausted the roots and berries on one mountain side, cross the valley to another range, or rather makes the attempt to do so, but is not al- ways successful. Covered by a heavy coat of hair on his body, his eyes, nose, and ears are the only vulnerable points of aMack for the mosquitoes, and hereon they congregate, surrounding the bear's head in clouds. As he reaches a swampy spot they increase in vigor and numbers, until the ani- mal's forepaws become so occupied in striving to keep them off that lie cannot walk. Then Bruin becomes enraged, nnd, bear-like, rises on his hind ALASKAN FJORDS. UB legs to fight. It is a mere question of titiib after this stage is reached until tlie bear's eyes become 80 swollen from the innumerable bites that he can- not see, and in a blind condition he wanders help- lessly about until he gets mired and starves to death. The cinnamon and black bears are most common, the grizzly being less frequently met ■with. The great white polar bears are not found south of Behring Strait, though they are numerous on the borders of the Arctic Ocean. At every landing made by the steamer on our meandering course among the islands Indians come to the wharves to offer their curios or home- made articles, only valuable as souvenirs of the visit. As they mass themselves here and there, either on the shore or the ship's deck, they form picturesque groups, made up of bucks, squaws, and papooses, presenting charming bits of color, while they amuse the stranger by their peculiar physiognom} and manners. During the excur- sion season they must reap quite a harvest by the sale of baskets and various domestic trinkets. After ler.ving Fort Wrangel we are soon in the vrild, picturesque, and sinuous narrows which bear the same name. The water is shallow ; here and there are many dangerous rocks in the channels. Inlets or fjords are often passed, so quiet and invit- ing in their appearance as to tempt the traveler to diverge from the usual route. Some of these marine nooks are deep enough to float the largest ship, yet far down through the clear water one can sec gardens of zoophytes invaded by myriads IT 244 THE NFW ELDORADO. : J^ ! /] * 11 ;: of curiously shaped fish, large and small. The bottom of these waters, like the land and sea of Alaska, teems with animal life. A few hours' dredging would supply the most enthusiastic nat- uralist with ample material for a year's study. In the many stops of the steamer to take or deliver freight, brief boat excursions can be en- joyed. On one of these occasions we saw the first live octopus, or devil - fish, with two of its fatal arms encircling a small fish, which, after squeezing out its life, the octopus would devour. The one which was seen on this occasion was not very large, the rounded body being, perhaps, eighteen or twenty inches across, but its vicious looking tentacles, six in number, two of which securely clasped its victim, were each three times that length. The large eyes seemed out of pro- portion to the animal's size, and were placed on one side like those of the flounder. The Patterson glacier is the first of the many v^hich come into view on this part of the voyage, but they multiply rapidly as we oteam north- ward. It is vast in proportions, though partly hidden behind the moraine which it has raised. Three or four miles back from its front rises a wall of solid ice nearly a thousand feet in height. The whole was rendered marvelously beautiful, lighted up as we saw it by bright noonday sun- shine, which brought out its frosty and opaline colors of white, scarlet, and blue, in brilliant array. Little has been written about the Patterson gla- cier, but it is one of the most remarkable in size GLACIERS. 245 and other characteristics in all Alaska. Vessels from San Francisco have taken whole cargoes of ice from these Alaskan glaciers and transported the same for use in California. There seems to be no res.son why the gathering of such a supply should net be both possible and profitable, though ice can now be so easily manufactured by artificial means. The fact that these glaciers are slowly decreas- ing in size leads to the conclusion that the ex- treme Arctic temperature in the north is slowly growing to be less intense. Intelligent captains of whaleships have made careful observations to a like effect. It was once tropical in the Yukon valley, — of that there is evidence enough ; who can say that it may not again be so a few thou- sand years hence ? I) ^i ^i CHAPTER XVIII. Norwegian Scenery. — Lonely Navigation. — The Marvels of Tukou Inlet. — Handreds of Icebergs. — Home of the Frost King. — More Gold Depooits. — Snowstorm among the Peaks. — Juneau the Metropolis of Alaska. — Auk and Takou In- dians. — Manners and Customs. — Spartan Habits. — Dis- posal of Widows. — Duels. — Sacrificing Slaves. — Hideous Customs still prevail. Befoee reaching Juneau we explokcd Takou Inlet, where there are two large glaciers, one with a moraine before its foot, the other reaching the deep water with its face, so as to discharge ice- bergs constantly. The bay was well filled with these, some of which were hirger than our steamer (the Corona), and all were of such intense blue, mingled with dazzling white, as to recall the effect realized in the Blue Grotto of Capri. This berg- producing glacier was corrugated upon its surface in a remarkable manner, being utterly impassable to human feet. It was nearly a mile in width and its length indefinite ; we doubt if it has ever been explored. A thousand ice and snow fed streams poured into the bay from the surrounding moun- tains, which completely walled in the broad sheet of water, so sprinkled with ice-sculpture in all manner of shapes. The ceaseless music of falling water was the only noise which broke the silence of the scene. A cavalcade of fleecy clouds, kindly TAKOU INLET. 247 forgetting to precipitate themselves in form of rain, floated over our heads, producing delicate lights and shades, with creeping shadows upon the surround- ing mountains. The steamer's abrupt whistle waa echoed with mocking hoarseness from the sur- rounding cliffs, causing the myriads of white- winged wild fowl to rise from the icebergs until the air was filled with them like snowflakes. How wonderful it was! A broad clear flood of sun- shine enveloped the whole ; everything seemed so serene, so grand, the sky so blue, and the angela so near. It was all as magnificent as a gorgeous dream, to the thoughtful observer a living poem. Close in to the precipitous cliffs of the myrtle- green hills were inky shadows, which formed the requisite contrast to the crystal clearness of the surroundings. For thousands of years this glacial action has been going on, the story of the earth is so old ; but its beauty is ever young, its loveliness eternal. On our way up Gastineau Channel — the tide- waters of which have a rise and fall of sixteen feet — we have presented to us veritable Norwe- gian scenery, under a pale amethyst sky fringed at the horizon with orange and crimson ; now glid- ing close to precipitous cliffs enlivened by silvery streams leaping down their sides, and now passing the mouths of inlets winding among abrupt moun- tains leadii.>g no one knows whither, for there are no maps or charto of these lateral channels. The Indian canoes may have occasionally penetrated them, but never the keel of the white man. On i 1 \ \ II ''I > 248 THE NEW ELDORADO. the left stand the tall peaks of Douglas Island, and on the right the jagged Alps of the mainland, both rising to a height of a thousand feet or more, on the continent side backed by elevations still more lofty. The Takou River flows into the sea and gives its name to the neighborhood. Here the Hudson Bay Fur Company established and maintained a trading-post for several years. All this region is famous for its game, such as deer, bears, caribou, wolves, foxes, martens, and minks, together with the abounding big-horn sheep. In place of wool these latter have a coat somewhat like the red deer, and except in the size of their horns they resemble our domestic sheep. We are told that this district is also rich in gold placer mines, and according to Professor Muir it must eventually yield extremely profitable results to in- telligent mining enterprise. In many localities the placers have paid for years, though worked by the most simple means. The experience of Cali- fornia will undoubtedly be repeated in Alaska; the great aggregate of gold which was realized there will be duplicated here. After due thought and personal observation relative to the subject, we are willing to stand or fall upon the correct- ness of this prediction. The result may not come in the next year, or that following, but it will come in the near future. Mining north of 64° 40' is only in its infancy ; its growth has been far more rapid, however, than it was at the south, both because of the richness of the mines, and be- cause the business of mining is, and will continue to be, done more intelligently. JUNEAU. 249 Just before reaching Juneau a singular phenom- enon attracted our attention ; it was a furious snowstorm among the mountain peaks, while all about us was quite calm and pleasant. The thick clouds of snow were driven hither and thither, from one pinnacle to another, writhing and twisting like a cyclone or water-spout at sea. It was a curious contrast, the storm raging in those far upper cur- rents, while we enjoyed a gracious wealth of sun- shine in a temperature of 65° Fah. Juneau, located one hundred and fifty miles southeast of Sitka, and about three hundred north of Fort Wrangel, is already a considerable mining centre, with a population of about four thousand, situated not far from Takou district, and is the depot for the rich quartz and placer mines which are located in the region back of it. The site of the town is picturesque, being at the base of an abrupt mountain cliff which is decked with spark- ling cascades. We were told that there is a rise and fall of twenty- four feet in the tide at the wharf of Juneau, but think perhaps eighteen feet would be nearer correct. The winter population is swelled by the influx of miners when the placers are not worked owing to snow and ice. Truth compels us to say that the residents here, of both sexes, are far from being of a desirable class. The Indians of this vicinity are of the Auk and Takou tribes ; good traders and good hunters, but enemies of each other, though not given to open hostility. The native women, as if not content with the nat- ural ugliness which has been liberally bestowed 250 THE NEW ELDORADO. lli j, upon them by Providence, besmear their faces with a compound of seal-oil and lampblack, but for what possible reason, except that it is aboriginal Alaska fashion, one cannot divine. It is said that this is a sort of mourning for departed relations or friends ; but the hilarity of those thus marked was anything but an indication of sorrow. We can well remember Yokohama wives, with blackened teeth and shaved eyebrows, who looked, if possi- ble, a degree worse than these Alaskan women. In the latter case, however, the wives confessedly sought to make themselves hideous to prevent jeal- ousy on the part of their husbands ; but the native women here do not assign any plausible reason for smooching themselves in this offensive manner. When their faces are washed, a circumstance of rare occurrence, they are as white as the average of white people who are exposed to an out-of-door life. It is not the practice of the aborigines of either sex to wash themselves with water. They are sometimes seen to besmear their faces and hands with oil, which they carefully wipe off with a wisp of dry grass, or other substitute for the towel of civilization. The effect is to make the features shine like varnished mahogany ; but as to cleanliness obtained by such a process, that does not follow. If it were possible to discover a soap mine here there might be some hopes of introducing among the natives that condition which common accepta- tion places next to godliness. A traveling com- panion remarked that although milk and honey FEMALE EMBELLISHMENTS. 251 could not be said to flow in this neighborhood, oil does. Many of the women, like those of the South Sea and the Malacca Straits, wear nose rings and glittering bracelets, while they go about with bare legs and feet. The author has seen all sorts of rude decorations employed by savage races, but never one which seemed quite so ridiculous or so deforming as the plug which many of these women of Alaska wear thrust through their under lips. The plug causes them to drool incessantly through the artificial aperture, though it is partially stopped by a piece of bone, ivory, or wood, formed like a large cuff-button, with a flat-spread portion in- side to keep it in position. This practice is com- menced in youth, the plug being increased in size as the wearer advances in age, so that when she becomes aged her lower lip i shockingly deformed. It is gratifying to be able to say that this custom is becoming less and less in use among the rising generation, and the same may be said as to tattoo- ing the chin and cheeks. The hands and feet of the women are so small as to be noticeable in that respect. The girls and boys endure great physical neg- lect in their youth, so that only the strongest are able to survive their childhood. It was surprising to see children of tender age of both sexes clothed only in a single cotton shirt, reaching to their knees, bare-legged, bare-footed, and bare-headed, yet apparently quite comfortable, while our woolen clothes and waterproofs were to us indispensable. 252 THE NEW ELDORADO. We were told that in infancy these children are dipped every morning into the sea, without regard to the temperature, or season of the year, com- mencinor the operation when they are four weeks old. This heroic, Spartan treatment of the bath will probably harden, if it does not kill, but un- doubtedly the latter result is the more likely of the two. The adults of some of the tribes break holes in the ice in midwinter, and bathe with marvelous fortitude, not for purposes of cleanli- ness, but declaring that it makes them " brave and strong, able to resist the cold, and to live long." The next hour, however, they may be found sit- ting on their hams as close to the fire in the mid- dle of their unventilated cabins as they can get, closely wrapped in blankets, head and all. The prevalence among them of rheumatism and con- sumption shows that Nature cannot be outraged with impunity even by half-civilized Alaskans. The natives do not seem to know anything about medicine, but when seriously ill they call in their shaman or medicine-man, and submit to his wild and senseless incantations, a process which would drive a civilized patient distracted. Fifty years ago an epidemic of small-pox swept away one third of the population of this part of the North Pacific coast, besides which, from various causes, the number in the several tribes is steadily decreasing. Vaccination having been introduced, a second visit of the dreaded disease just men- tioned was accompanied with a very much smaller fatality. A scourge known as black measles id a RUM THE NATIVE'S BANE. 253 frequent visitor among the youthful Alaskans, and is quite as fatal as small-pox. Strong efforts are made by our government officials to keep intoxicating liquors out of the Territory, and the law makes them strictly con- traband, but it is no more difficult or impossible to smuggle in Alaska than it is in New York or Boston. There are plenty of irresponsible whites ready to make money out of the aborigines. Rum is the native's bane, its effect upon him being sin- gularly fatal ; it maddens him, even slight intoxi- cation means to him delirium i. id all its conse- quences, wild brutality and utter demoralization. Molasses is sold freely to them, and the Ii Hans have learned how to distill rum from it, so that they secretly produce a vile and potent intoxicant, in spite of all prohibition. When a native husband dies his brother's or sister's son, according to their custom, must marry the widow, but if there is no male relative of the husband's living, the widow may then choose for herself. If the individual who thus falls heir to a widow does not fancy the conditions, he must buy himself off, or fight the widow's nearest male relative. Oftentimes, if the new alliance is par- ticularly disagreeable, the victim escapes by pay- ing so much cash or so many blankets. There seems to be no hurt to a native's honor that pecu- niary consideration will not promptly heal. Cor- poral punishment is considered by these aborigines to be a great disgrace, and is very seldom resorted to even with rebellious children. Theft is not 254 THE NEW ELDORADO. % ( I civilized nostrils is really something dreadful to encounter. I'his description refers to the winter homes of the people, where they hibernate like some species of wild animals, but for the milder portion of the year the Eskimos are nomadic, traveling hither and thither, seeking the most favorable locations for hunting and fishing, while living in rudely constructed camps. They use tents adapted for this itinerant life, made from prepared walrus hides supported by a light framework of wooden poles. The more thrifty supply themselves with canvas tents bought of the whites, as being handier for use and transportation. Speaking of the interior of the country, we have the authority of Mr. C. F. Fowler, late agent of the Alaska Fur Company, and long resident in the country, and of Ex-Governor Swineford, both of whom have carefully investigated the subject, for stating that there exists a huge species of ani- mals, believed to be representatives of the sup- posed extinct mammoth, found in herds not far from the headwaters of the Snake River, on the interior plateaus of Alaska. The natives call them *' big-teeth " because of the size of their ivory tusks. Some of these, weighing over two hundred pounds each, were from animals go 260 THE NEW ELDORADO. lately killed as to still have flesh upon them, and were purchased by Mr. Fowler, who brought them to the coast. These mammoths are represented to average twenty feet in height and over thirty feet in length, in many respects resembling ele- phants, the body being covered with long, coarse, reddish hairs. The eyes are larger, the ears smaller, and the trunk longer and more slender than those of the average elephant. The two tusks which Mr. Fowler brought away with him each measured fifteen feet in length. The author has almost universally found among savage races at least a few very old people of both sexes, who were apparently revered and carefully provided for by their descendants and associates, but here among the aborigines aged persons are certainly not often to be seen. Whether it is that, hardy and robust as they gen- erally appear to be, they do not, as a rule, live to advanced years, or that a summary method is adopted to get rid of them after they have out- lived their usefulness, it is impossible to say. We were told that such is certainly the case with some of the tribes farthest from the influence and supervision of the whites, and that half a century ago the extremely old, being considered useless, were frequently " disposed " of. It is clear enough that there is nothing in the climate of this region in any way inimical to health and longevity. The women of the Takou district are very ex- pert and industrious. They occupy a large por- tion of their time in weaving baskets of split RAINFALL. 201 cedar, far exceeding any similar Indian work which we have chanced to see elsewhere, both in the coloring and the very ingenious combination of figures. Some of these baskets are so closely woven out of the dried inner bark of the willow- tree that they will hold water without leaking ; the author also saw drinking-cups thus manufac- tured. Visitors rarely fail to bring away interest- ing specimens of native work in this particular line ; the fine straw goods of Manila do not ex- cel this in delicacy and beauty. In addition to this attractive basket-work from the hands of the women, the men of the tribe exhibit their natural skill by carving silver brac( lets (made from dol- lar and half dollar coins), miniature totem-poie&, horn jind wooden spoons, baby rattles and caooes. in a very curious and original manner. C;nc« a fortnight, during the summer season, on the ar- rival of an excursion party by steamer frorr tl»e south, the natives are, as a rule, completely cleaved out of their entire stock of these pro^feuctions, and they do not fail to realize fair pri*3»s, enabling them to live very comfortably. Though Sitka is the capital of the T<^rritory, Juneau is the principal settlement and headquar- ters of the mining interests, containing ovtr seven hundred white residents. We have seen no sta- tistics of the annual rainfn^' here, but cai5 well believe it to be what a certain pw-son t'ld us it was, namely, over nine feel. It seenjed r » us that the permanent residents «hould lie web-footf'd. The cause of this humidit) is very evident. Tl«re 262 THE NEW ELDORADO. V I arises from the warm Japanese Current gn the coast a constant and profuse moisture. This the winds convey bodily against the frosty sides of the neighboring mountains, and then it is precip- itated as rain; at certain seasons of the year it continues for weeks together. There is compensation even in the fact of this large annual rainfall, which at first thought seems to be such an objection to this district. The gold- bearing quartz which prevails here is treated, nec- essarily, by what is known as the wet process, re- quiring at all times an ample supply of water. One successful superintendent told the author that ore which is here so profitable would be in a dry region, like that of some portions of our Western States, worthless, or comparatively so, as it would have to be transported in bulk to a more favor- able locality. It seems to require two rainy days to one pleasant one, which is about the average proportion in the year, to provide sufficient water to work these large deposits properly. The sys- tem of disintegrating, and of reclaiming the pre- cious metal from the flint- like combination in which it is held is marvelous in detail, evincing the rapid progress which has been made in me- chanical and chemical processes in our day. It is found that June, July, and August are the favorable months for the traveler to turn his face towards the shores of Alaska, thiia being the sea- son when the pleasant weather is most continu- ous. It is not extremes of cold, but an over-abun- dance of moisture in the shape of rain, which one THE TREADWELL GOLD MINE. 263 must prepare for. An ample waterproof outside garment will be found at times very serviceable. The Treadwell gold mine, just opposite Juneau, on Douglas Island, is undoubtedly the largest in the world, running at the present time two hun- dred and forty stamps, the mill and machinery having cost over half a million dollars; and though the author has visited the mines of Colorado, Mon- tana, California, New Zealand, and Australia, he has certainly never seen its superior in capacity and golden promise. It is a true gold-bearing quartz visible at the surface, four hundred and sixty -four feet in width. The company owns three thousand running feet upon this deposit, — it can hardly be called a vein, — parts of which have been tunneled and shafted simply to test its extent, showing it to be practically inexhaustible, no bottom having been found to the gold-bearing quartz, nor any diminution in the quality of the ore. The mill is run upon this quartz the whole year, but as it ia owned by a private corporation, and there is no stock for sale, the exact output of the mine is not known. The writer feels safe in saying, however, that no such body of gold-beaiing quartz is known to be in existence elsewhere. The laborers do not have to work in dark, un- derground channels ; all is above ir>'ound, and in the season when darkness comes it is dispelled by electric lights,, No timbering or shafting is re- quired ; it is simply an open quarry. Captain Joha Codman, after visiting the mine, writes: "We walked through the golden streets of this New 264 THE NEW ELDORADO. J'! (^ i! M '■I Jerusalem, with golden walls on either side, aiul wondered what men could do with so much money.*' It is not a little confusing to a stranger, when he first enters the great Treadwell Mill, to be greeted by the deafening cannonade of two hundred and forty stamps. Each stamp weighs nine hundred pounds, and the crushing capacity of the whole mill is seven hundred and twenty tons per day. Tlie gold is shipped to the mint in San Francisco in the form of bricks worth from fifteen to eighteen thousand dollars each. Douglas Island was named by Vancouver in honor of his friend the Bishop of Salisbury, and is eighteen miles long by about ten in width. This remarkable quartz vein is believed to run the whole length, though it is not always visible at the surface. Governor Swineford, in one of his annual reports, expresses his belief that ere long the gold produced in this section alone will exceed annually the amount which was paid to Russia for the whole of Alaska. This island, like Bara- noff upon which Sitka is situated, is absolutely seamed with gold-bearing quartz, and has been carefully prospected and recorded by people inter- ested in mining. Three hundred laborers are regu- larly employed at the Treadwell Mill, whose seven owners are opulent citizens of San Francisco. The work is prosecuted with great system and intelli- gence. The quartz of this mine is not so rich as that of many others, yielding on an average less than ten dollars to the ton, but it is so immense in quantity, and is so easily worked, that the SILVER BOW BASIN. 265 aggregate yield of the precious metal is iiuleed remarkable. The mill turned out in the first twelve months after it was started seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bullion, and is prob- ably producing at this writing thiee times that amount yearly. The mine is admirably situated for the pur- pose of receiving or shippir freight, as vessels drawing twenty feet of watoi can lie alongside of the rocks which form the natural shore less than one hundred yards from the quartz mill. We were informed that sixteen million dollars have been offered and refused for this property. The would-be purchasers were members of a French syndicate. The agent says that the owners have but one price, namely, twenty-five million dol- lars, and they are in no haste to part with their property even at that sum. Oii the mainland, just across the channel from Douglas Island, three or four miles back of Juneau, is Silver Bow Basin, where there are gold deposits of vast extent and richness. Here quite a population is engaged in placer and quartz mining. The miners present a motley crowd with their picks, shovels, and red shirts, many with a stump tobacco pipe between their lips, and all with eager faces. A spacious and thoroughly equipped quartz mill is being erected by a Boston company of capitalists for the purpose of developing a large property which it is thought will nearly equal the Tread- well in its output of the precious metal. This is known as the Nowell mine, and it is said that the 266 THE NEW ELDORADO. 'III nil m \ i'l i;; Mi quartz assays one hundred dollars and over to the ton. Silver Bow Basin is a small round valley ly- ing in the lap of the mountains, accessible through a deep gulch behind the town. It is surrounded by noisy waterfalls, which supply just the needed power for manipulating the gold quartz. Across the range is another rich mineral locality, known as I);x Bow Basin. On Admiralty Island, near the northwest end of Douglas Island, opposite Takou Inlet, there has lately been discovered several gold deposits which are owned by a Boston company. The prospect- ings upon some of this well-defined vein have developed a percentage of gold to the ton so large that we hesitate to specify it. " Thirty years ago," said Mr. Thomas S. Nowell to us, "the mines of Alaska would have proved comparatively valueless; the machinery and process that are now so successfully applied to reducing the ores were then unknown. The great economy and consequent profit is derived from late discoveries which are now perfected, producing machinery which works as though it, had the power of thoughxr' The names of several other profitable mining enterprises in this vicinity might be given, but we have said enough to indicate the great mineral wealth of this portion of the Territory, and to justify our title of The New Eldorado. There are abundant gold indications all along the coast, as well as upon the islands. In the sands of any considerable stream between Cape Fox and Cook's INEXHAUSTIBLE RICHES. 267 Inlet the "color" of gold can be obtained by tlio simple process of panning. Tlie question is not vrhere gold can be found in Alaska, for it seems to be wonderfully and abundantly distributed, but as to what localities will best pay to expend capital in developing. A number of abandoned claims show that the failure to realize a satisfao- tory profit in gold mining by eager, impatient, and unreasonable individual seekers without proper machinery is as frequent as in any other business enterprise awkwardly planned. This is as appar- ent in Africa, Australia, and California as it is in this region. The Tread well mine on Douglas Island is in latitude 58° 16' north, just about on a line with Edinburgh, Scotland. We quote once more Mr. Nowell's own words : " The mountains of Alaska abound in gold-bear- ing quartz, the extent of their deposits exceeding any similar discoveries in the world. There is without doubt more gold-bearing quartz on Doug- las Island alone, which can be worked at a hand- some profit, than ten thousand stamps could crush in a century ; a well-defined vein from two to six hundred feet wide traversing the island for at least from six to eight miles." There is a missionary family, supported by the Quaker persuasion, located at Douglas Island, whose earnest effort in civilizing and teaching the natives has been crowned with considerable success. The self-abnegation and conscientious labor of these people are truly worthy of all com- mendation. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I "- IIIIM tu IM |M 12.2 M 1.8 , 1.25 1.4 1.6 M 6" — ► 7, ..A 'c^l c^. -^ ,;> Photographic Sciences Corporation \ ,J ,v ^ ;\ \ % v ^ o % ^ \^ 'ib^ 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 % w. :/j > O fi % i i%\ Hjmi i: i'i I 111 268 THE NEW ELDORADO, Soon after leaving Juneau, when near the head of Lynn Channel, the grand Davidson glacier comes into view, filling the space between two lofty mountains. It measures twelve hundred feet high by some three miles in breadth, being as wide as a frozen sea and as deep as the ocean. While looking upon it one is overawed by a sense of its immensity and grandeur, as it seems hang- ing, poised, ready to drop into the fathomless sea. Where we pass it there intervenes a terminal mo- raine overgrown with trees and green foliage, which Contrasts vividly with the icy background formed by ^he glacier. The glaciers of Europe are mere pygmies in comparison with this marvel, which is named after Professor Davidson, who has carefully explored and described it. Both the Muir and Davidson glaciers are spars of the same great ice- field, which has an unbroken expanse large enough to lie over the whole republic of Switzerland. The Muir glacier will be- reached presently in Glacier Bay. Soon after leaving the Davidson glacier we are in Pyramid Harbor. This is the region of the Chilcats, who were formerly one of the most warlike tribes in the Territory, but who seem to have outlived their belligerent propensities. Their rude, but picturesque cabins dot the neigh- boring shore. The little settlement here consists mostly of bark huts and a substantial trader's store, together with an extensive and successful fish - cannery. The product of the latter is over a million pounds of fish per annum, the whole THE CHILCATS. 269 being engaged for 1889 to a Liverpool firm. This amount is shipped in seventy thousand cases of about fifty pounds each ; the fish are packed in tins holding a pound each. This is an average amount as regards various factories on the coast, though some very much exceed it. The Indians now cheerfully accept employment from the whites, and gladly receive the regular wages which may be agreed upon. They appear to be the best carv- ers on the coast, and have an abundance of their handiwork to sell to the interested white visitors. These articles consist of carvings in ivory (walrus' teeth), decorated sheep-horns, copper and silver bracelets, bows, arrows, and spearheads. As en- gravers on copper and silver the Chilcats excel all other people of the Northwest. Some of their women wear a dozen narrow bracelets on each arm, all of home manufacture. They are also skillful in making ear-rings, and ornamental combs out of ivory and sheep's horn. As successful imitators they are remarkable, and will almost exactly reproduce any design which is given to them as a pattern. It seems strange that so ag- gressive and warlike a tribe should be skilled in carving and many mechanical productions. Certain people have bestowed much honest but needless sympathy upon these "poor abused In- dians." Such persons may be assured that they are amply able to look out for themselves and their own interests, as regards all material matters. No white man can get any advantage over an Alaskan native in the way of trade; they are 270 THE NEW ELDORADO. sharpness itself in such things. For instance^ these Chilcats a few years since observed that the white traders were particularly desiious of obtaining black fox skins, and that for such pelts they would willingly pay a handsome advance over skins of other colors ; a fine skin of this sort bringing as high as thirty dollars, while the common red ones were not worth quarter of that sum. The innocent natives soon began to pro- duce the black skins in large quantities and re- ceived their pay accordingly. Surprise being at last excited by the remarkable abundance of the black pelts, an explanation of the cause was sought, when it was finally discovered that by a secret process of dyeing the natives had made the red fox skins temporarily into black. This was done so cunningly that nothing but a careful examination would detect the outrageous cheat, and not anti- cipating anything of the kind the traders were not on their guard. Of course no dyeing process which f-.hey possessed was of a permanent nature as applied to pelts, and these black furs when they came to be prepared for market rapidly resumed their natural color. When charged with this gross deception, the Chilcats assumed the most innocent expression and denied any knowledge whatever in the premises, only saying : " Fox, him get black before him caught," thus lying concerning their trickery as volubly as any white rogue might have done. We are told of several of these tricks played off by the "poor abused Indians," one instance of CHILCAT "APTITUDE:' 271 which we remember as having occurrt-d at Fort Wrangel, illustrating the " aptitude " of the abo- rigines, not to give it any harder rame. It seems that a kindly disposed missionary, by exercis- ing great patience, had taught some Indians to read and write, and in the consciousness of his own intentions felt amply paid by the goodly progress of his pupils. One of these young men, not over twenty years of age, was especially curi- ous about arithmetic, and made considerable prog- ress in figures in a very short time. He was soon after hired by the superintendent of a fish-can- ning establishment as a special assistant, with good wages. Being given a note or due-bill of twenty-five dollars by his employer, he quickly saw his chance, and adroitly raised the figures to two hundred and fifty dollars, got the bill cashed at one of the neighboring trading establishments, and suddenly disappeared with the proceeds there- of. He has not since been seen. The Chilcats have, until within a few years, forcibly kept the natives of the interior away from the coast and the white men, thus monopolizing the land fur-trade by acting as middle-men, so to speak, but this embargo is now entirely removed. By this and some other means, being naturally thrifty and saving, they have come to be the rich- est and most independent tribe of Indians in the Northwest. Their women manufacture the famous and really very fine Chilcat blankets, which are slowly woven by hand on a primitive loom. The base of these blankets is the long fieece of the r . iii'i' mm t H I . \imi ]v 272 THE NEW ELDORADO. mountain goats, which is tastefully manufactured and ornamented, reminding one of the domestic Oriental work offered for sale in the Turkish bazaars of Cairo. The Chilcat blankets readily bring forty dollars apiece, and the best of them are sold for double that sum. They are ordinarily about six feet long by four broad, having in addi- tion a long, ornamental fringe at each end. The colors are black, white, yellow, and a dull blue, the coloring matter being also of native manufac- ture. These blankets used to be heirlooms in the aboriginal families before the cheap woolens of commerce were introduced among them, since , when they have become annually more and more scarce, and are now purchased only by visitors to carry away as curiosities. Even at the highest price realized for them, if the maker's time were to be reckoned of any account, the sum is a sorry pittance for one of these blankets, which to prop- erly finish will employ six months of a woman's time. Pyramid Harbor, in latitude 59° 11' north, is the most northerly point reached by the excursion steamers on this part of the coast. The place takes its name from a prominent conical forma- tion upon an island within its borders. The clus- ter of houses, cabins, and the canning factory which make up what is known as Pyramid Har- bor are situated upon a broad plateau on a sandy beach, at the foot of a mountain which towers three thousand feet heavenward, covered with trees to its summit and beautified by a bright, PYRAMID HARBOR. 273 dashing waterfall visible from near the apex to the bottom. This affords both a hesilthful water supply for domestic use and a motor for the fac- tory. The broad plateau, three or four miles in length and one wide, grass-grown, and covered with low shrubbery, is beautified by a floral display of great variety, including wild roses, sweet peas, columbines, white clover, and other varieties, hav- ing also an unlimited amount of berries The wide mouth of the Chilcat River, which makes into the bay a mile from this settlement, is a swarming place for the salmon. The river is very shallow and not navigable for anything but native canoes. Twenty miles inland on its bank is a large, independent settlement of the Chilcat tribe. On the mountain side, nearly half way up, juut back of the steamboat landing at Pyramid Har- bor, there is a small plateau not more than ten or fifteen feet square, entirely bare of timber, but closely surrounded by dense woods. This spot is quite inaccessible to human feet. A large cinna- mon bear shows himself here often during the day- time. A clear, sparkling stream of water comes from far above this place, rushing by one corner of it, and hither comes Bruin to slake his thirst. He knows very well that he is out of the hunter's reach, and he is actually beyond rifle range. He looks at that distance skyward no bigger than a good-sized Newfoundland dog, but to appear of such proportions to us so far below he must be a very monster. Several attempts have been made ■ 274 THE NEW ELDORADO. m l! i; by the wbitea to get near enough to shoot him, but without success. The bear sat upon his haunches when we saw him and peered down upon us as we stood on the deck of the Corona with a cool insolence which must have been born of a consciousness of entire safety. By using a good glass his mammoth size became more apparent, showing that even when upon his haunches with his body erect he must have measured about six feet in height. A settlement opposite to Pyramid Harbor is known as Chilcat, where two large fish-canning establishments afford profitable occupation for quite a number of the residents, both natives and whites. New canning factories are being lo- cated in several places between Dixon Entrance and this point, the supply of salmon bein^ abso- lutely unlimited ; the demand only is to be con- sidered. The quantity shipped from here annu- ally to San Francisco for distribution is enormous, almost beyond belief, and is steadily increasing. In addition to this profitable and important indus- try twelve thousand barrels of salted salmon were exported last year from Alaska to southern Pacific ports. The scenery about Pyramid Harbor is arctic : the precipitous cliffs are covered with snow on their tops, and range upon range of snowy mountains frame in the bay. CHAPTER XX. Glacier Bay. — More Ice Bays, — Majestic Front of the Muir Glacier. — The Bombardment of the Glacier. — One of the Grandest Sights in the World. — A Moving River of Ice. — The Natives. — Abundance of Fish. — Native Coolving. — Wild Berries. — Hooniah Tribe. — Copper Mines. — An Iron Mountain. — Coal Mines. From Pyramid Harbor we turn southward for a short distance, and then again towards the north, soon reaching the ice-strewn waters of Ghicier Bay, an open expanse of ocean fully thirty miles long by from ten to twelve in width. This local- ity is thus named because of the number of gla- ciers which descend into it from the southern verge of the frozen region. The still surface of the water reflects the Alpine scenery like bur- nished silver, only ruffled now and again by the icebergs launched from the majestic front of the Muir glacier, which fall with an explosion like the blasting of rocks in a stone quarry. It is curious to watch these enormous masses of ice rise to the surface after their first deep plunge, see them set- tle and rise again until their equilibrium becomes fixed, and then slowly float away with their impe- rial cc>lors displayed, to join the fleet gone before. They seem to exhibit in their vivid colors a radiant joy at release from long imprisonment. It was a gloriously bright day on which we approached the 276 THE NEW ELDORADO. m I iiiii I J: i I Muir glacier, the sun pouring down its wealth of light and warmth to temper the crisp morning air. A side-wheel steamer could not have made head- way among the hundreds of floating icebergs ; but the Corona wound in and out among them in safety, piloted by Captain Carroll's skillful direc- tion, occasionally leaving the color of her painted bull along their sides by chafing them. The ship was brought within fifty rods of the glacier's threatening front, which was about three hundred feet in height above the water, standing like a frozen Niagara, and the lead showed it to extend four hundred feet below the surface, mak- ing an aggregate of seven hundred feet from top to bottom. What a mighty power was hidden behind the dazzling drapery of its iridescent fa- cade! Standing upon its surface a short way inland, one couH hear from its depths what seemed like shrieks and groans of maddened spirits torturing each other, as the huge mass was crowded more and more compactly between the two abutting mountains of rock through which it found its out- let. The roar of artillery upon a battlefield could hardly be more deafening or incessant than were the thrilling reports caused by the falling of vast masses of ice from the glacier's front. Nothing could be grander or more impressive than this steady bombardment from the ice mountain in its resistless progress towards the sea. Neither Nor- way nor Switzerland have any glacial or arctic scenery that can approach this bay in its frigid GLACIER BAY. 277 til of rj air. htad- ; but im in direo- linted jf the , three mding I it to , mak- )m top hidden 3nt fa- inland, ed like rturing more butting its out- d could in were of vast Nothing lan this in in its ler Nor- »r arctic bs frigid splendor. No natives are to be seen ; not a sound falls upon the ear save the hoarse cannonading of the glacier. The white, ghostly hue of the sur- roundings are startling ; even the daylight assumes a certain weird, bluish tint, heightened by shim- mering reflections from the ice-chasms and crev- ices. The author, in a varied experience of many parts of the world, recalls but two other occasions which affected him so powerfully as this first visit to Glacier Bay in Alaska, namely : witnessing the sun rise over the vast Himalayan range, the roof- Iree of the globe, at Darjeeling, in northern In- dia, and the view of the midnight sun from the North Cape in Norway, as it hung over the Polar Sea. Our power of appreciation is limitless, though that of description is circumscribed. Here both are challenged to their utmost capacity. Words are insufficient ; pen and pencil inadequate to convey the grandeur and fascination of the scene. Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka tells us that a veteran traveler said to him as they stood together on the ship's deck regarding the scenery in this remarkable bay : " You can take just what you see here and put it down on Switzerland, and it will hide all there is of mountain scenery in Eu- rope. I hsne been all over the world, but you are now looking at a scene that has not its parallel elsewhere on the globe." The estimate has been made by experienced persons that five thousand living glaciers, of greater or less dimensions, are r - •.§ i:H 278 THE NEW ELDORADO. now steadily traveling down towards the sea in this vast Territory of Alaska. Glacier Bay is always full of vagrant icebergs which are of blinding whiteness when under the glare of the midday sun. The variety of colors emitted by the bergs is charming to the eye, the prevailing hues being crystal-white mingled with azure blue, a faint touch of pink appearing here and there, together with dainty gleams of orange- yellow. Where a Lirge smooth surface is pre- sented, the prismatic shimmering is like that of starlight upon the water. The variety in the shape of the bergs is infinite. Some of them ex- hibit singularly correct architectural lines, some resemble ruins of ancient castles on the Rhine, others, with a little help of the imagination, repre- sent wild animals in various attitudes, or hideous Chinese idols with open raof'^hs and lolling tongues. Sea birds hover over and light in large numbers upon the opalescent masses. Ranging alongside of a tall berg, a fall and tackle was rigged out from the yard-arm of our steamer, while men were sent to cut large blocks of ice from the hill of frozen water. Two weighing nearly a ton each were hoisted on board to keep our larder cool and fill the ship's ice-chest. The ice was pure as crys- tal, and fresh as a mountain stream. " Why don't you go nearer to the glacier ? " asked one of the passengers of the captain. " Because I think we are quite nsar enough," was the quiet reply. " Those avalanches don't reach more than thirty AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. 279 or forty feet from the face of the ico cliff," con- tinued the passenger. " True," was tlie reply, " but they do not con- constitute the only discharges from the glacier, " " Why, where else can they occur buc from the face," asked the inquirer. " Shall I tell you a certain experience • , ich I hnd near this very spot?" asked the captain. " What vvas it?" inquired a dozen eager voices. J* id then the captain told the gro"p of listoneis that when the Corona was here last season, laying just off the Muir glacier, those on board were startled by the sudden appearance of a huge mass of dark crystal, as large as the steamer itself, which shot up from the depths and tossed the ship as though it had been an egg-shell. Passen- gers were thrown hither and thither, and soma were severely bruised. It was a berg broken off from the bottom of the ice mountain, four hun- dred feet below the surface of the water. Had it struck the ship in its upward passage, immediate destruction must have followed, and the steamer would have sunk as quickly as though she had been blown up with gunpowder. Mount Crillon, Mount La Perouse, and Mount Fairweatlier are all visible from Glacier Bay, the hitter rising in the northwest so high above the intervening hills that all its snowy pinnacle;! are clearly defined. The great glacier which forms the prominent feature of this bay was named after Professor Muir, state geologist of California. It has a front t r |i 1 4- SBBB 280 THE NEW ELDORADO. I i three miles wide, and has been explored to a dis- tance of forty miles inland. The top surface is tossed and broken by broad fissures so as to be impassable, unless one goes back at least a mile from its toppling and dangerous front. This glacier exceeds anything of the sort this side of the polar zone, and is fed by fifteen other glaciers, so far as it has been explored, towards its source among the lofty snow-fields. In walking upon its surface great care should be observed. A thin crust of snow and half-melted ice is often formed over fissures into which one may easily be precipi- tated. One of the party from the Corona, a lady, was thus engulfed for a moment, escaping, how- ever, with a thorough wetting and some slight bruises, together with a very large measure of fright. This lady was temporarily in charge of the pilot of the steamer, hence it was very gener- ally remarked that he was doubtless a good ship's pilot, but a poor one for navigating glaciers. From carefully conducted measurements it is known that this immense body — frost-bound, transparent, and resistless — is moving into the sea, during the summer months, at the rate of forty feet in every twenty -four hours, and dis- charging in that time one hundred and forty mil- lion cubic feet of ice into the bay. It is not nec- essary for us to discuss the cause of this regular, uniform movement of the enormous mass ; it may be brought about by either dilation or gravitation, both of which are most likely active agents to this end, but certain it is that the glacier moves for- ward as described. THE MUIR GLACIER. 281 One could have passed days in studying the grandeur and beauty of the Muir glacier, in watch- ing its slow but steady advance, its tremendous avalanches, its rolling, thunder-like discharges, its irregular, translucent front decked with amethyst and opal hues by the afternoon sunlight, but time was to be considered, the day was closing, and we finally steamed reluctantly away. Even after we had lost sight of the great frozen river, we heard its evening guns echoing among the mountains, faint and fitful from the growing distance. We pause for a moment, thoughtfully, to recall the brief hours passed in that boreal atmosphere, crowded to repletion with wonderful experiences, where the ice deposited during the glacial period is slowly wasting and wearing away, exposing giant cedars which have been buried for ages upon ages, a revelation and a process which we may nowhere else behold. There is no touch of civilization here; the quiet and solitude is un- broken, save by the thunder of the bergs break- ing their long imprisonment. Somehow one feels older, grayer, sadder, after witnessing these great and startling throes of Nature, phenomena which have been in operation thousands of j'ears. It re- minds the observer only too forcibly how infini- tesimal is the space he occupies upon this planet, and how utterly insignificant is his personality in the vast scheme of the universe. Travel, while teaching us numberless grand and beautiful truths, solving many mysteries and vastly enlarging our mental grasp, does not fail also to impress upon \b 1 l| rii^ 282 THE NEW ELDORADO. ! i ^- the most conceited the important and priceless lesson of humility. But let ns banish brooding thoughts, and be glad for a little space ; to-morrow the night cometh ! Among the evidences of the slow but steady receding of the glacier we have Vancouver's rec- ord that he was unable to enter this bay in 1793, which is now navigable for over twelve miles in- land. Once the ice field was level with the moun- tain tops, now it has melted until the peaks are far above its surface. Professor Muir tells us that in the earlier days of the ice-age this glacier stood at a height of from three to four thousand feet above its present level ! Centuries hence the place of the glacier will doubtless be occupied by a flowing river, and the land will have entirely thrown aside its mantle of ice and snow. What a revelation this bay would have been to Agassiz I After an arduous half day's climb, from the sum- mit of the Muir glacier nearly thirty others are to be seen in various directions, all steadily for- cing their resistless way towards the sea, slowly consummating the purpose of their existence. How far glacial action has been concerned in determining the topographical conditions of the globe will long be, as it has long been, a subject for deep scientific study. At first thought it seems impossible that a f5ub- stance like ice, often brittle as glass and as inelas- tic as granite, can move as though it were fluid. The motion of the giant mass is doubtless facili- tated by subglacial streams issuing from its bot- A LAND OF WONDERS. 283 torn into the bay. The water flowing from two sources of this character manifests itself at the surface on each corner of the ice-front, where it comes bubbling up with great force from the bot- tom, a distance of from sixty to eighty fathoms. As we lay in front of the grand facade what a revelry of color was spread before us ! The im- mense and towering wall of ice seemed to throb with the softening rays of the sun, penetrating each broad fissure and narrow rift, all luminous with blue and gold. Scidmore Island was pointed out to us, a green hilly land, near the mouth of the bay, named after Mrs. E. R. Scidmore, who has written so ad- mirably about Alaska. Another island was des- ignated whereon a silver mine of great promise has lately been successfully located and tested, yielding results surpassing the most sanguine an- ticipations of the owners. All through this region one is constantly im- pressed with a sense of vastness, everything seems 80 stupenduous ; Nature is cast in a larger mould than she is in other sections of the world. The islands strike one as continental in dimensions, the rivers are among the largest on the globe, the ocean channels are the deepest, the primeval for- ests are made up of giant trees and cover thou- sands of square miles, the mountains are colossal, and the glaciers are elsewhere unequaled. It is a land of wonders, strange, fascinating, and beau- tiful. The natives of this latitude are robust and H ■t! T" 284. THE NEW ELDORADO. l;il hearty in appearance, their regular food supply being such as to sustain them in a good physi- cal condition. Seal and fish oil are cheap and abundant, and enter into all of their cooking com- binations. During the ripening season the wild berries, which are remarkably abundant, are gath- ered by the bushel, giving employment to the youthful portion of the community. Large quan- tities are dried for winter use, but during the bearing season the people almost live upon them, always adding a portion of oil as a condiment. Game, such as deer, bears, mountain goats, and wild geese, is very plenty a little way inland. These are hunted and supplied to the whites by tlie aborigines, but they do not themselves seem to care particularly for meat of any sort so long as they can obtain plenty of fish and oil. At Sitka and Fort Wrangel fine large codfish are retailed at five cents each, a twenty pound salmon costs in the season ten to fifteen cents, and halibut sell at about the same rate according to size. These lat- ter average from eighty to a hundred pounds in weight on this coast, and in some parts of the waters bordering western Alaska they are twice that size. Ducks are to be had at ten and fifteen cents per pair, wild geese at fifteen cents each, and so on. The natives are preeminently fish-eat- ers, and are as a rule well developed about the chest and shoulders, though the lower parts of their bodies are diminutive owing to their exer- cise being taken almost altogether at the paddle while sitting in their boats. The physical con- HALIBUT FISIHNG. 285 trast between them and our Western Indians, who are meat-eaters, is very decided. The one lives in a canoe a large portion of his time, the other upon horseback or engaged upon long foot- marches ; the one Is lithe and sinewy, the other is greasy and flabby. Though the physical con- dition of our Western Indians is unquestionably much superior to that of the native Alaskans, yet the latter are the most intelligent. The halibut, to which reference has just been made, is found in great abundance upon the coast at nearly all seasons of the year, and forms a large portion of the food supply of the native population, both for summer and winter. They prefer to catch these fish by means of their own awkward wooden hooks, rather than to use the steel barbed instrument of the whites. They go out for the purpose in their boats, exposing them- selves in nearly all sorts of weather, anchoring upon well-known fishing grounds by making use of a stone fastened to a cedar-bark rope of their c manufacture. Having filled their canoe, which they can do in a very short tiine, they leisurely return to the shore, where the fish are turned over to the care of the women, who soon clean them, also removing the large bon^s, head, fins, and tails, after which they cut the bodies into broad thin slices, and doing so much of this business they become very expert. These slices of the halibut are hung on wooden frames, where they rapidly dry in the wind and sun, no salt being used in the process; indeed, the natives a\ TTP- !, ^ 286 THE NEW ELDORADO. seem to have no use for salt so far as their own food is concerned, and do not eat it as a seasoning. After the halibut is thus cured, the pieces are packed away in the large cedar box which forms each family's storehouse for such food, and when wanted it is always ready, requiring but little further treatment to make it palatable to native Alaskan taste. As thus preserved the fish v/ill now and again become putrid. This, however, is not considered by the people to detract in any degree from its excellence and usefulness, but rather to add zest to the flavor, just as a highly civilized gourmand requires his birds to be kept until they become a little "gamey " before he considers them fit to serve to himself or his guests. At certain seasons of the year the salmon are eagerly Bought and eaten, both fresh and dried, but as intimated the halibut is a fish which can be caught at nearly any time, and is therefore perhaps more used than any other. There are periods when these fish also leave the coast for a short season, and against this absence the native provides as we have described. The kind of salmon which is mostly canned and prepared for export in barrels from Alaska is of a pink species, which is chosen, not because it possesses any pe- culiar excellence of flavor, but because the color is generally thought to be more desirable. They are not considered h-^^e, either by the whites or the natives, to be of quite so good quality as some others which abound in this region, but it is the pink salmon which the fanciful public demand, and pink salmon which they get. ALASKAN COOKERY. 287 All the cooking these natives seem to know anything about is to boil or stew such food as they do not consume nearly raw. Iron kettles have been in their possession for many genera- tions, and were originally procured from the Russians. The condiment which they most affect has already been referred to, being nothing more nor less than rancid fish or seal oil, cooled and hardened into a sort of oleomargarine, the bare smell of which is sickening to the nostrils of a white person. This grease is spread liberally upon all their food and eaten with manifest relish. The inner bark of the spruce and hemlock trees is collected by the women in considerable quantities at certain seasons of the year, and is eaten by them, both in the green and dried state, after being dipped in this grease as described. The Sitka Indians make a most atrocious salad of sea- weed mixed with seal-oil, sometimes adding the roe of herring, of which peculiar mixture they partake with ravenous appetites, tht roe having been pur- posely kept until it is nearly or quite putrid. The salmon-berry, while it is in season, is a most wel- come and wholesome addition to their rather cir- cumscribed larder. This berry is a sort of cross between a strawberry and a blackberry, though it is larger than the average of these delicious berries as they grow in the woods of New Eng- land. Hundreds of barrels of the native cran- berry are gathered by the aborigines and shipped annually from here to San Francisco ; they are smaller than the cultivated berry bearing the ii 288 TUE NEW ELDORADO. 1 same name, which is grown in our Eastern States. The wild strawberries found among these islands and on the mainland excel in flavor the highly cultivated berry of our thickly-settled States, and may be found growing in abundance in the very shadow of the glaciers. The natives her^v-abouts have no domestic ani- mals except a multitude of dogs of a mongrel breed ; wolfish-looking creatures ; which are of no possible use, dozing all day and howling all night. At the north the regularly bred Eskimo dog is a very different animal, quite indispensable to his master, and invaluable in connection with sledge traveling. The tribe occupying the region near to Glacier Bay is known as the Hooniahs, an ingenious and industrious people, who manufacture brace- lets, spoons, and various ornaments out of silver and copper. Some of the men of this tribe wear a ring in their noses, like the women, but this seems to be going slowly out of fashion. We were told that the men have as many wives as they choose to take, and that they are not always care- ful to properly discriminate between other men's and their own, an act of dereliction from pro- priety which is, however, by no means confined to savage life. A great laxity in morals is also said to prevail among most of the tribes from Behring Strait sout.hward to the Aleutian group of islands. Let us not, however, be too censorious in judging them ; if their virtues are found to be in the minority, is not this also the case with most com- i, ( ! MINERAL DEPOSITS. 289 munities which boast the elevating advantages of culture and civilization ? It has been known for a century more or less that masses of pure copper were found by the abo- rigines along the course of Copper River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean midway between Mount St. Elias and the peninsula of Kenai. The natives exhibited one mass of pure copper, as naturally de- posited, weighing over sixty pounds. The char- acter of this mineral closely resembles that of our Lake Superior district, and there is every indica- tion of its abundance in this region, not alone on Copper River, but in several districts and islands. The natives have utilized the article for many generations in the manufacture of personal orna- ments, and for making various useful household utensils, such as stewpans and small kettles. Any permanent rise in the market value of copper would stimulate the development of the copper mines of Alaska to compete with other portions of our country. Petroleum is also found on Copper River, forcing itself to the surface from some un- derground reservoir, and again near the Bay of Katmai. This product was largely used by the Russians for lubricating purposes. Professor Davidson discovered in this vicinity an iron mountain some two thousand feet high, which was so full of magnetic ore as to seriously affect his calculations and derange his compass. Mr. Seward said of the same vicinity : " I found there not a single iron * mountain, but a whole range of hills the very dust of which adhered to 2&0 THE NEW ELDORADO. the magnet." There is plenty of coal also, and ■with these two articles in juxtaposition a great in- dustry may ultimately be tiie outgrowth. Viewed as a sure foundation of commercial and manufac- turing prosperity, coal arH iron will prove, in the long run, to be worth nearly as much to Alaska as her abundant and inexhaustible gold supply. Captain J. W. White of the United States reve- nue marine says : " I have seen coal veins over an area of forty or fifty square miles so thick that it seemed to me to be one vast bed. It is of an excel- lent steam-producing quality, having a clear white ash. The quantity seemed to be unlimited. This bed lies h rthwest of Sitka, up Cook's Inlet which broadens into a sea in some places." Nature has provided fuel in limitless quantities for this great Territory, both in the form of coal and of wood, each of which is of the most available character, both as regards the quality and the convenience of location. In speaking of the rich and varied prospects of the country, let us not forget to mention the abundance of pure white, statuary marble, which exists here in immense quarries, near the site of which there are numerous safe and commodious harbors, with gr«^at depth of water, inviting the commerce of the world. We need not send to Italy for a fine article in this line ; the choicest prod- uct for statuary purposes is here upon our own soil. While these sheets are going through the press, the fact that a valuable quicksilver mine, which was discovered at Kuskoquin some years EFFORTS TO DEPRECIATE ALASKA. 291 30, and reat in- Viewed anufac- , in the Alaska pply. es reve- over an that it in excel- a,r white i. This 3t which ture has lis great of wood, laracter, venietice prospects ition the le, which e site of nm odious iting the t send to cest prod- our own •ough the ver mine, .me years ago, now proves to be of high grade and purity, is published to the world at large. If so, this is extremely providential, as there is now a constant demand for mercury in the treatment of the gold- bearing quartz of the numerous mines herea- bouts. The studied effort of certain writers to depreci- ate the value of the Territory of Alaska in nearly every possible respect seems very singular to us, and is altogether too obvious to curry conviction with it. The great amount of gold now being realized every month of the year, the millions of cured salmon and cod annually exported to other sections, together with the rich furs regularly shipped from the Territory, counted by hundreds of thousands, must cause such people a degree of mortification. One of these writers put himself on record by saying not long since that gold did not exist in the Territory in paying quantities. Yet there is a standing otfer of sixteen million dollars for the Treadwell gold mine on Douglas Island, while within eight or ten miles of it, at Silver Bow Basin, on the mainland, is another gold mine, as has been shown, owned and worked by a Boston company, nearly as valuable. Referring to this auriferous deposit on Doug- las Island, Governor Swineford says, in his oflB- cial report to the government for the year 1887 : "It ns without doubt the largest body of gold- bearing quartz ever developed in this or any other country." At last we prepare to turn our backs upon the fl ' /J 292 THE NEW ELDORADO. home of the glaciers and the locality of the most remarkable gold deposits of the Northwest, sur- feited with wonders, and actually longing for the sight of something intensely common, satisfied that the tourist who makes the voyage from Ta- coma to Glacier Bay through the inland sea has the opportunity of beholding some of the grandest scenery and natural phenomena on the globe. CHAPTER XXI. Sailing Southwara. — Sitka, Capital of Alaska. — Transfer of the Territory from Russia to America. — Site of the City. — The Old Castle. — Russian Habits. — A Haunted Chamber. — Russian Elegance and Hospitality. — The Old Greek Church. — Rainfall at Sitka. — The Japanese Current. — Abundance of Food. — Plenty of Vegetables. — A Fine Harbor. From Glacier Bay our serpentine course lies southward througli the countless sounds, gulfs, and islands of various shapes and sizes to Sitka, the New Archangel of the Russians, Sitka beittg the aboriginal name of the bay on which the town is situated. This is the most northerly commer- cial port on the Pacific coast, and lies at the base of Mount Vestova on the west side of Baranoff Island. The island is eighty-five miles long by twenty broad, situated thirteen hundred miles north of San Francisco. On the 18th of October, in the year 1867, three United States men-of-war lay in the harbor, namely, the Ossipee, the Jamestown, and the Resaca. It was a memorable occasion, for on that day the Muscovite flag was formally hauled down and the Stars and Stripes were run up on the flagstaff of the castle amid a salvo of guns from the ships of both nations, thus completing the official transfer of the great Territory of Alaska from Russian to American possession. m TW 294 THE NEW ELDORADO. Up to tliis time tlie government ol the country had been virtually under the control of the rich fur company chartered by the Tzar. Any policy at variance with its purposes was treason; immi- gration, except for its employees, was rigorously discouraged ; the imperial governor was actually salaried by this great monopoly, while his public acts were subject to its approval or otherwise. With the date above given this condition of af- fairs ceased and a new regime began. Though no radical change im.mediately took place, still the atmosphere of our Union gradually permeated these regions, our flag freely floated everywhere, and our few officials assumed their responsibilities, administering the laws of the Republic mercifully as regarded the natives, but still with that degree of firmness which is imperative in dealing with a half-civilized race. One cannot but conjecture what must have been the secret thoughts of the thousanus of abo- rigines on this occasion, as they witnessed the cer- emony of transferring Alaska from their former to their new masters. It was an event of im- mense interest, of most vital import to them, but yet one in which they were entirely ignored. Thoy knew the significance of that change of flags, of that roar of artillery, emphasized by other naval and military movements, but they had no voice whatever in the agreement by which they were virtually bought and sold like so many head of cattle, and their imtive land bartered for gold. We leave the reader to moralize over this aspect SITKA. 295 jountry he rich T policy ; immi- [orously ictually 3 public iierwise. »n of af- Though ice, still rraeated •y where, libilities, ercifuUy t degree g with a ist have of abo- [ the cer- r former t of im- hera, but ignored, hange of L by other y had no liich they lany head I for gold, his aspect of the matter, a fruitful theme for the political economist. With this change of government came a new people ; the majority of the Russians promptly left the country, and their places were taken by Americans. Sitka, the capital of the Territory, is sheltered by a snow-crowned mountain range on one side, and protected from the broad expanse of the Pa- cific on the other by a group of many thickly wooded islands. The waters of the harbor are as clear as a mountain stream, so that, as in sailing over the Bahama Banks, one can see the bottom many fathoms down with perfect distinctness, where the myriad curiosities of submarine life at- tract the eye by their novel and varied display. Among other tropical growth, sponges, coral branches, and long rope-like algaj are seen, planted here doubtless by the equatorial current which so constantly laves these shores. The town lies clus- tered near the shore, forming a pleasing picture as one approaches fiom the sea. The most promi- nent feature is the castle, not a battlemented, ivy- covered, medieval structure, but a severely plain, weather-beaten, Pioss-grown, dilapidated affair, which crowns a rocky elevation of the town. It is a hundred and forty feet long by seventy deep, constructed of huge cedar logs which are securely riveted to the rock by numeious clamps and bolts. This was for many years the grand residence of the Russian governors, — after the capital was re- moved froni St. Paul, on tl-e island of Kodiak, — several of whom were of the Muscovite nobility ;••_ ( i[: 296 THE NEW ELDORALO. and brought hither their wives and daughters to live with thena in this isolated spot. One can hardly conceive of a greater social contrast than naturally existed between St. Petersburg and this half savage hamlet of Baranoff Island. For deli- cate and refined ladies, such a change from court life must have been little less of a hardship than actual banishment to dreaded Siberia. It is not surprising that resort was had to rather desperate means whereby to beguile the weary hours. Many fell victims to gambling and strong drink. The Russians, under nearly any circum- stances, fail to be good examples of temperance, and here cognac and vodhka flowed free as water. To some of their official feasts and celebrations the native chiefs were invited, and terribly demor- alized by the potency of the viands to which they were totally unaccustomed. Nor can it be won- dered at that, being occasionally supplied with this fire-water, the natives now and again broke out in open revolt, which ended more or less seriously both to the Russians and themselves. It will be remembered that once during the early times the natives rose in a body and massacred or drove every foreigner off the island, im act of savage pa- triotism which cost them dearly. Every " castle " must have at least one haunted chamber, and we are told that this of Sitka was no exception to the geneial rule. The story con- cerning the same is variously told by different per- sons, but we will give only the version we heard. It seems that half a century and more since, the A SITKAN TRAGEDY. 297 Russian governor's family included a beautiful and accomplished daughter named Eruzoff, who was, at the time the event occurred which we are about to relate, but twenty years of age. There were on her father's official staff two young noblemen of St. Petersburg, Nicholas and Michael Burdoff, about twenty-five years of age respectively. They were cousins, and had been ardent and intimate friends from childhood. Both of the cousins fell deeply in love with the governor's daughter, who, in her delicacy, showed no preference between them. The young men grew desperate in their feelings. Never before had they disagreed about the simplest matter ; it was their delight to yield to each other ; but now their love for the beauti- ful Eruzoff made tliem open rivals. One day they went into the neighboring forest together, as they said, to hunt, and were absent for two days. On the evening of the second day Michael returned unaccompanied by his cousin, whom he said he had lost in the forest. He retired at once to his own room in the castle, where he was found dead in bed on the following morning, without a wound or any sign to explain the cause, though the post surgeon pronounced it to be a case of heart disease. A few days afterwards, by means of his favorite dog, the body of Nicholas was dis- covered in the forest with a bullet through his brain. The actual truth regarding the death of the cousins cannot be known on earth, but the chamber where Michael Burdoff breathed his last is said to be often disturbed by a ghostly visitor n 298 THE NEW ELDORADO. at midnight. Eruzoff was forced by her father to marry an official of his choice, though she was broken-hearted at the loss of Michael Burdoff, who proved to have been the one whom she loved best. She died in her bridal year. Interesting stories are told of the grand hospi- tality — characteristic of the Russians — which was 80 liberally dispensed within this castle, in entertaining celebrated voyagers of various coun- tries, and especially those of the United States. It has always been the policy of the Tzars to cul- tivate kindly feelings with our government, and Russia is still our constant friend. The upper part of the old castle was arranged for theatrical representations, while in the other apartments the nights were rendered merry with cards, dancing, and music. Rich furniture, valuable paintings, and costly plate had been brought all the way from Russia to equip this grand household among a savage race. The toilets of the ladies were perhaps a twelvemonth behind those of St. Petersburg, but their diamonds and laces were never out of fashion. Elegant chandeliers were left by these former masters of the castle, which show what the rest of the furniture must have been to have harmonized with such gorgeous ornaments. The visitor is shown the apartment occupied by the venerable Lady Franklin at eighty years of age, who came hither in search for her lost husband, the Arctic explorer. The quaint old Greek Church with the sharp peak oE Vestova as a background is a prominent CIVILIZING INFLUENCES. 299 and interesting edifice. Its emerald-green dome and Byzantine spire, after the home fashion of the Russians, together with its elaborately em- bellished interior and its ancient chime of bells, strongly individualize the structure. Some pic- tures of more than ordinary merit are to be seen within its walls. One representing the Madonna and Child is pronounced to be very valuable. It is kept in perfect condition by the government of St. Petersburg, which is the sole owner of all the churches of the empire, at home and abroad. The Tzar expends more money for church and missionary purposes in Alaska to-day than all the Christian sects of our country combined. For the three churches in Sitka, Kodiak, and Unalaska the sum of fifty thousand dollars annuallj' is set aside and appropriated. Nevertheless, we believe the Training School at Sitka exercises a much higher civilizing influence, where the simplest Christian principles are taught, combined with common school studies, and where instruction is given in tlie daily industries of life. All concede that education and general intelligence are the mainsprings of our system of government, and that the perpetuity of its institutions depends thereon. In view of these indisputable facts let our rulers at Washington bestow liberally from out the plethoric national treasury for educational pur- poses in Alaska. Most of the houses of Sitka are heavy log dwellings, some of which are clapboarded outside and smoothly finished within. In the winter : ■ i ii.ii ' ! ; li Hi ) A ^1 '!!"'' 800 THE NEW ELDORADO. season aboat a thousand Indians live here, the white population being composed of the usual government officials and agents, with a few store- keepers engaged in the fur traffic and general trade with the aborigines. Four or five hundred miners and prospectors gather here also in the winter, when it becomes too cold to prosecute their calling far inland, where the thermometer often falls to 20° below zero. Even this occu,Monal extreme cou]d be easily endured, and the work be little retarded, were suitable quarters provided. In midwinter daylight continues at Sitka for only six hours in the twenty-four, though by the first of June there is virtually no night at all; the stars take a vacation, while the evening and the morning twilight merge into day. The author had thought, heretofore, that the rainfall at Bergen, on the coast of Norway, ex- ceeded that of any other spot he had visited, but here at Sitka " the rain, it raineth every day." We have seen it rain harder in the tropics., but not often. The brief downpour, however, is so quickly followed by a flood of delicious sunshine that the contrast is a charming revelation. Still another effect is observable that, as rainy as it is, at certain seasons the atmosphere is still peculiarly dry. The writer was told that clothes would quickly dry under a shed during the heaviest rains. The fair weather is most likely to occur during the excursion season, so that the stranger is not apt to meet much annoyance in this respect while at the capital. The annual rainfall is recorded as being THE JAPANESE CURRENT. 801 ninety inches upon this island, a degree of humid- ity which is attributed to the heated waters of the equatorial regions, which warm the whole coast- line of southern Alaska, insuring the mild win- ters it enjoys. Scientists tell us that the effect of this warm current is equivalent to twenty degrees of latitude, that is to say, the same products which are found in latitude 40° north on the Atlantic coast thrive in this region at 60° north, whicli is a little higher than the latitude of Sitka. This beneficent stream, arising off the coast of southern California, crosses the Pacific south of the Sandwich Islands, and on the coast of Asia turns northward in a grr.nd sweep, striking the shores of America, and return- ing finally to its starting-point. " It is this," says H. H. Bancroft, in his " History of the Pacific States," " that clothes temperate isles in tropical verdure, malces the silkworm flourish far north of its nghtful home, and sends joy to the heart of the hyperborean, even to him upon the Strait of Behring, and almost to the Arctic Sea." The abundant moisture causes all vegetation to grow most luxuriantly. " The enemies of this re- gion, some of whom," said an official to us, " have been paid for sinister purposes to write it down, declare that it cannot be made to support a popu- lation, as vegetables will not grow here, but vege- tables have been successfully grown all about us for more than fifty years." There are a plenty of domestic cattle at Sitka, where we partook of as sweet and rich milk as can be produced on our IHIIr' i III! ill!!' 302 THE NEW ELDORADO. choice dairy farms at the East. The southern portions of the Territory, both the islands and the mainland, are better adapted to support a civilized white population than are the larger portions of Norway and Sweden. It may be doubted if there is anything finer in coloj than the June greenery of Sitka. Our first day at this unique capital had been varied by alternate rain and sunshine, but the closing hours of the day were clear and beau- tiful, emphasized by such a grand and brilliant sunset as is rarely excelled, tlie afterglow and mellow twilight lasting until nearly midnight, causing the turban of snow upon the head of Mount Edgecombe to look like Etruscan gold. John G. Brady, United States commissioner at Sitka, writes from there as follows : " Though Alaska is no agricultural country, yet there is plenty of land for growing vegetables for a vast population which can be easily cleared and culti- vated. The food of this coast is assured unless the Pacific current changes and rain ceases. Per- haps there is not another spot on the globe where the same number of people do so little manual labor and are so well fed as in Sitka." The ca- pacity of the island to produce a large variety of garden vegetables, and of good quality, is abun- dantly demonstrated by a resident who gains a successful livelihood through the St le of these products grown on his own land. The bay is very lovely and naturally recalls that of Naples, with its neighboring Vestova and its beautiful islands. Though Mount Edgecombe ! SITKA HARBOR. 803 with its great truncated cone, situated fifteen milt's away upon Kruzoif Island, is not now in active condition, a century ago, more or less, it poured forth lava, fire, ^aud smoke enough to rival the Italian volcano which buried Pompeii in its fatal debris nearly two thousand years ago. We were told that smoke and sulphurous vapor occasionally issue from the old crater of Edgecombe, but saw no distinct evidence of the fact. As we looked at the sleeping giant we wondered if it will one day awake in its Plutonic power. The bay is said to contain over one hundred islands, which are mostly covered with a noble growth of trees, rendered picturesque and lovely by green sloping banks and shores fringed with golden-russet sea- weed, bearing long, banana-like leaves. Many of these islands are occupied, some by whites, some by Indians. Japan Island, so-called, is the largest in the bay, and is situated just opposite the town. It was once improved by the Russians as an ob- servatory, and now contains some fine gardens cul- tivated both by whites and natives, from whence the citizens obtain their supply of fresh vegetables. Baranoff Island itself is mountainous and thickly wooded, though there are large arable spots dis- tributed here and there near to Sitka, dotted with wild flowers in white and gold, — Flora's favorite colors in this latitude. Never, save in equatorial regions, has the author seen vegetation more lux- uriant than it is in its native condition in these islands of southern Alaska. iw V •'Nf 11 ! ; /i if ii CHAPTER XXII. Contrast between American and Russian Sitka — A Practical Missionary. — The Sitka Industrial School. — Gold Mines on the Island. — Environs of the Town. — Future Prosperity of the Country. — Hot Springs. — Native Religious Ideas. — A Natural Taste for Music. — A Native Brass Band. — Final View of the Capital. The Sitka of to-day contains about two thou- sand inhabitants, but is a very different place from that which the Russians made of it. The subjects of the Tzar carried on shipbuilding, manufactured wooden and iron ware, erected an iron furnace and smelted native ore, made steel knives and agri- cultural tools, axes, hatches, and carpenters' tools generally. They established a bell foundry here at which many bells and chimes were cast, and shipped the products all along the Pacific coast, especially to Mexico. The Greek Church was kept up to the highest standard as regarded the national forms, and employed nearly a score of priests, which, together with some forty or fifty civil officers attached to the governor's household staff, made a considerable community of white citizens, which was a constant scene of business activity. The capital has, in some respects at least, been greatly improved since it came into our possession, but it bears unmistakable evidences of antiquity. It has been made neat and clean, which A PRACTICAL SflSSIONARY. 806 Practical Mines on isperity of deaa. — A I. — Final ^o thou- ice from subjects Eactured lace and nd agvi- !rs' tools iry here ast, and ic coast, rch was rded the score of or fifty lousehold of white business spects at 5 into our dences of an, which uas certainly not a characteristic under its former management, the streets have been regularly laid out, and good sidewalks have taken the place of muddy pathways, while some well - constructed roads leading through the neighborhood have been perfected. Though there is not seemingly so much of local business going on as there used to be, still it is a far more wholesome and pleasant place to live in than it was in the days of Mus- covite possession. In Mrs. E. S. Willard's pub- lished letters from Alaska we learn how an officer of our navy, namely, Captain Henry Glass of the United States steamer Jamestown, in 1881, proved to be the right sort of missionary to send on spe- cial duty to Sitka. " His first move," says this lady, " was to abolish lioochinoo. He made it a crime to sell, buy, or drink it, or any intoxicating drinks. He pre- vailed upon the traders to sell no molasses to the Indians in quantities, so that they could not make this drink. He issued orders in regard to clearing up the native ranches, which were fiU thy in the extreme, and had been the scene of nightly horrors of almost every description. He appointed a police force from the Indians them- selves, dressed them in navy cloth with ' James- town ' in gilt letters on their caps, and a silver star on their breasts. He made education com- pulsory. The houses were all numbered and the children of each house, each child being given a little round tin plate on which was marked his number and the number of his house. These PWP?!^ % 306 THE NEW ELDORADO. plates were worn on a string about the neck. As the chiMren arrived in school they were regis- tered. "Whoever failed to send their children were fined one blanket. As soon as they discovered that the captain was in earnest they submitted, and I believe no blanket was forfeited after the first week. The ranches have been cleaned, white- washed, and drained, and all is peaceful and quiet where a few months ago it was a place of strife." The Sitka Industrial School — or as it is better known here, the Jackson Institution — is the most Interesting feature of the town, because one can- not fail to realize how much good it is uccomplish- ing in the way of practical civilization and real education among the natives. At this writing there are nearly one hundred boys, and about sixty girls and young women, who are under the parental care of the Institution. The teaching force consists of a dozen earnest workers, mostly ladies from the Easteni St.i' 38. Besides the or- dinary English branches iai-.ght in the school, the girls are trained to cook, wash, iron, sew, knit, and to make their own clothes. The boys are taught carpentry, house -building, cabinet-mak- ing, blacksmithing, boat-building, shoemaking, and other industries. The work of the school is so arranged that each boy and girl attends school half a day, and works half a day. The results thus brought about are admirable. The " Mis- sion," as the cluster of buildings forming the school, the hospital, the residence for teachers, cot- tages, and workshops is called, is situated beside INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 807 the road leading to Indian River, overlooking tlie bay, the islands, and the sea, with grand mountain views on three sides. Fifteen different tribes are represented in this Sitka Industrial School. Eng- lisb-speaking young natives who have been trained here readily obtain good wages at the mines, in the fish-canneries, and wherever they apply for employment among the white residents of the Territory', while their influence with their tribes is very great. That the Alaskans are teachable and capable of attaining a higher and better plane of life has been abundantly proven by the successful mission of this school during the few years of its existence. There is a small monthly newspaper published at Sitka in the interest of the Training School called ♦' The North Star." It is incKpensively produced, and is calculated to disseminate infor- mation in behalf of the excellent mission, as well as to add interest to its local affairs. The type- setting and all the work on this little paper is done by native boys. In his liist published report Dr. Sheldon Jackson says in relation to the Alas- kan natives: "Christianize them, give them a fair school education and the means of earning a living, and they are safe ; but without this the r'ace is doomed. We believe in the gospel of ha- bitual industry for the adults, and of industrial training for the children. By these means they can be reclaimed from improvident habits, and transformed into ambitious and self-helpful citi- zens." I I F' (I hii! •IM 1 1 '! 'i h'M '). n ; R in 111 308 THE NEW ELDORADO. The Industrial Training School at Sitka was established as a day school by the Presbyterian Board of Hume Missions in 1880, with Miss Olioda A. Austin as teacher. The following fall circum- stances led to the opening of a boarding depart- ment. Since then the institution has grown until there are connected with it two large buildings (one for boys and the other for girls), an industrial building sheltering the carpenter and boot and shoe shops, the printing-office and boat house, a small blacksmith shop, a steam laundry, a bakery, a hospital, and six small model cottages. Every building has been constructed by the pupils them- selves under the direction of the one carpenter, who acted as their instructor. Even the domestic furniture, such as beds, chairs, bureaus, and the like, is the handiwork of these native boys. We can testify from personal observation that all ia wonderfully well done, and of excellent patterns. There is a valuable gold mine situated six or eight miles southeast of Sitka, eight hundred feet above the sea level and about a mile from deep water, on Silver Bay, where the largest ships may lie beside the shore, the wharfage hav- ing been prepared by Nature's own hand. The quartz rock is here represented to be of excellent quality, showing thirty dollars to the average ton;, and there is never-failing water near at hand suf- ficient for running a hundred stamp-mill. Gold has been mined at Silver Bay in a primitive way for several years. Numerous other mines have been located and opened on Baranoif Island which w itka was sbyterian S3 Olioda II circum- g depait- owu until buildings industrial boot and b house, a a bakery, 8. Every pils tb.em- carpenter, e domestic s, and the Doys. We that all is patterns, ited six or it hundred mile from uhe largest arfage ha v- land. The Df excellent .verage ton, ,t hand suf- n.ill. Gold Imitive way mines have 'sland which ARRIVAL OF AN EXCURSION STEAMER. 309 give great promise, but this just mentioned has accomplisljed thus far the best results. We took notes of eleven mines upon which much work had been done, shafts sunken, and tunnels run. *' The island is besprinkled with these gold-quartz veins," said an intelligent citizen to us. *' Pros- pectors and miners have been attracted elsewhere in the Tenitory by still more promising gold de- posits. This, together with the want of capital, is the reason the mines have not been opened and worked on an extensive scale. This will follow, however, in due time, for miners can work here all the year round, with comfort as regards the weather, and at the minimum cost of living." The arrival of an excursion steamer at Sitka is made the occasion of a regular holiday, which is very natural with a people who live in so isolated a place. As the steamer enters the several har- bors of the inland passage northward, her pres- ence is announced by a report from the cannon on the forecastle, which awakens a score of sonorous echoes from the rocky cliffs and nearest mountains, also serving to arouse the sleepy natives and put the dealers in curios on the qui vive. The few caf^s do a thriving business; the nights, never verv dark in summer, are turned into day, and ho...s of revelry prevail. Tiie aboriginal women ^••ive a lively bii&iness with their home-made cu- rios, and indiscreet native girls promenjide f;:e':ly with strangers. Peccadilloes are overlooked ; no one seems to be l^A strictly to account. The offi- cials are unusually lenient on such occasions, just / I 310 THE NEW ELDORADO. ! i as tliey are in Boston or New York on the Fourth of July. The immediate environs of Sitka present many rural beauties, including river, forest, and wild flowers, with here and there a rapid, musical cas- cade. The same species of highly-developed white clover as was seen at Fort Wrangel is a charming feature here, fragrant and lovely, — " Beautiful objects of the wild bees' love." Buttercups and dandelions are twice the size of those which we have in New England. Ferns are in great variety, and the mosses are exquisite in their velvety tex- ture, while tenderly shrouding the fallen and de- caying trees they present an endless variety of shades in green. There are over three hundred varieties of wild flowers found on Baranofl IsLiid, and wild berries abound here as among all the isl- ands and on the mainland. The wild raspberry, salmon-berry, and thimbleberry are especially luxuriant and fine in size and flavor. The woods are full of song-birds and of others more gaudy of feather. These are only summer visitors, to be rture, among which the rainbow-tinted humming- bird made his presence obvious. A pleasant walk is finely laid out along the banks of the sparkling Indian River, a swift mountain stream, hedged with thrifty and graceful alders, by which means the citizens have created for themselves a charm- ing and favorite promenade. Along the left bitnk of this beautiful watercourse are woodland sce^^es of exquisite rural beauty. It would be foolish to suggest t/'O idea iL-it FARMING NEAR SITKA. 311 e Fourth nt many and wild sical cas- 3ed white charming Beautiful •cups and which we it variety, slvety tex- n and de- variety of hundred off Island, all the ial- raspberry, especially The woods e gaudy of tors, to be humming- 'asant walk } sparkling ,m, hedged hich means es a charm- 16 left bivnk [land scenes ) 1 dea ,L XI Alaska promises to become eventually a great ag- ricultural country; but it is equallj-^ incorrect to say, as did a certain popular writer not long since, that " there is not an acre of farmhig land in the Territory." There are considerable areas of good arable land now under profitable cultivation in the Sitka district, and large farms, rich in virgin soil, could be had for a mere song, as the saying goes, in desirable localities, by clearing away the timber and draining the land. Some twenty-five milk cov/s are kept at Sitka; milk is sold at ten cents per quart. Fresh venison is cheap and abundant, and fish of various kinds cost nearly nothing. In the immediate vicinity there are three thousand acres of araMe land, much of which is well grassed ar.d covered with white clover. On the foot-hills there is plenty of rrrass for the sustenance of sheep prid jOitts. Experienced residents told us that v'o>> -(^rowing might be profitably pursued as a bv iiicas -here, and that there was not a month in l1:<» e?" when the animals would absolutely re- quire 'o be housed. Hay is easily made, and is in abundance at cheap rates. "I have never seen finer potatoes, turnips, cabbages, and garden prod- uce generally, than those grown here," says Gov- ernor Swineford in his annual report to the De- j)P;rtment at Washington. TlH're is a great abundance of natural and nu- tvitious grasses in most parts of the country, but especially in the southern islands and the Kodiak group. The great prosperity of Alaska, however, to be looked for in the near future, lies in the en- I ii '» 812 THE NEW ELDORADO. Ml ergetic development of her coal trade, her fisher- ies, and her extraordinary mineral wealth. The immense supply of timber, some of which is un- surpasst'* h\ its merchantable value, will come into use one t generations later. The fur-trade, already of , mtic proportions, cannot be judi- ciously developed beyond its present volume, oth- erwise the source of supj. 'y will gradually become exhausted. It might be quadrupled for a few years, but this would be killing the goose that lays the golden egg. If protected, as our government is striving to do for it to-day, it will continue in- definitely to meet the market demand without glutting or overstocking it. In this connection, and after some inquiry, we cannot refrain from expressing the fear that the legal limit as regards the slaughter of the seals is greatly exceeded. Over three million dollars' worth of canned salmon •were exported from Alaska last year. " This Ter- ritory can supply the world with salmon, herring, and halibut of the best quality," says Dr. Sheldon Jackson. Twenty miles south of Sitka, on the same island, there are a number of hot springs, strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur, the sanitary nature of which has been known to the Indians for centuries, and hither they have been in the habit of resorting for the cure of certain physical ills, especially rheumatism, to which they are so liable. Vegetation in the neighborhood of these springs is tropical. The temperature of t! e water is said to be 155° Fah. At the time of the Rus- lih! DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 313 sian possession the whites built bath-houses on the spot, and much was made of this sanitarium. But all is now neglected, except that the natives still occasionally resort to the place to enjoy the tonic and recuperating effect of the waters. Any- thing which will promote cleanliness among the Alaskan tribes must be unquestionably of benefit to them. There are plenty of hot mineral springs all over the various island groups of the Territory, and especially that portion which makes out from the Alaska Peninsula westward towards Asia. The most fatal diseases prevailing among the abo- rigines after consumption are scrofulous affec- tions ; the latter is thought to be aggravated, if not induced, by their almost exclusive fish diet, supple- mented by their gross uncleanliness. The Aleuts of the south, the Eskimos of the utjrth, and the natives generally of the coast and the interior sleep and live in such dark, dirty, unveutilated quarters, reeking with vile odors, thft they cannot fail to poison their blood and thus induce a myr- iad of ills. As we have said, none of these natives seem to have any intelligent idea of medicine, and they do not possess any herbs, so far as we could learn, which are used for medicinal purposes. If a native is furnished with a prescription after the manner of the whites, he requires at least twice the amount of medicine which it is customary to give to a white pan, otherwise the dose will have no apparent effect upon his system. This is a never varying experience which medical men have found repeated among all savage races. \ 1 :i ml m 314 THE NEW ELDORADO. itt'i fV. ill As far as one is able to comprehend the reli- gious convictions of the native Sitkans, other than the few who have gone through the form of pro- fessing Christianity, they seem to entertain a sort of animal worship, a reverence for special birds and beasts. Like the Japanese they hold certain animals sacred and will not injure them. It is thus that they have some mystical idea about the bear, which prevents them from willingly hunting that animal. Ravens are nearly as numerous in Sitka as they are in Ceylon, and no one will in- jure them. They believe that the spirits of the d.'piirted occupy the bodies of ravens, hawks, and the like. One is reminded that in the temples of Canton the Chinese keep sacred hogs ; the Par- sees of Bombay worship fire ; the Japanese bow before snakes and foxes, as divine symbols ; the pious Hindoo deifies cows and monkeys; so there is abundant precedent to countenance these sim- ple natives of Alaska in their crude worship and superstitions. Their aboriginal belief is called Shamanism, or the propitiating of evil spirits by acceptable offer- ings. It is significant that the same faith is par- ticipated in by the Siberians, on the other side of Behrlng Strait. This is no new or original form of religion ; it was the faith of the Tartar nice before they became disciples of Buddhism. These aborigines seem to anticipate a state of future happiness, but not one of rewards and punishments. All blessedness in this anticipated eternity is for man ; woman, it seems, has no real •r^r"' ^ I V he Tell- er than of pro- 1 a sort il birds certain . It is 30ut the hunting erous in will in- ,8 of the «rks, and mples of the Pai- lese bow wis; the so there lese sim- rship and anism, or ble offer- th is pur- er side of inal form iirtar race n. a state of k'ards and anticipated las no real THE MOST POTENT MISSIONARIES. 315 inheritance in this world or the next ! Slavery, vice, and misery would thus appear to be her portion in life, and she expects nothing beyond. This picture is not overdrawn. These natives are now as much a part of our population as are the people who live in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, and our manifest duty is to educate nhem. The light of reason will soon follow, and like the rising sun will burn away this mist of ignorance and superstition. Schools are the most potent missionaries that can be established among u-i': savage race ; reasonable religious convictions will follow as a natural result. "When the missionary," says W. H. Dall, " will leave the trading-post, strike out into the wiklerness, live in the wilderness, live with the Indians, teach them clejinliness first, morality iiext, and by slow and simple teaching raise their minds above the hunt and the camp, — then, and not until then, they will be able to comprehend the simplest principles of right and wrong." Though these Indians at the populous centres often pretend to yield to the religious teachings of the professional missionaries, still, like the Chinese religious converts, they are pretty sure to return to their idols and superstitions. When the Roman Catholic Bishop from San Francisco came among the natives of Alaska, and offered to baptize their children, the Indians told him that he might baptize them if he would pay them for it ! H. H. Bancroft, in his work upon the native races of the North Pacific, says : " Thick, black ■' . St: i -,1 I W i M PI I I 'If! I iiiiij!',,,, PI 1 111! I' 316 THE NEW ELDORADO. clouds, jiortentous of evil, hang threateningly over the savage during his entire life. Genii murmur ill the flowing river, in the rustling branches of the trees are heard the breathings of the gods, goblins dance in the vapory twilight, and demons howl in the darkness. All these things are hostile to man, and must be propitiated by gifts, prayers, and sacrifices ; while the religious worship of some of the tribes includes practices frightful in their atrocity." The Sitkans, like many other tribes, used to burn their dead before the missionaries partially dissuaded them from doing so, but some still adopt cremation as a final and most desirable resort. To one who has seen its universal application in India, there are many strong reasons in its favor. The Alaskan native idea of a hell in another world constituted of ice, it is said, causes them to reason that those buried in the earth may be cold forever after, while those whose bodies are burned will be forever warm and comfortable in the next sphere. After the funeral these aborigines, as we have shown, engage in a genuine " wake," reck- lessly feasting au'^ drinking to emphasize the im- portance of the occasion, and to demonstrate their unbounded grief. The native women occasionally show some taste for music and ability in playing upon the accordion, almost the only instrument found in their possession. A young Indian girl was seen quite alone among the wild flowers just outside the town (Sitka) who had been taught a few I NATIVE MUSICIANS. 817 ;ly over lurmur ches of e gods, demons hostile jrayers, of some in their used to Dartially ill adopt resort, ation in ts favor, another them to f be cold e burned the next es, as we :e," leck- 3 the im- :ate their jw some upon the found in was seen it outside lit a few pleasing airs, and who surprised us with a well- played strain from a familiar opera. She was a pretty, gypsy-like child of nature, evidently having white blood in her veins, and was not over sixteen years of age. The coarse, scanty clothing could not disguise her handsome form, bright, intelligent face, or hide the depth and splendor of her jet-black luminous eyes. When she discovered us the accordion was quickly thrust behind her, while her downcast eyes expressed mortification at being found alone by the white strangers, playing to the flowers beside the Indian River. She understood English and spoke it fairly well, but h^sit ted to receive the bright bit of silver offered to her. When we told her that in the East it was the custom to pay those who played to us upon musical instruments out-of-doors, and described the itinerant hand -organist with his monkey, and the brass bands which perambulate city streets, she laughed heartily, thrust the shin- ing silver in her bosom, and held out her hand to greet us cordiall}'. As we turned our steps back towards the town the innocent, winning face of the young girl haunted us with thoughts of hidden possibilities never to be fulfilled. On the evening before we left Sitka a brass band consisting of twenty-one performers marched down to the wharf from the mission school, in good military order, headed by their teacher as band-master, and serenaded the passengers. The band was composed entirely of native boys, the oldest not over eighteen, not one of whom had ever ) «. i i'4 n ' i I II Hi :tii iiiiiii/ 1.111 318 THE NEW ELDORADO. seen a brass musical instrument two yeare ago. Tiiey performed eight or ten elaborate pieces of compodition, not passably well, but admirably, in perfect time, and with real feeling for the music they expressed. It was a surprise to every one on board the Corona to hear such a performance by natives in this isolated spot in the far north. A liberal purse was handed to the teacher to be divided among them. " Do you know what they will do with this money ? " he asked, gratefully. " Purchase some trifle, each one after his own fancy," we replied. " No, sir," said the teacher, " they will tell me, every one of them, to purchase some new music with the money, which they can practice and learn to play together." Their means are of course quite circumscribed, and they have had but little variety afforded them, either in school-books or music. They look upon their musical tuition as a reward for good behavior, and the severest punishment to them is to be deprived of any favorite branch of instruc- tion. At our final view of Sitka, the quaint^capital of Alaska was lying quiet and peacefully at the feet of Vestova, while enshrouded in a voluptuous sheen of afternoon sunlight. A rose-glow rested on everything, beautifying the simplest objects. Lofty, thickly- wooded hills formed the back- ground, while the Greek church and the old cas- tle dominated all the humbler buildings. The ^p^ M-s ago. )iece8 of ■ably, in e music ery one ormance ir north, ler to be ith this his own tell me, w music ,ud learn ascribed, afforded hey look for good 3 them is : instruo- 3apital of ; the feet )luptuou8 3W rested b objects, he back- e old cas- igs. The A FINAL VIEW. 319 waters of the island-dotted bay were as still as an inland Like, and flooded with golden reflections. Now and again an eagle sailed gracefully from one wooded height to another, and the hoarse croak of many lavens, held sacred by the Indians, greeted the ear. A few United States soldiers lounged about their barracks, and a few cannon were arranged upon the T>roud common. These were light fieldpieces, more for show than for use. Groups of natives clad in bright-colored blankets were seen here and there before their simple dwellings which line the beach. A broad, intensely green plateau forms the centre of the set- tlement, about which the better houses of the whites are situated. A little to the left, nearer to the hills, is the curiously arranged burial-ground of the aborigines, with a few totem-poles, and many boxes reared above ground in which are de- posited the remains of former chiefs. On a slight rise of ground stands the ancient blockhouse, built of logs, from which the Russians once made a des- ]»erate fight with the natives. Behind us Mount Edgecombe loomed far up among the clouds, where its apex was half hidden, and in the same direc- tion, not far away, was the open Pacific. It was nearly ten o'clock P. M. before the sun set behind the distant western hills in a blaze of scarlet, yellow, and purple, reflected by soft, butterfly clouds and mountain tops in the east. After that came the luminous moonlight, making a regal glory of Ihe darkness, and flashing in opal gleams from the se-i. i ! Iff'- i ill ! I I '■ ! ]|' ' mi : m n r I m li'f I i m 820 THi; iV£;Fr eldorado. While watching the rippling lustre of the water, tremulous with starlight and the languid breath of the night air, one was fain to ask if it was all quite real, if this was not a fancy picture from the land of dreams. Could these be the far-away shores of Alaska ? The pathos and tenderness of the scene, the glow, and fire, and throbbing love- liness, were indescribable. Even the few fleecy clouds which sailed between us and the planets seemed as if they came to waft our hymn of praise to Heaven. Is not sucli surpassing beauty of na- ture an image of the Infinite One ? he water, d breath it was all from the far-away erness of Ding love- e\v fleecy e planets 1 of praise uty of na- CHAPTER XXIII. The Return Voyage. — Prince of Wales Island. — Peculiar EffcctH. — Inland and Ocean Voyages contrastod. — Laby- rintli of Verdant iHlands. — Flora of the North. — Politiciil Condition of Alaska. — Return to Victoria. — What Cloth- ing to wear on tiie Journey North. — City of Vancoir i. ^ Scenes in British Columbia. — Through the Mountain Ranges. The return voyage from Sitka by the inland course takes us first through Peril Straits, so named on account of its many submerged rocks and reefs. It is, however, a wonderfully pictur- esque passage between the two lofty islands of Cliicagoff and Baranoff, strewn as it is with im- pediments to navigation. We pass the Indian villnge of Kootznahoo, occupied by a tribe of the same name, a people who have always proved to be restless and aggressive, requiring a strong band to control them. They are peaceable enough now, having been taught some severe lessons by way of discipline. This tribe as a body still adheres to many of the revolting practices of their ances- tors, which other Alaskans, who are brought into more intimate relations with the whites, liave dis- carded. They are also said to be more uiider the influence of their medicine-men, who foster all sorts of vile rites and superstitions, without the prevalence of which their occupation and impor- tance would vanish. ■pp 322 THE NEW ELDORADO. \\m We make our way through the winding chan- nels of the Alexander Arcliipelago, of which the Prince of Wales Island is one of the largest and most mountainous. It is about a hundred and seventy-five miles long by fifty miles in width ; that is to say, it is as large as the State of New Jersey, and in fact contains more square miles. It is mostly covered with dense forests of Alaska cedar, the best of ship -timber. The shores are indented on all sides by fjords extending a con- siderable distance into the land. Salmon abound in and about this island, which has led to the establishment of several large fish-canning facto- ries, two new ones being added during the past season. The principal nfitive tribe upon the island is known as the Haidas, whose vilhiges are scattered along the coast. The interior of the island is not only uninhabited, but it is unex- plored. The shore hamlets are called " rancher- ies." Each sub-tribe has a special one represent- ing its capital, where the head chiefs live. Their laws seem to be simply a series of conventional- ities. The houses of these Haidas are better structures than those of most natives of the Ter- ritory, and they surround themselves, as a rule, with more domestic comforts. Woolen blankets appear to be the investment in which all the spare means of the members of this, as well as most other tribes, are placed, and by the number they possess they estimate their wealth. Woolen blankets, in fact, averaging in value from two dol- lars and a half to three and a half, are the native i^ IN THE ALEXANDER ARCUIPELAGO. 323 ing clian- phicli the rgest and dred and in width ; of New ue miles, of Alaska jhores are ng a con- n abound ed to the ing facto- ; the past upon the e villngea lor of the b is unex- " rancher- represent- 'e. Their iventional- ire better f the Ter- as a rule, I blankets the spare II as most nber they Woolen n two dol- the native currency or circulating medium, being received as such when in good condition; and also given out at the trading stations as payment to ntitives for furs or for any service, unless specie is preferred. The meandering course of the steamer brings us now before one Indian hamlet and island, and now another; but these villages are very few in num- ber, hours, and even a whole day, being sometimes passed, while on our course, without meeting a sol- itary canoe or seeing a human being outside the vessel's bulwarks. These islands, as a rule, have no gravelly or sandy beach, but spring abruptly from out the almost battomless sea, in their pio- portions ranging from an acre to the size of a Eu- ropean principality. Now and again we come upon a reach of the shore where it is shelving, and for a mile or more it is bastioned by a course of stones, of such uni- form height and even surface as to seem like the work of clever stone-masons. Skilled workers with plummet and line could produce nothing more regular. In some places, as we quietly glide close in to the shadow of the land, shut in by the morning fog and mist wreaths, the effects are very cirrious and even startling. It not being possible to see very far up the shrouded cliffs, down whose sides there rush narrow, silvery cascades, with a merry, laughing sound, they often have the appearance of coming directly out of the sky. It seems as though some peak had punctured one of the over- charged clouds, and it was pouring out its liquid contents through the big aperture. . f ii' mm inllliiHllllMll ! I ,„ mnm r I I 11 I II ill :«: Ml, I lili! I I I i I ! 1 ,, mm w iff- 824 THE NEW ELDORADO. The contrast between a voyage across the open ocean and a sail of two weeks in this inland sea ia notable. In tlie former instance the vo*^ rs find frnitful themes in the vast expanse anr> abulous deptli of the ocean, the huge monsters and tiny- creatures occupying it, the record of the ship's progress, her exact tonnage, and the trade in which she has been engaged since she was launched. Few persons hav " in themselves sufficient inte^ lectual resources not to become oppressed with ennui under the circumstances. Between Puget Sound and Glacier Bay how different is the expe- rience ! There is no mcmotony here ; every mo- ment is replete with curious sights,' every succeed- ing hour full of fresh discoveries. The panoramic view is crowded all day long with sky-reaching mountains, scarred by wild convulsions ; verdant islands embowered in giant trees ; rocky peaks ris- ing from the bottom of the sea to a thousand feot and more above our topmast head ; cascades tum- bling down precipitous cliffs; Indian hamlets dot- ted by totem-poles ; canoes gliding over the silent surface of the deep channels ; inlets crowded with schools of salmon ; mammoth glaciers emptying themselves into the sea and forming opaline ice- bergs sharply reflecting the sun's dazzling rays. There is no time for ennui among such scenes as these ; the eyes are captivated by the beauty and the variety, while the imagination is constantly stimulated to its utmost capacity. The flora of this far northern country does not exhibit the wonderful luxuriance and productive- AN ATTRACTIVE REGION. 325 ness which captivates us in the tropics, though one gathers some extremely attractive specimens. Nei- ther the flowers, the insects, nor the birds are marked with the brilliancy of color which distin- guish those bathed continually in waves of equa- torial sunlight. Here, grandeur prevails over beauty ; the trees, if not so verdant, excel in size and majesty; the mountains, in height; the riv- ers, in volume and length ; while the glaciers are without comparison in magnitude and power. Here, is simplicity, vastness, magnificence ; there, fertility, fragrance, loveliness. Neither in the north nor in the south is there the least infringe- ment upon the great harmonies of Nature ; admi- rable consistency and order exist everywhere, typ- ifj'ing a great, overruling, supreme Intelligence. We pause for a moment amid the silent tran- quillity to sum up our experience while gliding along this beautiful and peaceful inland sea on the return voyage. The author does not hesitate to pronounce Alaska to be one of the most at- tractive regions in the world for summer tourists. From early June to September the temperature prevailing upon the entire route is equable, the thermometer ranging all the while between sixty and seventy degrees Fah. The progress of the steamer always creates a gentle and agreeable breeze, which renders warm clothing desirable, especially at early morning and in the evening, though these are periods not so distinctly defined as with us in New England. An overcoat ia rarely rendered necessary or desirable. If the 326 THE NEW ELDORADO. l!i ' mosquitoes are troublesome at certain places on, shore, in marshy regions, they are never so on the water, as the breeze inevitably drives such insects away. Let us say especially there is no other such inviting resort for pleasure yachts as this inljind, island-dotted sea of Alaska. If the fogs put in an appearance sometimes in the morning, they are after a while burned away by the warmth of the sun. Local rains on shore are to be oc- casionally endured, but they are no great draw- back to observation and brief excursionis. At Sitka, Wrangel, and Juneau several showers may occur during the day> with intervals of bright and cloudless skies between. We have witnessed seven copious, well-sustained showers of rain on a Mny forenoon in Chicago, the intervals sand- wiched with sunshine of gorgeous clearness and waimth. Why pretend that Alaska is exceptional in this respect? The weather is not perfect, ac- cording to our estimate, anywhere. Finally the extended trip upon the boat was found to cover a little over two thousand miles in all, and was with us one of continuous pleasure, enlivened by as bright and cheerful weather as one experiences on an average elsewhere, winding among an im- mense archipelago of mountains, emerald islands, and land locked bays, through narrow channels dominated by precipitous cliffs, and crossing broad, lake-like expanses as placid as the rerene blue overhanging all. No other government on the globe, in this nineteenth century, would permit so large and im- TH POLITICAL CONDITION OF ALASKA. 327 portant a portion of its territory to remain unex- plored. Congress should send at once a thoroughly equipped scientific expedition, competent to report minutely upon the geology, fauna, flora, and geog- raphy of this immense division of the country. It is more than an oversight, it is a gross blunder, not to do this without further delay. If our own pen-pictures of this neglected Territory shall in- cite to the fulfillment of such an act of official duty, these pages will have served at least one im- portant purpose. " With a comparatively mild climate," says C E. S. Wood, in an account of a visit to Alaska, printed in the " Century Magazine," " with most valuable shipbuilding timber covering the islands, with splendid harbors, with inexhaustible fisheries, with an abundance of coal, with copper, lead, silver, and gold awaiting the prospector, it is surprising that an industrious, shipbuilding, fish- ing colony from New England or other States has not established itself in Alaska." The political condition of Alaska is anything but creditable to our country. It has little more than the shadow of a civil government, and is en- tirely without any land laws by which a resident can secure a title to the soil upon which he builds his house. The act of Congress dated May 7, 1884, providing an apology for a civil government, was not passed until twenty years after the Terri- tory had been acquired. As a consequence the material progress of the country and its inviting possibilities remain undeveloped. With the ex- liiiiM IP'. mm n \i S28 THE NEW ELDOHADO. tension of the United States local laws to this section, immigration would be at once promoted and various industries established. " Why we are so neglected is incomprehensible," said a resident of Sitka. " All we ask is the same advantages enjoyed by the citizens of the other Territories of the United States." It is certainly to be hoped that Congress will gue early attention to this important matter, for Alaska is destined to become one of our most valuable possessions. We shall be excused for making use of so strong an expres- sion, but it is only too true that her interests have been persistently and shamefully neglected by the law-makers at Washington. " Like the dog in the manger," says Miss Kate Field, " Congress will do nothing for Alaska, nor will it permit Alaska to do anything for herself locally, or at Washington through a delegate. Yet, in 1890, two islands of this despised and neglected province will have paid into the United States Treasury $6,340,000, — within one million of Alaska's entire purchase ! " The present comparative isolation of Alrrka will not be of long duration ; not only are the facilities for reaching the Territory being annually increased from the east, but it is being also rapidly approached in this respect from the west. The Russian government is building a railroad in almost a straight line from Moscow to Behring Sea, which it is confidently believed will be com- pleted within five years. Direct communication will thus be established between St. Petersburg TOURING DRESS. 329 and the Russian Pacific ports, through Siberia, whose most easterly point is less than forty miles from the soil of Alaska. After sailing four or five days southward, bear- ing always slightly to the east, through a wilder- ness of islands and along the mountain-fringed coast of the mainland, the ship comes upon the open sea, and the passengers realize for a short time the effect of the Pacific Ocean swell. The sensitiveness of some people to its influence is as remarkable as the stolid indifference of others. Here, where the Japanese Current meets the cold air from off the coast, fogs are very liable to pre- vail, though it was not so in the writer's case. We are now in comparatively open navigation and can lay our course without fear. Soon Queen Char- lotte's Sound is entered, and for a day and a half the steamer again skirts the picturesque shore of Vancouver, whose features are reproduced in the deep, quiet waters with marvelous diF.lx.ctness, until finally we are once more landed at Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. We are frequently asked since our return what clothing and other articles one should take, with which to make the inland voyage through Alaskan waters. This is easily answered. As the rainfall is frequent be sure to have a good stout umbrella. Ladies would do well to take a gossamer waterproof and gentlemen a mackintosh. Heavy shoes, that is with double soleo, and a light overcoat should be provided. There is no occasion for full dress, — court dress, I I 1' ■:! ilii: :!! ( |i Hill* VM 330 THE NEW ELDORADO. on this route, swallow-tails are so much needless baggage. Ladies' skirts should be short so they will not diaggle on the wet deck of the steamer, or in walking through the damp grass, or over the surface of a glacier. In the hitter instance gentle- men generally carry portable spikes that can be screwed on to the bottom of the shoes, and a stafE cane with a stout ferule. When a party is formed to ascend a glacier a small hat;;liet and small rope should always be taken by some one of their num- ber. In case of an accident these often become of great importance. There need not be any acci- dent, however, if ordinary prudence is observed. A large and well-appointed steamer named the Islander, wiiich plies regularly on this route, takes one across the island-sprinkled Gulf of Georgia in six or seven hours from Victoria to Vancouver on the mainland. This is the ter- minus of tlie Canadian Pacific Railway, situated a short distance from the mouth of the Fraser River. From here the homeward course is almost due east through British Columbia, Alberta, As- siniboia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec to Mon- treal, thence southeast to Boston. So late as 1886 the present site of Vancouver was covered with a dense forest of Douglass pines, cedar and spruce trees. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed to Vancouver in May, 1887, when the first through train arrived from Montreal. The youthful city is well situated for commercial purposes on what is called Burrard Inlet. It has extensive wharves, substantial ware- CITY OF VANCOUVER. 331 houses, and very good hotel accommodations. Well-arranged public water-worke bring the need- ful domestic supply in pure and healthful condi- tion from the neighboring hills. The surrounding scenery is strikingly bold, embracing the Cascade Kange in the north, the mountains of Vancouver Island across the water in the west, and the Olym- pian Range in the south, while the great snowy head of Mount Baker rears itself skyward as the main feature in the southeast. The steamer which brings us here from Victoria pusses through a beautiful archipelago of peaceful islands, verdant and wooded to the very brink. The busy popula- tion of this infant city number between thirteen and fourteen thousand, and the place is growing rapidly. It is lighted by both gas and electricity. Forty substantial edifices for business and dwell- ing purposes are in course of erection at this writ- ing. There are steamers which sail regularly from here for Japan, China, and San Francisco. As it is in the midst of what may be called a wild country, there is excellent hunting near at hand and large game is abundant. Many sports- men, especially from England, make their head- quarters here while devoting themselves to hunting for a large part of the summer season. Four large English sloops of war were observed in the harbor at the time of the writer's visit, together with a couple of torpedo boats bearing the same flag, des- tined for Behring Sea, to "emphasize " the British side of the Alaska fishery question as between our government and that of Great Britain. ' 51 832 THE NEW ELDORADO. f,i! I Ml nil Mm 111"""' liiijiilili !| As one stands on the shore the harbor presents a picture of great variety and interest, compris- ing men-of-war boats pulled by disciplined crews ; canoes, paddled by Indian squaws wrapped in high- colored blankets; boats loaded with valuable furs and propelled by aboriginal hunters; here a raft of timber, and there a steam ferry-boat. Just in shore thee is passing as we watch the scene a native canoe carrying a sail made of bark-mat- ting, brown and dingy, steered with a paddle by an aged, withered, white-haired Indian, while in the prow is a four or five year old native boy, trailing his hands idly in the water over the side of the iiijy cratt. A striking picture of the voyage of life : thoughtless, happy, vigorous youth at the prow, with weary age and experience awaiting the end at the stern. A couple of large steamers close at hand are getting under way loaded with preserved fish, put up at the canneries near by ; one is bound for Australia, the other for England, by way of Cape Horn. Vancouver has many edifices of brick and stone, with good churches and several schools ; some of the private residences being remarkable for their complete architectural character in so new a city as this which forms the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The principal part of the city occupies a penin- sula, bounded north by the waters of Burravd In- let, south by a small indentation called False Creek, and west by English Bay. The city is fast ex- tending beyond these limits, both east and south. THE LONG JOURNEY HOMEWARD. 333 The peninsula rises gradually to an altitude of two hundred feet, more or less, affording the means of perfect drainage for the new city, which is laid out on a grand scale. A tramway, embracing the several suburbs, is in course of construction, the motor for whi-^h will be electricity. We take tlie cars at Vancouver for our long journey homeward over the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, through the British Dominion to the Atlan- tic coast, indulging in a last admiring view of the grand elevation known as Mount Baker, which in these closing days of July is a mass of snow two thousand feet from its summit. Upon starting our attention is first drawn to the gigantic trees, big sawmills, immense piles of lumber, and exten- sive brick-yards in the environs of the city. Small villages are passed, straggling farms, Indian camps, mining lodges, and Chinese "hives," where these people CvJiigregate after working all day at placer mining, and gamble half the night, sacrificing their laboriously acquired means. The grand winding valley of the Fraser River — a water- course as large as the Ohio — is followed foi over two hundred miles in a northeasterly direction, affording glimpses of most charming and vivid scenery, leading through canons fully equaling in grandeur of form and beauty of detail anything of the sort in Colorado. Now and again groups of Indians are seen pre- paring the salmon they have caught for winter use. The fish are split and stretched flat by wooden braces, then hung in long pink lines upon 834 THE NEW ELDORADO. low frames of wood. They use no salt in this cur- ing process, but simply dry the Cch by atmos- pheric exposure, and succeed very well in ihus preserving it. Dried salmon forms the principal staple of food for this people in the long Canadian winters. These natives, as in our own instance, are subsidized by the Dominion ; that is, they are placed upon reservations and receive a certain amount of money and rations annually from the government. Light green patches of raspberries are passed here and there, where cL Idren are gath- ering the ripe fruit in abundance, the bright color about their mouths betraying how abundantly they have feasted while thus engaged. It was a pleas- ant picture to gaze upon under the pearly blue sky, where we were surrounded with the fragrant odor of pine and spruce, and the ceaseless music of hurrying waters. At times the river rushes through deep rocky ravines, and at others expands into broad shallows with glittering sand bars, on which eager gr- nps of miners are seen washing for gold. We deep, cavernous gorge of the river on a g lul steel bridge, which, though doubtless of a. ile strength, yet seems of spider-web proportions, tiien plunge into a dark tunnel to emerge directly aniid scenery of the wildest nature, set with huge bowl- ders and noisy with boiling flumes and rearing cascades, where color, splendor, atid inspiration greet us at each turn, while every object is soft- ened by the pale afternoon sunlight. By and by we pass up the valley of the Thorn- THROUGH THE GOLD RANGE. 835 this cur- Y atmos- in ihus principal Ganadiaii instance, , they are a certain from tlie ispberriea are gath- ight color ,ntly they B a pleas- arly blue J fragrant esd music eep rocky i shallows er gi' Mps a ^ iul of a. 'le ions, tlien sctly amid uge bowl- d rearing nspiration ect is soft- he Thom- son River, a tributary of the Fraaer, finding our- selves presently in what is called the Gold, or Co- lumbian, range of mountains, a grand snow-clad series of hills. Our route through them for nearly fifty miles is in the form of a deep, narrow pass between vertical cliffs, forming land channels sim- ilar to the water-ways which we have lately left behind us in the Alexander Archipelago. At the small stations boys and girls board the cars with tiny baskets of luscious blackberries and ipe raspberries for sale, soon disposing of them to the passengers. These are picked within a dozen rods of the railway track, where they are seen in great abundance. Wild flowers beautify the road- way, among which the most attractive are the golden-rod, the bright pink fire-weed, the i iwering and graceful spirea, the wild musk with its large bell-shaped scarlet flower, the fragrant tansy, with snow-ball clusters of white, and big patches of the tiny wild sunflower, its petals in deepest yellow, while among the lily-pads dotting the pooia of wa- ter, orange-hued lilies are in full and gorgeous bloom. The scenery is strictly Alpine, but constantly varies as our point of view changes, and we thread mi 's upon miles of snow-sheds. Heavv veils of mist fringe the mountain-tops, and the t«ll peaks are wrapped in winding-sheets of perpetual snow. The rugged scenery is fine, but finer is yet to C( ne. Still climbing upwards, we are presently in the Selkirks, threading tunnels, dark gorges, som- bre cafions, and narrow passes to the summit of !IH 'I mmn 1 9 it r mvi* lliilli li I III IW I 'M 836 THE NEW ELDORADO. this remarkable range, forced onward by two pow- erful engines, one in the rear the other in front of the train. At a point known as Albert Canon the railway runs along the brink of several dark fissures in the solid rock, three hundred feet deep, through which rushes the turbulent waters of the Illiciili- waet River (" Raging Waters "). Here the cars are stopped for a few moments that the passengers may the better observe the boiling flumes of angry waters, flecked with patches of foam, and cora- press dred guests at a time, and is especially patronized by Canadian bridal parties. The view from it is superb, commanding the winding course of the Bow River and valley for miles, with the many adjacent mountains. The river pours swiftly down from its sources among the snow fields, and plunges seventy feet over rock and precipice close beside the hotel, passing almost beneath our feet as we stand upon the broad piazza, gazing in ad- miration at the grand scenic carnival, and listen- ing to the thrilling anthem of the rushing waters, while breathing the soft aroma of the Douglas pine and cedar forests which cover the surrounding slopes. The region in proximity to the hotel will give the lover of fishing ample sport. Trout of large size abound in Devil's Lake near at hand. A guest brought in forty pounds of this gamoy fish, caught in two hours' time in the lake, while the author was at Banff. Wild sheep and moun- tain goats abound in the neighboring hills, while bears are more numerous than is desirable. Wild- cats, mountain lions, deer, and caribou are also frequently shot by the hunters. The restriction as to use of firearms which is established in the Yellowstone Park does not apply in this region. Sportsmen roam where they please and freely hunt the wild animals which roam in this section of the country. Good roads and bridle paths take one in all directions among some of the finest scenery of the Rocky Mountains, where we watch BANFF HOT SPRINGS. 343 the morning sun dispel the mi^t which floats up- ward and away, disclosing the snow-decked peaks in their virgin whiteness blushing roseate tints at the ardor of the sun. This is called the eastern gateway to the Rocky Mountains, through which the grand Bow River flows on its diversified journey of fifteen hundred miles to Hudson Bay. There are extensive hot springs on the eastern slope of what is known as the Sulphur Range, some six thousand feet above the sea level. They are at different elevations, and have good bathing- houses erected over them, in charge of courteous attendants. One of the springs is inside of a dome -roofed cave, which is a favorite resort of visitors to Banff. The medicinal character of these springs is considered so important that an iron pipe two miles in length conducts their heated waters for use at the hotel, the normal temperature being sustained by metallic coils of superheated steam. It rains much and often in this region. The weeping clouds make one feel rather gloomy, purely out of sympathy for their ceaseless tears, but when the sun finally asserts his power and lifts the misty veil, then come forth in bold contrast silvery, sparkling, sky-reach- ing mountains, covered with their frosty mantles, together with richly wooded valleys and river- threaded cafions, opening views of unrivaled sub- limity and grandeur. At Anthracite, five hundred and seventy miles from Vancouver, we are forty-three hundred and 1 ■n 11 lllM 844 THE NEW ELDORADO. fifty feet above the sea. Here are the remarkable coal mines located in the Fairholme Range, a true anthracite of excellent quality and of great im- portance to the railway. The pass through which the road takes us is four miles wide, great masses of serrated rocks rising on either side, back of which mountains tower above each other as far as the eye can reach, forming long vistas of lofty elevations so numerous as not to bear individual names. At Calgary, about a hundred miles farther east- ward, we are still thirty-four hundred feet above the sea. This is a particularly handsome and thriving young town, scarcely four years old, but containing three thousand inhabitants. It is pleas- antly situated on a hill-girt plateau, in full view of the jagged peaks of the Rockies, thirty or forty miles away, and which, as we look back upon them, form a vast blue and white crescent ex- tending around the western horizon. Two placid rivers, the Bow and Elbow, wind through the broad green valley, adding a charming feature as they mingle with the tall waving grass. Here cattle and sheep ranches aboiind, extending west- ward to the very foot-hills of the great mountain range, and stretching far away to the southward a hundred and fifty miles to the United States boundary line. We were told that the cattle and horses ranging over this space would aggregate two hundred thousand head. As we passed through the Province of Alberta at night, occasionally jets of flaming natural gas, CROSSING THE PRAIRIE. 845 which finds vent through the soil from reservoirs located at unknown depths, were burning brightly to light us on the way. This gas, so liberally sup- plied by nature free of cost, is utilized to create a motive power at Langevin, where it pumps water for the use of the railway. Representatives of the aboriginal Cree and Blackfeet tribes form picturesque groups along the railway line, com- pose4 of barbarous, uncleanly looking squaws and bucks, the latter only kept from the warpath by the presence of the efficient mounted police. The contrast presented in emerging from the mountain ranges on to the level country is very re- markable. For hundreds of miles we pass through an almost uninhabited, treeless country, a long, long reach of prairie as boundless as the sea, and where no more of human life is seen than on the ocean. There are no hills, scarcely any undula- tions ; the sun rises apparently out of the ground in the early gray of the morning, and sets in the endless level of the prairie at night. Small sta- tions, twenty or thirty miles apart, have been built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, con- sisting of a dwelling-house and a water-tank for the necessary supply of its engines, but the line is thus characterized through a thousand miles, where there is no way travel, and no local busi- ness, outside of its own necessities. The infer- ence is plain that it crosses this distance at ex- traordinary expense, which must be supported by the terminal business on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the road. 846 THE NEW ELDORADO. The Cree and Blackfeet tribes are said to have no religion and few superstitions, being a restless, dangerous race, ranking very low in point of in- telligence, even as savages. The efforts of the missionaries, we were told, have entirely failed to civilize or even permanently to improve the con- dition of the two tribes we have named. The women are hideously ugly, smeared with vermil- ion, and weighed down with cheap brass rings and bracelets of the same metal. The one article of sale offered to the traveler bv these tribes is the polished horns of the buffalo, picked up upon the vast pniiries of this region where they have been bleaching for many years. These are colored black by some process, and when highly polished are mounted in pairs, as they are placed by nature on the animaFs head. At Regina, eleven hundred miles from Vancou- ver, we are still two thousand feet above the sea. This is the capital of the Province of Assiniboia, situated in the centre of an almost boundless plain. Here are the headquarters of the North- western Mounted Police, a very necessary military organization of a thousand men, distributed over this region to look after the Indians, who are ever ready to commit depredations when they feel they can do so with impunity, and also to preserve good order generally among the several frontier com- munities. It was at Regina that Louis Riel, the principal promoter of the late rebellion against the Dominion govermnent, was tried and hanged not long .since. It is called here the " half-breed BLACKFEET INDIANS. 847 rebellion." Over the far-reaching, trackless, arid prairies, as lonely as an Egyptian desert, the cloutl effects towards the day's close are noticeably very fine, while the twilight lingers to the very verge of night. At times we pass through a broad tract of land ten miles or more square, from which a whole forest has been swept by conflagration, probably started by an unfortunate spark from a passing locomotive, or, quite as likely, by the care- lessness of some camping party of sportsmen. These large spaces, which would otherwise be in- tensely dreary, are already carpeted with a fresh green undergrowth, with which nature always has- tens to obliterate the devastation caused by the ruthless flames. As our train stopped briefly at Regina a group of mounted Blackfeet Indians dashed across the prairie and drew up near the station. A wild, weird score of semi-savages, very picturesque in their garments of many colors and their decora- tions of quills, beads, and feathers, with a scalp hanging from the waist here and there among them. Their long, unkempt black hair flowed all about their necks and features, which were more or less besmeared with vermilion. Their leggings of deer-hide were frirged on the outer side, and their leather moccasins were lashed with deerskin thongs up the ankles. Some had stirrups, but most of them had none, their limbs hanging free and a blanket serving for a saddle. Their little wiry ponies were under complete control, and the riders were good horsemen. It seemed to be K ^. P" S4S THE NEW ELDORADO. H < I some gala occasion with these Blackfeet, but of what purport it was impossible to discover. They were evidently under a certain degree of disci- pline, for at a sharp, sudden command from one of their number they all dismounted together and stood witii one arm over their horses' necks like so many stone statues. At that moment a lady passenger in our car aimed her " kodak" at them, and, presto! they were photographed in the twinkling of an eye, which, considering their aver- sion to the process, was quite an achievement on the lady's part. These Indians are now peacear ble enough, and no one fears to go among them, but we are inclined to think, with "Buffalo Bill," that they ;vill make one more desperate fight, in both Canada and the States, before they finally give up the struggle with the white man. Forty miles eastward from Regina we come to Indian Head, which is about three hundred miles west of Winnipeg, where the road passes through the famous Bell Farm, an extremely interesting and successful agricultural enterprise. It is man- aged by Major Bell, an ex-army officer of marked executive ability, and covers an area measuring one hundred square miles, being probably the largest arable farm in the world. Major Bell car- ries on the business for an incorporated company, and devotes the rich prairie loam, of which the soil is composed, mostly to the raising of wheat, employing in the various departments over two hundred men. The announced object of the com- pany is first to bring the whole of the land under 1 WINNIPEG. 849 but of They good cultivation, at the rate of five thousand acres or more annually, and when this is accomplished to divide the whole into two hundred and fifty farms to be sold to the employees, each provided with suitable dwelling-houses and buildings, all to be paid for by the purchasers in easy annual in- stallments ; a most beneficial purpose, and if it is fairly and honorably carried mt it will be one which is deserving of all praiL,e. It must inevita- bly build up a responsible and self-respecting com- munity, by uniting proprietorship and domestic relations of the most desirable character, connected with steady and remunerative occupation. The country lying between Indian Head and Winnipeg is mostly of a prairie character, rich in agricultural resources but of no special interest otherwise. Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, is very nearly midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It has some twenty-three thou- sand inhabitants, who live upon a site which was fifteen years ago known as Fort Garry, only a fur- trading station, said to be hundreds of miles from anywhere. To-day it has long, broad streets of public buildings, fine dwelling - houses, hotels, stores, banks, and theatres, besides large manu- factories in various branches of trade. It is the Chicago of Canada. Situated where the forests end and the prairies begin, with river navigation in all directions, and with railways radiating from it towards all points of the compass, everything tends to make Winnipeg the commercial metrop- olis of the British possessions in the Northwest. TW 360 THE NEW ELDORADO. Main Street, Winnipeg, is a fine boulevard one hundred feet wide and two mxies long, lined from end to end with attractive buildings. One prac- tice observed here recalled the native city of Jey- poor, India, namely, the driving of single oxen to harness between the shafts of light carts, the ani- mal being guided by rope reins attached to the horns. From Winnipeg to Port Arthur, which is beau- tifully situated on the north side of Lake Supe- rior, the route is through a country characterized by a maze of forests, lakes, and rivers ; a region more than half wilderness. Few evidences of civ- ilization are found hereabouts ; the primeval for- est is full of game, the streams abound in fish, and the ponds are covered with wild fowl. Occasion- ally a group of Indian wigwams is seen, or a lone native Chippeway paddling his birch canoe. Now and again a hunter's camp xs parsed, whose occupants come down to the railwi-y to see the passing train, and who eagerly seize upon any current newspaper which thoughtful passengers toss to them from the car windows, a courtesy they gratefully acknowledge cap in hand. Port Arthur, just one thousand miles from Montreal, is admirably situated on Thunder Bay, where the view is striking and beautiful, over- looked by the bold headland known as Thunder Cape, which rises fourteen hundied feet above the surface of the lnke. Just upon the edge of the horizon is seen Silver Islet, which has hereto- fore proven to be one of the richest silver mines ViM THE DISTANCE TRAVELED, 861 known to our times ; but the mine is no\y hora- lessiy submerged, its tunnels and shafts flooded beyond relief by the waters of Like Superior. These broad waters are dotted wi^'n white sails, and streaked with the long black Imes of smoke trailing after huge steamers. From here, for more than one hundred miles, the vsharp curves of the great lake on its northern shore are closely followed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and here the engineer's skill has been wonderfully displayed in surmounting apparent impossibilities. We were told that it cost more per mile to build this portion of the voad than it did to lay the rails through an equal distance in the difficult passes of the Rocky Mountains. The roadway is sometimes cut through solid rock, and somsetimes an abrupt cliff is tuimeled, from whence we emerge to li ap across a deep ravine upon a wooden t'estle of frightfid curve and great eleva- tion. And BO we rush onward through unbroken forests })nd scenery v>f wildest aspect among barren rocks, scorched trees, and dense thickets of scrub on our homeward wa} . Having thus brought the patient reader so nearly back to the starting-point, and among scenes so familiar, we leave him to finish the journey to Boston by way of Ottawa and Mon- treal. The distance traveled in making this round trip to Alaska and back, over the course puivsued by the author, is something over ten thousand miles, but when successfully consummated it is ' '■; h ^ ;i>' \h 352 THE NEW ELDORADO. diflScult to realize tliat such a long route has been passed over. Great are the modern facilities for travel, and great are the inducements. It is the only royal road to learning, the kindergarten of ripened intelligence, so to speak. We recall nothing of the fatigue or the inevitable mishaps of the journey. It is the charming experiences alone which become indelible. We behold again the many populous cities through which the route has taken us, and see once more in imaginution the active villages, peculiar races of people, graz- ing herds, rushing cascades, sombre gorged, mys- terious geysers, snowy mountain ranges, uncouth totem-poles, myriads of icebergs, and mammoth glaciers. To look back upon the experiences of the journey as a whole is like recalling a midsum- mer night's dream, replete with delightful scenery and crowded with wonderful phenomena. Mill _„ las been ities for t is the arten of B recall mishaps )erience8 Id again lie route tgination >le, graz- ;el, niys- uncouth lammoth lences of midsum- l scenery MM BOOKS OF TRAVEL. PUBLISHED BY Messrs. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. Boston and New York. Africa. The Far Interior. From the Cape of Good Hope to the Lake Regions of Central Africa. By Walter Montagu Kerr. With Map and Illustrations. 2 vols. 8vo, $9.00. My Winter on the Nile. By Charles Dudley Warner. New Edition, revised. Crown 8vo, $2.00. British America. Baddeck, and that Sort of Thing. By Charles Dudley War\iey. i8mo, $1.00. Over the Lorder. By Miss E. B. Chase. Illus- trated with Heliotype Engravings from drawings of Nova Scotia scenery. With Map. Small 4to, $1.50. A Yankee in Canada. By Henry D. Thoreau. i2mo, gilt top, $1.50. France. 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