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Slavery was then in general practice ; jjrisoners became the serfs of 674 PIONEER PACKHORSES LW ALASKA. . ►■'".•'^■■^: -"iS^t MAWN av Mr. TAUN. TOWING HORSES ACROSS THE CHILKAT RIVER. their captors, and, as in central Africa to-day, constituted the principal source of wealth. The old-%ime Chilkat, dressed in skins and furs obtained from the inland tribes, had his garments picturesquely fringed, and tasseled, and beaded, and woven in with stained swan- quills. He wore bracelets of copper, and car- ried copper spears, knives, and arrows. He was a warrior, and lived but to perish in battle. In those days no ceremony was complete un- less attended by human sacrifice; execution of slaves was of frequent occurrence, for supersti- tious belief deemed disaster and illness the do- ing of angry spirits, only to be appeased by the shedding of human blood. Tribal wars and hand-to-hand fights followed from the slightest disagreement. It was the custom then for all the young men in the village to plunge each morning, winter and summer, into the chilly stream, stay in the icy waters till benumbed with cold, and then to thrash one another with stout-thonged whips till circulation and animation were thoroughly restored. This novel apprenticeship is said to have had the effect of creating unusual stamina, producing the ability to withstand cold and hunger, and deadening feeling. 'ITie Indians say that a warrior thus trained, though mor- tally wounded, would face his foe and cut and stab while life remained. In such duels they protected their heads with wooden helmets, shaped in design according to their nation ; they also wore buckskin shirts, and bound their arms with strips of leather. Gormandizing competitions used to be a popular form of en- tertainment; an immense trough, called Klook- Ook-Tsik, 14 feet long, 14 inches in width, and 15 in depth, was filled with meats, bear and mountain-goat, fish, berries, and oil. Then fa- milies vied with one another as »o who could eat the most, and many serious fights have resulted from the jealousy of the losers. The present generation of Chilkat Indians is fast relinquishing tribal customs and ceremo- nies, and is taking but little interest in the history of its ancestors. Dances are no longer held in which family head-dresses and costumes are worn. The great wooden banqueting-trough is now embedded in moss and in grass that grows between the floor-boards in the house where once old " Kay Tsoo " assembled his fol- lowers by drum-beat, despatched them on the trail for war or trade, declared the guilty and the innocent, and condemned to death as he willed. At the present day there arc a few men in the villages known as " ankow," or chief, but they have only feeble power. In character these Indians are a strange composition — unemotional, morose, unsym- pathetic, superstitious, indifferent to death, PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. 675 '"^Wt"**. -n helmets, leir nation ; IJound their rmandizing brm of en- led Klook- width, and , bear and Then fa- i could eat /e resulted Indians is i ceremo- he history er held in umes are Jg-trough [rass that he house idhisfol- m on the uilty and th as he few men or chief, strange unsym- death, MUWN IT W. TAM*. without the slightest idea of gratitude, and having an astonishing respect for the prop- erty of others. When on a trading-journey, or out hunting, they will leave their be- longings hanging on bushes all .ilong the trail; and snow-shoes, sometimes a musket, blankets, a leg of smc ked bear, a dried salmon, are frequent- ly noticed along an Indian path. No one thinks of touching any of these things, and they have not the power of the police to enforce honesty by intimidation. An incident happened to us which demon- strates their utter want of feeling for the interests of others. While at one of our camps a party of Indians returned from a journey to the in- terior which they had made on snow-shoes. I noticed that their chief, Klenta Koosh, was not with them on their return, and I asked of one of the Indians," Kusu Klenta Koosh "("Where is Klenta Koosh ") ? " Klake sekoo,klake setteen " (" I don't know. I have not seen him"). Then he explained that he had not seen the chief for three days. While crossing the mountains they were caught in a dense fog; the party kept together for a time by calling constantly to one another, but finally the voice of the chief grew fainter and fainter, and then could no longer be heard. In the same breath with this explana- tion the Indian asked me, " Have the salmon started to run up our river ? " I ignored his "marv" on snowshoes. question, and asked again, " But where is Klenta Koosh ? " As if disgusted at my interest in such a trivial matter, the man answered quite snappishly, " I don't know; either he has been killed by a bear or drowned crossing one of the swollen streams." During our stay at the Indian village of Klok- wan our horses remained in splendid condition. The natives themselves were too scared at the strange animals to annoy them. Their dogs at first made a noisy attack, but a few kicks from the horses warned them that it was more com- fortable to howl at a distance. Toward ihe end of May the summer warmth had rid the valleys of their winter snow ; so we saddled up and moved on toward the interior. Our road from Klokwan lay along the course of the Kleeheenee, which heads away fi-om a glacier, and, flowing from the westward, enters the Chilkat River just above the village. In crossing the parent river, now swollen by its MAWN IV W, TAICR. CROSSING A HAKDENBU SNOWFIULD. Ifi5f»71 gn, ()^G PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. OMWM lY K CO«T SMIIN. THE AI'PKOACH TO A cnohavco br horace rakcr. caReiK'fit of the *\'c had three are, \vho was - would often and thuscn- f^y-brushes. most anxious "' an ojjj)or- indul^re him camj) a feu- pur horses '''"ng on the ccupied our 1 change in and phleg- was rilling ' e of li.cse men, Shauk, an Indian doctor of the Chilkr.. iribe, began at once to intrigue with the interior Indians, persuading them to J rrest our passage through their country, as we had come to steal their land. We dis- charged this fellow r.t very short notice ; then the other two, who did not relish our hard tra i eline, decided to leave us and to return to the coast. Had we been dependent upon these crea- tures we should have been most seri- ously inconvenienced, but our horse- transport kept us safe against their unreliability. One of the guides, old Indiank, had a novel excuse for leav- ing us. He said his relatives on the coast did not wish him to travel into the interior any more ; he was getting old, and they feared that some day he would drop down dead on the trail. They promised him that, if he would remain with them, they would supply him with all the dried salmon he needed, and agreed, when he died, to put a little fence around his final rest- ing-place. He gave us to understand that it would indeed be sad should he die away from home and for- feit that little fence. Our arrival at Neska-ta-heen created ex- citement among the natives; our horses, of course, were of far more interest than ourselves. They had never seen such animals before, and, for the want of a better name, called them " harklane ketl " (big dogs). Thi& village looked as we had left it twelve months before ; there was the same stifling atmosphere, and the natives themselves were wearing the same unwashed garments stiffened with fat and dirt. They received us good-naturedly, and the old ^'''^^^^^''^'^^'^''*^™*^"'*'*^***'*" .f)8o PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. IL "^^^l^^l^l Hj ^■1 ^^^'^"il^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^1 ^^Hl^l^^l^^^^^^l '''^IB^^^^H j^^^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H "'^SI^H ^HH H^Hj^^H ^^^^^^^^^H ^^^^HE I^^H^^^^^i ^^■^^B^^l ^^^^^^^^Hl D^H^B^Hj^^S^^u^H *t \ A^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ^^B ■Bn^^PfSBjjv '^ . J^l J jSri^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l ^1 H^^^^^^rai^'f -^ k- '*' ^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^1 ^1 ^^H H ^^HVi^'l ^ p ihH^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ^^H ^HpjB^.^:'-- ii^^^^^l ^^H ^^^Bk ■!■ '.^iH^^^^^II ^I^^H ^^I^^^^^^^^^Ei ^-l^^^H ^^B^^H ^^H^^BI^^> ^A'l^^^^^l ^Hj^^H ^^^^^^Ift^ '- ^^^5^5 H^^^^^^^^ISn^'t HBI V^^^Kl H^H ^H ^PI^^^^^^^H ^^^^^1 '.':-^^^^^^^^ ^I^H ^^^^^K*' ' '' ■ r X' .'sj^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ^^^n '^i^^^^^^^H ^^^^^B ^^^Hp'-'^^' ''^il^^^^^^l ^^^^^^H ^^^^^^H^Y ''" if.'^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^1 ^^^^^^^^^BHBV^' ''-'^^l^^l^l B Pirn''- ■; .t^<^H [n^;'Jly0H^^^^^H |HBR|B| i^:;w • . ■ ;-"» ;!!5^^H ^pv^.; ■. . ■ v^ li^>k;:. ^ > "'^'-' "•^' /!. W- ■ ■'• ." . DRAWN BY W. TABCR, THE SONli OK THK CROW. chief Warsaine portioned oflF a comer of his hut for us and our supphes, and the chief's wife consented to be phoiograj^hed. One young fellow had learned fioni a Ciiilkat Indian a few- English words. As we reached the place at mid- day, we were naturally astonished to be loudly hailed by "(lood-night!" This youth used the expression "loo late" with varied meaning; it described a tear in a shirt or a death. I was commenting on the pest of moscjuitos, and he remarked," E-koo-gwink kon sissa hittakartoo late," meaning, "A little fire in the tent and the moscpiitos w ill be ' too late.' " Our poor horses suffered severely from the mc)S(iuitos; such crowds surrounded them that at times it was difficult at a little distance to make out the l or frenzietl by torment from insects, they might stamjjcde a huncired miles before being overtaken. The village of Neska-ta-heen is the princi- pal settlement of the (loonennar Imlians, the tribe inhabiting that paitof ,\laska bordered on the north and east by the Yukcm, on the south by the coast-range, an in an omelet to his Uking. It is a crude palate that enjoys the delicious wild strawberry served in rancid fat, yet to the In- dian this fruit is insipid unless thus dressed. Antiquated fish-heads are a favorite dish ; they are kept in wooden troughs for several weeks before they are thought to be fit for eating. This dish is produced only upon some impor- tant occasion warranting a banquet. When eat- ing meat they toast it in big long strips, then stuff as much as possible into their mouths, and cut off each bite close to the lips with their knives. No people in the world are more ad- dicted to the use of tobacco ; they are inces- santly indulging in the narcotic in some form or other. They smoke, chew, and plaster their teeth and gums with a paste made of damp- ened snuff and ashes ; they even sleep with to- bacco in their mouths. Men and women are equally devoted to the weed, and a child seven Vol. XLIV.— 89-90. or eight years old will never lose a chance of enjoying a few whiffs from its father's pipe. In the disposal of their dead there is an ele- ment of precaution highly commendable. The departed one is laid on a pile of dried logs that have been smeared with grease ; a fire is then started, and the few charred remains gathered up, tied in a small bundle, and stowed away in one of the neat, brightiy painted little houses at the back of the village. On the coast each family has its own grave; in the interior they are not so particular. It is seldom that one finds people, even among the most savage, who do not have some respect for their dead, excepting, of course, the cannibal tribes of Africa. In making a short trip within a few miles of this settlement, we were attracted to a little clearing by a loud buzzing of flies, and found an Indian lying dead with only a few branches rudely thrown over him. The man was poor, and left behind no furs, or guns, or blankets to compensate any one for the trouble of disposing of the body according to tribal custom, so he was left where he died on the trail, although his own brother was in the party at the time of his death. The dog plays a big part in Indian life. In summer he accompanies his master on the trail, and is harnessed with two little pack-bags in which is stored away about twenty-five pounds' weight, generally of shot, so that in crossing the stream no damage can be done. In the winter they draw the sleighs. These poor animals are very badly treated at all times. When an In- dian child is out of temper he attacks a dog, pinches him, screws his ears round, or beats him with a stick. Only during a few months in the summer do the dogs get enough to eat. When the salmon are running they live on raw fish, but during the remainder of the year they have to be contented with scraps of skin and bone. When in good condition they are fine-looking animals, with a wolfish head and body, and a coat resembling that of a collie. As a rule want of food and hard treatment keep them very lean. They are equipped with strange di- gestive organs ; at one time one of them ate at one meal three courses, which deprived us of our only piece of soap, the remains of a towel, and a goodly slice of Dalton's hat. On another occa- sion the leathers of our oars, thickly studded with copper tacks, were torn off and eaten by a dog. While at Neska-ta-heen I witnessed the cere- mony of the medicine-man expelling from a sick woman the evil spirit which was attack- ing her. He was dressed in beaded buckskins liberally fringed, rnd wore a blanket around his shoulders; a few litde charms hung about his neck, and he held a wooden rattle. The patient was lying on a robe of sheepskins in the center of the hut, and a crowd of natives were sitting ^mm^ 68s PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. at the ndes. All were smoking, and a big fire was blazing, creating an atmosphere more to be dreaded than the evil spirit The medicine- man approached the woman and uttered in- cantations, at first slowly and deliberately; but his speech and actions became more and more excited as he danced and hopped about, imita- ting birds and animals. He looked truly drama- tic as he leaned over the woman, and, dutching fiercely with one hand at some unseen object, pointed tremblingly with the other to the aper- ture in and furs, which they have been gathering for months during the v.inter, in return for some paltry charm to protect them against the ills which beset mankind. A fever or a swelling will disappear if he only blows on the sufferer, and an ugly gash from a bear's claw will heal at once under the same treat- ment It is a form of faith-cure. They believe their medicine-man obtains control over birds and animals, extracts their cunning, and allies this with his own ability, thus forming a power- ful combination wliich they credit with super- natural power. Neska-ta-heen is a most important rendez- vous. During the winter the natives of the in- terior roam over all the land in small parties, hunting and trapping, but return here with their spoils of black and brown bear, black, cross, gray, white, and red fox, wolverine, land- otter, mink, lynx, beaver, etc., and exchange them for blankets, guns, powder, and tobacco, which the Chilkat Indians bring to them fi-om the coast The latter have always enjoyed a monopoly of this trade, and the natives of the interior have been prevented by them fixmi go- ing to the coast From this point valleys of comparatively open country stretch away to the four quarters of the compass: to the east lies the way we had just traveled over ; the valley of the Alseck' River runs south to the Pacific Ocean ; to the west there is a way to the back of Mt St Elias, and lakes Dassar-Dee-Ash and I-She-Ik lie to the north. Future research must tell what trea- sures lie concealed In these unknown regions. From the coast to Neska-ta-heen we had taken the Indian trail as a basis, following it when good, and, as far as possible, avoiding its bad features. After that experience, we con- cluded that we could take a fully loaded pack- train fit>m the sea to this village in seven da)rs. Our successful experiment wrests from the Chil- kat Indians the control of the road to the inte- rior; the bolted gate hitherto guarded by them, to the exclusion of enterprise and progress, has swung back at the approach of the packhorse. We tried our hardest to get guides at Neska- ta-heen to pilot us to the far interior, but they would not seriously entertain our proposal, though we offered most generous remuneration. They dared not go to the White River, which we wished to reach ; the Indians of that region being always on the war-path. In former days the latter had made raids on this settlement and killed off the natives ; in fact the present small population of about a hundred at Neska- ta-heen was attributed to fights with the Yookay Donner people dwelling on the banks of the White River. They pictured to us a firightful list of hideous obstacles to overcome — hostile natives, bottomless swamps, caiions, glaciers, and swollen torrents. Should we continue our course, we might possibly reach this far-away land and then be killed by the hostile Indiana, and it was so far that we could not get back over the divide to the coast before winter set in, and we and our horses would perish. They begged us to change our plans and to make a journey through some safer part of the land, and to avail ourselves of their considerate guidance at two dollars a day and board. I was able to extract a lot of crude topo- graphical information from these natives ; the novelty of pencil and paper and judicious little donations of tobacco threw them off their guard. By this means I gained a knowledge of their trails that proved of the utmost value to us in our advance. I cross-questioned them most fully, and learned of unmistakable landmarks and bearings; and when the natives refused to accompany us as guides, their scribblings of valleys, hills, and lakes availed to keep us on our course to the far interior of Alaska. E. J, Glove. PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. 869 PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. WITH PICTURES FROM SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR. II. THE RETURN TO THE COAST. |N summer, when vales and hill- sides are rid of winter snows, and ice no longer spans the lakes and streams, central Alaska looks almost tropical. Then Neska-ta-heen receives most bounteous care from nature: an abun- dance of salmon stems the Alseck current and I passes the very doors of the Indian huts ; the land abounds in wild berries; and the native hunter, who knows the haunt of every beast, lean reiy on finding game. But other bands jof the Goonennar, or Stick, nation, living [around the >rthem lakes I-she-ik and Hoot- |chy-Eye, h .*»• no such plenteous supply; so trhen winter is gone they take the trail and love to this souwern settlement, and there re- cuperate on the fatted fish. At the time of our i^isit to Neska-ta-heen there was. already a crowd of these people here, all busy plying the gaff among the salmon. Some of these men were willing to engage with us as guides, but the chief and the medicine-man. Shah Shah, jealous that strangers should earn the rich pay we offered, forbade their northern friends to .L^company us. The medicine-man was our most influential opponent. Reputed to posses supernatural power, his word was law; the credulous natives, wanting in am- bition and pluck, inherit a fear and respect for this expeller of evil spirits and general won- der-worker. They assured us they were willing to enter our service, but they dared not risk the anger of Shah Shah, who had threatened, should they disobey him, to surround their future lives with a catalogue of dire calamities, and to visit upon all members of their families sickness, accident, and death. To our fiices the medicine-man and the old chief, Warsaine, feigned geniality itse'f ; we. I 'llltl Ui«t.1Mail>»MaiM>a>Uu— V 870 PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. however, were not to be gulled by their dissimu- lation, but warned them that we were aware of their conspiracies. Assuming a great deal of dignity and force, we informed them that if they continued to hinder us and to thwart our pro- gress we would put them in irons and take them to the coast. This was hardly a modest oration, considering our feeble strength. Being con- vinced at last that no one would accompany us, we determined to start out alone. We should have been absolutely at the mercy of these people without our horses ; but {vith our own transport, and the old ser^hl^d cha^ crudely penciled by the natives tnraaselves, aided by compass and sextant, we concluded that we had the means to make the trip we had planned. As we saddled and made ready for a start, the whole crowd squatted in a ring, and watched us sullenly. The medicine-man had a self-satis- fied grin on his i>ce ; he imagined that because we were denied a pUot we would give in at the last moment, and fdter our route to some district with which he was acquainted, so as to have the privilege of his guidance and society at $2.50 a day. When we had completed sad- dling, without exchanging a word with these Indians we led our horses out through an as- tonished and discontented throng, and threaded our way along the trail which zigzags at first up a thicldy wooded hill overloolung the settle- ment. Upon arriving on the summit, the path ran through forests of spruce, tamarack, and Cottonwood. In exposed positions the wind had swept down acres and acres of timber, and piled it in tangled heaps across the path, rendering travel extremely tedious; but we gradually left these higher lands, ascended the mountain-slopes, and, after tramping along the shores of a small lake, continued our course over an extensive valley, which, though in places boggy, nourished everywhere a luxuri- ant crop of grass. Over intricate parts of the land the Indi- ans follow a beaten track, though they make no decided ways when crossing an open coun- try ; but as most of their conveying is done in winter on snow-shoes and with sledges, the trails through this land are extremely difficult to find anywhere. When the natives, Uke so many little children, sprawled on the ground, and clumsily penciled out the position of mountains and lakes, they were utterly unconscious of the aid they ren- dered us. John Dalton's ability as an efficient backwoodsman and his wonderful knowledge of trails proved most serviceable to us at this season. When once he had traveled through a land he could always go over the road again, no matter how long or intricate it might be. This faculty of an experienced scout resembled some- what the talent of a gifted musiciaa who hears a new piece only once, and then repeats the whole without difficulty, note for note. Such men as Dalton have memories peculiarly sen- sitive to matters of locality. Each scene along the trail is impressed upon the mind. Lakes, hills, caiions, and points of timber rudely mark the direction, and peculiarities of stones or trdtes serve to define the path. When follow- ing A tfail he has previously known, if by acci- dent hfe leaves it, he is at once made aware of it by the changed signs along the road, which c^ate discord with those stored in his memory. ^_u^ the presence of an expert local guide wofUld have been of the utmost service to us at this time, in saving us the time and trouble of searching out the trail, as we were hunting about sometimes for hours looking for some sign to suggest the way, until the discovery of an old camp-fire, a few wood shavings, or the print of a moccasin, would give a clue to the trail. Everywhere we found convenient camping- places, with good water and plenty of feed for our horses, which, although incessantly worried by mosquitos and other flies, remained in good condition. We nursed the little band of horses with the greatest care, attended at once to any soreness or lameness, and loaded very lightly any animal at all unwell. We used them simply for packing our belongings ; each of us took charge of two of them, which were led tied one behind the other. Through this wild land the management of four horses proved ample employment for us, combined with our other duties, which consisted of striking camp in the morning, loading up the pack bags, and saddling up, searching out the trail, cutting roads through timber lands, and at night pitch- ing tent, unharnessing, stacking away supplies, cooking, and maintaining a constant lookout for oiu: horses. For the first two days after leaving Neska- ta-heen we followed an immense vaUey stretch- ing to the northwest, and roughly furrowing a pass through the towering uplands flanking it on each side. Everywhere the land was clothed with luxuriant vegetation. Meadows of bluetop, redtop, and bunch-grass delicately tinted with wild flowers are interlaid with forests >f evergreens, which reach down from the mountain-slopes and spread over the land in darkened patches, the whole valley being richly watered by chains of lakes and streams. But the ways are intricate and difficult. In places we had to chop a passage for our packhorses through forests of spruce and tamarack, and many of the pastures were only sticky quag- mires. Our advance brought us face to face with deep ravines which could be passed only by climbing down their treacherous banks, PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA The route followed by Mr. CliTe, from Pyramid Harbor to the re- Sion Aorth of Mount St. Ellas and back, crotses the national boun- nry sii timet, and It Indicated by dashei and croited linet. and rapidly melting snows taxed the rivers till they overflowed. We cherished hopes all the time that we might fall in with a band of In- dians, who might be induced to enter our ser- vice as guides. Miles and miles of blackened stumps marked *he ravages of forest nres. The Indian, when resting on his journey and suffering from mos- quitos, sets fire to the twigs and leaves around hitn, c reating a smoke which keeps the pest at a distance, and, when refreshed, he straps on his pack and moves along the trail, of course without extinguishing his fire; when announ- cing his approach to friends at a distance, he sets fire to a half-dead spruce- or tamarack-tree, and the column of thick, black smoke is the signal, to be acknowledged in the same manner by those who see it, so as to direct the traveler to their camping-grounds. In the summer every- thing is crisp and dry, and the timber is satu- rated with turpentine. The trees left to smolder are fanned into flame by the sliglitest breeze; the flames creep among the resinous trees, and spread till whole forests are destroyed. These forest fires and the mosquitos account for the scarcity of game. Over the vast untraveled re- gion that we visited, there was a remarkable scarcity of wild animals. We saw only a few ground-squirrels and some grouse and ptarmi- gan. The Indians say that all the larger animals retreat in summer to the hilltops, where, ex- posed to a constant breeze, they are free from the torments of insects. As we penetrated farther into the interior, the climate grew milder and the vegetation more prolific, and the mountains appeared to be in groups and short ranges overshadowing im- mense, well-watered valleys. On the third day a break in the mountains disclosed to the left of us a crescent of whitened heights with steep wooded slopes reaching abruptly down to the shores of a big lake, and valleys stretched away to the north and south. The mountain- pass that we traversed was 6000 feet above sea-level, but the ascent and descent were grad- ual, and, following a canon-bottom, we soon emerged again into open valley lands. In crossing one of the many swamps that spanned the valley from hill to hill, two of our 873 PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. horses were for a time in serious jeopardy. An extensive grass plain stretched out ahead of us, which seemed at first to offer good traveling ; but the land proved thoroughly saturated, and at every step our horses sank to their bellies in slush and black mud. Rather than return and run the risk of finding no better way to cross, we decided to push on in the hope of soon passing beyond the marsh, but our advance only in- creased the difficulties. In one place the ground we walked on was only a muddy cake of earth and roots floating on a pool of slush. As we plunged over this, it sagged in beneath our weight, and the treacherous crust of floating meadow, rocked into slimy, grassy waves, gaped with a hideous opening, and before we could escape, our two trail-horses, Billy and Bronco, were floundering in the darkened slush. To render assistance was difficult, as the poor frightened brutes threw themselves from side to side; but we succeeded at last in quieting them, and held their heads above water while we relieved them of their' heavy packs. We then led our other two horses to a place of safety. On one side of the pool that threatened to rob us of our best animals we found a solid bank, upon which we lifted the fore legs of the submerged animals ; then with a long lash- rope tied around their necks and attached to our other horses on comparatively solid ground, we hauled them by sheer force from their danger- ous predicament. It was two hours before we had gained their release from the icy pool, and they stood in safety, trembling violently with fear and cold. Both Dalton and I had tumbled in several times while controlling and aiding our hor.ses, and we were thoroughly benumbed ; but another hour through greasy slush and mire brought us again to dry land. At our camp for the night on a grassy knoll, the mosquitos and other flies were in greater numbers and more ravenous than we had ever previously experienced them. The whole in- sect world seemed to hail our arrival with the same relish that reservation Indians welcome Government rations. Their attacks were fierce and incessant; our poor brutes, tortured into a frenzy, though hobbled, stampeded i^ack, and sought escape from the torment by sinking into the swamp through which we had labored only a few hours before. The next morning, however, afforded us a delightful rest, for a stiff breeze from the southward swept the air clear of the pests, and granted man and horse a short respite. W hen plagued by flies, our leader, who wore a brass bell, would create a continual tink- ling, but when unmolested, the band would seek a soft patch of grass and go soundly to sleep, profiting by the unusual lull. A thorough search throughout the district rewarded us with no clue to a direct course. We found only a few signs left by roving hun- ters, — here and there a rough branch shelter and camp debris, — but no beaten trail ran through the land. We were in a most interesting coun- try, studded with lakes, rivers, and mountains absolutely unknown to the outside world. Time had worn the giant mounds into grotesque shapes, some of them resembling castle ruins. We were now about seventy miles away from Neska-ta-heen, but we felt the want of a guide so seriously that we decided that one of us should return to the village and again endeavor to per- suade an Indian to join us. When we left, many of the natives were away, but were expected back in a few days; among the whole lot, we argued, there might be one in a better frame of mind. Dalton was elected to make this trip; his superior knowledge of trails would enable him to make better time. We decided, however, to shift our camp before he started, for our pres- ent position was a veritable stronghold of the insect world. All kinds of tormenting flies hov- ered around in myriads night and day; they got into our eyes, ears, and noses. We could pass judgment upon the aggravating circumstances only by mental notice; when we ventured to give a strongly worded opinion on this subject, the flies, ever on the alert for new fields of oper- ation, would sail into our mouths. Three hours' tramp brought us to a splendid pasture, where I decided to camp during Dal- ton's absence. To the southward, mountains buried in perpetual snows formed a strong con- trast with the land around us, where violets, forget-me-nots, wild roses, daisies, buttercups, snowdrops, bluebells, and dwarf sunflowers crouched in mossy banks and tinted the mea- dows in A-aried hue. We were not a little sur- prised to find some bumblebees' honey at this place. Dalton's return on the little black mare to the village caused no small amount of ex- citement ; he feigned that he had come to get some tools which he had left in the chief's hut, and broached the subject of a guide only in- cidentally; but r.nally an offer of $2.50 a day induced an Indian to start. He was a great powerful fellow, over six feet in height, but it was soon apparent that our mode of travel would not suit his ideas of .serving the white man in ease and comfort. When a native is working on his own account he will stagger along the trail with 150 pounds, but when in the employ of the white man, though he eats as much beans and bacon as should satisfy three men, his frame, so pooriy nourished, ut- terly collapses ; he cannot even bear the weight of his own blankets. Half the way on the return journey the Indian- guide was so fati- gued that he rode the mare, and Dalton walked ahead and led her over the trail ; and upon their roving hun- :h shelter and 1 ran through [resting coun- id mountains world. Time to grotesque [ castle ruins, les away from It ofa guide so of us should leavor to per- we left, many ere expected 'hole lot, we tter frame of [ake this trip; trould enable led, however, l,forourpres- ighold of the ting flies hov- day; they got Ve could pass :ircumstances i ventured to n this subject, fields of oper- s. to a splendid p during Dal- d, mountains a strong con- vhere violets, s, buttercups, rf sunflowers lied the mea- >t a little sur- honey at this lack rnare to lount of ex- come to get e chief 's hut, uide only in- $2.50 a day was a great leight, but it de of travel ig the white 1 a native is will stagger but when in •ugh he eats ould satisfy ►unshed, ut- I the weight vay on the was so fati- Iton walked J upon their -t-A PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. 873 J arrival at the camp from which my partner had started, the copper-colored individual complained sorrowfully of his deplorable fate. " Ee sharn hut," he said, which means, " 1 am to be pitied." " Too woo 00 nook " (" I am very ill "), he mumbled in a half-crying voice, and tenderly touched his head, chest, arms, south to trade oflFtheir winter furs with the coast Indians, and were returning home with weighty packs of blankets, powder, and shot. Their ar- rival was most opportune for our plans. We found they were bound over the same trail as ourselves, and we had no difficulty in persuatl- ing them to travel in company with us. Each UHAWM BV W. TABEH. ENGRAVED BY i. W. EVANS. A ROCKY STRRTCH OK TRAIL OVKRLOOKINO THE KASKAK WURLCH RIVER. and knees to signify tliat the terrible hardships he liad undergone had racked his whole body. Obtaining no consolation from us on that score, ho attempted to conjure uj) otlier gricvaiucs for our symjiathefic notice. He said again, "Ee sharn hut" ("1 am tube pitied"); "hut- klake duish, kiake duik " (" 1 have only one mother anil one father"). We felt sure that tiiese sorrowful explanations formed the pre- liminary to some decisive action, and we were not at all surprised to wake up next morning and to find that he had returned to his lonely parents. Such are the annoyances attendant upon a pioneer journey. Once more we sad- dled our little band of horses and plodded along alone, feeling decidedly disheartened. But two days after this, good fortune came to our aid : two Indians from Lake Hootchy- Eye came into camp. They had been down Vol. XLIV.— 114. party would eiiually profit by the combination. In consideration of their showing the way and helping us tocut roads through the timber-lands, we agreed to carry their heavy packs on our horses. The old man, Nanchay by name, w as carrying about eighty pounds, and his son Tsook had a load weighing about fifty jjounds. To !)e relieved of these burdens was a great bene- fit to them, and our proposal was at once ac- cepted. The additional weight on our horses made but little difference, as our pack-saddles were rapidly getting lighter as the season ad- vanced. The presence of these Indians was a great privilege, for the conditions under which we obtained their services afforded them no means of deceiving or humbugging us in any way. They were homeward bound and I'nder no pay from us, so to cause unnecessary delay would be no benefit whatever to them. With KV>«!"R "¥, 874 PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. OflAWN BY W. TAUR. CROSSING THE KASKAK WUKLCH ON A RAKT. old Nanchay and his son as guides, we made splendid headway. They were well acquainted with the lay of the land, and they were anxious to reach their destination, as the season's hunt- ing had begun. Twenty-five miles' traveling over grass-lands and thickly wooded foot-hills brought us to the shores of the Kaskar Wurlch River, a trib- utary of the Alseck, which enters the Pacific Ocean eighty miles to the eastward of Yaku- tat. We were now again in the vicinity of the ice-fields reaching northward from the Mount St. Elias range ; a bitterly cold wind kept us close round the camp-fire till " turning-in " time, when a goodly pile of blankets felt very com- fortable. The next morning all our belongings were stiffened with frost, and the ice-coated logs, handled with benumbed hands, offered no sjjeedy prospect of breakfast, and our boots could not be worn till we had a fire to thaw them. " Roughing it," in the true sense of the expression, is a most cheerless undertaking, to my mind, commendable only as a necessity. During nine years of travel in wild and unfre- quented places, my lodgings and board have been strangely varied; but when I can, I like to have a comfortable room and to summon my breakfast by electric button. Our further advance northward obliged us to cross the waters of the Kaskar Wurlch, a deep stream about a quarter of a mile wide, with a five-knot current; scattered around the rocky shores we found several big logs, which we towed together into shallow water with our horses, then lashed them into a good sea- worthy raft, upon which we piled all our be- longings, stores, and outfit. Dalton swam the stream on horseback, the remainder of the horses following, and breasting the torrent magnificently. 1 took charge of the raft, and with the aid of the two Indians ferried every- thing across without mishap; upon arriving at the other bank, we did not feel inclined to proceed farther that day. We had been work- ing several hours in the cold water while con- structing our raft, and had still a little work to do in securely staking our craft well out into the stream, so that in the fall the decreasing waters would not leave it high and dry on shore. The old Indian, Nanchay, emphatically ob- jected to the delay. He said he was anxious PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. 87s J I to summon d obliged us ir Wurlch, a I mile wide, ' around the logs, which water with a good sea- all our be- n swam the fJer of the the torrent >e raft, and ried every- •n arriving inclined to Jeen work- while con- le work to II out into Jecreasing id dry on ically ob- s anxious to reach his family again, and he endeavored to convince us that his wife and children would be mourning at his prolonged absence. We tried to coax the old fellow, but he remained obdurate, and asked for his pack, so that he might go on alone. We then appealed to his appetite, and promised if he would stay there the remainder of the day, and start at the earliest break of dawn, we would prepare him a well-filled pot of bacon and beans. Still he remained unmoved; but finally the offer of two silver dollars deprived him of all inclina- tion to march on ahead. He took his old flint-lock musket, and loped away to the hill- side in search of game, returning after a few liours with one rabbit and a ground-squir- rel, both of which, after duly frizzling them on wooden spits, he ate up entirely. I no- ticed that the rabbit's ears appealed to his taste; he did not cook these, but merely held them in the flames till the hair was singed off, then nibbled them up close to the ani- mal's; skull. Nanchay was only a little man, but he was the possessor of the ordinary In- dian appetite, which is regulated solely by circumstances. Though he had eaten these two animals, ht did not deny himself the lib- Oral allowance which he received each meal from our mess. For the next three days we tramped over val- leys of rocks, threaded a way amidst a laby- rinth of pools and lakes and swamps, crossed fertile grass-lands, and finally ascended to a table-land, and tramped along a ridge of thick- ly wooded foot-hills, through which in places we had to cut a trail. This part of the land is known to the Indians as Shak-wak, being an immense valley running northwest from Lake Kusu-ah almost to the eastern arm of the Copper River. This low-lying area has within its limits ranges of hills, forests, swamps, lakes, and streams, and throughout its whole extent traveling is tedious and difficult. We saw but very few signs of Indians here. The land is seldom visited even by them. There is actually no definite trail. Indians wander- ing in search of game adopt roads as their judgment guides them. Here and there an old fox-trap could be seen, and a few rude huts of tamarack boughs used as winter camps by hunters and trappers, and stumps of timber ten or twelve feet high cut when the snow was deep. Every time we reached exposed positions our Indians would set fire to trees, l)ut no answering column of smoke replied to the signal; we were the sole occupants of this vast region. Nanchay was a capable guide, he knew every inch of the land, but DRAWN BV W. TAeCR. ENGRAVED BY T. 6CHUSSLER. SOME OK NANtllAV S RE1.ATIVKS. along at a deliberate pace, continually ex- amining the ground for fresh tracks of game, and casting his eye every now and then to the mountain heights, scanning the hillsides in hopes of seeing a goat or a mountain sheep. He always carried his old flint-lock, but, with the exception of a few tiny ground-squir- rels not worth the powder and shot, he killed nothing. He began to get concerned that no signal could be obtained conveying tid- ings of his friends. At the next camp, though we had had a hard day's travel, he decided to go on, leaving his son Tsook behind with us, and also intrusting us with the transportation of his belongings. After a few hours' travel next day, we caught up to the old Indian again. He had left us the night before, professing that he was unable to rest till he was again in the midst of his sorrowing family, but on the way he had dis- covered a small stream well stocked with trout, and forgot at once connubial anxiety at the prospect of a good r'-tch of fish. By the time we arrived he had a lot of them spread out to he was very glum and uncommunicative, and dry in the sun, and a pile of heads, tails, and when possible always substituted for conver- fins showed signs of sumptuous banqueting, sation a mere grunt. On the trail he trudged He lashed up his newly acquired supplies,. 876 PIONEER PACKHORSRS IN ALASKA. .fm-^,^ which we tied to a pack- r-^^^v saddle, and started on our ^^^^5^ way. He said his wife had moved camp from where he had leit her, and really he did not know where she was. He be- gan an incessant signal- ing by burning trees, and by and by the keen eyes of Tsook spied a faint curl of smoke creeping up from the wooded brow of a hill about ten miles away, which told of the whereabouts of the miss- ing family. Our pace was now quickened over the trail, which ran through a big stretch of rich grass- land of finer quality and more prolific growth than any we had yet seen, where hay sufficient to winter a whole pack-train could be put up without difficulty. When we reached the Indian hunting-camp we naturally expected to wit- ness a scene of joy and some expression of feel- ing at the return of the husband and father after a long and haz- ardous journey ; but no one displayed the sHghtest concern at his presence. Our arrival with the strange, big animals they had never seen before created a great commotion, but Nanchay entered the family circle unnoticed. When the wife's curiosity at seeing our horses had subsided, without exchange of greeting with her husband she continued dressing the moose-hide she was engaged on when we ar- rived, and the dogs and children slunk away, and eyed our movements through the bushes. There were at the camp a score of Indians, natives of lakes Hootchy-Eye and I-she-ik, this number including jnly two men besides Nanchay and his son. In some ways they were very objectionable, but they were very kind to us, and behaved more hospitably and reason- ably than any other natives I have met in that land. They were extremely poor, and small gifts of fish-hooks, beads, and needles induced them to display a friendly disposition. They were living under rude shelters of branches strewn round as a wall, with a layer of tamarack boughs thrown over a few cross- sticks and hoisted on props above their heads, which served also for drying fish and game. They were all busy collecting and preparing (f7% OKAWN IV W. TAKR, OUR HUNTKR. a supply for the long winter months ahead ; already their roofed platform sagged and creaked and threatened to topple over with its weight of caribou, moose, mountain sheep, rabbits, squirrels, and fish, the fat from which, subjected to a smoky fire and the sun above, was melting, and kept up a constant dripping on the occupants below. All the big game had been killed by one young hunter; the other Indian, Goo-shoon-tar, was his grandfather, a gaunt old fellow, dressed in buckskin trousers and shirt begrimed to a serviceable thickness with blackened grease. The trapping and snaring department was managed entirely by the women and children. While at this camp the natives kept us well supplied with game, and delicious moose-steaks, mutton cutlets, and sun-dried rabbits reinforced our usual in- sipid fare. The natives do not cultivate the ground in any way. They are essentially meat-eaters, though in the summer they gather a great many berries, which they mix up with fat. During our journey we saw blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, pokeberries, juniper-berries, and other small fruits, and also a species of blackberry about the size of buckshot, of a watery, tasteless consis- tency, quenching to the thirst. In the be- ginning of August these natives begin to hunt for their winter supply of meat and fish. They make camps such as the one we were visiting, then branch out from these, and scour the land in all directions. All the meat, when dried by smoke andsun,islash- ed into convenient bundles, and the hides are dressed and care- fully folded. When they have killed off or frightened away all the game from a dis- trict, they shift their quarters to a new hunting-field. Late in the fall, when the snows are hard, they construct snow-shoes of poplar and thongs of leather, and carry their supplies back to headquarters on sled- ges. At each camp, when operations are drawn •* w. tau*. complete, the accu- oid <;oo shoon-tar, [hs ahead; kged and J over with Jtain sheep, [om which, pun above, r flipping Jl^'g game I; the other Pdfather, a tn trousers J thickness Iping and Intirely by ■this camp lith game, n cutlets, usual in- •nd in any s, though yberries, ir journey seberries. »er small ^Jjout the *s consis- PIONEER PACKIIORSES IN ALASKA. 877 on their feet again. I succeeded in getting an instantaneous picture of one of them in mid- air. There were always a lot of these young- sters around our camp, apparently interested mulation of meat and fish is cached in rocky remarkable ; they would appear in the air in caverns, in the forks of trees, and in little log all kinds of positions, but managed to alight storehouses built on tall piles out of reach of • • ' ■ - - - ■ wild animals. Some of this provision is left for winter ex- cursions, for the Indians will be roaming over the land again a few months hence, trapping the fur-bearing animals, and a supply of food at different points of the land relieves them of the ne- cessity of transporting it. In the spring they go south to Neska-ta- heen, and there meet the Chilkat Indians, with whom they trade their skins and furs. Some, however, take the northern trail, and barter their winter catch with the white traders on the Yukon River. We learned from the Indians here that we could reach that stream in six or seven days, but the season was now too far advanced for the undertaking. To the southwest of our position, about a hundred miles away, was the Mount St. Elias region; to the north of us the natives told of two very large lakes, Hootchy-Eye and I-she-ik, which we deeply regretted it was not in our power to visit. To the west was another big lake, Tloo Amy. There were a few muskets among the Indians we met in the interior, but they killed a great deal of their game with bows and arrows, some of which were pointed with iron and copper, and others with bone. Even the httle boys were very expert with these weajjons. These Indians were the lightest-hearted that we met during the whole season. Comforted by a gen- erous supply of food, they appeared to be in good spirits ; the boys, when not required to carry loads of meat from the hunting-ground back to camp, competed with one another in wrestling, throwing stones, shooting arrows, running, and jumping, and they amused them- selves once or twice by throwing one another up on a moose-hide. A big skin was selected, and slits cut all round its edges with which they could get a good hold with their hands ; then all the bigger members of the band would form a circle and stretch the skin taut, holding it about four feet from the ground. One boy would stand on this, and they would endeavor to throw him off his feet by violently jerking him in the air ; some of them were tumbled off in a most unmerciful way to the rocks around, but though they got badly bruised, they never com- plained. Many of the boys were very expert, and the wielders of the moose-hide failed to throw them off their feet. Their agility '.i DIMWN tY lUlCOLM FIIASE*. HOOTCllY-EYK STOREHOUSF. was in our doings and strange belongings, but they never stole the smallest thing from us. At different times samples of native copper have reached the coast. These interior Indians have bartered it with other tribes, some of whom have taken it down the Copper River to the trading-posts on the sea, and the white men have had brought to them pieces of the pure metal weighing several pounds, and showing signs of having been hacked off a solid block. All the coast tribes refer traditionally and his- torically to the Copper Mountains of the inte- rior. In former days the weapons and utensils were beaten out of this metal. Old Khay Tsoo, the powerful Chilkat warrior, despatched his slaves far inland with loads of seal fat to ex- change for copper, but the warlike tribes living on the head waters of the White and Copper rivers attacked them so fiercely and persistently that the traffic ceased. The Indians at Nan- chay's camp gave most encouraging accounts of the rich deposits of the metal away to the northwest of our position; they assured us that boulders of solid copper were piled at the bases of the mountains, from which they chopped off all they needed. Of course their information 878 PIONEER I'ACKHORSES IiV ALASKA. was highly colored for our edification, though they had several little nuggets with them which they carried for repairing purposes. Theold man had a band of it strapped around the bowl of his pipe, and the young hunter used barbed arrow- heatls beaten from the metal in its natural state. They told us that they had several lumps in the village, each as much as a man could carry. A few days' march from that camp, a big stream heading from a group of mountains flowed to the north ; on the map it is charted as the White River, on account of the milky color of its glacial waters, but to the natives it is known as " Eark Heene " (Copper River). The whereabouts of these copper mines is a mystery, but the combination of traditional reference and of fact, though exaggerated, con- vinces me that the problem could be solved, and that a v/ell-planned research would be re- warded by the discovery of rich mineral depos- its. We tried hard to get Nanchay or some of his people to pilot us to the interesting region, but they were all too jealous of their precious possessions to divulge the secret of location, and they emphatically declined, saying that the land was far away and the trails bad. Nanchay tried to console us with the promise that should we return another season, he would guide us to the place ; but he wished to assure us that the present summer was too far advanced, and soon the winter snows would begin to fly. A few days after our arrival the band of In- dians divided into two parties and took the trail for new hunting-grounds. Nanchay was going in search of moose in the grassy hilltops to the north. He marched off" at the head of a caval- cade of women, boys, and girls, all carrying heavy loads of blankets, old cooking-tins, fish- nets and poles, parcels and baskets of dried meat and fish, bundles of hides, and a goodly sprinkling of babies lashed securely on the packs. Nanchay himself carried a very light load, and was the only man in the procession, which included two wives, three daughters, various mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmoth- ers, aunts, and nine dusky youngsters of dit- ferent shapes and sizes, with about sufficient apparel distributed among them to render one ordinary human being decent. The remainder of the band were going to hunt sheep on the mountains around Lake Tloo Amy, which lay to the southwest, and we agreed to carry their loads for them so as to benefit by their guid- ance. These Indian bundles were very unde- sirable freight, being composed of semi-dried meat, stale fish, unwashed rags, and rancid fat. The natives were shrewd enough to take ad- vantage of circumstances ; they marched slowly, snared small animals en route, and gathered armfuls of herbs and roots, all of which we piled on our horses. By the time we reached the big lake, each of our animals was loaded down with their rubbish. The drier lands of the interior are |)erforatcd and tunneled in all directions by the small ground-squir/els, which keep up an incessant piping. These little creatures are about the size of an ordinary gray scjuirrel, but have only a short tail. When on the ground they appear to be about six inches long, but their anatomy seems to be telescopic ; for, when standing on their hind legs on the alert at some one's ap- jjroach, they lengthen out till they are half as long again. The expert efforts of a band of Indian women with their snares will hush a whole colony of these little animals in one day. The women leave camp at • )Ut five o'clock in the morning, and retur lome at night with several hundred squirrel le skins of which are patched into robes, and the meat is one of their favorite luxuries. Lake Tloo Amy is a most important water- way; at its southem extremity it is seven miles wide, and streiches like a sea away to the north- west as far as the eye can reach. The Indians say that at its northem end a river drains int ■ the Yukon ; if such is the case, transportation can be carried on from this point by water. This immense sheet of water, along the shores of which the Indians say they sleep five nights traveling from one end to the other, is near the boundary line, and when the United States and Canadian govemments do really decide to survey the limits of their respective possessions, the use of these waters will be a great aid to them. Streams draining the land around have grooved out ways from all points of the com- pass. The mountains around are rich in cinna- bar, and the canons hewn out in the rocky up- lands show signs of silver and gold ; but though there is plenty of good quartz, still we found no free metal. The gener^xl formation was granite, slate, and quartz, which is a good combination for mineral prospects. Having reached the lake, the Indians made their camp on the hillsides; we pitched our tent on the stone flats near Goo-shoon-tar's. The old Indian urged us to return to the coast. " Winter is near," he said, and, pointing to the freshly whitened mountain-tops, warned us that the snow would soon be falHng in the valleys. Hidden away in the bushes we found a small Indian dugout, and Dalton and I decided to repair this and make a few days' exploring joumey in it on the lake. We left our horses securely hobbled on a fine patch of g.ass-land in the neighborhood, then loaded up our tiny craft, and pushed off. The water, which was perfectly calm when we started, became gradu- ally ruffled ; but we made good headway with the paddles until we were crossing a bight in PrONRER PACKIIORSES IN ALASKA. 879 making a short cut to a rocky bluff ahead. A this a big st-a with a hissing crest swept us stiff northerly bree/e was springing up, and ashore, where, paralyzed with cold and battered the water was getting rougher every minute, almost senseless, we lay in a heap piled on the and began to tumble in over our slight bul- rocks with a splintered canoe. Itwasacrueldis- warks. iJespite my greatest efforts at baling, the aster, and deprived us of prop,,rty not to be water was gaining on us, the little craft was replaced. Our two rifles, ammunition, mining- slo wly settling, the breeze had grown to a scjuall, tools, cooking outfit, provisions, Dalton's watch DHAAN Br tv, lABEN. OUK CAMI' TO THE SOUTHWARD OF LAKE l-SHE-IK. fcNGNAVEO ST C, 5CM AAH^BUHOtH. and high wives rolled on all sides. Our canoe was rapidly sinking, and was already below the surface when Dalton and I, realizing that to save our own lives was all we could hope for, jumped into the water and cjuickly overturned the craft, spilling the contents into the lake. The Cottonwood, relieved of its weight, floated bot- tom upward to the surface again. Then Dalton clung to the bow, and I to the stem, and we kept above water in this way. We swam toward the shore. Angry waves rolled over our heads, flinging us about as if trying to wrench away from us the upturned dugout,which alone could save us. The wind blowing along shore denied us aid, and the icy waters had chilled us till we were almost speechless; but we doggedly fought our way, and at last were nearing the shore. The prospect of saving ourselves was still a feeble one. On shore a bare wall of stone cav- ing in at the water-line bordered the lake. We were rapidly carried on to this by the rolling breakers, which flung us against the rocky wall, or carried us in a surging foam into the hideous cave beneath. Each time we struck we pro- pelled ourselves violently along the wall. ?,■ m we found an opening, and when abreast 1 and chain, scientific instruments, etc., sank in the depths o*" Lake Tloo A my. At the time we were so thankful to save our lives that neither of us thought for a moment about the loss of prop- erty. Our blankets and my camera and note- books were fortunately secured ; fastened in a big oil-sack to keep them dry, they floated on the surface, and when the storm had abated we picked them up none the worse for the mishap. I have had the contents of a flint-lock musket emptied at me at short range, and have experi- enced the comforting sensation as the bullet missed its mark ; I have felt the satisfaction of stopping a charging buffalo; but I don't think I ever felt such heartfelt thankfulness as when I was out of reach of the angry waves on the rocky shores of Lake Tloo Amy. The head of Lake Tloo Amy was the far- thest point reached by us. I have made a rough chart of the land through which we passed since leaving the coast, but scientific instru- ment- -1' lect to the jolting and hard knocks ;itten( it upon such a journey enabled me to rcr^on mly a crii'le idea of the lay of the land. iMK.Hg the wl )le season we saw but little ^AitMT — . lew bears out of reach and some 88o PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. OftAWN BY JUriN A. FRA8ER. DRAINING TIIK MOUHT ST. Hl.IAS RANGE. mountain sheep on the heights. A small-bore rifle or a shot-gun is most serviceable in cen- tral Alaska, for there is a fair quantity of grouse, ptarmigan, squirrel, and duck. Our season's travel took us over the entire basin of the Alseck, a river which drains an enormous territory. At the outset of our jou*-- ney, having crossed the divide, we traced its eastern branch, the Tarjansini, which, gathering on its way waters from mountain torrent and snow-field, flows toward Neska-ta-heen. Fifty miles to the north of the Indian settlement an- other tributary of the Alseck heads from Lake Klook-Shoo, and, »;inding amidst the hill-lands, courses south and joins the Tarjansini, and these combined forces sweep across the rocky vale at Neska-ta-heen in a rapid torrent. Then from the west, from an immense glacier and moraine near Lake Tloo Amy, the Kaskar Wurlch begins its southern journey, and is swelled at once into a dangerous river by the muddy waters hurled into it through gorge and cafion crushed in the mountains by the mov- ing ice-fields slojjing from the Mount St. Elias range. This stream, flowing to the south and west, is joined by still another arm, which has its birthplace in Lake Dassar- Dee-ash, to the north in Shak-wak valley. These two water- ways flow and eventually pour into tlie Alseck itself, a wild, dangerous river which races along with an eight-knot current, its volume at times spread over the rocky valley in a ilozcn chan- nels which combine in one dec}) torrent when the mountains close in and narrow the limits with their rocky walls. Along the banks of the Alseck old moraines slope to the river's edge, and active glaciers are pushed far out into the stream ; the internal working of the ice-field maintains a continual rumble, and blocks of ice topple into the river, and whip the waters into a confused, seething mass. Eighty miles to the cast of Yakutat, on the south coast of Alaska, the Alseck River plunges in one deep, angry torrent through a canon of rock and ice, flows over the siony waste known as Dry Bay, and pours a muddy volume into the blue wa- ters of the Pacific Ocean. The nature of the whole land can be roughly divided into three conditions : Snow- and ice- fields bury the coast-range and choke up every hollow ; to the immediate north the valleys are rocky and barren, but the vast interior be- yond is richly clothed in luxuriant vegetiition. Scientific authorities theoretically mapped out giant ice-fields as spreading over the entire land from the Eairweather and Mount St. Elias ranges north almost to the valley of the Yukon. Colossal heights mantled in never-melting ■■■■■■■■■i PIONEER PACKHORSES IN ALASKA. * ^ 88 1 snows tower thousands of feet in the air, but within the shadow of these mighty uplands, in the sheltered hollows beneath, lie immense val- leys carpeted in richest grasses, and gracefully tinted with wild flowers. Here in the summer a genial clime is found, where strawberries and other wild fruits ripen to luxuriance, where there are four and a half months of summer and seven third time, Dalton sprang oft" his back, and grabbed the tail of the horse 1 was riding, hold- ing on to his horse's bridle with the other hand. My little mare was a powerful swimmer, and she was able to tow the strange procession ^ safety. Upon our return to the coast, we took the same trail by which we had entered the land ; 'i«; :4«^^ GRASS VALLEY OK THE INTERIOR. DRAWN BY W. Q. FITLER. and a h If of winter. In June and July the sun is lost below the horizon only for a few hours, end the temperature, though chilly at night, has an average of sixty-Pve degrees in the daytime. We carried with us a sup- ply of bacon, beans, flour, rice, and dried fruits, which lasted all the season, and when we arrived on the coast we had still a month's provisions left. We took extra horseshoes with us, but the difticult trails soon decreased our stock, and Dalton displayed great ability in shaping out a |)air of shoes from an old English musket which we found in an Indian rubbish-heap. Miners and prospectors have for many years been seeking a practicable way into the land through which ;ve traveled, but the mountain- passes and want of transportation have kept tliem hack. The trail is now broken and the way open to miners and Government agents. When swimming the Kaskar Wurlch on our return journey, Dalton, together with one of our horses, had a narrow escape. In mid- stream the animal was attacked by cramps, and sank three times. Upon rising to th ::urfacethe VALLEY SCENE, CENTRAL ALASKA. ^,.^.ym^^' ENQRAVED BY R. C. COUINS. our horses were in splendid condition, and we rode them nearly all the way. The day we left Neska-ta-heen homeward-bound there were sixteen degrees of frost, and we passed through three snow-storms ; at one place it had drifted till it was four feet deep. We had heeded the old Indian's warning none too early. For winter makes an abrupt entry in this land, and begins its stern rule with but short preliminary. The gradual whitening of the hilltops heralds its approach. The warning screech of the water- loon tells that storms are nigh. Rapidly the dazzling curtain rolls down from the heights around, covers up cafion and gulch, buries the forests of spruce and tamarack, and spreads over the valleys below an unbroken field of snow. The roar of the summer torrent is hu.shed, and lake and stream are frozen hard. E. J. Clave. Vol.. XLIV.— 115. i>M 3'tV;? vi« w