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Un des symboies suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN ". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmAs A des tiiux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit an un seul cliche, ii est filmd A partir de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cassaire. Les diagr.^immes suivants illustrent la m6thode. rrata o leiure. 1 2 3 J 32X / XMsDo A JOURNEY UP THE YUKON RIVER BY Israel C. Russell (Reprinted from Bulletin Am. Gboo. Soc, Vol. XXVII., No. 2.) 18&^1 M r ■ 'mtk\ ^k\ (Reprinted from BULLETIN Am. Geo(i. Soc, Vol. XXVII., No. 2.) A JOURNEY UP THE YUKON RIYER. II Y ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. The Yukon river has its source in the mountains near the coast in tlie northwestern portion of Canada and flows in a curving course, firbt northwest and tlien southwest, through Alaska and empties into ]}ering Sea. Its length, including its many windings, is from 2,000 to 2,500 miles; and the area it drains in the neighborhood of 440,000 square miles. Next to the basin of the Mackenzie, the region drained by Alaska's great river is the least known of any of the larger river valleys of North America. In the summer season of 1889, I accompanied an expedition sent out by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for the purpose of marking the localities where the Alaska-Canadian boundary crosses the Yukon and Porcupine rivers, respectively. My connection with the expedition was that of a geological a//iu-/ti'', as I was sent by the Director of the U. S. Geological Surrey, for the purpose of making such observations on the character and resources of the country as the nature of the journey wodd allow. The expedi- tion consisted of two independent parties in charge of Mr. J. E. McGrath, and Mr. J. H. Turner. Preparations for a two years' sojourn in the Arctic were made in San Francisco, and on June 14 we sailed for Unalaska, on the steamer Bertha. After a brief stay at Unalaska, during which our equipage was transferred to the steamer St. Pijul, we crossed ^ 'ring Sea, and on July 7 anchored in shallow water about a mile urf shore, near the little trading -tation known as St. Michaels. This is the customary point for transferring to river steamers in order to ascend the Yukon, the nearest entrance to which is about 70 miles to the south. Owing to shallow water and the absence of surveys, ocean-going vessels do not attempt to enter any of the 143 \\ V4.^^'^>^ 144 A Journey up the Yukon River. ^■>^. many mouths into which the Yukon divides before reaching Bering Sea. St. Michaels is considerably changed from the Redoubt St. Michaels', founded by the Russian American Fur Company in 1833. The palisade of the old stronghold is gone, but two of the block houses, pierced for cannon and musketry, still stand at the rear of more modern buildings, and occasionally serve as guard houses. The octagonal church, painted red and surmounted by the double cross of the Greek church, tell that the established religion of Russia still holds sway, although the flag of the United States floats near at hand. The settlement is still a trading post, but has passed into the hands of the Alaska Commercial Company, who, at the time of our visit, held the lease of the Seal Islands, and controlled the entire fur trade of western and central Alaska. The principal buildings are built of logs, the better ones having an outside cover- ing of boards, and form three sides of a rectangle. The space thus enclosed corresponds in a general way to the plaza in a Mexican village, and is the scene of many pictures(}ue gatherings. The little settlement had just awakened from its rti..ter's sleep, and was thronged with natives from villages scattered along the coast and from several widely separated points in the interior. The most distant travellers were from the Porcupine river to the east of the .\laska-Canadian boundary, some 1,500 miles away. Besides the natives there were missionaries of several denomina- tions; agents of "The Company" from interior stations, miners from the gold fields on the upper Yukon, officers and sailors from the l^ S. S. Thetis, inchored in the roadstead, a number of mechan- ics brought on the St. Paul who were to construct a new steamer for the Yukon trade, and the Coast Survey parties, numbering over twenty men. A more cosmopolitan assemblage could scarcely be found in North America outside of Alaska. The natives repre- sented several of the subordinate divisions of the two great aboriginal stocks. Eskimo and Indian, of North America. The white men included but few native-born American, but nearly every country of Europe from Finland to Greece was represented. .As is the case the world over when a band of adventurers assemble, the Jew was present, and as usual ranked among the more prosperous members of the community. The gathering of so many strangers at St. Michaels gave the place a holiday aspect. To entertain the visitors, 'he trailers in charge of the station arranged for a native dance in the s(juare in front of the store, in which a score or more of the Eskimo inhabit- yi Journey up tin- Yukon River. 14a ants participated. 'I'he aiidienre consisted of white people, inciiid- injj tile wives of some of the traders, Indians, Kskimos, children, dogs, etc., and was even more picturesciiie than the dancers, clad in their holiday garments of seal skin and reindeer fur. Music was furnished by a number of tanibourine-Iike instruments, made of seaK membrane stretched tightly over a frame shaped not unlike a tennis racket, and beaten by the hand. Various phases of Eskimo life, including hunts on sea and land, were described in extemporized chants, accompanieil by pantomime, in time with the music. Some of the very oldest members of the community, carried away by the e.xcitement of the occasion, joined in the festivities, and showed how such events were celebrated when they were young, much to ihe €'>musement of the rising generation. Wiiile the .SV. Paul was slowly discharging her freight with the assistance of lighters, and of a small steamer called the " Yukon,'^ in which we were to ascend the great river after which it was named, the scientific work of the expedition was begun by Messrs. McGrath and I'urner, wiio made magnetic observations in tents on shore. My time was occupied in tramping orer the adjacent moor- land and in climbing some of the low volcanic hills a few miles inland. The country about St. Michaels is typical of a vast region bordering the shores of Hering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, for which the Siberian name tunJra has been adopted. This desolate tract is a treeless morass, carpeted with a luxurious growth of mosses and lichens, and beautified during the short summer by a wealth of brilliant blossoms. A few inches below the tlower-strewn surface, however, the soil is always frozen and a sheet of ice more or lesSi nii.xed with partially decayed vegetation, and of unknown thickness, underlies nearly the entire tundra country. Like the peat bogs of temperate latitudes, the jilants of the tundras grow above at the same time that they die and partially decay below, but complete destruction of the vegetable tissues is arrested by the frost, and the deposit increases in thickness from year to year and from century to century. In the frozen bogs forming a belt a hundred miles or more broad, about the northern shores of both the Old and the New World, it is safe to say there is more carbonaceoiks matter than in the workable coal fields of America. Geologists may yet fmd in the northern bogs an explanation of the origin of some coal deposits. The surface of the tundra abounds in lakes and ponds, and, in fact, in many places contains more water than land; or, rather, there is scarcely any land at all over large areas, but only hummocks of wet moss into which one sinks knee deep at every step. ^T-^ 140 A Jounify up the Yukon Rivtr. A When iireparatidus were finally compleleci and the little stern- wheeled steamer Yukon was loaded for the river journey, those who were to take passage in her carried their personal effects on hoard and settled down in tin- ( ranijied and not over-clean (piarters as best they could. IJeside the freijjjht stowed awav, no one seemed to know where, on the steamer itself, three lighters were taken in tow, each of which was heavily laden, and served also to house the camp hands, and a few other passengers. Meals were served in the diminutive cabin of the steamer, and, as many relays were neces- sary, a meal, or the odor of its preparation by the Eskimo cook, seemed always in progress. The crew of the Yukon consisted of a cajUain of Scandinavian birth, an engineer from I'inland, and a do/en or more l^skimos. The natives acted as pilots, assistant engineers, firemen, wood choppers, etc., and did their work with remarkable efficiency. Kven when the rough captain was too drunk to manage affairs, the crew navigated dangerous rapids, and made landings for wood, in a way that spoke volumes for their intelligence and faithfulness. The first stage of tnir journey was along the coast of Bering Sea, and was a risky |)assage for the Yukon, especially when encum- bered with lighters in U)\\. The weather was (aim, however, anil the water smooth. In spite of a dense fog that settled down over the yellow sea, before the passage was half completed, we suc- ceeded in reaching Kwikhpak channel, one of the numerous streams into which the \'ukon river divides on its delta, without serious delay. Low bluffs then enclosed the muddy waters on either hand, and from the top of the pilot house we could see far out over the intensely green surface of the great marsh through which we were sailing. Slowly our little steamer struggled against the current, and at length passed the entrance of the highest of the distributaries through which the mighty river discharges its waters. The head of the delta is a hundred miles from the sea; the distance about its seaward margin is about 70 miles. Enclosed by the low swampy lands, made largely of river silt, are uplands of older date standing like islands iii the sea of grass and moss. For some two or three hundred miles above the head of its delta, the river spreads out between low shores, and in jilaces is many miles broad; so wide, in fact, that an observer standing on the bluffs forming its right bank, cannot distinguish the land to the south. It seems like a sea of yellow water, but the current even in the broadest part is so strong that its true character is unmis- A Jouriuy up the Yukon River. 147 tak;il)li'. Tlu' Viikoii tliroujihoiit nearly its entire lenj^th is a imuldy, silt-laden stream. Stops of a few hours were made at the principal native villavjes, and many were the pieturesqiie scenes that awaited us as we went ashore, and visited tlie fur-clad people in tluir homes. I'Or a distance of 150 miles from IJerinjf .Sea the people are l*',skimos, and live in comparatively well-built houses, usually situated in the shelter of some projectinjj headland, where I'lsh are abundant. Food is obtained mainly from the river. I.ar).je racks ("died with dryinjj salmon sometimes j^ave a pink tint to the village sites before the individual houses could be distinguished. Many of liie li-uises were literally tilled from lloor to roof, with salmon hun^^ on poles with bark trou),rhs below to catch the dripping oil. \ lire smoulderinjj on the floor in the centre of each house, hlled it with dense smoke which finally escaped throujjli a hole in the roof. Our visits to these houses necessitated that we should crawl in on our hands and knees, beneath the mass of dryinj.; salmon, in order to reach the small open space in the centre where the peo|)le crowded about the fire. The density of the atmosphere and the indescribable odor of these combined dwelling and smoke houses usually made our visits as brief as courtesy would allow. A call was made at the Catholic Mission near Andreieffski, in charge of Sisters whose previous home was near Quebec. The log house in which the Sisters lived had one room fitted up as a chapel, with a shrine made by a carjienter Mrother. I'he home of these devout women was the only o^isis of cleanliness that I found in- Central Alaska. The largest and most interesting villages on the lower Yukon are Anvik, Nulato and Nukulukahyet, at each of which we remained for a few hours, and learned sometliing of the people aiul of their country. Soon after leaving Nukulukahyet, near where the TaManah river joins the \'ukon from tiie south, we awoke one morning and found our little steamer struggling with the strong current where the river passes between bold bluffs known as the Lower Ramparts. I'dr an hour or more no |)er' ceptible advance was made, and at times tiie little boat was carrieil slowly down stream in spite of its (juick |)uffing and the cloud of spray thrown up by the large paddle-wheel at the stern, .^s a last resort, a heavy wrench was hung on the safety valve, in disregard of all regulations of steamboat inspectors, and sufficient steam pressure obtained to enable the brave little craft to ascend the swift water ami gain the broad (juiet reach of the river above. 148 A Journry up llu- Yukon Hirer, The banks of the ^'llko^ arc forested, except on the delta. In the Alaska'i |)(irtioii of its eoiirse the forests are dense, with tliuk undergrowth, l)iit nearer its head waters the uphinds are wilhoul 1 VrkllN KlVltl^ NKAK llllt l.DWKI; UAMl.tKr->, trees and covered with luxuriant jjrasses. The prevailinp trees are white spruce, jj^rowin^j in closely i)acked ranks, and seldom attain- ing large si/c. Aspens and willows llourisli near the streams and, as autumn approaches, form a fringe of yellow along their banks. When looking down on the forest frwir. some commanding station, Ihe avenues of yellow outlined in the tree tops were freipiently the only means of judging of the positions of the streams tlowing beneath. Many landings were made for the jjurjjose of obtaining wood for engine fires. As trees had to be felled and cut into the re(iuired length, these delays caused a serious loss of time, but afforded op- portunities for seeing something of the adjacent country. The halts for wood, however, were usually made at night when the light was too uncertain to admit of safe navigation, but sufficient, esjiecially if increased by a blazing fire, to allow the wood-chopjiers to work. The night scenes when a dozen swarthy Eskimos, stri|)ped t( tS-i waist, wielded their axes in the shadows of the dense forest, \' '.lic the Yukon was tied to the neigld)oring bank, were always .'iltract-. c, and rendered the tedious delays much more endurable than if th' rti had been no activity to enliven the scene. A Joui my up thf Yukon River, 149 Thrf)tij,'hoiit the lenvjin of the V'likon, one is frec|iiently reminded of the hijjh lal iiide of tlie re^fion drained by the ;i;reat river, by seeini{ strata of ice in the recently cut banks, l)eiieatii tlie dense layer of moss and roots forming the surface on whic h the forests fjrow. One may fre(|iiently fmd ici; even on a ' H summer's day, by scraping away llie moss at his feet. In some instances the frozen layer has been penetrated to tlie deptii of twenty-five feet, but its full depth has never been ascertaineti. In the banks of (If of the streams to the north of the lower \ ukon, strata of ice over a hundred feet thick have been observed, and the indica- tions are that its total depth is considerably jjreater than the portion exposed. This sub-soil ice is stajfiiant, and without the characteristics ui j,daciers. It is thoujfht by some observers, to be an inheritance from a former period of extreme cold; but under existinjj climatic condi- tions, when ice forms beneath a layer of moss, it is jireserved durin){ the short summer, and may increase as il does on the tundras, to an astonishing; thickness. The Yukon is covered with a thick layer of ice durinjithe winter and in the spring thawing begins and the river "breaks up," as it is termed, on its head waters while winter still chains its lower portiiMi. The result is that ice dams are formed and immense lloods occur. 'IMie swollen waters, freighted with ue, submerge the ad- jacent llat lands and islands, and cut down the trees that cover them. In many places we found the trees either cut off at a general level (»f a few feet above the ground, or battered and worn by the ice that had pounileil against them. Fraghnnts of lloating ice, fre- quently freighted with gravel and even with boulders three or four feet in diameter, are left on the sand flats when the flood subsides, and on melting deposit their loads in confused piles. In some in- stances, intersecting ridges, composed of sand ami gravel that had been washed into cracks between large ice cakes, form a pattern on the shore resembling Hebrew letters. A person not familiar with the origin of their strikingly symmetrical figures, might easily fancy that they were of artificial origin, and intended to convey meaning. M ri-M)ll. UK OS rilK HANK ni WW. VIKDN. ■''l 150 A Journey up the Yukon River. During the short hot summer, in Central Alaska, when the sun scarcely descends below the horizon, insect life is abundant and mosquitoes and flies make miserable the lives of both men and beasts. When venturing into the forests we wore netting over our heads and gloves on our hands, but even then suffered from the re- lentless attacks of the millions of insects that swarmed on every hand. When my companions were concealed from me by dense vegetation, I could frequently locate their position by the cloud of mosquitoes that hovered over them and accompanied all of their movements. So vicious and untiring are these pests of the air that life could not be long maintained if one was not well protected from their attacks. Wild animals are sometimes worried to death by the countless hosts of winged things. On nearing the site of old Fort Yukon, just above where Porcu- pine river joins the main stream, we passed to the north of the Arctic circle, but instead of experiencing Arctic severity of climate, suffered from the intense heat. The temperature in the shade was at times above a hundred degrees of the Fahrenheit scale. There was scarcely any relief from the heat at night, for the reason that practically there was no night, but only a prolonged twilight con- necting the discomforts of one day with those of the succeeding day. At the site of old Fort Yukon, of which the ruin of a chimney is now the only conspicuous object, Mr. McGrath and his party dis- embarked, for the purpose of making magnetic observations and beginning a survey of the Yukon river, while the steamer ascended the Porcupine with Mr. Turner's party. The side trip up Porcupine river was wholly in Arctic lands. After ascending the tortuous stream for perhaps fifty miles, we emerged from the low forested tract, characteristic of thp country along the middle course of the Yukon, and entered a hilly region where bold uplands covered with luxurious grass intervened between the forest-bordered streams. Dark spruce fonsts and groves of Cottonwood and willows fringed the river banks and extended in narrow lines up each depression among the hills. On climbing some of the grass-covered summits rising a few hundred feet above the river, I obtained wide reaching views of the rolling uplands, bordering the winding river valley. Hills succeeded hills as far as the eye could reach. To the northwest suggestions of mountains could be distinguished through the hazy atmosphere. The aspens in the lowlands just changing to yellow-green, told that the charms of the northern summer would soon be blotted out, but the subdued / \ ^ A Journey up the Yukon River. 151 and mildly diversified landscape held naught else that suggested Arctic severity. It needed but a farm house or two with pasturing cattle in the grassy meadows, to transform the remote uninhabited land into a picture of New England. The Porcupine, like most of the tributaries of the Yukon from the north, is a swift, clear stream, with many windings. In its upper course it flows between bold hills with but little flat land along its shores. Our little steamer, the first that ever ventured on its waters, struggled against the rapid current for ten days, when the water became too shallow to admit of farther advance. Observations for longitude showed that we were still several miles west of the 141 meridian, which treaties have decided shall be the eastern boundary of Alaska. When the Yukon could proceed no further, the surveying party transferred its goods to a camp on shore, and the steamer on .vhich I was the only remaining pas- senger began her swift voyage down the river. On returning to Fort Yukon, Mr. McGrath and his party took up their previous quarters on the steamer, and the journey up the Yukon river was resumed. On reaching the locality v.liere the boundary was sup- posed from previous observations to cross the river, a landing was made and the boat returned to Fort Yukon for supplies that had been left there temporarily. This delay enabled me to spend a number of pleasant days at Camp Davidson, as Mr. McGrath's sta- tion was named, and to explore some of the adjacent country. Camp Davidson had been previously occupied by a surveying party sent by the Canadian ^jovernment, who built a commodious log house, in which they passed a winter. The house was still in good repair, and was at once cleared out and enlarged. An observ- atory of logs, built over the stump of a large tree which served for an instrument pier, was also found standing and was at once fitted up for use. Over the large Russian stove built of stones, in the cabin, hung a magnificent pair of caribou antlers, which told that game could be expected in the neighboring forest. During my lonely climbs in the adjacent mountains, I found abundant sign? of moose and bear, but was not fortunate enough to see large game. The trails of mountain shee]) and mountain goats were abundant at elevations of about 3,000 feet. The river was known to abound in salmon at certain seasons, and grayling or Arctic trout, were said to be plenti- ful. Taking ail in all. Camp Davidson seemed to be an excellent place in which to pass an Arctic winter. When the Yukon returned to Camp Davidson, I bade good-bye 04^6 X ,. ^> \ nut A Toiirnev uf> the Yukon River. ,L ' . 'I • .V. •'.*-■■■ >■ to my friends, who, af it chanced, remained thei'e for two years, and resunud my voyage up the river. The struggle of the little steamer against "sirong water" M'as resumed; the monotony being relieved by brief stops at the widely scattered Indian villages. The few natives that we met were a low type of the great Athabaskan family, and lived in wretched villages in which the dogs, used to draw sleds in winters so-netimejs outnum- bered the people. The vegetation bordering tliv river Is so dense that scarcely a trail has been made through it. The streams are the highways of travel, both summer and winter. Tije cafioes used on the upper Yukon are built of birch bark, with sharp ends, and have a small decking of bark at both prow and stel-n. Occasionally they are tasteful!} decorated with beads or colored porcujiine (juills. Theyareeven more grace- ful on the water than the canoes with high curved ends, familiar in the waters draining to the St. Lawrence, and so light that a man can easily carry one in a single hand. In deep water a paddle is used, but in ascending streams in shallow water, progress is made by means of two slim poles, one held in each hand of the occupant and pushed against the bottom. On our way up the Yukon we called at the mouth of Forty Mile creek, where there are a few log houses and a store. This is the centre of trade for the gold fields on Forty Mile creek and neigh- boring streams. Gold is found in the gravel along the u])per Yukon and many of its branches over a wide area, but owing to the severity of the winters and the high price of provisions, only the richest " washings " have as yet received attention. The miners are a rough, hardy race, made up, it would seem, of representatives of nearly every nation on earth. Some are typical frontiersmen, dressed in buckskin, who are never at homo except on the out- skirts of civilization. Others were of doubtful cliaracter and it is said are seldom known by their rightful names. The remote gulches of the YuI;on c' omestic life. To the credit of the traders engaged in this occupation, it may be said that they seldom offer the natives "fire water" in exchange for turs. On reaching Harper's station, I made arrangements with four miners, who had taken passage on the Yukon at Forty Mile, to continue on up the river in their company. The most interesting portion of mj trip now began. The open boat built by the miners when they began the descent of the Yukon some eighteen months previously, was repaired and the seams covered with pitch gathered from neigh- boring spruce trees. Supplies were purchased from Mr. Harper, and the long and difficult journey of several hundred miles against strong currents began. Each of my companions was provided with a strong pole, about ten feet long, furnished with a spike at one end. Armed with these, two of the men took their stations in the prow of the boat and two in the stern, and by pushing with the poles on the bottom or against the river bank, the boat was forced along. In this mode of navigation the most experienced polemen occupy the ends of the boat and guide its course. To handle a boat in this manner requires even more skill than when oars are used. Espe- cially is this true, when rounding headlands about wliich the current is swift. Sometimes when with great labor we nad succeeded in MINF.KS ASCENDING THE II'KK VLKON. - ^ ^ A Journey up the Yukon Rher. 155 nearly jiassiiiK a beetling cliff, the rear poleman would be unable to turn the prow towards the bank by forcinjr his end of the boat out from the shore, and the stronji; current would in\mediately sweep us out into mid-stream, where the water was too deep for the poles to reach bottom, and we would be carried far down the river before the rude oars could be brought into play. When swept away from the bank in this manner, we would row across to the opposite shore, usually the concave side of a sharp curve, where eddies tending up stream were to be expected and in the shelter of the ne.\t projecting headland regain the space that had been lost. When the character of the shore would permit, a towing line would be fastened to the side of the boat and the four men would " track " along the bank, while 1 remained in the boat and guided her course with one of the poles. In this manner we could fre- end of our journey we entered a region for- merly covered by glaciers, and, as is usual where ice sheets have recently departed, found the scenery diversified by beautiful lakes. By means of sail and oars we passed through Lake Lebarge, Lake 166 A Journey up the Yukon River. Marsh, named in honor of the distinjjiiished professor of paleon- tology at Yale, Lake Tagish and Lake Lindeman. This portion of the journey was especially enjoyable, as a rest was afforded from the extreme fatigue of forcing our way against the tireless current of the river. The shores of the lakes were gorgeous with autumn foliage, and the air cool and bracing. A few natives were met with in this portion of the route, and although sullen and far less friendly than the inhabitants of the villages farther down the river, they ga^e us no trouble, but added a touch of life to the wild scenery. As we neared the head of the river the hills became bolder and more rugged, and glimpses could be had of snow-clad mountains to the southward, across which we must pass before reaching the out- skirts of civilization. The prevailing mild and dry summer weather of the interior gave place to clouds and rain. Awakening one morning in a camp beneath spreading spruce trees, on the shore of Lake Tagish, we found our blankets weighted down with snow and the entire landscape white as in mid-winter. In making the short passage between Lakes Tagish and Linde- man, we suffered the only serious accident of the entire trip. One of the boats was capsized in the swift torrent, and swept against a huge rock with such force that it was crushed and its contents lost. The end of our journey by river was near at hand, however, and the accident did not cause delay. On reaching Lake Lindeman an hour of hard rowing against a squall from the mountains, and our boat grated on the gravelly beach at the head of the lake, and our boat trip was ended. The country about Lake Lindeman is forested, but the trees are mostly small, and the upper limit of arboreal vegetation on the "timber line " can be seen on the mountains to the south at an elevation of perhaps a thousand feet above the lake's surface. There were no signs of human habitation about the lake. The smoke of our camp fire was the only evidence of life in the wild, dreary landscape. Our boats were taken out of the water and cached in neighboring thickets, together with many articles that could not be carried over the mountains. Although our long journey was nearly ended, so far as measurements in miles was concerned, we had still a difticult and but imperfectly known mountain pass to cross, on wiiich the snows of winter hail already begun to accumulate. At Lake Lebarge we nu-t a single miner who had just crossed the pass to the south, and was on his way to Forty Mile, to try his chances in the alluring gold fields. This fortunate meeting enabled us to purchase a few much-needed supplies, and also to obtain A Journey up the Yukon River, 157 assistance on the first march up the mountains towards Chilkat pass. On gaining the higliest avaihihle clump of balsam trees, we cleared away the snow, then ai)out ten inches deep and still falling, and made preparations for passing the night. We were without anything resembling a tent, so that "going into camp " consisted in building a fire and finding a somewhat sheltered jilace in which to sleep. I selected a thick low-branching balsam for my house. The lower limbs were cut away and served for a sub-stratum for my bed, while the higher branches retained much of the falling snow. I slept soundly, and on awakening ne.xt morning found my bed deeply covered with snow. My blankets had served me on many expeditions for over ten consecutive years, but in spite of some sentiment for them, I was obliged to leave them in this the last of many camps where they liad sheltered me. With a cup of tea and short ration of frying-pan bread and fried bacon for breakfast, each man took a light load of articles that to him seemed most valuable, and we started in single file for the pass. To most of my readers, I fancy, that party of eleven men tramping through the snow, each with a pack on his back and a rude staff in his hand, and dressed in varied costumes that had seen months if not years of hard service, would have appeared as wild and pioneer- like as could well be imagined. The weather was cold and stormy. A chilling wind swept down f'-om the icy mountains, of which only occasional glimpses could be seen through the dense clouds covering their summits. Snow fell from time to time, but between the fierce squalls the sun shone out bright and clear, and revealed fleeting pictures of the rugged land below us to the north. Our course led upward over glaciated rocks, and across snt)w-filled valleys, toward the dense cloud banks that veiled all beyond. My companions had crossed the pass on entering the Yukon country, but only one of them had even approached it in the direc- tion we were now travelling, and none of them seemed confident of finding the way when the mountains wen cloud covered. After many weary hours of tramping over the roughest of country, where only traces of a trail could occasionally be had through the freshly fallen snow, we gained the base of the heavy cloud banks concealing the mountains. In deep gorges leading upward between neighbor- ing peaks we could see blue glaciers, looking like frozen cataracts descending from unseen regions beyond. In the obscurity of the clouds that enveloped us all was dark and uncertain. l'".vcry vestige of a trail had disappeared, anil no one knew which of the black M^- 158 y1 Jouniey up thr Yukon River. gulches about us would lead to the trail on the other side of the pass. While consulting as to the best plan to follow, some coun- selling a return to our blankets, where rations sufficient to maintain us for a day or two had been left, I noticed a flock of geese ap- proaching from the north bound on their autumn navigations. They were flying low, just beneath the base of the outward-reaching clouds, and I fancied would choose the lowest gap in the mountains for their passage. In this I was not mistaken, although my com- panions, not aware, perhaps, that geese once saved Rome, refused to follow the lead of a guide they considered so stupid. After two or three vain trials we again found signs of a trail, and were soon in a narrow gorge with towering peaks on either hand, the summits of which were lost to view in the clouds. After crossing the u6ve of a small glacier so completely shrouded in mist that but little of its character could be seen, we travelled on over smooth bare rocks, and were rejoiced to find that the next stream we reached was flow- ing southward, and that we had actually crossed the divide between the waters of the Yukon and the streams flowing to Lynn canal. Descending rapidly, along an exceedingly rugged trail, we were soon below the clouds, and a drizzling rain reminded us that we were on the Pacific slope, where days of clear weather are few. As night approached we gained the upper limit of vegetation. Another hour of hard tramping brought us to a dense growth of hemlocks, sheltered in a wild gorge through which a roaring torrent was plunging down to join other similar streams below. Selecting an aged evergreen, whose wide branches reaching far out from the moss-covered trunk touched the ground, we placed our packs be- neath it, and cutting a dead tree that stood near, soon had a blazing fire in front of our retreat. Without tents or blankets, and with only a little bread that we carried in our pockets, and a drink of tea for supper, we lay down on the thick, water-soaked moss, each man with his head toward the tree that sheltered us and his feet toward the semicircle of fire, and slept. During the night, as one or another of the party awoke from his uncomfortable slumbers, be would replenish the fire, anil, i)erhaps, stand in front of the cheer- ful blaze until his benumbed limbs were warmed before joining his slumbering comjianions. Of all the wild pictures of cami)-life that linger in my memory, there are none more striking than our bivouac beneath the dark hemlocks of Taya valley. My companions, rough and uu' outh as men could well be, had been absent from civilization at least a year and a half, and some of them for three years. Their hair and . / Jminux up till \ iikoii Jiivi r. l.V.t beards had j^n-ovn Idiig, and their fares were tanned and weather- l)eaten by constant exposure. 'I'heir j^arments, then in the last stages of serviceability, had been made by those who wore them, from any material that chanced to be available, from buckskin and fur to flour-sacks, and had been re|)aired witliout rejjard to color or texture. l.y''iK '" niany positions beneath (Iripi)injj boughs, with the fire light streaming over them and gleaming on the falling rain drops, they made a picture of frontier life as wild and pic- turesque as could well be fancied. One not accustomed to the vicissitudes of exploration, coming suddenly on such a scene, would certainly believe he iiad stumbled on a band of the most desperate outlaws. When the morning dawned and one after another of the moss- grown trees about us became visible through the white mist, we ate a hasty breakfast, even more frugal than the supper of the previous evening, since only remnants of the former nual remained, and resumed our march. Forcing our way through the wet vegeta- tion we were drenched to the skin, but this was of little moment, since the stream we were following swung from side to side of the valley, and had to be forded many times. The crossing of a rushing torrent of ice-cold water from two to four feet deep is by no means a pleasant experience, neither is it unattended by danger, as was testified by the grave of at least one man, who had been drowned in making the attempt. There are two ways employed by frontiersmen in crossing dan- gerous streams when ropes are not to be had. One is for each man to provide himself with a stout stick, answering to an alpenstock, and for all of the men who are to cross, to hold their sticks hori- zontally before them with their ends overlapping and tightly grasped, thus making practically one continuous pole. 'l"he party then enters the stream abreast, and wades slowly across, the tallest and strongest man being placed at the upper end of the line, where the greatest force of the water is experienced. The second plan is to overlap alpenstocks as before, but to enter the water in single file, at right angles to the current; in this way a part of the men are on firm ground in shallow water, and can assist those struggling against the swifter jjortions of the current. During our last march we had to cross Taya river some eight or ten times in the manner described above, and for once experience did not breed contempt. Benumbed by the cold, each fresh ])lunge into the icy waters seemed more trying than the one that i)receded it. .\l last, however, when fatigue and lack of food had begun to IGU v/ Jonnuy up llu Yukon Rivet . tell on our strenjjth, we saw before us the welcome sij^ht of a chim- ney risinjj above tlie foliajje, and in a few moments jjained Cliilkat viilajfe, and found food and rest at the tradinjj post kept by Mr. Haley and his kind-hearted wife. My ( onipanions left the ne.xt day or the day following in boats bound down I,)nn canal, for the town (jf Juneau, but I remained a few days for rest and with the aim of seeing something of the mountains and glaciers, for which Lynn canal is justly famed. .-X day of brilliant weather, durin).j which f climbed a neighborinsr mountain peak, more than repaid for the delay. At an elevation of 3,000 feet I crossed the neve of a small glacier and obtained an un- obstructed view of the magnificent ice-crowned mountains in which the ancient river valley, now occupied by ocean waters and known as Lynn canal, was carved. P^rom one locality I counted forty glaciers, some of them several miles in length, and a change of position brought still others into view. The outlines of vast am- [)hitheatres could be traced by lines of crags and rock-pinnacles, but the great depressions themselves were filled to overflowing with ice. On the sides of Taiya valley the upper limit of timber growth or the "timber line," is sharply drawn at an elevation of about 2,500 feet. Above that height the mountains are stern and rugged, while below there is a dense forest of aged hemlocks, festooned with inoss. On the day that I 'ooked down into this seemingly enchanted valley the air was clear and sunny in the upper regions, but the great gulf below was filled with drifting vapor. Atone moment nothing would be visible but the sombre forest, through which the white vapor was hurrying; and the next, the veil would be swept aside, revealing the mountain spires, snow pinnacles and torcpioise-tinted cliffs of ice towering heavenward. These rapidly changing pictures, seen through cloud rifts, seemed glimpses of anotiier world. Space will not permit me to detain the reader longer. Return- ing from the mountains I resumed my journey. With a single Indian 1 made a canoe trip down Lynn canal, a distance of over 100 miles, to the little mining town of Juneau, and from there returned to I'uget Sound by steamer.* * Some account of observ.ilions on the jjeograpliy .tikI surface geolo^jy of Al.iska, made (luring the journey liescribed above, may be found in the liulletin ot the (ieolojjfical Society of /Vmerica, \'ol. i, 1890, pp. 9i)-i(i2. . .- 14 ..» ^jeC'-a^ "TT^nm^fW i- "•^jpw ,. '-i !