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ALONG ALASKA'S QrCAT PiVCR A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THE TRAVELS OF AN ALASKA EXPLORING T^XPEDITION ALONG THE GREAT YUKON RIVER, FROM ITS SOURCE TO ITS MOUTU, IN THE BRITISH NORTH- WEST TERRITORY, AND IN THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA. liY FREDERICK SCHWATKA, LAURENTE OI' THE PARIS OEOORAPHICAI. SOCIETY AND OH THE IMPE RIAI, OEOORAPHICAI, SOCIK.'Y OF RUSSIA; HONORARY MEMBER BREMEN OEOORAPHICAI. SOCIETY, ETC.. ETC., COM- MANDER OF THE EJiPEDITlON. Together with the Latest Information on the Klondike Country. FULL Y ILL USTRA TED. CHICAGO The Henry Publishing Co. 1898 OOPTKIOBT, 1888, Qbo. U. Hnx Oo. 8' Q PREFACE. rpHESE pages narrate the travels, in a popular sense, of an Alaskan exploring expedition. The oxpt'dition* was organized with seven members at Vancouver Barracks, Washington, and left Portland, Oregon, ascending through the inland passage to Alaska, as far as the Chilkat country. At that point the party employed over three score of the Chilkat Indians, the hardy inhabitants of that ice-bound country, to pack its effects across the glacier-clad pass of the Alaskan coast range of mountains to the head- waters of the Yukon. Here a large raft was constructed, and on this primi- tive craft, sailing through nearly a hundred and fifty miles of lakes, and shooting a number of rapids, the party floated along the great stream for over thirteen hundred miles; the longest raft journey ever made on behalf of geographical science. The entire river, over two thousand miles, was traversed, the party returning home by Bering Sea, and touching the Aleutian Islands. The opening up of the great gold fields in the region of the upper Yukon, has added especial interest to evei'ything pertaining to the great Northwesc. The Klondike region is the cynosure of the eyes of all, whether they be in the clutches of the gold fever or not. The geography, the climate, the scenery, the birds, beasts, and even flowers of the country make fascinating subjects. In view of the new discoveries 1473114 PREFACE. in that part of the world, a new chapter, Chapter XIII, is given up to a detailed description of the Klondike region. The numerous routes by which it may be reached are described, and all the details as to the possibilities and resources of the country are authoritatively stated. Chioaoo, March, 1898. COIS TENTS. Cbaptbb I. Introductory . . . . . . 9 II. The Inland Passage to Alaska , 12 III. In The Chilkat Country . 86 IV. Over The Mountain Pass .... 58 V. Along the Lakes . 00 VL A Chapter About Rafting .... 181 VII. The Grand Canon op The Yukon . . 154 VIII. Down Tue River to Selkirk 175 IX. Through The Upper Ramparts . 207 X. Through The Yukon Flat-Lands 264 XT. Through The Lower Ramparts and End of Raft Journey . 289 XTI. Down The River and Home 818 XIII. The Klondike Regions . . . . . 846 XIV. Discovery and History .... 868 XV. The People and Their Industries . . 886 XVI. Geographical Features .... 418 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 9tmm FRONTISPIECS (DB4WNDT Wm. ScHMEimm) .... The INI.AND Passaoe 12 Sse as it passes out. So fiendishly eager are they to secure and stab their prey that all that is needed is to lead out a dog from the house, which has been brought into it at night, when the witches fall upon it and exhaust their strength in attacking it before they discover their mistake. The cremation is seldom perfect, and the charred bones and remnants are collected and put into a small box standing on four posts in the nearest graveyard. In the burial of medicine men, or before cremation with others, the bodies are bent into half their length, the knees drawn up to the breast and secured by thongs and lashings. A walk into the woods around Chilkat shows the traveling to be somewhat better than in equally mount- ainous country near the coast, and where paths had been cut through the dense timber to the charcoal pits formed and maintained by the canneries, the walking was ex- ceedingly agreeable and pleasant, especially by way of jn the chilkat country. 4lt contrast. As one recedes from the coast and gets beyond the induence of the warm Japanese current with its ceaseless fogs, rains and precipitation generally, the woods and marshes become more and more susceptible of travel, and by the time the Alaska coast range of mountains is crossed and the interior reached, one linds it but little wor?:^ than the tangle-woods and swamps of lower latitudes. The watei's swarm with life, which is warmed by this heat-bearing current, and I think I do not exaggerate in saying that Alaska and its numerous outlying islands will alone, in the course of a short time, repay us annually more than the original cost of the great territory. By means of these industries the wedge has begun to enter, and we may hope it will be driven home by means of a wise administration of government, a boon which has been denied to Alaska since the Russians left the territory. The principal fisheries will always be those of salmon and cod, since these fish are most readily prepared for export, while halibut, Arctic smelt or candle-fish, brook trout, flounders and other species will give ample variety for local use. The salmon has long been the staple fish food of the Chilkats, but this is slowly giving way to the products of civilization which they acquire in retura for services at the canneries and for loading and unload- ing the vessels which visit the port. The salmon season is ushered in with considerable ceremony by the Chil- kats, numerous festivals mark its success and its close is celebrated by other feasts. A Chilkat villa^:e during the salmon fishing season is a busy place. Near the water, loaded with the fish, their pink sides cut open ready for drying, are the scaffoldings, which are built just high ; t.. 48 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEH. enough to prevent the doj^s from investigating top closely ; while out in the shallow water of the shoals or rapids, which often determine the site of a village, may- be seen iish-weirs looking like stranded baskets that had served their purpose elsewhere and been thrown away up the stream, and w hich had lodges I here as they floated down. !Miiny of the siilmon are converted into fish-oil, which is used by the Chilkats as food, and resembles a cross between our butter and the blubber of the Eskimo. Taking a canoe that is worn out, yet not so badly dam- aged as not to be completely water-tight, it is filled some six to eight inches deep Avith salmon, over which water is poured until the fish are well covered. This being done on the beach there are always plenty of stones around, and a number of these are heated to as high a tempera- ture as possible in an open fire alDugside of the canoe, and are then rapidly thrown into the water, bringing it to a boiling heat, and cooking the mass. As the oil of the fat fish rises to the surface it is skimmed off with si)oons, and after all has been procured that it is possible to obtain by this means, the gelatinous mass isx)ressed so as to get whatever remains, and all is preserved for w in- ter food. The salmon to be dried are split open along the back until they are as flat as possible, and then the flesh is split to the skin in horizontal and vertical slices about an inch to an inch and a half apart, which facilitates the drying process. Each little square contracts in drying and makes a convenient mouthful for them as they scrape it from the skin with their upper canine teeth like a beaver peeling the bark from a cottonwood tree. In packing over the Alaska coast range of mountains, a task which keeps the Indians absent from three to five days, IN THE CHILKAT COUNTRY. 18 a single salmon and a quart of tknir are considered a suf- ficient ration per man for even that severe trip. If t hey are working for white men the enii)loyers are 8>ii)i)osed to furnish the flour and the Indians the iish. VV^hile these Tlinkits of south-eastern Alaska, of which the Chilkats and Chilkoots are the most dreaded and war- like band, are a most jolly, mirth-making, and often- times even hilarious crowd of i)eople, yet any thing like a practical joke played upon one of them is seldom appreciated by the recii)ient with the sheepish satisfac- tion so common to civilizjition. An army officer, Lieut. C. E. S. Wood, who spent some time among them sketching and drawing something besides Ins pay, relates in the Century Magazine the story of an Indian who laboriously crawled up on a band of decoy ducks that somebody had allowed to remain anchored out near the water's edge, and wasted several rounds of ammunition on them before he discovered his mistake. Instead of sneaking back into the brush, dodging through out of- the-way by-paths to his home, and maintaining a con- spicuous silence thereafter, as we of a more civilized country would have done under like circumstances, he sought out the owner of the decoys ar-. >] -manded direct and indirect damages for the injuries i.- Lad suffered and the ammunition he had wasted, and was met by laughter, which only increased his persistency until his demands were satisfied to get rid of him. At one of the two salmon canneries of which I have spoken as being in Chilkat Inlet, there was also kept a trading store, and here the Indians would bring their furs and peltries and barter for the articles that were so temptingly displayed before their eyes ; and if the skins 10 vLONQ ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. were numerous and valuable this haggling would often continue for hours, as the Indian never counts time as worth any thing in his bargains. While we were there an Indian brought in a few black fox skins to barter for trading material, a prime skin of this kind being worth about forty dollars in goods from the store, and grading from that down to nearly one-fourth of the amount. At the time when the Chilkats learned the great value of the black fox skins, not nuiny years back, they also learned, in some unaccountable waj% the met' ' of mak- ing them to order by staining the commoi fox or cross fox skin by the application of some native form of blacking, probably made from soot or charcoal. Many such we^-o dispo.sed of before the counterfeit was detected, and even after the cheat was well known the utmost vigilance was needed to prevent natives playing the trick in times of great business activity. The method of detection was simply to place the skin on any hard flat surface like the counter of a trader's store, and rub the clean hand vigorously and with considerable pressure backward and forward over the fur side of the skin, Avhen, if the skin were dyed, the fact would be shown by the blackened hand. This fact had been explained to us by the trader, and the Doctor entering ju.st as the conversation as to the i)rice became animated, and perceiving that the palmar sur- face of his hand was well soiled and blackened, owing to his having been engaged assorting packs for our Indians, he playfully stepped up to the counter, ran his hand jauntily through the skin once or twice and dis- played to the two traders his blackened i)alm, to the surprise of the white man and absolute consternation IN THE CHILKAT COUNTRY 81 01 the Indian. The former rapidly but unavailingly tried to verify the Doctor's experiment, when the latter broke out into a hearty laugh, in which the trader joined. Not so with the Indian ; when he recovered his senses he was furious at the imputation on his character ; and the best light he could view it in, after all the explanations, was that it had been a con- spiracy betwevMi the two white men to get the skin at low rates, and the plot having failed, according to their own confession, and he aimself having received his own price to quiet hitn, ought to be satisfied. The Doctor remarked as helinished the story, that he did not believe there was the remotest sense of humor among the whole band of Chilkat or Chilkoot Indians. The constant life of the Tlinkits in their canoes when procuring food or at other occupations on the water has produced, in con- formity with the doctrine of natural selection and the survival of the fittest, a most conspicuous iirepondera- ting development of the chest and upi)er limbs over the lower, and their gait on land, resembling that of aquatic birds, is scarcely the poetry of motion as we understand it. The Chilkats, however, are not so confined to a sea- faring life, and their long arduous trading journeys in- land have assisted to make this physical characteristic much less conspicuous among them than among other tribes of Tlinkits, although even the Chilkats can not be called a race of large men. While they may not com- pare with the Sioux or Cheyennes, or a few others that might be mentioned, yet there are scores of Indian tribes in the United States proper which are greatly inferior .o the Chilkats both in mental, physical, and moral quali- ties. In warfare they are as brave as the average Indians 1473ti4 52 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. \\\ of tlie United States, and have managed to conduct their own affairs witli considerable order, in spite of govern- mental intorferencfc at tin;es. I quote from a correspon- dent writing from there as late as August, 1884, to the New York Times of November 23d : "The Indians have a great respect loc a man-of-war, with its strict discipline ar-^ busy steam launches that can follow th«^ir canoes to the remote creeks and hiding places in the islands, and naval rule has been most praiseworthy. The army did nc good for the country or the natives, and its record is n )f, a creditable one. The Tlinkits sneered openly at the i:i'id forces, and snapped their fingers at challenging tViil forbidding sentries, and paddled away at their }.ieq,sure." \ CHAPTER rV. OVER THE MOUNTAm PASS. pY the 6tli of June all of our many arrangements tor depart ure were fully completed, and tlie next day the party got under way shortly before 10 o'clock in the forenoun. Mr, Carl Spuhn, the Manager of the North-west Trading Com- pany, which owned the west- ern cannery in the Chilkat cmi.KAT fNDiAN PACKER. I^lt-^t, wlicre my party had been disembarked, Avho had been indefatigable in his ejfforts to assist me in procuring Indian pacliers, and in tof ny other ways aiding the expedition, now placed at mj disposal the little '3am Inunch of the company, and behinl it, tied one t the otlier by their towing ropes. Was a long string ol from twelve to twenty canoes, each containing from two to four Chilkat Indians, our pros- pective packers. Some of the Indians who liad selected their packs carried them in the canoes, but the bulk of the material waa on the decks of the steam-launch "Louise." They disappeared out of sight in a little while, steaming southward down the Chilkat Inlet, while with a small party in a row-boat I crossed this S4 ALONG ALASKA'.'i GREAT RIVER. ti '• M channel and tlien by a good trail walked over to the Haines Mission, in Chilkoot Inlet, presided over by Mr. Eugene S. Willard and his wife, with a young lady assistant, Miss Mathews, and maintained by tlie Pres- byterian Board of Missions as a station among the Chil- kat and Chilkoot Indians. Crossing the " mission trail," as it was called, we often traversed lanes in the grass, which here was fully five feet high, while, in whatever direction the eye might look, wild flowers were growing In the great- est profusion. Dandelions as big as asters, buttercups twice the usual size, and violets rivaling the products of cultivation in lower latitudes were visible around. It i)roduced a singular and striking contrast to raise the eyf s from this almost tropical luxuriance a"vi allow them to resi; on the Alpine hills, covered, half way down their nhaggy sides, with snow and glacier ice, and with cold mist condensed on their crowns. Mosquitoes were too plentiful not to be called a prominent discomfort, and small gnats did much to mar the otherwise pleasant stroll. Berries and berry blossoms grew in a profusion and variety which I have never seen equaled within the same limits in lower latitudes. A gigantic nettle was met with in uncomfortable profusion when one attempted to wander from the beaten trail. This nettle has received the appropriate name of "devil- sticks;" and Mr. Spuhn of the party told me it was formerly used by the Indian medicine-men as a prophy- lactic against witch-craft, applied externally, and with a vigor that would have done credit to the days of old Salem, a custom which is still kept up among these Indians. Gardens have been cultivated upon this nar- row peninsula, the only comparatively level track of w^ OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. 67 considerable size in all south-eastern Alaska, with a suc- cess which speaks well for this part of the territory as far as climate and soil are concerned, although the ter- ribly rough mountainous character of nearly all of this part of the country will never admit of any broad exper- iments in agriculture. By strolling leisurely along and stopping long enough to lunch under the great cedar trees, while the mosquitoes lunched oif us, we arrived at the mission on Chilkoot Inlet Just in time to see the little launch in the distance followed by its long proces' sion of canoes, heading for us and puffing away as if it were towing the Great Eastern. It had gone down the Chilkat Inlet ten or twelve miles to toe southward, turned around the sharp cape of the x>eninsula, Point Seduction, and traveled back northward, parallel to its old course, some twelve to fifteen miles to where we were waiting for it, having steamed about twenty-five miles, while we had come one-fifth the distance to the same point. Here quite a number of Chilkoot natives and canoes were added to the already large throng ; Mrs. Schwatka, who had accompanied me thus far, was left in the kind care of the missionary family of Mr. Willard ; adieus were waved and we once more took our north- ward course I'p the Chilkoot Inlet. After four or five miles the main inlet bears off to the westward, but a much narrower one still points con- stantly to the north star, and up the latter we continued to steam. It is called the Dayay Inlet and gives us about ten miles of " straight-away course " before coming to the mouth of the river of the same name. This Dayay Inlet is of the same geiun-al character as the inland pas- sages in this part of Alaska, of which I have already ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. 1 I \l i i' spoken ; a river-like channel between high steep hills, which are covered with pine, cedar and spruce from the water's line nearly to the top, and there capped with bare granite crowns that in gulches and on the summits are covered with snow and glacier ice, which in melting furnish water for innumerable beautiful cascades and mountain torrents, many of them dashing fron) such dizzy precipitous heights that they are reduced to masses of iridescent spray by the time they reach the deep green waters of the inlet. With a score of canoes towing behind, the ropes near the launch kept parting so often that we were consider- ably delayed, and as the Indians were seldom in any great hurry about repairing the damages, and treated it in a most hilarious manner as something of a joke on the launch, the master of that c-aft, when the rope had parted near the central canoe for about the twentieth time, finally bore on without them, leaving the delin- quents to get along as best they could, there being about five miles more to make. Fortunately just then a fair southern breeze sprang up, so that most of the tardy canoes soon displayed canvas, and those that could not, hastily improvised a blanket, a pea-jacket, or even a a broad-shouldered pair of pantaloon.-^, to aid their prog- ress, for the Indian in all sections of the country is much more ingenious than one is apt to suppose, espe- cially if his object be to save manual labor. The mouth of the Dayay river being reached about six in the after- noon, it was found to consist of a series of low swampj mud flats and a very miry delta. Here it is necessary to ascend the swift river at least a mile to find a site that is even half suitable for a camp. During the time OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. when the greatest sediment is brought down by the swift muddy stream, i. i?., during tl)e spring freshets and sum- mer high water, the winds are usually from the south, and blow with considerable force, which fact accounts for the presence of soft oozy deposits of great extent so near the mouth of the stream. Through this shallow watei the canons carried our effects. The river once reached the canoes proceeded up the stream to camp, the launch whistled us adieu, ^nd as she faded from sight, the last link that bound us to civilization was snapped, and our explorations commenced. The distance from the Hair es' Mission to the mouth of the Dayay where we disembark<^i! was sixteen miles. At this camp No. 2, we found a small camp of wander- ing TaTik-TieesTh Indians, or as they are locally called by the few whites of the country, the Sticks, a peaceful tribe whose home is over the Alaskan coast range of mountains and along the head-waters of the great Yukon, the very pan, oi the very stream we desired to explore. It has only been vtdthin ilio last few years that these Tahk-heesh Indian'^ have been allowed to cross over the mountains into the Chilknt country for purposes of trade, the Chilkats and Chilkoots united having from time immemorial completely monopolized the profitable commerce of the interior fur trade, forbidding ingress to the whites and denying egress to the Indians of the interior. From the former they bought their trading goods and trinkets, and making them into convenient bundles or parcels of about one hundred pounds each, they carried them on their backs across the snow and glacier crowned mountains, exchanging them for furs with the tribes of the interior for many hundreds of 00 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. miles nround. These furs were again lashed in packs and carried back over the same perilous paths to the cof- fers of the wliite traders, and although they realized but a small fractional portion of their value, yet prices were large in comparison with the trilling cost to the venders. When the trade was at its best many years ago, these trips were often made twice a year during the spring and summer, and so great was the commerce in those days., that no less than from eight to ten tons of trading material found its way into the interior by way of these Alpine passes, and was exchanged for its equivalent in furs. As a consequence, the Chilkat nation is the richest tribe of Indians in the great North-west. Their chief. Shot-rich, alone is worth about ten or twelve thousand dollars in blankets, their standard of wealth, and others in propor- tion, according to their energy in the trade. Shot-rich has three large native houses at Klukwan, the main Chilkat town, two of which are filled with blankets worth from two to four dolUirs apiece. The trail on which we were now plodding along is known among the Indians as the Chilkoot trail to the interior, and takes from two to four days, packing their goods on their backs, until the headwaters of the Yukon are reached. It was monopo- lized solely by the Chilkoots, who had even gone so far as to forbid the Chilkats, almost brothers in blood, from using it, so that the latter were forced to take a longer and far more laborious route. This route of the Cliilkats led them up the Chilkat River to near its head, where a long mountain trail that gave them a journey of a week or ten days, packing on their backs, brought them to a tributary of the Yukon, by means of which the interior was gained. Once on this tributary no serious rapids or OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS, other impediments were in their line of travel, \phile the Yukon, with its shorter trail, had many such obstacles. The great Hudson Bay Company with its well-known indomitable courage, attempted as early as 1850 to tap this rich trading district monopolized by the Chilkat Indians, and Fort Selkirk was established at the junc- tion of the Yukon and Pelly, but so far away from their main base of supplies on Hudson's Bay, that it is said it took them a couple of years to reach it with trading effects. The Indians knew of but one method of compe- tition in business. They went into no intricate inventories for reducing prices of stock, nor did they put bigger advertisements or superior inducements before their cus- tomers. They simply organized a war party, rapidly descended the main Yukon for about live hundred miles, burned the buildings and appropriated the goods. As the Tahk-heesh or Silcks were al lowed to come abroad so the white men were allowed and, in fact, induced to enter, for the coast Indians found ample compensation in carrying the white men's goods over the trail of about thirty miles at a rate which brought them from ten to twelve dollars per pack of a hundred pounds in weight ; and it Avas my intention to take advantage of this oppor- tunity to reach the head of the riv^r, and then fight my way c own it, rather than against its well known rapid current, of which I had heard so much from the accounts of explorers on its lower waters. When it was known, however, that I expected to do my explorations on a raft, the idea was laughed at by the few white men of the country, as evincing the extreme of ignorance, and the Indians seemed to be but little behind them in ridicule of the plan. The latter emphatically affirmed that a ' ! n ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. hundred and fifty or two hundred miles of lakes stretched oefore us, and what, they argued, can be more helpless than a raft on a still lake ( Eight or ten miles of boiling rapids occurred at various points in the course of the stream, and these would tear any raft into a shapeless wreck, while it would be hard to find Indians to portage my numerous effects around them. The nnwieldiness of a great raft— no small one would serve for us and our stores — in a swift current was constantly pointed out, and I must confess I felt a little discouraged myself when I summed up all these reasons. Why this or the Chilkat route was not attempted long ago by some explorer, who might thereby have traversed the entire river in a single summer, instead of combating its swift current from its mouth, seems singular in the light of the above facts, and I imagine the only explanation is that men who would place sufficient reliance in Indian reports to insert in their maps the gross inaccuracies that we after- ward detected, would rely also upon the Indian reports that from time immemorial have pronounced th's part of the river to be unnavigable even for canoes, creep r for short stretches, and as filled with rapids, canon j, whirl- pools and cascades. After camping that night on the Dajay, bundles were all assorted and assigned. The packs varied from thirty- six to a hundred and thirty-seven pounds in weight, the men generally carrying a hundred pounds and the boys according to their ag*^ and strength. The " Sticks " or Tahk-heesh Indians camped near us were hunting black bear, which were said to be abundant in this locality, an assertion which seemed to be verified by the large num- ber of tracks we saw in the valley. From this band of ■ ■'i '^ OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSL Indians we completed our number of packers, a circTun* stance which irritated the others greatly, for the Chilkats seem to regard the Sticks almost in the light of slaves. Here I also secured a stout, sturdy fellow, at half rates, merely to go along in case of sickness among my numer- ous retinue, in which event he would be put on full wages. His onerous dutes consisted in carrying the guidon, or expedition flag, weighing four or five pounds, and he improvised himself into a ferry for the ".'liite luen at the numerous fords which the tortuous Dayay River pre- sented as we ascended. As every one gave him a nickel or dime at each ford, and the guidon staff was simply a most convenient alpenstock, he was the envy of all the others as he slowly but surely amassed his gains ; not so slowly either, for the river made so many windings from one side of its high walled valley to the other, that his receipts rivaled a western railroad in the matter of mile- age, but the locomotion was scarcely as comfortable as railroad travel. During the still, quiet evening we could hear many grouse hooting in the spruce woods of the hillsides, this time of day seeming to be their favorite hour for concerts. The weather on this, the first day of our trip, was splen- did, with a light southern wind that went down with the sun and gave us a few mist-like sprinkles of rain, serving to cool the air and make si umber after our fatigue doubly agreeable. The head of canoe navigation on the Dayay river, where it terminates abruptly in a huge boiling cas- cade, is ten miles from the mouth of the stream, although fully fifteen are traveled by the canoemen in ascending its tortuous course, which is accomplished by the usual Indian method of "tracking," with ropes and poles from 64 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. the bank of tlie river. I observed that they ** tracked " their ciinoeH a<^ainst the current in two ways, each nietliod requiring two men to one canoe. The diagrams givcj will show these methods ; .\\x No. 1, an Indian pulls the canoe vurh a rope, while a companion just in ^lisrear and following in his steps ke-i ps the head of the canoe in the stream, « ^th a long pole, at just such distance a.* hv> »uiy desire according to the obstivles that lire presented. li" the watei 1/om V.\^ bank for some distance out, say twelve or iifteen feet, is clear of all olstacles, his companion will fall to tie rear as far as his })ole will allow and assist the ropeman by pushing np stream, but in shallow, swift places he has all he can do to regulate the canoe's course through the projecting stones, and the burden of the draft falls on the ropeman. In the other mode both the men use poles and all the motive power is furnished bj^ pushing. The advan- tage over the first is that in "boiling" water full of stones, the bowTnan may steer his end clear of all of these, only to have the seething waters throw the stern against a sharp corner of a rock and tear a hole in that part, an accident which can only be avoided by placing a poleman at the stern. It is readily apparent, however, that there is much more power expended in this method of making headway O < 'A s o < H b O IT. G O H a ■k OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. 67 against the current than in the other. Some few of the Indians judiciously vary the two methods to suit the cir- cumstances. On lor g stretches of only moderately swift water the tired trackers would take turns in resting in the canoe, using a paddle to hold the bow out from the shore. The current of the Dayay is very swift, and two days' "tracking "is often required to traverse the navigable pr.rt of the stream. Every few hundred yards or so the river needs to be crossed, wherever the timber on the banks is dense, or where the circuitous river cuts deep into the high hillsides that form the l.oundaries of its narrow valley. In these crossings from iifty to a hund- red yards would often be lost. The Indians seemed to make no effort whatever to stem the swift current in crossing, but i)ointed the canoe straight across for the other bank and paddled away as if dear life depended on the result. The march of the 8th to Camp 3, brought us within a half mile or a mile of the head of canoe navigation on the river, and here the Indians desired to camp, as at that particular spot there is no dry Svood with which to cook their nieals ; although all they had to cook was the little flour that I had issued, the salmon being dried and eaten without further preparation. The Dayay Valley is well wooded in its bottom with poplar and several varieties of willow, and where these small forests did not exist were endless ridges of sand, gravel and even huge bowl- ders cutting acrosis each other at all angles, evidently the work of wa'ter, assisted at times by the more powerful agency of moving or stranded ire. All day we had been crossing bear tracks of different ages, and after camping some of the white men paddled across the river (here 6B ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER J I # ti thirty-five or forty yards wide) to take a stroll up the valley ; and while returning a large black bear was seen perched on a conspicuous granite ridge of the western mountain wall, probably four hundred yards away and at an angle of twenty degrees above our position in the rivei bottom. A member of the party got two shots at him, but he disappeared in the dense underbrush, evidently afraid that the sportsman might aim at something else and so hit him. Dr. Wilson and Mr, Homan fished with bait and flies for a long distance up and down the differ- ent channels of the river, but could not get a single ' ' rise '* or " bite," although the Indians catch mountain trout in their peculiar fish- weirs, having offered us that very day a number thus captured. Like all streams rising in glacier bearing lands of calcareous structure, its waters are very white and chalky, which may account for the apparent reluctance of the fish to rise to a fiy. The pretty waterfalls on the sides of the mountains still con- tinued and the glaciers of the summits became more numerous and strongly marked, and descended nearer to the bed of the stream. I could not but observe the peculiar manifestations of surprise characteristic of the Ghilkats. Whenever one uttered a shout over some trifle, such as a comrade's slipping on a slimy stone into the water, or tumbling over the root of a log, or any mishap, comical or other, wise, every one within hearing, from two to two hundred, would immediately chime in, and such a cry would ensue as to strike us with astonishment. This maybe repeated several times in a minute, and the abruptness with which it would begin and end, so that not a single distinct voice can be heard at either beginning or ending, reminds one m OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. 69 he en rn at Bomewliat of a gang of coyotes howling around a frontier cau:p or the bayings of Indian dogs on moonlight sere- nades, from which one would be strongly tempted to believe tliey had borrowed it. Withal they are a most happy, merry-hearted and jovial race, laughing hilar- iously at every thing with the least shadow of comicality about it, and " guying" every trifling mishap of a com- panion in wl:ich the sufferer is expected to join, just as the man who chases his hat in a muddy street on a windy day must laugh with the crowd. Such characteristics of good nature are generally supposed to be accompanied by a generous disposition, especially as toward men of the same blood, but I was comjielled to notice an almost cruel piece of selfishness which they exhibited in one point, and which told strongly against any such theory as applied to Indians, or at least this particular band of them. When we got to the mouth of tlie Dayay river, many of the packers had no canoes in which to track their bundles or packs to the head of canoe navigation, and their companions who owned such craft flatly and decisively refused to take their packs, although, as far as I could see, it would have caused them no inconvenience whatever. In many cases this selfishness was the effect of caste, to which I liave already alluded and which with them is carried to an extreme hardly equaled in the social distinctions of any other savage people. Nor was this the only conspicuous instance of selfishness dis- played. As I have already said, the Dayay is ^'^ry tor- tuous, wide and swift, and therefore has very few fords, and these at inconvenient intervals for travelers carry- ing a hundred pounds apiece on their backs, yet the slight service of ferrying the packers and their packs 70 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I I across the stream was refused by the canoemen as rigidly as the other favor, and where the ri /er cut deep into some high projecting bank of the mountain flanks, these unfortunate packers would be forced to carry burdens up over some precipitous mountain spur, or at least to make a long detour in search of available fords. My readers can rest assured that I congratulated myself on having taken along a spare packer in the event of sickness among my numerous throng, for even in such a case I found them as disobliging and imaccommodating as before, utterly refusing to touch a sick man's load until he had promised them the lion' s share of his wages and I had ratified the contract. Every afternoon or evening after getting into camp, no matter how fatiguing the march had been, as soon as their simple meal was cooked and consumed, they would gather here and there in little parties for the purpose of gambling, and oftentimes their orgies would run far into the small hours of the night. The gambling game which they called la-liell was the favorite during the trip over the Chilkoot trail, although I understand that they have others not so complicated. This game requires an even number of players, generally from four to twelve, divided into two parties which face each other. These " teams " continue sitting about two or three feet apart, with their legs drawn up under them, a la Turque, the place selected being usually in sandy ground under the shade of a grove of poplar or willow trees. Each man lays a wagrr with the person directly opposite him, with whom alont he gambles as far as the gain or loss of his stake is concerned, although such loss or gain is determined by the success of the team as a whole. In ovi:r the mountain pass. n other words, when a game terminates one team of course is the winner, but each player wins only the stake put up by his vis-a-vis. A handful of willow sticks, three or four inches long, and from a dozen to a score in num- ber, are thrust in the sand or soft earth, between the two rows of squatting gamblers, and by means of these a sort of running record or tally of the game is kept. The implements actually employed in gambling are merely a couple of small bone-bobbins, as shown on page 227, of about the size ' of a lady's pen-knife, one of which has one or more bands of black cut around it near its center and is called the king, the other being pure white. At the commencement of the game, one of the players picks up the bone-bobbins, changes them rapidly from one hand to the other, sometimes behind his bs^-^k, then again under an apron or hat resting on his lap, duiing ail of which time the whole assembly are singing in a low measured melody the words, "Oh! oh! oh! Oh, kcr-shoo, ker-shoo ! — " which is kept up with their elbows flapping against their sides and their heads swaying to the tune, until some player of the opposite row, thinking he is inspired, and singing with unusual vehemence, suddenly points out the hand of the juggler that, in his belief, contains "the king." If his guess is correct, his team picks up one of the willow sticks and places it on their side, or, if the juggler's team has gained, any one of their sticks must be replaced in the reserve at the center. If he is wrong then, the other side tallies one in the same way. The bone " king and queen " are then handed to an Indian in the other row, and the same performance repeated, although it may be twice as long, or half as short, as no native attempts to discern the I i ! n ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RlVEk. whereabouts of the " king" until he feels he has a revel- ation to that effect, produced by the incantation. A game will last any where from half an hour to three hours. Whenever the game is nearly concluded and one party has gained almost all the willow sticks, or at any other exciting point of the game, they have methods of "doubling up" on the wagers, by not exchanging the bobbins but holding both in one hand or leaving one or both on the ground under a hat or apron, and the guesses are about both and count double, treble or quadruple, for loss or gain. They wager the caps off their heads, their shirts off their backs, and with many of them no doubt, their prospective pay for the trip was all gone before it was half earned. Men and boys alike entered the contest, and from half a dozen places at once, in the woods near by, could be heard the everlasting refrain, the never-ceasing chant of "Oh ! oh ! oh ! Oh ! ker-shoo, ker-shoo!" They used also to improvise hats of birch- bark (wherever that tree grew near the evening camp) with pictures upon the.n that would prohibit their pass- ing through the mails. These habits do not indicate any great moral improvement thus far i^roduced by con- tact with civilization. Two miles and a half beyond the head of canoe navi- gation, the Kiit-lah-cooTc-ah River of the Chilkats comes in from the west. This is really larger in volume and width than the Dayay, the two averaging respectively fifty and forty yards in width by estimation. I short- ened its name, and called it after Professor Nourse of the United States Naval Observatory. Large glaciers feed its sources by numerous waterfalls, and its canon- like bed is very picturesque. Like all such streams its ?r si! *i| L OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. ?ft waters were conspicuously white and milk-like, and the most diligent fisherman was unrewarded. At the head of the Nourse River the Indians say there is a very large lake. The mountains that bound its course on the west are capped by an immense glacier, which might be traced along their summits for probably ten or twelve miles, and was then lost in the lowering clouds of their icy crests. These light fogs are frequent on warm days, when the difference of temperature at the upper and lower levels is more marked, but they disappear at night as the tem- peratures approach each other. This glacier, a glimpse of which is given on page 73, was named after Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. The march of the 9th of June took us three miles and a half up the Dayay River, and while resting, about noon, I was astonished to hear the Indians declare this was their expected camp for the night, for we had really accomplished so little. I was much inclined to anticipate that the rest of the journey was not much worse, and would give a forcible example of the maxim that "dangers disappear as they are approached." The rough manner in which my illusions were dispelled will appear further on. Another inducement to stop at this particular point was found in a small grove of spruce saplings just across the river, which was so dense that eac^ tree trunk tapered as regularly as if it had been turned from a lathe. These they desired for salmon- spears, cutting them on their way over the trail, and col- lecting them as they returned, so as to give the poles a few days to season, thus rendering them lighter for the dextrous work required. These peculiar kinds of fish- spears are so common over all the districts of Arctic and t6 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT lilVEti. 1,1 I ^ .;;l r sub- Arctic America that I think them worthy of S 3 "S > o. r! 3 •J) !■■■■ OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. W drainage from the slopes had made the snow very slushy. Over the level tracks of snow many of the Indians wore their snow-shoes, which in the ascent and steep descent had been lashed to their packs. These Indians have two kinds of snow-shoes, a very broad pair used while pack- ing, as with my party, and a narrower and neater kind emjjloyed while hunting. The two kinds are figured below. This small lake, abruptly walled in, greatly resembled an extinct crater, and such it may well have been. From this re- semblance it received its name of Crater Lake, a view of which figures as the frontis- piece. Here there Avas no timber, not even brush, to be seen ; while the gullies of the granite hills, and the valleys deeply covered with snow, gave, the whole scene a decid- edly Arctic appear- ance. I noticed that my Indian packers, in following a trail on snow, whether it was up hill, on a level, or even a slight descent, always stei>ped in each other's tracks, and hence our large party made a trail that at first glance looked as if only five or six had passed over ; but when going down a steep descent, especially on soft snow, each one made his own trail, and they scat- tered out over many yards in width. I could not but be CHILKAT HUNTING AND PACKING SNOW- SIIOKS. The Tisiiiil tlioiiBH are nscil to fncten them to the feet, butai'orotBliovMi in the lllii»cratiou. 88 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. impressed with the idea that this was worth considering should it ever be necessary to estimate their numbers. Prom the little crater-like lake at the very head of the Yukon, the trail leads through a valley that converges to a gorge ; and while crossing the snow in this ravine we could hear the running water gurgling under the snow bridge on which we were walking. Further down the lit- tle valley, as it opened at a point where these snow- arches were too wide to support their weight, they had tumbled into the stream, showing in many places abut- ments of deep perpendicular snow-banks often twenty to twenty-five feet in height. Where the river banks were of stone and perpendicular the packers were forced to pass over the projecting abutments of snow, undermined by the swift stream. It was hazardous for many to attempt the passage over the frail structure at the same time. Passing by a few small picturesque lakes on our left, some still containing floating cakes of ice, we caught sight of the main lake in the afternoon, and in a few hours were upon its banks at a point where a beautiful mountain stream came tumbling in, with enough swift water to necessitate crossing on a log. Near the Crater Lake a curlew and a swallow were seen, and a small black bear cub was the only other living thing visible, although mountain goats were abundant a short distance back in the high hills. We had gotten into camp quite late in the evening and here the contracts with our Indian packers expired. Imagine my surprise, after a fatiguing march of thir- teen miles that had required fourteen hours to accom- plish, and was fully equal to forty or fifty on any good road, at having the majority of my packers, men and OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASS. boys, demand payment at once with the view of an immediate return. Some of them assured me they would make the mouth of the Dayay before stopping, and would then only stay for a short rest. It should be remembered that we were so far north and the sun so near his north- ern solstice that it was light enough even at midnight, for traveling purposes, especially on the white snow of the worst portion of the journey, Perrier Pass. I had no reason to doubt their assurances, and afterward learned that one of them went through to the mission without stopping, in sjjite of a furious gale which was raging on the Dayay and Chilkoot Inlets. CHAPTER V. ALONG THE LAKES. I ii tN A BTOKM UN THB LAKES. hirge lake near the head of the Yukon I named in honor of Dr. Lindeinan, of the Bremen Geograr' i- cal Society. The country thus far, including the lake, had already re(!eived a most thorough exploration at the hands of Dr. Aurel Krause and Dr. Arthur Krause, two German scientists, heretofore sent out by the above named society, but I was not aware of the fact at that time. Looking out upon Lake Lindeman a most beauti- ful Alpine-like sheet of water was presented to our view. The scene was made more picturesque by the mountain creek, of which I have spoken, and over which a green willow tree was supposed to do duty as a foot-log. My first attempt to pass over this tree caused it to sink down into the rushing waters and was much moi-e interesting to the spectators than to me. Lake Lindeman is about ten miles long, and from one to one and a-half wide, and in appearance is not unlike a portion of one of the broad inland passages of south-eastern Alaska already described. Fish were absent from these glacier-fed streams and lakes, or at least they were not to be enticed by any of the standard allurements of the fishermen's W. ALONG THE LAKES. 91 wiles, but we manag^'d to kill a few dusky grouse and green-winged teal ducks to vary the usual government ration ; though all were tough beyond measure, it being so near their breeding season. Over the lake, on quiet days, were seen many gulls, and the graceful little Arctic tern, which I recognized as an old com])anion on the Atlantic side. A ramble among the woods next day to search for raft timber revealed a number of bear, caribou and other game tracks, but nothing could be seen of their authors. A small flock of pretty harlequin ducks gave us a long but unsuccess- ful shot. The lakes of the interior, of which there were many, bordered by swampy tracts, supplied Roth, our cook, with a couple of green- winged teal, duck and drake, as the reward of a late evening stroll, for, as I have said, it was light enough at midnight to allow us to shoot, at any rate with a shot-gun. While the lakes were in many places bordered with swampy tracts, the land away from them was quite pas- sable for walking, the great obstacle being the large amount of fallen timber that covered the ground in all dii-ections. The area of bog, ubiquitous beyond the Kotusk range, was now confined to the shores of the lakes and to streams emerging from or emptying into them, ar, i while these were numerous enough to a person desir- ji;g to hold a straight course for a considerable distance, the walking was bearable compared with previous experi- ence. Two of the Tahk-heesJi or " Stick" Indians, who had come with us as packers, had stored away in this vicinity under the willows of the lake's beach, a couple of the most dilapidated looking craft that ever were seen. To .0>*. \ V ^ ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lAi|^ |25 lU Ui2 12.2 III U 2.0 ^ 5^ /: % fliotographic Sciences Corporation k*^' \ ^ '^rv\ 23 WfST MAIN STHIT WEBSTH.N.Y. 145M (716) •73-4503 ,*^0 V 5% 98 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. «P I call them canoes, Indeed, was a strain upon our con- sciences. Tlie only tlieory to account for their keeping afloat at all was that of the Irishman in the story, " that for every hole where the water could come in there were a half a dozen where it could run out." These canoes are made of a species of poplar, and are generally called *' Cottonwood canoes;" and as the trees from which they are made are not very large, he material " runs out" so to speak, along the waist or middle of the canoe, where a greater q'mntity is required to reach around, and this deficiency is made up by substituting batten-like strips of thin wood tacked or sewed on as gunwales, and calking the crevices well with gum. At bow and stern some rude attempt is made to warp them into canoe lines, and in doing this many cracks are developed, all of which are smeared with spruce gum. The thin bottom is a perfect gridiron of slits, all closed with gum, and the proportion of gum increases with the canoe's age. These were the fragile craft that were brought to me with a tender to transport my effects (nearly three tons besides the per- sonnel of the expedition) almost the whole length of the lake, fully seven or eight miles, and the owners had the assurance to offer to do it in two days. I had no idea how far it was to the northern end or outlet of Lake Lindeman, as I had spent too many years of my life among Indians to attempt to deduce even an approxi- mate estimate from the assurances of the two •' Siicks " that " it was just around the point of land" to which they pointed and which may have been four or five miles distant. I gave them, however, a couple of loads of material that could be lost without serious damage, weighing three hundred to four hundred pounds, and as i t PI5 ^5 ^ r, if IS o %3. B I 5 tf % C4 ♦ i. ALONG THE LAKES. I did not know the length of the lake I thought I would await thoir return before attempting further progress. Even if they could accomplish the bargain in double the time they proposed I was quite willing to let them pro- ceed, as I understood the outlet of the lake was a narrow river full of cascades and rocks through which, according to Indian report, no raft of more than a few logs could possibly float. 1 did not feel disposed to build a couple of such cumbersome craft to traverse so short a distance. A southern gale setting in shortly after their departure, with waves running on the lake a foot or two high, was too terrible a storm for the rickety little boats, and we did not see any thing of them or their owners until three days later, when the men came creeping back overland — the gale still raging — ^o explain matters which required no explanation. In the meantime, haviitg surmised the failure of our Indian contractors, the best logs available, which were rather small ones of stunted spruce and contorted pine, had been floated down the little stream and had been tracked up and down along the shores of the lake, and a raft made of the somewhat formidable dimensions of fifteen by thirty feet, with an elevated deck amidships. The rope lashings used on the loads of the Indian pack- ers were put to duty in binding the logs together, but the greatest reliance was placed in stout wooden pii:f> which united them by auger holes bored through both, the logs being cut or "saddled out" where they joined, as is done at the comers of log cabins. A deck was made on the corduroy plan of light seasoned pine poles, and high enough to prevent ordinary sized waves from wetting the effects, while a pole was rigged by mortising it into 86 ALONG ALASKA S OF EAT RIVER. one of the central logs at the bottom and supporting it by four guy ropes from the top, and from this was sus- pended a wall tent as a sail, the ridge pole being the yard arm, with tackling arranged to raise and lower it. A large bow and stem oar with which to do the steering completed the rude craft. On the evening of the 14th of June ths raft was finished, when we found that, as a number of us had surmised, it was not of sufficient buoy- ancy to hold all our eflPects as well as the whole party of whites and natives. The next day only three white men, Mr. Homan, Mr. Mcintosh and Corporal Shircliff, were placed in charge. About half the stores were put on the deck, the raft swung by ropes into the swift current of the stream so as to float it well oul into the lake, and as the rude sail was spread to the increasing wind, the primitive craft commenced a journey that was destined to measure over thirteen hundred miles before the rough ribs of knots and bark were laid to rest on the great river, nearly half a thousand miles of whose secrets were given up to geo- graphical science through the medium of her staunch and trusty bones. As she slowly obeyed her motive power, the wind began blowing harder and harder, until the craft «vas pitching like a vessel laboring in an ocean storm ; but despite this the middle of the afternoon saw her rough journey across the angry lake safely com- pleted, and this without any damage to her load worth noticing. The three men had had an extremely hard time of it, and had been compelled to take down their wall tent sail, for when this was lashed down over the stores on the deck to protect them from the deluge of flying spray breaking up over the stern there was ample ALONG THE LAKES. 07 surface presented to the f arious gale to drive them along at a good round pace, especially when near the bold rocky shores, where all their vigilance and muscle were needed to keep them from being dashed to pieces in the rolling breakers. They had started with a half dozen or so good stout poles, but in using them over the rocks on the bottom one would occasionally cramp between a couple of submerged stones and be wrested violently from their hands as the raft swept swiftly by before it could be extricated. The remainder of the personnel^ white and native, scrambled over the rough precipitous mountain spurs on the eastern side of the lake, wading through bog and tangled underbrush, then up steep slippery granite rocks on to the ridge tops bristling with fallen burned timber, or occasionally steadying themselves on some slight log that crossed a deep caiion, whose bed held a rushing stream where nothing less than a trout could live for a minute, the one common suffering every where being from the mosquitoes. The rest of the stores not taken on the raft found their way along slowl} by means of the two dilapidated canoes, previously described, in the hands of our own Indians. As we neared Gamp t, at the outlet of Lake Linde- man, on the overland trail we occasionally met with little openings that might be described by an imaginative per- son as prairies, and for long stretches, that is, two and three hundred yards, the walking would really be pleas- ant. An insx>ection of the locality showed that the lake we had just passed was drained by a small river averaging from fifty to seventy-five feet in width and a little over a mile long. It was for nearly the whole length a rr^peti- 96 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. tion of shallow ropids, shoals, cascades, ngly-looking bowlders, bars and network of drift-timber. At about the middle of its course the worst cascade was split by a huge projecting boM'lder, just at a sudden bend of the stream, and either channv3l was barely large enough to allow the raft to pass if it came end on, and remained so while going through, otherwise it would be sure to jam. Through this narrow chute of water the raft was "shot " the next day — June 16th — and although our predictions were verified at this cascade, a few minutes' energetic work sufficed to clear it, with the loss of a side-log or two, and all were glad to see it towed and anchored alongside the gravelly beach on the new lake, with so little damage received. Here we at once commenced enlarging its dimensions on a scale commensurate with the carrying of our entire load, both personnel and materiel. Around this unnavigable and short river the Indian packers and traders portage their goods when making their way into the interior, there being a good trail on the eastern side of the stream, which, barring a few sandy stretches, connects the two lakes. I called these rapids and the portage Payer Portage, after Lieutenant Payer, of the Austro-Hungarian expedition of 1872-74. By the 17th of Jnne, at midnight, it was light enough to read print, of the size of that before my readers, and so continued throughout the month, except on very cloudy nights. Many bands of pretty harlequin ducks were noticed in the Payer Rapids, which seemed to be their favorite resort, the birds rarely appearing in the lakes, and always near the point at which some swift stream entered the smoother wat«r. Bhujk and brown ALONG THE LAKES. bears and caribou tracks were seen in the valley of a small stream that here came in from the west. This valley was a most picturesque one as viewed from the Payer Portage looking westward, and was quite typical of the little Alpine valleys of this locality. I named it after Mr. Homan, the topographer of the expedition. We were quite fortunate in finding a number of fallen logs, sound, and seasoned, which were much larger than any in our raft, the only trouble being that they were not long enough. All of the large trees tapered rapidly, and at the height of twenty or twenty-five feet a tree vas reduced to the size of the largest of its numer- ous limbs, so that it did not offer surface enough at the small end to use with safety as the side-log or bottom-log of a well-constructed craft. We soon had a goodly number of them sawed in proper lengths, or, at any rate, as long as we could get them, their numerous limbs hacked off, and then, with much labor, we made log- ways through the brush and network of trunks, by means of which we plunged them into the swift river when-they were floated down to the raft's position. One of the delights of this raft-making was our having to stand a greater part of the day in ice-water just off the mountain tops, and in strange contrast with this annoy- ance, the mosquitoes would come buzzing around and making work almost impossible by their attacks upon our heads, while at the same time our feet would be freezing. When the larger logs were secured, they were built into the raft on a plan of fifteen by forty feet ; but, takin;;^ into account the projections outside of the comer pins, the aotual dimensions were sixteen by forty-two. Th'iQ0e we|^ gever afterward changed. i'i 100 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. f,M T .^ elevated decks were now constructed, separated by a lower central space, xvhere two cumbersome oars might be rigged, that made it possible to row the ponder« ous craft at the rate of nearly a mile an hour, and these siu{>-oars were afterward used quite often to reach some camping place on the beach of a lalce when the wind had failed us or set in ahead. The bow and stem steering- oars were still retained, and we thus )iad surplus oars for either service, in case of accident, for the two services were never employed at once under any circumstances. There was only one fault with the new construction, and that was that none of the logs extended the whole length of the raft, and the affair rather resembled a pair of rafts, slightly dove-tailed at the point of union, than a single raft of substantial build. The new lake on which we found ourselves was named Lake Bennett, after Mr. James Gordon Bennett, a well- known patron of American geographical research. While we were here a couple of canoes of the same dilapidated kind as those we saw on Lake Lindeman came down Lake Bennett, holding twice as many Tahk-heesh Indians who begged for work, and whom we put to use in various ways. I noticed that one of them stammered considerably, the first Indian I ever met with an impedi- ment in his speech. Among my Chilkat packers I also noticed one that was deaf and dumb, and several who were afflicted with cataract in the eye, but none were affected with the lat- ter disease to the extent I had observed among the Es- kimo, with whom I believe it is caused by repeated at- tacks of snow-blindness. On the summits of high mountains to the right, or Il^^^_l ^ If inKs I Aijoifo Ttii! LAkis. 106 i-nstward of Lake Bennett, were the familiar blue-ice glaciers, but in charming relief to these. were the red rocks and ridges that protruded amid them. Specimens of rocks very similar in col .i 'vere found on the lake beach and in the terminal mor.i aes of the little glaciers that came down the gul'^bcb, and these having shown iron as their coloring n/j'Ler, Igave to this bold range the name of the Iron-capped Mng logs to run the whole lengtli of the raft, a search in which we were conspicuously successful, for the tim- bei* skirting the little cove was the largest and best adapted for raft repairing of any we saw for many hundred miles along the lakes. Pour quite large trees were found, and all the next day, the 20th, was occu- pied in cutting them down, clearing a way for them through the timber to the shore of the lake, and prying, pulling, and pushing them there, and then incorporating them into the raft. Two were used for the side logs and two for the center, and when we had finished our task it was evident that a much needed improvement had been made. It was just made in time, too, for many of our tools were rapidly going to pieces ; the last auger had slipped the nut that held it in the handle, so that it ALONG TilE LA^E^ VHt could not be withdrawn from the logs to clear it of the shavings, but a small hand-vise was firmly screwed on as a substitute, and this too lost its hold and fell overboard on the outer edge of the raft in eight or ten feet of water, and ice-water at that. A magnet of fair size was lashed on the end of a long j)ole, and we fished for the invisible implement, but without avail. "Billy" Dick- inson, our half-breed Chilkat interpreter, of his own free will and accord, then stripped himself and dived down into the ice-cold water and discovered t'lat near the spot where it had sunk was a precipitous bank of an unknown depth, down which it had probably rolled, otherwise the magnet would have secured it. Other means were employed and we f ot along with- out it. The day we spent in repairing the raft a good, strong, steady wind from the south kept us all day in a state of perfect irritation at the loss of so much good motive power, but we consoled ourselves by observing that it did us one service at least — no mean one, however — in keeping the mosquitoes quiet during our labors. Across Lake Bennett to the north-westward was a very prominent cape, brought out in bold relief by the valley of a picturesque strea m, which emptied itself j ust beyond. I called it Prejevalsky Point after the well-known Rus- sian explorer, while the stream was called Wheaton River after Brevet Major-General Frank Wheaton, U. S. Army, at the time commanding the Military Department (of the Columbia) in which Alaska is comprised, and to whose efforts and generosity the ample outfit of the expedition was due. On the Slst we again started early, with a good breeze I? 108 ALONG ALASKA'S OttEAT RtVEtt. behind us that on the long stretches gave us quite heavy seas, which tested the raft very thoroughly, and with a result much to our satisfaction. It no longer conformed to the surface of the long swelling waves, but remained rigidly intact, the helmsman at the steering oar getting consider- ably splashed as a consequence. The red roc^ks and ridges of the ice-covered mountain tops that I have men- tioned finally culminated in one bold, beetling pinnacle, well isolated from the rest, and quite noticeable for many miles along the lake from either direction. This I named Richards' Kock, after Vice- Admiral Richards, of the Royal Navy. The country was becoming a little more open as we neared the northern end of Lake Ben- nett, and, indeed, more picturesque in its relief to the monotonous grandeur of the mountain scenery. Lake Bennett is thirty miles long. At its north-western ex- tremity a couple of streams disembogue, forming a wide, flat and conspicuous valley that, as v^e approached it, we all anticipated would prove our outlet. Several well marked conical buttes spring from this valley, and these with the distant mountains give it a very picturesque appearance, its largest river being sixty to seventy-five yards wide, but quite shallow. It received the name of Watson Valley, for Professor Sereno Watson, of Har- vard University. About five o'clock the northern end or outlet of the lake was reached. As the sail was lowered, and we entered a river from one hundred to two hundred yards wide, and started forward a," a speed of three or four miles an hour — a pace which seemerl t V' diest of all Indians, in compliance with the rule that prevails in most countries, by which the hur.i^r excels the fisherman, but this does not seem to be the case along this great river. Here, indeed, it appears that the further down the stream the Indian lives, and the more he subsists on fish, the hardier, the more robust, the more self-asserting and impudent he becomes. After prying our raft off the soft mud flat we again spread our sail for the beach of the little lake and went into camp, after having been on the water (or in it) foi over thirteen hours. The country was now decidedly more open, and it was evident that we were getting out of the mountains. Many level spots appeared, the hills were less steep and the snow was melting from their tops. Pretty wild rose- blossoms were found along the banks of the beach, with many wild onions with which we stuffed the wrought- iron grouse that we killed, and altogether there was a general change of verdure for the better. There were even a number of rheumatic grasshioppers which feebly jumped along in the cold Alpine air, as if to tempt us to go fishing, in remembrance of the methods of our boy- hood's days, and in fact every thing that we needed for that recreation was to be had except the fish. Although this lake (Lake Nares, after Sir George Nares) was but three or four miles long, its eastera trend delayed us three days before we got a favorable wind, the banks not being good for tracking the raft. Our old friend, the steady summer south wind, still continued, but was really a hindrance to our progress on an eastern course. Although small. Lake Nares was one of the prettiest in the lacustrine chain, owing to the greater openness of ALONG THE LAKES. Ut country on its banks. Grand terraces stretching in beautiful symmetry along each side of the lake plainly showed its ancient levels, these terraces reaching neai-ly to the tops of the hills, and looking as if some huge giant had used them as stairways over the mountains. Similar but less conspicuous terraces had been noticed on the northern shores of Lake Bennett. Although we could catch no fish while fishing with bait or flies, yet a number of trout lines put out over night in Lake Nares rewarded us with a largo salmon trout, the first fisb we had caught on the trip. I have spoken of the delay on this little lake on account of its eastward trend, and the next lake kept up the unfavor- able course, and we did not get off this short eastern stretch of ten or fifteen miles for five or six days, so baffling was the wind. Of course, these protracted delays gave us many chances for rambles around the country, some of which we improved. Everywhere we came in contact with the grouse of these regions, all of them with broods of varying num- bers, and while the little chicks went scurrying through the grass and brush in search of a hiding place, the old ones walked along in front of the intruder, often but a few feet away, seemingly less devoid of fear than the common barn fowls, although probably they had never heard a shot fired. The Doctor and I sat down to rest on a large rock with a perturbed mother .grouse on another not over three yards away, and we could inspect her plumage and study her actions as well as if she had been in a cage. The temptation to kill them was very great after having been 80 long without fresh meat, a subsistence the appetite 112 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. loudly demands in the rough out -of -door life of an explorer. A mess of them ruthlessly destroyed by our Indian hunters, who had no fears of the game law, no sportsman's qualms of conscience, nor in fact compassion of any sort, lowered our desire to zero, for they were tougher than leather, and as tasteless as shavings ; and after that first mess we were perfectly willing to allow them all the rights guaranteed by the game laws of lower latitudes. Quite a number of marmots werf> seen by our Indians, and the hillsides were dotted with their holes. The Indians catch them for fur and food (in fact, every thing living is used by the Indians for the latter purpose) by means of running nooses put over their holes, which choke the little animal to death as he tries to quit his underground home. A finely split raven quill, running the whole length of the rib of the feather, is used for the noose proper, and the instant this is sprung it closes by its own flexibility. The rest is a sinew string tied to a bush near the hole if one be convenient, otherwise to a peg driven in the ground. Sometimes they employ a little of the large amount of leisure time they have *m their CiBVBD PINS 1«B FASTENING 41 A It KOT SNABES. ALONG THE LAKES. m hands in catting these pegs into fanciful and totemic designs, although in this respect the Sticks, as in everv thing else pertaining to the savage arts, are usually muc h inferior to the Chilkatsin these displays, and the illustra- tions give on page 112 are characteristic rather of the latter tribe than of the former. Neai'ly all the blankets of this Tahk-heesh tribe of Indians are made from these marmot skins, and they are exceedingly light considering their ivarmth. Much of the warmth, however, is lost by the ventilated condition in which the wearers maintain them, as it costs labor to mend them, but none to sit around and shiver. The few Tahk-heesh who had been camped near us at Caribou Crossing suddenly disappeared the night after we camped on the little lake, and as our "gum canoe" that we towed along behind the raft and used for emer- gencies, faded from view at the same eclipse, we were forced to associate the events together and set these fellows down as subject to kleptomania. Nor should I be too severe either, for the canoe had been picked up by us on Lake Lindeman as a vagrant, and it certainly looked the character in every respect, therefore we could not show the clearest title in the world to the dilapidated craft. It was a very fortunate circumstance that we were not worried for the use of a canoe afterward until we could purchase a substitute, although we hardly thought such a thing possible at the time, so much had we used th*» one that ran away with our friends. The 23d of June we got across the little lake (Nares), the wind dying down as we went through its short drain- ing river, having made only three miles. The next day, th^ 24th, the wind seemed to keep swing- Ii4 ALONG ALASKA'S ORE AT RIVER. ing around in a circle, and although we made five miles, I think we made as many landings, so often did the wind fail us or set in ahead. This new lake I called after Lieutenant Bore of the Ital- ian navy. Here too, the mountainous shores were carved into a series of terraces rising one above tlie other, which probably indicated the ancient beaches of the lake when its outlet was closed at a much higher level than at present, and when great bodies of ice on their surface plowed up the beach into these terraces. This new lake was nine miles long. The next day again we had the same fight with a battling wind from half past six in the morning nntil after nine at night, nearly seventeen hours, but we managed to make twelve miles, and better than all, regain our old course pointing northward. During one of these temporary landings on the shores of Lake Bove our Indians amused themselves in wasting government matches, articles which they had never seen in such profusion before, and in a little while they suc- ceeded in getting some dead and fallen spruce trees on fire, and these communicating to the living ones above them, soon sent up great billows of dense resinous smoke that must have been visible for miles, and which lasted for a number of minutes after we had left. Before camp- ing that evening we could see a very distant smoke, appar- ently six or seven miles ahead, but really ten or twenty, which our Indians told us was an answering smoke to them, the Tahk-heesh, who kindled the second fire, evi- dently thinking that they were Chilkat traders in their country, this being a frequent signal among them as a means of announcing their approach, when engaged in trading. It was worthy of note as marking the ex.rst- ! ALONG THE LAKES. 115 •nee of this primitive method of signaling, so common among some of the Indian tribes of the plains, among these far-oif savages, but I was unable to ascertain whether they earned it to such a degree of intri- cacy with respect to the different meanings of compound smokes either us to number or relative intervals of time or space. It is very doubtful if they do, as the necessity for such complex signals can hardly arise. This new lake on which we had taken up our northward course, and which is about eighteen miles long, is called by the Indians of the country Tahk-o (each lake and connecting length of river hasa different name with them), and, I understand, receives a river coming in from the south, which, followed up to one of its sources, gives a mountain pass to another river emptying into the inland estuaries of the Pacific Ocean. It is said by the Indians to be smaller than the one we had just come over, and therefore we might consider that wc /ere on the Yukon proper thus far. Lake Tahk-o and Lake Bove are almost a single sheet, separated only by a narrow strait formed by a point of remarkable length (Point Perthes, after Justus Perthes of Gotha), which juts nearly across to the opposite shore. It is almost covered with limestones, some of them almost true marble in their whiteness, a circumstance which gives a decided hue to the cape even when seen at a distance. Leaving the raft alongside the beach of Lake Tahk-o at our only camping place on it (Camp No. 13), a short stroll along its shores revealed a great number of long, well- trimmed logs that strongly resembled telegraph poles, and would have sold for those necessary nuisances in a I'S, Ul 'i I 'ft 'I 11« ALONO ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. ti ',\ J fit 'R », civilized country. They were finally made out to be the logs used by the Indians in rafting down the stream, and well-triinmed by constant attrition on the rough rocky beaches while held there by the storms. Most of these were observed on the northern shores of the lakes, to whi'jh the current through them, slight as it was, coiii>led with the prevailing south wind, naturally drifts them. I afterward ascertained that rafting was LOOKIXO ACROSS LAKE BOVB FROM TERTUES POINT. Field Peak In the far distance. (Named for Hon. David Dudley Field.) quite a usual thing along the head waters of the Yukon, and that we were not pioneers in this rude art by any means, although we had thought so from the direful prognostications they were continually making as to our probable success with our own. The "cotton wood" canoes already referred to are very scarce, there prob- ably not existing over ten or twelve along the whole length of the upper river as far as old Fort Selkirk. Many of their journeys up the swift stream are performed ALONG THF LAKK8. iir by the natives on foot, carrying their limited necessitle-T on their baclis. Upon tlieir return a small raft of from two to six or eight logs is made, and they float down with the current in the streams, and pole and sail across the lakes. By comparing these logs with tele- graph poles one has a good idea (f the usual size of the timber of these districts. The scarcity of good wooden cau'jes is also partially explained by this smallne^s of the logs ; while birch bark can -s are unknown on the Yukon until the neighborhood of old Fort Selkirk is reached. This same Lake Tahk-o, or probably some lake very near it, had been reached by an intrepid miner, a Mr. Byrnes, then in the employ of the Western Union Tele- graph Company. Many of my readers are probably not acquainted with the fact that this corporation, at about the close of our civil war, conceived the grand idea of uniting civilization in the eastern and western conti- nents by a telegraph line running by way of Bering's Straits, and that a great deal of the preliminary sur- veys and even a vast amount of the actual work had been completed when the success of the Atlantic cable put a stop to the project. The Yukon River had been carefully examined from its mouth as far as old Fort Yukon (then a flourishing Hudson Bay Company post), some one thousand miles from the mouth, and even roughly beyond, in their interest, although it had previ- ously been more or less known to the Russian- American ani Hudson Bay trading companies. Mr. Byrnes, a pra tical miner from the Caribou mines of British Co' ambia, crossed the Tahk-o Pass, already cited, got on one of the sources of the Yukon, and as near as can be made out, des^^ended it to the vicinity of the lake 118 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. m ^- m !' n if II ! of which I am writing. Here it appears he was recalled by a courier sent on his trail and dispatched by the telegraph company, who were now mournfully assist- ing in the jubilee of the Atlantic cable's success, and he retraced his steps over the river and lakes, and returned to his former occupation of mining. Whether he ever furnished a map and a description of his journey, so that it could be called an exploration, I do not know, but from the books which purport to give a description of the country as deduced from hif travels, I should say not, considering their great inac- curacy. One book, noticing his travels, and purporting to be a faithful record of the telegraph explorers on the American side, said that had Mr. Byrnes continued his trip only a day and a half further in the light birch- bark canoes of the country, he would Lave reached old Fort Selkirk, and thus completed the exploration of the Yukon. Had he reached the site of old Fort Selkirk, he certainly would have had the credit, had he recorded it, however rough his notes may have been, but he would never have done so in the light birch-bark canoes of the country, for the conclusivG reason that they do not exist, as already stated ; and as to doing it in a day and a half, our measurements from Lake Tahk-o to Fort Selkirk show nearly four hundred and fifty miles, and observations prove i that the Indians seldom exceed a journey of s. k hours in their crampec* wooden craft, so that his progress v/ould necessarily have demanded a speed of nearly fifty miles an hour. At this rate of canoeing along the whole river, across Bering Sea and up the Amoor River, the telegraph com- pany need not have completed their line along this part, I ALONG THE LAKES. 119 but might simply liave turned their dispatch over to these rapid courier-s, and they would have only been a few hours behind the telegraph dispatch if it had been tvorked aa slowly as it is now in the interest of the public. We passed out of Lake Tahko a little after tv o o'clock In the afternoon of the 26th of June, and entered the first considerable stretch of river that we had yet met with on the trip, about nine miles long. We quitted the river at five o'clock, which was quite an iniprovement an our lake traveling even at its best. The first part of this short river stretch is full of dangerous rocks and bowlders, as is also the lower portion of Tahko Lake. On the right bank of the river, about four miles from the entrance, we saw a tolerably well-built "Stick" Indian houae. Near it in the water was a swamped Indian canoe which one of our natives bailed out in a manner as novel as it was effectual. Grasping it on one side, and about the center, a rocking motion, for-, and aft, was kept up, the bailer waiting until the recurrent wave was just striking the depressed end of the boat, and as this was repeated the canoe was slowly lifted until it stood at his waist with not enough water in it to sink an oyster can. This occiipied a space of time not much greater than it has taken to relate it. This house was deserted, but evidently only for a while, as a great deal of its owner's material of the chase and the fishery was still to be seen hanging inside on the rafters. Among these were a great number of dried salmon, one of the staple articles of food that now begin to appear on this part of the great river, nearly two thousand miles from its mouth. This salmon, when dried Defore putrefaction in 120 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. sets in, is tolerable, ranking somewhere between lim- burger cheese and walrus hide. Collecting some of it occasionally from Indian fishermen as we floated by, we would use it as a lunch in homeopathic quantities until some of us got so far as to imagine that we really liked it. If smoked, this salmon is quite good, but by far the larger amount is dried in the open air, and, Indian like, the best is first served and soon disappears. Floating down the river, and coming near any of the low marshy points, we were at once visited by myriads of small black gnats which formed a very unsolicited addition to the million' of mosquitoes, the number of which did not diminish in the least as v:e descended the river. The only protection from them was in being well out from land, with a good wind blowing, or when forced to camp on shore a heavy resinous smoke would often disperse a large part of them. When we camped that evening on the new lake the signal smoke of the Tahk-heesh Indians — if it was one- was still burning, at least some six or seven miles ahead of us, which showed how much we had been mistaken in estimating its distance the day before. A tree has some- thing definite in its size, and even a butte or mountain peak has something tangible on which a person can base a calculation for distance, but when one comes down to a distant smoke I think the greatest indefiniteness has been reached, especially when one wants to estimate it» distance. I had often observed this before, when on the plains, where it is still worse than in a hilly country, where one can at least perceive that the smoke is beyond the hill, back of whic^ it rises, but when often looking down an open river valley no such indications are to be ALONG THE LAKES. in had. I remember when traveling through the sand hills of western Nebraska that a smoke which was variously estimated to be from eight to twelve or possibly fifteen miles away took us two days' long traveling in an frmy ambulance, making thirty-five or forty miles a day, as the winding road ran, to reach its site. The shores of the new lake — which I named Lake Marsh, after Professor O. C. Marsh, a well-known scientist of our country — was composed of all sizes of LOOKING SOITTHWARD FROM CAMP 14 ON LAKK HARSH On the left Ic the Vahko PasB, on tlie right the Yukon Paes In the mountains, directly over the point of laml. ile.wcen tbU point and the Tiikon Pass cao be seen the Yakoc River coming into the lake, clay stones jumbled together in confusion, and where the water had reached and beat upon them it had reduced them to a sticky clay of the consistency of thick mortar, not at all easy to walk through. This mire, accompanied by a vast quantity of mud brought down by the streams that emanated from giinding glaciers, and vhich could be distinguished by the whiter color and impalpable character of its ingredients, nearly filled the new lake, at least for wide strips along tlie shores where it had been driven by the storms. Although drawing a littla '■ f mm^m L22 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. i! 1} I t ■■ ! ^ less than two feet of water, the raft struck several times at distances from the shore of from fifty to a hundred yards, and the only alternative was to wade ashore in our rubber boots (the soft mud being deeper than the water itself) and tie the raft by a long line whenever we wanted to camp. One night, while on this lake, a strong inshore breeze coming up, our raft, while unloaded, was gradually lifted by the incoming high waved, and brought a few inches further at a time, until a number of yards had been made. The next morning when loaded and sunk deep into the mud, the work we had to pry it off is more easily imagined than described, but it taught us a lesson that we took to heart, n T +hereaf ter a friendly prod or two with a bar was generally given at the ends of the cumbersome craft to pry it gradually into deeper water as the load slowly weighed it down. When the wind was blowing vigorously from some quarter — and it was only when it was blowing that we could set sail and make any progress — these shallow mud banks would tinge the water over them with a dirty white color that was in strong contrast with the clear blue water over the deeper portion, and by closely watching this well-defined line of demarcation when under sail, we could make out the most favorable points at which to reach the bank, or approach it as nearly as possible. Tliis clear-cut outline between the whitened water within its exterior edges and the deep blue water beyond, showed in many places an extension of the deposits of from four hundred to five hundred yards from the beach. It is probable that the areas of water may vary in Lake Marsh at different aen-sons sufficiently to lay bare these mud banks, or cover ALONG THE LAKES. them so as to be navigable for small boats ; but at the time of our visit there seemed to be a most wonderful uniformity in the depth of the water over them in every part of the lake, it being about eighteen inches. Camping on the lakes was ' generally quite an easy affair. There was always plenty of wood, and, of course, water everywhere, the clear, cold mountain springs occurring every few hundred yards if the lake water was too muddy ; so that about all that we needed was a dry place large enough to pitch a couple of tents for the white people and a tent fly for the Indians, but simple as the latter seemed, it was very often quite difficult to obtain. It was seldom that we found places where tent pins could be driven in the ground, and v/lien rocks large enough to do duty as pins, or fallen timber or brush for the same purpose could not be had, we gener- ally put the tent under us, spread our blankets upon it, crawled in and went to sleep. The greatest comfort in pitching our tent was in keeping out the mosquitoes, for then we could spread our mosquito bars with some show of success, although the constantly recurring light rains made us often regret that we had made a bivouac, not particularly on account of the slight wettings we got, but because of our constant fear that the rain was going to be much worse in reality than it ever proved to be. I defy any one to sleep in the open air with only a blanket or two over him and have a great black cloud sprinkle a dozen drops of rain or so in his face and not imagine the deluge was coming next. I have tried it off and on for nearly twenty years, and have not got over the feeling yet. If, after camping, a storm threatened, a couple of stout skids were placed fore and aft under 1S4 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I ; |]< I: I II- m ■i the logs of the raft nearest the shore to prevent their breaking off as they bumped on the beach in the waves of the surf, a monotonous music that lulled us to sleep on many a stormy night. The baggage on the raft, like that in an army wagon or upon a pack train of mules, in a few days so assorted itself that the part necessary for the night's camping was always the handiest, and but a few minutes were required after landing antil the even- ing meal was ready. So important was it to make the entire length of the river (over 2000 miles) within the short interval between the date of our starting and the probable date of depart- ure of the last vessel from St. Michaels, near the mouth of the river, that but little time was left for rambles through the country, and much as I desired to take a hunt inland, and still more to make an examination of the country at various points along the great river, I constantly feared that by so doing I might be compro- mising our chances of getting out of the country before winter should effectually foibid it. Therefore, from the very start it was one constant fight against time to avoid such an unwished for contingency, and thus we could avail ourselves of but few opportunities for exploring the interior. On the 28th of June a fair breeze on Lake Marsh con- tinuing past sunset (an unusual occurrence), we kept on our way until well after midnight before the wind died out. At midnight it was light enough to read common print and I spent some time about then in working out certain astronomical observations. Venus was the only star that was dimly visible in the unclouded sky. Lake Marsh was the first water that we could trust in which to ALONG THE LAKES. U5 take a bath, and even there — and for that matter it was the same along the entire river — bathing was only possi- ble on atill, warm, sunny days. Below old Fort Selkirk on the Yukon, at the mouth of the White River (so-called on account of its white muddy water), bathing is almost undesirable on account of the large amount of sediment contained in the water ; its swift current allowing it to hold much more than any river of the western slope known to me, while its muddy banks furnish a ready base of supplies. Its temperature also seldom reaches the point that will allow one to plunge in all over with any degree of comfort. One an . noyance in bathing in Lake Marsh during the warmer hours of the day was the jjresence of a large fly, some- what resembling the "horse-fly," but much larger and inflicting a bite that was proportionately more severe. These flies made it necessary to keep constantly swinging a towel in the air, and a momentary cessation of this exertion might be punished by having a piece bitten out of one that a few days later would look like an incipi- ent boil. One of the party so bitten was completely disabled for a week, and at the moment of infliction it was hard to believe that one was not disabled for life. With these "horse" flies, gnats and mosquitoes in such dense profusion, the Yukon Valley is not held up as a paradise to future tourists. The southern winds which had been blowing almost continuously since we first spread our sail on Lake Lin- deman, and which had been our salvation while on the lakes, must prevail chiefly in this region, as witness the manner in which the spruce and pine trees invariably lean to the northward, especially where their isolated mi m ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEB. I condition an ? approached the lake's outlet. Most of this mud was probably deposited by a large river, the McClintock (in honor of Vice-Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock, R. N.), that here comes in from the north- east — a river so large that we were in some doubt as to its being the outlet, until its current settled the matter by carrying us into the proper channel. A very con- spicuous hill, bearing north-east from Lake Marsh, was named Michie Mountain after Professor Michie of West Point. ii CHAPTER VI. A OHAPTEK ABOUT KAFTINO. -z^^i^'m ' SNUBBING " THE RAFT. AKE Marsh gave us four days of variable sailing on its waters, when, on the 29th of June, we emerged from it and once more felt the exhilaration of a rapid course on a swift river, an exhila- ration that was not allowed lo die rapidly away, by reason of the great amount of exercise we had to go through in managing the raft in its many eccentric phases of navigation. On the lakes, whether in storm or still weather, one man stationed at the stern oar of the raft had been sufficient, as long as he kept awalie, nor was any great harm done if he fell asleep in a quiet breeze, but once on the river an additional oarsman at the bow sweep was impera- tively needed, for at short turns or sudden bends, or when nearing half-sunken bowlders or tangled masses of driftwood, or bars of sand, mud or gravel, or vhile steering clear of eddies and slack water, it was often necessary to do some very lively work at both ends of the raft in swinging the ponderous contrivance around to r X88 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. avoid these obstacles, and in the worst cases two or three other men assisted the oarsmen in their difficult task. Just how much strength a couple of strong men could put on a steering sweep was a delicate matter to gauge, and too often in the most trying places our experiments in testing the questions were failures, and with a sharp snap the oar would part, a man or two would sit down violently without stopping to pick out the most luxur- ious places, and the craft like a wild animal unshaclded would go plowing through the fallen timber that lined the banks, or bring up on the bar or bowlder we had been working hard to avoid. We slowly became practi- cal oar makers, however, and toward the latter part of the journey had some crude but effective implements that defled annihilation. As we leisurely and lazily crept along the lakes some- body woald be driving away ennui by dressing down pins with a hatchet, boring holes with an auger anc" driving pins mth an ax, until by the time the lakes *vere all passed I believe that no two logs crossed each other in the raft that were not securely pinned at the point of juncture with at least one pin, and if the logs were large ones with two or three. In this manner our vessel was as solid as it was possible to make such a crait. and would bring up against a bowlder with a shock and swing dizzily around in a six or seven raiie current with no more concern than if it were a slab in a mill race. I believe I have made the remark in a previous chap- ter that managing a raft — at least our method of manag- ing a raft — on a lake was a tolerably simple affair, especially with a favorable wind, and to tell the truth, one lan not manage it at all except with a favorable ,. A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. 188 vnnd. It was certainly the height of simplicity Avhen compared with its navigation upon a river, although at first sight one might perhaps think the reverse ; at least I had thought so, and from the conversation of the whites and Indians of south-eastern Alaska, I knew that their opinions coincided with mine ; but I was at length com- pelled to hold differently from them in this matter, as in many others. Especially was this navigation difficult on a swift river like the Yukon, and I know of none that can mai.;*'iin a flow of more even rapidity from source to mouth than this great stream. It is not very hard to keep a raft or any floating object in the center of the current of a stream, even if left alone at times, but the number of things which present themselves from time to time to drag it out of this channel seems marvel- ous. Old watermen and rafting lumbermen know that while a river is rising it is hard to keep the channel, even the driftwood created by the rise clinging to the shores of the stream. Accordingly they are anxious for the moment when this driftwood begins to float along the main current and out in the middle of the stream, for then they know the water is subsiding, and from that point it requires very little effort to keep in the swiftest current. Should this drift matter be equally distributed over the running water it is inferred that the river is at " a stand-still," as the^ say. An adept can closely judge of the variations and stage of water by this means. In a river with soft or earthy banks (and in going the whole length of tlie Yukon, over two thousand miles, we saw several" varieties of shores), the swift current, in m i f ; 134 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. which one desires to keep when the current is the motive power, nears the shores only at points or curves, where it digs out the ground into steep perpendicular banks, which if at all high make it impossible to find a camp- ing place for the night, and out of this swift carisnt. the raft had to be rowed to secure a camp at eve /wft ile breaking camp next morning we had to wo., i, ^a,ck into the current again. Nothing co. id be more aggra- AHONG TUB SWEEPERS. vating than after leaving this swift cniTent tc find a camp, as evening fell, to see no possible chance for such a place on the side we had chosen and to go crawling alohg in slack water while trees and brushes swept rapidly past borne on thu swift waters we had quitted. If the banks of a river are wooded — an''^ nt. stream en/ show much denser growth on its shores th ^ i,iie Yukuu — the trees thnt are constantl y tumbling in from these placet* that are being undermined, and yet banging on by their roots, form a so'ies of cJu't uvx defrist oi ahatis, to which is given the backwoods cogn'>men -uni- stances had to be taken into account in order to solve this apparently simple problem. If we could determine at what point in the upper end of the island the current was parted upon either side (and at any gTeat distance this was often quite as difficult a problem as the other), one could often make a correct guess by projecting a tree directly beyond and over this point against the distant hills. If the tree crept along these hills to the right, the raft might pass to the left of the island, and vice versa ; this would certainly happen if the current was not de- flected by some bar or shoal between the raft and the island. And such shoals and bars of gravel, sand and mud are very frequent obstructions in front of an island — at least it was so on the Yukon — indeed the coinci- dence was too frequent to _ j without significance. These bars and shoals were not merely prolongations from the upper point of the island, but submerged islands, so to speak, just in front of them, and between the two a steamboat could probably pass. Using tail trees as guides to indicate on which side of the island the raft might pass was, as I have said, not so easy as appears at first sight, for unless the tree could be made out directly over the dividing point of the current, all surmises were of little value. The tall spruce trees on the rignt and left flanks of the island in sight were always the most con- spicuous, being fewer in number, and more prominent in their isolation, than the dense growth of the center of the iu: A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. 189 island, as it was seen "'end on ".from above. People were very prone to use these convenient reference marlcs in malting their calculations, and one can readily perceive when the trees were near and the island fairly wide, both of the outer trees would appear to diverge in approaching, and according as one selected the right or the left of the two trees, one would infer that our course was to the left or right of the island. As one stood on the bow — as we always called the down-stream end of the raft, although it was shaped no differently from the stem — and looked forward on the water flowing along, the imagination easily conceives that one can follow up from that position to almost any thirg ahead and see the direction of the current leading straight for it. Eddies and slack cur- rents, into which a raft is very liable to swing as it rounds a point with an abrupt turn in the axis of the current, are all great nuisances, for though one may not get into the very heart of any of them, yet the sum total of delay in a day's drift is often considerable, and by a little careful management in steering the raft these troubles may nearly always be avoided. Of course, one is often called upon to choose between these and other impediments, more or less aggravating, so that one's attention is constantly active as the raft drifts along. In a canal-like stream of uniform width, which gives little chance for eddies or slack water — and the upper Yukon has many long stretches that answei to this description — every thing goes along smoothly enough until along toward evening, when the party wishes to go into camp while the river is tearing along at four or five miles an hour. I defy any one who has never been similarly situated, to have any adequate concei)tion of I i 140 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I J' -I the wjty in which a ponderous vessel like our raft, con- structed of large logs and loaded with four or five tons of cargo and crew, will bring up against any obstacle while going at this rate. If there are no eddies into which it can be rowed or steered and its progress thereby stopped or at least slackened, it is very hard work indeed to go into camp, for should the raft strike end on, a side log or two may be torn out and the vessel transformed by the shock into a lozenge-shaped affair. Usually, under these circumstances, we would bring the raft close in shore, and with the bow oar hold its head ¥r> well out into the stream, while with the steering oar the stern end would be thrown against the bank and there held, scraping along as firmly as two or three men could do it (see diagram above), and this frictional brake would be kept up steadily until we slowed down a little, when one or two, or even half-a-dozen persons would jump ashore at a favorable spot, and with a rope complete the slackening until it would warrant our twisting the rope around a tree on the bank and a cross log on the raft, when from both places the long rope would be slowly I A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. 141 allowed to pay out under strong and increasing friction, or "snubbing" as logmen call it, and this would bring the craft to a standstill in water so swift as to boil up over the stern logs, whereupon it would receive a series of snug lashings. If the position was not favorable for camping we would slowly "drop" the craft down stream b ~ cneans of the rope to some better site, never allowing her to proceed at a rate of speed that we could not readily control. If, however, we were unsuccessful in making our chosen camping ground and had drifted below it, there was not sulHcient power in our party, nor even in the strongest rope we had, ever to get the craft up stream in the average current, whether by tracking or any other means, to the intended spot. Good camping places were not to be had in every stretch of the river, and worse than all, they had to be selected a long way ahead in order to be able to make them, with our slow means of navigation, from the middle of the broad river where we usually were. Oftentimes a most acceptable place would be seen just abreast of it, having until then been concealed by some heavily wooded spur or point, and then of course it would be too late to reach it with our slow craft, while to saunter along near shore, so as to take immediate advantage of such a possible spot, was to sacrifice a good deal of our rapid progress. To run from swift into slacker water could readily be accomplished by simply pointing the craft in the direction one wanted to go, but th3 reverse process was not so easy, at least by the same method. I suppose the proper way to manage so clumsy a concern as a raft, would be by means of side oars and rowing it end on (and '^his we did on the lakes in u» ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RTVER. ;'.:( making a camp or in gaining the shore when a head wind set in), but as ou^ two oars at bow and stem were the most convenient for the greater part of the work, we Ubod them entirely, always rowing our bundle of logs broadside on to the point desired, provided that no bars or other obstacles interfered. We generally kept the bow end inclined to the shore that we were trying to reach, a plan that was of service, as I have shown, in passing from swift to slack water, and in a three mile current by using our oars rowing broadside on we could keep at an angle of about thirty degrees from the axis of the stream as we made shoreward in this position. The knowledge of this fact enabled us to make a rough calculation as to the point at which we should touch the bank. The greater or less swiftness of the current would of course vary this angle and our calculations accord- ingly. Our bundles of effects on the two corduroy decks made quite high piles fore and aft, and when a good strong wind was blowing — and Alaska in the summer is the land of wind — we had by way of sail power a spread of broadside area that was incapable of being lowered. More frequently than was pleasant the breeze carried us along under "sweepers " or dragged us over bars or drove us down unwelcome channels of slack water. In violent gales we were often actually held against the bank, all movement in advance being effectually checked, A mild wind was ahvays welcome, for in the absence of a breeze when approaching the shore the musquitoes made exist- ence burdensome. During hot days on the wide open river — singular as it may seem so near the Arctic Circle — the sun would A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. 148 strike down from overhead with a blistering effect and a bronzing effect from its reflection in the dancing waters that nmde one feel as though he were floating on the Nile, Congo or Amazon, or any where except in the very shadow of the Arctic Circle. Roughly improvised tent flies and flaps helped us to screen ourselves to a limited extent from the tropical toraient, but if hung too high, the stern oai"sman, who had charge of the "ship," could see nothing ahead on his course, and the curtain would have to come down. No annoyance could seem more sin- gular in the Arctic and sub-Arctic zones than a blister- ing sun or a swarm of mosquitoes, and yet I believe my greatest discomforts in those regions (ame from these same causes, certainly from the latter. Several times our thermometer registered but little below 100° Fahr- enheit in the shade, and the weather seemed much warmer even than that, owing to the bright reflections that gleamed from the watei upon our faces. "Cut offs" throuf,'h channels that led straight across were often most decei)tive affairs, the swifter currents nearly always swinging around the great bends of the river. Especially bad was a peculiarly seductive "cut- off" with a tempting by swift curii-Tts you entered it, caused by its flowing over a shallow bar, whereupon the current woidd rapidly and almost immediately deepen and would consequently slow down to a rate that Avas provoking beyond measure, especially as one saw one's self overtaken by piece after piece of drift-timber that by keeping to the main channel had " taken the longest way around as the shortest way home, " and beaten us by long odds in the race. And worse than all it was not always possible to avoid getting in these side "sloughs M ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. of despond," even when we had learned their tempting little tricks of offering us a swifter current at the en- trance, for this very swiftness produced a sort of suction on the surface water that drew in every thing that passed within a distance of the width of its entrance. Of submerged obstructions, snags were of little account, for the great ponderous craft would go plowing through and casting aside some of the most formidable of them. I doubt ver}'^ much if snags did "s as much harm as benefit, for as they always ind' d shoal water, and were easily visible, especially glasses, they often served us as beacons. I saw very few of the huge snags which have received theaj^pellationof "saw- yers" on the Mississippi and Missouri, and are so much dreaded by the navigators of those waters. Sand, mud and gravel bars were by far the worst obstruction we had to contend with, and I think I have given them in the order of their general perversity in raft navigation, sand being certainly the worst and gravel the slightest. Sand bars and spits were particularly aggravating, and when the great gridiron of logs ran uj ou one of them in a swift current there was "fun ahead," to use a western expression of negation. Sometimes the mere Jumping overboard of all the crew would lighten the craft so that she would float forward a few yards, and in lucky instan- ces might clear the obstruction ; but this was not often the case, and those who made preparations for hard work were seldom disappointed. In a swift current the run- ning water would sweep out the sand around the logs of the raft until its buoyancy would prevent its sinking any deeper, and out of this rut the great bulky thing would I ► lam « i I ; i!^ 'M^ L. A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. 147 have to be lifted before it would budge an inch in a lateral direction, and when this was accomplished, and, completely fagged out, we would stop to take a breath or two, we would often be gratified by seeing our noble craft sink down again, necessitating a repetition of the process. The simplest way to get off a sand bar was to find (by sounding with a stick or simj^ly wading around), the point nearest to a deep navigable cliannel and then to swing the raft, end for end, up stream, even agaiust the swiftest current that might come boiling over the upper logs, until that channel was reached. There was no more happy moment in a day's history than when, after an hour or so had been spent in prying the vessel inch by inch against the current, we could finally see the current catch it on the same side upon which we were working and perform the last half of our task in a few seconds, where perhaps we had spent as many hours upon our portion of the work. At one bad place, on the upper end of an island, we had to swing our forty-two foot corvette around four times. Our longest detention by a sand bar was three hours and fifty minutes. . vlud bars were not y- nrly so bad, unless the material was of a clayey conshiency, when a little adhesiveness would be added to • iie other impediments, and again, as we always endeavored to keep in the swift water we sel- dom encountered a mud bar. But when one occurred near to a camping place, it materially interfered with our wading ashore with our heavy camping effects on our backs, and would reduce our rubber boots to a deplora- ble looking condition. Elsewhere, it was possible to pry the Dift riglit through a mud bank, by dint of muscle and \jatience, and then we could sit down on the outer 148 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. :m!- l! i logs of the deck and wash our boots in the water at lei- sure as we floated along. Our raft dre sv from twenty to twenty-two inches of water, and of course it could not ground in any thing deejjer, so that good rubber boots coming up over the thighs kei^t our feet comparatively dry when overboard ; but there were times wiven we were compelled to get in almost to our middle ; and when the water was so swift that it boiled up over their tops and filled them they Avere about as iiseless an article as can be imagined, so that we went into all such places barefooted. The best of all the bars were those of gravel, and the larger and coarser the pebbles the better. When the pebbles were well cemented inlo a firm bed by a binding of day almost as solid and unyielding as rock, we could ask nothing bettei*. and in such cases we always went to work with cneerful prospects of a speedy release. By «imply lifting the raft with pries the swift current throws it forward, and since it does not settle as in sand, every exertion tells. By turning the raft broadside to the cur- rent and prying or "biting" at each end of the "boat" alternately, with our whole force of pries, leaving the swift water to throw her forward, we passed over gravel bars on which I do not think the water was over ten or eleven inches deep, although the raft drew twice as much. One of the gravel bars over which we passed in this man- ner was fully thirty or forty yards in length. In aggravated cases of whatever nature the load would have to be taken off, carried on our backs through the water and placed on the shore, and when the raft was cleared or freed from the obstruction it would be brought alongside the bank at the very first favorable spot for m m A CHAPTER ABOUT RAFTING. U9 reloading. Such cases occurred fully a score of times during our voyage. When the ;aft stranded on a bar with the water on each side ho deep that we could not wade p shore, the canoe was used for ' ' lightering the load," an extremely slow process which, fortunately, we were obliged to employ only once on the whole raft journey, although several times in wading the water came up to our waists before we could get to shore. In fact, with a heavy load on one's back or shoulders, it is evidently much easier to wade through water of that (w^thand proportional current than through very swift water over shallow bars. Looking back, it seems almost miraculous that a raft could make a voy;'"-" of over thirteen hundred miles, the most difficult pa '' which was unknown, starting at the very head whert fh> stream was so narrow t!ia) the raft would have been brought at a standstill if a swung out of a straight course end oi (an it did in the Payer Rapids), and cot'ering nearly two months of daily encounters with snags and bowlders, sti<'kingon luirs and shooting rapids, and yet get through a 1 most unscathed. When I started to build this one on Lake Lindeman I had anticipated constructing two or three of t hese primi- tive craft before I could exchange to good id sufficient native or civilized transportation. The raft is undoubtedly the oldest form of navigation extant, and undoubtedly the worst ; it is interesting to know just how useful the raft can be as an auxiliary to geographical exploratic .1, and certainly my raft journey was long enough to test it in this respect. The raft, of course, can move in one direction only, viz. : with the current, and therefore its use must be 150 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. 1 'i '* m i-\ restricted to streams whose upper waters can be reached by the explorer. The traveleJ* must be able to escape by the mouth of the stream or by some divergent trail lower down, unless his explorations prove the river to be nav- igable for such craft as he finds on its lower waters, when he may use these for returning. The building of a raft requires the presence of good, fair-sized timber along the stream. The river too, must offer no falls of any great size. My journey, however, has demonstrated that a well constructed raft can go any where, subject to the above restrictions, that a boat can, at least such a boat us is usually employed by explorers. I know of nothing that can give an explorer a better opportunity to delineate the topograi)hy of the surround- ing country with such instruments as are commonlj used in assisting dead reckoning, than is afforded by float- ing down a river. I believe the steady movement with the current makes "dead reckoning" much more exact than with a boat, where the rate of progress is vari- able, wliere om hour is spent in drifting as a raft, another in rowing, and a third in sailing with a changeable wind, and where each mode of progress is so abruptly exchanged for another. Any stead y pace, such as the walking of a man or ahorse, or the floating of a raft carefully kept in the axis of the current, makes dead reckoning so exact, if long practiced, as often to astonish the surveyor him- self, but every thing dei^rnds upon this steadiness of motion. The errors indear's hand ; the liead- band, which is not always used, being the longer. I hod %'\ 176 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. hitLerto noticed this manner of arranging tlie load when among my Cliilkat packers ; the most singular feature of it being that the breast band passes over the arms so at to pinion them to the sid*?^, making them apparently useless wli^n the vaomt needed . CLAY BLUFFS ON THE TJPPEK YUKON. On tue 5tli of July we again got underway on our raft. For the first few miles, eight or ten, the river is very swift and occasionally breaks into light rapids, although I believe a powerful light-draft river steamer, such as are used on the shallow western rivers, could easily sur- mount all the bad places we saw below the cascades of DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 177 the great rapids. If I ara right in my conjectures njjon this point, the Yukon River is navigable for 18(50 miles from the Aphoon or northernmost mouth of its delta. Shortly afternoon we passed the mouth of the Tahk- heen'-aorTahk River coming in from the west, which is about two-thirds the size of the Yukon. By following it to its head, wliere the Indians say is a large lake, the traveler arrives at the Chilkat portage, the relation of which with the Chilkoot trail has already been noticed. Prom this point on my Chilkat guide, Indianne, was much more familiar with the country, having been over the Chilkat trail many tinies, and over the Chilkoot i)ortage but once when a small boy. From the cascades to the Tahk River, a distance of nearly twenty-live miles, the banks of the Yukon are quite high and often broken into peri)endicular bluff s of white clay, whose rolling crescent- shaped crowns were densely covered with pine and spruce. While the Tahk-heen'-a is the smaller stream, its bed and valley apparently determine the general char- acteristics of the river beyond its confluence, the high bold bluffs of clay just mentioned being from this point suc- ceeded by lower shores wooded to the water's edge. The Tahk-het I'-a, like all streams not interspersed with lakes on its upper course, carries cpiite muddy water, and we all felt a little uneasy about our fine grayling fisliei-- ies, a foreboding well founded, for they diminished with an exasperating siiddenness, our evenings seldom being rewarded with more than two or three. The last of the chain of lakes was reached the same day at 5 p. yi., and we were pievented from taking ad- vantage of a good v/ind by a three hours' detention on a sand-bar that stret<'hed aliuost entirely across the river's i 4\\ 'VI 11' 178 ALONG ALASKA' Fi GREAT RIVER. m Hi mouth. This bar had a deep channel on either side of it; aid when our most strenuous efforts completely failed to get thi! raft off, there was nothing to be done but to put the load ashore, and as wading was impossible, the <'ottonwood canoe was brought into action, slow as the m..thod ^vas. Not having been used nuich lately its condition was unknown, and as soon as we launched it, the water came >">ouring in from a dozen cracks where the gum had scaled off. One very vicious looking hole was sud- denly developed in the bow as the first load went ashore, and "Billy" undertook to overcome this difficulty by putting most of the load in the stern, taking his own place there so as to allow the bow to stand well out of the water. With every load the leak grew worse, and about the fourth or fifth trip there was a most despei-ate struggle between the canoeman and the leak to see which would conquer before they reached the shore, the result being a partial victory for both, the canoe's head going under water just as it reaclK^d t le shore, upon which there was a liurried scramble to unload it without damage. This lak" was called by the Indians Kluk-tas'-si ; and, as it wos one of the very few pronounceable names of Indian derivation in this section of the country, I re- tained it, although it is pos;-iible tbar this may be the Lake Labarge of some books, the fact Ihat it is the first lake above the site of oM Fort Selkirk being tlie only geographic.ll datum in its favor, while all its other rela- tions to equal points of importance are opposed to the theory. In fact, it had evidentlj' been mapped by the merest giiesswork from vague Indian reports. I hope I shall be excused for again reviving the subject of conjectural geography, so uncertain in its lesults and DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 170 SO prevf lent m Alaskan charts, especially those relating to the interior, even when they are of an official charac- ter. If the self-satisfaction of these parlor laap-niakers has been gratiliod in following unknown rivers and mountains wherever their fancy and imagination led them, and no other liarm resulted, one conversant with the facts might dismiss the manifold errors that occur in their charts with a contemptuous smile at the method pursued. But that harm of the most serious nature can result from these geographical conjectures is evident from the following true story told me by the person in- terested. A party of miners had crossed the Chilkoot trail and were on a " prospecting tour" down the river and lakes. Discouraged at the outlook as to finding gold or silver in paying quantities, there was consider- able diversitj'- of opinion in regard to the propriety of any further advance in such a wild unexi)lored country, the majority advocating a return. Among their number was a young lawyer, a graduate of an eastern college, I believe, who had joined the party in the hope of finding adventures and of repairing his health, which had sufl'ered from too close an application to his professional jf udies. Having in his possession an official governmein chart which pretended to map the route over which he had come as well as that ahead of him, although he had re- ceived j:>roof of its untrustworthiness in the past, hf) re- solved to trust it once more. Numerous Indian villages and towns were shown upon the chart at convenient in- tervals along the remainder of the route. He thought the villages might not be just where they were marked, but believed that in the main their number and positions were at least approximately correct. Basing his exi)ect S44 n 1 I 180 ALONG ALASKA'^ GREAT RIVEH. I I ) ,. . , ations on the help to be obtained froui these numer- 001:* Indian villages, he announced to the party his deter- mination to continue his travels, whatever might be the conclusion to which the others should come, pointing out the hospitality which they nad received from the Indians they had i)reviously met, and expressing his expectation of meeting many others as friendly. Whether his rea- soning influenced them or not I have forgotten, and it matters but littlv3, but at any rate the party gave up the idea of returning and continued on drifting down the river and prospecting wherever the conditions seemed favor- able, until old Fort Selkirk was reached, when they as- cended the Pelly, upon thebars of which stream the pros- pect of finding gold was greatest. During all this long journey not a single Indian Avas seen by the party, and only one desei ted house, with an occasional peeled spruce pole at long intervals that marked the temjjorary camps of the few wandering natives. Young C took the jokes of his companions upon his chart and its Indian towns good-naturedly enougli, and the map was nailed to a big spruce tree and used for a target for rifle prac- tice, but he often spokp to me in a far different strain as he recounted the chances of his taking the journey alone aided solely by this worthless map. In fact there is not an official or government map of Alaska, that, tal'en as a whole, is worth the ink with which it is printed. Limi- ted explorations and surveys in this vast territory, such as those of Captain Raymond on the Yukon. Lieutenant, Ray on the Arctic Coast. Lieutenant Stoney on the Put- nam '•iver, and many others, are undoubtedly excellent, second to none in the world made under similar circum- stances, and conlined strictly to the country actually Fi ^1 DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 181 traversed by each, with broken line delineations in sur- rounding districts, indicating conjectures; but as soon us these or such portions of them as the AVashington com- piler may see lit to take, are dumped into a great map of Alaska, they are so mixed with conjectural topography and map work that one must know the history of Alaskan exploration about as well as the history of his own life 1^ be able to discriminate between the good and the worthless. Like Lake Marsh, Kluk-tas-si is full of mudbanks along its shores ; its is-iuing waters being clear as a mountain stream, while its incoming tributaries are loaded with earthy deposits. So full of these is Kluk- tas-si, and so much more contracted is the waterway through them, that we thought we could detect a slight current when making our way along in the blue water. This was especially noticeable when the wind died down to a calm. In spite of all this, Kluk-tas-si offered fewer difficulties in the way of making landings than Lake Marsh. It seemed to me that but a brief geological period must elapse before these lakes are filled with deposits, their new shores covered Avith timber, and their beds contracted to the dimensions of the river. Saoh ancient lakes appear to occur in the course of the stream further on. We started at seven in the morning and were occupied until eight in rowing and sailing through the tortuous channel which led to blue water in the deep portion of the lake. To keep this channel readily we sent the Indians ahead in the canoe, who sounded with their long paddles, and by signals indicated the deepest parts. In spite of their exertions we stuck a couple of times, 182 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. M I If i m 1 ?r m^f and had to lower sail and jump overboard. The wind kept slowly increasing and by the time we set the full spread of our sail in bold water, we were forging along at such a rate that we put out a trolling spoon, but noth- ing was caught, the huge craft probably frightening every thing away. The wind died down and sprang up again several times during the day, but every time it arose it was in our favor. That evening by tl|,e time we reached Camp 21, on the eastern shore of the lake, we had scored about thirteen miles, a very good reckoning for lake travel any time. The west bank of this lake is very picturesque about fourteen or fifteen miles from its southern entrance, large towers and bastion-like projections of red rock upheav- ing their huge flanks upon what seems to be a well- marked island, but which is in reality a part of the mainland, as our Indians assured us. According to the same authorities a river comes in here at this point, hav- ing shores of the same formation, and called by them the Red Eiver. The frequency of this name in Ameri- can geographical nomenclature was to me sufficient reason for abandoning it ; and I gave the name of Rich- thofeii to the rocks and river (the latter, however, not having been seen by us), after Freiherr von Richthofen of Leipsic, well known in geographical science. The next evening was a still and beautiful one, with the lake's surface like a mirror, and the reflection of the red rocks in the quiet water made the most striking scene on our trip ; two warm pictures of rosy red in the sinking sun joined base to base by a thread of silver, at the edge of the other shore. The eastern shores of the lake seem to be formed of high rounded hills of light gray limestone, lit DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 183 picturesquely striped with tlie foliage of the dark ever- green growing in the ravines. From the lake the con- trast was very pretty, and showed a ret!:ularity that scarcely seemed the work of nature. I named tliem the Hancock Hills after General Hancock of the army. A number of salmon-trout were caught in this lake (the first one was caught in Lake Nares), the largest of which weighed over eight pounds, that being the limit of the pocket scales of the doctor. Saturday the 7th gave us the most conflicting winds, and although we were upon the waters of Kluk-tas-si, for twelve liours we made but nine miles, a head wind driving us into Camp 22. We did not allow the 8th to tempt us on the lake so readily, r ndtheday was employed in taking astronomi- cal observations, arranging our photographic apparatus and similar work, until early afternoon. At 1.30 I'.m. a favorable breeze from the south sprang up, and by 2 o'clock was raging in a gale, blowing over the tent where we were eating our midday meal, filling the coffee and eatables with sand and gravel, and causing a general scampering and chasing after the lighter articles of our equipment, which took flight in the furious wind. Most exasperating of all, it quickly determined us to break camp, and in less than half an hour we had all of our effects stored on the vessel, and were pulling off the beach, when just as our sail was spread the wind died down to a zephyr hardly sufficient to keep away the mosquitoes. At 7 o'clock the lake was as quiet as can be imagined, and after remaining almost motionless for another hour we pulled into the steep bank, made our beds on the slanting declivity at a place where it was Impossible to pitch a tent, and went to sleep only to be I'M 184 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. awakened at night by showers of rain falling npon oui nptnrnetl faces. We congratulated ourselves that we were in a i)Iace where the drainage was good. In the sliallow water near the shores of Ljike Kluk- tass:, especially where a little bar of pretty white sand put out into the banks of glacier mud, one conld always find innumerable shoals of small graylings not over an 111; m OUTLET OP LAKE KLUKTASSI. Terminal Butte of the Haiicock Hills (on the right). inch in length, and our Indians immediately improvised a mosquito bar into a fish net, catching Imndreds of the little fellows, which were used so successfully as bait with the larger fish of tlie l.iko that we finallj^ thought the end justified the meani. Instead of dying down as we spread sail earlj in the morning of the 9th, the windactnally freshened, upsetting all our prognostications, and sending us along at a rate that DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 18S :?1 allowed vis to enter tlie river early in the forenoon, and 1 doubt if the be.siegers of a fortress ever saw its Hag go down with more satisfaction than we saw tlie rude wall- tent sail come down forever, and left behind us the most tedious and uncertain method of navigation an exjjlorer was ever called upon to attempt— a clumsy raft on a motionless lake, at the sport of variable winds. Our joy was somewhat dampened at sticking several times on the bars, one of which delayed us over half an hour. In all these rivers just after emerging from the lakes the current was quite swift, and so shallow in many places as almost to deserve the name of rapids. This was i>articularly the case where the swift stream cut into the high banks that loomed some forty to sixty feet above lis as we rushed by, a top stratum tliat rusted upon the stiflf yellow clay being full of rounded bowlders, which, when undermined, were letdown into the river's bed, choking it partially with most dangerous-looking obstacles. During the whole day we were passing throiigh burned districts of heavy timber that looked dismal enough, backed, as they were, by dense clouds of black smoke rising ahead of us, showing plainly that the devastation was still going on. Many of these sweepings of fire were quite old ; so old, in fact, that the dark rotting trunks had become mere banks of brown stretclied along the ground, the blackened bark of the stumps being the only testimony as to Ihe manner of its destruction. Others, again, were so recent that the last rain had not yet beaten the white ashes from their blackened limbs, while late that evening we dashed through the region of smoke and flame we had discerned earlier in the day. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 lii|21 12.5 US ^^ ^^* itt U£ 12.2 Sf as. 12.0 Mtiu 1.4 11.6 7 '^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WeST MAIN STRUT WIBSTH.N.Y. USM ( 71* ) •72-4503 ,^ .*>* 4^ 186 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. ll r\ii W is •^• It is wonderful what great wide strips of river these flames will cross, probably carried by the high winds, when light bunches of dry, resinous matter are in a blaze. We saw one instance which, however, must be a rare one, of a blazing tree that fell into the water, where it immediately found a hydrostatic equilibrium, so that its ui)per branches continued on lire, blazing and smok- ing away like a small steam launch. It might readily have crossed the river as it floated down, and becoming entangled in the dry driftwood of the oi)posite bank, have been the nucleus of a new conflagration, the limits of which would have been determined by the wind and the nature of the material in its path. Of course, in such an intricate wilderness of bla(!k and brown trunks and stumpf^ any kind of game that approaches to black in color, such as a moose or black or brown bear ; in fact, any thing darker than a snow-white mountain- goat, can easily avoid the most eagle-eyed hunter, by simply keeping still, since it could scarcely be distin- guished at any distance above a hundred yards. The western banks at one stretch of the river con- sisted of high precipitous banks of clay, fringed with timber at the summit. In one of the many little gul- lies that cleft the top of the bank into a series of roll- ing crescents, a member of the party perceived and drew our attention to a brown stump which seemed to have an unusual resemblance to a "grizzly bear," to use his expression. The resemblance was marked by all to such an extent that the stump was closely watched, and when, as we were from four to six hundrv-d yards away, the stump picked up its roots and began to walk down the slope, there was a general scrambling I« DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 187 around for guns, giving the stump an intimation that all was not right, and with cae good look from a couple of knots on its side, it disappeared among the rest of the timber before a shot at a reasonable distance could be fired. Thereafter our guns were kept in a more con- venient position for such drift timber. After we had made a good forty miles that day, we felt perfectly justified in going into camp and about seven o'clock we commenced looking for one. The river was uniformly wide, without a break that would give slack water where we could decrease our rapid pace, and that day commenced an experience such aa I have treated of in the chapter on rafting. Not knowing the efficacy of this method at the time, we did not find a camp until 8:15, but back of us lay over forty-five miles of distance traversed, which amply compensated us for the slight annoyance. Ahead of us there still hung dense clouds of smoke which seemed as if the whole world was on fire in that direction. An hour or so after camping (No. 24) a couple of miners came into camp, ragged and hungry, the most woebegone objects I ever saw. They belonged to a party that numbered nearly a dozen and who had started about a month ahead of us. These two had left a third at camp about a mile up the river (from which point they had seen us float by), and were return- ing to civilization in order to allow the rest of the party food sufficient to enable them to continue prospecting. The party, at starting, had intended to eke out their civilized provisions with large game from time to time, in order to carry them through the summer. Tliey were well armed and had several practical hunters with them, who had often carried out this plan while prospecting in 'U I'll 1 ■ 1 . 1 1 \. \ > ' ' r i [ 1. T ; :' 1 188 ALONQ ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. what seemed to be less favored localities for game. Tlieir experience confirmed the Indian reports that the caribou and moose follow the snow-line as it retreats up the mountains in the short summer of this country, in order to avoid the mosquitoes, with the exception only of a few stragglers here and there, on which no reliance can be i)laced. It was certainly a most formidable under- taking for these ragged, almost barefooted men to walk back through such a country as I have already de- 8cril)ed, with but a mere pittance of food in their haver- sacks. Possessing no reliable maps, they were obliged to follow the tortuous river, for fear of losing it, since it was their only guide out of the country. Large tribu- taries coming in from the west, which was the side they had chosen, often forced thi'iii to go many weary miles into the interior before they could be crossed. They hoped to find an Indian canoe by the time the lakes were reached, but from the scarcity of these craft I doubt if their hopes were ever realized. I heard after- ward that they had suffered considerably on this return trip, especially in crossing through the Perrier Pass, and had to be rescued in the Dayay Valley by Indians from the Haines ^[ission. The country was constantly getting more open as we proceeded, and now looked like the rolling hill-land of old England. By the word open, however, I do not mean to imi)ly the absence of timber, for the growth of spruce and pine on the hills and of the deciduous trees in the valleys continued as dense as ever, and so re- mained nearly to the mouth of the river, varying, how- ever, in regard to size and species. Upon the 10th, the current did not abate a jot of its DOWN THE EIVER TO SELKIRfT. 189 swiftness, and iilthony;h we st&rted tolerably late, yet when Camp 2i> was pitched, at 8:15 p.m., in a thick grove of little poplars (there being no jjiospect of a better camp in sight), we had scored f)!) miles along the axis of the stream, the best lecord for one day made on the river. Abont 10 o'clock, that morning, we again passed through forest fires that were raging on both sides of the riv(>r, which averages at this point from !3()') f o 400 yards in width. A commendable scarcity of mosquitoes was noticed on this part of the river. Shortly after noon we passed the moui'.h of a large river, from 150 to 200 yards in width, which my Chilkat Indians told me was called the Tah-heen -a bv t hem. The resemblance of this name to that of the Tahk-heeii'-a made me abandon it, and I called it aftcjr M. Antoine d'Abbadie, Membre d'Institut, the Fiench exi)lorer. In regard to Indian names on this -part of the Yukon lliver, I found that a white man labors under one difliculty not easy to overcome. The Chilkats, who ai-e, as it were, the self-appointed masters over the docile and degraded "Sticks," while in the country of the latter, have one pet of names and tlie "Sticks," or Tahk-heesh, have another. Oftentimes the name of a geographic-al object is the same in meaning, dilfering only according to the language. More oft<3n the names are radically different, and what is most perplexing of all, the Sticks will give the same name as the Chilkats in the presence of the latter, tins acknowledging in the most humble and abject way their savage sjizerainty. For some time before reaching the mouth of the D'Ab- badie high hills had been rising on the eastern slope, until near this tributary their character had become trulj 190 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT liJVElt. :' ,| -1 moiintiiiiions. I called them the Semenow Mountains, after Von Seinenow, President of the Imperial Geo* graphical Society of Kuswia, Tlioy extend from the 3)'Al)l)adi»! River on tlie north to the Newberry River (after Professor Ne\vl)erry, of New York), on the south. Between them and the Hancock Hills is located an iso- lated and conspicuous butte which I named after M. Charles Maunoir, of the Paris Geographical Society. A very similar hill between the Tahk River and the Yukon was named after Professor Ernst Ilaeckel, of Jena, Germany. The mouth of the D'Abbadie marks an important point on the Yukon River, as being the place at which gold begins to be found in placer deposits. From the D' Abbadie almost to the very mouth of the great Yukon, a panful of "dirt" taken with any discretion from almost any bar or bank, will when washed give several "colors," to use a miner's phrase. The Daly River comes in from the east some forty miles further on, measured along the stream, forming, with the New- berry and D' Abbadie, a singular trio of almost similar streams. The last-mentioned river I have named after Chief Justice Daly, of New York, a leading patron of my Franklin Search expedition. The frequent occur- rence of large tributaries flowing from the east showed this to be the main drainage area of the Upper Yukon, a rule to which the sole excepticm of the Nordenskiold River (after Baron von Nordenskiold, thecelebrated Swed ish explore^" of th(> Arctic\ which comes in from the west, fifty miles beyond the Daly, and is the peer of any of the three just mentioned. Immediately after passing thoai rivers, the Newberry especially, the Yukon became very much darker in hue, showing, as I believe, that the trib- i : DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. m utaries drained a considerable amount of what might be called — possibly inappropriately — "tundra" land, /. e., where the water, saturated with the dyes extracted from dead leaves and mosses, is pnn-ented by an impervious substratum of ic«s from clarifying itself by luMcolating through the soil, and is carried off by superficial drain- i LOOKIXa BACK AT THE KINK BAFIDS. age directly into the river-beds. Where we camped on the night of the 2oth I noticed that many of the dead seasoned poplars with which we built our camp-fire and sooked our food had been killed in pi'evious winters by cne hares, that had peeled the bark in a circle around the trunk at such a uniform height of from twenty to twen- ty-four 'nches from the ground, measured from the lower IM ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVj^R edg-e of the girdle, that I could not but think that this was ub>)('t the average depth of the winter snow, ui)on which the liares stood at the time. On the 11th we drifN'd over fifty iniles. Shortly after starting we l)assed the mouth of the Daly, already referred to, while directly aheiid was a noticeable hill named by the Chil- kats Eagles' Nest, and by the Tahk-heesh Otter Tail, each in their own language, I easily saw my way out of the dini(Mdty by changing its name to I'arkman Peak, after prof* ssor Francis Piukman, the well-known American historian. AVe passed the mouth of ttie Nordenskiold Rivevon the afternoon of the 11th, and the saim; day our Indians told us of a jtevilous rajtid ahead w}iich the Indians of the conntry sometimes shot in their s;i. all rafts; but they felt very anxious in n'gard to our :>:ilky vessel of forty- two feet in length, as the stream r.ade a double sharp bend with a liuge rock in the center. We started late on the morning of the 12th, and at 10 o'clock st()i)ped onr raft (>n the ea^.tern bank in order to go ahead and insjject the rapids which we were abont to shoot. I found them to be a contraction of the river bed, into about one-third its usual width of from four to six hundred yards, and that the stream was also impeded by a luunber of massive trap rocks, thirty to forty feet high, lying directly in the channel and dividing it into three or four well marked channels, the second from the east, being the one ordi- narily used by the Indians. We rejected tiiis, liowever, on account of a sharp turn in it whicli v^ould not be avoided. These rapids were very picturesque, as they rushed between the fantasti<'ally formed traj) rocks and high towers, two of which were united by a slender nat- re It' 9 a fr O § 2 » '•^ ft S3 n DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. uxul bridge of stone, that spanned a whirlpool, making the whole look like an old ruined stone bridge with bat one arch that had withstood the general demolition. We essayed the extreme right-hand (eastern) passage, although it was quite narrow and its boiling current was covered with waves running two and three feet high, but being the straightest was the best for our long craft. Thousands of gulls had made the top of these isolated towers their breeding places, for nothing but winged life could ever reach them, and here, safe from all intrusion, they reared their young. As we shot by on the raft they rose in clouds and almost drowned the noise of the roar- ing waters with their shrill cries. This extreme right- hand channel through which we shot, could, I believe, be ascended by a light-draft river steamer provided with a steam windlass, a sharp bend in *he river bank just before it is entered giving a short and secure hold for a cable rope ; and if I am not too sanguine in my conject- ures, the cascades below the Grand Canon mark the head of navigation on the Yukon River, as already noted. I named this picturesque little rapid after Dr. Henry Rink, of Christiana, a well-known authority on Green- land. After the Yukon receives the many large tribu- taries mentioned, it spreads into quite a formidable magnitude ; interspersed with many islands, all of which at their upper ends, are so loaded with great piles of driftwood, oftentimes fifteen to twenty feet high, as to make the vista in one of these archipelagoes quite dif- ferent according as one looks up or down the river, the former resembling the picturesque Thousand Isles of the St. Lawrence, while the latter reveals only a dreary stretch of felled timber, lying in unpictui'esque groups, IM ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I i with the bright green of tlie ishind foliage making the dreariness more conHpii'iious. From Ijiike Kluk-tas-si alntost to old Fort Selkirk we observed along the .iteep l)jiiiks of tlie river a most ron- spicuous white stripe some two or three inches in width. After our attention had Ix'cn attracted to this phenome- non for two or thr(?e days, wc* proceeded to investigate it. It averaged about two or t hree feet below the surface, and seerm'd to separate the recent alluvial deposits from the older beds of clay and drift btdow, although occasionally it appeared to cut into both, especially the alluvium. Occasionally, although at very rare intervals, there were two stripes pai-allel to ea(?h other and separated by a few inches of black earth, while oftentimes the stripe was plain on one side of the river and wholly wanting on the other. A close inspection showed it to be volcanic ash, sufllciently consolidated to have the consistency of stiff earth, but n'n-erthelt..o so friable that it <'oul(l be reduced to powdor by the thumb and lingers. Tt possibly repre- sents the result of some exceptionally violent erup- tion in ancient times from one or more of the many volcanic cones, now probably extinct, with whi('h the whole southern coast of Alaska is studded. The ashes were carried far and wide by the winds, and if the latter then, as now, blew almost persi.stently froiu the south- ward during the summer (and I understand the reverse is the case in the winter), we could reasonably fix the eruption at that time of the year. The Yukon River as it widens also becomes very tor- tuous in many places, and oftentimes a score of miles is traversed along the axis of the stream while the divid- ers on the map hardly show half a dozen between the 4. le It. ^ c o U5 •0 O li* ! i .1! DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 199 same points. In the region about the mouth of the Nor- denskiold River a conspicuous bald butte could be seen directly in front of our raft no less than seven times, on as many different stretches of the river. I called it Tan- talus Butte, and was glad enough to see it disappear from sight. The day we shot the Rink Rapids, and only a few hours afterward, we also saw our first moope plowing through the willow brush on the eastern bank of the stream like a hurricane in his frantic endeavors to escape, an under- taking in which he was completely successful. When first seen by one of the party on the raft, his great broad pal- mated horns rolling through the top of the willow brake, with an occasional glimpse of his brownish black sides showing, he was mistaken for an Indian running down a path in the brake and swaying his arms in the air lo attract our attention. My Winchester express rifle was near me, and as the ungainly animal came into full sight at a place where a little creek put into the stream, up the valley of which it started, I had a fair shot at about a hundred yards ; took good aim, pulled the trigger— and the cap snapped, — and I saved ray reputation as a marks- man by the gun's missing fire. This moose and another about four hundred miles further down the river were the only two wf! saw in the Yukon Valley, although in the winter they are quite numerous in some districts, when the mosquitoes have ceased their onslaughts. That samo evening — the 12th, we encamped near the first Indian '/illage we had met on the river, and even this was deserted. It is called by them Kit'-ah'-gon (mean- ing the place between liigh hills), and consists of one log house about eighteen by thirty feet, and a score of the 200 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. brush houses usual in this country ; that is, three main poles, one much longer than the rest, and serving as a" ridge pole on which to pile evergreen brush to com- plete the house. This brush is sometimes replaced by the most thoroughly ventilated reindeer or moose skin, and in rare cases by an old piece of canvas. Such are the almost constant habitations of these abject creatures. When I first saw these rude brush houses, thrown together without regard to order or method, I thought they were scaffoldings or trellis work on wli. h the Indians, who lived in the log house, used to dry the salmon caught by them during the summer, but my guide, Indianne, soon explained that theory away. In the spr'ng Kit'-ah'-gon is deserted by its Indian inmates, who then ascend the river with loads so light that they may be carried on the back. By the time winter approaches they have worked so far away, accumulating the scanty stores of salmon, moose, black bear, and caribou, on which they are to subsist, that they build a light raft from the driftwood strewn along banks of rhe river, and float toward home, where they live in squalor through- out the winter. These rafts are almost their sole means of navigation from th« Grand Canon to old Fort Selkirk, and the triangular brush houses almost their only abodes ; and all this in a country teeming with wood fit for log-houses, and aflPording plenty of birch bark from which can be made the finest of canoes. Kit'-ah-gon is in a beautiful largo valley, as its Indian name would imply (I named it Vo;' Wilczek Valley, after Graf von Wilczek of Vienna), and I was surprised to see it drained by so small a stream as the one, but ten or twenty feet wide, which empties itself at the valley's mouth. Its proximity isfiiifii un a' by in. ire fn r ^ en f V DOWN THE RIVER TO SELKIRK. 203 to the Pelly, twenty miles further on, forbids its drain- ing a great area, yet its valley is much the more con- spicuous of the two. Photographs of this and adjacent scenes on tlie river were secured by Mr, Homan before departing, and a rough "prospect" in the high bank near the river showed "color" enough to encourage the hope of some enthusiastic miner in regard to findini^ something more attractive. Looking back up the Yukon a most prominent landmark is found in a bold bluff that will always be a conspicuous point on the river, and which is shown on page 193. I named this bluff aft General Charles G. Loring, of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Prom Von Wilczek valley to old Fort Selkirk is but a little over twenty miles ; and the river is so full of islands in many places that for long stretches we could hardly see both banks at a time, while it was nothing unusual to have both out of sight at points where the islands were most numerous. This cluster of islands (named after Colonel Ingersoll, of Washington), is, I think, situ- ated in the bed of on j of the ancient lakes of which I have spoken, although the opinion of a professional geologist would be needed to settle such a matter. -i.. 3 p. M. we reached the site of old Fort Selkirk. All our maps, some half a dozen in number, except one, had placed the site of Selkirk at the junction of the Pelly and Yukon between the two, the single exception noted placing it on the north bank of the Pelly where the streams unite. Noticing this discrepancy I asked Indianne for an explanation, and he told me that neither was correct, but that the chimneys of the old rains would be found on the south side of the river about 204 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEll. . I ■ ^ • a \\ a mile below the junction, and I found him correct, the chimneys being visible fully a mile before we reached them. Here we wei-e on land ftimiliar to the footsteps of white men who had made maps and charts, that rough and rude though they were, were still entitled to respect, and accordingly at this point I considered that my ex- plorations had ceased, although my surveys were con- tinued to the mouth of the river ; making the distinction that the first survey only is an exploration, a distinc- tion which I believe is rapidly coming into vogue. Alto- gether on the Yukon River, this far, there had been taken thirty-four astronomical observations, four hundred and twenty -five with the prisnuitic compass, and two for vari- ation of compass. I have no doubt that these are suffi- ciently accurate at least for all practical purposes of geographical exploration in this countiy, until more ex- act surveys are demanded by the opening of some indus- try or commerce, should that time ever come. The total length of this portion of the river just traversed from Haines ^fission to Selkirk was five hundred and thirty- nine miles ; the total length of the raft journey from its commencement at the camp on Lake Lindeman being four hundred and eighty-seven miles ; while we had sailed and "tracked" and rowed across seven lakes for a distance aggregating one hundred and thirty-four miles. ll • ii the |ied lof 3Ct. Ito- cen of f I w i « f I I ..*. "^ \'?'l ';s-'3 I' ft^M :'l^ E*i"i' M :??'■'■ ■X'h ,Jht pW» 1 '^m fS]^*^ M' 1 \ ^ % -•::"■"* CHAPTER IX. THBOUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. T the site of old Fort Selkirk commences the Upper Ram- parts of the Yukon, or where that mighty stream cuts through the terminal spurs of the Rocky Mountains, a dis- tance of nearly four hundred miles, the first hundred of which, terminating near the mouth of the Stewart River, are almost equal to the Yosemite or Yellowstone in stujjen- dous grandeur. I was very anxious to determine beyond all reasonable doubt the relative sizes of the two rivers whose waters unite just above old Fort Selkirk, as upon this determi- nation rested the important question whether the Pelly or the Lewis River of the old Hudson Bay traders, who had roughly explored the former, ought to be called the Yukon proper ; and in order to settle this point I was fully prepared and determined to make exact measure- ments, soundings, rate of current and any other data that might be necessary. This information, however, was unnecessary except in a rough form, as the preponder- ance of the old Lewis River was too evident to the most casual inspection to require any exactness to confirm it. 108 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. \ ' ll ^ The ratio of their respective width is about five to three, with about the ratio of five to four in depth ; the latter, however, being a very rough approxinuition ; the Lewis River being superior in botli, and for tliis reason I aban- doned tlie hitter name, and it ai)pears on tlie map as the Yukon to Crater Lake at its head. At old Fort Selkirk nothing but the chimneys, three in number — two of them quite conspicuous at some dis- tance — are left standing, the blackened embers scattered around still iittesting the manner of its fate. From the careful and substantial manner in which the rubble stone chimneys were constructed, this Hiulson Bay Company post was evidently intended to be permanent, and frori the comi)lete destruction of all the wood work, the Chil- kat Indians, its destroyers, evidentlj^ intended that its effacem(>nt should be complete. The fate of this post has been alluded to in an earlier part of the narrative. Here we remained two or three days, making an astronomical determination of position, the mean of our results being latitude 62° 45' 46" north, longitude 137° 22' 45' west from Greenwich. No meteorological observations were taken thus far on the river, the party not being furnished with a complete set of instruments, and our rapid passage through a vast tract of territory making the usefulness to science highly problematical. The nearest point to the Upper "fukon at Avhich regular observations of this character are recorded is. the Chilkat salmon-cannery of the North-west Trading Company, on Chilkat Inlet. The two regions are separated by the Kotusk Mountains, a circumstance which makes meteorologi- cal inferences very unreliable. Climatology is better mx iiiiiiHi ree, the ♦ I THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 211 represented, however, in regard to the subject of botany. Quite a number of botanical specimens were collected on the Upper Yukon, and have since been placed in the able hands of Professor Watson, curator of the Harvard herbarium, for analysis. While only a partial and crude collection made by an amateur, it has thrown some little light on the general character of the flora, as limited to the river bed, which we seldom quitted in the discharge of our more important duties connected with the main object of the expedition. Pro- fessor Watson's report on this small collection v 'H be found in the Appendix. The ex I lit of the Alaskan expedition of 1883 was so great that I deemed it best to divide the map of its route into con- venient sections ; and the three subdivisions, the second of which this chapter commences, were made wholly with reference to my own travels. It is therefore not intended in any other way as a geographical division of this great river, although it might not be altogether unavailable or inappropriate for such a purpose. The Middle Yukon, as we called it on our expedition, extends from the site of old Fort Selkirk to old Fort Yukon, at the great Arctic bend of the Yukon, as it is sometimes and very appropri- ately termed — a part of the stream which we know approx- imately from the rough maps of the Hudson Bay Compa- ny's traders, who formerly trafficked along these waters, and from information derived from pioneers of the Western Union Telegraph Company and others. This part of the river, nearly five hundred miles in length, had, therefore, rlready been explored ; and to my expedition fell the Ic of being the first to give it a survey, which though is from perfection, is the first II il2 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. Ifl fl worthy of the name, and is, I believe, like that of the Upper Yukon, sufficient to answer all purposes until such time as commerce may be established on the river subservient to the industries, either of mining or of fish- ing, that may hereafter spring uj) along its course. I have just spoken of the comparative sizes of the Pelly and Lewis Rivers, as bhowing the latter to be undoubtedly the Yukon projjer ; and the view on page 209, taken looking into the mouth of the Pelly from an island at the junction of the two streams, as well as that on page 213, looking back up the Yukon (old Lewis River), from the site of old Selkirk, shows the evident preponderance of the latter, although in the case of the Pelly but one of its mouths, the lower and larger of the two that encircle the island, can be seen distinctly. The bars at the mouth of the Pelly are a little richer in placer gold ' ' color ' ' than any for a considerable dis- tance on either side along the Yukon, creating the reasonable inference that the mineral has been carried down the former stream, an inference which is strength- ened by the reports that gold in paying quantities has been discovered on the Pelly, and is now being worked successfully, although upon a somewhat limited scale. Even the high, flat plateau on which old Fort Selkirk wab built is a bed of fine gravel that glistens with grains of gold in the miner's pan, and might possibly "pay" in more favorable climes, where the ground is not frozen the greater part of the year. Little did the old trade s of the Hudson's Bay Company imagine that their house was built on such an auriferous soil, and possibly little did they care, as in this licli fur district they possessed 1 'ii )f the I until river fish- id O O I i sBssj^j^ssssmi THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. SIS an enterprise more valuable than a gold mine, if an American can imagine such a thing. The perpendiculttr blufE of eruptive rock, distinctly columnar in many places, and with its talus reaching from half to two-thiids the way to the top, as shown in the view looking into the mouth of the Pelly, on page 209, and the view on page 205 also, extends up that stream on the north or right bank as far as it was visited, some two or three miles, and so continues down the Yukon along the same (north) bank for twelve or thirteen miles, when the encroaching high mountains, forming the upper gates of the ramparts, obliterate it as a later formation. In but one place that I saw along this extended front of rocky parapet was there a gap sufficient to permit of one's climbing from the bottom, over the rough debris, to the level grassy plateau that extended backward from Its crest ; although in many places this plateau could be gained by alpine climbing for short distances, up the s;revices in the body of the steep -rock. This level plateau does not extend far back before the foot of the high rolling hills is gained. In the illustration on page 209 the constant barricades of tangled driftwood encountered everywhere on the upstream ends and promontories of the many islands of these rivers are shown, .although the quantity shown in the view falls greatly below the average, the heads of the islands being often piled up with stacks ten or twenty feet high, which are useful in one way, as forming a dam that serves during freshets and high water, to protect them more or less from the eroding power of the rapid river. A grave or burial place of the Ayan (or lyan) Indians ■il 216 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. probably some three months old, planted on the very edge of the river bank near the site of old Fort Selkirk, was a type of the many we afterward saw at intervals from this point for about two-thirds of the distance to old Fort Yukon, and is represented on page 217, Before burial the body is bent with the knees up to the breast, so as to occupy as little longitudinal space as possible, and is inclosed in a very rough box of hewn boards two and three inches thick, cut out by means of rude native axes, and is then buried in the ground, the lid of the coffin, if it can be called such, seldom being over a foot or a foot and a half below the surface of the pile The grave's inclosure or fence is constructed of roughly-hewn boards, standing upright and closely joined edge to edge, four corner-posts being prolonged above, and somewhat neatly rounded into a bed-post design represerted in the figure, from which they seldom depart. It is . ashed at the top by a wattling of willow withes, the lower ends of the boards being driven a short v/ay into the ground, while one or two intermediate stripes of red paint resem- ble other bands when viewed at a distance. From the grave itself is erected a long, light pole twenty or twenty- five feet in height, having usually a piece of colored cloth fiaunting from its top ; although in this particular instance the cloth was of a dirty white, Not far away, and always close enough to show that it is some super- stitious adjunct of the grave itself, stands another pole of about equal height, to the top of which there is fastened a poorly carved wooden figure of a fish, duck, goose, bear, or some other animal or bird, this being, I believe, a sort of savage totem designating the family or sub-clan of the tribe to which the deceased belonged. le is 1 ^„^-.-.^»~»««""'- i3: *iai THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 219 This second pole may be, and very often is, a fine young spruce tree of proper height and shape and convenient situation, stripped of its limbs and peeled of its bark. The little " totem " figure at the top may thus be easily placed in position before the limbs are cut off. It is some- times constructed as a weather-vane, or more probably it is easier to secure firmly in its position by a wooden pin driven vertically, and so as the green wood seasons and shrinks it becomes as it were a sepulcral anemoscope without having been so intended. These poles may be horizontally striped with native red paint, and the out- side pole has one or more pieces of cloth suspended from its trunk. These graves are always near the river shore, generally on the edge of a high gravel bank which is in course of excavation by the swift current, and when fresh and the boards white are visible from a distance of many miles. There is no tendency, as far as I could see, to group them into graveyards, beyond the fact that they are a little more numerous near their semi-permanent vil- lages-than elsewhere, the convenience of interment being evidently the controlling cause of location. Leaving out the two high poles, there is a rough resemblance to the graves of civilized countries ; and no doubt much of their form and structure is due to the direct or indirect contact with civilization. My own Indians (Chilkats) told me that they formerly placed the bodies of their dead on pole scaffoldings in the branches of the trees near the river bank, somewhat after the manner of the Sioux anu other Indian tribes of our great western plains ; and in one instance a very old, rotten and dilapidated scaffold in a tree was pointed out to me as having once served that purpose, although there were no indications to con- \i: If tl 220 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. ,ii ii! II' hi J firm the story ; but these might have easily been obliter- ated. They also make small scaffoldings or little caches in the lower branches of trees to protect their con- tents, usually provisions and clothing, from bears, wolves, and possibly from their own dogs, of which they possess large numbers of a black and brown mongrel breed. In the summer time these curs are eminentl y worthless except as scavengers for the refuse decaying salmon, but in the winter season they are used to draw the rude native sledges and to assist in trailing moose and caribou. Mr. IToman succeeded in getting a photograph (page 221), of a grouj) of Ayan or lyan Indians, with their birch-bark canoes. We found it very difficult to keep these nervous fellows still ; and, as far as fine rendering of features is concerned, the photograph was not perfect. Their birch-bark canoes are the best on any part of the long river for lightness, compactness, and neatness of build and design, and form a most remarkable contrast to the unwieldy dilapidated "dug- outs" of the Tahk-heesh Indians above them on the ^ Yukon. The Ayan canoe paddle, well shown in outline in the hands of one of the group, is of the cross-section on this page, the ridge or rib r being always held to the rear in using it. In addition to the paddle, the canoe- man keeps with him two light poles, about as long as the paddle itself, and as heavy as its handle ; and these are employed in ascending the river, the pole man keeping near the shallow shores, and using one in each hand on either side of the canoe, poling against the bottom. So swift is the river in these parts (and in fact CROSS-SECTION AT AN CANOE TADIILE. O CD e 03 THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 228 it is extremely rapid during its entire course), that the native canoemen use no other method in ascending it, except for very short distances. The Eskimo method, in use on the lower part of the river, of harnessing dogs to their craft like canal horses and towing them along the banks, I did not see in operation during my stay among the Ayans, although they possessed all the requisites for such an easy and convenient method of navigation. In descending the river the current is the main motive power, especially for long journeys, and the paddle is only sparingly used to keep the canoe in the swiftest part of the stream. When required, however, they can go at a speed that few canoemen in the world, savage or civilized, can equal. Two species of fish were caught from the banks near the site of Selkirk, the grayling being of the same kind we had caught near the rapids just above and below the Grand Carion, and had found in varying numbers from Perthes Point in Lake Bove, to the mouth of White River, nearly a hundred miles below Selkirk, averaging a trifle over a pound in weight ; and a trout-like salmon, caught occasionally from Lake Nares to White River, sometimes with an artificial fly, but more frequently on the trout lines with baited hooks that were put out over night wherever we camped. A most disgusting and hideous species of eel-pout monopolized our trout lines whenever they were put out at this point, from which even the invincible stomachs of our Indian allies and visitors had to refrain. Small black gnats, somewhat resembling the buffalo gnats of the plains, were observed near Selkirk in considerable numbers, and our Indians hinted that they indicated the presence of large game, a story which |i i II h\ 224 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. we would gladly liave had corroborated, but in thh w© were disappointed. \V«? got away from Selltirk on July 15th, shortly after noontime, having waited for a meridian culmination of the sun in order to take an observation for latitude. The country gradually becomes more mountainous as we descend, and this bold character continues with but slight exceptions for over a hundred miles further. The river view reminded me strongly of the Columbia River near the Cascades, the Hudson at West Point, or the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, differing only in the pres- ence every-where of innumerable islands, a permanent characteristic of the Yukon, and one in which it ex(;eed8 any other stream known to me, whether from observa- tion or description. Although we had understood from the few Indians who had visited us in their canoes, that their village was but a few miles below Fort Selkirk, we had become so accustomed to finding insignificant i)arties of natives, here and there, that it was a great surprise to us when we suddenly rounded the lower end of an island about four o'clock that afternoon, and saw from a hundred and seventy-five to two hundred wild sav ;'ges drawn up ready to receive us on the narrow beach in front of their brush village on the south side of the river. Our coming had evidently been heralded by couriers, and all of the natives were apparently half-frantic with excitement for fear we might drift by v'ithout visiting them. They ran up and down the bank wildly swaying their arms in the air, and shouting and screaming to the great fleet of canoes that surrounded us, until I feared they might have un- friendly designs, and in fact, their numbers appeared THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 225 80 overwhelming when compared with our little band that I gave the necessary orders in resi)ect to arms so as to give the Indians as little advantage as possible in case of an encounter at such close quarters. A line was car- ried ashore by means of these canoes, and every man, woman and child in the crowd made an attempt to get hold of it, the foremost of them running out into the ice-cold water up to the very arm-pits in order to seize it, and the great gri(l' '-on of logs went cutting through the water like a steam-launch, and brought up against the shore in a way that nearly took us off our feet. Immediately after our raft was securely moored, the crowd of Indians who lined the narrow beach commenced singing and dancing — men and boys on the (their) left, and women and girls on the right. The song was low and monotonous, but not melodious, bearing a resemblance to savage music in general. Their outspread hands were placed on their hips, their arms akimbo, and they swayed from side to side as far as their lithe bodies would per- mit, keeping time to the rude tune in alternate oscilla- tions to the right and left, all moving synchronously and in the same direction, their long black masses of hair floating wildly to and fro, and serving the practical pur- pose of keeping off the gnats and mosquitoes which other- wise might have made any out-door enjoyments impossi- ble. During all this time the medicine men went through the most hideous gymnastics possible along the front of the line, one who had a blue-black blanket with a St. George's cross of flaming red in its center being especi- ally conspicuous. He excelled in striking theatrical atti- tudes of the most sensational order, in which the showy blanket was made to do its part, and he was forthwith I, \ n ne ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT EIVER. :\ i li ti , dubbed Hamlet by the men of the party, by way of a sub- stitute for his almost unpronounceable name. Even after the performance, this pompous Individual strutted along the banks as if he owned the whole British North-west territory ; a pretension that was contradicted by his per- sistent begging for every trifling object that attracted his eye, as though he had never owned any thing of value in his life. After the singing and dancing were over, a few trifling presents were given to most of the Indians as a reward for their entertainment. A photograph was at- tempted by Mr. Homan of this dancing group, but the day was so unfavorable, with its black lowering clouds, the amateur apparatus so incomplete, and the right moment so hard to seize, that the effect was a complete failure. Once or twice we got the long line in position in their best attitudes, " Hamlet " looking his most ferocious, and re- sembling a spread eagle with the feathers pulled out, but just as the photographer was ready to pull the cap off the camera, some impatient young fellow, inspired by the crowd and the attitude of dancing, would begin to hum their low song of Yi-yi-yi-yi's and it was as impos- sible to keep the others from taking up the cadence and swaying themselves as it was to arrest the earth's revolution. From a book written by a previous traveler on the lower I'lver, who pretended to a knowledge of the tribes upon its upper par', also, I had been deluded into the idea that useful articles — such as knives, saws, and files, — were the best for trading purposes with these Indians, or for the hire of native help; but I was not long in find- ing out that this was most gratuitous misinformation; for the constant burden of their solicitations was a request m THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 227 Ib- er a for tea and tobacco, small quantities of which tliey get by barter with intermediate riparian tribes. These wants I found to extend among the natives throughout the whole length of the river in varying degrees, and, as the former article is very light, I would especially recom- mend it to those about to enter the country for i)urposes of scientific research, for which it is such a grand field. Next to tea and tobacco, which we could only spare in small quantities, fish-hooks seemed to be in good demand among this particular tribe ; and the very few articles they had to spare, mostly horn spoons, and birch-bark ladles and buckets were eagerly exchaujed. Below White River, fishing on the Yukon with hook and line ceases, and fish-hooks are worthless as articles of ex- change. Another article freely brought us was the pair of small bone gambling-tools (shown on this page) so characteristic of the whole north-west country. They have 'v>en described when speaking of the Chilkat Indian and I saw no material difference in their Uoe by this particular tribe. These Indians call the^mselves the A-yans — with an occasional leaning (a the pronunciation toward I-yan ; and this village, so they said, contained the majority of the tribe, although from their understanding of the question they may have meant that it was the largest village of the tribe. Their country, as they claim it, extends up the Pelly — the Indian name of which is Ayan — to the lakes, up tiie Yukon from this pc"nt to %\iQ village of Kit'-ah-gon, and down that stream to near the mouth of the White and Stewart Rivers, where they are succeeded by a tribe called the Netch-on'-deea II D «r ■ IL D ATAN AND CHILKAT OAMBLtNO TOOUl. Scalo ^. y. ■ If 5 ' 5 !i ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. or jVa-chon'-des — the Indian name of the Stewart River being Na-chon'-de. They are a strictly riparian race of people and define their country only as it extends along the principal streams. From the river as a home or base, however, they make frequent hunting excur- sions to the interior in the winter time for moose and caribou. This village, which they called Kah-tung, seemed to be of a semi-permanent character ; the houses or huts made of spruce brush, over the top of which there was an occasional piece of well-worn cloth or dirty canvas, but more often a moose or caribou skin. These brush houses were squalid affairs, and especially so compared with the bright intelligent features of the makers, and with some of their other handicraft, such as their canoes and native v.earing apparel. The little civilized clothing they possess is obtained by barter with neighboring tribes, and has generally been worn out by the latter before they exch age, hence it is tattered and filthy beyond measure, arvi in no wise so well adapted to their purpose as the native clothing of buckskin. One could hardly stand up in these brush houses, they were built so low, and any attempt to do so was frustrated by the quantities of odoriferous salmon hanging down from the squat roofs, undergoing a process of »moking in the dense clouds that emanated from spruce-knot fires on the floor. These ornaments, coupled with the thick carpeting of live dogs upon the floor, made the outside of the house the most pleasant part of it. The houses were generally double, facing each other, with a narrow aisle a foot or two wide between, each one containing a single family, and being about the area of a common or government A tent. The ridge-poles were commoi: to THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 889 the two houses, and as both leaned forward considerably this gave them strength to resist violent winds. The diagram on this page gives a ground plan of an Ayan double brush-house. The village of Kah-tung contained about twenty of these .**' . T ( V cfer* ) PLAN OP iiYAN eUHMER U0U8B Or BBUBU. squalid huts, huddled near the river bank, and alto- gether was the largest In- dian village we ^aw on the whole length of the Yukon River. There was a most decided Hebrew cast of coui itenance among many o2 the Ayans ; more pronounced, in fact, than I have ever seen among savages, and so much so as to make it a subject of constant remark. Their household implements were of the most primitive type, — such as spoons of the horn of the mountain goat, vfjxy similar to those of the Tlinkits, but by no means so •ive?) carved ; and a few bii^jkets, pans, and trays of birch- Jrv"^";, ingeniously constructed of one piece so as not to Ua'z .:nd neatly sewed with long withes of trailing roots. (1 .? hner thread-like spruce roots, well -boiled, are, I be- lieve, generally used by them in sewing their birch-bark canoes and utensils.) Their present village was, as I i\ave said, evidently only of a semi -permanent character, nc°(\ iv the summer during the time that salmon were ascending the river to spawn ; the bright red sides of this lish, as they were hanging around, split open, forming a not inartistic con- i T;vi, with the dark green spruce boughs of the houses and surrounding forests; the artistic effect, however, was best appreciated when holding one's nose. Scattered I m I ' i i- i ! ! i 1= m 230 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. around in every direction was a horde of dogs that defied computation, and it must be an immense drain on their commissariat to keep these animals alive let alone in good condition. The p^«^iount of active exercise they took, however, would no "" 9 to reduce them in flesh, foi their principal occupa seemed to be unlimited sleep. kon-it'l, chief of the ayans. Although we were not successful in getting a photograph of the long group of dancers, we were more fortunate with a group of the chiefs and medicine-man " Hamlet," from which the portrait on this page, of Kon-it'l, their chief, is taken. It was impossible to get them to face the THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 231 camera at such short range until one of the members of the exploring party took his position with them, while Mr. Homan secured the photograph. The Ayan mothers, instead of carrying their babes on their backs with their faces to the front, as is usually done by savage women, unless when using a cradle, turn them around so as to have them back to back, and carry them so low as to fit as it were into the " small of the back." Most of the Ayan men, and especially the younger members, were armed with bows and arrows, but there was quite a conijiderable sprinkling of old flint-lock JIudson Bay Company muskets among them, which they AYAN MOOSE ARROW. had procured by trade many years ago when Fort Sel- kirk flourished, or by intertribal barter, and their cost to these poor savages was almost fabulous. The Company's manner of selling a gun was to set it upright on the floor of the trader's store, and then to pile up furs alongside of it until they reached the muzzle, when the exchange was made, many of the skins being those of the black and silver-gray fox, and thoir aggregate value being probably three to four hundred dollars. Their bows and arrows were of the stereotyped Indian make, with no dis- tinguishing ornament or peculiarity of construction worthy of notice. The moose arrows used by this tribe, shown in illus- tration on this page, have at the point the usual double I m ALOKG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEk. _% I i barb of comnion arrows, while one side is prolonged for two or tliree inches into a series oi barbs ; these latter they claim have the effect of working inward with the motions of the muscles of the animal if it be only wounded. Once wounded in this manner these sleuth- hounds of sav^ages will remain on the trail of a moose for ■days if need be, until this dreadful weapon has reached a vital point, or so disabled the animal that it easily suc- cumbs to its pursuers. In hunting moose in the summer time, while these animals are swimming across the lakes or broad streams, I was told by one of my interpreters who had often traded among them, and was well ac- quainted with their habits and customs, that these Ayans (and in fact several tribes below them on the river), do not hesitate to jump on the animals' back in the lake or river, leaving the canoe to look after itself, and dispatch the brute with a hand knife, cutting its throat or stab- bing it in the neck as illustrated on page 261. Of course, a companion in another canoe is needed to assist in get- ting the carcass ashore, and secure the hunter's canoe. They often attack the moose in their canoes while t ., ^m- ming as described by previous explorers on the lower river, but say that if by any unskillful movement they should only wound the animal it may turn and wreck their vessel, which is too great a loss for them to risk. A flying moose will not turn in the water unless initated by wounds. The knives they use in hunting are great double-edged ones, with flaring ornamental handles, well illustrated in the upper left hand corner of the picture mentioned. They tell me these knives are of native manufacture, the handles being wrapped with moose leather so as to give the hand a good grip. Alto- II THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 838 gether, they are most villainous and piratical looking things. Only one or two log-cabins were seen anywhere in the Ayan country and these had the dilapidated air of complete and permanent abandonment, although this whole district of the river is teeming with timber appro- priate for such use. Probably the nomadic and restless character of the inhabitants makes it irksome for them to dwell in such permanent abodes, in spite of the great comfort to be derived in their almost Arctic winters from CROSS- SECTION THBOUGH AYAN WINTER TENT. such buildings, if well constructed. The severity of the winter is shown by the moist banks of the river, the appearance of which indicates that they have been frozen some six or eight feet in depth. In winter the Ayans live mostly in tents, but by an ingenious arrangement these ordinarily cold habitations are made reasonably comfortable. This winter tent is shown in cross-section above, I being the interior, and P P the tent poles well covered with moose or caribou skins. A second set of poles, p p, are given a wider spread, inclosing an air space, A S, a foot or two across. These, too, are cov- i'- vl 2Si ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RtVElt. ! I ered with animal skins, and a thick banking of snow, sa, two or three feet deep is thrown over the outside ten! during the coldest weather of winter, making a sort ox hybrid between tlie Esltimo igloo, or snow houpe, and the Indian skin lodge. Many of the Ayans were persistent beggars, and next morning, the 16th of July, we got an early start before many of them were about, for as a tribe they did not seem to be very early risers. Nearly directly opposite the Kah-tung village the per- pendicular basaltic bluffs shown in the view at the moutb of the Pelly cease ; and from this point on, the hills ovt both sides of the river were higher and even mountain- ous in character ; "the upper gates of the upper ram- parts." From this point on down through the ramparts small black gnats became annoyingly numerous and pugna- cious, while tlie j)lague of mosquitoes seemed to abate a little. The mosquito-bars, which were some protection from the latter, were of no use against the former, the little imps sailing right between the meshes without even stopping to crawl through. Veils with the very finest meshes would be needed to repulse their onslaughts, and with these we were not provided. Tha. day, the 16th, we drifted forty-seven miles, through a most picturesque section of country, our jour- ney being marred only by a number of recurring and disagreeable tliander showers that wet us to the skin. Everywhere in conspicuous positions near the edge ox the river banks we saw straggling and isolated Ayan graves, resembling, in general, the one photographed at Selkirk, and not unlike pretty little white cottages, when mnOVGH TffE UPPER RAMPaPTS. 23i seen from the distance projected against the somber green of the deep spruce forests. About thii'ty-four miles beyond old Selkirk a small but conspicuous mountain stream came in from the south, which I named after Professor Selwyn, of Ottawa, Canada. The river was still full of islands, however, many of which are Covered with tall spruce and look very pic- turesque in the almost canon- like river-bottom, the steep mountain sides being nearly devoid of heavy forests. In one of the many open spaces far up the mountain side, we saw a huge black bear, evidently hunting his daily meal among the roots and berries that there abound. Although we passed within half a mile of him, he took no more notice of us than if our raft had been a floating chip, and we did not disturb his search with any long-range shots. A little further down, and on the same side cf the river, the northern, we saw three white mountain goats on the very highest ridges of the hills. Timid as they are, the only notice they deigned to give us was that such as were asleep roused themselves and stood gazing at us until we had drifted well past, when they began grazing leisurely along the ridge. About this time our attention was quite forcibly called to a singular phenomenon while riding on the raft, which was especially noticeable on quiet sunny days. It was a very pronounced crackling sound, not unlike that of a strong fire running through dry cedar brush, or that of the first rain drops of a thunder storm falling on the roof of a tent. Some of the men attributed it to the rattling on the logs of the raft of a shower of pebbles brought up by ,'i S88 ALOm ALASKA'S GREAT RHTER. I ; f C Ilii j«: nh m 1'' N S5 ^ ;■{ mm the swift current from underneath, which would have been a good enough theory as far as the sound was concerned ; but soundings in such places invariably failed to touch bottom with a sixteen-foot pole, and, moreover, when we were in sliallovver and swifter waters, where the bottom was pebbly, the sounds were not observed. As the noise always occurred in deep water of a boiling character, figuratively speaking, — or in that agitated condition so common in deep water immediately after a shoal, a condition with whicli our experience in prying the raft off shoals had rendered us familiar — I attempted to account for it upon the theory explained by the figure just below. The raft x, drifting with the arrow, passes from a shallow to a deep stretch of water. The Yukon River is a very swift stream for its size (we drifted that day, July 16, forty-seven and a half geo- graphical miles in eleven hours and fifty minutes, and even this rate cannot represent the swiftest current), and the pebbles, carried forward over the shallows and reaching the crest a, are borne along by their own inertia and the superficial current, and literally dropped on a gravel-bank at some point forward, such as &, and, water being so excellent a conductor of sound, an observer on a low floating craft, during quiet days, might distinctly hear this falling, whereas it would not be heard if the pebbles were simply rolling along the bottom in swifter and noisier water. The suddenness with which this crackling commenced and the gradual manner in which it died out, seem to confirm this idea. A series of fHROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 23t joundinqs before and after the occurrence of these sln^- lar noises would have settled this tlieory ; but the sound recurred so seldom (say twice, or perhaps three times, a day in this part of the river), that it was impossible to predict it in time to put the theory to the test, unless one kept constantly sounding while upon the river. It was observed on the lower river in a much less degree, and probably might there have passed unnoticed if previous experience had not recalled it to our attention. That evening we camped at 8 o'clock, after trying to conduct our cur .bersome vessel to a pretty little spot for the purpose, but our well-used " snubbing" line parted at the critical moment and we drifted down into a most miserable position among the high, rank willow shoots, laden with water from the recent rains. Towing or "tracking" our craft back against the swift current with our small force was plainly out of the question, and as the river bank seemed of the same character, as far as we could see, some two or three miles, we made the best of it and camped, for we were getting used to such experiences by this t'me. Next morning, about 7 o'clock, when we were nearly ready to start, we found four Ayan Indians, each in his birch-bark canoe, visiting our camp. They came from the Kah-tung village above, having left it, as they said, shortly after our departure on the preceding day, and had camped for the night on the river just above us. They expressed great surprise at the distance we had made by simple drifting, having until this morning felt certain that they had passed us the day before around some one of the many islands in the broad river. They were going down the river some two or three hundred miles to a white SM ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEH. I; > \ I 1" *:JIJ III! : i Pi fi 1 ! trader's store of which they spoke, and we kept passi'.ig each other for the next three or four days. They had spoken at tlie Iviih-tung village of this trading sta- tion (whicli we took to be Fort Yukon), which they said they could reach in three days; kindly adding that we might make the distance with our craft in a week or so. They now changed their minds and thought we might only be a day or two behind them. I found that the progress of the raft, when care was taken to keep in the swiftest current, for twelve or fourteen or perhaps sixteen hours a day, with no unusual detentions, fully equaled the average day's journey of the Indian canoes, which remained ir the water not more than six or seven hours a day ; their occupants stopping to hunt every animal that might be seen, as well as to cook a midday lunch at their leisure. In fact my own Indians, who had traded among them, more than hinted that they were hurrying considerably in order to go along with us and to reach the white trader's store as a portion of our party. These same four fellows, when they met us on the morn- ing of the 17th, had with them the carcass of a black bear, which they offered for sale or barter ; and on our buying one hindquarter, which was about all that we thought we could use before spoiling, they offered us the rest as a gift. We accepted the offer to the extent of taking the other hindquarter, for which we gave them a trifle, whereupon the rest of the carcass was left behind or thrown away on the beach, a circumstance which was explained to us by the fact that all four of these Indians were medicine-men, and as such were forbidden by some superstitious custom from eating bears' flesh. They told TIIROUOH THE UPPER RAMPARTS 230 US that tha juiiiial was tlie same black bear we luul seen on the northern hillsides of the rivtr the day before. The morning of the 17th and certain other periods of the day were characterized by a heavy fog-bank, which did not quite reach the river bottom, but cut the hill- sides at an \ltitude of from three hundred to Ave hundred feet above the level of the stream. The fog gave a dismal and monotonous aspect to the landscape, but proved much better for our physical comfort than the previous day, with its alternating rain and blistering heat. We found these fogs to be very common on this part of the ri\ er, being almost inseparable from the southern winds that prevail at this time of the year, I suppose these fogs proceed from the moisture-laden air over the warm Pacific which is borne on the southern winds across the snow-clad and glacier-crowned mountains of the Alaskan coast range, becoming chilled and condensed in its progress, and reaching this part of the Yukon valley is precipitated as rain or fog. The reason that we had escaped the fogs on the lakes was that the wind came across tracts of land to the south, and the hygrometric conditions were different. A little further down the Yukon, but within the upper ramparts, we suffered from almost constant rains that beat with the southern winds upon our backs. Shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon we floated by the mouth of the White River flowing from the south- west, which has the local name of Yu-ko-kon Heena, or Yu-ko-kon River, a much prettier name than the old one of the Hudson Bay traders. The Chilkats call it the Sand River, from the innumerable bars and banks of sand along its course ; and many years ago they ascended it by a trail, which when continued leads to their own 240 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. 11 I a fa i country, but is now abandoned. Some forty to fifty miles up its valley the Indian trading trail wh'.ch leads from the headwaters of the Tanana to old Fovt Selkirk crosses its course at right angles ; usii since tlie destruc- tion of Fort Selkirk in 1851, the Tai-ana Indians, who then made considerable use of the trail to reach the fort for trading purposes, employ it but little ; and only then as far as the White River, wiiv e valley they descend to reach the Yukon. This stream resembles a river of liquid mud cf an almost white hue, fro'.a which characteristic it is said to have derived its name from tb e old Hudson Bay traders — and no better illustration ui its extreme muddiness can be given than the following : One of our party mistook a mass of timber that hr.d lodged on the up-stream side of a low, flat mud-bar, /or iioating wood, and regarde*! it as evidence of a freshet, a theory which seemed cor- roborated by the muddy condition of the water, until the actual character of the object was established by {^loser observation as we drifted nearer. The mud-bar and adjacent waters were so entirely of the same color that the line of demarcation was not readily apparent, and had it not been for the drift rubbish around the former it might have escaped our scrutiny even at our short distance from it. The Indinns say that the "White River rises in glacier-bearing lands, and that it is very swift, and full of rapids along its whole course. So swift is it at its mouth, that as it pours its muddy waters into the rapid Yu':on it carries them nearly across that clear blue stream ; the waters of the two river's mingling almost at once, and not running distinct for miles side by side, as is stated in one book on xilaska. From the sssrtnca^m THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 241 fty Us irk ic- \iio )rt ^en to month of the White orYu'-ko-kon to Bering Sea, nearly 1,500 miles, the Yukon is so muddy as to be noticeable even when its water is taken up in the palm of the hand ; and all fishing with hook and line ceases. About four in the afternoon the mouth of the Stewart River was passed, and, being covered with islands, might not hv/e bt >:n notice'^ except for its valley, which is very notifiable -a broad valley feiiced in by high hills. A visit to the shore in our canoe showed its mouth to be deltoid ill character, three mouths being observed, and others probably existing. Islands were very numerous in this i)ortion of the Yukon, much more so than in any part of the river we had yet visited, and as the raft had drif te(i on while I went ashore in the canoe, I had a very hard task to find it again and came within a scratch of losing it, having passed beyond the camp, and being compelled to return. It was about nine o'clock in the eveniiK]^ and the low north-western sun shone squarely in our faces, as we descended the river, eagerly looking for the ascending smoke of the camp-fire, which had been agreed upon, before separation, as the signal to be kept going until we retur'^ed. The setting sun throwing its slanting rays upon each point of woods that ran from the hillsides down to the water's edge, illumine "1 the top of them with a whitish light until each cne exactly resembled a camp-fire on the river bank with Jie feathery smoke floating off along the tree tops. Even my Indian canoeman was deceived at first, until half a dozen ap- pearing togethej in sight convinced him of his enor. All these islands were densely covered with spruce and poplar, and the swift current cutting into their alluvial banks, though the latter were frozen six or eight feet (?f; 242 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER mi thick, kept their edges bristling with freshly-fallen tim- ber ; and it was almost courting destruction to get under this abatis of trees with the raft, in the powerful cur- rent, to avoid which some of our hardest work was nec- essary. The preservative power of this constantly frozen ground must be very great, as in many places we saw protruding from the high banks great accumulations of driftwood and logs over which there was soil two and three feet thick, which had been formerly carried by the river, and from which sprung forests of spruce timber, as high as any in sight, at whose feet were rotting trunks that must have been saplings centuries ago. Yet wherever this ancient driftwood had been undermined and washed of its dirt and thrown upon the beach along with the tree but just fallen, thy difference between the two was only that the latter still retained its green bark, and its broken limbs were not so abraded and worn ; but there seemed to be no essential difference in the iiber of the timber. The evening of the ITTh, having scored forty geo- graphical miles, we camped on a low gravel bar, and bivouacked in the open air so clear and still was the night, although by morning huge drops of rain were fall- irg on our u]; turned faces. On the 18th, shortly after noon, we passed a num- ber of TaTik-ong Indians, stretched upon the green sward of the right bank leisurely enjoying themselves ; their birch-bark canoes, sixteen in all, being pulled up on the gravel beach in front of them. It was probably a trading or hunting party, there being one person for each canoe, none of whom were women. Already we ob served an increase in the size and a greater cumbrousnes) )r THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 243 in the build of the birch-bark canoes, when compared with the fairy-like craft of the Ayans, a characteristic that slowly increased as we descended the river until the Male, or sealskin canoe of the Eskimo is encountered along the lower waters of the great river. Of couree this change of build reflects no discredit upon the skill of the makers, as a hea> ier craft is required to navigate i'i: MOOSE-SKIN MOUNTAIN, AND CAMP 32 AT THE MOUTH OF DEKB RIVER. the rougher water, as the broad stream is stirrod up by the persistent southern winds of the Yukon basin. About 8.80 p. M. we passed an Indian camp on the left bank, which, from the seeming good quality of their canvas tentj as viewed from the river, we judged might prove to be a mining party of whites. From t)'em we learned that there was a deserted white man's store but I ; \ life in order to get rid of his competition in the drug business, which resulted greatly to their linancial detriment. Nearly opposite Fort Reliance was the Indian village of Nog klak-6, or Nuclaco, numbering about one hund- red and fifty people. Our approach was welcomed by a protracted salute of from fifty to seventy-five dis- charges of their old rusty muskets, to which we replied with a far less number. Despite the great value of pow- der and other ammunition to these poor isolated savages, who are often obliged to make journeys of many hund- reds of miles in order to procure them, and must often- times be in sore need of them for hunting purposes, they do not hesitate in exciting times — and every visit of a stranger causes excitement — to waste their ammunition in foolish hangings and silly salutes that suggest the vicinity of a powder magazine. I suppose the expendi- ture on our visit, if judiciously employed in hunting, would have supplied their village with meat for probably a month ; and yet we drifted by with hardly a response. This method of saluting is very common along the river from this point on, and is, I believe, an old Russian cus- tom which has found its way thus far up the stream, which is much beyond where they had ever traded. It is a custom often mentioned in descriptions of travel fur- ther down the river. The permanent number of inhab- itants, according to Mr. McQuestion, was about seventy- five or eighty ; and therefore there must have been a great number of visitors among them at the time of our passing. They seemed very much disappointed that we did not visit their village, and the many who crowded around the drifting raft in their little fleet of canoes THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. S47 spoKe only of tea and tobacco, for which tliey seemed ready to barter their very souls. Their principal diet in summer and early fall is furnished by the salmon of the Yukon, while during winter and spring, until the ice disappears, they feed on the flesh of moose and caribou. A trader on the upper river told me that the ice of the stream is removed from the upper ramparts and above principally by melting, while all that covers the Yukon below that part is washed out by the spring rise of the river, there being fully a month's difference in the mat- ter between the two districts. Noo-klak-o' was a semi- permanent village, but a most squalid-looking affair, — somewhat resembling the Ayan town, but with a much greater preponderance of canvas. Most o"f the native visitors we saw were Tanana' Indians, and I was some- what surprised to find them put the accent, in a broad way, on the second syllable, Ta-nah'-nee, differing radically from the pronunciation of the same name by the Indians at the mouth of the river, and by most white travelers of the Lower Yuicoi?. Prom this poii. a trail leads south-westward over the mountains to a tributary of the TauriUP, by means of which these Indians visit Noo-klak-o. The lOtli was a most disagreeable day, with alternating rain showers and drifting fog, which had foU lowed us since the day of our failnre in securing ast:'o« nomical observations, and to vary the discomfort, after making less than thirty miles we stuck so fast on the upper point of a long gravel bar that wo had to carry our effects ashore on our backs, and there camp with only half a dozen water-logged sticks for a camp-fire. WHiat in the world any musquito wanted to do out on that desert of a sand-bar in a cold drifting fog I could never lU i ; wmmm ' i! nil ii'i 'I \ !l|f 248 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. imagine, but before our beds were fairly made they put in an appearance in the usual unlimited numbers and made sleep, after a hard day's work, almost impossible. Starting at 8:10 a.m., next morning, from Camp 33, at 11:30 we passed a good sized river coming in from the west, which I named the Cone-Hill River, from the fact that there is a prominent conical hill in the center of its broad valley, near the mouth. Just beyond the mouth of the Cone-Hill River we suddenly came in sight of some four or five black and brown bears in an open or untimbered space of about an acre or two on the steep hillsides of the western slope. Tlie raft was left to look after itself and we gave them a running volley of skirmish fire that sent them scamper- ing up the steep hill into the dense brush and timber, their principal loss being loss of breath. By not attend- ing to the navigation of our craft in the excitement of the short bear hunt we ran on a submerged rock in a current so swift that we swung around so rapidly as almost to throw a number of us overboard, stuck for a couple of minutes with the water boiling over the stern, and in general lost our faith in the ability of our vessel to navigate itself. In a previous chapter I have men- tioned having been told by a person in southern Alaska, undoubtedly conscientious in his statement, and having considerable experience as a hunter, that the black and brown bear of his district never occupied the same localities, and although the' sequence of these localities might be as promiscuous as the white and black squares on a checker-board, yet each species remained wholly on his own color, so to speak ; and this led him to believe that the weaker of the two, thts black bear, had good THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 249 It \d It 3t reason to be afraid of his more powerful neighbor. This day's observation of the two species living together, in one very small area, shows either an error of judgment on the part of the observer mentioned, or a difiEerence of the ursine nature in different regions. After leaving the Stewart Eiver, which had been iden- tified by a sort of reductio ad absurdum reasoning, I found it absolutely impossible to identity any of the other streams from the descriptions and maps now in existence, even when aided by the imperfect information derived from the local tribes. Indianne, my Chilkat- Tahk-heesh interjjreter, got along very well among the latter tribe. Among the Ayans were many who spoke Tahk-heesh, with whom they traded, and here we had but little trouble. Even lower down we managed to get along after a fashion, for one or two of the Ayan medi- cine-men who came as far as Fort Reliance with us, could occasionally be found, and they understood the lower languages pretty fairly, and although we struggled through four or five tongues we could still make out that tea and tobacco were the leading topics of conver- sation everywhere. Beyond Port Reliance, and after bidding adieu to our four Ayans, we were almost at sea, but occasionally in the most roundabout way we man- aged to elicit information of a limited character. About the middle of the afternoon of that day, the 20th, we floated past a remarkable-looking rock, stand- ing conspicuously in a flat level bottom of the river on the eastern side, and very prominent in its isolation. I could not but notice the strong resemblance between it and Castle Rock on the Columbia River, although I judge it to be only about one-half or two-thirds the size i i ,■; \ ;- ■■ '"•-^j'Tnii^iaiTTTgYiBra I ! J Mi i Jt r 260 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. of the latter, but much more prominent, not being over- shadowed by near and higher mountains. I called it the Roquette Rock, in honor of M. Alex, de la Roquette, of the Paris Geographical Society. The Indians have a legend connected with it, so it is said, that the Yukon River once iiovved along the distant hills back of it, and that the rock formed part of the bluff seen in the illus- tration just below, overhanging the western shore of the river, both being about the same height and singu- ROQUKTTE ROCK. (Aa we approached looking down the stream.) larly alike in other respects. Here the bluff and rock lived many geological periods in wedded bliss as man and wife, but finally family dissensions invaded the rocky household and culminated in the stony-hearted husband kicking his wrangling wife into the center of the distant plain, and changing the course of the great river so that it flowed between them to emphasize the perpetual divorce. The bluff and the rock, so my in- THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 251 formant told me, are still known among the Indians as "the old man" and "the old wife." Despite a most lisagreeable day, on the 20th we showed a record of forty-iive geographical miles, by way of compensation for the dark lowering clouds that hung over us like a pall. The scenery passed that day would have been picturesque enough when viewed through any other medium than that of a wretched drizzle of rain. Just before camp- ing we saw high perpendicular bluffs of what appeared to be limestone, frowning over us from the eastern shore, which were perforated with liuge caverns that would have made good dens for bears, but their situation was such that no bears not possessing wings could have reached them. On the map this blulf ligures as Cave Rock. We got a late start on the 21st, the wretched weather being good for late sleeping if for nothing else, the mid- dle of the forenoon finding us just pulling out. At noon we passed a good-sized river coming in from the east, but if it had been mapped we were unable to iden- tify it. A few minutes afterward we swung around a sharp bend in the river and saw a confused mass of brush or logs that denoted an Indian village in the dis- tance, a supposition confirmed by the number of canoes afloat in its front and by a motley crowd of natives on the bank, well mingled with the inevitable troop of dogs that to the eye of the experienced traveler is as sure a sign of an Indian village as both Indians and houses together. This was the first Indian village we had en- countered on the river deserving the name of perma- nent, and even here the logs of which the cabins, six in number, were built, seemed to be mere poles, and by 252 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. no means as substantially built as it might have been with the material at hand. It was perched up on a high flat bank on the western side of the river, the gable ends of the house fronting the stream, and all of them very close together, there being only one or two places wide enough for a path to allow the inmates to pass. The fronts of the houses are nearly on the same line, and this row is so close to the scarp of the bank that the "street" in front is a very narrow path, where two persons can hardly pass unless one of them steps indoors or down the hill ; and when T visited tho village the road was so monopolized by scratching dogs that I could hardly force my way tlirough them. This street may have been much wider in times of yore — for it seemed to be quite an old village — and the encroachments of the eroding river during freshets may have reduced it to its present narrowness. If so, it will not be long before the present village must be abandoned or set back some distance. Farther up the river we saw a single pole house pro- jecting over the ban!?: about a fourth or a third of its length, and deserted by its occupants. The body of the houses is of a very inferior construction, in which ven- tilation seems to be the predominating idea (although even this is not developed to a sufficient degree, as judged by one's nose upon entering), and the large door in front is roughly closed by a well-riddled moose or caribou skin, or occasionally by a piece of canvas so dirty that at the distance of a few feet it might be taken for an animal's skin. The roofs are of skins ba. .'-ened down by spruce poles, which, projecting beyond the comb in irregular lengths, often six and eight feet, gave the whole village a most bristling appearance. A iM ; m 'l f ', / I'll I'F I .V- y lii ii THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 26S &rpi is built on the dirt-iloor, in the center of the hab- itation, and the smoke left to get out the best vray it can. As the occupants are generally sitting flat on the floor, or stretched out at full length on their backs or stom- achs in the dirt, they are in a stratum of air compara- tively clear; or, at least, endurable to Indian lungs. The ascending smoke finds ample air-holes among the upper cracks of the walls, while that dense mass of it which is retained under the skins of the roof, making it almost impossible to stand upright, is utilized for smok- ing the salmon which are hung up in this space. The Indian name of the village is Klat-ol-klin', but it is gen- erally known on the Middle River as Johnny's Village, after the chief's Americanized name. That dignitary was absent. 1 1 a journey of several days down the river, at the time of our arrival. A number of long leaning poles, braced on their down- hill ends by cross uprights, were noticed on the gravel beach in front of the village ; these serve as scaffoldings upon Avhich to dry salmon in the sun, and to keep them from the many dogs while undergoing this process. While taking a photograph of the town, two or three salmon fell from the poles ; and in a twinkling fully sixty or seventy dogs werr^ huddled together about them '\ a writhing mass, each one trying to get his share, — and thpt of several others. The camera was sighted toward them, a hurried guess made as to the proper focus, and an instantaneous view attempted, but the negative looked n.ore like a representation of an approaching thunder shower, and I never afterward printed from it. Occasion- all y i'l these rushes a row of scaffolding will be knocked down, and if it hapi)ens to be loaded with salmon the t 1 ; w D { ^ f ■ ''5; m M m V::i 256 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. consequent feast will be of a more extensive nat re. These dogs were of a smaller breed, and noticeably of a darker color, than the Eskimo dogs of the lower river. They are employed by these Indians for the same pur- poses, but to a more limited extent. It was at this village that what to me was the most wonderful and striking performance given by any natives we encountered on the whole trip was displayed. I refer to their method of fishing for salmon. I have already spoken of the extreme muddiness of the Yukon below the nu)uth of the White River ; and this spot, of course, is no exception. I believe I do not exaggerate in the least when I say, that, if an ordinary pint tin-cup were tilled with it, nothing could be seen at the bottom uiitil the sed- iment had settled. The water is about nine or ten feet deep on the fishing banks in front of the houses, where they fish with their nets ; or at least that is about the length of the poles to which the nets are attached. Tlie salmon I saw them take were caught about two hundred or two hundred and fifty yards directly out from the shore in front of the houses. Standing in front of this row of cabins, some person, generally an old man, squaw or child, possibly on duty for that purpose, would an- nounce, in a loud voice, that a salmon was coming up the river, perhaps from a quarter to a third of a mile away. This news would stir uji some young man from the cabins, who from his elevated position in front of them would identify tlie salmon's position, and tlien run down to the beach, pick up his canoe, T)addle nnd net, launch the former and start rapidly out into the river ; the net lying on the canoe's birch deck in front of him, his movements being guided by his own sight and that of a I'HROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 267 half dozen others on the high bank, all shouting advice to him at the same time. Evidently, in the canoe he could not judge well of the fish's position, especially at a dis- tance ; for he seemed to rely on the advice from the shore to direct his movements until the fish was near him, when with two or three dexterous and powerful strokes with both hands, he shot the little canoe to a point near the position he wished to take up, regulating its finer movements by the paddle used as a sculling oar in his left hand, while with his right he grasped the net at the end of its handle and plunged it into the water the whole length of its pole to the bot- tom of the river (some nine or ten feet) ; often lean- ing far over and thructing the arm deep into the water, so as to adjust the mouth of the net, covering about two square feet, directly over the course of the salmon so as to entrap him. Of seven attempts, at intervals covering three hours, two were successful (and in two others salmon were caught but escaped while the nets were being raised), salmon being taken that weighed from fifteen to twenty pounds. How these Indians can see at this distance the coming of a single salmon along the bottom of a river eight or ten feet deep, and deter- mine their course or position near enough to catch them in the narrow mouth of a small net, when immediately under the eye a vessel holding that number of inches of water from the muddy river completely obscures an ob- ject at its bottom, is a problem that I will not attempt to solve. Thtdr success depends of course in some way on the motion of the fish. In vain they attempted to show members of my party the coming fish. I feel perfectly satisfied that none of the white men could see the slight- i:'l I : m ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER, est trace of the movements to which their attention was called. Under the skin roofs of their log-cabins and on the scaffoldings upon the gravel beach were many hund- red salmon that had been caught in this curious way. The only plausible theory which I could evolve within the limits of the non-marvelous, was, that the salmon came alohg near the top of the water, so as to show or indicate the dorsal fin, and that as it approached the canoe, the sight of it, or more likely some slight noise, made with that intention, drove the fish to the bottom without any considerr.Me lateral deviation, whereupon they "vere inclosed by the net. But my interpreters told me (and I think their interpretation was correct in this case, roundabout as it was), that this supei'ficial swim- ming did not take place, but that the motion of the fish was communicated from the deep water tc the surface, often when the fish was quite at the bottom. The nets used have already been partially described. The mouth is held open by a light wooden frame of a reniform shape, as shown in the figure on this page, and as one may readily see, this is of great advantage in securing the handle firmly by side braces to the rim of the net's mouth as shown, that being undoubtedly the object sought. Further down the rivei (that is, in the " lower ram- parts"), the reniform rim becomes circular; thus ol course increasing the chances of catching the fish ; all the other dimensions, too, are greatly increased. When the salmon is netted, a turn is immedi.vtely given to the KL/IT-OL'KLIN FI^IHNQ NETS. Scale, 1-30. THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 269 8ALU0N-KILLINO CLUB. handle, thus effectually trapping the fish below the mouth of the net, and upon the dexterity thus displayed no little of the fisherman's success depends. Two sal- mon were lost upon this occasion after they had actually passed into the net, owing to lack of agility in this opera tion. When fully entrapped and brought alongside, a fish- ^ club, as shown, is used to kill the salmon immediately by a hard blow over the head, for the struggles of so large a fish might easily upset a frail canoe. Up to this time the birch-bark canoes on the river had been so fragile and " cranky " that my Chilkat Indians, who wore used to the heavy wooden canoes of their coun- try, felt unsafe in employing them for all purposes, but these were so much larger and stronger in build, and our old Tahk-heesh "du(^-out" so thoroughly worthless, that we felt safe in bi^ying one at this village, but for a number of days "Billy" and "Indianne" paddled very gingerly when making excursions in it. A few Hudson Bay toboggan sledges were seen on scaffolds at and near tlie village ; they seem to be the lirincipal sledges of this part of the country. The snow shoes of this tribe differed from those of the Chilkats by trifling modifications only, being a sort of compromise between the hunting and packing snow shoes of the latter. About a mile or a mile and a quarter belov; Klat-ol- klin'. and on the same side of the river, is a fairly con- structed white man's log cabin, which had once been used as a trading store, but was noAv deserted. "We afterward learned that this trading station was called Belle Isle, If la i r i'l J , : . ' It V- ■ i i 111 ii ii ■■■[ iH^ 860 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. aud had only been built two years before, having teen abandoned the preceding year as not paying. The In- dians evidently must have surmised that the trader would return, as they respected the condition in which he left the building, in a manner most creditable to their honesty, no one having entered or disturbed it since he left. They evidently care very 'little for beads as orna- ments, for I saw none of them wearing that much cov- eted Indian adornment, while great quantities were scattered around by the trader's store, having been trampled into the ground. At no place on the river did I find such an eagerness for beads as characterizes the American Indians of milder climes, but nowhere did I see such total disregard for them as was shown here. Near B^lle Isle is a prominent hill called by the In- dians Ta-iot'-lee, its conspicuousness heightened by the comparative flatness of the country which lies between two entering rivers and a great bend of the Yukon. As our survey showed it to be just within Alaska, bordering on the boundary between it and the British Northwest Terri- tory, I gave it the additional name of Boundary Butte, The country was now noticeably more oper, and it was evident that we had already passed the most mountainous portion of the chain, the intersection of which by the river forms the upper ramparts. The next day we made thirty-six miles, and as the whole day had been a most disagreeable one when at six o'clock we got drawn into an eddy, near which was a fair place to camp, I ordered the raft made fast and the tents pitched. That day — the 22d — while under way, we saw a large dead king-salmon, floating belly upwards with the cur- II ' f THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTA S61 i. jnt, and we kept near it for some time. This specti lie became more familiar as we descended, while everywhere we met with the rough coarse dog-salmon strewn upon the beach, frequently in such numbers, and tainting the air so strongly with the odor of their decay, that an otherwise good camp would be spoiled by their presence. MOUNT TA-TOT'-lEE, OR BOUNDAKT BUTTB. (AIm showing Midule Yakon River Indians' methods of killing swimming moow.) The river rose ten inches that night— a fact easily accounted for by the protracted and often heavy rains. The forenoon of the 23d was very gloomy, but shortly after noon the weather surprised us by clearing up. r ^•' if i ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER At 3:30 that day we came upon another Indian town called Charley's Village ; but the current was so swift that we could not get the raft up to the bank so as to camp alongside, but we were successful in making a sand-bar about half a mile below. Charley's Village was an exact counterpart of Johnny's, even as to the number of houses — six — and the side of the river — the western ; and considering this and the trouble to reach it, I did not attempt to photograph it. When attempting to reach it with the raft, so anxious were the Indians for our success, that as many as could do so put the bows of their canoes on the outer log of the raft, and paddled forward with as much vehemence as if their very lives depended upon the result. In three or four minutes they had worked themselves into a streaming perspiration, and had probably shoved the huge raft as many inches toward the bank. We found a Canadian voyageur among them of the name of Jo. Ladue, who, as a partner of one of the traders on the lower river, had drif te'^ here in prospecting the stream for precious mineral. " J / ' as he is familiarly known, speaks of the natives of both these villages as Tadoosh, and says they are the best-natured Indf a,ns from here till the Eskimo are met with. Ladue had a fairly- made scow over twenty feet long, about hall a dozen wide, and three deep, which he wanted to hive us, but as it would not hold all the party and effects we had to decline the tender, despite his emphatic assurances that we could not safely go much further with out* raft. It was with Ladue that I first noticed particularly the pro- nunciation of the name of the great river, on whose waters we were drifting, a pronunciation which is universal among the few whites along its borders, and that sounded THROUGH THE UPPER RAMPARTS. 268 strangely at first ; that is with the accent on the first syllable, and not on the second, as I had so usually heard it pronounced in the United States. That night, the 23d, the mosquitoes were perfectly unbearable in their assaults, and if the weather had not turned bitterly cold toward morning I doubt if we could have obtained any sleep at all, for the mosquito-bars seemed to be no pro- tection whatever. I think I established one mosquito theory of a practical bearing, on a pretty firm basis, while upon this trip "in the land of the mosquito's paradise ;" and tliat was, if the insects are so thLl^ that they constantly touch each othar Ol *he mosquito-bar when crawling over it, it will be no protection whatever, if tlie meshes are of the usual size, and they will come in so fast that comfort is out of the question, but otherwise there is some chance which increases as their numbers diminish. Even if there are two or three to the square inch of your bar of many square yards, it surprises you how few get through, but the minute they begin crawling over each other they seem to become furious, and make efforts to squeeze through the meshes which are often rewarded with suc- cess, until a sharp slap on the face sounds their death knell. The doctor, in a fit o^ exasperation, said he believed that two of them would hold the legs and wings of another flat against its body, while a third shoved it through ; but I doubt the existence of co-operation among them, another. I think they are ic^ mean to help one CHAPTER X. THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. AFTER passing Johnny village in descending the stream, and more pCT'ceptibly after leaving Charley s vil- lage, the country opens rapidly, and another day's drift of forty-two and a half geographical miles brought us to what an old trader on the lower river calls the "Yukon flat-lands," an expression so appropriate that I have adopted it, although I have never heard any other authority for its use. While descending the stream on the 24th, late in the forenoon, we saw a large buck moose swim from one of the^many islands to the mainland just back of us, having probably, as the hunter would say, "gotten our scent." I never comprehended what immense noses these animals have until I got a good profile view of this big fellow, and although over half a mile away, his nose looked as if he had been rooting the island and was trying to carry THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 206 away the greater part of it on the end of his snout. The great palmated horns above, the broad "throat-latch" before, combined with the huge nose and powerful shoulders, make one think that this animal might tilt forward on his head from sheer gravity, so little is there apparently at the other end to counterbalance these masses. When the Russians were on the lower river these moose-noses were dried by them and con- sidered great delicacies. A few winters ago the cold was 80 intense, and the snow covered the ground for so great a depth throughout the season, that sad havoc waa played with the unfortunate animals, and a moose is now a rare sight below the upper ramparts of the river, as 1 was informed by the traders of that district. It is cer- tainly to be hoped that the destruction has only been partial, so that this noble game may again flourish in its home, where it will be secure from the inroads of fire- arms for many decades to come. Not long since the little river steamer that plies on this stream for trading purposes, owned by the Alaska Commercial Company, could hardly make a voyage to old Fort Yukon and back without encountering a few herds o'. these animals swimming across the stream, and e'j.citing were the bouts with them, often ending iu a victory for the moose with the " Yukon " run aground on a bar of sand or gravel ; but for some years not an animal has been seen by them. Formerly the meat they secured in this way, with what they procured from the Indians along the river, assured them of fresh food during the month or so they were absent from St. Michael's ; but their entire dependence for this kind of fare has been thrown upon the salmon furnished by the natives, which is 'i i 866 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. much more difficult to keep fresh during the short hot summer of the river. This river steamer, the "Yukon," was daily expected by "Jo" Ladue, and upon it ho intended to return to Nuklakayet, his winter station. I also hoped to fall in with it during the next week, as our civilized i^rovisions were at a very low ebb and I wished to replenish them. During a great part of our drift on the 24th, we were accompanied by Jo and his three Indian allies, in their scow, who said they would keep us company until we met the "Yukon" steamer. AVhile we were leisurely floating along, "Jo" saw a "short cut" in the river's bend, into which we could not xow our ponderous craft, and down this he quickly disappeared, remarking that he would pick out a good camping place for us for the night. Although we were well out of the high mountainous country, we could see the chain through which we had passed still bearing off to the left, the summits in many places covered with snow, long fingers of which extended down such mountain gullies as had a northern exposure. As we emerged from the hilly country the soil, for the first time, seemed to be thick and black wherever it was exposed to our eye by the caving in of the banks ; and grass, always good, now became really luxuriant for any climate. In many places we saw grass ready to mow, were it not for the fact that even the largest prairies have an undergrowth of stunted brush which one might not observe at a distance in the high grass, but which is very perceptible in walking through it. The greatest obstacle to cattle raising in the Yukon valley would be the dense swarms of mosquitoes, although I understand that a couple of head of cattle were kept at old Fort Yukon for THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 267 one or two summers. By burning oflf all timber and brush from large districts and a little judicious drainage it might be possible to encourage this industry witli the hardier breeds of cattle, but at present the case is too remote to speculate upon. I now reniarked in many places along the flat river-bot- toms — wliicli had high banlcs, however — that the ground was covered, especially in little open prairies, with a tough sponge-like moss or peat. If the bank was at all gravelly, so as to give good drainage, and to allow of the river excavating it gradually, as is usual in temperate climes, this thick moss was so interwoven and com- pacted that it would not break or separate in falling with the river banks, but remained attached to the crest, forming gi'eat blankets of moss that overhung the shores a foot thick, as T have endeavored to represent on this page, a. h. representing the moss. Some of these banks were from fifteen to eighteen feet in height, and this over- hanging moss would even then reach to the water, keeping the shores neatly .„,, „^ ,„k„^ „,„5a. sodded to the waters edge on the inclined banks, ar"'. hanging perpendicularly from those that projected over. Great jagged rents and patches were torn out of the hem of this carpet by the limbs and roots of drifting logs, thus destroying its picturesque uniformity. I supi)ose the reason why it was more noticeable in open spaces was that the trees and underbrush, and especially their roots, would, from the effect of undermining, carry the moss into the water with their heavy weight as they feU. M8 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. •rri-; I'll At half past five o'clock we sighted a steamer clown the river which we thought iiiight be the Alaska Com- mercial Company's "Yukon" coming up around alow island of sand, but it proved to be a beached boat called the St. Miciiael's, lying high and dry, about ten ori':welve feet above the present water level, on a long, low island of sand and gravel. Some years before, a rival corporation to the Alaska Compau,', called, I believe, The Northern Trading Com- pany, tried to establish itself on the Yukon River, (and elsewhere in Alaska, but the Yukon district onlv cm- cerns us here), and trading houses were built 'n many places along the stream, most of them within a sliort distance, perhaps a mile or two, of those established by the Alaska Commercial Company. Fiei'ce competition ensued, and 1 was told that the Indians got goods at wholesale pricts in San PranMsco, i. e., at almost infini- tesimal prices tv-mpared with those they were accus- tomed to pay. The Ala.^ka Company was finally victori- ous, Tmt found matteis considerably changed when the struggle was over. When they attempted to restore the prices of the old regime., and to ask immediate payment — for both companies had given the Indians unlimited credit- -such a hornet's nest was stirred up that ulti- mately the company was obliged to abandon nearly a half-dozen posts, all above Nuklakayet, for fear of the Indians, who required a Krupp steam-hammer to pound into their thick heads the reason why a man might sell them a pound of tobacco for ten cents to-day and to-mor- row charge them ten dollars an ounce ; especially when they have to pay for the latter from the products of the trap, and the former is put down in the account book in THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 269 an accommodating way. The Northern Trading Com- pany also put on the Yukon River this boat, the St. Michael's, a clumsily-built stern-wheet r that had win- tered at Belle Isle, and on going down with the spring freshet had etruck this bar, then under water, and as the river was falling she was soon left high in the air. We camped for the night on the same bar, which I called St. Michael's Island, and about an hour afterward "Jo" and his scow came along and pulled up to camp on iue opposite shore. He explained his delay — for 1 really thought he had passed us and was camping further down— by saying that he and his Indians had been hunt- ing, aim he produced two or three ducks, in the very prime of their toughness, as corroborative testimony, but I surmised that the true story was that " all hands and the cook" had gone to sleep, whereupon the scow had likewise rested on the soft bottom of some friendly sand - spit. The remainder of the journey confirmed this sus- picion. Starting from Camp No. 38, on St. Michael's Island, the river, as the map shows, becomes one vast and wide net- work of islands, the whole country being a' level as the great plains of the West, and we were fairly launched into the " Yukon flat-lands." As we entered this floor- like country our Chilkat Indians^ seemed seriously to think that we had arrived at the river's mouth and were now going out to sea ; and I can readily imagine that even a white person, having no knowledge of the country, might well think so. There was an almost irresistible im* pression that beyond the low flat islands in front one must come in sight of the ocean. As we started out into this broad, level tract, the 4 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. ^rl 'If mountains to the left, or west, still continued in a bro- ken range that was thrown back at an angle from the river's general course, and projected into a sort of spur formed of a series of isolated peaks, rising squaivly out of tlie Hat land, and diniininhing in si/A until they dis- appeared toward the north-west in a few sharp- pointed hillocks just visible over the higii spruce trees of the islands, I called them the Ratzel rancr**, or pmiks, alUst Professor Frederick Satzel. of Munich, This flat character of the country continji^g for aifm^ three hundred miles further, and the river, unconfined by resisting banks, cuts numerous wide channel^n the soft alluvial shores, dividing and subdividing and spread- ing, until its width is simply beyond reasonable estima- tion. At Fort Yukon, about a thousand miles from the mouth, its width has been closely estimated at seven miles, and at other points above and below it is believed to be twice or thrice that width. This breadth is measured from the right bank to the left across shallow chan- nels and flat islands, whose ratio to each other is, on the whole, tolerably equal. Some of these islands are merely wide wastes, consisting of low stretches of sand and gravel, with desolate-looking ridges of whitened drift-timber, all of which must be under water in the spring floods, when the river in this region must resem- ble a great inland sea. In no pla<5e does this wide con- geries of channels seem to abate its former swiftness a single jot, but the constant dividing and subdividing occasionally brought us to lane.s so narrow and shallow that it seemed as though we could not get through with our raft, and more than once we feared we should have to abandon our old companion. For nearly three weeks THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 271 ■ m we vrere drifting *hrougli tliese . ^rribly monotonous tlat- Jands, never knowing at uiglit whether or not we were Canip'ng on the main bank, and by far the most fre- c[\uu Jy camping on some island with nothing but islands in sight as far as the eye could see. On the 25th we got under way quite early, and at 8:30 A. M. passed an Indian encam lament of four very line- looking tents, situated on an island, and here "Jo" Ladue told us he would stop and await the arrival of the Alaska Company's new steamer. I had suspicions that "Jo" did not like the pace we kept up, or rather that he did not relish being awakened whenever his scow sought the quiet of an island shore. But a few minutes afterward there was a junction of several channels of the liver, and we floated out into the lake-like expanse ahead with a vaguo feeling that so much water could hardly possess any current, but never- theless Ave sped along at our old pace. This sheet of water was wider than the majority of the lakes at the head of the stream, and it was hard not to revert to them in thought, and imagine ourselves unable to move with- out a sail and a good wind abaft. Very soon an omin- oufs line of drift timber appeared in our front, seeming to stretch from shore to shore as we approached it, and the great channel broke up into hali a dozen f^maller ones that went winding through sand-spits and log- l I 280 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. to send him a copy, which I was unable to do, as I could not procure one at the proper department in Washing- ton. The maps he had were those made by the Russians when they wex'e in possession of the country, which are still the best of such as can be procured. The Indians in and around old Fort Yukon are known to the traders as the Fort Yukon Indians, which is prob- ably as good a name as any, as they are not entitled to be regarded as a distinct tribe (or even as part of one), in the ordinary acceptation of the word. The country of the Hatlanus is not well stocked with game of the kind that would sujjport any great number of Indians at all seasons, and as the river spreads over so wide an extent, the chances of catching fish are proportionately de- creased, and altogether the flat-lands would be rejected by the natives for other locations. I was told by those who ought to know, and whose assertions seem to be l)orne out by other evidence, that there were no Indians who made this country their home until Fort Yukon was established in 1848, an event which attracted the usual number of Indians around tlie post who are always seen about a frontier trading station, many of whom made it their home. They came up the river, down the main stream, and down the great tributary, the Rat or Porcu- pine River which empties itself near the fort, so that the settlement was recruited by stragglers from several tribes, and it was for this reason that I spoke of them as not being a distinct tribe. The Indian who assumed the role of chief, Senati, as he is called by the whit« peo- ple, a savage of more than ordinary authority and deter- mination, came from the lower ramparts where there ex- ists a village bearing his name, which he still visits. if. THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 881 Since the abandonment of the post by the Alaska Com- pany, his force of character has done much to hold to- gether the handful of natives that still cling to the old spot ; but witli his death and the desertion of the place by white tiiulers this part of the river will soon return to its former wildness. When the Hudson Bay Com- pany came upon the ilver at the point where they built this fort, they felt safe from the encroachments of the Russians, although trespassing upon Russian soil, as th« Yukon was supposed to flow northward, and, like the Mackenzie, to pour its waters into the polar sea. Old maps may still be found bearing out this idea,* the Col- ville being pressed into service as the conjectural continu- ation of the Yukon int^t the Arctic portion of Alaska. The 27th and 28th A'ere occupied in taking observations to rate and correct the chronometer, much of the first day being spent in company with ihe officers of the boat, who recounted their interesting adventure? on the river and its adjacent regions, in which their Ijves had been spent. I recall an episode of Mr. McQueation's early life which so well illustrates the extraordinary vigor of the voyagevrs of the Hudson Bay Company in the British north-west territory that I shall briefly repeat it. His boyhood was spent in the northern peninsula of Michigan and the states and territories to the westward, until finally lie found himself at old Fort Garry, then an important post of the Hudson Bay Company. Here he was brought into constant contact with the restless "^ As late as 1883, a flne globe l)earing that date, costing some hundreds of dolhtrs, was received by the American Geographical Society from a London firm, which still bears this error, corrected ' twenty years ago. ,:( fiii 'If ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. voi/ageurs, and from them he imbibed much of their adventurous spirit, and was imbued with a longing to visit the far nortli land of whicli they spolte. He lieard of Atliabasca as otlier lads might hear of California and Mexico and Peru, while the Ma(!kenzie and Yukon resembled to his imagination some fabled El Dorado or Aladdin's dream. He longed to see these lands for himself, but he knew the hard work the toyageurs were compelled to endure. He had seen the bundles and bags and boxes of a hundred ])ouuds that they were to carry on their backs around r:ii)ids too swift to pole or "track," and over the many portagcH and exchanges on their long journeys. He knew he was not equal to the work rcMHiirod, but with the enthusiasm of youth he deter- mined to make himself equal to it by a course of jdiysical training, and after several months presented himself to an agent of the company as a full-fledged royageur. To his delight he was accepted and entered on their books at a monthly salary, that probably being the least im- portant part to him at the time. The first party which started northward in the spring included young McQuestion in its number, the most enthusiastic of all. Days wore on and much of his enthusiasm was repressed by the haid experien(!es of the journey, but it was by no means destroyed. In a few days the other rnyageurs began talking of the great portage, where every thing, canoes included, had to be carried on their backs around the swift rapids, and wishing ihat their task, tlu> hardest they had to encounter in the northern regions, was well over. McQuestion rather regarded it in the light of variety, as a break from the monotony of weary paddling over still and " tracking " through swift water. At last TnnOUOH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 28& the lower end of the great portage was reached at a small cascade, and as the great canoe in which the young voymfeiir was paddling was nearly at the lower end of the line, he could plainly see the indications ahead. The canoes came up and landed at the little rocky ledge, their one hundred pound bundles were thrown out on the bank, high and dry, and the canoe itself was dragged from the watsr to make room for the next. McQuestion saw the chief of the canoe throw a bundle on the first comer's back, ^^nd expected to see him start off over the trail to the upper end of the portage, said to be ten or twelve miles across, and running through a tanglewood with all kinds of obstructions occurring the whole way. As the man did not start off, however, McQuestion watched eagerly for the reason, and was astonished to see the chief init a second bundle of a hundred pounds upon the other for the packer to carry, a load under which he expected to see the poor fellow stagger or fall. He did not fall, however, nor even stagger, but wheeled in his tracks and started off at a good shai-p run. and disappeared over the hill. In a few minutes he reap- peared on the crest of another hill, still maintaining his rapid gait, and with half a dozen others following him on the trail, vvith each carrying the same weight, and proceeding at the same gait. His heart sank within him, and as he climbed the ledge of rock he felt almost like a criminal on the way to execution. lie received his tT bundles, started off, and managed to keep up his gait over the crest of the nearest hill, when he fell, spread out at full length over the first log lie attempted to cross. He retiirned to the factor in charge of the expedition, and a compromise was made by which he jjaid to that M If i'i j i; ■ 1, i '. i if ; 1! i ) i ^ ^ i ■ ;if ■ 284 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. functionary the amount per month he was to have received in order to accompany the party as a passenger. At one of the northern posts he obtained a situation more to his liking, and thus drifted into the company's employ, finally crossing over to the Yukon River, and transferring his allegiance to the Alaska Company when it succeeded his old masters. On the forenoon of the 20th, the Yukon continued her voyage up the stream, having accomplished all the summer trading with the Fort Yukon Indians the day previous, I was i)resent at an afternoon parley with them, and was greatly impressed at the patience exhib- ited and required by traders among these savages ; a patience such as not one shopman in a thousand pos- sesses, according to my experience, however great a haggler he may be. McQuestion had learned the art of patience from his old employers, probably the most successful bargainers with savages the world has ever seen. Indian No. 1 put in an appearance with a miser- able lot of furs, and a more miseral)le story of poverty, the badness of the winter for trapping, the scarcity of animals and the inferiority of the pelts, his large family in need of support, his honesty with the company in the past, and a score of other pleas, the upshot of which was a request that he might be supplied with clothing and ammunition for another year in return for the pelts at his feet. The trader replies, setting a definite price in trading material for the amount of skins before him, and the "dickering" begins. After half an hour or an hour's talk of the most tiresome description, the dis- cussion ends in the Indian accepting the exact amount the trader originally oifered, or about one-tenth of his THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT LANDS. 285 own demands. Indian No. 2, who has heard every word of the conversation, then comes forward with the same quality of furs and exactly the same story, the trade lasting exactly the same time, and with exactly the same result ; and so on with all the others in turn. Even No. 12, of the dozen i)resent, does not vary the stereo- typed proceedings any more than an actor's interpreta- tion of a part varies on the twelfth night of the ])iece. Tlien Indian No. 1 comes forward again with a package of furs of a better quality than the first he displayed, and solemnly affirms that these are the only ones he has left, and that if the trader will not give him enough clothing for himself and family, and enough ammunition to last through the winter in return for them, they must all go naked and perhaps starve for want of the means of procuring food. This story, with its continuation, lasts about half as long as the first, but ends in the same way, as the Indian's eloquence has about as much effect on the trader as it would on the proverbial row of stumps. The farce is repeated by all the Indians in turn, and is yet again repeated at least once before the entire trans- action is over, during all of which time the white trader sits composedly on his stool, and gives a patient and unvarying answer to each in his turn, under provocation that would have put Job in a frenzy before the first circle was completed. On the 29th of July we took an early departure, and about noon passed an Indian village of five or six tents and ten or a dozen canoes, which might have appeared uninhabited bu*^^ for the dogs that surrounded the tents, neai'ly a scor^ -> every one, proving that their owners wera either a&.dep or only temporarily absent. The dogs I 1 1 ! I ' ! *♦ 286 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. flocked down the beach and up the bank, and emitted such a chorus of unearthly howls that we were grateful to the (Mirrent for hurrying us away. That day we drifted .'5().5 (geographical) miles in a tritle over thirteen hours, showing but little diminution in the river's rate of speed. It was an exceedingly hot blistering day on the river, almost unbearable, and the lieat, coupled with the clouds of mosquitoes, impelled the doctor to remark that it was clear to the casual observer that we were in the Arctic regions. About seven o'clock in the evening, the thermometer marking 80° Fahrenheit in the shade, we saw "sun-dogs," or parhelia, very plainly marked on either side of the western sun, a phenomenon I had so often observed in the Arctic winter and in Arctic weather elsewhere, as to seem incongruous during such tropical heat. A heavy rain showd came up about ten o'clock at night and continued at intervals imtil late the next morning. " It is an ill wind that blows no one any good," and if the gnats and mosquitoes did keep us awake all night they allowed us to start two hours earlier than usual, and in spite of a gale in the afternoon that made it very diffi- cult to steer well and to keep off the lee banks, we camped reasonably early and had forty-four miles to our credit in addition. This wind was very cold and disa- greeable, with heavy black clouds overhead ; a most decided change in the weather since the day before, but for the better, as the strong wind kept do^\ n the mos- quitoes and gave us all a good night's rest. The 31st was uneventful, and in fact it was only in the casual incidents of our voyage that we found any thing to interest us while floating through this region, a flat THROUGH THE YUKON FLAT-LANDS. 287 desert clothed with spruce trees, all of a uniform size, and monotonous in the extreme. We scored forty-livt^ geo- grajHiical miles and retired at niglit in a rain shower, which continued with such unabated fury next day that we remained in camp. A stroll that evening (lis(;losed the distal extremity of a mastodon's femur on the gravel beach near camp, Mr. Ilonuin llnding a tooth of the same animal near by. For many years the scatteied bones of this extinct animal have been found along the Yukon, showing tlmt this region was once its liome. When at Fort Yukon an Indian brought the tooth of a mastodon to a member of my party, and receiving some- thing for it, probably more than he expected, told the white man that the entire skeleton was protruding from the banks of one of the islands, about a day's journey u]) the river. Our limited time and transi)ortation forbade investigating it further. In a few years, I suppose, the bank will be excavated by the undermining river, and the bones swept away and scattered over many bars and beaches, for it is in such places that the greatest numbers are found, while a complete skeleton in situ is a rarity. In spite of slight showers and a general "bad out- look, " we started early next morning, and were very soon driven into a slough on the left (southern) bank by a strong north-west wind. Through this spot the cur- rent was so stagnant that we wej'e over two hours in making a little less than two miles. At one time the head wind threatened to bring us completely to a stand- still, so slight was our motive power. Nor was this our only episode of the same character. Several times the exasperating wind played us this trick, and when we camped for the night after twelve hours spent on the ALONG ALASKA'S ORE AT RIVER. water, we could only reckon twenty-six miles to our credit. The event thoroughly established the fact that the central channels of the many which penetrate this flat district contain the swiftest currents, while along the main banks there are numerous water-ways open at both ends with almost stagnant water in them. About three in the afternoon we passed a double log house on the right bank with two or three small log cac7ies mounted high in the air on the corner posts, and two graves, all of which seemed new in construction, although the place was entirely deserted. Indian signs of all kinds now began to appear as we approached the lower ramparts, although no Indians were seen. By noon the blue hills ot the ramparts were seen to our left, and by the middle of the afternoon, we could make out individual trees upon them, and at half-past seven o'clock we camped on the last island in the great group of from two to ten thousand through which we had been threading our way so long, with the upper gates of the lower ramparts ir full sight, about a mile or two distant. CHAPTER XI. THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS, AND THE END OF THE RAFT JOURNEY. INDIAN "CACIIB ' ON LOWEll YUKON. •^ERY well defined indeed are the upper gates of the lower ramparts, and one enters them from above with a sudden- ness that recalls his childish ideas of moun- tain ranges taken from juvenile geography- books, where they are represented as a closely connected series of tre- mendously steep peaks, with no outlying hills connect- ing them with the level valleys by gently rolling slopes, as nature has fortunately chosen to do ; this approach to the lower ramparts being one of the few exceptions. The lower termination is not by any means so well marked as after the rapids at Senati's village are passed ; there is a gradual lowering of the range, broken by many ab- rupt as well as gradual rises until the delta at the mouth of the river is reached, far beyond the point at which any traveler has placed their western limit. I think I agree pretty well with others in placing it about the mouth of the Tanana or Nuklakayet trading station. ' t 290 ALONG AXASKA'S GREAT RIVER. M This would give the lower nunparts a lengtli of about one hundred miles along the river, or about one-fourth the length of the upiterranipartH. On August :id we started at 7:30 A. M,, and half an hour afterward our hearts were gladdened by re-enter- ing the hilly country, for the Hat and monotonous dis- tricts through which we had been drifting for many days induced a peculiar depression difficult to describe as well as to sufT,!', Our entry was signaled by thekillinj^ of three young but almost full-grown gray geese out of a small flock which we surprised as we floated around » point of land near the northern bank. This incident ushered in a hunting season when our shot-guns niiglit have done great service but for our unfavorable condi- tion for hunting, i)lanted as we were upon a raft in thp middle of a broad rivei . We liad supposed that when we entered the ramparts and the widely-scattered watei-s of the river were united into a single channel,, our speed would surely increase ; in fact, we had been told as much by the steamboat men. On the conti-ary, the current was distinctly slower than that of any main channel of the stream through which we had drifted since leaving the head of the river, and after floating for thirteen hours we could only reckon thirty-six geographical miles to our credit, the poorest record we had made except on days when we had stranded upon a river bar or had been forced dov n a side channel of slack water. About one o'clock in the afternoon we passed three canoes hauled up on the right bank, their owners being asleep on the warm sand of the shore, nearly naked. Their clothes were hanging out to dry, and they were THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 291 o.idently remaining over from the heavy rain-storm of the day before. Persistent yelling aroused them, and one of their number put off in his canoe, i)addling around the raft, but not understanding each other, lie returned to the shore, 'uning uttered but one word that we could comprehend, <•/ /, tea). A half-hour afterward we passed the mouth of the Che-taut, a fair-size i stream coming in from the north. Nerr t\\u point ami for some distance beyond, we saw a number of old Indian ^ipns, such as gnives, habitations and caches^ but the only living representatives of the tribe were the three sleepei"s we had seen a few miles back. Numbei-s of large wicker filj-traps were seen along the beach, none of which, however, were set ; and, in general, an air of desolation prevailed. As soon as the early cold snaps of approaching winter along the Arctic coast of Alaska send tlie reindeer southward on their migmtions, these Nimrods of the river hsisten northward to meet them, for their skins fui'nish most acceptable winter clothing, and their meat is a welcome change from the dried salmon of the river. About six o'clock we saw a fair-looking Indian log-house on the right bank of the river, having a harrabora (Russian name for log-cabin, half or nearly underground, the "dug-out" of the AVest), and cache attached. All of the Indian caches of the lower ramparts, and even fur- ther down the river until the Eskimo are encountered, are merely diminutive log-cabins from about four by four to eight by eight, mounted on corner logs so high that one can walk underne«+h the floor, which is generally made of poles or puncheons. A steep log leans against the dooU-« sUl aQd is cut into steps, to enable the owner to jiticend ,i ( • I: IJil f .'1; 293 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. (see initial piece to this chapter). The owner of this particular cabin had displayed much more than the usual energy in the construction of his domicile, there actually being a fence inclosing a small yard on one side of the house, and wooden steps leading up the steep bank from tlie water's edge to the little x>l«iteau upon which the cabin was built. These were roughly but ingeni- ously constructed of small, short lengths of log, the upper sides being leveled with an adze or ax. We camped at 8:30 p. m. near several Indian graves, about a mile or two above the mouth of the Whym- per River, which comes in from the left, and just on the upper boundary of the conspicuous valley of that stream. There were quite a number of graves at this point, forming the first and only burying place we saw on the river that might be called a family graveyard, i. e., a spot where a number, say six or seven, were buried in a row within a single inclosure. From its posts at the corners and sides were the usual totems and old rags flying, two of the carvings representing, I think, a duck and a bear respectively, while the others could not be made out. We had heard, in an imperfect way, on the upper river, that some disease was raging among the natives on the lower pai't, and that whole villages had been swept away and bodies left unburied, but this proved to be wholly sensational. A mild form of measles had indeed attacked a small town, causing one or two deaths, but this was the only foundation we could find for the report. The Yukon River, however, is a great thoroughfare for contagious disease, and mala< dies raging among the Chilkats have been known to tmTrfj its whole course as rapidly as we had done, and ■ 3 THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. S98 from the river as a base had spread right and left among the native tribes, until the cold weather of approaching winter subdued them, if they were amenable to the influ- ence of temperature. I have never heard of any return ing against the streani, but instances of their descending it are not infrequent. Dr. Wilson tried to get a skull out of the many ^e assumed were at hand, to send to the Army Museum's large craniological collection, but although several very old-looking sites were opened, the skulls were too fresh to be properly prepared in the brief time at our disposal. The most welcome change in this hilly country is the diminishing of the gnats and mosquitoes into quite endurable numbers. We found several varieties of ber- ries near this" camp, one cr two of which were quite pal- atable ; the crisp rosebuds still continuing to appear, although perhaps they were not so large as those we found near old Fort Yukon. These lower ramparts so closely resemble the ramparts of the Upper Yukon in many particulars that the convic- tion seemed irresistible that *^^hey are one and the same chain of mountains, and if I may be excused the simile, are stretched like a bow-string across the great arc of the Yukon, as it bends northward into the Arctic flat-lands, which latter beyond the timber line become the great Arctic tundra. The night of August 3d was very cold, only a few degrees above freezing, and besides the chance it gave us for a most comfortable night's rest, it stiffened up the few mosquitoes of the evening before so completely that they had to suspend operations altogether. Just before starring Corporal Shircliff killed a large porcupine near V'. m m ir '^m 294 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. camp, an animal said to be quite numerous along the river, and so abundant in the flat-lands near Fort Yukon as to attach his name to the large tributary which joins the river at that point. It was nearly eight o'clock when we started, and after a mile's drifting we passed the mouth of the Whymper River, which we could not see until after we had got well i)ast it. Its valley, however, is quite noticeable, and one would immediately conjec- ture that a river of considerable dimensions flowed through it. A somewhat ludicrous incident took place at a short distance below this point. As we were drifting along a couple of wolves came trotting leisurely around a point of land just ahead of us, and the corporal and the cook picking up their rifles began firing at them with the usual fatal results — to the ammunition— the wolves simply snapping at each shot as it was fired, but not apparently increasing their pace, though they were but seventy-five or a hundred yards away. After fully half a dozen shots had been discharged as fast as the two could load and fire, an Indian house broke unexpectedly into view around the point from which the wolves had come, and in one breath two or three of the amused spec- tators called out to the sportsmen that they were firing at Indian dogs, as was proved by the tameness of the animals and their proximity to the house; whereupon I told the men to desist. The funny thing was that they really were wolves, and the two men had fired so rapidly and the bullets had struck the bank and torn out the gravel just beyond the animals so fast tliat all their attention was absorbed in that direction and thus they did not observe i^, the reports of the shots and the m lijiill m I* 3 t 3 CO O C !'« I: THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 297 echoes of the impacts being so confusing. The moment we ceased and they heard our voices and got one look at us out on the river the rapidity with wliich they sought the woods, left no doubt as to their species. The Indian house and surroundings were deserted and the wolves had been smelling around and investigating some old ani- mal refuse near by. This part of the river was particularly abundant in Indian signs of a permanent character on both banks of the river, but not a living soul was seen anywhere. A most exasperating gale of wind raged all day, driv- ing us into areas of slackwater in which we could scarcely move, and keeping us alongside of steep banks in the river bends ; and when camp was made shortly after eight o'clock, after being on the water over twelve hours, we had made but twenty-six and a half miles. During the day we saAv a number of places at which the red rocks crop out from the summits of the high hills, resembling those on the eastern side of Lake Lin- deman, which had been named the" Iron-Capped Mount- ains" on that account. The contrast of color was not so great, however, for on the latter range the rocks pro- jected through the snow and blue-ice of the glacier-cap, while in the lower ramparts they were surrounded by brownish-red soil and autumnal foliage. I doubt if I should have noticed them but for their great similarity to those on the headwaters of the river. Our Camp 47 was near a small stream on the left bank and I observed that all of these little creeks passing through the wet moss and tundra-like carpet under- neath the dense timber, were highly colored with a port- wine hue, although their waters were so clear that one S.)S ALONO ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. % mill! m .1 If! I could often see to tlie bottom in places three and four feet deep. Probably these streams have their sources, in the iron-impregnated soil and rock of the adjacent mountains, and if flowing through land where the drain- ings have absorbed the dyes from decaying leaves and vegetation, acquire this deep red color, almost verg- ing on purple, f jrming a sort of natural ink, as it were. Wherever the^e streams empty themselves, their waters make a striking cont'-i.st with the white and muddy river, and often where tlu 'e was aothing else to indicate that we were approacHiing a tributary, we would see ahead a dark stripe running out fioiu the bank and curving down stream as it took up the new direction of the river's course, and this would indicate the i)resence of a creek from the hillsides, long before we could reach its mouth. Two days after entering this hilly country we ap- proached the rapids of the lower ramparts, of which we had heard and read so much that we felt a little anxiety as to the danger of approaching them. We had a very good map, Raymond's, of this part of the river, and knew just about where to expect them, and this circumstance, coupled with the instructions received on the upper river to keep well toward the left bank, reassured us somewhat ; but still we had double complements of men at both bow and stern oars to be used in case of emergency. A little bit uncertain at one point in regard to our position with respect to the rapids we made hasty inquiries at a small Indian village near which we drifted, and its occupants told us that we had passed the rapids about half a mile back, the natives pointing to an insignificant reef of low white bowlders that jutted out a short distnnco from the right bank Tbey were certainly the mildest rapids KM ii: THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 29d had ever seen, Durinj^ higher water, wlien the current is swifter and the reef just projecits from tlie swift water, these rapids may .appear mure formidable, but if this part of the river had been wliolly unexplored until our arrival, I doubt seriously wlu'ther we should ever have observed them. At this point the river is only about two hundred and Hftj'^ yards wide, and although tlie cur- rent noticeably increases, its increase can not, I think, be in any proportional to the vast volume of water the river must carry through such a narrow channel ; the stream must, therefore, be unusually deep. This part of the lower ramparts, which maybe assumed to be the " back- bone" or su"imit of tlie chain of high hills through which the river has cut its way, is very picturesque, and had it not been for the squally weather and the black clouds that were lowering over the crests, I should have lingered awhile so as to procure a few photographs of the scenery. Gloster'.-} sketches served our purpose too well in such places to think of delaying very long for this object at any point of the journey, and one of them is shown on page 295. I think it would be a fair estimate to say that the hills of the upper ramparts in their highest ele- vations are nearly twice the height of the corresponding ones in the lower ramparts. We passed the rapids of the ramparts at 2:10 p.m., and the Indian village below ten minutes later. This is called Senati's (Senatee's) village upon previous nuips, and at the date of our arrival was made up of two ^vell- worn tents and four birch-bark houses, the whole contain- ing from forty to fifty souls. Over half a dozen canoes put off from the village and were soor paddling around U8, whereupon a lively competition ensued for supplying 300 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. vii US with dried and smoked salmon. It was at this village that I first noticed the round-rim ^ned hand net spoken of in a former chapter as appearing on the lower river. Their liandles of ten and twelve feet in length may appear to contradict my conjecture as to the unus- ual depth of the river here, or the Indians may go fur- ther down to fish, as we saw large numbers of their caches perched along the right bank some distance below. Our camp was a forced one that evening, — the 5th — as Ave got stuck on a sandspit at the head of an island where we had to make " a rubber-boot camp" as the men designated any place where we grounded in shoal water so far from the shore that rubber-boots had to be put on in order to carry the cooking and camping effects to the selected spot. Cold and stormy as the day had been the mosquitoes sent a fair representation to inform us that we had not been deserted by them. From Camp 47 to Camp 48, Mr. Homan figured the day's run of nearly twelve hours' uninterrupted drift at but twenty-seven miles, and this in the narrowest portion of the ramparts, where we had hoped the current would increase. I was much inclined to think that our prog- ress had been underestimated four or five miles, and that a desire to coincide with Captain Raymond's maps had marred an otherwise almost faultless reckoning. Shortly after noon on the 0th — having started at half- past eight — we passed the mouth of the Tanana, having found one more island on this stretch of the river than is mapped by Raymond. A half-dozen more islands in many parts of the wide river or even half a hundred more or less at any point in the flat-lands might have escaped detection on any previous map, buthere the shores are so * THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 30t bold and the islands so few and conspicuous that they can hardly escape casual observation, and an error of even one upon the niai) would atti'act notice. The Tanana Ili\er, to vvliich I have referred, is the largest tributary of tlie Yukon, and is fully the peer of the parent stream, at the point of conHuence. Were it not for the fact that tlie geographical features which must necessarily limit the draimige area of each preclude the Tanana basin from equaling that of the Yukon, a casual observer standing at the junction of the two might well be puzzled to know which of the two was entitled to be regarded as the main stream. The Yukon River at this point is a little over thirteen hundred miles in length from its head, and a glance at a map will show that in its great northward bend it has inclosed the Tanana, which would have to nuike a great many wind- ings within this area in order to ecpial the Yukon in length, a case which we are not justified in assuming. There is a rough method, however, of arriving at its length, according to the story told me by an old trader on the river, upon whose word I can rely. With one white companion, and some Indians as packers, he crossed from the trading station at Belle Isle, near Johnny's village or Klat-ol-TcUn, in a southwest direction, over the hills that divide the Yukon and Tanana basins, ascending a tributary of the former and descending one of the latter, the journey occupying two or three weeks, after which the Indians were sent back. A boat was constructed from the hide of a moose, resembling the " bull-boat" of the western frontiersmen, and in this they drifted to the river's mouth. At the point where the two travelers first sighted the Tanana, the trader estimated it to be ! ' i (', X r' ! ,1 I If >■ m !'! !|l'f! 302 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. about twelve hundred yards wide, or very nearly three- quarters of a mile, and as they were floating lifteen or six- teen lioui's a d;:y for ten days, on a current whose speed he estimated at six or seven miles an hour, it being much swifter tiian the Yukon at any point as high as Belle Isle, my informant computed his progress at from ninety to a hundred miles a day ; or from nine hundred to a thousand miles along the Tanana. lie estimates the whole length of (he river by combining the result of his observation with Indian reports, at from ten to twelve hundred miles. Fear of the Tanana Indians appears to be tlie motive for the rapid rate of travel through their country, and although in general a very friendly ti'ibe to encounter away from home, they have always opposed any exploration of their country. The trader's companion had suggested and promoted the journey as a quasi scientilic expedition, and he collected a few skulls of the natives and some botanical specimens, but no maps^or notes were made of the trip, and it was afterward said by the Alaska Company's employes that the explorer was an envoy of the "opposition," as the old traders called the new company, sent to obtain information regarding the country as a trading district. Allowing a fair margin for all possible error, I think the river is from eight hundred to nine hundred miles long, not a single portion of which can be said to have been mapped.* This would probably make the Tanana, if I am right in my estimate, the longest wholly unexplored river in the world, certainly the longest of the western continent. As we drifted by its mouth we could only form an approximate idea of its width, which was apparently two or three miles, including all channels and islands, which * I have siuce leai'ued that Mi*. Bates made a map and took notes ; i ! : f i'-n THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 805 may be of the nature of a delta. It seemed to l)e verr swift and brought down quantities of uprooted dri't tim- ber of hirge dimensions as rompare*! with that brouglit l)y the Yulion. Looking bark it reseiuhk'd u sudileniy exposed inland lake on thebordei"s of tlie main stream, and its swift waters so overwhelmed those of the Yukon that a great slackening took place in the latter near their contluence, forming a sluggish i)ool into which v»ti helplessly drifted. All these circumstances give to the Tanana the appearance of equality with the more import- ant stream. Once in '. a current we went skimming along at a rapid rate that revealed the force of the new stream. At 1:40 P.M. we passed an Indian village of four tents and two birch-bark houses, containing from twenty to twenty-five souls. Among the canoemen who visited us was a half-breed Indian, very neatly and jauntily dressed, who spoke English quite well, and whom we hired to pilot us to the trading station at NuUlnkayet, the channel to which was very blind, and difficult to follow, as we had been told at old Fort Yukon. An hour later a large native village wa,s passed on the nortli bank, apparently deserted ; and another hour brought as to the "opposition" store of the old Northern Trading Company, around which was grouped quite an extensive collection of Indian cabins, graves, caches, and other vestiges of habitation. Tlie old store was nearly demolished, while the once thriving Indian village had hardly a sign of life in it. At half -past four o'clock we passed two or three small Indian camps on the upper ends of some contiguous islands, iipon which they were spending the summer in fishing for salmon. At the upper ends of these islands ihjl M ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. they build oblique weirs or wicker-work wing-dami. con- verging to a certain point, at which a large wicker-work net is i^lacod, and into the latter the salmon are directed and there caught. These wicker-work nets are similar to those heretofore spoken of as having been seen scattered along the beach in front of a small house just after enter- ing the ramparts, and some of them are so large that a man might walk into their open months, while they are probably a score of feet in length. These, together with the native hand-nets, already spoken of, are the only appliances I saw used for catching fish ; but they serve amply to supply the natives throughout the year, and to give their numerous dogs a salmon apiece every day. A little after six o'clock we sighted the Nuklakayet trading station, and after much hard labor succeeded in making a landing there, for the channel was most tor- tuous, and without our Indian pilot we should probably have missed the place altogether, so much dodging through winding ways and around obscure islands was necessary. Mr. Harper, whom we found in charge, was the only white man present, although Mr. McQuestion, and another trader who was down the river at the time (Mr. Mayo), make the station their headquarters. It Is the furthest inland trading post at present maintained by the Alaska Commercial Company— or any other cor- poration on the river— although there were formerly others of which mention ha« been inade, but an occasional visit of the river steamer hus taken their place. Nukla- kayet was once on the flat bottom land at the junction of the Tanana and the Yukon, and was considered a sort of neutral ground for the British traders from above and >%^ ;i^ !2! C C CB H © ► H B c H e CD C r. > li i I 1 t t m ' h i m Yi iSi i ill THROUGH THE LOWER RAMPARTS. 309 the Russians below, there being at that iime summer trading camps only in existence. Here Mr, Harper had attemijted a small garden, which is certainly the most northerly garden existing in the ter- ritory of the United States, if not in the western conti- nent ; it being eighty-five geographical or niu^ty-eight statute miles from the Arctic circle, or within a couple of days' journey of the polar regions. The garden is shown in the illustration taken from a photograph made by Mr. Homan. Its principal vegetables were turnips, the largest of which raised that year weighed a little over six pounds. They seemed particularly orisp and acceptable to our palates, most of us eating them raw, d la Sellers. I never knew before that turnips were so palatable. A few other hardy plants and veget- ables completed the contents of the garden. Gar- dening in this country, however, must be greatly im- peded by the swarms of mosquitoes, while agricul- ture on a considerable scale would be retarded by the wet and mossy character of the soil. Mr. Hai-per has chosen a south-eastern slope directly on the river bank, and here the immediate drainage has helped him to overcome the latter obstacle to the success of his garden. We inspected the ''barka," or decked schooner of ten or twelve tons, and I decided to take her, although fear- ing that we might find many more discomforts in her cramped quarters, than upon our old raft. Here, too, the old raft was laid away in peace, perhaps to become kindling-wood for the trader's stove. Rough and rude as it was, I had a friendliness for the uncouth vessel, which had done such faithful service, and borne H: 810 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. US safely through so many trials, surpri.-ing us with its good qualities. It had explored a larger portion of the great river than any more pretentious craft, and seemed to deserve a better fate. > I n ^ ^ s H m a g M o- o. W o e § ? o •») H M s- 5! a & ^ 1^ 1 !^ »rf «1 M W 91 Ii> ll ,1 il 1) 1 ■ CHAPTER XII. \ i DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. HE 7th of August we rematned over pumping out the bilge- water from the "barka" and transferring freight from the raft to the schooner, and making use of our photographic appar- atus. At Nuklakayet the Eskimo dogs begin to appear, forty or INDIAN OUT-DOOB GUM COVKRINO, -flftv hpinC OWTlPfl hv tllfi stfl- ON TUB LOWER YUKON mVEB. '" "^ j' '-"^"% UMUtJU Uy LllW SlU- tion, the majority of wliich Mr. Harper feared he should have to kill to save the expense of feeding them through the winter. As each of them ate a salmon a day, it will be seen that this cost was no small item. I remembered the trouble I had once experienced in obtaining even a smaller number of these useful creatures ; a difficulty which many another Arctic traveler has encountered, while here was a pack about to be slaughtered that would well suffice for any sledging party. The Eskimo dogs of Alaska are larger, finer-looking, and a much more distinct variety than those of North Hudson's Bay, King William Land country, and adjacent districts ; a description of any one Alaska dog answering nearly for all, while among the others I have named, there was the widest diflEerence in size, shape and general appearance. 7W 314 ALO\(J ALASI^A'S GREAT RIVER. fP From all I could learn, and I was careful to inquire of their capabilities, I do not think the Alaskan Eskimo dogs can compare with the others in endurance, whether as regards fatigue, exposure or fasting. For all the purposes of men who are never in fear of starvation, I think it more than probable that the Alaskan Eskimo dog would be found superior on short journeys and trips between points where food is procurable ; but for the use of explorers, or of any one who may be exposed to the danger of famine, the others are undoubtedly far superior. When I told some of the Yukon River traders, who had spent much of their lives in the native country of these dogs, of some of the feats of endurance of the Hudson Bay species, they seemed to think, judging from their countenances, that I was giving them a choice selec- tion from the Arctic edition of Munchausen. Eskimo boats, or those in which the wooden frames are covered with sealskin, are also first noticed at this place ; although the Eskimo people themselves are not found as regular inhabitants until Anvik has been passed, some twenty or thirty miles. I saw both kinds, the smaller variety, or 7clak, in native language, and the large kind, or oomien, of the Eskimo. An attempt had evidently been made to fashion the bow and stern of the latter into nautical "lines,' with a result much more visible than with those of Hudson's Straits and Bay. On Wednesday the 8th of August, we got away late, and there being a slight broeze behind us, we set the jib — the only sail with the boat — and were agreeably sur- prised at the manner in which our new acquisition cut through the water, with even this little help ; the sail assisting her probably a couple of miles an hour, and, ■!!f DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. m better than all, making it very easy work to keep in the strongest currents. Indian villages or camps were seen occasionally on the upper ends of islands, with their iish -traps sot above them, and from some of these we obtained fresh salmon. As the trading stations are approached, these Indian cami)s increase, the largest being generally clustered around the station itself, while a diminution both in numbers and size is perceptible in proportion to the dis- tance from these centers. As many of these camjjs are but temporary sunmier afifairs, which are abandoned late in the fall, this clustering around the white men's stores becomes more marked at that period. That night's camping, however, plainly showed us that the "barka" was not as good as the raft for the purpose of approach- ing the shore, it drawing about three feet to the raft's twenty inches, so that "'rubber-boot camps" might be quite numerous in the future. Worst of all, our rubber boots w^ere but little protection in three feet of water, and filling to the top, became more of an impediment than otherwise in carrying our effects to the shore. Most of our campi ig places were now selected with reference to steep banl 75 that had at least three feet of water at their foot, yet were not so high but that a long gang-plank could reach the crest. On the 9th, we started early with a light wind in our face that within an hour had become a furious gale, with white capped waves running over the broad river and dashing over our boat. We ran into shoal water, dropped anchor, and tried to protect ourselves by crawling in under the leaking decks. Here we remained cooped up until four o'clock in the afternoon, when the gale abat- ' 1 1 hiU 816 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. i\ i HI ^,n; ing somewhat we pulled up anchor and drifted for six or seven miles, going into camp at eight o'clock, having made eight and a-half miles for the day. After camping, the gale died down to a calm, and allowed us the full benefit of the mosquitoes. Either we were getting used to their attacks, or the season had affected the insects, for tbey appeared iesj numerous than on the upper river. The 10th was another day starting well with a favorable breeze and ending with a heavy head-wind. That day we passed the Newicargut and still saw many Indian camps where fishing for salmon was going on. The lltli was an aggravating repetition of the events of the two preceding days. That day we passed the Meloze- cargut, and camped opposite the mouth of the Yuko- cargut. *"Cargut" is the native name for river, and Sooncargut, Melozecargut, and Tosecargut, have been changed to Sunday-cargut, Monday-cargut, and Tuesday- cargut by the English speaking traders of the district. Another object now influenced our selection of camps for the night, and that was to choose a spot with few or no islands in its front, so that the descending river steamer "Yukon" could not pass us while in camp by taking a channel hidden from our view. Shortly after midnight a steamer's whistling was heard far down the river, and after a great deal of anxiety for fear it was the " \ iikon" that had passed us unnoticed, we heard the puffing approach nearer and nearer, and soon saw the light of an ascending river steamer. It proved to be a very diminutive but powerful little thing whicb Mr. Mayo was taking to Nuklakayet for the * Spelled Chargut on Mr. Homan's map. DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 817 winter. Two brothers of the name of Scheffelin, the elder of whom is well known in frontier mining history as the discoverer of the celebrated Tombstone district of Arizona, having amassed a fortune in that territory, decided to try the mining prospects of the Yukon and its tributaries, and the prior year had chartered a vessel in San Francisco on which they put this little river steamer, and sailed for the Yukon. Here a year was spent in prospecting, and although "ounce diggings* were struck" on or near the Melczecargut, yet all the sur- roundings made " Ed " Schelfelin think it would not pay to put capital in such an undertaking, although it might remunerate the individual effort of the itinerant miner whose capital is his pick-ax, pan and shovel. Early in the spring the Scheffelins got a letter from Arizona which determined their return to the United States, and they had left the river a few weeks previously, the three traders at Nuklakaj'et buying their little river steamer, which the former owners had named the " New Racket." The wages of these traders had been reduced by the Alaska Company in ordt-r to contract expenses, so that the company might make a small percentage on the large capital invested, until the traders found themselves with- out sufficient means to live upon, and they had bought the boat intending to organize a small trading company of their own upon the river unless their former wages were restored. The Scheffelin mining expedition was an expensive one, and remarkably well "outfitted " in every necessary department. The large number of Eskimo dogs at Nuklakjiyet had been selected by him for the * Diggings that will pay an ounce of gold per man a day, or, aa jl^ld usually runs, from |10 to |20 per day. I 1 iil ! i 1 flwi 1 '^ -i |K ^ ^ 1 i ? \ m ^ ^ i ■ i'i i ''l p^ »! ■i; 318 ALOSG ALASKA'S GREAT lilVER. purpose of sletlginij cr-jjcditions in wintpr time. He thought seriously of invading the prospective gold fields of Africa as his next venture, showing plainly the roving spirit which had served him so well in the arid deserts of Arizona. No one could meet him anywhere without wishing him good luck in his wild adventures, for ho was th usual time, an hour after daylight. About 3:30 p.m. that day — the 12th — we passed a very considerable Indian village called Sakadelontin, com- posed of a number of birch-bark houses and some ten or twelve caches, and containing probably fifty or sixty people. It is one of the few large villages to be found at any great distance from a trading station. Before reaching it we observed a number of native coffins perched up in the trees, the first and only ones we saw so situated on the river. All day on the 12th and 13th a heavy jjale from the .south made even drifting difficult. UiTon a couple of northward-trending stretches of the riv(>r irhfit were encountered on the 13tli we set the jib, and .spun along at the rate of six o» seven miles an hour. At one 1)1 ace where we were held against the high banks by the force of the gale, we went ashore, and much to our surprise found a nu)st prolific huckleberry patch, where we all regaled ourselves as long as tlie wind lasted. These berries were quite common along thi ; part of the river, and nearly every canoe that put off from a camp or village would have one or two trays or bowls of wood or birch-bark full of them, which the natives wanted to trade for tea or tobacco. We camped in what is called •4 » o H O i * ■ i' 1' L hit ! 1 i- 1 1 ^ u DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 321 by the river steamer men the "cut-off sloagh," just south of the mouth of the Koyukuk River, a northern tributary of considerable dimensions, which empties into the Yukon at a point where it makes a short but bold bend to the north, the "slough" making the route about one-fifth shorter. The mouth of the tributary is marked by the Koyukuk Sopka (hill), a high eminence which is visible for many miles around. This feature is char- acteristic of this part of the Yukon Valley, isolated hills and peaks often rising precipitously from a perfectly level country. The 14th saw us make Nulato, quite an historical place on the river. It was the furthest inland trading station of the old Russian- American Fur Company at the time of our purchase of Alaska, and had been used as such by them, under different names, fo); nearly a quarter of a century. It was occupied by the trader? of the Alaska Company until a year or tw^o before my arrival, as well as by traders of the "opposition," when the killing of ons of the latter led to trouble with the Indians, so that both companies withdrew. Many years ago, one cold winter night, the Russians of the station were massacred, along with a number of friendly Indians who had assembled around the station. In this disaster fell ah English naval officer, Lieuten- ant Barnard by name, who was locking for traces of Sir John Franklin, even in this out-of-the-way corner of the earth. A respectable hx. ad -board marks his grave, but the high grass and willows have buried it almost out of sight. Here also lies buried a locally noted Russian char.".c- ter of hard reputation, Kerchinikoff by name, whose il ■ I 1' I Mi MP m »!»■'■• mh' i 322 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. story was told me by more than one of the traders, who had known him and heard of his doings in his adven- turous career. It was romancingly said by way of illus- trating his prowess among tlie native tribes, that if the skulls of his Indian victims had been heaped together in his grave they would not only till it but enor(i,h would have remained to erect a high m.onuirr.^ :t l'^ mem- ory. He died at a great age, having becu hvai his very youth a terror to all the tribes on the lower river, but wholly in the interests, as he interpreted them, of the great iron monopoly to which he belonged. Many years ago the few Russian traders of the Andreavsky station had been massacred by the Indians. Kerchini- koff asked for protection and a sufficient force to punish the murderers, and those at N"ulato transmitted liis re- quest to the headquarters of the Russian Fur Company at far-off Sitka, but did not receive even the courtesy of an answer. With one or two companions he put a co^; iVie of old rusty Russian carronades in the prow of histr. nng boat, — the identical one on which we were driftii. C' t. i the river, and which he himself had built — and in lie a r' proper ammunition, which he was unable to get, he loaded his guns with spikes, hinges and wliatevei- scraps of iron and lead he could pick iip around Michaeloffski, and appearing suddenly before the Indian village, de- manded the surrender of the murderers. The natives gathered in a great crowd on the shore of the river, laughing derisively at his appar tiy absurd !■ :n?nds, having never even heard of such ^ cuing as n ^ r. jp Spears were hurled and arrows shot at the boat. !iicii thereupon slowly approiichcrl. having its cannon pointed at the dense crowd. When ai arrow buried itself iu LOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 323 ■>*■ the prow, the terrible report of the two '.-arronades made answer, and about a score of Indians were stretched upon the beach, while the wounded and panic-stricken fled in great numbers to the woods for protection. Prom thc.*^^ day not a single drop of white man's blood was ever shed by any savages upon the lower river, until Kerchin- ikoff himself, while lying on his sledge in a drunken stupor, was stabbed to death almost within a stone's throw of the graves of those whom he had avenged. We landed at Upper Nulato (the "opposition '' store), and here encountere 1 a half-breed who spoke tolerable English, and who pointed out the places just men- tioned. "Hello, where you come ? ' was his first question, to which we briefly replied, one of the members of the party remarking it was quite windy hereabouts, refer- ring to the three or four days' gale we had had. " AUee time like that now," was his cheerful answer. Tliis neatly-dressed young fellow took me down to his cache, and seemed especially delighted in showing me his new "parka," or reindeer coat, for winto.. wear. It was one of the highly-prized " spotted " 2>«''/i«-?. The spotted reindeer are bred only m Asia, and tlieir hides — for the tribe owning them will never allow the live animals to be taken n way- -find their way into Alaska by way of Bering's Straits by means of intertribal barter, while numbers are brought by the Alaska Company from Rus- sian ports on that side, and are used as trading material with such tribes as wear reindeer clothing. I offered a good price for this particular "parka," but the owner would not part with it, as they are esi)eclally valuable and tolerably rare at this distance up the river, and only « . ! S2i ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. the wealthiest Indians can aflFord to buy them. He told me this was the only one at Nulato at the time, but I did not know how much faith might be put in the statement. Bad as the weather was, we got a good series of observa- tions on the sun, while at Nulato, on the afternoon of the 14th. On the 15th the old familiar gale from ahead put in its appearance as we started in the morning, but to every body's great surprise it hauled to the rear in the middle of the afternoon, and when we camped at 8:20 p. m., hav- ing used our jib in sailing, an Indian from a village near by told us the place was called Kaltag ; so that we had made an extraordinary run under all the circumstances. Indian villages were quite numerous during the day. About Kaltag occurs the last point on the river at which high ground comes down to the water's edge on the left side, and for the rest of the voyage, a distance of some five hundred miles, precipitous banks only are found on the right side, while the country to the left resembles the flat-lands seen further back, bi^t the horizon is much more limited than that of the flat-lands, hills appearing in the background, which finally become isolated peaks, or short broken ranges. The morning of the 16th ushered in a heavy gale from ahead, accompanied by a deluge of showers, and as the camp, 57, was fortunately situated at a point where all the channels were united, so that the river steamer could not pass unnoticed, I determined to remain over. It would be as tiresome to my readers as it was aggra- vating to us, to repeat in detail the old story of our start- ing with a fair wind, its change to a gale that kept us against the banks, and of our passing a few Indian towns. DOWN- THE RIVER AND HOME. m This continuous drifting against a head wind taught us one singular thing, however, viz. : that our boat would drift faster against this wind when turned broadside to it and exposing the greatest surface to its action, tlian when facing it bow or stern on and with a minimum of exposed surface ; this fact being the very reverss of what we had supposed, indeed, we had endeavored to avoid this very position. Thereafter we kept the"barka" broadside to the head wind, a very difficult undertaking, which required hard and constant work at the steering oar ; but the mile or mile and a- half an hour gained over the vessel's drift was well worth it. I spoke of this after- ward to the river men and found they had long since anticipated me by a much easier contrivance, viz. : by tying an anchor or a large camp-kettle full of stones and suspending it from the end of the jib-boom so that it would trail in the water. This method, a number of them assured me, would have saved our work at the steering oar which we rigged at the stern. The 18th and 19th we fought our way down the river, inch by inch, against the \vind. The latter night the storm culminated in a perfect hurricane, felling trees in the forest, hurling brush through the air, and raising waves four and five feet high, from whose crests flew great white masses of foam, the wide river resembling a sheet of boiling milk in the darkness. Although we were in a well-sheltered cove, which had remained calm the evening before, even in the high wind, yet tliis gale sent in such huge waves that our "barka" was on the point of being wrecKed, and was only saved by the severest labor of the crew. The little birch-bark canoe was swept f?om hei deck and thrown high up on the beach, where it I i| < flK ll ¥ i' III fi i! 1 •1 i ,1 1 t - ■ i " 929 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. resembled a mass of brown wrapping paper which the storm had beaten down upon the stones. The gale slowly died down on the 20th, but ceased too late to give us a chance to start, and we remained over night, a heavy fog and rain terminating the day. On the 21st we saw a couple of oomlens, {hidarra — Russian) or large skin-boats being hauled up stream by native dogs on the bank, somewhat after the fashion of canal-horses on a tow-path. We had baffling winds most of the day, some few of which we could take advantage of, but at 6 p. M. the wind had settled down to its regular ' ' dead-ahead ' ' gale. We camped at half -past nine o'clock at Hall's Rapids, (named by Raymond), but found them at the time of our visit to consist only of some rough water along the rocky beach, while the high land mapped by him on the south- eastern bank was wanting. As I said before, the high land on the right bank with low country upon the left is a state of things which continues until the delta is reached, when the wh ^e country becomes level. About six or seven o'clock in the afternoon we were passing the upper ends or entrances, seven of them alto- gether, of the Shagelook slough, which here makes a great bend to the eastward and incloses an area larger than some of the New England states before it again meets the Yukon River far beyond. This Shagelook slough receives the Innoka River in its upper portion and when the Yukon is the higher of the two it carries part of its waters into the upper entrances of the slough receiving the waters of the Innoka, and both streams emptying themselves at the slough's lower end. When the Innoka is the higher its waters find an outlet into i!f ^ J • DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 327 the Yukon by the upper mouths. We now began to feel anxious about the " Yukon," as she was very much over- due. From this point she coukl make St. Michael's in three or four days, and although we had received official assurances from Washington that the revenue cutter "Corwin " would not leave St. Michael's before the l.')th of September, yet there was fear that the boat might pass us or tLe "Corwin " lind some official emergency to call her elsewhere before this date. The night of the 21st-22d, was a bitterly cold one, verging on freezing, and we slept soundly after our loss of sleep the night before. We started quite early, how- ever, and a little meteorological surprise in the shape of a favorable wind came to our aid after 10 a. m., and at 1:30 p. M. we landed at the mouth of the An vie or Anvik. The picturesquely-situated trading station is about a mile or a mile and a-quarter above this point, but the shoals were so numerous, the channel so winding, that this was the nearest point we could make, especially with a foul wind. Right alongside of us was a large Indian village, where we learned to our satisfaction that the " Yukon " had not yet passed ; for one of the party at our last camp had interpreted some Indian information to mean that the boat had passed down two days before. Prom this place I sent a courier to St. Michael's, who was to ascend the Anvik River to the head of canoe navi- gation, and thence to make a short port.age to a stream emptying near the post, the entire distance being readily covered in three days, or in two if sufficient energy is displayed. He promised i"o be there without fail in three days, i. e., by the 25th, and I paid him a little extra for ml »*■;■ 328 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RJ JEf,. the extra exertion. He arrived about a week nfter I did and we were ten days in reaching St. Micliapl's frcm this point. My object was to let the " Coiv/in"* know that my party was coming. Tlie "Leo," an Alaskan trading schooner, was also expected to touch fit St. Michael's to exchange some signal officers, and I sent word to her, re- questing her to wait for us if the ' ' Corwin " ' had gone. Mr. Fredericksen was the trader, and a very intelligent per- son for such a lonely and outlandish srot. He h-idbeen furnished with meteorological inst/uPi' nts by tte Signal Service, to which he made regular /r.r/,rts. He informed me that he has seen ice of such d- '/Jt. by the 4tli of Sej)- tember as to cut the thick cq r.ring of a hldarra or oomlcn ; but this, of course, is ^ c-ry unusual. The year before our arrival — 1882 — the ic^ did not form until the 12tli of October, and the first of that month may be re- garded as the average date of its formation. Mr. Fredericksen warmly welcomed my arrival at his station, having recently had some serious trouble with the Indians, who were not even yet quieted. A number ' of Shagelooks, as he termed them, had come down the river, a short time before, to meet the Greek priest from the mission at Ikogmute, who had come to Anvik in or- der to baptize them. While the Shagelooks were wait- ing for the priest, they arranged a plot to rob the trader. Some one or two of them were to provoke him in some exasperating way, and if he showed any re sistance or even annoyance, the others were to side with their fel- lows, seize the trader and secure him until his store was plundered and the booty removed, when he was to be liberated, or murdered if aggressive. In some way the Anviks got an inkling of the plot, and prepared to side DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 889 I with Mr. Fredericksen, and when the preliminaries com- menced with the cutting open of one of the trader's finest skin-boats — hidarra — the Shagelooks saw them- selves confronted by such an array of well-armed Anvik Iji- dians, that they were perfectly satisfied to let the business drop. The christening was carried out according to i^ro- gramme, but the baffled Shagelooks vowed vengeance on both t'x Anviks and the trader whenever an opportunity might occur, and they were not reticent in so informing him at their departure, hinting that their turn miglit come when the Anviks left to hunt reindeer for their winter supply of clothing. That season would soon be at hand, and the Anviks had the alternative of losing their autumn hunting or of leaving the station in a weakened condition at their departure. The arrival of a body of troops, small in number as we were, was a cause of congratulation, and Mr. Fredericksen intended to make the most out of it with discontented natives by way of strengthening his position. We could do absolutely nothing for him. When the president withdrew the military forces from Alaska, the executive order had "clinched " the act by providing that the military should exercise no further control whatever in that vast territory, and my orders had emphatically repeated the clause. In fact, it was a debatable point whether my expedition was not strictly an illegal one, and in direct violation of the president's order, since it was simply impossible to send in a military party that might not exercise control over its own members, which is all that soldiers ever do without an order from the president, and as to an attack by Indians we had the aniversal right of self-preservation. I told Mr. Freder- : I! 330 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. til II tm icksen, however, to make the most out of my visit, which I suppose he did. A foresail was borrowed from liini, with which I could make my way from the mouth of the river to St. Michael' s, should any accident have happened to the ' ' Yukon. ' ' It was too large and would havt to be cut to fit, an expe- ANVIK. (Looking down both the Yukon and Anvik Rivers.) dient to which I did not intend to resort until we reached the mouth of the river. Mr. Fredericksen's station is on the banks of both the Yukon and the Anvik, as the streams approach within about fifty or seventy-five yards of each other at this point, although their confluence occurs, as I have said, about a mile below. The illustration above is from the station looking toward the point of confluence. Wnen the present trader first came to the station a i»^ DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 331 years previously, the two rivers were far apart at tliis point, but the Anvik has encroached so largely upon its left bank that Mr. Fredericksen expected another year to unite the streams at his place, if the Anvik did not actually sweep him away or force him to change his residence. Anvik is the last station in the Indian country, and at Makagamute, thirty or forty miles below, the Eskimo begin to appear, and continue from that point to the mouth of the river. We started again on the 23d, with a fine breeze behind us, passing Makagamute or moot (pronounced like boot, shoot), at 1:30 p.m. It was compos 'd of eight or ten houses of a most substantial build, flanked and backed by fifteen to twenty cacJies, and had altogether a most prosperous appearance, impressing a stranger with the superiority of the Eskimo over their neighbors. The doors were singular little circular or rounded holes, very like exaggerated specimens of the cottage bird-houses, which some people erect for their feathered friends. Villages were much more numerous on the 23d, than upon any previous day of our voyage. Everywhere might be seen their traps and nets for catching salmon, of which fish they must capture en jUv.ous quantities, for they live upon salmon the year rouiia. Myriads of geese might be observed in all directions during this fine we&ther, preparing and mobilizing for their autumnal emigration to the south ; and the air was vocal with their cries. On the night of the 23d we had a severe frost, the heavy sedge grass near camp being literally white with it, and the cook was heard grumbling about the con- 4 1 1 \ "j'fsm f 1 |l!|i 332 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. dition of his dishcloth, wliich wjis about a^ flexible as a battered iiiillt-pan, until thawed out by means of hot water. The few uiusquitoes we saw next morning were X)itiable looking creatures, although I doubt very much whether any sentiment was wasted on tliem. However much the cold spell threatened to hasten the arrival of winter, and to send the ships ut St. Michael's flying south, yet thedisconifltureof the mosquitoes afforded us a good deal of consolation, and thereafter our annoy- ances from this source were but trifling, Starting at H a.m. with ahead breez ten o'clock the wind had become a gale and we wert ., ..icely making half a mile an hour, when at 2:20 I'.M. we saw the steamer "Yukon," with the St. Michael's in tow, coming round a high precipitous jioint about three miles abaft of us, and there went up a shout of welcome from our boat that drowned even the voice of the gale, and almost simultaneously the flash of a dozen guns went up from both the "Yukon's" decks and our own. The point around which the steamer had been sighted, a con- spicuous landmark, I named Petersen Point, after Captain Petersen of the "Yukon," that being the only name I gave on the river below old Fort Y^'ukon. Tn about half- an-hour the steamer was alongside and we were taken in tow, and once more began cleaving the water, in defiance of the gale. The captain knew we had started from Anvik the day before, but our progress on the first day had been so great that he had become uneasy for fear he might have passed us. He had kept the whistle going at frequent intervals, but of course knew that it could not be heard far in such a gale. If we had not yet reached the m DOWA THE RIVER AND HOME. 888 Mission wlien he arrived there, lie intended tu return for us. We made the Mission that evening at the ui)per or "opposition" store, wliicli was being torn down, and the best logs of which were to go on board the river steamer to be taken to Andreavsky, the trading station kept by Captain Petersen when not in charge t)f the boat. By next niorring at nine o'clock we had these securely lashed to the sides lud were under way, stopping three miles below at the Mission jjiojjer. Here is an old (Jieek church, presided over by a half-breed priest, which looked strangely enough in this far-away corner of the world. The interior was fitted up with all th(» ornanients customary in the Grreek cluirch, the solid silver and brass of more stately structures in Russia being rei)ro- duced in tinsel luid trappings of a cheaper kind. The Greek priest is also the Alaska Comi)any's trader, and he came aboard to go to St. ^lichael's to get a winter's supply of trading material for his store. His handsome little sloop was tied behind the big "barka" to be towed along, while from its stern the line ran to the sloop's yawl, in which an Indian had been allowed to come, he tying his little skin canoe behind the yawl, thus making a queue of vessels of rapidly dindnishing sizes, quite ludicrous in appearance. With the St. Michael's alongside in tow, and our guards piled with hewn logs as far as the upper deck, we were a motley crowd indeed when under way. The captain explained his unusual delay on the trip by the fact tl: ^ the "Yukon" had blown out a cylinder-head just after leav- ing St. Michael's Bar and while trying to make Belle Isle, I'' & i> 11 if; 3S4 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. for which reasoii their return voyage liad to be made under reduced steam in order to avoid a repetition of the accident. A serio-comic io'^-ident connected with this mishap deserves to be recounted. Among their Eskimo deck- hands was a powerful young fellow, deaf as a post, who . vays slept in the engine-room when oft' duty, with his head resting on a huge cross deck-beam as a pillow, jit a point in front of the engine thai liad broken down. Whenever he was wanted, as there was no use in calling him, they would walk up and tap him with the foot, or, as they soon learned, a stout kick on any part of the beam would suffice ; whereupon he would sit up, give a great yawn, stretch his arms and be ready for work. When the cylinder- head of the engine bleAv out, it struck the beam directly opposite liis own head, and buried itself until the spot looked afterward as though a chain- shot had struck i' ; l)ut with no more e:ffect on the deaf Eskimo than to make him rise ivp and yawn, a I begin to stretch himself, when the rush of steam from the next stroke of the engine completely enveloped Lim, befoi'e the engineer could inter^<;re, and he comprehended that he was not being awakened to go to work. He got off with a trifling scald on the back of his neck ; but his escape from death seemed miraculous. All that day we s^^opped about every couple of hours to take on wood, which fortunately had been cut for us beforehand in most places, so that the delays were not ,very long. In ascending or descending the river, the steamer finds a considerable qiiantity of the wood it requires already cut at convenient x^oints, the natives of course being paid for tbeii labor. This is the case DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 335 between the river's mouth and Nuklakayet, or tliere- abouis, but above this point, and even at many places below it the captain 11, obliged to go ashore roar a great pile of drift-wood, and send a dozen nxnien to do this duty. The greater part of the huge stockade of old Fort Yukon and some of its minor buildings have for several years suj)plied them with wood when in the neighborhood. We stopped the night of the 2;'5th near a native village, and as we were to start very early in the morning, the doctor and myself, at the captain's invita- tion, made oui^ beds under the table, on the dining-room floor of the steamer, that being the first time we had slept under a roof since leaving Chilkat ; although the doctoi' made some irrelevant remarks about a table not being a roof, evidently wanting to extend back the period of our claim. On the 26th, running about twelve hours, less our time at "wooding" places, we made Andreavsky, and nearly the whole of the next day was spent in unloading the logs, mooring the St. Michael's in winter quarters, and washing down decks, for it was to this point that the "Yukon" would return for the Avinter after making St. Michael's. The hill' of the right bank rapidly dimin ish i'\ height as one approaches Andreavskj^ and in the vicinity of that p'^ice are only entitled to the name of high rolling ground. Near the river the trees disappear and are replaced by willow-brake, although the up- stream ends of the numerous islands are still co.-ercd with great masses of drift timber, containing logs of the largest dimensions. Before Andreavsky is reached we come to the delta of the Yukon, an interminable con- course of islands and channels never yet fully explored. 1 : 336 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. IM From the most northerly of these mouths to the most southerly is a distance of about ninety miles, according to local computation. Late as it was when we started on the 27th, we reached a point half way to Coatlik, where wood was cut bj our crew for the morning's start. All semblance of rolling country had now disappeared, except in the dis- tance, and the country was as flat as the lower delta of the Mississippi. Coatlik, seven miles from the Aplioon or northernmost mouth, was reached next day at 1 p. m., and we spent the afternoon in preparing the boilers for the change to salt water; and in taking on another log house, which was to be transported to St. Michael's, there to be used in completing a Greek church in course ol erection. Starting at early daylight on the morning of the 29th, a steam-valve blew out, and it looked as if we should be delayed two or three days for repairs, but the captain fixed up an ingenious contrivance with a jack-screw as a substitute, and at half -past nine in the morning we again proceeded. Soon afterward we reached the Aphoon mouth of the river, where we commenced the slow and tedious threading of its shallow channels be- tween their mud banks. For untold ages this swift, muddy river has deposited its sediment upon the shallow eastern shor»jS of Bering's Sea, until mud and sand banks have been thrown up for seventy or eighty miles beyond the delta, making it unsafe for vessels of any draft to cross them even in moderate weather. St. ^Michael's is the nearest port to the mouth at which vessels of any size can enter and anchor. Tlie heavy wind still raging made it difficult to steer the boat through the winding m DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 337 channels, and this, coupled with the heavy load of logs that weighed lis to the M;uards, sent us a dozen times on the low mud flats, to escape from which gave us much trouble. Our delay at Coatlik had also lost us some of the tide, there being about two feet of water on the bar at ebb and nearly as much more at flood tide. So shallow is the stream that the channel is indicated by willow canes stuck in the mud, at convenient intervals, serving the purpose of buoys. Near the Aphoon mouth comes in the Pastolik River, and once across the bar of mud near the confluence, the channel of the latter stxeam is followed to deep water. This muddy sedi- ment is very light and easily stirred uji, and wiien a storm is raging the whole sea as far as the eye can reach resembles an angry lake of mud. From the Pas- tolik River on, t westerly wind gradually increased to a gale, the sea ruunin^^ very high and -nakiiitf liiany of us quite sea-sick. Fearini; to round Point ilomant- zoff, the captain put back and anchored ii! a somewhat sheltered cove, returning about half way to the Pasto- lik. A flat-bottomed river boat anchon^d in iV-ring's Sea during a gale, loaded with a log-hnnsc and towing a number of craft, certainly did net seem a very safe abid- ing place. Early on the morning of the 30th wr • "< uder way, the weather having moderated considtM.iy during the night, and constantly improving as we proceeded. We rounded Cape Romantzolf about the middle of the fore- noon, and as we passed between Stuart and St. Michael's Islands, shortly before noon, nothing was left of yester- day's angry sea but a few long ground- swells, wliich dis- turbed us but little. At noon we rounded the point that I I (■ il II 338 ALOIS G ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I I I Ml I 1 li 1 liid the little village of St. Michael's, and were received by a salute of three discharges from as many ancient Kussian carronades, to which we responded vigorously with the whistle. All eyes swept the bay for signs of the " Corwin," but a boat putting off from shore told us that she had left on the 10th of August, nearly three weeks before. The " Leo, " which was due about the 15th of the month, had not yet arrived, rnd although it was known that she had a signal observer on board to take the place of the one now at St, Michael's, it was not positive that she would arrive there at all, if hampered with hci^v^ gales. She had been chartered by the government to proceed to Point Barrow, on the Arctic coast of Alaska, and take on board Lieutenant Ray's party of the International Meteorological Station at that point, and it was not altogether certain that she might not have been wrecked in the ice while engaged in this somewhat hazardous undertaking ; the chances varying considerably each season according to the state of the ice and the weather. The statf of the latter might be inferred from the fact that the clay of our arrival was the first fine one they had had at the redoubt (as St. Michael's is called here and in the Yukon valley), for over six weeks, during wh'ch there had been r.n almost continuous storm. There was also a vessel, the "Alaska," at Golovnin Bay, about sixty miles north of St. Michasl's, across Norton Sound, which was h iding with silver ore lor San Fran- cisco, and was exjiected to depart about the 1st of October. It was possible that she might call here, e7i route, as the minii'g company to which she belonged had a considerable quantity of material stored at this point. • 'I DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 339 The evening of the 30th we spent at u dance in the Eskimo village near by, after which we went on board the " Yukon " to sleep, which however was almost impos- sible on account of the boat's heavy rolling while at anchor. I was a little surprised to find that I could carry on even a very limited conversation Avith the Eskimo of this locality, the last of that tribe I had lived among being the natives of the north Hudson's Bay regions, of whose existence these Eskimo knew nothing. On the 31st I sent a couple of Eskimo couriers to the *' Alaska" at Golovnin Bay, asking her to call at this port in order to take my party on board, after which I sat down to await results. Meant! su we had moved on shore into Mr. Leavitt's house, which was kindly i)ut at our disposal. Mr. Leavitt was the signal observer, and had been stationed here over three years, and he was as anxiously awaiting the arrival of the "Leo" as our- selves. St. Michael's, Michaelovski, or " the redoubt," as it is variously called — St. Michael' a liedoubt being the official Russian title, translated into English — is a little village on an island of the same name, comprising about a dozen houses, all directly or indirectly devoted to the affairs of the A^'i.ska Commercial Company. Mr. Neumann was the superintendent, and a very agreeable and affable gentleman we found him, doing much to make our short stay at the redoubt pleasant. There are no fresh water springs on the island near the post, and every few days a large row-boat is loaded with water-barrels and taken to the mainland, where four or five days' sujoply is secured. The "opposition" store, three miles across ij t. {■: 340 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. the bay, seems much better situated in this and other resi)ects, but when St. Michael's was selected by the Russians over a third of a century previously, the idea of defensibility was the controlling motive. The passage between the island and the mainland is a river-like channel, and was formerly used by the river steamer until Captain Petersen became master, when he boldly put out to sea, as a preferable route to " the slough," as it is sometimes called, there being a number of danger- ous rocks in the latter. On the evening of the 31st we again visited the Eskimo village, in company with most of the white men of the redoubt, in order to see the performance of a noted "medicine-man" or shaman from the Golovnin Bay district. He was to show us some savage sleight-of-hand performances, and to foretell the probability and time of the ' ' Leo' s ' ' arrival. In the latter operation he took a large blue bead and crushing it to fragments threw it out of doors into the sea, "sending it to the scliooner," as he said. After a long and tiresome rigmarole, another blue bead was produced which he affirmed to be the same one, telling us that it had been to the vessel, and by returning whole testified her safety. A somewhat si milar performance with a quarter of a silver dollar told him that the "Leo" would arrive at St. Michael's about the next new moon. There was nothing remarkable about these tricks ; and another of tying his hands behind him to a heavy plank, and then bringing them to the front of his body, and lifting the board from the floor of the medicine house, was such a palpable deception as to puzzle no one. This polar priest, however, had a great reputation among the natives all about Norton Sound. He had W IV^ DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 841 preflvited the loss of the Jeannette and the conseqiient death of the two Eskimo from this point. For his favorable hews Mr, Neumann rewarded him with a sa(^k of flour ; and I suppose he would have been perfectly willing to furnish more good news for more flour. The next day I took a genuine Russian bath in a house erected many years ago for that purpose by the Russians. It may be more cleansing, but it is less comfortable than the counterfeit Russian bath as administered in American cities. The 2d of September was the warmest day they had had that summer, the thermometer marking 05° Fiihren- heit. Late in the afternoon the ' ' Yukon ' ' set out on her return to Andreavsky amidst a salute from the carron- ades and the screaming of the steam-whistle. On the 3d my Golovnin Bay couriers, who I supposed had started on the preceding day, and were then forty or fifty miles away on their journey, came nonchalantly to me and reported their departure. I bade them good-by, and told them not to delay on the idea that 1 wanted the "Alaska" next year and not this, and promising me seriously to remember this, they departed. The next day — the 4th — they re^ ned, having forgotten their sugar, an article of luxury they had not enjoyetl for months previously, and again departed. I expected to sec them return in two or three days for a string to tie it up with, but their outfit must have been complete this time, for I never saw or heard of them again ; but I could not help thinking what valuable messenger service the telegraj)!! companies were losing in tliis far-away country. Sure enough, on the 8th of the month the " Leo " bore down in a gale and was soon anchored in the bay, where ii 'if 1 P'tM^^^ii' 1: 1 848 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT PdVER. we boarded her. Although already overcrowded for a little schooner of about two hundred tons, Lieutenant Ray kindly made room for my additional party, there being by this addition about thirty-five on board and seventeen in the little cabin. While trying to make Point Barraw, the "Leo" had been nipped in the ice and had her stem split and started, sustaining other injuries the extent of which could not be ascertained. She was leaking badly, requiring about five or ten minutes at the pumps every hour, but it was intended to try and make San Francisco, unless the leaking increased in a gale, when she was to be repaired at Oonalaska, and if mat- ters came to the worst she would be condemned, A few days were spent in chatting of our experiences, getting fresh water on board and exchanging signal observers, and on the morning of the 11th, at a.m., under a salute of six guns, we weighed anchor and started, with a strong head wind that kept constantly increasing. This gale was from the north-west, and as we had to beat a long distance in that direction in order to clear the great mud banks off the delta of the Yukon, 80 little progress was made that after an all day's fight we ran back to St. Michael's in an hour's time and dropped anchor once more, to await a change in the weather. Next day we got away early and managed to beat a little on our course. The 13th gave us an almost dead calm until late in the afternoon, when we caught a fine breeze abaft and rounded the Yukon banks about midnight. This favorable breeze increased to a light gale next day and we pounded along at the rate of ten or eleven knots an hour. On the 15th the gale continued and so increased the DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 343 a It re next day that evening saw us "hove to" for fear of running into Oonalaska Ishind during the niglit. This run across Bering's Sea in less than three days was stated by our master, Captain Jacobsen, to be tlie best sailing record across that sheet of water. The morning of the 17th opened still and calm, with a number of the Aleutian islands looming up directly ahead of us in bold relief. A very light breez»^ spi-ang up about noon, and with its help at 6 I'.sr. we entered the heads of Oonalaska harbor, and at nine o'clock we dropped anchor in the dark about half a mile from the town. Most of us visited the place that night and had a very pleasant reception by Mr. Neumann, the agent of the Alaska Company. Here we found that company's steamer the "Dora," and the revenue-cutter "Corwin," which had been lying here since leaving St. Michael's. These two vessels and everybody generally were waiting for the Alaska Company's large steamer " St. Paul "from San Francisco, upon whose arrival the " Dora," was to distribute the material received for the various trading stations on the Aleutian Islands and the mainland adja- cent ; the " Corwin " would sail for some point or other, no one could find out where, and the residents would settle down for another year of monotonous life. The last day's gale on Bering Sea had left no doubt on the minds of those in charge that the " Leo " would have to be repaired, accordingly she was lightened by dis- charging her load, and on the morning of the 20th she was beached near by, the fall of the tide being suffi- cient to reveal her injuries, and to allow of temporary repair. We passed our time in strolling around examining the i \\ SM ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. .** iiii tt iii^ii |: § islands, while some of the party got out their fishing tackle and succeeded in securing a few fine tliouj^h small trout from the clear mountain streams. This grand chain of islands jutting out boldly into the broad Pacific receives the warm waters of the Japanese current — Kuro Siwo — a deilected continuation of a part OONALASKA. of the Pacific equatorial current corresponding to our gulf stream. From this source it derives a warmer climate than is possessed by any body of land so near the pole, althoiTgh it lies in about the same parallels as the British Islands. The cold of zero and the oppessive heat of iummer are equally unknown to this region. Grasses 11 DOWN THE RIVER AND HOME. 846 grow luxuriantly everywh(>re, upon which the reindeer used to graze in numerous he*-ds, Iheir keen sight and. the absence oi' timber protecting them from the rude weapons of the native hunters until the introduction of firearms, after which they were rapidly exterminated. In a few days we heard with pleasure that the " Leo" was ready and we soon quitted Alaska for good. The north- A^est winds sang a merry song through our sails as the meridians and parallels took on smaller numbers, and in a very few days, the twinkling twin lights of the Faral- lones greeted our eyes, and anchored safely within the Golden Gate, our journey ended. :: ;, T,, II I ii: M ! |:i i!. CHAPTER XIII. THE KLONDIKE REGION. On pape 244, Schwatka says: "We camped that nijilit at the mouth of a noticeable stieam cominjf in from tlie east, which we afterwards learneil was called Dwr Ci'eek by the traders, f: oni i he lar};e number of caribou or woodland reindeer sem in its valley at certain times of their migrations." This is the stream that is now known the world over as the Klondike. What the Indians really called it was "Thron-Diuck," from which comes the word "Klondike." The Klondike is a small river about forty yards wide at the mouth, and shallow; the water is clear and transparent, and of beautiful blue color. Dawson City is located at the mouth of the river, and althoufjh it was located only a few months ago, it is now the scene of great activity. Upon this stream and several of its alHuents have been found the rich deposits of gold. The river is about 140 miles in length, and the gold-bearing creeks, where the richest deposits have been found, run into the Klon- dike from r southerly direction. The principal creeks are the Bonanza, entering the Klondike two miles from its junction with the Yukon; El Dorado Creek, a branch of Bonanza Creek, from twelve to fifteen miles in length; about seven miles far- 346 1 !l UIE KLuyDlKE REiilOX. 347 ther lip Bonauza <*re«'k is CJoM Hottcmi fYcck; aiul a few miles boyoud is AtlaiuH (Vcek. Tlicro an* several smaller ereeks emptying iuto Buuauza deek, wliieli are gold-bearing. About twelve miles up the Klondike is Bear (Yeek, whiih has several tributaries, and twelve miles faiihei' up is Hunter (Veek. About ten miles fai-tlier up .he Klondike is Too Mueh (Jold Oeek. Bonauza and Kl Dcu'ado ereeks have produ'Kl the richest deposits of gold yet found, but al! the creeks mentioned havv' some verj' rich dep<»:;Irs. The knowledge of these gold fields in the far north is not new. From early in the (lays of the Russian occu- pation of this territory it has been known Miat there were vast deposits of the precious metal in ^ laska. It is said that the existence of gold in quantities along tht- Yukon and its tributaries was known to the f u'-trading companies a century and a half ag«). These companies were not after minerals, and they were merely guarding the immense wealth which abounded in the fur indus- tries when they did not give their knowledge to the world. Other fur companies have followed the ex- ample of the early tnulei-s and have kept the secret. The}' foresaw the effec of a rush of immigrants. The aborigines of Alaska have been familiar with the precious yellow^ metal for a time that is old even in their legends. The earliest voyagers to the coasts of Alaska noticed the bits of shining gold here and there among the ornaments of the natives, and for these they traded knives, guns, and fancy trappings. Be^yond the few ounces which they gaintnl in this way, however, no gold was obtained from those regions. In 1741 the I 3*8 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. Hi ! m m Russian explorer, Bebring, after whom the great Alas- kan Sea is uamed,fountl gold, but he found what seemed to him more attractive, fine furs. Upon the value of the furs he laid gi'eat stress in his re^ ft to his monarch, and the result was that the country was granted by th;- Emperor Paul for f'- -gathering purposes alone to the Kusso-American Fur Company, and thus it remained until the purchase by the United States in 1867. That there were deposits of gold in those icy regions was hinted by the earlj'^ explorers, and incomplete rec- ords show that more than one party put civilization be- hind for the purposx" of investigating the country, in fact, enough men had left for that region to produce suf- ficient gold to cause the Director of the Mint to credit Alaska with three hundred thousand dollars in gold ar'd two Ihousand dollars in silver 1*2 1885. Most of this metal came from Douglas Island. In 1890 the total output of lode and placer mines in Alaska was put at four million six hundred and seventy-five thousand dol- lars, and in 1897 the f;old output, it is estimated, will reach twelve million dollars. There Avas a great g,:ld craze in the extreme North- west in 1858. Tn ili'^ OO's there was a i)eriod when the annual 1 "oduction of the Northwest Province? reached three mi) 'ions, seven hundred thousand dollars. The known deposits were exhausted, however, and by 1890 the product fell off to less than half a million dollars. On page 190 of this volume Mr. Schwatka says, "The mouth of the D'xVLoadie marks an important point on the Yukon Kiver as beijig the place at which gold com- menced to be found in placer deposits. From the D'Ab- , HI 1' ; r li Tiui Ki.oNKiKii Gou) Discoveries. ij-ii m Ml ' M -J B3 « O O IS o 11 1^ a w o S P (^ 8 CO Cfl l i I '!' ■; THE KLONDIKE REGION. 351 I h.'- hardships of which he has pointed out, but in no wise magnified. In fact, he made the journey under the most favorable circumstances. Another route is tlie all- water route from Seattle by way of the mouth of the Yukon. It is a fifteen days' voyage from Seattle to St. Michael, which is on the westera coast of Alaska, north of the mouth of the Yukon River. In making this trip one passes through the chain of Aleutian Islands and past the Pribilof Islands, which is the great breed- ing ground of the fur seals. From St. Michael the trip is made up the Yukon in a flat-bottom river steamer in from fifteen to twenty days. The distance from Seattle to Dawson City by way of St. Michael and the Yukon River is about 4,725 miles. The distance from Seattle by way of the Chilkoot Pass route, that which was followed by Mr. Schwatka, is estimated as about 1,G00 miles. The back door route is the old Hudson Bay Tinmk Line, which has been traveled since 1825. This is by way of St. Paul to Edmonton, Northwest Territory, on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. This route from St. Paul and Minneapolis, by way of the Soo Line and the Canadian Pacific, is all rail as far as Edmonton. A stage line runs to Athabasca Landing on the Atha- basca River forty miles away. Thence the route is by canoe due north, into Athabasca Lake, and finally into Great Slave Lake, the source of the McKenzie River. Following the McKenzie River to its mouth, the Peel River must be taken south, and then by poi*tage, the Rocky Mountain range is crossed. The Stewart River rises just west of the mountain range, and thus the way to the Klondike is opened. The Hudson Bay Company m ^ ^ 11 r I 352 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. |i gives the distance as 1,882 miles. This route is almost constantly used by the Indians and trappers. It is down grade all the way. The Hudson Bay Company has small steamers plying wherever the water is of sufficient depth. Still another way that is recommended is known as the Takou route. The entrance to this inlet is ten or twelve miles south of Juneau, and is navigable for the largest ocean vessel a distance of eighteen miles to the mouth of the Takou River. This river is navigable by canoe for a distance of fifteen miles to Nakinah River. Ef J 's a portage of seventy miles to Lake Teslin, one of the chain of lakes which form the headwaters of the Yukon. The total distance from Juneau to Lake Tes- lin is one hundred and fifty miles. It is said that this route would require not over twenty days' time to reach Klondike from Puget Sound. The approximate dis- tance from Seattle to Dawson City over this route is 1,650 miles. Sti?i another route, and one which is highly recom- mended by a number of Canadians who have been over it, is the Stikeen River route. The Canadian Govern- ment has decidetl to make a large grant for opening up this all-Canadian route to the Yukon. One of the party who assisted in laying out this route says: "We left Fort Wrangel on May 17th, and after a pleasant run up the Stikeon River 110 miles on the steamer we reached Telegraph Creek. On the 23d of May we left to commence operations by following up Diese Lake trail to Tahltan Bridge, and then running to the left of Tahltan River on the old Hudson Bay trail to a place called Jimtown. From this point we decided 1:, wi THE KLONDIKE REGION. 353 to cut a new trail from Telegraph Oreek straight across on the left of Tahltan River, crossing the left fork about fifteen miles from Telegraph, and five miles fui-ther on connecting with the old Hudson Bay trail. The old trail was cleared of all obstructions and followed to the old Hudson Bay post, where some log buildings still stand. This point is a hill of consider- able size, there being about three miles of heavy grade. This can be remedied by cutting a new trail around tlie hill, following the creek. The country in general is very open, and what timber there is, is veiy small and scrubby. The trail runs through a valley from five to twenty miles wide, which presents no difflculties. About thirty miles this side of Lake Teslin we reached a summit where waters run north. I may say the head- waters of the Yukon commence from this point. From this point the Klondike may be reached in eight or ten days, with smooth water and no portages. With the proposed improvements on the trail the trip could be made in about fifteen days with a pack train from Telegraph Creek Fort Wrangel can be used as a supply station over this route, the distance from Fort Wrangel being about nine hundred miles. Another advantage of this route is that the supplies may be pur- chased at Fort Wrangel, and thus no duty need be paid the Canadian Government. One member of a party of gold seekers who folio. ved the Stikecii route has given the following account of the route in detail. Since this route is to be im])roved by the Canadian Government this description is of con- siderable value: "From Seattle we went to Fort Wrangel, 140 miles II t ■I'l , 1, 'iii li> It il! •I't ■iij'ii 1 ! i \ > 1 354 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. this side of Juneau, and there we took the 150-ton steamer 'Alaskan,' which plies on the Stikeen Itiver. The Stikeen River is ver^- broad at some points, and at others, where it runs through canyons, it narrows down L » 100 feet or so, just room enough for the »:.teamer to pass between the steep, rocky walls. Kapids were nu- merous, and frequently the crew would have to go ashore and 'line* the steamer through a nari*ow rajud, where the ^" ter ran so swiftly that it made us dizzy. When neariiig a bit of water of this kind the propeller was neA'er used. After shutting down the machinery, lines would be attachetl to a steam capstan on the deck of the steamer. The ends of these lines then were made fast to trees on either side of the river, and by means of the steam capstan the boat was wai*ped along cau- tiously until open water wa»s reached. "The w"eather was not so cold as we looked for, just bracing. The trail along the Stikeen follows the left bank of the river almost to the conference of the Iskoot River, where it crosses the Stikeen, following the left bank of the Iskoot to Telegraph Creek. At that point the trail trends to the west and north as far as the Tahltan River, following that course over a great, flat plateau until the foot of Teslin, or Allen's, Lake is reached. "There were five in the party which reached Tele- graph Creek on the 'Alaskan.' At the creek six white men and two Stick Indians joined our party. We hired the Indians to act as guides as far as the Cassiar gold diggings, near Diese Lake, seventy-two miles to the north of Telegraph Creek. We started for Diese Lake afoot, packing our provisions and supplies, of which t II \ ^'^ -^ ■• ^ **?^,, ■*i«> Thk Descent of Chilkoot Pass. i'l • i T THE KLONDIKE liEUlON. 365 we bad an abumlauit', ou thirteen horses. On this journey we made about six miles ever}- twonty-fouP hours, i^oinj; into camp whenever we felt like it, "At the Cassiar dij'i4;in};s we found a few Cliiuanien worlvinj; plaeers, but tliey made only a bare livin;j;, so our party, after lookinjj; over the e goUl region in reeent years. The* pros- pector is willing to seule mountains, traverse plains, cross rivers, shoot rapids, and brave a thousand perils, but the thought of living in a country whose temi)era- ture is often represented as being comparable with that of a vast refrigerator is appalling. The average tem- perature in the Klondike country during the four cold- est months of the year is not ordinarily much lower than twenty degrees below zero. The average winter's snowfall in that part of Alaska is only about two feet, whereas on the coast it is ten times that much. The snowfall in the vicinity of Fort Cud.ahy is only about two feet during the winter, although it is as much as twenty feet along the coast where the intluence of the Japan current is felt. It is bitterly cold in Arc.ic Alaska. Forty degrees be- low zero for days at a stretch is not uncommon. The general conception of the climate of the great North- west is largely due to those who have merely skirted the coast. And it is not very remarkable that the reports are not more true of the whole of the Alaskan country, for the coast line is over twenty-six thousand miles long and extends through many degrees of latitude. Any one traveling any considerable part of such a distance would easily feel justitied in drawing a general con- clusion as to the climate f)f the whole country. As stated above, the climate of the interior, including in that designation practically all of the country excejjt a narrow fringe of coastal margin, is one of extreme rigor in winter, with a brief, but relatively hot summer, especially when the sky is free from clouds. f V ■ 868 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. I l*'- I'f ' r IH; IF ''" V ^^Bi , M In the Klondike region, in midwinter, the sun rises from 9:30 to 10 a, m., and sets from 2 to 3 p. m., the total length of dayliyht being about four hours. The sun rises but a few degi'ees above the horizon, and it is wholly obscured on a ^reat many days, so the character of the winter months may be easily imagined. The Ciiited States ^:oa*t and ^J.'odetic Survey in 1889- 90 madf a series (j4 (observations covering a period of six months a-u rh*» Yukon, not far from the .'o of the present g«^*l disc<»irf»ies. Tke ofceervations vv\.^e made with standard in«trumeBiH and are wholly' reliable. "The meau temperature of the months, October to April, both inclusive, are as follows: October, 33 de- grees; November, 8 degrees; December, 11 degrees below zero; Januarj-, IT degi-ees below zero; February, 15 degrees below zei*o; March, (! degrees above zero; April, 20 degrees above zero. The daily mean temjiera- ture fell and remalncMl below the freezing point (32) from November 4th to April 21sv, thus giving 1G8 days as the length of the closed season, assuming the out- door oi>erations are controlled by temper.ature only. "The lowest temperatures registered during that winter were: 32 degrees below zero in November, 47 below in December, 59 below in Januaiy, 55 be-ow in February , 45 below in March, 2G below in April, "The greatest continuous cold occurred in February, when the daily meau for five consecutive days wasx 47 degrees below zero. The weather mo a I M > \\ Ml u Il!l km Imii THE KLONDIKE REGION. 35!) winter. Snow fell on about one-third of the days in winter, and a less munber in the early spring and late fall months. In the interior, the winter sets in as early as September, when snow shu'nis may be expe(te4l in the mountains and passes. Headway during one of these storms is impossible, and the traveler wlio is over- taken in one of them is indred fortuuate if he escapes witli his life. Snow storms of great severity may oecur in any month from September to May, inclusive." The changes of temperature from winter to summer are rapid, owing to the great increase in the length of the day. In May the sun rises at about 3 a. m. and sets about 9 p. m. In June it rises about 1:30 in the morn- ing and sets at 10:30 p. m.> .uiving about twenty lioui*s Mf daylight, and diffuse twilight the remainder of the time. Notwithstanding the marked variations in the climate Alaska is essentially a healthy country. The only prevailing diseases are those of a bronchial nature, and in most easels these troubles can be directly traced to imprudent exposure. The snow of the interior partakes much of the char- acter of frost, sifting slowly down in intensely cold weather until it lies several inches deep, light and flulTy; but at times, in wann weather, it t*.ows and settles into a hard crust, affording excellent sui face for sledding. The great precipitation and humidity of the atmos- phere in Southern Alaska cause the entire coast region to be clothed in a mantle of perennial green. Vegeta- tion is dense and the forests magnilicent. The soil is rich, though in the heavily timbered region it is shal- 860 ALONG ALASKA'S UllEAT RIVER. I 4' m M lilt ^"-i 6| . !i low, and from the most oastera point of the territoiy to Kodiak root crops are easily grown. The numerous islands that skirt the coast of Alaska, the great plains of the interior, intersected by deep rivers, gigantic snow-crowned mountains, the active volcanoes and the mighty ice fields, with many other singular, beautiful and awe-inspiring gifts of nature combine to make the country of the new gold fields one of notable grandeur and wonder. The great rivers of the interior drain immense val- leys, with mountain ranges everywhere visible. Lakes are abundant, often surrounded by tundra or swamps, very frequently impenetrable, covered with brush, rank grasses, and other vegetation. After the interior is reached — and by this is meant after the coast moun- tains are crossed, in many places only twenty or thirty miles from the coast — the soft earth and luxuriant vege- tation of the coast country give place to frozen ground, and lichens and mosses on the mountain sides and in the valleys. But though the vast plains of the interior are within the grasp of the ice king for eight months of tiue year, with the advent of the long days of summer, water runs, flowei's bloom, and grasses spring into life as if by magic, and their growth is at once luxuriant and rapid, even though in many places the soil is never thaAved beyond a few inches below the surface. In the far north, at St. Michael, and at Point Bairow, wells have been dug through sixty feet of solid ice, and the same condition has been noted on the Yukon, at Forty- Mile. I n >• H > > w o m UL'r 11 1 , |: ,•1 * " !• ■ V-.. „ ; ||y^u^»< > It'll 1 F ^ V", lil iil Til I J KLONDIKE RKdlOS. :UU The effect of the wide cliiuatic raiij;es is inanifest in the fauna aud llora of the territory. The former eorrc- spends vei'y chj.sely to the siib-arctic type; the hitt«'r presents a variety of brilliance and sobriety at once de- li^htfnl and astonishinji,'. The animals belonj;' ':ir^ely to the fnr-bearin}"' si)eeies, thouj;h natives of more tem- perate re{j;ions survive and even t hrive with projjer care. A{;'i"ieulture will probably never besuceessfii in that region, for the season is too short and crops are too un- certain of maturity. In the Yukon basin vegetables of the hardier soils do fairly well. Turnips, radishes, and salad plants and even potatoes hav(> been success- fully cultivated at St. Michael and at Fort Yukon. At Fort Selkirk <«,ardenino' has produced some results that ar(» very [dcasins' both in size and variety. The whole Yukon basin raises fine berries and {"rass, but other crops are hard to mature, and thouj^h the fodder is plenty and good, the long, severe winter precludes success in stock raising. The timber of the Yukon is principall.y willow, alder, cottonwood, spruce, low fir, hemlock .and birch. Nortli of the basin the growtlis be- come stunted and finally disappear. William Ogilvie, Dominion Land Surveyor, reported on this region to the Canadian Department of the In- terior, as follows: "The agricultural capabilities of the country along the river are not great, nor is the land that can be seen from the river of good (juality. When Ave consider further the unfavorable climatic conditions that prevail in the region, it may be said that as an agricultural dis- trict this portion of the country will never be of any value. i I '1 ! ' I'll ' r. fill ni^ 1 [■■...if ! 1 k I Mi II i il IS ■;" 1 t: ^, 1 !(•. .1 ALOXG ALASKA'S HREAT lilVER. "Alouj^ the east side of Lake Benuott, ()i>p()site the Chilkoot or wostoru arm, there are some Hats of dry, j;i-av('Ily soil, wliieh wouhl make a few fariiiH of limited extent. On the west side, around the mouth of Whea- ton Hiver, tlieri' is an extensive Hat of sand and «;ravel, covered with small pine and spruce of stunted j^rowth. "Alonj; the western shore of Ta^ish I^ake th(>re is a large extent of low, s\\amj).v flats, a part of which might be used for the production of such roots and <'ereals as the climate would i)ermit. Along the west side of Marsh Lake there is also much Hat surface of the same general character, on which I saw some coarse grass which would serve as food for cattle. Along the east side the surface appeared higher and araced, and is probably less suited to the requirements of the agri- culturist. Along the head of the river, for some miles below Marsh Lake, there are fiats on both sides, which would, as far as surface confirmation goes, serve as farms. The soil is of much better quality than any heretofore seen, as is proven by the larger and thicker growth of timber and underbrush which it supports. The soil bears less the chaijicter of detritus, and more that of alluvium, than that seen above. "On the lower end of the lake, on the west side, there is also a considerable plain which might be utilized; the soil in parts of it is good. I saw one part where the timber had been burned some time ago; here both the soil and vegetation were good, and two or three of the plants seen are common in this part of Ontario, but they had not the vigorous appearance which the same plants lun-e East. "Northward from the end of the lake there is a deep 77/ A' KLOSDIKE liE(UO.\. 368 wide valley, which Dr. Dawson has nanu'd 'Oj^ilvic Val- h',v.' ill this the iiilxi'd timber, j)»)i»lar and si)ruti', is of a size whiili belolveus a fair soil; the herbajic, too, is more thau usually rieh for this region. This valley is exteusive, and, if ever reijuired as an aid in the susten- ance of our i)eoi)le, will tij'ure largely in the district's agricultural assets. "JJelow the lake the valley of the river is not, as n. rule, wide, and the banks are often steej) and high. There are, however, many flats of modi'rate extent along the river and at its confluence with other streams. The soil of many of these is fair. "About forty miles above the mouth of the Pelly Kiver there is an extensive flat on both sides of the Lewes. The soil here is poor and sandy, with small open timber. At Pelly liiver there is a flat of consider- able extent on which the ruins of Fort Selkirk stand. It is covered with a small growth of pojdar and some s])ruce. The soil is a gra "clly loam of about eight inches in depth. This flat extends up the river for some miles, but is all covered thickly with timber except a small piece around the site of the fort. "I think ten townships or 3(!0 square miles, would be a very liberal estimate of all the places mentioned along the river. This gives us 230,400 acres, or, say 1,000 farms. The available lands on the affluence of the riv- ers would probably double this, or give 2,000 farms in that part of our territory, but on most of the farms the returns would be meager. Without the discovery aiul development of large mineral wealth, it is not l:ke]y that the slender agricultural resources of the country will ever attract attention. In the event of such discovery I .1 ^il i til' I ; $s /: #f IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) '/ FhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 1.0 "^^ ^ ^^= u lU 12.2 SB* ■- 1.1 l.-^ KS ^ " u& 1 1.25 11.4 ||.6 s n ► < ^ u 23 WfST MAIN STRIET WIBSTER.N.Y. USaO (716) 172-4503 iV 3G4 ALOXa ALASKA'S CREAT lilVER. however, some of the land inijj;ht be used for the pro* diutiou of v('j;«'(jible food for the iiiiiiers, but even iu that ease with the trans|)(ir( faeilities whuh the district coiiiiiiands it is very (hmbtful if it could compete sue* ccssfully with the South and East. "The amount of timbei- tit for use in building and nianufacturlu}; in the distiict alon;; the river is not at all important. There is a hnj;t' extent of f<»rest which would yield firewood and timber for use in mines, but for the manufacture of lumber there is very little. The great bulk <»f the timber in the district suilabh' for nuinufacturin;^^ the luiub(>r is to be fiuind on the islands in the river. On them \\w soil is waruu'r and richer, the sun's rays strikiuj; the surface for a much longer tinu' and more directly than on the banks. "To estiimite thefpiantity of timber In the vio8sible, to get any close to the river. A boom in mining would soon ex- terminate the game in the district along the river. "There ai-e two species of caribou in the country, one, the ordinary kind found in most parts of the Northwest, and said to much resemble the reindeer; the other, called the wood caribou, a much larger an o en If, ( -.*; y lii i I I f,l- I' : _ a i I ,! THE KLOXDIKE REdlON. 86T others, a band of cattle inhabitin;; this district in (he far future, woubl bo all tail and no body, unless the mosquitoes should experience a change of numbers. "The Indians sinear the hands and face with a mix- ture of grease and soot, which prevents the pest from biting. At some seasons in this country they are in such dense swarms that at night they will practically (-over a mosquito netting, fairly touching each other and crowding through any kind of nu'sh. I have heard it asserted by people of experience that they form co- operative societies and assist each other through the meshes by pushing behind and pulling in front." li I I I 1, ■ I si t DISCOVERY AND HISTORY. The actual discovery of the great northwestern pen- insula of the American eoutiucnt cannot be dated fur- ther back than the middle part of the eighteenth cen- tury. Its remoteness from the centres of European settlement and from the lines of trade and travel, and v.» inhospitable climate made Alaska one of the latest regione to yield to the advances of the explorer, 8>ir- veyor and settler. At a date when the colonies on tne North Atlantic coast of America numbered millions of prosperous i)eople, already preparing to take indepen- dent rank among the nations of the world, the very existence of this enormous country was unknown. At a very early date, however, voyagers from many lands began their advances toward the far Northwest, and the story of the discovery of Alaska must naturally include a brief outline of these. As early as 1542 the Spanish adventurers Coronado and Juan Rodriguez de Cabrillo went up the Pacific coast of Mexico, and sailed for some distance along the coast of what is now the State of California. The memory of the former has been locally honored in Cali- fornia in the name of Coronado Beach. At this time the Spanish considered themselves sole masters of the South Sea, as the Pacific was called, and of all lands bordering upon it. But their supremacy there was soon disputed by the intrepid Sir Francis Drake. He not only ravaged their South American seaports, but, in T- DISCOVERY AND BISTORT, 309 1579, sailed far to northward in a little scliooncr of two hundred tons, entered the Golden Gate, and refitted liia vessel in wliut is now the harbor of Sun Fi incisco. Thirteen years later the Spaniards pressed still furtlier up the coast. Apostolos Valeriaiios, best known as Juan de Fuca, sailed from Mexico and pjissed tlirough the straits that bear his name, and discovered Piiget Sound. There adventure from the south made pause for many years, still a weary distance from the Alaskan peninsula. More than a hundred years after the voyages of Cor- onado, a different people, from a difl'erent direction, be- gan to move toward the same goal. These were the Russians, who had already taken possession of the greater part of Siberia, and who were now pei-sistently pushing on to the occupation of the whole realm between the Baltic and the Pacific. They had already gone east- ward as far as the Kolyma River, and possessed the town of Nijni Kolymsk, in about 160° degrees east longitude. In 1646 they advanced still further. Isai Ignatieff, with several small vessels, sailed from the Kolyma, and effected a landing on Tchaun Bay, in tlie country of the Tchukchees. He found the trade in walrus ivory so profitable that his example was soon followed by others. The very next year the Cossack Simeon Deshneff, with four vessels, sailed eastward, to take possession of all the land in the name of the Eus- Bian crown. The Anadyr River, of which reports had been heard from the natives, was his goal. At the same time, Michael Stadukin led an expedition overland in the same direction. But both these enterprises failed. Tlie year 1648, however, saw Deshneff's venture re« I i'i 870 ALONO ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER, III it* peated. Three shipe sailed for the Anadyr, commanded respectively by Simeon Deshneff, Gerasira Ankudinoff, and Feodor Alexieff. They reached Behring Strait, not knowing it was a strait, and Aukudinoff's vessel was wrecked on East Cape. He and his men were taken on the other vessels, and the exi)edition kept on. Desh- neflf made his way around Cape Navarin and Cape Oliutorski to the coast of Kamtchatka. There his ves- sel was wrecked and he and his men made their way homo overland, surveying, as they went, the Anadyr Kiver. Again in 1652 Deshneff exi)lored the Anadyr, in a boat, and the next year planned a trade-route, by sea, from that river to Yakutsk, on the Lena. Many other expeditions to Kamtchatka and the west- ern part of Behring Sea were soon thereafter made. Taras Stadukin in 1654 discovered the westernmost Kurill Islands, and sailed round Kamtchatka into Pen- jinsk Bay. In 1696, Lucas Simeonoff Moroscovich ex- plored Kamtchatka by land, and during the next year the Cossack Vladimir Atlassoff followed him thither and by force of arms made the Kamtchatdales subjects of the Czar. This conquest was marked by wholesale butcheries of the helpless natives, and confiscation of their goods. The conquest of the Tchukchees was at- tempted in 1701, but failed, as did a second expedition against them ten years later. This latter, however, un- der the Cossack Peter Iliunsen Pc^off, in 1711, had one highly-important result. It brought back definite re- ports of the narrowness of Behring Strait, of the loca- tion of the Diomedes Islands, and of the proximity of the American continent. Then, for some years, all fur- ther advance was stayed. »*■'■ I DISCOVERY AND HISTORY. 871 The next niv)vement was iiiulertiikeu by no lesm a per- sonage than Peter the Great, " tllAt CmT Who nm, there was some disturbance at l^itka itself. In Aj)ril, 18f)y, the publication of a newspaper was begun at Sitka by a man who also followed the avoaitions of lawyer and tailor. This paper ])asse(l out of existence after about a year and was not revived. In 1870 the withdrawal of the military garrisons oeeurred, excepting those at Sitka and Wrangell. In 1874 an attempt was made to colonize Alaska with Icelanders, who were at that time leaving their own ernuitiy in large numbers. Several of them visited Alaska and were pleased with the ap})earance of the country. An offer was made to transport thither five liundred Icelanders free of charge, but it Avas not accepted, and the seheuie of colonization was finally abandoned. In 1878 a serious outbreak of Indians occurred at Sitka, and the inhabitants of that town were compelled to ap])eal Ibr protection to the commander of an English war-ship. In 1884 a regular territorial government was estab- lished and a civil governor appointed, the military garrisons having been withdrawn. fr^' m ' THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. The United States census of 1890 definitely enti« merated 21,929 inhabitants 'of Alaska, and estimated the existence of about 8,400 more. Of those enumerated there were 3,922 vhite males and 497 white females ; 82 black males ; 770 " mixed " males, and 798 "mixed" females; and 2,125 male Chinese; while the native population included 7,158 males and 6,577 females. According to the same census there were in Alaska 11 organizations of the Orthodox Greek Church ; with 22 edifices with a seating capacity of 2,900 and a value of 1180,000. The communicants numbered 13,004. The Roman Catholic Church had 6 organizations, with 6 buildings, seating 540 persons, and valued at $9,700. There were 559 communicants. No less than 27 fire insurance companies were doing business in the Territory, and in 1889 the risks written and renewed by them aggregated $1,710,184. The people of Ahiska have been spoken of as Ameri- cans, Russians, Hydahs, Tsimpseans, Tlilinkets, Aleutw, liinuits or Eskimos and Tinneh, or Athabascan Indians. Eight distinct languages and several dialects are spoken. The Tsimpseans embrace only the settlement at Metlak* ah tlii, about one thousand j !ople who came over from Brit- isL Columbia. The Hydahs have some five or six villages on the south end of Prince of Wales Island with about nine hundred people. The Thlinkets reside in from forty to fifty villages in the Alexander Archipelago and TBE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. ^Sl •long the coast from Cape Fox to Copper River. All these have becoiue partly civilized by contact with the whites and through the influence of schools and mis- sions, and there is a large number of those who can speak English and have become excellent citizens. The Aleuts are also partly civilized, but with a civilization conforming more nearly to that of the R;:s.sian3 than our own. These reside upon the islands of the Aleu- tian chain, the Shunagin and Kodiak groups, the Ali- aska Peninsula and the islands of St. Paul and St. George in Behring Sea. There are a few Aleut half-breeds in Sitka. Many of these people talk the Rus ijn language. The In un- its and Tinnehs (,'annot be s lid to be civilized, though their barbarism has been modified by contact with white people. The Innuits reside along the coast from Nusne- gak, in Behring Sea, to the eastern limit of our domin- ion in the Arctic region. Lieutenant Ray speaks ol them as living in a state of anarchy, making no com- binations, offensive or defensive, having no punishment for crimes and no government. Given to petty pilfering, they make no attempt to reclaim stolen property. They are social in their habits anly about six hours of daylight in each day, and in mid- summer there is for a time practically no night at all. Uain is the principal feature of the climate, and this abundance of moisture causes all vegetation to grow luxuriantly. There is an abundance of vegetables and •jome fruit, and domestic cattle are kept successfully. Nowhere outside of the tro])ic.s is a more luxurious natural vegetation to be found than in these islands of southern Alaska. Sitka is a neat and clean city, and as a rule is now cpiiet and orderly. It contains a large industrial school, attended by 200 native boys and girls; the course of study including nearly all use- ful industries. Twenty miles south of Sitka, on the same island, hot springs are to be found, the water of which is rich in sulphur and Iron. For many genera- tions these have been a sanitary resort of the natives, and it is not ujilikely that in the near future they will oe greatly visited by tourists from the United States and elsewhere. The temperature of the water is about 165° Fahrenheit, and the springs are surrounded by tropical vegetation. After Sitka, the most important settlement in the Territory, is Fort Wrangell. It is beautifully situated at the month of the Stickhin Eiver, where there is an excellent and capacious harbor, surrounded by impos- h^g- mountains. Tlie town consists of rather more than 100 houses, and includes about 500 permanent inhabitants. There are two or three large stores for the sale of goods to the natives and for the purchase ot fiirs and other natural products, as well as the quaint 1 I ■«! 392 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER, 'r . I manufactures of the Indians. There is also a flourish- ing industrial school for the Indian girls. A leading native industry here is the manufacture of jewelry from silver and ivory. In this the natives are very expert, producing most elaborate jjatterns and copying any de- signs given to them with the most patient and unfailing fidelity. When the United States took possession of Alaska a great many active and ambition^ men on the Pacific coast were imbued with the idea that much that was really valuable in Alaska, in the line of furs and the precious metals would be developed to their great gain and benefit if they gave the subject the attention Avhich it de- served. Accordingly, many expeditions were fitted out at San Francisco, Puget Sound, and other points on the Pa- cific coast, and directed to an examination of theseTeputed sources of wealth in that distant country. Many years have now rolled by, and in that time we hnve been en- abled to judge pretty accurately of the relative value of this new territory in comparison with that of our nearer possessions, and it is now known that the fur-trade of Alaska is all and even more than it was reputed to be by the Russians. In this connection the most notable instance, perhaps, of the great value of these Interests may be cited in the case of the seal islands. It will be remembered that at the time of the transfer, when the most eloquent advo- cates of the purchase were exhausting the fertility of their brains in drumming up and securing every possi- ble argument in favor of the purchase, though the fur trade of the mainland, the sea-otter fisheries, and the possible extent of trade in walrus oil and ivory were 1 mMk THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. ;)U3 dwelt upon with groat enii)luisi,s, these fur-seal islaiuk did not receive even a piussing notice as a source of rev- enue or value to the public. Yet it luis transi)iro(l, since the government has been wise enough to follow out the general policy which the Russians established of protecting the seal life on the Pribylof Islands, that these interests in our hands are so managed and directed that they pay into the treasury of the United States a 8um sufficient to meet all the expenses of the govern- ment in behalf of Alaska, beside leaving a large excess every year. Of other resources, such as the adaptation of the country for settlement by any considerable number of our people as agriculturists or husbandmen, and its actual value as a means of supplying gold and silver, coal or timber, it must be said that as yet no very re- markable gold or silver mines have been discovered, nor have there been any veins of coal worked that would in themselves sustain any considerable number of our people or give rise to any volume of tradj. The timber of Alaska in itself extends over a much larger area of that country than a great many surmise. It clothes the steep hills and mountain sides, and chokes up the valleys of the Alexander Archipelago and the contiguous mainland ; it stretches less dense, but still abundant, along that inhospitable reach of ter- ritory which extends from the head of Cross Sound to the Kenai peninsula, whore, reaching down to the west- ward and southwestwanl as far as the eastern half of Kadiak Island, and thence across Shelikof Strait, it is found on the mainland and on the peninsula bordering on the same latitude ; but it is confined to the interioi :iii 1 ! ll; 1 'it' ' ' ; li^^ I I 1 1 ' k'ii;u 1';; m 394 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. opposite Kadiak, not coining down to the coast as fai eastward as Cape Douglas. Plere, however, it im2)inge3 on the coast or Cook's Inlet, reaching down to the shores and extending around to the Kenai peninsula. From the interior of the peninsula, above referred to, the timber-line over the whole of the interior of the great area of Alaska will be found to follow the coast- line, at varying distances of from 100 to loO miles from the seabord, until that section of Alaska north of the Yukon mouth is reached, where a portion of the coast of Norton Sound is directly bordered by timber as far north as Cape Denbigh. From this point to the east- ward and northeastward a line may be drawn just above the Yukon and its immediate tributaries as the northern limit of timber of any considerable extent. There are a great number of small water-courses rising here that find their v/ay into thte Arctic, bordered by hills and lowland ridges on which some wind-stunted timber is found, even to the shores of the Arctic Sea. In thus broadly sketching the distribution of timber over Alaska it will be observed that the area thus clothed is very great ; yet wdien we come to consider the quality of the timber itself, and its economic value in our markets, we are obliged to adopt the standard of the lumber-mills in Oregon and Washington. Viewed in this light, we find that the best timber of Alaska is the yellow cedar, which in itself is of great intrinsic value ; but this cedar is not the dominant tim- ber by any means ; it is the exception to the rule. The great bulk of Alaskan timber is that known as Sitkan spruce, or balsam fir. The lumber sawed from this stock is naturally not of the first quality. These trees THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. 305 ist as fai nipinges I to the iiinsula. erred to, r of the le coast- iles from 1 of the he coast !!• as far tlie east- ist above lortliern 'here are ere that lills and amber is f timber •ea thus consider ic vahie standard liington. mber of 3f great mt tini- le. The Sitkan om this se trees fjrow to their greatest size in the Sitka or Alexander A.rcliipolag!). An interval occurs from Cross iSound until we p.iss over the fair-weather ground at the foot of Mount St. Elias, upon the region of Prince William Sound and Cook's Inlet, where this timber again occurs, and attains very respectable proportions in many sec- tions of the district, notably at Wood Island and por- tions of Afognak, and at the head of the Kenai penin- sula and the two gulf's that environ it. The abundance of this timber and the extensive area clothed by it are readily appreciated by looking at the map, and are ren- dered still more impressive when we call attention to the fact that the timber extends in good size as far north as the Yukon Valley, clothing all the hills within that extensive region and to the north of Cook's Inlet and Kenai peninsula, so that the amount of timber found therein is great in the aggregate. The size of this spruce timber at its base will be typified in trees on Prince of Wales Island 50 feet and over in height, with a diam- eter of at lrf;ist three feet. They have not grown as fast as they won Id have grown in a more congenial latitude to the south, such as Puget Sound or Oregon ; hence when they are run through the saw-mill the freqiient and close proximity of knots mar the quality and de- press the sale of the lumber. Spruce boards are not adapted to nice finishing work in building or in cabinet ware, or, indeed, in anything that requires a finish and upon which paint and varnish may be permanently applied, for under the influence of slight degrees of heat it sweats, exuding minute globules of gum or rosin, which are sticky and difficult to remove. The other timber trees iu southeastern Alaska, Kbt 800 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. 'i , t Jiak and Cook's Inlet may he called exceptional. But one very valuable species of yellow cednr (C mdkaaen-' slfi) is foiiiul sciittered here and there witliin the Alex- ander Archipelago and on the thirty-mile strii). Here this really vain tble tree is found at wide intervals in Bmall clumps, principally along slioal water-courses and fiords, attaining a much greater size than the spruce, as frequently trees are found KX) feet high, with a diameter of five and six feet. The lumber made from these is exceedingly valuable, of the very finest texture, odor and endurance, and is highly prized by the cabinet- maker and the ship-builder. Thus it will be seen that the forests of Alaska are altogether conifei'ous, as the small bodies of the birch and the alder and willow thickets on the lower Yukon and Kuskokvim Rivers can scarcely be considered to come under this head. Aside from the yellow cedar, which is rare, the timber wealth of Alaska consists of the Sitka spruce, which is not only abundant and large (trees of from three to four feet in diameter being quite common in southeastern Alaska and Prince William Sound), but also generally accessible. To give even an ajiproximate estimate of the area of timbered lands in Alaska is at present impossible, in view of our incomplete knowledge of the extent of mountain ranges, which, though falling within the tim- ber limits, must be deducted from the superficial area of forest covering. A few small saw-mills, of exceedingly limited capac- ity, have been erected at various points in southeastern Alaska, to supply the local demand of trading-posts and mining-camps, but finished building lumber is still If THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. 397 Jal. But lufkaaeii-' lie Alex- p. Here tervaU iii urses and spruce, as liameter these is Lire, odor 3 cabinet- laska are he birch r Yukon lidered to •w cedar, )nsists of ind iarge ing quite William 3 area of ssible, in jxtent of the tim- cial area id capac- theastern ing-posts 3r is stili largely imported even into this heavily-timbered region. In all western Alaska but one small saw-iniil is knowi to exist, which is on Wood Island, St. Paul Harbor, Kadiak. This mill was first set up to supply saw-dust lor packing ice, but since the collapse of that industry its operations have been s[)asHiodic and not worth men- tioning. Lumber from Paget Sound and British Col- umbian mills is shipped to rearly all ports in western Alaska for the use of whites and half-breeds, while the natives in their more remote settlements obtain planks and boaids by the very laborious process of splitting logs with iron or ivory wedges. On the treeless isles of the Shumagin and Aleutian groups, !is well as in the south- ern settlements of the Aliaska peninsula, even fire- wood is imported from more favored sections of the territory and commands high prices. The fisheries cover a very large area, but their value uid importance, in consequence of the limited market afforded for exportation on the Pacific coast, has not been fully developed. The supply certainly is more than equal to any demand. The soil of Alaska is not sterile, being at many points of the requisite depth and fertility for the production of the very best crops of cereals and tubei-s. The difficulty with agricultural progress in Alaska is, therefore, not found in that respect. It is due to the peculiar climate. Glancing at the map the observer will notice that hydrographers have defined the passage of a warm current, sufficient in volume and high enough in tem- perature to traverse the vast expanse of the North Pacific from the coast of Japan up and across a little to the southward of the Aleutian Islands, and then defieet» ;v.is ALOSG ATjASKA'8 GREAT RIVER. iiig down to the mouth of the Cohimhia River, where it turiid, one branch going north uj) along the coast o! Ih-itisli Cohimbia by Sitka, and thouce again to the westward until it tuina and bends back upon itself, 'ilie other grand arm, continuing from the first point of bifurcation, in its quiet, steady How to the Arctic, passes up to the northeastward through the strait of Beliring. This warm current, stored with tropical heat, gives rise naturally, as it conies in contact with the colder air and water of the north, to excessive humidity, wiiich takes form in the prevalent fog, sbet and rain of Alaska, as noted and recorded with so much sur[)rise by travelers and temporary residents fi'om other climes. Therefore, at Sitka, and, indeed, on the entire seaboard of South Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, in- stead of fiiuliug a degree of excessive cold carried over to the jnainlanil across the Coast range, which the lati- tude would seem to indicate, we find a climate miicli more i.iild than rigorous ; but the prevalence of fog clouds or banks, either hanging surcharged with mois- ture o' dissolving into weeks of consecutive rain, so re- tard and arrest a proper ripening of fruits and vegeta- bles in that climate that the reasonable certainty of success in a garden from year to year is destroyed. Wiien we look at Alaska w^e are impressed by one Siilient feature, and that is the remarkable distances which exist between the isolated settlements. It is not at first apparent, but it grows on the traveler until he is profoundly moved at the ex])cnditure of physical labor, patience and skill required to traverse any con- siderable district of that country. The Sitkan district is esseatially one of rugged in- THE PEOPLE AND THEtti INDVSTUIES. 'M) where U ! coasc 0* 11 to the oil itself, nst point le Arctic, strait of ical Iieat, with the miDidity, (I ruin of surprise ni otlier ho entire amis, in- ricd over the lati- ite much ee of fog ith niois- iu, so re- 1 vegeta- tainty of yed. I hy one distances It is not until lie [)hysicaj my con- fged in- equality, being mountainous ou the mainland to the exclusiou of all other features, and ecpialiy so on the islands. It is traversed here, there and everywhere hy broad arms of the sea and their hundreds and thousands of lesser channels. Land travel is simply impracticable. Nobody goes on a road ; savages ami whites all travel by the water. Perhaps the greatest humidity and the heaviest rainfall hi the Alaskan country occur here. The equahde and not rigorous climate permits of free navigation at all Reasons of the year, and it is seldom, indeed, that the little lakes and shallow lagoons near the sea-l'',el are frozen so firmly as to allow of a winter's skating. The Aleutian and Kadiak districtsare quite as peculiar iu themselves and as much individualized by their gco- lo,;ical age and formation as is the Sitkan division. They hold within their boundaries a range of great il re- mountains — grumbling, smoking, quaking hills ; some of these volcanic peaks being so lofty and so impressive as tio fix in the explorer's eye an image sui)erb and gravid, and so magnificent as to render adequate descrij)- tion impossible. Like the Sitkan district, the j^leutian and Ivadlak regions are exceedingly mountainous, there bein,^ very little low or level land compared with the sum total of their superficial area; but in that jiortion extei ding for 1,100 miles to the westward of Kadiak, near! j over to Asia, bare o^ timber, a skeleton, as it were, is presented to the eye and strikes one with a sense of an individuality here in decided contrast with that of the Sitkan country. Tlie hills not clothed with timber are covered to their summits in most cases with a thick crop of circumpolar sphagnum, interspersed with IS li in 'I'll ! ill!: pn Ilii ii I K' ' 1 400 ALONO ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER, grasses, and a large flora, bright and beautiful in tti« summer season. To thoroughly appreciate how much moisture in the form of fog and rain settles U2)0U, the land, one cannot do better than to leave the ship in the harbor, or the post where he is stationed, and take up a line of march through one of the narrow valleys near by to the summit of one of the lofty peaks. He will step upon what appeared from the window of the vessel a firm greensward, and sink to his waist in a shaking, tremulous bog, or slide over moss-grown shingle, painted and concealed by the luxuriant growth of cryptogamio life, where he expected to find a free and ready path. " Passing from this district," says Mr. Petroft", " a very remarkable region is entered, which I have called the Yukon and the Kuskokvira divisions. I have during two summers traversed the major portion of it from the north to the south, confirming many ne^ ' and some mooted points. This region covers the deltoid mouth of a vast river, the Yukon, and the sea-like estuary — the Amazonian mouth of another — the Kus- kokvim, with the extraordinary shoals and bars of Bristol Bay, where the tides run with surprising volume. The country itself differs strikingly from the two divi- sions just sketched, consisting, as it does, of irregular mountain spurs planted on vast expanses of low, flat tundra. It is a country which, to our race, ])erhap8, is far more inhospitable than either the Sitkan or Kadiak divisions ; yet, strange to say, I have found therein the greatest concentrated population of the whole Territory. Of course, it is not by agricult'ral, or by mining, or any other industry, save the aboriginal art of fishing and the traffic of the fur traiio that the people live ; and, again, TEE PEOPLE AND THEIP. INDUSTRIES. 401 i\ in ths Dw much upon. tKe lip in the take up leys near He will he vessel shaking, }, painted ptogamio ^ path. 3tro^, « a ve called I have ion of it ne^' and 3 i'eltoid sea-like he Kus- bars of ; volume, wo divi- rrcgular low, flat I'haps, ia Kadiak rein the I'rritorj. , or any and the > again, when the fur-bearing animals are taken into account, the quality and volume of that trade are far inferior to those of either of the previously named divisions, and we find the natives existing in the greatest number where, according to our measure of compensation, they have tne least to gain. " This country, outside of these detached mountain regions and spurs, is a great expanse of l)og, lakes, large and small, with thousands of channels between them, and sluggish currents filled with grasses and other aqueous vegetation, indicated to the eye by the presence of water-lilies. "The traveler, tortured by mosquitoes in summer, blinded, confused and disturbed by whirling 'purgas,* snow and sleet in winter, finding tlie coast rendered almost inaccessible by the vast system of shoaling which the current of tlie great Yukon has effected, passes to the interior, whose su])erficial area comprises nearly five-sixths of the landed surface of the Territory. *' Here is an immense tract reaching from Behring Strait, in a succession of rolling, ice-bound moors and lov^ mountain ranges for 700 miles, an unbroken waste, to the boundary line of British America. Then, again, from the crests at the head of Cook's Inlet and the flanks of Mount St. Ellas nortlnvard over that vast area of rugged mountain and lonely moor to the east — nearly oOO miles — ^is a great (.'c])anse of country, over and through which not much intelligent exploration has been undertaken. A few traders and prospectors have gone up the Tennanah and over the old-established track of the Yukon ; others have passed to the shores of Kotzebue Sound overland from the Koyukuk. Dog- ;i:!t f£ t 1 ill . i 1 1 ■ r' r ■ ' 1 '■■ 1 ll Hi 402 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. sled journeys have been made uy tliese same peopl - • tr * from Alaska consist of the skins of beai-s, brown ' 1 1 black, three or four kinds of foxes, including the veiy valuable silver and blue foxes, otters, martens, beavers, minks, muskrats, lynxes, wolves and wolverines. The sea-otter and the fur-seal supply the pelagic furs, the seal being by far the more .\mportant of the two. In- deed, at present the fur-sea> constitutes wholly on-3- half of Alaska's natural wealth. T' ^ value "i i^litf seal- skins shipped from the Territory and sold In j : mxu markets during the twenty-ihree ycai-s of Aiuerican occupancy down to 1800 'ag^^'Tgates about $33,000,000. In the same perior] the '. «1'b of other fure was |1<)/X)0,000, and ol all ct^er exports only about I'HE PEOPLE AND THEIR mDUSTRIES. 403 ae peoplfl ose of the But the nothing, iviug any his losses ise. We iiuch liesi- le interior md settle- ditions are sturhed in st impor- brauclies, of marine der routed '■(■A Iv thr, rowu • 1.1 the veiy I, beavers, les. The furs, the two. lu- olly o:i-3- ( ihe seal- AiLeriean 5,000,000. fui-8 was ly about 114,000,00'). The canned salmon product, which dates only from 1884, has amounted to nearly $7,000,000, %nd tihe value of the cod-fish taken since 1868 has been ^ly $3,000,000. The supply of fish of various kinds in Alaska is practically inexhaustible, but uie stores lavklied upon the natives of that country by bountiful nature could not be mora wastefully used than they are now. Any development in the fishing industry nmst necessarily be an improvement, causing a saving :ii the supply. The proportion of Alaskan fish brought into the markets of the civilized world, wlien compared with the consumption of the same a: tides by the natives, is 60 very small that it barely deserves the name of an industry of the country. The business, however, shows a decided tendency to increase in magnitude, and with- in the last few years the shipments of salted salmon in barrels from the Kadiak- Aleutian divisions have been fateadily increasing. Next in importance to furs and fish are to be ranked gold and silver. The first gold mines of r^^al impor- tance were opened at the end of 1880, near the present settlement of Juuea u. At present there are three or four goli! producirg quartz mines which ship the pre- cious metal to th'; United States, the largest of them be- ing the Treadwell or Paris mine, which supplies a mill with 240 stamps. There are also paying mines in the Yukon region which have produced for some years past gold dust to the value of from $40,000 to $90,000 tt year. The total value of the gold found in Alaska ^ince 1867 is about $4,000,000, but probably as large a Bum has been expended in the same time in prospect- uig and opening and equipping the mines. The annual ■ \: III!: '^ jhI it 1 V y. 'si 1: '■ wt i 1 IP' ;i i ! 404 J LONG ALASKA'S GREAT KIVER. output of silver is insignificant, amounting to onlj about 13,000. Coal lias been discovered in various parts of the Territory, but it is all of the lignite variety. Only j)ne of the veins is at present operated, and it is situated on Herendeen Bay, on the nort". side of the Alaska pen- insula. Other veins near Cape Lisburne are utilized by the shijss which visit that region every year, but are not otherwise systematically worked. Large deposits of copper and of cinnabar are known to exist, but they are far inland and not readily accessible. Fourth in importance among the resources of Alaska must be ranked timber. It is not at present, however, an actual source of wealth, since its exportation is pro- hibited by the United States Government and even the utilization of the forests for local use for lumber and fuel is much restricted. The whaling industry is conducted by New Bedford and San Francisco firms, chiefly north of Behring Strait, but cannot properly be included among the re- sources of Alaska. During the season of 1890 the pro- duct of this industry amounted to 14,567 barrels of oil, 226,402 pounds of whalebone, and 3,980 pounds of walrus ivory, besides considerable quantities of beavor, bear and white fox furs. " In this survey of the wealth and resources of Alaska the observer is struck," says Mr. Petroff, in tlio census report, " with one rather discouraging feature : that all these vast resources, the products of land and sea, are taken out of the country without leaving any equiva- lent to the inhabitants. The chief industries, such as salmon canneries, cod fisheries, mines, and the ivfl W' I far-; to only ■ts of the Only ma tuated on aska pen- •e utilized ir, but are deposits but they of Alaska however, n is pro- even tho fliber and Bedford ^ Behrinff g the re- ) the pro- els of oil, 3unds of f beavcii', >f Alaska G census that &11 sea, are equiva- such as the fu" TBE fEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. 40") trade, are carried on with labor hnported into Alaska and taken away again, thus taking out of the country the wages earned. Every pound of subsistence for these laborers, as well as all of the clothing they use, is car- ried by them into Alaska. The shipping of Abiska, which has become of considerable value, is also carried on wholly by non-residents of the Territory, and this state of affairs extends even to the important tourists* travel to the southeastern district of Alaska. Not only the passage-money, but the whole cost of subsistence of these tourists during- their stay in Alaska goes to tlie California owners of the steamship lines. To give an idea of the magnitude of this traffic it is only necessary to state that the number of tourists* tickets sold ert(;h season exceeds 5,000, each ticket representing an ex- penditure of not less than $100, making a total of $500,000. "The insignificant payments for furs and labor to natives are absorbed entirely in the purchase of small quantities of food and raiment. The spectacle of so vast a tract of country being thus drained continually for twenty-three years without receiving anything to speak of in return, cannot probably be equalled in any other part of the United States and perhaps of the world. At the same time the only prospect for a change in these circumstances by immigration and settlement of people who could supply the demand for labor and develoj) the industries as residents of the counlry would appear to be still in the far-distant future." The fur-gathering industry still holds the foremost rank in Alaska, and the most important of its products P'i ,-t • 406 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER are the pelts of the sea-otter and the fur-seal, ^t u among the Aleutian Islands that these animals are chiefly taken. The otter is widely distributed through- out the archipelago. But the fur-seal is take ^ almost ex- clusively upon the Pribyloff or Fur-seal Islands, where they resort m incredible numbers. The taking of these interesting animals is controlled by the Alaska Com- mercial Company, which has enjoyed a monopoly of the lucrative trade since Alaska came into the possession of this country. The actual work of killing the animals and removing the skins is done by the native Aleutians, in the Company's employ, and the operation, albeit san- guinary, is highly picturesque. In former times, says Mr. Ivaii Petroff, the Aleutian hunters prepared themselves for sea-otter expeditions by fasting, bathing and other ceremonies. The sea- otter was believed to be possessed of a very strong aver- sion to the female sex, and consequently the hunter Avas obliged to separat . himself from liis wife for some time prior to his departure, and also to prepare the garments he was to wear, or at least to wash with his own hands such of his garments as had been made by women. On his return from a successful hunt the sui^erstitious Aleut of former times would destroy the garments used during his expedition, and before entering his hut dress himself anew from head to foot in clothing prepared by his faithful spouse during his absence. The hunting gar- ments were then thrown into the sea. One old man stated, in explanation of this proceeding, that the set- otters would find the clothing and come to the conclusion that their late persecutor must be drowned, and that there was no further danger. With the spread of the •\ :•■ ' \>'l THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. 40^ al. xt la mals are through- most ex- Is, where of these ca Com- opoly of )ossession 3 animals Ueutians, Ibeit san- Aleutian :peditions The sea- ong aver- Linter Avas ome time garments vn hands nen. On 3US Aleut 3d during s himself * 1 by his ting gar- old man the sec- )nclusion and that id of the Christian religion among the sea-otter hunters most of these superstitious ceremonies were abolished, but even at the present day the sea-otter hunter occu[)ies a prom- inent position in the community and enjoys great social advantages. Anything he may want which is not in the possession of his own family will be at once supplied by his neighbors, and weeks, and even months, are spent in careful preparation of arms, canoes and imple- ments. The mode of hunting the animal has not essentially changed since the earliest times. A few privileged white men located in the district of Ounga employ fire- arms, but the great body of Aleutian hunters still retain the spear and in a few instances the bow and arrow. The sea-otter is always hunted by parties of from four to twenty bidarkas, each manned by two hunters. From their village the hunters proceed to some lonely coast near the hunting-ground, either in their canoes or by schooners and sloops belonging to the trading firms, a few women generally accompanying the party to do the housework in the camp. In Ibrmer times, of course, this was not the case. The tents of the partj are pitched in some spot, not visible from the sea, and the hunters patiently settle down tt* await the first favorable day, only a smooth sea permitting the hunting of sea- otter with any prospect of success. In the inhospitable climate of Alaska -"^eeks and months sometimes pass by before the patient huntero are enabled to try their skill. A weatherwise individual, here ycleiit *' astronome," generally accompanies each party, givnig due notice of the approach of favorable weather and the exact time Arhen it is best to set out, and few Aleuts are bold ii:n \\ !i 1 1) i|T ii * ■•i 1 1; 1 1 |, 408 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVESL enough to begin a hunt without the sanction of this in- dividual. At last the day arrives, and after a brief prayer the hunters embark fully equipped, and in the best of spirits exchange jokes and banter until the beach is left behind ; then ^ilence reigns, the peredovchik or leader assumes command, and at a signal from him the bldarkas start out in a semicircle from fifty to one hun- dred yards distant from each other, each hunter anx- iously scanning the surface of the water, at the same time having an eye upon the other canoes. The sea- otter comes up to the surface to breathe about once in every ten minutes, the smooth, glossy head remaining visible but a few seconds each time. As soon as the hunter spieb an otter he lifts his pad- dle as a signal and then points it in the direction taken by the animal, and the scattered bidarkas at once close •n a wide circle around the spot indicated by the fortu- nate discoverer. If the animal comes up within this circle the hunters simply close in, gradually beating the water with their hands to prevent the escape of the quarry ; but very often the wary animal has changed his direction after diving, and the whole fleet of canoes is obliged to change course frequently before the final circle is formed. As soon as the otter comes up within spear's throw one of the hunters exerts his skill and lodges a spear-head in the animal, which immediately dives. An inflated bladder is attached to the shaft, preventing the otter from diving very deep. It soon comes up again, only to receive a number cl other mis- siles, the intervals between attacks becoming shorter each time, until exhaustion forces the otter to remain oa the sur&ce and receive its death wound. The body THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INDUSTRIES. 409 of the animal Is then taken into one of the bidurkus and the hunt continues if the weather is favorable. On the retui-u of the party each animal killed ia inspected by the chief in the presence of all the hunters and its ownership ascertained by the spear-head that caused the mortal w" nd, each weapon being duly marked. The man who first struck the otter receives from two to ten dollars from the owner. The skins of the slain animals are at once removed, labelled and classified according to quality by the agents of the trading firms and care- fully stored for shipment. It frequently happens that a whole day passes by without a single sea-otter being sighted, but the Aleut hunters have a wonderful patience and do not leave a place once selected without killing some sea-otters, be the delay ever so long. There are instances where hunting parties have remained on barren islands for years, subsisting entirely on " algaj " and mussels cast from the sea. On the })rincipal sea- otter grounds of the present time, the Island of Sannakh and the neighborhood of Belkovyky, the hunting par- ties seldom remain over four or fiv^ months without se- curing sea-otters in sufficient number to warrant their return. Single hunters have sold sea-otters to the value of eight hundred dollars as their share of such brief ex- peditions, but payment is not made until the return of tlie party to their home station. As soon as the result of a day's hunt has been ascer- tained, the chief or leader reminds the hunters of their' duty toward the Omrch, and with their unanimous con- sent some skin, generally of a small animal, is selected as a donation to the prie-^t, all contributing to reimburse the owner. The schools also receive donations of this 1 I p ■ ' ' ' i . • ■ ■• a ' II 410 ALONG ALASKA'S 0REA1 RIVER. kind, and the skins thus designated are labelled accord- ingly and turned over to the trading lirnis, who place the ca^h value at the disposal of the priest, liivalry in the business of purchasing sea-otter skins has in- duced the various firms ic send agents with small assort- ments of goods to all the hunting-grounds, as an in- ducement to the members of parties to squander some of their earnings in advance. The method of killing the sea-otter is virtually the same in all sections frequented by it. The killing of fur-seals is accomplished entirely on land, and has been reduced almost to a science of the greatest dispatch and system. The able-bodied Aleuts now settled upon the two islands of Saint Paul and Saint George are, by the terms of the agreement be- tween themselves and the lessees, the only individuals permitted to kill and skin the seals for the annual ship- ment as long as they are able to perform the labor efficiently within a given time. For this labor they are remunerated at the rate of fortj' cents per animal. Life-long practice has made them expert in using their huge clubs and sharp skinning-knives, both imple- ments being manufactured expressly for this use. These men are as a class proud of their accomplish- ments as sealers, and too nroud to bemean themselves in doing any other kind of work. For all incidental labor, such as building, packing, loading and unloading ;ressels, etc., the lessees find it necessary to engage laborers from the Aleutian Islands, these latter indi- viduals being generally paid at the rate of one dollar per diem. The work connected with the killing of the annual 1 accord- vlio pliice Rivalry s lias in- all assort- as an ill- ider some tually the itirely ou ce of the ed Aleuts Paul and sment be- idividuals riual ship- the labor ir they are r animal. sing their h imple- this use. complish- liemselves incidental inloading engage tter indi- •ne dollar le annual THE PEOPLE AND THEIR hVDUSTHIES. 41 1 quota of fur-seals may be divided into two distinct features, the separation of the seals of a certain ai-e and Bize from the main body and their removal to the kill- ing-ground forming the preliminary movements; the final operation consisting of another selection among the select, and killing and skinning the same. The driving as well as the killing cannot be done in every kind of weather, a damp, cool, cloudy day being espe- cially desirable for the purpose. As it is the habit of the young male seals up to the age of four years to lie upon the ground back of the so- called rookeries or groups of families that line the sea- shore, the experienced natives manage to crawl m be- tween the families aud the " bachelors," as they were named by the Russians, and gradually drive them inland in divisions of from 2,000 to 3,000. It is unsafe to drive the seals more than Sve or six miles during any one day, as they easily become overheated and their Bkins are thereby injured. When night comes on the driving ceases, and sentries are posted around each division, to prevent the animals from straying during the night, occasional whistling b'' n; sufficient to keep them together. In the morm.i^j if the weather be favorable, the drive is continued until the killing-ground is reached, where the victims are allowed to re«t over night under guard, and finally, as early as possible in the morning, the sealers appear with their clubs, when again small parties of tw^enty to thirty seals are separated from their fellows, surrounded by the sealers, and the slaughter begins. Even at this last moment anotlicr selection is made, and any animal appearing to the eye of the experienced Aleut to be either below or above the mm 412 ALONG ALASKA'm GREAT RIVER. I! ,!'l : • Bpccified age is dismissed with a gentle tap of the club, and allowed to go on its way to the shore, rejoicing at its uiurow escape. The men with clubs proceed from one ground to the other, immediately followed by the men with knives, who stab each stunned seal to the heart to insure its immediate death. These men are in turn followed by the skinners, who with astonishing ra})idity divest the carcasses of their vUiable cover- ing, leaving, however, the head and ners intact. Only a few paces behind the skinners c - ^arts drawn by mules, into which the skins are rapidly thrown and carried away. The wives and daughters of the sealers linger around the rear of the death-dealing column, reaping a rich harvest of blubber which they carry away on their heads, the luscious oil dripping down their faces and over their garments. The skins, yet warm from the body, are discharged into caj'tacious salt-houses and salted down for the time being like fish in bins. This treatment is continued for Bome time, and after the application of heavy prer-jsure they are finally tied into bundles of two each, securely strapped, and then shipped. xw" t ' ' n,^ »c» 8 TO ' T ini I 1 1 8* Th Fol Fii ,, 6i;| 8k 7 •A MAW* 'Hgin^ ixt/sM aBwn Muew ' .twji,...--" <5( / ALASKA Total area, 570,390 sq. m. I'W 31.795 White ....4,30!' Mixed ... < 319 :='"-.:i... 23,274 McngoUan 2,287 All others.. 112 Indians: Eskimo 12,784 Thllnket..4.l!S Athabaskan 3,441 Aieut 968 Tslnipsean .9ai Hyda 391 DISTtiCTt. Po. FiBsT, or South-" eastern . .8088 Second, or Kadlak..6112 Third, cr lTnalaska.2361 FouBTH, or Ku8ha^k.2;?< Fifth, or Kus- kokwim .5424 Sixth, or Yukon... 3912 Skvknth, or Arctl''...3222 •NIIF CITIES. Fop.— Tbouiudi. 1 .Tuncau G9 1 Sitka C8 1 Karluk C5 Pop. -Banireii. 5 Kodlak 05 4 AfoKnak...C5 4 DouKla«....C9 3 ()uuala8ka.D2 3 Ft.WrangelC 9 3 Klawock...C9 3 .VuRhaKak..C4 2 Mitchell ...A 8 2 Lurtnir C9 2 Anvik B 8 2 Belkoffskl .D8 2 Unalaki:k..U8 2 Uiiea. C8 2 ChlTkat ....C8 1 Ikogmut Mission.. B 4 1 KoK(flunK..C4 1 Nulato B4 1 Pa«to!lk....B3 1 Kaguyn'.c...C5 1 Jackson ...D9 1 Ft. St. Mich- aels.. B 3 1 KllIl8noo...(;9 1 Morzhovol.I)3 1 Iiniglk <;4 Alaganlk...H6 Kutllk H3 Ft. Andreaf- akl..B8 Weare B5 Circle City ..B7 Dawson B 7 Klondike River. .B 8 Klondike District.. B 8 Dye« C8 ^a ii' r; iiyp^' •Ml ■■MajiiijMwi j i ,i iii . 'O '"■>, ^ 1 OVf "atf 3 V\ I. .'^'^ 'N • AXSAIA / .STaiRTaia ,r1'^ [,; ^ I : ■V'i .'■ v ■ -45: -^ ^ iftl I .eU'jtK'tiT .?o? I .) l.a.l.Jil. [ i I I GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. AX3A.1A 11 it; «Bi!j« (M *! I 10! « -mm um e,>. aX)t» r >oas According to the terras of the treaty between the United States and Russia, the boundaries of Alaska are as follows : " Corjmencing ^om the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54° 40' north latitude, and between the 131° and 133° west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north ulcjng the channel called Portland Chu lel, as far as the point of the con- tinent where it striken "tG" north hititude ; from this la-t mentioned point, the line of -.-■ 414 ALONG ALASKA S OREAT RIVER. 'i;^:*; 'I, from the ocean, the limit between the British possesssion and the line of coast which is to belong to Russia as above mentiomd (that is to say, the limit to the posses- sions ceded by this convention^, shall be formed by a line parallel to tne winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom." The boundry, in 1825, when this description was made, was a theoretical one based on, the charts placed beibre the negotiators, which they doubtless assumed to be a substantially correct expression of geographical facts. The country through which the line passes was then substantially unexplored. Much survey work has been done in recent years, with the object of determining more accurately the boundary between Alaska and the British possessions in North America ; but the task is not yet complete. The general outlines of the country, however, are familiar to all, and recent maps indicate its boundaries on all sides with substantial accuracy. The whole territory may be roughly divided into six parts, as follows : 1. The Arctic division, containing 125,245 square miles, and comprising all that portion of the North American continent between the one hundred and forty- first meridian in the east and Cape Prince of Wales, or Behring Strait, in the west, the Arctic Ocean ir. the north, and having for its soul iiern boundary a line indicating the watershed betwocii the Yukon River system and the streams emptying into the Arctic and impinging upon the coast of Bt-liring Sea just north of Port Clarence. 2. The Yukon division, containing 176,715 square OEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 415 miles, and comprising the valley of tlie Yukon River as far as it lies within our boundaries and its tributaries from the north and south. Tiiis division is bounded by the Arctic division in the north, the one hundred forty- first meridian in the east, and Behring Sea in the west. The southern boundary lies along a line indicating the watershed between the Yukon and the Kuskokvim, Sushetno, and Copper Rivers, and runs from the above- mentioned meridian in the east to the coast of Behring Sea, in the vicinity of Hazen Bay, in the west. The island of St. Lawrence, in Behring Sea, is included in this division. 3. The Kuskokvim division, containing 114,975 square miles, bounded on the north by the Yukon divi- sion, and comprising the valleys of the Kuskokvim, the Togiak, and the Nushegak Rivers, and the iatei'vening system of lakes. The eastern boundary of this division is a line running along the main Alaskan range of mountains from the divide between the Kuskokvim and Tennanah Rivers down to the low, narrow isthmus di- viding Moller Bay from Zakharof Bay, on the Alaska peninsula. Behring Sea washes the whole west and south coasts of this division, which also includes Nuni- vak Island. 4. The Aleutian division, containing 14,(510 square miles, and comprising the Alaska peninsida westward of the isthmus between Moller and Zakharof Bays and the whole chain of islands from the Shumagin gioup in the east to Attoo in the west, including also the I'ribylof or fur-seal islands. 5. The Kadiak division, containing 70,884 square miles, and comprising the south coast of the A lidska Ijj ! 416 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. m I!' ! 1 !;■ lilt II V •l;; life 11: peninsula down to Zakharof Bay, with the adjacent islands, the Kadiak group of islands, the islands and coasts of Cook's Inlet, the Kenai peninsula, and Prince William Sound, with the rivers running into them. The main Alaskan range bounds this division in the north and west. Its eastern limit is the one hundred and forty-first meridian, which intersects the coast-line in the vicinity of Mount St. Elias, while the south shores of the division are washed by that section of the North Pacific named the Gulf of Alaska. 6. The southeastern division, containing 28,980 square miles, and comprising the coast from Mount St. Elias in the north to Portland Canal, in latitude 54° 40', in the south, together with the islands of the Alex- ander Archipelago between Cross Sound and Cape Fox. The eastern boundary of this division is the rather in- definite line established by the Anglo-Russian and Russian- American treaties of 1824 and 1825 respectively, following the summits of a chain of moun^ tains supposed to run parallel with the coast at a dis- tance not greater than three marine leagues from the sea between the head of Portland Canal and Mount St. Elias. The Arctic division is situated almost entirely above the Arctic circle and is known to explorers only from observations made along the seacoast. The interior consists doubtless of frozen plains and low raiiges of hills, intersected by a few shallow and sluggish streams. The only rivers known to emerge from this part of Alaska are the Colville, the Kok, the Inland or Noatak, the Kooak, the Selawik and the Buckland. There are many Tillages scattered along the coast and others are GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 417 reported to exist further up on all these rivers. The coast settlements are visited every j ear by many vessels engaged in whaling, hunting and trading. Their in- habitants possess great commercial genius and energy, and carry on an extensive traffic with the natives of the A-sian coast, their common trading-ground being at Behring Strait. The only mineral of any value tliat is found on this coast is coal, of which there are several good veins at Cape Lisburne. The chief attraction for the navigators who visit the coast are furs, oil and walrus ivory. Tlie whahng industry is already beginning to decline here as it has done in every other region of tho world. Many seals are found here and polar bears are numftr- ous. A few reindeer are found on the coast and moose and mountain sheep are said to be ni, nierous in the in- terior. Muskrats and squirrels abound evcrywliore and their skins are offers; J for sale in large quantities. Foxes also are plentiful, especially the wliite variety, and their skins are much sought for by the American and European markets. Aquati" ^nrds of all kinds are found in countless hosts. The only fish of value is the Salmon. About thirty villages are known in this region, their total population being a little over 3,000. The Yukon division is the largest and in many re- Bpcets most important o" all. As this volume is so largely devoted to a dcH.'i Iption of the great river and the country it traverses little need be said regarding it here. Numerous trading posts have been established and the waters of the river are jilied by steamboats. Ko mineral deposits in large paying quantities have yet ^mmmmm i 'I 418 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEB. t,5 < 3 I lf.-r been discovered, but it is believed that important gold mines will yet be found. The river abounds in fish and the forests which border it in game. High as the lati- tude is tlie summers are very warm and the vegetable growths of the country are luxuriant. The coast line of this division is particularly dreary. It is inhabited by a hardy race of seal and walrus hunters, who occupy numerous small villages. At Port Clarence, just south of Cape Priuce of Wales, three or four villages are clustered around a fine harbor. King's Island or Ouki- vok is a small, high island, surrounded by almost per- pendicular cliffs of basalt. On it is a village composed of about forty houses, which are simple excavations in the side of the cliffs. The inhabitants live almost en- tirely by walrus and seal hunting. On the shores of Golovin Sound small dej)osits of lead and silver have been found. The most important point on the coast is St. Michael, where there are several trading agencies. The Island of St. Lawrence belongs properly to this di- vision. It had originally a population of about 1,000, but famine and disease have diminished it to one-half that number. The people are Asiatic Esquimaux. There are in all this division of Alaska about seventy-five known settlements, with a total population of nearly 7,000; of whom perhaps about twenty-five are white, 2,500 Athabaskan and the rest Esquimaux. The Kuskokvim division is, on the whole, poor in such natural products as white men desire, and it has therefore been little visited It contains a few mineral deposits, however, including cinnabar, antimony and silver. Game and fur bearing animals are not as numer- ous as in other parts of Alaska, but there are many .1 GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 419 seals in the sea and river, and minks and foxes are quite numerous. Man)' salmon are also found in the river and they form a leading article of food for the natives. There are nearly a hundred villages in this division with about 9,000 inhabitants, nearly all of them being Esquimaux. The Aleutian division comprises the western part of the Alaska peninsula and the long range of islands ex- tending toward the Asiatic coast. These islands appear to be merely a continuation of the Alaskan range of mountains. Many of them contain volcanic peaks, some of which are still active, and all the islands are moun- tainous. The soil is altogether treeless save for some dwarf willows, but there is a luxuriant growth of grass. On this account it was once thought that cattle could be successfully raised here, but the long and stormy winters made the experiment a failure. The people of these islands are doubtless of Esquimau origin, al- though distinct in language and in habits from the remainder of that race. Their twenty-five or thirty villages are inhabited by about 2,500 people, perhaps 100 of the number being white. Their principal in- dustry consists in fishing and taking seals, sea-otters and other marine animals. The Kadiak division comprises the southern side of the Alaska peninsula, numerous adjacent islands and the coast of the mainland eastward to Mount St. Elias. Its inhabitants are of Esquimau stock and resemble greatly those of the Kuskokvim division. The coast is frequented by great numbers of walrus, which animal provides the inhabitants with food, material for their oanoes and ivory, which is used for money and as an ' i| Si ' 1*1 ll ifl ' I. r IMii r ■ ' '• and the land in huge bears, moose, mountain sheep, wolves and numerous smaller animals, while £;t;ese and ducks and other wild birds are found by the million. Timber exists here in great abundance, especially in the valley of the Cojiper River. There are about fifty vil- lages in the Kadiak division with a population of 4,500. The Southeastern division consists of the narrow strip of coast-land from Mount St. Elias southward to Portland Canal. It is densely wooded and exceedingly mountainous. The coast is deeply indented with bays and sheltered by islands. The principal trees are spruce and yellow cedar. On many of the islands oi the Alexander Archipelago coal has been discovered. , 1 \ . » ' s . I ) GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 421 Copper and gold have also been found. The fur trade is not now nearly as valuable as in forn>er years, al- though it is still large and proiituble. The waters swarm with salmon, halibut, herring and other fish. The climate is not nearly as cold as might be cx])ected in this latitude, but the rainfall is very heavy, an average of 250 days in the year being stormy. The fifty or more villages contain a total i)opulation of nearly 8,000, including about 300 whites. We know, says Dr. Grewgink, the eminent Russian Bcientist, of no more extensive theatre of volcanic ac- tivity than the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska ])eninsula, and the west coast of Cook's Inlet, Here we have con- fined within the limits of a single crntury all the known phenomena of this kind : the elevation of mountain chains and islands, the sinking of extensive tracts of the earth's surface, earthquakes, eruptions of lava, ashes and mud, the hot springs and exhalations of steam and sulphuric gas':':^. Not only does the geological forma- tion of most of the islands and a portion of the conti- nent point to volcanic origin or elevation, but we have definite information of volcanic activity on twenty-live of the Aleutian Islands. On these islands forty-eight craters have been enumerated by Veniaminof and other conscientious observers, and in addition to these we have on the Alaska peninsula four volcanoes, two on Cook's Inlet, one on Prince William Sound, one on Copper River, and one in the vicinity of Sitka (Mount Edge- combe) ; three other peaks situated between Edgecombe and the Copper River have not been definitely ascer- tained to be volcanic. The distance from the Wrange'il volcano, in the vicinity of Copper River, to the Sitkan M ! 1 f i 1! ' li! li 1 I ,i I.' -r ! ■ ' ! 1 . 1 \ : 1 l'\, ;.i/i ' 4 1; ■ i 422 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVEIt Island ia 1,505 nautical miles. We have every reason to believe that the Near Islands (the westernmost of the Aleutian group) are also extinct craters ; and thus *re find one continuous chain of volcanoes from Wrangell to the Commander Islands (Behring and Copper), pointing to the existence of a subterranean channel of lava finding its outlet or breathing-hole through the craters of this region. The nearest volcanoes to the south of this line are Mount Baker on the American continent, in latitude 48° 48', and the craters of tlic Kurile chain of islands on the coast of Asia. That a subterranean connection exists between this long line of craters is indicated by the fact that whenever volcani/* activity grows slack in one section of the chain it in- creases in violence at some other point, an observatior which has been confirmed by all observers. From all information on the subject at our disposal it appears that the craters of Mount Fairweather, Cryllon, and Edgecombe, and Mount Calder (Prince of Wales Island), have not been active since the middle of the last century, and aa the universal law of volcanic ac- tivity seems to place the frequency of eruptions in an inverse ratio to the height of the volcanoes, we might reasonably expect that the season of rest for these craters will be a prolonged one ; but how terrible and devastating must be the awakening of the sleeping furnaces when it occurs. With regard to Mount St. Elias, we have many authentic data as to its volcanic nature. Belcher and Wrangell consider that the black ridges descending from the summits of the mountains, an'i the fact that the glaciers on Copper River exhihi* a covering of vegetation, us proof of the volcanic char- QEOQRAPHICAL FEATURES. 428 tcter of the mountain. The first phenomena may rest entirely upon an optic dehision, as it is not ut all certuia that the black strealcs consist of lava or aahes, while tiie appearance of vegetation on the surface of glaciers on Copper River is very probably clue to the fall of vol- canic ashes ; the latter phenomenon may be traced aa f .isily and with far more probability to the Wraugell volcano. One of the moat impressive physical features of the whole Territory is the stupendous glacier at Muir Inlet. This ice-field, says a recent writer, enters the sea with a front two or three hundred feet above the water and a mile wide. Fancy a wall of blue ice, splintered into columns, spires and huge crystal masses, with grottoes, crevices and recesses higher than Bunker Hill Monument and a mile In width I It is a spectacle that is strangely beautiful in its variety of form and depth of color, and at the same time awful in its grindeur. And not alone is the sight awe-inspiring. The ice- mountain is almost constantly breaking to pieces with Bounds that resemble the discharge of heavy guns or the reverberations of thunder. At times an almofit deafening report is heard, or a succession of them, like the belching of a whole park of artillery, when no out- ward effect is seen. It is the breaking apart of great masses of ice within the glacier. Then some huge berg topples over with a roar and gigantic splash that may be heard several miles, the waters being thrown aloft like smoke. A great pinnacle of ice Is seen bobbing about in wicked fashion, perchance turning a somersault in the flood before it settles down to battle for life with the sun and the elements on its seaward cruise. The ^fmmmmmmmmmm' : f ' ' ' -I inM 424 ALONG ALASKA'S GREAT RIVER. waves created by all this terrible commotion even rock the steamer and waali the shores miles awiiy. There is scarcely five minutes in the whole day . . night without gome exhibition of this kind. There are mountains each side of the glacier, '\e one upon the right, or south shore, being the highest. High up on the bare walls are seen the scoriated and polished surfaces produced by glacial action. The present glacier is retrograding quite rapidly, as may be seen by many evidences of its foi'mer extent^ as well as by the concurrent testimony of earlier visitors. On cither side is a moraine half a mile in width, furrowed and slashed by old glacial streams which have given place in turn to others higher up the defile aa the glacier recedes. Tliese moraines are compose J of earth and coarse gru\el, with oc- casional large boulders. On the north side the ma- terial is more of a clayey soit, at least in part, and the stumps of an ancient forest have been uncoveied by the action of a glacial river, or overwhelmed by the icy flood. Some scientistt: claim these forests are in reality pre-glacial, and many thousands of years old. The in- terior of the 2;reat moraines is yet frozen, and at the head of one of the little ravii^es formed by former glacial river discharges, a little strfcam still trickles forth from a diminutive ice cavern. Notwithstanding the contiguity of the ice itselx*, and the generally frigid surroundings, blue-bells and other flowers bloom on the moraine. In the centre of the glacier, some two miles from its snout, is a rocky island, the top of some ancient jieak the great mill of ice has not yet ground down. It is interesting to see how the massive stream of ice Eifi GEOORAPHICAL FEATURES. 425 conforma itself to its shores, separating above the obstacle a'ld reuuiting below. On approaching or departing from Muir Inlet, the voyager may look back upon this literal sea of ice and follow its streams up to tlie snow- fields of the White Mountains, which form the back- bone of the peninsula between Glacier Bay and Lynn Canal. The following facts relating to the Muir glacier, its measurement and movement, are derived wholly from Professor Wright's notes, llouglily speaking, the Muir glacier may be said to occupy an amnhitheatre which haa the dimensions of about twenty-live miles from north to south, and thirty miles from east to west. The opening of this amphitheatre at Muir Inlet is toward the south southeast. It is two miles across from the shoulder of one mountain to the otlier at the outlet. Into the amphi- theatre pour nine glaciers, and the sub-branches that are visible make the affluents moro than twentv in number. Four of the main branches' come in from the east, but these have already spent their force on reaching the focus of the amphitheatre. The first tributary from the southwest also practically loses its force before reaching the main cui'rent. The main flow is from two branches coming from the northwest and two from the north. The motion is here much more rapid. Observations made upon three ])ortIons of the main glacier, re- spectively 300, 1,000 and 1,500 yards from the front, showed the movement to be 135 feet at the first point, 65 at the second and 75 at the third, per day. The summit of the lower point was a little over 300 feet above the water, the second 400 feet and the third con- siderably more, probably 500 feet. The motion rapidly decreased on approaching the medial moraines brought \n r 126 ALONG ALASKA'S GH EAT RITKR. down by the branches from tht eu*it. ^Vlong u line moving parallel witli that of the greatest motion, and half a dozen miles east from it, the rate ob- served at two points was about 10 feet per day. Thus we get an average daily motion in the main channel of the ice flow, near its mouth, of about 40 feet across a section of one mile. The height of the ice above the water in front, at the extreme point, was found to be 226 feet. Back a few hundred feet the height is a little over 300 feet, and at a quarter of a mile 400 feet A quarter of a mile out in front of the glacier the water is 85 fiithoras, or 510 feet deep. Tims Professor Wright estimates that a body of ice 735 feet deep, 5,000 feet wide and 1,200 feet long passed out into the bay in the thirty days he was there, tliis movement and discharge taking place at the raie of 149,000,000 cubic feet per day. He says that after the fall of a large mass of ice from the glacier into the bay, the beach near hia camp two and one-half miles distant from the glaciers, would be wrapped in foam by the waves. One of many large masses he saw floating about projected some GO feet out of water, and was some 400 feet S(piare. Esti- mating the general height of the berg above the water to be 30 feet, and its total depth 250 feet, the contenta of the masA would be 40,000,000 cubic feet u Hue motion, ate ob- er day. he main f about it of the e point, [feet the rter of a it of the f). Tims 735 feet . out into lOvement 1,000,000 if a large ach near ! glaciers, of many some 60 e. E&ti- Lhe water ! contents -■ -'W-l«i!i_!PP_lw rdHBHBHBIHiMiHj