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 "YO^
 
 Gold Hunting in Alaska 
 
 AS TOLD BY 
 
 JOSEPH GRINNELL 
 Edited by Elizabeth Grinnell 
 
 Author of "How John and 1 Brought Up the Child," "John and I and the Church," "Our Feathered 
 Friends," "For the Sake of a Name," etc. 
 
 DcMcatcD to DlsappotntcO 0OlO=buntcrs tbe worlO over 
 
 David C.Cook Publishing Company 
 
 ELGIN. ILL.. AND 
 36 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO
 
 ALASKA. 
 
 The New World brings her daughter out 
 
 With fuss and bluster now; 
 Adorers seek her snow-white hand, 
 
 And at her beauty bow. 
 Each strives her favor first to gain, 
 And rudely steps upon her train. 
 
 They court her while they call her " cold " 
 
 And "distant" to her face; 
 The heiress smiles, while quick breaths lift 
 
 Her frills of ancient lace — 
 The eyes of all her suitors rest 
 On glint of gold upon her breast. — E. G. 
 
 Copyright, 1901, 
 By David C. Cook Publishing Company,
 
 
 t 
 
 Gold Hunting in Alaska. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The following story was oricrinally written 
 in pencil on any sort of paper at liand. and 
 intended merely for " tlie follcs at home." 
 It is only by a prior claim to the manuscript 
 that the young jjold-hunter's mother lias ob- 
 tain(>d his consent to publish it. The diary 
 has bet'n chanjj:ed but little, nor has much 
 been added to make it as it stands. The nar- 
 rative is true from bej^inninii to end, includ- 
 ing the proper names of persons and vessels 
 ;in(l mining companies. It is offered to the 
 David C. Cook Publishing Company with no 
 further apologies for its sometimes boyish 
 style of construction. It will give the reader. 
 
 be he man or boy. a hint as to how a young 
 fellow may spend his time in the long Arctic 
 winter, or in the whole year, even though he 
 be a disappointed gold-hunter. It may af- 
 ford suggestion to mining companies contin- 
 ually going to Alaska as to their responsi- 
 bility to each other and to the natives of the 
 "frozen North." It may give "the folks 
 at home " some intimation as to possible 
 " good times " under trying circumstances. 
 Blue fingers may not necessarily denote a 
 blue heart. 
 
 ELIZABETH GRINNELL. 
 Pasadeua, Cal., Jan. 15, 1901. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "X . /^E ARE a company of twenty men 
 yy bound for Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. 
 It is needless to say we are gold-hunt- 
 ors. In this year of our Lord 1898, men are 
 flying northward like geese in the spring- 
 time. That not more than one of us has 
 ever set eyes on a real, live nugget passes 
 for nothing; we shall naturally recognize 
 '• the yellow " when we see it. It is our inten- 
 tion to ransack Mother Nature's store- 
 houses, provided we can unlock or pry open 
 the doors without losing our lingers by 
 freezing. 
 
 Why we have selected Kotzebue Sound as 
 the field of our maneuvers it would be ditB- 
 cult to give a rational reason. It may be 
 nothing more nor less than the universal rush 
 to the gold tields of Alaska, which rush, be- 
 ing infectious, attacks all grades and con- 
 ditions of men. That all grades and con- 
 ditions are represented in our company will 
 be demonstrated later on, I believe. 
 
 The instigator of the Long Beach and 
 Alaska Mining and Trading Company is an 
 inidertaker by trade, a sometime preacher 
 by profession and practice when not other- 
 wise engaged. His character is not at all 
 in keeping with his trade; he is a rollicking 
 fellow and given to much mirth. 
 
 We have also a doctor, as protection 
 against contingencies. His name is Cottin. 
 He and the undertaker have been bosom 
 
 friends for years. The combined influences 
 of these are suflicient to insure proper ter- 
 mination to our trip, if not a propitious jour- 
 ney. The eldest of our company is rising 
 fifty, the youngest twenty-one. The ohlest 
 has lived long enough to be convinced that 
 gold is the key that unlocks all earthly 
 treasures; his sole object is the key hidden 
 somewhere in the pockets of the great 
 Arctic. The youngest cares little for the 
 gold, being more concerned about certain 
 rare birds which may cross his devious path. 
 The most of us have never met before, but 
 are now an incorporated mining company, 
 like hundreds of ship's crews this year. 
 Each intends to do his shai'e of work and to 
 claim his portion of the profits, if profits 
 come. 
 
 We have a two years' outfit of every com- 
 fort possible to store away on a little 
 schooner seventy-two by eighteen feet. Her 
 name is " Penelope;" you can read it in 
 plain type half a mile away. She was built 
 for .Tapan waters and has never set keel in 
 Arctic seas. There are numerous prophecies 
 concerning her: " She will never reach her 
 destination;" " Impossible that she is built 
 for a stormy coast;" " You may as well 
 make your wills before you embark." And 
 many other cheering benedictions are tossed 
 to the deck by friends on shore who watch 
 us loading the freight into her hold. 
 
 We make no retort. Of what would be the 
 use'? Our hearts, our hopes, ourselves, are 
 
 500624 
 
 L3RARY
 
 GOLD HVNTI2sG IX ALASKA. 
 
 on board of her for better or for worse. We 
 wave our handkercbiefs in a last " good-by." 
 They are the only white handkerchiefs in 
 our possession, brought and shaken out to 
 the winds for this very purpose. From 
 henceforth the bandana reigns on occasions 
 when any is required. Uld Glory floats 
 above us; the " Penelope " is bright with 
 new paint and trimmings and masts; she is 
 towed out of San Pedro Harbor, and heads 
 for San Francisco for more supplies. 
 
 Out of San Pedro Harbor! The very same 
 of which R. H. Dana wrote in 1840 as a 
 " most desolate looking place," frequented 
 
 'Penelope" at Anchor in San Pedro Harbor. 
 
 by coyotes and Indians, but "altogether the 
 best harbor on all the coast." 
 
 We have a copy of his " Two Years Before 
 the Mast " on l)oard, and shall be compli- 
 mented by what he says about the English- 
 men and Americans whom he met. " If the 
 California fever (laziness) spares the first 
 generation, it always attacks the second." 
 Did Dana mean the crew of the " I'ene- 
 lope"V We shall see. 
 
 Having made a dutiful promise to my 
 mother to "keep a faithful diary" of our 
 cruise, which, in event of disaster, shall be 
 duly corked in a large boitle and sent adrift, 
 I now enter my tirst date since April 8, 
 18!t8, the day on wliich we set sail from 
 San Pedro. California. 
 
 North Pacific Ocean, Tune T).— We are sev- 
 enteen days out from S;»n Francisco, and 
 have made a little over twelve hundred 
 
 miles: that is, in a direct line on our course 
 to Unamak Pass through the Aleutian 
 Islands, for we have had many unfavorable 
 winds against which we were compelled to 
 tack. We have sailed two thousand miles, 
 counting full distance. We have experienced 
 two storms which, put together, as the cap- 
 tain says, makes " a good half a gale." 
 While the " Penelope " rides the highest bil- 
 lows like a duck, at times she pitches and 
 rolls in a terrific fashion. Her movements 
 are short and jerky, unlike those of a 
 steamer or larger vessel. When the wind 
 blows hard on her quarter, the rail is often 
 under water. This 
 makes locomotion ditfi- 
 cult. especially if the 
 waves are rolling high. 
 and everything i s 
 bouncing about on 
 deck. It is my duty to 
 carry "grub" from the 
 galley to the cabins, 
 and I can never handle 
 more than one thing at 
 a time, as 1 am obliged 
 to keep one hand free. 
 I wai- for my oppor- 
 tunity, else a heavy sea 
 starts at the same time 
 and we go down to- 
 gether, " grub " and all. 
 However, I have had 
 few accidents. Once I 
 landed a big platter of 
 mush upside down on 
 the deck, and at an- 
 other time a gust of wind took all the bis- 
 cuits overboard, while a big sea filled the 
 milk pitcher with salt water. This was not 
 so bad as Dana's experience with the 
 " scouse," which "precious stuff" came 
 down all over him at the bottom of the 
 hatchway. " Whatever your feelings may 
 be, you must make a joke of everything at 
 sea," he wrote just after he liad found 
 himself lying at full length on the slippery 
 deck with his tea-pot empty and sliding to 
 the far side. We are better off th.in the 
 crew of tlie " Pilgrim " in 1840, for there is 
 plenty more, if half the breakfast goes to 
 feed the fishes. 
 
 Down in the cabin there is the most fun. 
 The table is bordered by a deep rail, and 
 .several slats are fjistened crosswise over the 
 surface to Iiold the disJies. besides holes and 
 racks for cups; yet when tilings are inclined 
 at .•m angle of thirty-five degr(«es it is almost 
 impossible, without somebody's hand on
 
 GOLD HUNTJKG IN ALASKA. 
 
 each separate dish, to koop the inoal in sight. 
 Wo have some trouble in cooking at times. 
 but the stove has an iron frame with cross 
 j)ieces on top to keep tiie kettles from slid- 
 ing, which, in rough weather, can never be 
 filled more than lialf. We usuall.v get up 
 ver.v good meals; that is. for such of the 
 crew as have an api)etite. For breakfast, 
 rolled oats mush, baking - powder biscuit, 
 l)oile(l eggs or potatoes, and liam. For din- 
 ner, light bread or milk toast, beans or 
 canned corn, salt-horse, creamed potatoes, 
 and often soup with crackers. For supper, 
 canned fruit, muthns or corn bread, boiled 
 ham and baked potatoes. Of course tea or 
 coffee with each meal. The cook makes fine 
 yeast bread, ten loaves a day. There are 
 twenty-three men on board. Including the 
 liired sailors who are not of tlie company, 
 and even with five in the hospital we make 
 way with a good deal of food. 
 
 Our fare differs somewhat from that of 
 the crew of the " IMlgrim." whose regular 
 diet, Dana wi'ote, was " salt beef and bis- 
 cuit," with " an occasional potato." Kut it 
 must be remembered that we had several 
 articles, such as eggs and ham and fresh po- 
 tatoes, the first days of our cruise, which we 
 never saw later on when we were confined 
 to bacon and beans for staple supplies, with 
 dessicated vegetables and some canned 
 goods for extras. 
 
 We left San Francisco May 10, after tak- 
 ing on Itoard the parts of a river boat, to be 
 put together when needed, and much more 
 Arctic clothing than we can possibl.v use in 
 two or even four years. The Sea was ver>' 
 rough. Our captain had not been on board 
 ship for two years, and the result was that 
 he, with every one of the party except the 
 sailors, was very sea-sick. The doctor was 
 pretty well in a couple of days, but the un- 
 dertaker fared not so well. lie stayed on 
 deck and sang and jumped about and did his 
 best to keep jolly as long as nature could 
 hold out. Presently one could tell that he 
 was feeling rather uneasy about something, 
 when all of a sudden (piietness reigned and 
 only an ominous sound from over the rail 
 gave indication of what was passing. 
 
 We have some fine singing. "The " Pene- 
 loi)e Quartette " has been formed and prac- 
 ti<-es every evening, making voluminous 
 noise, but there is no fear of disturbing 
 adjoining meetings or concerts. The quar- 
 tette is composed of Reynolds (the under- 
 taker). Foote, Wilson and Miller. There are 
 other singers of less renown. We have a 
 " yell." which is frequently to be heard, es 
 
 pecially at getting-up time in the morning. 
 It is '• Penelope, Penelope, zip, boom, ahl 
 Going up to Kotzebuel rah I rahl rah I" 
 
 We are very much crowded and have 
 many discomforts, as anyone can imagine 
 we should liave in so close quarters; but we 
 are a congenial crowd. I was sea-sick for a 
 week, but am all right now and capal)le of 
 eating more than anyone else, a symptom 
 wliicli the doctor fears maj- continue, as I 
 make it a rule to eat up all there is left at 
 both tables. There are eleven men in the 
 after cabin and twelve in the forward cabin, 
 including the forecastle, and each set have 
 meals served in their respective cabins. 
 Having been chosen as "cook's assistant," I 
 have ample opportunities. 
 
 We have seen but few things of interest 
 outside tlie boat, and that makes us more 
 interesting to one another. We have sighted 
 no vessels for two weeks. I saw two fur 
 seals. They stuck their heads above the 
 water just behind us. eying us curiously for 
 a few minutes, and then vanished. We have 
 seen one shark, but no whales. Petrels, or 
 Mother Cary's Chickens, are almost always 
 to be seen fiitting over the waves. Black- 
 footed albatrosses, or " goonies." as the sail- 
 ors call them, are common, following the 
 boat and eating all kinds of scraps thrown 
 to them. We caught two with a fish-hook, 
 but let them go, as there is now no suitable 
 place to put the skins. One of the alba- 
 trosses measured seven feet three inches 
 from tip to tip of the outstretched wings. 
 We fastened upon his back a piece of can- 
 vas, giving the " Penelope," with the date 
 and longitude and latitude. I wonder if he 
 will ever be seen again, and. if seen, if this 
 will be the only news of us the world will 
 ever receivel 
 
 There are several " goonies " which seem 
 to follow us constantly. We have named 
 them Jim. Tom and Hannah. They know 
 when meal time arrives, and then come close 
 alongside within a few feet. 
 
 Tuesday. June 7.— The past two days have 
 been stormy, but we have made good time 
 and are only four hundred and sixty-seven 
 miles from T'namak Pass. We saw several 
 pieces of kelj) tliis morning, whicli gives evi- 
 dence of land not far off. This morning the 
 sun came out several times, and every one 
 is feeling quite jolly, whicli makes even the 
 sea-sick ones better. One of the most pop- 
 ular songs on deck these cloudy days has 
 been the familiar one. " Let a little sunshine 
 in." Everyone was singing it to-day, when
 
 GOLD HVN'IING IN ALASKA. 
 
 Cooks' Union. 
 
 Sailors' Union. 
 
 suddenly the 
 clouds broke as if 
 by impulse and the 
 warm suushiue 
 flooded the damp 
 decks. 
 
 The sun doesn't 
 set now till nearly 
 nine o'clock, and 
 the whole night 
 long it is scarcely 
 dark at all. 
 To-day Clyde took the pictures of the 
 party in groups, or " unions." There is the 
 " Sailors' Union " (six of the boys besides 
 the regular 
 sailors, who go 
 to the watch 
 along with 
 them and take 
 their tricks at 
 the wheel), 
 the "Dish- 
 washers' 
 U n 1 o n," the 
 "Doctors' 
 Union " (Dr. 
 Coffin, and 
 Jett. who is a druggist), the " Cooks' Union " 
 (Shafer and myself I, and the " Crips' Union " 
 (the cripples, or those who are sea-sick, and 
 do no work; they are Fancher, Wyse. Mc- 
 Collough. Wilson, Reynolds and Shaul). If 
 the winds are 'avorable we expect to rest in 
 Dutch Harbor for a few days, as we are no 
 doubt too early to get into Kotzebue. From 
 all accounts we cannot hope to reach the 
 Sound until .Inly 14. 
 
 This sort of experience is, so new to me. 
 I thouglit I knew something of life on a 
 schooner, during the trip to San Clemente 
 and San Nicholas last year, but this is more 
 and better. Nearly everyone save myself is 
 longing for land, and they watch our course 
 each day as it is traced on the chart witli 
 more interest than anything else. .lust now 
 1 am sitting alone on a bench in the little 
 galley, watching tlie potatoes and salt-horse 
 boiling. The sun has come out and every- 
 one is on deck, the "crips" lying against 
 the stern rail or along the side of the cal)in. 
 By orders of the doctor all the bedding is 
 airing on tlie deck and rails amidsliips. and 
 •some of the boys are taking advantage of 
 the fair weather to do tiicir wasliing. I did 
 my own yesterday, aliliongli it was raining. 
 and. as I have a " i)uil " wifii tlie cook, I 
 dried the clotlies in tlie galley at night. Of 
 course ail washing has to be done in salt 
 
 water and it is scarcely satisfactory, to say 
 the least. This necessary laundry work of 
 ours is destined to occupy a good deal of 
 our time and patience, and I suspect that 
 before our cruise is over we shall long for a 
 glimpse of a good, faithful washerwoman 
 with her suds, and her arms akimbo, and her 
 open smile. 
 
 June 12.— We are in Bering Sea and all's 
 well. It is partly clear,- but cold, with a 
 sharp wind. We went through Unamak 
 Pass in the night. The captain thought it 
 dangerous as well as delaying, to stop at 
 Dutch Harbor, so we gave it up with disap- 
 pointment. After beating for several hours, 
 we are now well on our way straight north- 
 ward to St. Lawrence Island. There is no 
 ice in sight, but we can smell it distinctly. 
 As we went through the Pass it was raining, 
 and we could see but indistinctly the pre- 
 cipitous shores. The Pass is uot usually 
 taken by sailing vessels, as it is quite nar- 
 row, but our captain brought us through all 
 right in spite of fog and storm. He has uot 
 slept for forty-eight hours. The shortest 
 time ever made by a sailing vessel from San 
 Francisco to Unamak Pass, 2,100 miles, was 
 eighteen days; and we made it with the 
 " Penelope " in twenty-three days. Hurrah 
 for the "Penelope"! 
 
 This morning we 
 passed within hailing 
 distance of the ship 
 " Sintram." of San 
 Francisco. She had 
 taken a cargo to St. 
 Michaels and was on 
 her way back. Her 
 cajitain promised to re- 
 port us, and he al.so 
 told us that the ice 
 was yet jiacked north 
 of St. Michaels and that several ships were 
 waiting. Clyde took a snap shot of the 
 " Sintram." 
 
 There are 
 plenty of 
 birds to be 
 seen now. If 
 I h a d faith 
 enough to 
 warrant m y 
 walking o n 
 the water I 
 would go 
 shooting. Our 
 small b o ii t s 
 are all lashed crips' Union. 
 
 Dishwashers' Union.
 
 GOLD HUN UNO IN ALASKA. 
 
 to the dock of the " Ponolopo, but the cai)- 
 tjiin says that in a Ii-w (hiys \vc can [tut a 
 skiff ovorhoard if it is t-alni. and then hoi 
 for uiurre pot-pii'! Everyone is hunjjry for 
 
 A Sunbath on Deck. 
 
 frosh meat. We try fishing with no hick. 
 iSaw a fur seal to-day. the first in two weeks. 
 
 June 19. Berinjr Sea. latitude 03 de?:rees, 
 lonjiitude 172 degrees. 38 minutes.— For the 
 past few days we made good time, one hun- 
 dred miles to the day, but on this date we 
 are becalmed. Clyde has gone out in the 
 boat to c.itch a snap shot of us. He need 
 not hurry, for never was mouse more still 
 than the "Penelope" at this moment. The 
 thi'rmometer registers 38 degrees on deck. 
 We have sighted no ice yet, and hope the 
 Bering Straits are open. 
 
 I am sitting in the galley, as my fingers get 
 too cold to write outside. We have just 
 cleared off supper, and the boys are pacing 
 the deck for exercise. Some of them are be- 
 low, wiiere an oil stove in each cabin takes 
 tlie chill and dan\i)ness from the air. It is 
 seldom that the galley is not crammed full, 
 but just now the coi>k and the others have 
 gone below for a g.ime of whist, so I em- 
 bi-ace the opportimity to write. My diary is 
 always written after I have finished my 
 daily bird notes, which I make as copious as 
 possil)le. I have some good records already. 
 We were l)ecalmed three days in sight of the 
 Prybiloff Islands, ami at t)ne time were so 
 close to St. Paul Island that we could hear 
 the barking of thousands of seals, and. by 
 the aid of a field glass, could see then) on 
 
 the beaches. A few were seen about the 
 " Penelope," and one came so near to the 
 boat that it was touciied with an oar. We 
 iinhished the smallest boat and rowed out 
 witli lier during the calmest days, so we had 
 some much-needed exercise. Prequeut fogs 
 kept us near the "Penelope's" side, as we 
 should easily become lost. We saw no duc-ks 
 or geese, but we had murres in plenty and 
 l)ot-pie for several days. For a cliange they 
 were servcil up in roasts, being first boiled, 
 ••indswere finer than any duck I have tasted, 
 though some of the sciueamish crew compos- 
 ing the " Crips' Union " declared they were 
 " fishy." 
 
 Of course I improve every opportunity dur- 
 ing pleasant days to collect, and the result is 
 thirteen first-class bird skins. These sea 
 birds are almost all fat and the grease clings 
 to and grows into the skin so firndy that it 
 is almost impossible to i)Ut them up. Among 
 the good thinirs which 1 have secured are 
 the crested auklet, red phalarope. pallas. 
 murre and horned puffin, but it will be diffi- 
 cult to nreserve the skins in this damp cli- 
 mate. Dr. Coffin is becoming interested al- 
 ready, and talks of putting in Ids sjtare 
 time collecting with me. He has been tak- 
 ing l(>ssons in skinning, and so far has put 
 up two specimens. We have rigged up a 
 cracker-box for our bird-skins and try to 
 keep it in the dryest place, though it is so 
 
 1., tiic •' S.i-.tr.im.'' 
 
 crowded on shipboard that a convenient 
 place for any particular thing is scarce. 
 
 The currents in Bering Sea are quite 
 strong, tending northward toward the 
 straits, so that even when the wind fails
 
 8 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 us we are drifting towards our destination 
 at the rate of fifteen to twenty miles a day. 
 On board we are all happy and in good 
 spirits, notwithstanding the fact that some 
 have never before known a hardship, and 
 their eight hours watch per day on deck, 
 especially when it is stormy, is calculated 
 to make them think longingly of their pleas- 
 ant homes. Besides, many of the boys have 
 salt water sores on their hands and chil- 
 blains on their feet. 
 
 Yesterday the sea was choppy and sev- 
 eral were sea-sick again. Even I felt that 
 peculiar indescribable sensation, but I ate a 
 hearty dinner of beans and salt pork and 
 felt better. C. C. is suffering from what he 
 declares is " indigestion " a 
 weakness to which he has al- 
 ways been subject. He feels 
 a reluctance to owning that he 
 has the common ailment. 
 " C. C." is our abbreviation for 
 Reynolds, the undertaker and 
 sometime preacher. He makes 
 so much fun for other people 
 that we cannot help amusing 
 ourselves at his expense some- 
 times. 
 
 We passed St. Matthew 
 Island and caught a glimpse of 
 its rugged shores through the 
 thick fog. We can generally 
 tell the proximity of land by 
 the increased number of sea-birds. It is not 
 often that the sun appears now, but occa- 
 sionally it shows itself long enough for the 
 captain to take his observations. It is light 
 all night and seems like a dream of child- 
 hood to have to go to bed before the lamps 
 are lighted. 
 
 I must pay a compliment to our captain. 
 Besides knowing his business thoroughly, he 
 Is a jolly, agreeable man, always cutting 
 jokes except during a storm. He has been 
 created the "Penelope's" laureate, and has 
 written a couple of poems that would make 
 good his rank anywhere. 
 
 There was one day when we all had an 
 attack of the poetic fever and wrote 
 verses. They will be found in the ship's log. 
 
 To-day is Sund.-iy. and as usual we all at- 
 tended services, which consist of songs and 
 a short talk from C. 0. The rest of the day 
 is like any other. 
 
 Last night an exhausted sandpiper flew on 
 board and was caught. I was asleep and 
 the boys came and laid it on my breast. He 
 Is now safely wrapped in cotton wa<lding 
 and laid to rest in the aforementioned 
 
 cracker-box. The boys declared they would 
 whip me for not letting him go, and yet 
 when they get a chance they shoot at birds 
 from the boat for " sport," with no other 
 purpose in view. I am doing my best to 
 educate them in bird lore, but whenever I 
 get off the long Latin names they give me 
 the " ha-ha." By this time and after many 
 lessons the most of them know a murre by 
 sight, and a fork-tailed petrel, and a kitti- 
 wake; but when it comes to distinguishing 
 the different species of anklets at a distance 
 they think I am fooling them, and laugh at 
 me until I show them the bird at close 
 range. I never realized before the vastness 
 of the sea as when a solitary little bird dips 
 his wings and flies skyward. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Becalmed in Bering Sea. 
 
 JUNE 1.— Yesterday the fog 
 cleared and disclosed to 
 us the snowy peaks of the 
 Siberian coast far to the north- 
 west, and in front to the north 
 of us the long coast line of St. 
 Lawrence Island. We headed 
 for the west end of the island, 
 intending to pass up tiie chan- 
 nel between it and the Si- 
 berian coast. Saw two vessels 
 in the distance returning from 
 that direction. After we had beat against 
 a bad wind all day we found ourselves 
 almost surrounded by icebergs. With the 
 field glass we could see the whole hori- 
 zon a solid mass of ice. Our way was 
 blocked. Tm-ning eastward, we tried the 
 passage between St. Lawrence Island and 
 th(> Alaskan coast. The wind was blowing 
 bitterly cold from the Siberian shore. Beat- 
 ing eastward along the south side of the 
 island, we have now left the ice behind. 
 This afternoon a two-masted schooner spoke 
 us on her way to try the passage we had 
 just abandoned. She turned and sailed with 
 us. She carried a pretty tough-looking 
 crowd of miners. They, like ourselves, are 
 bound for Kotzebue. We gave them the 
 " Penelope " yell, which they returned with 
 three cheers. In sizing up their piratical ap- 
 pearance we forgot to look in the glass. 
 
 .Tune 2.".— Sevenfy-five miles southeast of 
 Bering Strait. TIk- Alaskan mainland north 
 of Noiton Sound in plain view. Have spent 
 five days trying to get around St. Lawrence. 
 Are still in sight of the east end. It is calm.
 
 GOLD BUNTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 We need more wind. Entered Boring Sea 
 two weeks ajjo, and the days have been like 
 a yaehtinj; eruise. Everyone is in good 
 spirits. Several of tlu' hoys are witty and 
 jokes dy. And the siugiu^'I— we exhaust the 
 
 Sighting a Vessel. 
 
 words we know and then make up as we {ro 
 alonj;. like plantation nesiroes. Are playini; 
 several touruanieuts in jianies. Only one so 
 far has been coneluded — the domino i^anie. 
 Dr. Cotlin and Jett were the unlucky ones, 
 and last night they entertained the crowd. 
 Captain was master of ceremonies and 
 dressed in a most ludicrous manner. He 
 made a mock speech and read a poem. The 
 two unlucky victims were treated to burnt 
 cork and wore great Eskinu) muckluks 
 (sealskin boots), murre-skiu hats, 
 and red calico decorations. Doc- 
 tor beat the big tin washpan and 
 Jett blew the foghorn. The cap- 
 tain's wand was a boat-hook with 
 a shining red onion on the tip and 
 bearing a red pasteboard banner 
 with the motto. " On to Kotze- 
 bue." They were to march tifty 
 times around the deck. Casey, 
 our Irishman, was ai)pointed po- 
 liceman by the captain "'to keep 
 the sui;ill boys and the carriages 
 off the street." And so. to the 
 tune of tlu' foghorn and llie dish- 
 pan, they tramped their penalty. 
 Then the captain gave an exhibition of clog 
 dancing, with a tife and harmonica accom- 
 paniment. So one can see there is always 
 something going on to break the monotony 
 and keep the blues away. We suffer little 
 from dull times. Whales are now as com- 
 
 mon as seals. One we saw looked as large 
 as the " renelojje." Clj'de took its picture. 
 I got out our Wincnester to-day. Am on the 
 lookout for i)ol.ir bears, which arc cx|)ected 
 to fre(iuciit the ice packs. The cook has just 
 yelled " Supperl" and everyone is singing 
 " Iteulah Land." 
 
 Arctic Ocean. .luly 7.— The next nKjrning 
 after my last d.ite we sailed to within a 
 mile of King's Island. This is a precipitous 
 point of rock scarcely a mile in diameter, 
 and yet more than two hundred Indians live 
 upon it. Before we were within three miles 
 of the island the natives began to come 
 alongside of tlie "Penelope" in their skin 
 canoes, or kyaks. wanting to trade. These 
 were tlie first natives we had seen, and our 
 interest in them was unbounded. Eully fif- 
 teen canoes, some singly, but mostly lashed 
 together in pairs, reached us, and their occu- 
 pants came on board with their sealskin 
 bags full of articles to trade. They had a 
 large quantity of walrus tusks, some of 
 large size, weighing probably ten ixninds. 
 and very valuable. There were polar bear 
 skins and fox skins beautifully tanned, also 
 sealskin coats jind luucl-iuks (skin bootsi. 
 
 They wanted in exchange clothes, flour, 
 tobacco, knives, etc, and, if we had pre- 
 pared ourselves, we could have obtained 
 many valuable things. Most of us saved 
 what things we had to trade with later on. 
 
 Beyond King's Island our way was again 
 blocked with ice. We then turned east 
 towards Port Clarence, but in a couple of 
 hours encountered the ice pack extending 
 
 Natives of King^'s Island Coming to Trade. 
 
 out full twenty miles from the Alaskan 
 shore. We tlH)Ught our way was blocked, 
 but the captain thought we could keep along 
 the shore ice. and did so, the i)assage open- 
 ing as we advanced. After skirting the ice 
 all day we entered the straits at midnight
 
 10 
 
 GOLD HUNllNG IN ALASKA. 
 
 June 2fi. and fonud ourselves between the 
 Diomede Islands and Cape Prince of Wales. 
 Everyone was on deck enjoying the scene 
 until 2 a. m. The sun loitered along the 
 horizon four hours and at midnight barely 
 disappeared. Ihe clouds and water were 
 gorgeously tinted in the manner so often de- 
 scribed by Arctic travelers. No words can 
 do the scene justice. To the right rose the 
 mountains of Alaska, extending far back 
 from Cape Trince of Wales, the shores 
 broken by their blue-tinted ice pack. Dark 
 blue shadows stood the mountains out in 
 beautiful distinctness. On our left were the 
 precipitous Diomede Islands and Fairway 
 Rock, with the snowy mountains of the Si- 
 berian shore rising further in the distance. 
 
 Ahead, our progress would soon be stopped 
 by the long line of ice extending under the 
 Arctic horizon. 
 where the sun 
 was vainly en- 
 deavoring to set. 
 Just at midnight 
 a spot of blazing 
 light appeared at 
 Cape Prince of 
 Wales, fully eight 
 miles away. It 
 was the tetlection 
 of the fiery red 
 
 sun on the window of the mission which has 
 been established at that point. These shores 
 are not inviting, and yet we know that here 
 on this bleak coast are living, the whole year 
 through. American missionaries, whose pur- 
 pose is as eternal as the icebergs. 
 
 Everyone was happy and exerting himself 
 to express what lie felt. Some yelled wildly, 
 and. taking off their shoes and stocki-ngs, 
 threw them into the ocean. Others sang 
 with might and main. " Beulah Lfnd " and 
 *' Nean-r. My God. to Thee " were followed 
 by " Yankee Doodle " and " My Country, 
 'tis of Thee." with every l)ody dancing and 
 running about like a lot of Indians. " Pen- 
 elope. Penelope, zip, boom, bah I (Joing up to 
 Kotzebue. rah I rail! ralil"' was yelled till all 
 were hoarse. Finally, about 3 p. m., we be- 
 gan to (juiet down for a little sleep. 
 
 In the night a small schooner like our own. 
 the " A<"ret," caught up with us. having 
 found the passage we had followed. We 
 passed through scattering ice and sailed 
 about fifteen miles beyond the straits, but 
 here were confronted by the solid ice pack 
 of the Arctic which exteixled on all sides. 
 After sailing about in circles in this limited 
 area of water all day, the " Acret " was seen 
 
 Nearing the Great Ice Pack. 
 
 to be heading through a break in the shore 
 side of the ice, and we followed. Both boats 
 dropped anchor about a mile from the 
 Alaskan shore in shallow water, where the 
 ice had left a clean anchorage. The 
 " Acret " and " Penelope " were so far the 
 first boats to pass through the straits. 
 
 We were all eager to land. As soon as the 
 dinky was overboard, five of the boys, with 
 little thought for anyone else, as was quite 
 natural under the circumstances, jumped 
 in and moved for shore. And what was ex- 
 asperating beyond description to us who 
 were obliged to wait our turn, they did not 
 bring the boat back for two hours. We have 
 forgiven them, but they'll have to pay for it. 
 At G p. m.. Dr. Cothn and I, and others, 
 landed and started on our first tramp. Our 
 feet were for the first time on Alaskan soil. 
 But we saw none 
 of the soil. Moss 
 everywhere, and 
 flowers and wild 
 strawberries. It 
 was a queer sen- 
 sation to set one's 
 feet down on 
 what looked like 
 substantial 
 ground and sink 
 a few inches to 
 solid ice, crushing the flowers beneath. 
 
 I was all eyes and ears for what new birds 
 might cross my path. Almost the first thing 
 a fiock of Emperor geese flew past me and 
 were out of range. These are the rai'est 
 geese in North America and found only in 
 Alaska. I saw but one land bird, a species 
 of sparrow, but there were large numbers 
 of water birds. I obtained some rare eggs, 
 such as phalarope, western sandpiper, etc. 
 A snowy owl was flushed, the first I ever 
 saw alive, and it was at once mobbed by a 
 dozen Arctic terns which had their nests 
 near by. The land here is low and rolling, 
 with little knolls and lakes. The ground in 
 places Mas thawed about a foot — that is, tak- 
 ing the depth from the top of the spongy 
 moss. On the dryer knolls several kinds of 
 flowers were blooming and the grass was 
 luxuriant in places. I searched for insects, 
 but found only two bumblebees, which I 
 could not catch, having no net with me. 
 
 We stayed on shore until midnight, tramp- 
 ing over the tundra and collecting birds and 
 eggs. At 1 a. m. rowed back to the schooner. 
 A canoe load of Indians had come alongside, 
 and they had one Emi)eror goose. I coveted 
 it. Tried to trade for it, offering several
 
 <;OLD HUN'IING IN ALASKA. 
 
 11 
 
 arfiflos, but failed to offer the iMght thine:. 
 Afterwards ono of the '• Aeret " raen ob- 
 tained it for an old tin tomato can. The 
 " Acret " fellows liad also been on shore and 
 succeeded in sliootinji' anotlier j,'oose, so tliey 
 now had a pair of them, wliicli tliey allowed 
 nie to have for tlie skinniu.l,^ provided I re- 
 turned tile bodies in time for bri-akfast. I 
 was liapi).v. I immediately went to work. 
 havin.LT tlie usual experience in skinninjj sea 
 birds with the enormous amount of fat 
 ■which must be peeled, rubbed, scraped and 
 picked off". It took me mitil three o'clock in 
 the morniufr. and I was then glad to crawl 
 into my bunk for a little sleep. liy night 
 the next day the water seemed almost cU-ar 
 of ice, so we heaved anchor and started 
 northeast along the shore towards Kotze- 
 bue. Soon came to the ice again, scattered 
 a n d in blocks. 
 Keeping right on 
 between the 
 blocks, we came 
 to a big, fatherly 
 iceberg w h i c h 
 had run aground. 
 The water here 
 was very shallow, 
 and we had to 
 be careful not 
 to run aground 
 ourselves. T h e 
 "Penelope" 
 draws eleven feet 
 of water, and a 
 mile from shore 
 it is often 
 
 scarcely three fathoms, and of course shal- 
 lower towards shore. 
 
 It was very exciting sometimes when the 
 ice blocks became too Thick. And the.v 
 chokcMl and moaned and snored and heaved 
 against each other in a tit of passion, and 
 cliaUenged one another to " come on." and 
 ground their teeth in rage, and swished 
 calmly, and chuck-a-lucked through the 
 water. It was a grand sight to remember. 
 
 At times sev«"ral of the boys had to take 
 poles — driftwood which we had taken posses- 
 sion of for just such an emergency — and. 
 standing at the bow. push off tlie ice. Even 
 tiieii several of tlie largi-r blocks got the bet- 
 ter of us and would st()[) our progress by a 
 sturdy crunch against the " renelope." 
 scraping along her side and taunting her 
 with piratical intention. But she was Arm 
 and answered not a word, giving only a few 
 Scales of her weather-beaten paint as a sort 
 of peace-offering. 
 
 Anchored to a Grouiiticd Iceberg'. 
 
 The "Acret" was all the while accom- 
 panying us. most of the time ahead, for she 
 drew onlj* eight feet, so she could sail nearer 
 shore than we could, where tlie water was 
 clearer of ice. We anchored two niglits and 
 a day. again sheltered behind a grounded 
 iceberg. 
 
 The "Acret" and "Penelope" were tied 
 up side by side, and we exchanged calling 
 courtesies. This crew was intending to 
 prospect in couples, each two men having a 
 lioat. Each person was independent of any 
 other man, unless they should choose to 
 form partnership anidug tliemselves. Tliat 
 is. they were not formed into a regular c<nu- 
 pany as we were. We are no (hjubt better 
 off individually as we are, though this re- 
 mains to be proved. 
 After spending several days slowly mak- 
 ing our w a y 
 along the Alas- 
 kan coast to- 
 wards Kotzebue. 
 through the still 
 breaking ice. on 
 July 2 we found 
 ourselves reallj- 
 in a dangerous 
 position. T h e 
 wind began to 
 blow from out to 
 sea. thus crowd- 
 ing the ice to- 
 wards shore, 
 making our sail- 
 ing quarters more 
 and more limited. 
 We were already running too close in. from 
 two to three latlioms, when suddenl.v the 
 schooner ran aground, and we found our- 
 selves stuck on a sandy bottom, with the 
 ice rapidl.v moving down on us. An anchor 
 was quickly towed out an<l dropited. so that 
 by heaving in on the anchor chain the boat 
 could be dragged out into deep water. This 
 was slowly being accomi)lislied. when a 
 mass of ice too large to pole off caught 
 against the schooner, causing a tremendous 
 strain on the anchor chain. 
 
 Another ice cake floated against the first, 
 and the " Penelope " would have been 
 crowded deeper anil deeper aground had not, 
 after much chojiping and prying, a crack 
 opened up across the ice on our itort bow. 
 The two pieces swung apart, leaving the 
 " I'enelope " free. Again we tried to heave 
 into deeper water, and finally with all sails 
 set and all hands pulling on the chain, the 
 boat slid off in time to escape another big
 
 12 
 
 GOLD MUNTI:NG in ALASKA. 
 
 sheet of ice. Of course this was one of the 
 few times we ditl not feel lilie shouting and 
 singing. We held our breath. It was an 
 unpleasant experience, but one upon which 
 we can look back with a sort of quiet satis- 
 
 Nati\-es with Walrus-hide Canoe. 
 
 faction. We shall- at least have one hair- 
 breadth escape to narrate to our friends at 
 home. After dodging and threading our 
 way. the captain finally sailed us into an 
 open tract of water outside the ice. 
 
 We have made little progress these last 
 days. We have been sailing about in circles, 
 at times coming within forty miles of Cape 
 Blossom, but still blocked by the line of ice 
 that closes the mouth of Kotzebue Sound. 
 It is now rapidly breaking up and melting. 
 and as soon as an off-shore wind sets in. the 
 ice will be surely driven out to sea and our 
 path will be clear. We are fifty days from 
 San P'rancisco. and the majority of us are 
 longing for land. Vessels are constantly 
 coming In sight. 
 
 Last night twelve vessels besides our own 
 were seen waiting for the ice to open. 
 What a mad rush this is to a land nobody 
 knows anytliing al)()Ut. and whose treasure- 
 trove, if she holds any. is far in the in- 
 terior! There is plenty of country, if not of 
 gold, for us all, and we can take our 
 chances. 
 
 We have spoken the bark " Guardian " 
 from Seattle witli i:U» on board. The bark- 
 entine " .N'ortiiern Liglit " from San Fran- 
 cisco witji 120 on Ixiard; the bark "Leslie 
 I)." with r,S on l)oard, besides the "Cath- 
 erine Stidden," and otiiers whom we have 
 not been near enough to speak. 
 
 While we were near shore natives. Eski- 
 mos, came on l>oard in their skin cauoes 
 
 nearly every day. and often stayed several 
 hoxirs with us. Indeed they would remain 
 with us all the time if allowed to. They are 
 very greasy and not at all desirable in their 
 present condition, dressed entirely in skins, 
 and owning few civilized 
 
 implements. Some were on 
 
 summer hunting trips from 
 as far as the Diomede 
 Islands and the opposite 
 Siberian shore. We have 
 made some tine trades with 
 them. Rivers, one of the 
 boys, got a good skin kyak 
 for a pair of overalls, a 
 match safe and a few other 
 trinkets. I got some nice 
 seal (not the fur seal) skins 
 for an outing shirt, and 
 about one hundred .yards of 
 sti'ong raw-hide rope, for 
 soiled socks, undershirts, 
 etc. 
 
 It is a good opportunity 
 for oiitaining spears, toys, 
 implements, and clothing of Indian manu- 
 facture, etc., if only I could spare the stuff 
 to trade. With all the hundreds of people 
 coming to the coast this year, the trade will 
 
 Educated ISativcs. 
 
 be spoiled by next year, or I would send 
 home for a box of articles for trade. 
 
 These natives really require very little 
 outside of their own resources, so it is hard 
 to tell what articles would be likely to strike
 
 GOLD BUNTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 13 
 
 their fancy. Load, powder, tobacco, calico 
 and clothes would be the best things. 
 
 The prince or chief of this tribe of In- 
 dians wiis an intelligent yonng man about 
 twenty-live years old. He could not speak 
 our language, but, strange to say, his wife, 
 who accompanied him. was educated and 
 refined. She had received some schooling at 
 I'ort Clarence. It was she who interpreted 
 for all of us during our trading hours. 
 
 The natives came in families, and the chil- 
 dren were not uninteresting. Not a baby 
 was heard to cry. although in the canoe for 
 hours at a time, nor would they tr.v to move. 
 These canoes or kyaks are very strange 
 boats, and prove quite treacherous to the 
 novice. It looks easy rowing in one of 
 them. I had learned the trick diu'lng my 
 hunting about Sitka two years ago. and 
 could not be induced to try my hand in a 
 hurry. Not so Casey, who went out by him- 
 self in Rivers' new kyak. He started out all 
 right, shouting that it was like riding a 
 bicycle, " ver.v hard to keep balanced in." 
 He was getting along linel.v, keei)ing near 
 the vessel, when he grew over-conlideut. and 
 a misstroke with the paddle set him out of 
 balance, and boat and i)oor Casey went roll- 
 ing over together in the water. He struggled 
 anil kept to the sin-face long enough for a 
 rope to be thrown out to him. but he could 
 not get his legs out of the hole in the kyak 
 for several seconds. Seconds are hours in 
 this blistering ice-water, and had he been 
 further from home he could not have sur- 
 vived the chill. 
 
 No one has *rie(l kyaking since, but as soon 
 as we reach shallow water I mean to prac- 
 tice until I have revived the lost art. 
 
 We are now inside the Arctic Circle, about 
 G7 degrees north latitude. That is iiretty 
 well north for Southern Californians who. 
 at home, rub their ears when the frost nips 
 the tomato plants in January. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GAPE BLOSSOM. July 13, 1898.— The 
 voyage is behind us. What is floating 
 ice to a ship's crew safe on shorel We 
 can laugh at whales, and unfriendly breezes 
 that whisper tales of shipwreck on barren 
 coasts. And we can walk at all hours of the 
 day and night without holding on to the rail, 
 and we don't have to cook breakfast and 
 supper and dinner in an S x S galley. Oh. 
 the charm of being on land again, a land 
 without visible limit; a land where we arc 
 
 not crowded, and where we are not hindered 
 from our work by newspaper reportersl 
 
 I am sitting at the camp-table in the diu- 
 ing-tent near the new " I'enehiije " sliip- 
 .vards. and the sounds that greet my ears 
 are varied. The incessant pounding gives 
 evidence of vigorous work on our river boat; 
 the lium of the forge and the ring of the 
 anvil where Casey and Stevenson are mak- 
 ing tittings for the engine, the wash of the 
 surf close at hand, and last, but not least, 
 the low, irritating, dejiressing, measly whine 
 of the mos(]uito — this last word to mean the 
 race. I would not intimate that there is one 
 mosciuito. or twenty: there are millionsl We 
 wear bobinet masks which protect our heads 
 very well. To-night the wind is idowing 
 fresh, and the winged i)lagues are using 
 most of their force to keep their land legs. 
 It is very warm, and a little exertion brings 
 out a copious perspiration, but it is less 
 fatiguing to keep hard at work with a will 
 than to sto]) and think about it. No ice now 
 in sight. Within two rods of camp is a deep 
 snowdrift, where we obtain nice drinking 
 water. Ice may be seen anywhere in Alaska 
 all the hot days, but it is so mixed and 
 grown in with the everlasting mosses that it 
 is not fit to melt for drinking save in rare 
 cases. Our ship-yards are located on the 
 pebbly beach, and it all seems so roomy and 
 clean after our long stay on the little 
 " I'enelope." though on account of the mos- 
 Quuoes we still sleep on shipl)oard. The 
 boat is anchored a mile from shore on ac- 
 count of the shallow water. As I look out to 
 sea I bethink me that in all probability 
 Kotzebue. the Russian explorer, stood on 
 this exact spot and looked about him as long 
 ago as July, 181(i. And the mosciuitoes were 
 biting him, tool 
 
 I can afford to sleep only every other night 
 these days. There will be time enough to 
 sleep when the sun goes to bed. The land- 
 scape is beautiful— grassy meadows, green, 
 bushy hillsides, and. over all. thousands of 
 wild-llowers of a dozen kinds; dandelions, 
 daisies, sweet-peas, and many other vari- 
 eties. I have found a few beetles and have 
 seen some butterflies, but get little time for 
 collecting either insects or birds. My duty 
 is to the company, and any time in which I 
 may do what I love best to do must be 
 taken out of my sleeping hours. Everyone 
 is working with might and main, as the mis- 
 sionaries tell us that winter sets in by the 
 last of August. 
 
 By the way. we surprised these mission- 
 aries, who nave been located at Cape Bios-
 
 14 
 
 GOLD HVIfTlUG 11^ ALAtiKA. 
 
 som some two years or more, and in that 
 time have seen few fellow-countrymen. C. 
 C. Reynolds and Clyde and Dr. Cothn were 
 old acquaintances, and waked them up one 
 day all of a sudden. The three were cold by 
 the natives of the best way to approach the 
 mission building, and, as they did so, the 
 first thing that met their eyes were little 
 boxes of lettuce and radishes and onions set 
 on the sunny side of the cabin to steal the 
 breath and smile of Old Sol, while he has his 
 €ye on the place. This is a Friends' Mission, 
 and the three missionaries are from Whit- 
 tier. California. 
 
 They are Robert Samms and wife, and a 
 Miss Hunnicut. 
 
 The boys are working on the river boat in 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 _s^aw • ■'"■ 
 
 r AxiffifeJv 
 
 iSm^^. 
 
 
 mm _; 
 
 ""'"'■^^^a 
 
 First "Friends'" Mission. 
 
 two shifts from twelve to twelve. This 
 makes time for four meals a day. the largest 
 meals being at the two twelves, and I have 
 one of these to get. I also have the 6 p. m. 
 and the midnight meals to get; Shafer gets 
 tlie others. Of course we have our assist- 
 ants who wait on table and wash dishes. 
 Who would have thought I would become a 
 mess cook! 
 
 I have just dressed three salmon weighing 
 about fifteen pounds each. We traded ten 
 glngersnaps to an Indian for them. They 
 will make fully two meals for all of us. 
 
 July 10, 2 p. m. In the dining-tent at 
 " Penelope " ship-yards.— Yesterday was a 
 great day for us. We received our first mail 
 from home. The revenue cutter " Bear " 
 brought it. and it will probably be our last. 
 It is sweltering hot. We find our most con- 
 genial emiiloyment in drinking ice-water and 
 taking cold baths. And no one suffers from 
 if. The river boat is nearly done .mikI we 
 iiave been here only a week. To-day our 
 
 first prospecting party starts out, one of 
 two. to go up the Kowak River in advance 
 of the main party. They are taking a 
 month's provisions, and. besides prospecting 
 for gold, are to locate our winter quarters. 
 We hope to make two trips with supplies up 
 the river before it freezes. There are so 
 many vessels of every description here that 
 it looks like a seaport harbor. The natives 
 are " catching on " to trading schemes, and 
 are asking exorbitant prices for everything. 
 We offered sixty dollars worth of flour and 
 other things for a canoe and failed to get 
 one. I doubt the things being of much use 
 to us if we had them. The skins soak up 
 water rapidly and are then easily torn or 
 worn. The Indians keep them in water 
 only a few hours at a time before 
 taking them up on the beach and 
 turning them over to dry. 
 
 Shafer went with our first 
 party as cook, and that leaves me 
 with seventeen men to feed. I 
 want to get in some collecting this 
 fall and am willing to work hard 
 now. Of course everyone of the 
 party is industrious; we expected 
 to work. The mosquitoes do not 
 like me and so I have the advan- 
 tage of the others. I keep a 
 smuuge burning in the tents so 
 the boys may eat in peace. 
 
 Penelope Ship Yards, July 17.— 
 Oh, how hot it is to-day! And the 
 mosquitoes are rushing business, as if aware 
 time is nearly up with them, I slept on shore 
 last night. We had a small tent and banked 
 it up all around tight, and then made a 
 smudge and shut ourselves in. We killed all 
 the mosquitoes in sight and finally got to bed 
 for a good seven hours' sleep. There is plenty 
 of driftwood along the beaches, and we shall 
 not be obliged to draw on our supply of coal 
 for a good while. Several tons of it is com- 
 ing on the " Mermaid." The vessel has not 
 yet arrived, neither have several others 
 whose crews warned us before we left San 
 Francisco last spring that we would not 
 reach Kotzebue this year. And here we are 
 a week ahead of them, and one party pros- 
 pecting up the river already. 
 
 July 19.— This morning the " Helen," as 
 we have named our river boat, was towed 
 out to the " Penelope," where the boiler and 
 engines were hoisted on. She is back again 
 now. and all is well save Rivers, who had 
 his Angers smashed.
 
 GOLD BUNTIFG IN ALASKA. 
 
 15 
 
 There must be a thousaud people now in 
 the Sound, aud more are eomiug. These 
 lirst-conuTS are r<>si)ectal)le lui'n, with tew 
 excei)tions. A druiilien white man shot an 
 Indian up near tlie mission, and now tliere 
 will be trouble. The Indian law dates tar 
 back — " An eye for an eye." A f;oo<l many 
 accidents are iiappeninfj. Some men are lost, 
 and so are whole loads of provisions. We 
 are safe; have lost uothinR. Birds are nu- 
 menms now. I went up the sloujjh last ui^ht 
 and jrot three ducks. This noon I served up 
 a hot duck pie. This is 
 the summer home for 
 many birds that spend 
 their winters south. 
 Every morninf; I hear 
 the plaintive song of 
 the Gambel's sparrows 
 from the bushy thickets 
 on the hillsides, just as 
 we hear them from the 
 hedges at home in win- 
 ter. Other f a mill a r 
 birds now rearing their 
 broods here are the 
 barn swallow. Savan- 
 nah sparrow and tree 
 sparrow. Insects are 
 common as the warm 
 weather continues. I 
 caught a bumblebee 
 this morning aud bot- 
 tled him. As fast as 
 the snowdrifts melt, 
 grass and flowers 
 spring up, crowding the 
 
 snow, so to speak, into more and more lim- 
 ited quarters, and tinally replacing it alto- 
 gether. The brightest and greenest spots 
 are where the snow has the most recently 
 disappeared. This is a beautiful country. 
 Some day when the speedy airship shall 
 make distance trivial, it will be a poi)ular 
 suumier resort, except that the water is too 
 icy for the average bather. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JrT>Y 23. Penelope Ship Yards. — The 
 " Helen " is at last ready. Three of the 
 boys have cut up several cords of wood 
 into proper lengths for the boiler. 
 
 I cannot help mentioning the flowers 
 again. New kinds appear er.cli day without 
 so much as sending up a leaf in advance. 
 There are dandelions, aud purple asters, aud 
 cream cups, and bluebells, aud big daisies. 
 
 and buttercups, and tall, blue flowers like 
 our garden hyacinths. There are acres of 
 blue-grass as smooth and green as if newly 
 mown, liirds and bumblebees are abun- 
 ant. I should like to collect more of the.se, 
 but still have a hungry mob to fwd. The 
 boys are working hard at shifting the cargo, 
 and chopping wood and doing other things, 
 and of course are hungry as bears. My 
 work gives me some half-hours which I 
 spend collecting. We have good stores. For 
 supi)er to-night my menu is baked navy 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 
 ••♦ T S •^♦^^'•B' 
 
 ^^H 
 
 ma^ 
 
 ■■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Miners' Launch. 
 
 beans — Boston baked beans away up here at 
 Kotzebue Sound I — corn bread, apple sauce, 
 fricasseed salmon eggs, fried salmon, duck 
 stew, tea, etc. It will be appreciated to the 
 last crumb by the Arctic circle. 
 
 The days are growing shorter. The sun 
 now sets before eleven at night, leaving only 
 a short semi-twilight. The doctor has just 
 come in from a visit to the mission. He re- 
 ports ships still arriving, aud prospectors 
 having all sorts of luck. Flour is three dol- 
 lars for fifty pounds. Liquor is being sold 
 to the natives without stint. It is against 
 the law, but what is law without a force to 
 back it? Dr. Sheldon Jackson is expected 
 soon, ami he is the man who will not be 
 afraid to hunt out the rascals wlio are 
 sjioiling the natives. I am so nearly related 
 to the American Indians myself that I nat- 
 urally take sides with these natives. You 
 know I was born on the Kiowa. Comanche 
 and Wiciiita reservation, when those Indians
 
 16 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 were savages or nearly so. and T learned to 
 love rheiu before I could speak. Here and 
 now it is the old familiar story of the white 
 man's abuse of the redskins. It makes me 
 indignant. ^Ye found these people contiding, 
 generous, helpful, simple-hearted, without a 
 shadow of treachery except as they have 
 learned it from the whites, who are invad- 
 ing their homes and killing them as they 
 will, with little or no excuse. Many of these 
 gold-hunters that 1 hear of have already 
 done more harm in a few days than the mis- 
 sionaries can make up for in years. I could 
 write the liistory in detail, but desist. It 
 will never all be written or told. The natives 
 are worked uji to the last point of endur- 
 ance and will surely kill the whites. Whisky 
 
 The "Helen." 
 
 is doing its share of havoc, although a few 
 of the faithful mission Indians are trying to 
 keep the others quiet. 
 
 Sunday. July 24. — We are now waiting for 
 the tide to take the " Helen " out of the 
 creek. Steam will soon be up. 
 
 July 29, Dining Tent.— We are still here 
 and the rains have begun. The " Helen " 
 made her trial trip and works well. We 
 have discovered that she cannot transport 
 all our goods up the river, so liave delayed 
 in order to build a barge. It is two feet 
 deej), ten feet wide and eighteen feet long, 
 with a capacity of ten tons. 
 
 August 1.— The storm washed the sand up 
 and locked the " Helen " into Penelope in- 
 let. The only thing to be done was to dig 
 a channel and float her out. From ten in 
 the morning until ten in the evening we 
 worked. We had to pry her out as the tide 
 kept failing. We could not have succeeded 
 had it not been for some kind Indians who 
 iu'lpcd us. They are always ready to Ijelj) 
 wiicn they see us in tr(j»il»le. C)f t-ourse we 
 treated them to a good supper and they were 
 hajipy. 
 
 After steaming out to the " Penelope," we 
 started north around the peninsula to the 
 inlet, arriving about two in the morning, 
 after the hardest day's work we have had 
 yet. Here at Mission Inlet Dr. Coftin. 
 Fancher and myself are left with the camp 
 outfit and a load of provisions. After three 
 hours' sleep and a hot breakfast the rest 
 went back to the schooner with the 
 •• Helen "" for another load, and to bring the 
 barge, which by this time should be finished. 
 Soon aftei- they left, yesterday, a stiff breeze 
 sprang tip and we were very anxious. The 
 '• Helen " is little better than a fiat-bottomed 
 scow and cannot stand mtich of a sea. An 
 inlet near us is, we think, deep enough to 
 float the " Penelope," if we could get her in, 
 and here she would be safe all winter. The 
 missionaries tell us that no boat like her 
 can stand the crushing ice in the open sea 
 during the winter, and that this inlet is the 
 only protected place for miles around. 
 
 Tlie mission and village are two miles west 
 of us. Tliere are four frame houses and a 
 hundred tents. A Mr. Haines of San Fran- 
 cisco, took supper with us last night and 
 gave us the sliipping news. Men are left 
 with nothing save tlie clothes on their backs; 
 others are drowned; many are homesick. 
 Rumor reaches us that gold has lieen found 
 on the Kowak. But rumor is not to be re- 
 lied upon when it is gold that sets it afloat. 
 
 If there is gold on the Kowak we shall 
 find it. Our present care is to get our sup- 
 plies up there in safety, but we are going 
 at a slow pace. Six of otir party are already 
 up the river, six are on the " Helen " (?n 
 route to the " Penelope " headquarters, two 
 are at the ship-yards, and four are on the 
 schooner. Dr. Coffin. Fancher and myself 
 are here at Mission Inlet. This accounts for 
 all of us as at present divided. We expect 
 tne return of the " Helen " to-night. 
 
 We three have been living high since the 
 others left. For supper, with tlie lielp of our 
 San Francisco visitor, we got away with 
 three ptarmigan, two curlew, twelve flap- 
 jacks with syrup, stewed prunes, etc. After 
 supper we went to sleep and did not awake 
 until nine tliis morning, when we liad ptar- 
 migan broth, fried niusli, liam and flapjacks. 
 The other day we picked three quarts of 
 salmon berries. They are very fine eating, 
 sonieUiing like a blackberry in size and 
 shape, but are red like a raspberry and grow 
 flat on the ground like a strawl)erry vine. 
 Tliey seem a conil»ination of the three. 
 
 'l"wo otlier kinds, inferior to the salmon 
 berries, also grow on the ground. We want
 
 GOLD HUNTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 17 
 
 to eat everything in sight. If there v.-ere 
 rattlesnakes I believe that I should cook 
 them. I have broiled a good fat rattlesnake 
 when hunting in the Sierras, and found it a 
 dish for an epicure — that is, if the epicure 
 happened not to see it until served. I put 
 up nine bird-skins this morning. They are 
 two redpolls, one Siberian yellow wagtail, 
 three ptarmigan, one tree-sjtarrow and two 
 curlew. I liave put up scvcuty-tive skins so 
 far. I have also saved quite a number of 
 insects, but these are scarce since the rains 
 set in. Last night I heard the beautiful song 
 of the fox-si)arrow from a hill on the oppo- 
 site side of the inlet. A raven, the 
 tirst I have seen, tlcw high overhead 
 with ominous croaks. " Evil omen," 
 say the natives. 
 
 Mission Inlet, Aug. 5, 1898.— The 
 " Helen " has returned after a peril- 
 ous trip. Slie had the barge in tow 
 and both were heavily loaded. It 
 took ten hours to cover twelve miles, 
 so rough was the sea. She ran 
 aground twice, and the boys were in- 
 deed " tired " on their arrival, but 
 were wonderfully refreshed in a 
 sliort time by flapjacks and bacon, 
 which I served to them piping hot, 
 after which they slept for eight 
 hours. It has taken a good deal of 
 hard work to get ready to make our 
 start, and a good storm is in order. 
 " Indian Tom " is guide, and he 
 knows everything about the river and 
 country. He says, " Wind too much; 
 bimeby all right," and we take his advice. 
 The " Helen " and the barge in tow are to 
 carry two-thirds of the year's supplies up 
 the river, and the " Helen " will alone re- 
 turn for the rest. We cannot get the " Pen- 
 elope " into Mission Inlet, as we hoped, 
 hence it has been decided to leave the cap- 
 tain and two men with her all winter. The 
 provisions not needed this winter are stored 
 on the schooner, and she will be anchored 
 tlown in Escholtz Bay, in as sheltered a 
 place as can be found, where she will freeze 
 in. It looks dangerous, but it is our only 
 alternative. It would not take much ice 
 pressure to crush her, and tlieii good-by to 
 our provisions! They will try lifting her by 
 windlass and other means, and the captain 
 sliows his pluck in the emergency. Pluck is 
 what is needed in these Arctic regions, be- 
 sides plenty of flapjacks. .Tett and Fanclier 
 reniain with the captain on the " Penelope." 
 They hope to shoot polar bear and have 
 
 other winter sport, but I guess they will 
 have a monotonous time. Perhai)s some of 
 us will take a sledge journey down to them 
 in winter. 
 
 Dr. Coffin, W.vse, Rivers and myself are to 
 stay here until the " Helen " returns for us 
 and the remainder of tlie stuff. I always 
 volunteer to siiiy at camp wiien a jterson is 
 wanted, for in tliis way I get in some collect- 
 ing. The rest don't see so much fun in stay- 
 ing at camp. It may be two weeks liefore 
 the boat gets back and, outside of my camp 
 duties, I shall have consideralde leisure for 
 my favorite pastime. Doctor and I went 
 
 'Helen" and Crew Start up the Kowak Piver. 
 
 out and got thirteen ducks, which made a 
 good meal for the crowd before they started. 
 We also had a large mess of stewed salmon 
 berries which, though very tart, i)roved a 
 most acceptable change from our dried fruit. 
 
 Mission Inlet. Aug. 9.— The " Helen " left 
 for the Kowak yesterday and the weather 
 has been perfect, so we hope she has safely 
 crossed Holtham Inlet. Until she returns 
 we four are to keep camp and tiuisli up some 
 work for the winter. We are becoming ac- 
 quainted with the natives. Like those I 
 knew in Dakota and the Indian Territory, 
 they are very superstitious. Tliey make us 
 pass in front of a tent in which is a sick 
 person, and if we are towing a boat past 
 along tlie beacli, we must get into the water 
 and row around the camp so as not to walk 
 past. Many of them are ill. and they lay It 
 to the gold hunters: but it is really from ex- 
 posure in following the whites around. The
 
 II 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 doctor has treated several, and if they re- 
 cover he is "all right;" but if they die. it is 
 his fault. Not so vei'y uulike other folks! 
 The doctor makes the natives pay for medi- 
 cine, as this, he says, " is the better policy." 
 He charged a salmon for some pills last 
 night, and in another case where more ex- 
 tended services were required, he charged a 
 nickel and two salmon. He does not intend 
 to infringe upon any existing fee bills in the 
 States, but if any " medicos " thereabouts 
 pine for a more protitable field, there is 
 plenty of room at Kotzebue Sound. 
 
 Some of the prospectors who went up the 
 river earlier are now returning broken- 
 hearted, and are going home. 
 
 Mission Inlet. Aug. 11.— The " Helen " 
 came in last night with all safe aboard. 
 They got about one hundred miles up the 
 river, and concluded it better to get us all 
 up that far before going on. We expect to 
 start to-night. Our folks met two of our 
 first prospecting party, who reported going 
 as far as Fort Cosmos, three hundred miles 
 up the Kowak. and who announced that 
 place to be our best winter harbor. They 
 had found some " colors," but nothing 
 definite as to gold. 
 
 This will prove my last entry on the Kot- 
 zebue. but the winter's record will not be 
 dull. I am thinking, by tlie time we thaw out 
 in the spring of 1S99. C. C. and the doctor, 
 whose proclivities are well known to be of a 
 semi-religious type, have a whole library of 
 good books, such as " Helpful Thoughts." 
 " The Greatest Thing in the World." Bible 
 commentaries, and so on. with which we 
 may enliven the winter evening that knows 
 no cock-crowing. However, we shall have 
 games and ligiiter reading. 
 
 I have now more than one hundred bird- 
 skins, some of them rare, such as Sabines' 
 gull. Point Barrow gull. etc. I believe I am 
 the only one of the paity who could get the 
 smallest satisfaction out of a possible disap- 
 pointment as to gold. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PENELOPE CAMP, Kowak River, Aug. 
 28.— Here we are, one hundred and sev- 
 enty miles from the nu)Utli of the Ko- 
 wak River and liard at work on our winter 
 cabin. The " Helen " is almost a failure. 
 else we should have been mucli farther up 
 the river. The river is swift and has many 
 rapids which we could not stem. The boat 
 
 is slow. Her wheel is too small. She will 
 be remodeled this winter. It took five days 
 to come this far. and, as there are two more 
 loads to bring up. we thought it best to halt. 
 We have been here a week and the walls of 
 the cabin are nearly done, so that we are on 
 the eve of owning a winter residence on the 
 Kowak. We are expecting the " Helen " 
 back soon with her second load. j 
 
 The Kowak River, though scarcely indi- M 
 cated on good-sized maps, is as large as the * 
 Missouri. At our camp it is nearly a mile 
 across, and very deep on this side, with sand 
 bars in the middle. Other folks are having 
 a harder time than we. Only three out of 
 the dozen or more river steamers are a suc- 
 cess. One is fast on a sand bar, and it 
 looks as if she would stay there. 
 
 Some of our crowd think we had a hard 
 time, but when we compare our lot with 
 that of others we see it differently. Hun- 
 dreds are toiling up in the rain, towing 
 their loaded skiffs mile after mile along 
 muddy banks. We have not had an accident 
 worth mentioning unless it be the loss of a 
 water pail. We took the wrong channel 
 once coming up and steamed twenty-four 
 hours up a branch river. It was the Squir- 
 rel River, and although but a tributary to 
 the Kowak, is as large as the Sacramento 
 and San .Joaquin combined. It was so very 
 crooked that at one point where we stopped 
 to wood up. I climbed a hill and could see 
 its route for several miles. Our course went 
 arotmd the compass once and half way 
 again. When we got back to the Kowak 
 we made good time until we reached the 
 first rapids, where our trouble began. The 
 •• Helen " woidd swing around and lose all 
 she had made every few minutes when the 
 current struck her broadside. Finally a 
 squad of us took to the river bank with a 
 long tow-rope, and foot by foot she was 
 toAved past the critical points. There were 
 six of these rapids. When the wind blew 
 there was fresh trouble; it would catch on 
 the side of the " house " and blow the boat 
 around in spite of us. She almost got away 
 from us once, and we were in danger of 
 being dragged off the bank, in spite of the 
 fact that we dug our heels into the ground 
 and braced with might and main. It was a 
 tug of war. And siuh is gold hunting in the 
 Far North! 
 
 Many otliers li.id a still harder time. We 
 I)ass«'d tiiirty of theso parties in one day 
 towing tlieir provisions, while many lost 
 their l)oats. There must inevitably be great 
 suffering here this winter. Men have not
 
 GOLD HVNT1^'0 JN ALASKA. 
 
 19 
 
 A Morning Hunt. 
 
 rt'filizcd what a long winter it will be and 
 are poorly provisioned. 
 
 Our crowd is becoming a tritle disap- 
 pointed as to the gold proposition, and of 
 course the gen- 
 eral discontent 
 i s infectious. 
 Hundreds a r e 
 going back 
 down the river 
 e V e r y d a y , 
 spreading defeat 
 and failure in 
 their path, and 
 yet they have 
 done no actual 
 prospecting . 
 This is a large 
 country and a 
 year is none too 
 long to hunt; 
 but with many 
 parties the re- 
 sult is that after 
 
 panning out a little sand the job is thrown 
 up. 
 
 Birds are all right here, if there isn't any 
 gold. I have been into tlie woods only twice 
 so far, but secured another rare specimen of 
 Hennicott's Willow Warbler. There is a 
 bear in the woods back of camp. 
 1 have " laid " for him tliree 
 times, but he is very shy. 
 
 Sept. 1.— The " Helen " came 
 with her last load yesterday, 
 and our whole crowd is together 
 again excepting the three men 
 with the '• Penelope." 
 
 After a big pow-wow it has 
 been decided to divide for the 
 Avinter. Ten men are to take the 
 " Helen." with supplies, and 
 imsli up the river as far as pos- 
 sihli". Tliey think they can do 
 some mining during the winter. 
 We who are destined to live to- 
 gether here for eight mouths are 
 Dr. Cottin, C. C. Reynolds. Harry 
 Reynolds, Clyde Baldwin, (.'ox. 
 Brown. Rivers, Wyse and myself. Time will 
 prove if this is a congenial combination. We 
 shall resemble California canned goods in 
 our narrow limits, and the winter will show 
 oin- " keeping (]ualities." Andy and Albert, 
 our Swe(le sailors, leave us to-day. They 
 were hired and do not belong to the com- 
 pany, and will return to Kotzebue, where 
 they hope to ship for St. Michaels. 
 
 Camp Penelope, Kowak River, Sept. 13.— 
 Our cabin is done. It measures 2."j x lH) feet. 
 We moved in on the 7th. The river rose very 
 higli and tlireatened to inundate our tents. 
 'I lie place where they were is now under 
 water. Our cabin roof was not a success. 
 It was too flat. On the night we moved in it 
 rained heavily, and about 2 a. ni. we were 
 roused l).v the water jiouring in on our bi'<ls 
 and our i)recious supplies. We got to work 
 without ilelay. The roof could not be re- 
 p.iired withoiit rebuilding it, so we sjiread it 
 all over witli Hies and tent cloth, which froze 
 stiff for the winter, and now we are dry. 
 When the cabin was started it was intended 
 for our whole party, but there is no room 
 to spare even now with only nine occupants. 
 The foundation was leveled on the side of 
 the knoll, so that the top of the hill is n<'arly 
 as high as the roof and the earth is banked 
 the rest of tlie way over the wall. That 
 leaves no point for the north wind to strike 
 the house. We made a lean-to on the west 
 and the door from the cabin opens into it. 
 We have two windows, which we brought 
 with us, fitted on the south. The interior of 
 the cal)iu is a single room seven feet high. 
 It has a gable a foot or two higher, which 
 gives "ample breathing space." as I told the 
 boys, but which I have my eye on as a store- 
 
 Our Winter Cabin. 
 
 room for my collection. The roof above this 
 structure is fearfully and wonderfully 
 made. If it had a trifle more pitch to it. to 
 make it shed water, it would be better. A 
 heavy ridge-pole and stringers run length- 
 wise, and over these are closely laid poles, 
 the butts at the eaves along the sides, and 
 the slender tops bent over and clinched on 
 the opposite side of the roof. Above the
 
 20 
 
 GOLD BUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 I)oles is packed a thick layer of moss. Above 
 the moss is a layer of heavy sod with the 
 dirt side up. Above all is a layer of spruce 
 boughs like shingles. These boughs grow 
 thick and flat, with needles pointing the 
 same way. so they make good rooting. 
 
 The logs of the walls are chinked tightly 
 with the moss. The floor is the natural 
 sand. We did not cut the timber from near 
 the house on account of the protection it 
 gives us from the north winds. Trees large 
 and long enough for building purposes are 
 not very numerous, and we had to carry 
 them a good ways. A few are as large as 
 twenty inches at the butt, but mostly they 
 are from ten to fifteen inches. It is all that 
 eight of us can do to struggle along with 
 one of these logs, they are so heavy, and we 
 
 Start for the Hunt River, Towing our Boat. 
 
 put them on rollers sometimes. Four of the 
 men can easily carry one of the twenty-four 
 foot logs, but a green spruce log of any size 
 is always heavier than it looks. 
 
 I have initiated " Brownie" into the secret 
 mysteries of the cook stove, and am one of 
 thi' regular laborers now. working hard ten 
 liours a day. But yet it is fun; for we are 
 working for ourselves, with but the clean 
 woods all about us, and there is a fascina- 
 tion in <lioi)i)ing u[) the spruces, their de- 
 liglitfid fragrance i)ermeating everywhere. 
 
 Sept. 1!).— Six of us have just returned 
 from a trip up the Hunt River — Harry Rey- 
 nolds, Wyse. Cox. Rivers. Clyde and myself. 
 I was ctdinary officer as usual. We had 
 the eigliteeii-foot sealing boat, and It was 
 loadeil j)retty lu-avily. 'I'he wiiole of us had 
 to work for it. one in tlie stern of the boat 
 to steer, one wading at the tow-line as near 
 the boat as jiossible, to lift it over snags, 
 
 and the other four tugging at the tow-line. 
 We wore hip boots and outside of them oil- 
 skin trousers tied around tlie anliles. Even 
 with this outfit we were constantly getting 
 into the water all over. Rivers got a soak- 
 ing the first day. He shot a duck and 
 jumped out of the boat in pursuit. The bot- 
 tom is so plain through the water that it is 
 deceptive, and he went in up to his waist, 
 but he grabbed the side of the boat to keep 
 from going under. He got his duck — and a 
 ducking thrown in. We had to pull him in 
 and to the shore, where we got him out of 
 his wet clothes. In the afternoon Wyse also 
 got a ducking by falling into a pool as he 
 was scrambling up a steep bank. We found 
 good camping-places. We had two tents, 
 which we put up facing each other, with a 
 flap left up on the side of one of them for a 
 door. The two were heated by the sheet- 
 iron camp-stove. At noon we did not put up 
 the tents, but got dinner in the open — flap- 
 jacks, coffee and bacon. I shot two geese 
 the first day out, wlilch gave us a couple of 
 meals. They were young and so fat I could 
 not save their skins. But I made a drawing 
 of one of them so that I could be positive of 
 their identity. Looking them up when I got 
 home where my books are, I found them to 
 be the Hutchins goose. The doctor and I 
 shot two white-fronted geese on the banks 
 of the Kowak. We see a good many, but 
 they also see us and we have to do a good 
 deal of sneaking through the bushes to get 
 any. 
 
 We had some narrow escapes, especially 
 Cox, who fell into a whirlpool. He was 
 dragged off his feet by the rushing water, 
 but we pulled him into the boat after a 
 frightful struggli'. 
 
 On the fourtli day out Clyde and I thought 
 we would explore a little canon. Harry 
 Reynolds had washed out several pans of 
 sand from different bars on the way up, but 
 had not found a trace of gold. Clyde and I 
 hopi'd to have l)etter luck, and started out iu 
 high spirits with spade and pick and gold- 
 pan to do our first prospecting. 
 
 We found a brook in tlie canon where we 
 panned some without success. Finally we 
 foimd a place wh(>re the stream ran over 
 bed-rock. The rock had cracks and fissures 
 running crosswise with the stream, so we 
 reasoned that if there was gold above, par- 
 ticles would liave been caught in these 
 cracks. We dammed the brook and turned 
 the stream to one side, exposing the fissures 
 in the rock. We tlicu gatliered several pans 
 of sand from the niches, examining it with
 
 GOLD BUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 21 
 
 wistful oyes, but no trace of gold did we 
 find. So we gave it up on tliat stream. We 
 found ndtliing save Fool's (Jold. We Ivcpt on 
 up the eafion an<l, as it was yet early, de- 
 cided to clind) Ilie niounlaii; peak. As we 
 went up tlie spruces grew smaller and 
 tinally disajipeared. The sides were barren 
 save for a thin covering of moss and licliens 
 and patclies of stunted liuclv!el)erry buslies. 
 Tliese l)uslies, not more tlian three or four 
 inclies liigli. bore lioi'des of luscious ripe 
 liuclcleberries, and nearly every liundred 
 feet in our clind) we would di'op on our 
 l<nees on tlie soft moss and till ourselves, so 
 4)ften c-ould we liud room for more. Another 
 little blaclv spicy berry growing in crannies 
 was good. .Inst as we were toiling up the 
 last slope a Hock of twenty white ptarmigan 
 tiew up in front of us. and circled down to 
 another ridge. They, too, had been feeding 
 on tlie huckleberries. 
 
 As we rested ourselves, sheltered in a niche 
 of tlie summit crag safe from tlie chilling 
 wind, a little red-backed mouse ran from a 
 crevice and scamjiered through the moss 
 straight to a hncklebtn-ry patch, his own 
 winter garden, (.'louds began to gather ou 
 the highest peaks, and we started down, leav- 
 ing them behind. 
 
 The moss was slippery and we found that 
 we could slide down the steep pitches easier 
 than we could walk or jump. I remembered 
 seeing tlie little Sioux slide down the hills 
 of Dakota in government skillets, and im- 
 mediately sat down ou my sliovel, steering 
 with tlie handle just as I had seen the In- 
 dian boys do, and made terrific progress. I 
 ■ was soon able to pick myself up. feigning to 
 examine a ledge of quartz while I rubbed 
 my posterior, and looked back for Clyde. 
 
 lie tried sitting in the gold-pan and started 
 all right, but soon found that he couldn't 
 steer. He went at a frightful rate, tearing 
 down the st(>ep slide backwards, until he. 
 too. found himself examining the geological 
 strata while giving some attention to his 
 anatomy. And then we had to hunt for the 
 gold-pan which, from the musical sounds 
 whieh grew fainter and fainter and tinally 
 died .-iway altogether, must have got 
 switched off into the bottomless abyss. Will 
 it he found some day generations hence and 
 Viorne off iu triumph as proof of a prehistoric 
 race'/ It was a race. Such is gold-hunting 
 in far-away Alaska. 
 
 At camp that evening we were joined by 
 a native, "Charley." who told us by signs 
 and by what few words he eould speak, that 
 be had come part way up the Hunt River 
 
 behind us. but had left his birch-bark canoe 
 several iinles below, roaunng off to hunt in 
 the neighlioiing hills. 
 
 He told us iliat he had shot a bear the 
 day before and had cached it down the river, 
 his boat being too sm.all to take it. He 
 wanted us to go and get it. Sure enough, a 
 few miles <lown, we found the liear as 
 Charley had said. It was all cut up. the skin 
 lieiug stretched on poles and fastened in a 
 tii'c. The carcass was also divided and hid- 
 den in a pole-liox raised high on a slender 
 scaffold. Charle.v had exiiected to come on 
 his sh'd later on and t;ike it lioiiie. Atier load- 
 ing on this prize we coni.uucd down Uie 
 
 \'e Visitors. 
 
 river, the Indian accompanying us in his 
 canoe. The rapids were furious and many, 
 ami we shot them as if we had been behind 
 a locomotive. It took a cool head to steer a 
 boat under these conditions, and Cox did it. 
 At one place the stream had washed under 
 a bank above and trees had fallen over. 
 making a complete set of rafters. The cur- 
 rent rushed the boat under a series of these, 
 like city roofs, and it kept us busy to duck 
 our heads. 
 
 We arrived home yesterday, making in 
 seven hours a distance that had taken us 
 three days to go up. Charley gave us bi-ar 
 meat to last a month. It tastes tishy. as the 
 bears live mostly on salmon in summer, but 
 it is a welcome addition to our larder. Dur- 
 ing the trip I obtained two hawk owls and 
 an AlaskiUi three-toe<l woodpecker, both 
 species being new to my collection. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OCT. 15. ISOS.— In looking over my diary 
 1 find that I have recorded no "bad 
 weather." This conies of my having in- 
 herited a tendency to look on the bright side
 
 22 
 
 GOLD EVI^TmO IN ALASKA. 
 
 of things. I hear sneh complaints as " bad 
 weather,"' " disagreeable day." " awfully 
 cold." etc. Days when some are grumbling 
 about its being " too hot " or '• too cold," 
 " too wet " or " too windy," I find some 
 special reason for thinking it very pleasant. 
 It is no virtue of mine, as I said. It is 
 natural. Tp till to-day there has been warm 
 weather mostly. Now there is a sudden 
 drop in the temperature. Seven degrees 
 above zero this morning. The north wind 
 is blowing and makes one's ears tiugle. All 
 standing water is frozen and the Kowak has 
 begun to shoAv patches of ice floating down 
 with the current. The great river is chok- 
 ing. It is being filled with ice which can 
 move but slowly, grinding and crunching 
 and piling up into ridges where opposing 
 fields meet. Suddenly it is at a standstill. 
 In a day or two the 
 
 ice will support us. 
 
 as it does now on 
 the margin. 
 
 So quickly does 
 the cold of winter 
 close its grip. All 
 these achievements 
 of nature are new 
 and interesting to 
 
 me. I ran down to .^^^ ^^^^^ of the "John 
 the river bank a Riiey." 
 
 dozen times to-day 
 
 to note how the process is going on. It is very 
 low now on account of the dry weather of 
 the past weeks, but. as the choking goes on. 
 a flow of water comes down from above 
 over the ice. making a double fastness. The 
 only tish that can survive will be those that 
 seek the deeper i)laces. There will be no 
 more passing of boats. We hear that the 
 steamer " John liiley " has been left high 
 and dry on a sand-bar. and has broken in 
 two in the middle by her own weight. Two 
 other boats are aground on sand-bars, and 
 must be taken to i)ieces if ever rescued. 
 
 Since the Hunt Kiver trip I have been at 
 home mostly. I have ])een cook, of course, 
 a part of the time. There is no special work 
 to be done outside. 
 
 I have collected some birds, but they are 
 growing very scarce. I went into the woods 
 to-day for a couple of hours, and saw only 
 two redpolls. 
 
 Hediioli.s look and act very much like our 
 goldlinchcs in the States. Rivers made me a 
 bird-table. It is strange, but everybody de- 
 clared they would "lire" me bodily if 1 con- 
 tinued to skin i)irds on tlic dining-table; tliat 
 is why Rivers took pity on me and made me 
 
 the finest table I could wish for, and a chair 
 to match. 
 
 We have the saw-mill. Dr. Coffin and 
 Harry Cox. with the aid of others, ran that 
 for several days, and enough boards were 
 ripped out to cover the cabin floor, besides 
 library and cupboard shelves. They declare 
 " whipping " is hard work. I didn't try it 
 myself, as I was cooking at the time. I pre- 
 fer to run a cross-cut saw. The saw-mill 
 worked " relays," working five minutes, 
 talking fifteen minutes, resting a half hour 
 before the next took its place. Whip-sawing 
 is an interesting process, especially to the 
 man who stands below and looks up into the 
 shower of sawdust. The doctor advised the 
 plan of wearing snow-glasses, so that the 
 sawdust difficulty was obviated, but the 
 hard work was still there. The doctor tried 
 his best to get me into the business, for he 
 said it would surely tend to straighten my 
 back, which stoops from constant skinning 
 of birds at the table. He got such a " crick " 
 in his back from whip-sawing that he could 
 scarcely sleep for several nights. 
 
 Besides the saw-mill, there was the fur- 
 niture factory. C. C. and Harry Reynolds 
 and Dr. Coffin were engaged in that enter- 
 prise. As a result the cabin is supplied with 
 double bedsteads, with spring-pole slats and 
 mattresses. And there are lines of wooden 
 pegs in the wall for hanging clothing, and 
 carpets for the bed-rooms made of gunny- 
 sacking stuffed with dry moss. 
 
 A partial partition runs lengthwise of the 
 cabin. At the kitchen end this partition is 
 composed of a tier of wootl, then an entrance 
 space, and then a series of shelves from top 
 to bottom for pantry, medical department 
 and library, which latter is extensive. At 
 the farther end is another open space com- 
 municating with the " bed-rooms." The 
 whole inside of the cabin is lined with white 
 canvas tenting, which brightens us up ten 
 times better tlian dark logs. On tlie south 
 side of the partition is tlio "living-room," 
 "dining-room" and "kitchen;" all in one 
 apartment to be sure, but yet with their 
 recognized limits. On the north side of the 
 partition is the bed-room. There are three 
 double beds and three single ones, accordiug^ 
 to the wishes of the occupants. A pole nnis 
 crosswise of tlie apartment, and on each 
 side of this is a line of pegs hung full of 
 clothes. This forms a wall dividing the 
 apartment into "bed-rooms." Carpeted 
 alleys run between the beds, and the walls 
 are hung witli clothing. Wliat we are to do 
 with all this clothing I do not know.
 
 GOLD HVNTINO IN ALASKA. 
 
 23 
 
 Oct. 21.— Just thronsh supper and cvory- 
 onc has settled dowu to read, except iuf; sev- 
 eral who have goue out to •' call at the 
 
 Our Sittincr-rocim. 
 
 neisrhbors'." C. C. Reynolds, our president, 
 undertaker, preacher, all-around-man. has 
 taken to cooking. He started in well. For 
 supper he gave us some fine tarts. I am 
 glad to be relieved from the cooking, and 
 do not intend to engage in the business 
 again. "We shall see. 
 
 I am skinning mice now, little red-backed 
 fellows which swarm in the woods and 
 around the houses. I set my traps every 
 night. This morning I had a dozen. Wol- 
 vt'rines and foxes are common about here, 
 but they are too cute for me and decline to 
 be caught in the steel traps which I keep 
 constantly set for them. Au Indian shot tAVo 
 deer in the mountains and brought them to 
 tlie village. The doctor traded for some 
 venison, which is better than the bear meat, 
 though I have no craving for either. The 
 boys think me a baby because I prefer 
 " mush " to meat. 
 
 Last Sunday the temperature fell to even 
 zero. The trees were heavily covered with 
 hoar frost, and the scene, as the sun rose 
 upon it. was magnificent. 
 
 Everything is frozen solid. The river has 
 nearly a foot of ice already. The natives 
 are fishing through the ice and their 
 methods are very novel to me. They select 
 a narrow place in the river, and through 
 
 holes cut in the Ice they stick spruce poles 
 with tlie l>ranches left on, so that a fence is 
 foi'med across the river between the surface 
 and the bed. At inti-rvals openings are left, 
 and across these openings nets are sti'etched. 
 Tlie fish are coming down tlie river at this 
 time in the year, and when they reach one 
 of these fences they swim along until they 
 come to one of the opciiiiii^s. when they are 
 caught in the net. An Indian woman lies ou 
 tlie ice face down, all covered over tight 
 :ii)ove witli brush and tent cloth, so she can 
 watch when the fish get into the net. He- 
 sides netting them this way. the natives 
 have baited lines laid for the larger fisli. 
 Hooks are not used, but the bait, a small 
 fish for instance, is tied to the end of a 
 string, and with it a sliort. slender stick. 
 A large fish swallows tlie bait and the stick 
 with it. Wlien tlie fish starts away the line 
 is jerked lant. and tlie stick turns crosswise 
 in his stomach, and holds the game secure 
 until drawn up through the hole in the ice. 
 Several of us were over watching the In- 
 dians fishing yesterday and were examining 
 Some of the fish. I picked one up in my 
 innocence, but was commanded to put it 
 down. The women were very much vexed 
 with me. and were careful to place the fish 
 exactly the way it was. Clyde came witli 
 his camera to take some pliotographs, but 
 the natives considered it " bad luck," and 
 
 Our Kitchen. 
 
 he was remonstrated with vehemently, and 
 finally went away, dallying until he had 
 taken a shot or two. These women will
 
 24 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 have their hands full with us boys before 
 the winter is over, I fear. 
 
 The natives will not dress any deer skins 
 until the snow comes, " so that game will be 
 plenty " tliis winter. I am at work upon a 
 small vocabulary of the Eskimo language, 
 and already have two hundred words. The 
 language has many guttural sounds, and is 
 hard to express with letters, but I am learn- 
 ing it rapidly, and getting the words written 
 as accurately as possible under difliculties. 
 
 One of the Indian buys, Lyabukh. is very 
 bright, and understands what I want. He 
 is Teaming English very fast. 
 
 Our preacher holds services regularly 
 
 Come to Church, 
 
 every Sunday, and we go out to gather in all 
 the Indians of the village and the white men 
 in the vicinity. Four parties of three white 
 men each, have put up winter quarters 
 within a mile of us, so we have quite a com- 
 munity. Besides these, there are some 
 twenty prospectors six miles below us and 
 five above us. All have built snug winter 
 cabins. About a mile above us, back in the 
 woods, twenty Eskimos have established 
 their village for the winter, and built their 
 dug-outs, or igloos. There is seldom an hour 
 in the day when two or more natives are not 
 in our cabin, and, with a little encoura^'^e- 
 nient, such as C. C, with his missionary in- 
 stincts, gives them, they have become very 
 persistent visitors. 
 
 Last Sunday services were largely at- 
 teinlcd, there l)eing fifteen natives, and ten 
 of our white neiglibors. It was proposed, and 
 imanimously carried, that a clnirch l)e con- 
 structed by this community. So Mond.-iy. 
 Tuesday and Wednesday over a dozen men 
 were at work on the new chapel, which is lo- 
 
 cated back in a sheltered place in the woods. 
 It is now tinished except the fireplace, and 
 will serve as a church, school-room, and lec- 
 ture-room or town hall. 
 
 Several of us are going to start a school 
 for the Eskimo children in the neighbor- 
 hood. "NYe have seven months before us to 
 occupy in some manner, and why not this? 
 It would be monotonous to be continuously 
 biting off northern zephyrs, and pulling the 
 threads out of a tangled beard, and rubbing 
 one's ears, and eating baking-powder bis- 
 cuit; biscuit that are noue of your light, 
 fluffy things that have no backbone to them, 
 but something tliat will stay with you on a 
 hunt or a tramp with the tempera- 
 ture below the counting mark. 
 Then there are the nice fat sides 
 of bacon carefully preserved — " the 
 white man's buffalo meat," as the 
 Sioux Indians used to call it. We 
 have ordinary fried bacon, and 
 hashed bacon, and pork chops. 
 When it is dreadfully cold and it 
 doesn't slice readily, we chop it up 
 with the axe — and then it is we 
 have pork chops! 
 
 For variety's sake, if for nothing 
 else, we would all vote tlie 
 " school." Our life on the Kowak 
 will not be a sealed book never to 
 be read again when once the 
 springtime lays it away on the 
 shelf. We shall take it down and 
 peruse it and possibly make mar- 
 ginal entries in it when we are too old to do 
 anything else. Sitting in the chimney corner 
 toothless, and feelde of gait, it will give us 
 pleasure to remember the " school " in the 
 woods, on the banks of the mighty Kowak. 
 
 CHATTER VII. 
 
 OCT. no.— Returned last night from a six 
 days' trip up Hunt River. Clyde and 
 I started togetlier with the expectation 
 of getting far into the mountain ranges. As 
 has been my custom from a small bov when 
 starting on a trip. I made big preparations, 
 much l)igger than necessary. We had grub 
 enough tor two weeks. The boys expected 
 great tilings on our retui'u — bear, deer iMid 
 oth»>r game, all of wliich was conii lently 
 promised. But to tell the honest truth, I 
 wanted to get some chickadees and butcher 
 birds. To carry our voluminous outtit we 
 appropriiited a sled belonging to a neighbor- 
 ing Indian who had gone lishing. These na-
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 25 
 
 tive sleds are very light, having birch run- 
 n«M-s, and slender spruce frame- work, the 
 whole strongly laslied together with raw- 
 hide thongs. Every morning l)efore loading 
 we ponred water on the runners, thus form- 
 ing an ice shoe. As yet there is no snow, 
 so that our route necessarily lay along the 
 frozen river, wliich was covered with a foot 
 of ice. Our load weighed about three hun- 
 dred pounds, and where the ice was smootli 
 little exertion was needed to draw the sled 
 as fast as we could walk. In some places 
 sand had blown into the ice and such spots 
 would give us hard work. We wore 
 "creepers" on our heavy boots — that is, a 
 kind of conical pointed spike, screwed into 
 the bottoms, three into the heel and four 
 into the sole of the shoe. With these we can 
 walk anywhere up or down upon the ice 
 without slipping. In traveling, one of us 
 pulled tlie sled, with the rope over his shoul- 
 der, while the other pushed. Across the rear 
 of the sled were two sticks projecting back- 
 wards and upwards, with a cross-piece to 
 push against, baby-carriage fashion. 
 
 The tirst day we made rai)id progress, 
 making twenty-five miles. We camped at 
 night not far from the first foot-hills. The 
 tent was raised in a grove of cottonwoods 
 near the river, and soon a fire roared in the 
 camp stove. When I had the fire well 
 started, I went down to get a pail of water. 
 I walked to the middle of the creek and be- 
 gan to cliop hard where I thought the ice 
 was thinnest. Sure enough I had judged 
 correctly, for with the second stroke the ice 
 gave way under me, and down I went to the 
 arm-pits in the icy water. I had fallen 
 through an air hole. Luckily the ice all 
 around was firm, so that I could raise myself 
 up and wriggle out, or else my bath might 
 have been continued. As it was, before I 
 could reach the tent my clothes were frozen 
 stitl". Tlie temperatiu'e was below zero. 
 
 Fortunately for me I had a warm tent and 
 a cliange of clothes to go to. Meanwhile 
 Clyde had cut a big pile of wood and soon 
 we were wrestling with piles of flapjacks. 
 
 After supper I had another experience 
 with the ice. Forgetting that I had ex- 
 changed my wet boots for a pair of shoes 
 without creepers in them. I started to go 
 across the river. After the first ice had 
 formed the river had fallen, and now the ice 
 sagged downward from the banks towards 
 the middle, hammock-wise. As soon as I 
 stepped on the ice my feet flew out from 
 under me and down I slid. I got up. no 
 worse for wear, but with a sudden recollec- 
 
 tion that I had no creepers on. I cautiously 
 started to walk to the bank. Ijut on account 
 of the slant of tlie slippery ice, I could 
 make little headway before slipping bii'k. 
 I was in a similiar position to that of a 
 mouse in a tin basin. Finally by walking 
 down tlie river a short distance, I pulled 
 myself up by an overhanging willow. 
 
 Next morning at sunrise -- eight o'clock — 
 we starte(l on up the river. Soon we came 
 to long stretches of open water where the 
 stream had been too swift to freeze over. 
 In several places the icy margin was so nar- 
 row that it afforded room for but one run- 
 ner on the ice, and we had to drag the sled 
 over pebbles and sand. 
 
 Owing <o the fact that the stream became 
 swifter the further we went, we turned 
 about and started back with a view to mab- 
 
 Native Method ot Piling Winter Wood. 
 
 ing camp among the willows down the river, 
 where we had seen the most birds on the 
 \^ay up. 
 
 Clyde shot twice with his rifle at a red fox. 
 but missed it. He got *• rattled." as one 
 usually does when sliooting at game, and 
 as I have seen good hunters do. He tried a 
 target at the same distance as the fox had 
 been and hit the bull's-eye squarely. 
 
 We got down to the willows late in the 
 evening, but in time to select a sheltered 
 place for the tent before dark. While I 
 cooked the supper Clyde gathered a large 
 stack of hay for our bed. In a swale near 
 by the finest kind of red-top hay. all cured, 
 stood waist deep. Here, among the willows, 
 eight miles from Camp Penelope, we re- 
 mained for four nights. There ^^ ere a good 
 many fox and wolf tracks in the sand, and 
 I had my traps set all the time, but without
 
 26 
 
 GOLD HVNTIISG IN ALASKA. 
 
 success. However. I obtained a mouse new 
 to me— the lemmina:. Clyde tramped through 
 the country toward the mountains, but saw 
 nothing of importance. He fished and 
 brought back three grayling. I paid my re- 
 s])('cts to the small birds and secured four 
 rare chickadees, besides several redpolls, 
 pine grosbeaks. Alaskan jay, grouse, ptar- 
 migan, etc. I had bad luck with ptarmigan. 
 I missed seven good shots for some reason. 
 The ptarmigan are now clothed in very 
 thick winter plumage, which may account 
 for it in part. 
 
 I secured five. They are pure, spotless 
 white with black tails. They are very con- 
 spicuous now, until the snow comes, and 
 they seem to realize it, for they are ex- 
 tremely shy. They remain in flocks in the 
 willow thickets. In the middle of the day 
 they may be found dusting themselves on 
 the sunny side of the river banks among the 
 willows. Their tracks are everywhere. Al- 
 though there is no snow on the ground, in 
 many places there is a thick layer of hoar 
 frost on the sand and grass, and tracks of 
 any bird or animal are easily seen. 
 
 The days have grown very short now. We 
 would have to light our candle by half-past 
 fonr, and soon we would begin to yawn, 
 and by six we would go to sleep, not to get 
 up again until eight the next morning; and 
 even then it is with reluctance, on account 
 of the cold. The tent was easy to keep com- 
 foi'talily warm on the inside as long as the 
 fire burned in the stove, but in an hour after 
 the fire went out it was as cold inside as it 
 was outside. Clyde and I slept on the hay 
 with two pairs of blankets under us, and 
 two pairs over us, and a large canvas sheet 
 outside of the blankets well tucked in. And 
 the blankets were no common ones. They 
 were made for the Arctic trade, and were as 
 thick as an ordinary comforter. And then 
 we wore all our clothes. Each had on three 
 pairs of heavy wool socks, a hood and mit- 
 tens. 
 
 In Ihe morning the edges of the blankets 
 were faced with ice from our breath, and 
 the inside of the tent sparkled with a l)eauty 
 I cannot describe. It was foiu'teen degrees 
 below zero the last morning, and the boys 
 at home declared we got " frozen out." the 
 reason we returned so soon. Wlieu they 
 found out that we did not go even to the foot 
 of the iiiounlains, b>it had camped all that 
 time in the willows just across the river, 
 they ridiciUed lis unmercif\diy, especially 
 the doctor. But I'll be even witli him some 
 bright Arctic day. He even insinuated that 
 
 I went on that trip just to be able to cook as 
 much mush as I wanted to eat. I will ad- 
 mit that mush was a very agreeable feature 
 of the trip. 
 
 I really obtained what I went for — the 
 chickadees. I have tramped with a burro 
 (a California donkey), a canoe, and at last 
 with a sled, and I must say that the sled is 
 preferable when one has a level surface to 
 travel over. 
 
 We had carried grtib for two weeks, a 
 7 X 10 tent, camp stove and three lengths of 
 pipe, four pairs of blankets, tent fly. sailor 
 bag fidl of clothing, ax, hatchet, camera, 
 two guns, traps, etc. I think I will make an- 
 other trip soon if the weather remains clear. 
 
 Nov. 7.— A week ago Dr. Coffin, Clyde and 
 Rivers, with a Dr. Gleaves of the Hanson 
 Camp below us. started up the Kowak to 
 visit the other section of otir company about 
 one hundred and fifty miles north, and to 
 find out all the news of interest along the 
 route. They walked, carrying food, abun- 
 dant clothing, and camping tools, on a sled. 
 The.v hope to make the round trip in three 
 weeks. I had intended to make the trip witli 
 them, but have not yet put up all the birds 
 in m.v possession, and must work on them. 
 We are a small family now. only six. C. C. 
 still cooks, and I am willing he should con- 
 tinue the good work. He makes pies and 
 cakes almost " as good as mothei' nsed to 
 make," and fine yeast bread. 
 
 A damp, raw east wind makes it bitterly 
 cold to-day. At daylight this morning I 
 went across the river to the willows for a 
 couple of hotu's. It was six degrees below 
 zero when I started, and I wore only a thin 
 hood and mittens and a canvas jumper. By 
 the time I got well across I felt nearly 
 frozen, and as soon as possible I built a lire. 
 My nose was frost-bitten before I knew it. 
 I shot a ptarmigan and two redpolls before 
 returning. 
 
 Chcnetto. one of our native neighbors, 
 trapped a big gray wolf, a white fox and a 
 red fox last week, l have tried to trade for 
 them, but the natives say they need them 
 for clothing; and they very plainly do, for 
 these are the poorest Indians we have met. 
 I regret our opportunity for trading down 
 at Cai)e Prince of Wales. We (>xpected (he 
 same advantage in Kot7A'bue, but are disap- 
 l)oinfed. One or two of our company keep 
 an eye on special bargains and appropriate 
 them. 
 
 Dast week a (Jerman called at every camp 
 on the Kowak working up a " winter mail
 
 GOLD IIUN7ING IN ALASKA. 
 
 27 
 
 route." lie had skated up from the mouth 
 of the river, and proposed to take U'tters 
 down to Cape Hh)ss(>ni for one dulhir each. 
 A rein(U'er team is expected Tliere from St. 
 Micliaels in Decendter which will brinj; in or 
 carry back any mail. He is called "The Fly- 
 ing iHitchman." 
 
 Anotlier man from up the river came down 
 yesterday on uie 
 s a m e business, 
 proposini: further 
 to take mail him- 
 self to St. Mi- 
 chaels. Some of 
 our lov/a neigh- 
 bors warned us 
 of him as a pos- 
 sible " c r o k." 
 He claims to 
 have seven hun- 
 (b'ed letters prom- 
 ised at one dollar 
 each. One meets 
 all kinds of peo- 
 ple in tills deso- 
 late country, and 
 even the face of 
 a " crook " is not 
 rare. 
 
 Schemers are 
 trying various 
 ways to get money. The gold proposition 
 here is an entire failure so far, and the 
 stories pul)lislied are no better than " made 
 up on i)urpose." It is supposed they were 
 constructed by the transportation coiu- 
 panies, and surely these liave reaped a 
 harvest tliis year. A tliousand men are 
 in winter quarters in the Kotzebue region, 
 besides the many who went back the 
 last thing in the fall. Hundreds of thou- 
 sands of dollars were expended by parties 
 coming here, and nothing is taken out; all 
 of that money going to tlie transportation 
 companies and merchants of San Francisco 
 
 and Seattle. I'he H crowd alone, who 
 
 are camjied five miles Itelow us. paid 
 $."11,000 for their outfit, including sailing ves- 
 sel and river steamer. Part of this company 
 got "cold feet" and went back, and the re- 
 mainder have tons of provisions here to dis- 
 pose of. They cannot get it into the interior 
 to the Klondike regions, and so they will 
 have to transport it all l)ack down the river 
 and so on to San Francisco, unless they can 
 disj)ose of it on tlie way. wliicli is not likely. 
 It is strange how many fools were started 
 to this country by bogus reports in tlie ni'ws- 
 papers. Each party tliought itself about the 
 
 liutchman. 
 
 only one coming up here, and. what Is most 
 amusing, many of them had a "sure thing." 
 Several iiartics whom we know of i»ai(l 
 sdiiicone lor a " tip " as to the exa<-t place 
 where the gold was waiting for the lucky 
 m.in to pick it up. When they arrived at the 
 Sound they ruslied as soon as their feet 
 could carry them, to take possession of their 
 in'omised gold, oidy to find that they had 
 been duped. They returned with righteous 
 indignation burning in their bosoms, and to 
 tills day and f(jr ail time to come, justice is 
 in hiding for the scotnidrels. if they are 
 found. 
 
 This country may [lossildy have gold in it. 
 for I know tliat it has not been prospe<-te(l 
 as it should. Men i)an out on a sand-bar 
 of a river here and there and are discour- 
 aged at finding nothing. And moreover they 
 will not do another stroke of work, but 
 either return to the States, or camp some- 
 where waiting for "another man" to sink 
 shafts and do what we know is real pros- 
 pecting. I should not lie surprised if three- 
 fourths of the people on this river are idle, 
 waiting for the others to dig. I know that 
 our camp has done practically nothing, as 
 may lie seen from the reports which I have 
 made, when I myself was supposed to be 
 one of the prospectors. We are all equally 
 guilty. It seeius that people expected to 
 find mines all ready to work. and. since none 
 are visible, sit down and give it up. Our 
 company, as well as many another, is some- 
 thing of a farce wiien it comes to I>eing a 
 " mining company." We are doing notlilng. 
 It seems that when the gold fever takes hold 
 of a man it deprives him of a fair propor- 
 tion of his reason. But it cannot be denied 
 that we are getting experience. Who would 
 not be a miner under such comfortable cir- 
 cumstances as ours? Meanwhile I am skin- 
 ing mice and chickadees. I am doing ex- 
 actly what I want to do. and work here is 
 original work of wliicli I shall be glad in 
 time to come. I wotild be nowhere else In 
 the world than riglit here now. One cannot 
 take a stroll in tlie .\rctlcs every day. 1 am 
 resolved to remain as long as I can and im- 
 prove my opi)ortunities. If the company dis- 
 bands I shall stay with the missionaries. I 
 do not know what this gold-hunting expe- 
 dition came up here for unless to accommo- 
 date me. unintentionally of course. Every- 
 thing delights me, from the hoar frost on 
 my somewhat scanty though growing beard, 
 to the ice-loiked Kowak and its border of 
 silver-laden spruces. And the ptarmigans: 
 What beautiful birds! part and parcel in
 
 28 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 color anri endurance of this frozen world. 
 And the winter is not ualf over. What rev- 
 
 n the Spruce Woods. 
 
 elations when sprins knocks at the barred 
 doois! How alert the awakenuij; landscape 
 I can as yet only ijarlially realize. 
 
 CITAPTKi: VIII. 
 
 "\ POV. 12, 7 o'clock a. ra.— Great excite- 
 J^ nient prevails. The " Flying Dutch- 
 man " returned down the Kowak last 
 nifjht. lie is the German who passed on 
 about twelve days a^o to learn all the news 
 and gather mail. He brings us good news, 
 such news as makes the heart of a gold- 
 hunter in the Arctics palpitate with emotion. 
 He met a man above the Par Kiver. one 
 hundred and seventy-Hve miles east of us, 
 who had just come over from the head 
 waters of the Koyukuk Uiv<»r to get a sled- 
 load of jirovisions. This man reported that 
 gold in large quantities had been found on 
 a branch of the Koyukuk near the head of 
 this river, .and that he and others had staked 
 
 out rich claims. The " Flying Dutchman " 
 also reported that six of our boys from the 
 upper Penelope Camp had already started 
 with sleds for that region, and that Dr. 
 Coffin had reached the Penelope Camp in 
 safety and was now on his way back to give 
 us the news. We expect his party to-night. 
 This news, if true, changes the whole aspect 
 of things. We have heretofore had no as- 
 surance that gold had been found in this 
 country, and we believed ourselves to be the 
 victims of '• fake " stories. What a change 
 of feeling in our campi Although this re- 
 port may also be a fake, we will enjoy these 
 hapi)y expectations until further develop- 
 ments. One thing is true, and that is that 
 our boy^' above here have started a party 
 to the head of the Koyukuk. and must have 
 learned something favorable. When the 
 doctor and the rest get back to-night we 
 shall certainly know all about it. 
 
 It was just a day or two ago that I was 
 writing a discouraging entry. So hope fol- 
 lows despair, and again despair may follow 
 on the heels of hope, with gold-hunters. 
 
 We have two sleds now nearly finished, so 
 that if the doctor confirms the news, we 
 will be ready to start immediately for the 
 Koyukuk in the teeth of an Arctic winter. 
 Let it growl: What care gold-hunters for 
 old Boreas? We are in high spirits. Last 
 night we had what is denominated with us 
 " a high old time." We yelled, and danced, 
 and sang impromptu songs, such as the fol- 
 lowing, which needs the camp conditions to 
 give it the true ring: 
 
 The Flying Dutchman came round the bend, 
 
 Good-by, old Kowak, good-by ; 
 Shouting the news to all the men, 
 
 Good-by. old Kowak, good-by. 
 Gold is found on the Koyukuk, 
 The people here will be piechuck (Eskimo 
 
 for " gone "). 
 The " Penelope " gang have made a sleigh, 
 And part are now upon the way. 
 If you get there before I do. 
 Stake a claim there for me, too. 
 We'll start right now with spade and shovel, 
 And dig out gold to beat the devil. 
 
 This immortal song proves that we are a 
 lively crowd. With the banjo Jind autoharp 
 as accompaniment, we demonstrate a "good 
 time" while we feel like it. 
 
 Meanwhile, until further news, we shall 
 continue to get ready between the songs. 
 Brown and I and the two Harrys are mak- 
 ing a sled.
 
 GOLD HVNTmO IN ALASKA. 
 
 29 
 
 Last Sunday we had a pood-sized coufrre- 
 gation for morniufi " services." Twenty-live 
 white men were present, but only a few na- 
 tives. We were wonderinj; wliy tlie Eski- 
 mos were not coming, and Harry Kcyuolds 
 went up to the villajre to see. lie found 
 them all playing poller. Harry finally per- 
 suaded two men to come, after they liad won 
 all the stakes. The rest kept on i)laying. 
 Natives who cannot speak a word of 
 English — and very few can — know how to 
 play cards, and can read the numbers in 
 their own language and count up faster 
 than we. They play for lead, cartridges, 
 tobacco, etc., but the stakes are never very 
 large, owing to their limited means. Yester- 
 day our cabin was full of 
 Eskimos all day. 
 
 A couple of young men 
 got hold of our croconole 
 board, starting in at ten 
 in the morning and play- 
 ing witliout a stop until 
 ten at night. And they 
 can play well, too; better 
 than we can. We found 
 that they were playing 
 for toliacco, am! that in 
 tne house of a lialf-way 
 missionary outtiv who 
 have just completed a 
 chapel for the regenera- 
 tion of the natives 1 A 
 previously-prepared quid 
 of tobacco, which may 
 have done service as the 
 stake for other games in 
 the past, was enjoyed by 
 the winner oi each game, until he in turn 
 was defeated, when the quid rt'verted to the 
 original winner, and so on back and forth 
 all (lay. 
 
 Tlie Indians seldom spit out the tobacco 
 juice, but swallow it. They seem to have 
 cast-iron stomachs. When they smoke, they 
 draw the smoke into their lungs and retain 
 it several seconds before exhaling. I have 
 many times watched an Indian inhale a 
 great puff of smoke, but I have never seen it 
 return again. Whether they swallou it, as 
 tiiey seem to do. or what becomes of it, I do 
 not know. The women and even little chil- 
 dren all smoke. I saw a funny sight last 
 summer down near the Mission, and only 
 regret that the camera was not along. A 
 little " kid " about four years old. without a 
 stitch of clothing on. except an otticer's old 
 cap, was strutting around the camp with an 
 immense corn-cob pipe in his mouth, and he 
 
 knew how to smoke, too. The question is. 
 where did he get the pipeV 
 
 At noon yestenlay there were six or eight 
 Eskimo men and one woman sitting around 
 in the cabin, and as usual at mealtime C. C. 
 gave them sometiiing to eat. Among the 
 other viands were soiue beans an<l a bowl of 
 gravy. This giavy had been made from the 
 juice of fried bear meat, but it did not have 
 a shred of the meat in it. C. ('. passed 
 around this varied mess in bowls to the na- 
 tives. They began to eat with relish, when 
 one of the men suddenly demanded of C. C. 
 in a stern voice wlu'ther there was any bear 
 in the "cow-cow" (tooili. 
 
 C. C. said at iirst there was not. but the 
 
 Indian tasted it again and looked sus- 
 piciously at C. C. who suddenly remeinlH'red 
 the bear juice and admitted there was "a 
 little." The woman at once threw down her 
 food and the men fell to talking earnestly. 
 They said that Itear meat would kill a 
 woman if she ate it, but it was perfectly 
 safe for men. It is awful to think of; how 
 we might have been held \\]\ for murder in 
 that desolate land, and hung by a rawhide 
 rope to the dome of the Aictii- Circle. It is 
 a fact that this wom.an died two weeks af- 
 terwai'd. The natives hold many supersti- 
 tions as to when and what to eat. No In- 
 dian woman was allowed ro do any sewing 
 in the village yestenlay because there was a 
 man very sick in one of the igloos. Should 
 they dare to sew it might cause his deatli. 
 
 It is half-past seven now. and C. C. has 
 got up and is starting the breakfast. It is 
 beginning to be quite light outside and I will
 
 30 
 
 GOLD BUNIING IN ALASKA. 
 
 go out and examine my traps before break- 
 fast. 
 
 Sunday. Nov. 1.3.— The wind has blown 
 from the north constantly for two days and 
 is increasing. The iloctor and the boys are 
 not back either, so they must have stopped 
 at some camp on the way down. They are 
 wise to do that. I went out on the river 
 awhile this evening, and could scarcely 
 stand up against the wind. And the sand 
 was blowing in clouds across the ice from 
 the opposite side of the river. It has been 
 at even zero all day. In spite of the bad 
 weather there was a large attendance at 
 
 Entrance to Native Igloo. 
 
 church this morning, there being thirty-two 
 white men i)resent. There were two from 
 " Ambler City." thirty-six miles up the 
 Kowak. and two or three from the Jesse 
 Lou Cam]j twelve miles below us, while 
 nearly all the Hanson boys came up. Those 
 frcjiii uji the river came down on skates yes- 
 tei'day and spent the niglit at the (luardian 
 Camj). four miles aliove us. They liad seen 
 nofliing of the doctor and his party. Ser- 
 vices were held in the new chapel for the 
 first time. And it was a great success; the 
 ciiai)el. 1 mean. The room w^as comfortably 
 filled and was quite warm. A great l)lazing 
 fire in the stone fireplace on one side made 
 •t cheerfully warm, and a great square 
 o{)ening in the roof, covered with an almost 
 tr;iiisi)arent walrus gut skin, admitted 
 jilciity (jf light. The service consisted 
 mainly of familiar hymns, accom](jinied by 
 tiie (trcliestra. Tlie orchestra consists of the 
 autoiiarp. played by C. C.. the clarionet by 
 Lyman of the Iowa Camp, the banjo by 
 
 Harry Reynolds, and the violin by Norman- 
 din of the Hanson Camp. The music is fine, 
 too. It alone is a big attraction for men up 
 in this country, as very few thought of 
 bringing musical instruments. C. C. made a 
 short talk, and so did Mr. Dozier of the Han- 
 son Camp. After the regular service a 
 social hour was spent. This was the first re- 
 ligious meeting since leaving the States, for 
 several of the men. It is very nice. I thinlv, 
 to have these Sunday meetings, if only for 
 the social enjoyment. Rumor has come to 
 us by way of the Yukon and Koyukuk that 
 the Spanish war is at an end, and that the 
 Philippiues and Cuba are fi'ee. How W'e 
 would like to know the details! But 
 alas! by the time we do get them 
 they will be as stale as last year's 
 gingerbread. 
 
 Nine men accepted our invitation 
 for dinner, and our house might be 
 said to be full. C. C. had prepared 
 for such an emergency, and a big 
 roast of bear with stutling. fried 
 venison and pies without limit made 
 a feast that everyone enjoyed. We 
 are all " prodigal sons," the only dif- 
 ference being that we are having 
 our " fatted calf " all the way along. 
 Two of the men declared that this 
 was the first time they had eaten 
 pie since leaving home. There is 
 nothing like pie to bring a fellow to 
 his home senses. 
 
 Those who have visited all the 
 camps on the Kowak. say that ours 
 is the largest and most comfortable house 
 on the river. I think this is the case but we 
 are not the only ones who enjoy its comforts 
 and hospitality. 
 
 1 do not expect we shall have so large an 
 attendance again at Sunday services, for 
 to-morrow ten of the Iowa boys, our nearest 
 neighbors, start with lieavily loaded sleds 
 to get as far as i)ossil)le toward the Koyu- 
 kuk l)efore the snow comes. Others are talk- 
 ing of starting soon, and if more favoral)le 
 news comes we may all skip out. I would 
 not hesitate a moment to go now if we could 
 be sure as to the snowfall. We have no 
 snoAVshoes, and it woidd be disastrous to be 
 snowed in for several months in some ileso- 
 late i)lace witli limited provisions. 
 
 Yesterday 1 made a hood out of a canvas 
 Hour sack to be p>U on outside of my wool 
 hood which mother knit, and it will kin^p 
 out a good deal of wind. 1 also put a heavy 
 canvas lining over my woolen mittens and 
 darned several pairs of socks. That is the
 
 GOLD HUN'JING JN ALASKA. 
 
 31 
 
 first time I have done any mending since 
 leaving lionie. Perhaps there is no time in 
 a fellow's life when affectionate remem- 
 brance of his hnman sisters so comes to him 
 as when his {jarments need repairinj?. Hless 
 them! — the sisters and mothers, not the };ar- 
 nients. 
 
 Last week an Indian broujilit in another 
 bear, a larger one than the Hunt River bear, 
 and we traded for a hind <niarter, about 
 forty pound.s. The flesh is rather strong, 
 but we eat it with relish. C. C. has tlie 
 promise of the hide. 
 
 Vesterday there was great activity in sled 
 building. Brown's sled is nearly 
 done. Chenetto, a young Eskimo, 
 worked for us most of tlie day lasli- 
 ing the pieces together. He is an ex- 
 pert. Luckily I traded for a large 
 <iuantity of walrus-hide string at 
 Cape I'rince of Wales. It is about 
 the only material strong enough to 
 lasli sleds together. 
 
 Last week we nearly all shaved 
 our beards off, which greatly im- 
 proves the looks of most of us. That 
 was not the cause of their removal. 
 The ice forms in one's moustache 
 and beard in chunks, and is very dis- 
 agreeable and inconvenient to carry 
 about. C. C. had a specially tine 
 beard and it became him. Mine was 
 long on the chin with rather silky 
 burnsides, and the boys then called 
 me yi Pumpkins. I then shaved off 
 my moustache and all but the long, 
 straggling chin whiskers, and they 
 called me Deacon Greentree. But 
 DOAv I am plain "Joe" again, and 
 they tell me I shall never attemi)t an- 
 other beard at risk of disgracing the 
 camp. We ha'e a pair of grocer's 
 scales with our hundreds of other things, 
 and weigh ourselves at times. My weight is 
 148 pounds as against 127 when I left home 
 last April. This proves that a trip to the 
 Arctics is favorable to health and avoirdu- 
 pois. 
 
 By the way, I saw ray first nuggets to-day. 
 " Hard-luck Jim," one of the men from 
 Ambler City, had three small gold nuggets, 
 But they were not taken on tlie Kowak, alas! 
 They came from Cook's Inlet. 
 
 The " Flying Dutchman " gave us a dia- 
 gram of the Kowak River, with the camps 
 and distances as he judgi'd tliem when skat- 
 ing up the river. I will record them, begin- 
 ning at Iloltham Inlet. It may be years 
 hence that some other prospecting pai'ties 
 
 will wend their way into these parts, and, 
 seeing our deserte<l villages. i)ause in win- 
 der at the lesson they teach. The first camp 
 is forty miles from the moulh of the Kowak. 
 the Buckeye Camp; then thirty-five miles 
 and the Orphans' House; one-half mile and 
 Sproud's Camp; nine miles. Riley Wreck; 
 nine miles. l'.ilkenl»erg ("amp; one mile. 
 Lower Kotzel»ue ("am](; twelve miles, Indian 
 Camp: twenty miles. .lessc Lou Camp; 
 twelve nules, Sunnyside: one-half mile. 
 Lower Hanson Camp; three miles. Lower 
 Penelop<> Camp (our own» and Lower Iowa 
 Camp; four miles, (Juardian Camp; tliiriy 
 
 
 The Loanins: Tree that M.irked our Camp. 
 
 miles. Ambler City; three miles. Upper Han- 
 son Camp: fifty miles, Mulkey's Lanrling; 
 four miles. Camp Riley: four miles, .\gnes 
 Boyd Camp; ten miles. ri)per Iowa Camp; 
 two miles. Kogoluktuk River, on which. v^ 
 about six miles from the mouth, are the 
 I'piier Peneloi)e Camp (our boysi ami river 
 boat "Helen"; ten miles. Stony Camp; one 
 and one-lialf miles, I'pper Kotzebue Camp 
 and Kate Sudden gulch; tiiree miles. Farns- 
 worth Camp; thriH' miles. .Nugget Camp: 
 eiglit miles. ri)i)er (Juardian Cami); 'Cw^ 
 miles. D;iveni>ort (?':imp: five miU-s. Leslie D. 
 Camp: eight miles, Ralston Camp; two miles. 
 I\ir River. Captain (Jreen's Camp. From 
 this point there are camps on to the Reed 
 River, seventy-five miles further up the
 
 32 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 Kowak.- but the "Flying Dutchman" did 
 not go farther than the Par River. He re- 
 ports eight hundred men in winter quarters 
 on the kowak alone. Thus is this desolate 
 Kowak country peopled with expectant gold 
 seekers, where a year ago a white man's 
 track in the snow was a thing unknown. 
 And what will be the result? Time alone, 
 with the assistance of my note-book, shall 
 record it. And here come the boys, but the 
 doctor's face is not jubilant. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 "\ POV. 15. 1S98.— The boys returned last 
 J\ night very weary. They gave us the 
 news much as the " Flying Dutch- 
 man " had. Six of our Upper Penelope boys 
 have started for the Koyukuk with four 
 
 starting for the Koyukuk. 
 
 months' provisions. They are Miller. Foots, 
 Alec. Stevenson, Shafer and Casey. They 
 carry eighteen hundred pounds on two sleds, 
 three men to each sled. Sliaul has gone to 
 the Pick River, where "good indications" 
 are reported. Tiiat leaves Wilson, McCul- 
 loiigli and Farrar at the Upper Camp. Dr. 
 Coflin has little faith in the news. He fears 
 it is an >uil"oundc(i rumor like m;uiy another. 
 Moreover our doctoi- thinks it foolliardy and 
 dangerous to start on such a trip, and he is 
 anxious about the boys wlio have gone. 
 None of them have had any experience with 
 cold weather, being California boys. Casey, 
 iu fact, was never outside of Los Angeles 
 
 county, until this trip, and none of the crowd 
 are dressed for severe weather. They have 
 but little fm- clothing. However, timber 
 covers most of the country they will cross, 
 and they will, of course, put up a cabin if 
 necessary. You couldn't entice the doctor out 
 on such a trip for all the gold in Alaska. 
 It ranged down to thirty-live degrees below 
 zero while he and the boys were out, and 
 they camped several nights, although at all 
 the camps on the river hospitality reigned. 
 The doctor had one finger frozen. He says 
 he did not suspect it was nipped until he 
 warmed his hands over the camp fire. It is 
 very easy to be frozen without kKowing it, 
 even with the tliermometer only thirty-five 
 degrees below. But what about sixty below 
 zero? 
 
 News has come to us that hundreds of 
 
 other men ai-e waiting to get to Kotzebue 
 
 at the earliest possible 
 
 moment. The gold-hunt- 
 
 ers up the river are 
 mostly doing nothing, 
 waiting for spring to 
 open so they can go 
 home. A few are sink- 
 ing shafts in favorable 
 localities, but as yet 
 without success, though 
 there are some " indica- 
 tions," whatever these 
 are. It is a great under- 
 taking to dig a hole in 
 frozen ground. Fires are 
 built and kept burning 
 for «ome time and then 
 removed, and the thawed 
 dirt and gravel taken 
 out. This process is re- 
 peated again and again, 
 and the result is dread- 
 fully s 1 o w. Frozen 
 ground is tougher than 
 rock to dig in. McCnllough. Wilson and 
 Farrar are starting such a hole at their 
 camj). 
 
 Our enthusiasm about the new strike on 
 the Koyukuk is subsiding. We sing no more 
 impiomi)tu songs. But we have six men in 
 that direction, and if they are fortunate 
 enough to get through they will send two 
 men back for provisions. 
 
 Me:iinvliile 1 am collecting chickadees and 
 redpolls. A couple or three of our leading 
 men, wlio shall be nameless in this connec- 
 tion, are homesick. Yes. blue. They will be 
 seen in Southern California as soon as tliey 
 can craw) out of the Kowak country on their
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 33 
 
 hands and knees. Now, watch and see who 
 they lire. 
 
 ThrtH' of our neighbors started up the 
 river yesterday with a load of eleven hun- 
 dred ])()unds on a sled. They started on the 
 smooth iee all right, but tive miles north 
 the sand has covered the ice clear across the 
 river. They were stuck there and, after 
 strujrjilinj; over the sand for a few hours, 
 pave it up and returned. The Iowa boys 
 have not started yet, but are spending more 
 time in making good sleds and tixing skates 
 on their runners. If they start at all, which 
 I doubt, they will certainly have better suc- 
 cess than others. Dr. Cotlin declares he is 
 going to stay by and in our good, warm 
 cabin the rest of the winter. He is quite 
 pessimistic to-night. He predicts much suf- 
 fering this winter. He found in his recent 
 travels that open fireplaces ai'e a failure. 
 Cabins heated by them are cold. There is 
 too much draft and the temperature cools 
 off quickly when the fire dies down. We 
 have two stoves, and water never freezes 
 over in the cabin. 
 
 Nov. 18. — We just had a dreadful catas- 
 trophe. C. C. had set his keg of yeast on the 
 rafters above the stove to keep warm and do 
 its " work." HaiTy Reynolds had some poles 
 near by across the rafters. The latter gen- 
 tleman is at work on his new sled and, re- 
 (piiring one of the poles, reached for it rather 
 hastily. As a result the yeast keg turned 
 over. The doctor was sitting beneath, 
 calmly reading some good bcMjk, when nearly 
 the entire contents, a gallon of sour yeast, 
 poured on to his unprotected head and down 
 his neck, and spread itself out as if to shield 
 him from any other danger. What a sight, 
 it is impo-ssible for me to portray. Not con- 
 tent with deluging the poor medico, the stuff 
 slopped over evei'ything in the vicinity of 
 two or three yards. Several of us had a 
 dose, but none was so seriously affected as 
 the doctor, who is even now at work on his 
 clothes with warm water and a sponge. 
 The smell of sour dough permeates the at- 
 mosphere. Brown remarks that it reminds 
 him of the extremely sour odor which filled 
 the cabin of the " Penelope " the first night 
 out from San Francisco. 
 
 For my part I thinlv it convenient to have 
 these little interruptions — when they fall on 
 another man's head. It livens things up. 
 
 One or two other events have served to 
 liven us up. liast night one of the natives 
 at the Indian village died. It was what we 
 expected, for he has been very sick for a 
 
 week with pneumonia. This morning at 
 daylight we noticed a smoke across the river 
 and I walked over to investigate the cause. 
 I regretted finding the oliseipiieg <-losed and 
 the four natives who had officiated just leav- 
 ing. They had taken the dead man and all 
 his personal belongings over to the liank of 
 the river opposite the village, to a little knoll, 
 where they built a platform on some poles 
 leaned against each other for support. The 
 body was wrapped in tent cloth and laid on 
 this platform, which was about five feet 
 above the ground — as high as the men could 
 conveniently reach. After this the whole 
 was firmly lashed together with walrus 
 thong, so the winds and the dogs cannot tear 
 it down. By the side of the scafiCold the 
 
 Scaffold Buria 
 
 dead man's sled was laid upside down, and 
 hung on the willows around were all the 
 personal belongings of the deceased. He 
 was " well-to-do," and these amounted to 
 considerable as the Eskimos valued them. 
 There were two nice reindeer skins, his 
 clothes, mittens, niuckluks, handkerchief, 
 tin cup, etc. It seemed too bad to see those 
 two deerskins left to decay in the weather, 
 when the dead man's relatives are in sore 
 need, but this is the invariable custom of 
 these people. No worse than what occurs 
 among Christians, when all available and 
 tinavailable funds are used to defray the 
 expenses of an ostentatious funeral, leaving 
 the family in destitution. 
 
 .loe Jury and Jack Messing, two of the 
 Hanson Camp l>oys. spent the day with us 
 and we had a big dinner. This " having 
 company " disturbs the monotony of so 
 much " prospecting," as we are doing these 
 days. 
 
 Nov. 20, Sunday, G p. m.— To-day has been 
 a very enjoyable one at this camp on the
 
 34 
 
 GOLD HTJIiTi:SG IN ALASKA. 
 
 Kowak. In fact every day is. The Hanson 
 boys were all up for Sunday services. There 
 were also two men from the Jesse Lou 
 Camp, fifteen miles below us. who are visit- 
 ing the Hanson Camp. The latter have in- 
 vited our whole crowd down for Thanksgiv- 
 ing dinner next Thursday. We look forward 
 to a " big spread." for this camp is abun- 
 dantly supplied with luxuries in the food 
 line, as I can testify, having taken dinner 
 with them twice already. They are well-to- 
 do. educated men. full of spontaneous hilar- 
 ity, and a great boon to the Penelope Camp. 
 Solsbury is a correspondent of the San Jose 
 " Mercury." He is a lawyer and of course a 
 good talker. He tells stories by the hour. 
 
 This afternoon he got started from some 
 cause — a predetermined one. I presume — and 
 talked for two hours. He resembles the 
 newspaper cuts of Mark Twain. It is very 
 entertaining when he tells of his experience 
 in lumbering in the Sierras. His own boys 
 say that he talks so incessantly that they 
 beg him to quit before they get tired of his 
 wit or confiscate it entirely. Everyone grows 
 tiresome to his fellows on a trip like this; it 
 could not be otherwise. Constant associa- 
 tion for months brings out a man's faults 
 and traits of character so plainly that those 
 which are of little note glare like tiger's eyes 
 in the dark, and his company becomes dis- 
 agreeable, living as we do in a little cabin, 
 and looking in each other's faces if we take 
 a stroll, to keep watch for frost bites. It is 
 better to be in a large company than in a 
 small crowd, so one can vary his personal 
 reflections. 
 
 Jack Messing is a man one likes to meet. 
 He is a (iermau by birth and the most gen- 
 erous of men by nature. His great fault is 
 generosity, a vice seldom met with in my 
 remembrance, and the boys make him the 
 butt of dozens of jokes. He would give 
 away the last stitch of clothing he owns 
 should a man ask him. He gives the Eski- 
 mos all sorts of things and feeds them 
 whenever he can. which is all the time, for 
 these natives know a friend and are faithful 
 to him. He has previously worn a full 
 beard, but to-day he stalked into church 
 with his face shaven clean excepting a long 
 fringe of whiskers left in a circle from ear 
 to ear around under his chin. He wore a 
 belt and pistol, and had a big tin star on his 
 left coat lapel and carried a " she-la-ly." 
 He looked exactly like an Irish policeman, 
 only with the usual recognized attril)utes 
 of the latter highly accentuated. He stated 
 in Irish dialect that he was after the thief 
 
 who had stolen a pail of water from a cer- 
 tain camp down the river. As this allusion 
 was in reference to a well-known occurrence 
 of a week ago. it was very disastrous to the 
 serious feeling which should prevail at a 
 religious meeting, and it was some time be- 
 fore the congregation could settle down to 
 the business in hand. 
 
 This afternoon we had a regular concert. 
 The violin, autoharp and banjo make fine 
 harmony in this noiseless atmosphere, and 
 we were soon expressing our feelings in 
 jumping and dancing. Two pairs of bones 
 rattled to such of the music as was appro- 
 priate, and it was no dull time in the Pene- 
 lope Camp. Clyde took the pictures of the 
 crowd. I say this afternoon, but I mean to- 
 day: it is light for only about six hours, and 
 at high noon the sun scarcely peeps alcove 
 the hills to the southward. It appears to be 
 sundown at noon, and the colors of sky and 
 landscape are beautiful. 
 
 We have had our first snow, only an inch, 
 but enough to whiten the landscape until 
 the next wind, that is booked for a circus, 
 whisks it all into the hollows and then cov-" 
 ers it up with sand, giving it a sharp rap 
 and bidding it " stay there." 
 
 This morning we saw a very beautiful 
 mirage. The mountains and trees down the 
 river from us were reflected in the sky 
 abovp, upside down. Then for another flue 
 display we have the aurora. Last night it 
 appeared in the form of a great bow reach- 
 ing nearly to the zenith. It consisted of 
 many colored scintillating rays, which 
 brightened and then almost disappeared, 
 only to reappear in different form as if they 
 had left the stage to change their costume. 
 The aurora appears in different form each 
 night. And there is the beautiful moonlight. 
 The moon is above the horizon always now. 
 It reverses the order of the sun and shines 
 all day in winter, scarcely appearing in sum- 
 mer. 
 
 How the time flies, to me at least! Before 
 Ave know it. Spring will tap at the door. 
 The unbearable monotony of an Arctic win- 
 ter, whicli some travelers dwell upon so 
 desolately, is unknown to us so far. and I 
 for one will never know it. During the past 
 few weeks I have read. So far have de- 
 voured " Last Days of Pompeii." " In Ilis 
 Steps,'' " Opening of a Chestnut Burr," 
 " The Honorable Peter Sterling," and " Eti- 
 dorpiia." I spent two weeks ujjon the latter 
 and think it is a wonderful book, coming 
 upon my thoughts here in tlie Arctics like a 
 great semi-scientific visitor. There are more
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 35 
 
 books in the neijihhorhood than I could reail 
 lu two winters. 
 
 I have been given a new name — " Chick- 
 adee Joe." At tlie Hanson Camp they call 
 uie " Little Joe," to distinguish me from 
 *' Hig Joe." We are very familiar with one 
 aiioilier and change very suddenly from a 
 higldy intellectual crowd to one of stirring 
 juvenility. We had such an unexpected 
 roni]) the other day. There was about an 
 inch of snow out on the smooth ice, and it 
 was snowing great flakes still. Three of 
 
 i 
 
 
 K|^^7< ';.-^21Ik' ^■ksI 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^K'^^^^^l 
 
 ^^^K'^^B. ' 
 
 ^1 
 
 fL. 
 
 m3t ^ 
 
 After the Ball. 
 
 'Our boys were playing snowball with several 
 ■of the Eskimo children, and washing each 
 • other's faces and slipping down all over the 
 ice. Two Eskimo " belles " joined us, Kal- 
 hak and Aggi-chuck, and they did not hesi- 
 tate to give us a return snowball or a face 
 ffull of the same. They were strong, too, 
 and severaJ times I found myself sprawling 
 on the ice and covered with snow, to the 
 great amusement of everyone. After all that 
 may be said of this strange people, they de- 
 rive a sort of very human satisfaction from 
 their cold and narrow life, and I shall al- 
 ways think of them as finding some happi- 
 ness in the long winter along with the 
 
 aurora and the moonlight. 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ~]V pOV. 25.— To-day we are resting nnd 
 J Y slowly recovering from yesterday's 
 " spriH>." It was the most gratifying 
 ^Thanksgiving, as far as the gastronomic and 
 social celebrations are considered, that I 
 
 have experienced. At eleven o'clock in the 
 morning our "Penelope" crowd of nine 
 were marshaled into line out on the ice, and 
 marched three miles down to the Hanson 
 Camp. Harry Reynolds was elected cap- 
 tain, and he bore a streamer of red. white 
 and l)lue. We were all dressed exactly alike 
 in (jur brown Mackinaw suits, sealskin 
 muckluks and hoods. Uur ai)i)earance was 
 l)ictiues<iue, and we regretted that there 
 were so few sjx-ctators to revii'w us. We 
 adinirtHl ourselves. When we reached the 
 first of the Hanson cabins, which are iiuilt 
 within a short distance of each other in a 
 spruce forest on a hillside, we lined up and 
 sang " Marching Through (Georgia " and 
 other patriotic airs. We have only recently 
 heard of the defeat of Spain, so were neces- 
 sarily in harmony with the songs we sang. 
 
 After breaking ranks we were divided 
 among the cal)ins for the day's entertain- 
 ment. Cabin No. 1 is occupied l)y Joe Jury. 
 Normandin, Jack Messing and Solsl)ury, and 
 these gentlemen invited C. C. Reynolds, 
 Clyde Baldwin, Rivers and myself. We felt 
 the honor of our invitation, for they had 
 been before styled the " Aristocracy of the 
 Kowak." 
 
 After the " Penelope " crowd was apjtor- 
 tioned, each division became the guests of 
 the cal)in to which it was assigned. Until 
 about three o'clock our company sat (piietly 
 engaged in conversation. Meanwhile one 
 could scarcely believe that a state dinner 
 was in process of preparation, and that in 
 the same room in which we were sitting. 
 Solsbury was cook, and what appeared at 
 his touch was marvelous, considering that 
 the cabin was short on culinary utensils and 
 he must " potter " over a little sheet-iron 
 stove. 
 
 At three o'clock the table was ready and 
 we sat down to it, eight of us. We were 
 seated opposite our hosts — Rivers opposite 
 Solsbury; C. C, Normandin: Clyde. Jack 
 Messing: and I opposite Joe Jury (Big Joe 
 and Little Joe), in the order named. At each 
 plate was an " Arctictically " executed 
 menu— a section of birch, one of the logs of 
 our hosts' cabin: thus literally were we the 
 guests of tlie house. This in itself was a 
 very appropriate memento of Thanksgiving 
 on the Kowak. 
 
 On one side of the plaque was written in- 
 delibly the menu. In one corner was a 
 sketch of the cabin. On the opposite we 
 later wrote our names, alternately, in order 
 as we sat at table. Here is a partial state- 
 ment of the menu:
 
 36 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 Split pea soup. Wafers. 
 
 Roast ptarmigan. Jelly. 
 
 Turkey potpie. 
 
 Sweet potato. Baked potato. Sweet corn. 
 
 Sago pudding. 
 
 Mince pie. Jelly tarts. Olives. Pickles. 
 
 Coffee. Cocoa. 
 
 This spread was one hardly to be expected 
 in the wilds of the Arctics; though, as I have 
 said, the Hanson Camp is never lacking 
 
 of PLirmigan. 
 
 in luxuries. Toward the end toasts were 
 proposed and speeches made. My toast was 
 to the ptarmigan, " The Turkey of the 
 Kowak.*' 
 
 We were two hours and a half at the table, 
 and I hesitate to say that some of us. my- 
 self included, had eaten more than was for 
 our intellectual good, and we were glad to 
 throw oui-selves on the be<^ls which Iwrdered 
 the dining-room. For the next two hours we 
 rested and gradually revived. Meanwhile 
 our hosts entertained us in original style. 
 One of the jokes was as follows: A pot was 
 set in one corner and in it was placed a 
 small spruce branch. Then Joe Jury sat 
 down behind this combination and picked 
 a tune from a string which was stretched 
 on a smaJl wowlen block. The translation 
 of this performance, a.s we were informed, 
 was, " After dinner the orchestra dispensed 
 sweet musie from behind potted plants." 
 After we had enjoyed hours of fun. all the 
 guests were summoned from all the cabins 
 and crowded into ours. Several speeches 
 
 followed, by Solsbury, Dr. Coffin. C. C. Rey- 
 nolds. Jury. Xormandin and others. Then 
 came more jokes. 
 
 At last the party broke up. and, after three 
 cheers for the Hanson boys, we marched 
 home in the bright Arctic moonlight, in the 
 order we had come. Thus ended the first 
 Thanksgiving ever celebrated on the 
 mighty Kowak. On our return home we 
 found the house had not been burglarized — 
 another proof that we were not in the limits 
 of civilization. 
 
 And here we are, spending the winter in 
 ease and luxiu-y, while our friends at home 
 are " remembering us in their prayers," and 
 imagining us in all sorts of peril, with dan- 
 ger of overwork, amid privation and hard- 
 ship. The fact is. we haven't done a stroke 
 of work worth mentioning, when we had 
 expected to be digging out the precious nug- 
 gets. In which condition are we the happier 
 or best off? I prefer the situation as it is. 
 What is gold anyway? It is the " root of all 
 evil," according to a misquotation, and, 
 conversely, I believe the less money a per- 
 son has. the happier life he leads. Anyway 
 it is good policy for us to advance this doc- 
 trine until we strike something. It tends to 
 keep us content. 
 
 Nov. 28.— The doctor and I have been out 
 hunting. We directed our course down 
 thi'ough the sand-dunes on this side of the 
 river, and had the best luck so far with the 
 ptarmigan. We got eighteen with twenty- 
 four shots, which beats all records, as the 
 birds are shy and, on account of their thick 
 coat, extremely hard to kill. We stalked them 
 among the hillocks, finding them feeding 
 in the grass or in the thickets of dwarf 
 willows which grow in the low places. We 
 kept together and when we had spotted a 
 flock we crept up behind the nearest dune, 
 often getting quite close before alarming 
 them. I got three at one pot-shot. They are 
 hard to see on the snow, but where the sand 
 is bare or with a baclcground of bushes they 
 are conspicuous. I had one vexatious acci- 
 dent. We spotted some birds on tiie oppo- 
 site side of the lake and crept around the 
 margin on the ice, hidden by bushes until 
 we were within a few yards. I had two 
 ptarmagin beautifully lined up and was just 
 pushing llie trigger, wlien my feet slipped 
 from imder me and my gun went off into 
 the air. Before I could recover myself the 
 ptarmigan were also up in the air. The ice 
 is very slipjx'ry wliere the snow is blown 
 off, as the sand driven over it by the north
 
 GOLD HUN UNO IN ALASKA. 
 
 37 
 
 wind koeps it polished and prevents the hoar 
 frosr troin forming on it. The doctor found 
 a iiiuski-iit frozou to death near its hoh'. It 
 foil to my mammal colU'ction. I also caught 
 ji gray meadow mouse alive, as it was cross- 
 ing a little pond. It is but my second. The 
 burrows and runways of the little red- 
 backcMl mouse are common in the woods and 
 meadows. My steel traps have caught noth- 
 ing but jays so far. I am sorry to catch the 
 jays, for I do not disturb them near home, 
 hoping to get their eggs next spring. I 
 shall have ptarmigan to skin for several 
 days now and so make recompense for my 
 ree(>ut idleness. I can only work by day- 
 light, which lasts but about three hours now, 
 —that is. light enough for me to work at my 
 table. The sun scarcely climbed above the 
 horizon to-day. Clyde took the doctor's and 
 my photos to-day with our big haul of ptar- 
 migan. 
 
 Yesterday there was a fair attendance at 
 church. Services were held in our cabin, as 
 the meeting-house fireplace fell in. It will 
 prt)bal)ly not be used again soou, as it is too 
 cold to mix clay to mend the breach. Tweu- 
 ty-uine degrees below zero, and one has to 
 be careful to keep ears and hands covered. 
 
 " T'ncle Jimmy" (Mr. Wyse) gave me a 
 fatherly talking to for skinning ptarmigan 
 on Sunday. Hitherto I have used any time 
 available for skinning birds, but yesterday, 
 after a long argument and discussion, I 
 yielded for the winter. Uncle Jimmy argued 
 that I couldn't fill in all the time there is on 
 week-days, and even if I don't see a rea- 
 son for not working on Sunday, I should 
 " consider the feelings of those who do." He 
 is a nice old Scotchman, and 1 like him. 
 
 I have just finished reading " Hugh 
 Wynne." The doctor brought home some 
 numbers of " Appleton's Science Monthly " 
 from the Hanson Camp, also some back 
 nund)ers of " Hai-i>er's," and I am reading 
 articles in them. 
 
 The doctor. Brownie. Uncle Jimmy and I 
 had a hot argument to-day on capital pun- 
 ishment, also one on " how a young stu- 
 dent should begin to specialize in any 
 branch of study." I always take the side 
 opposite the majority, so I can have more 
 opportunity for argument. We have good 
 and instructive times in this employment. 
 Wednesday evening next is the first of a 
 series of literary entertainments to be held 
 weekly. Solsbury will lecture on " The 
 Practical Value of Art." 
 
 Dec. 3.— This morning Harry Cox and 
 
 Harry Reynolds started with Indian Tom up 
 tlie Kowak. Tom was our guide on our 
 first steamer trip across Iloltham Inlet last 
 summer, and he has l)een camping in the 
 delta until now. He is on his way to the 
 Par Rivi-r, where his winter igloo is located. 
 The Harrys took adv;intage of company to 
 go along with Tom. They took a sled and 
 two dogs, with just enough outfit to supply 
 them on the trip. Their object is to visit the 
 various camjjs up the river and find out all 
 the news. I'six't-ially in regard to the strike 
 at the head of the Koyukuk. An Indian by 
 the name of Shackle-belly visited us yester- 
 day. He has just come down from the 
 Kidamute Kiver, about one hundred and 
 fifty miles above us. and brings exciting 
 news. He speaks pretty good English for a 
 native. He said that he had heard that on 
 the Alashook whit«' men were as thick as 
 mosquitoes and digging out " plenty gold." 
 These men had come up the Koyukuk last 
 summer from the Yukon with lots of steam 
 launches. They cotUd not get further up 
 than one hundred and fifty nnles below the 
 place where the gold is found on the Alas- 
 hook River, on account of the rapids, so they 
 had to wait and sled up. Shackle-belly also 
 
 Indian Tom and Tamily. 
 
 said that most of the men al)ove us on the 
 Kowak had already started over. 
 
 It will be very dangerous for these men 
 now at twenty-nine degrees Ixdow zero, and 
 it must grow much colder with more wind, 
 up on those b.-irren mountain i)assi's between 
 the heads of the Kowak and Alash(H)k. The 
 Indian said one man had already frozen to 
 death on the trail this side, and one had 
 fallen through a hole in the ice. getting out 
 all right, but before he could build a fire he
 
 38 
 
 GOLD HUNIING IN ALASKA. 
 
 had frozen through. Several are frostbitten. 
 We are anxious about our six boys who 
 started from the Upper Penelope Camp over 
 three weelis ago. However, if they met with 
 no accidents, they must be over into the 
 valley of the Alashook by this time, where 
 the natives tell us there is plenty of large 
 timber. Tom tells us that seven Indians 
 have died down the river, and that white 
 men are very sick. Tom has his family 
 with him and of course all his belongings, 
 which seldom amount to much, according to 
 our estimation of values, among these na- 
 tives. He has two sleds and six dogs. He 
 and his family spent the night with us. We 
 spread tents for them on the floor. We have 
 
 BBMBfiiiff rVifiMtiiiiiiini'i 'ii iitTiiir I iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiTitfiM^fciMiiiiiii 
 
 Windings of Squirrel River. 
 
 not boon affected with vermin so far, and 
 take precautions. 
 
 Last Wednesday was the first evening of 
 the proposed literary society. Solsbury was 
 to have been the lecturer of the night, but 
 was sick and couldn't come. However, the 
 society elected officers — Joseph Grinnell as 
 president, and Ur. Coffin secretary. Then 
 the doctor conducted a question box. Some 
 of the questions asked and written on slips 
 of pai)er. with the name of the man who was 
 to answer, were very serious; others were 
 humorous. 
 
 By the way, I must record a new pie which 
 has fallen to the lot of the Penelope Camp. 
 C. C. makes dozens of pie. We have pie 
 every meal and between meals, and if a fel- 
 low gets hungry in the night when the rest 
 are snoring, there is pie for his satisfaction. 
 An old Eskimo woman from the vilhige 
 brought C. C. a paii of what she considered 
 a rare delicacy, a gift expressive of her 
 motherly consideration. It was a concoc- 
 tion of wild cranberri«'S and seal oil. 
 
 It was suggestive to the natural bent of 
 
 the cook's mind, and he made a pie of the 
 stuff. We ate every bit of it — that is, three 
 of us did; the rest wouldn't touch it. I ate 
 my share, and must say that if you overlook 
 the strong seal flavor, it would not be con- 
 sidered bad. I learned to eat cranberry done 
 in oil when I was near Sitka three years 
 ago. It is too extravagant a dish to be eaten 
 every day, and the natives keep it, Ameri- 
 can-wise, " for company." 
 
 Last Tuesday the wind blew a gale at sev- 
 enteen degrees below zero, and I thought I 
 would see what I could stand. I wear now 
 a union suit of fleece-lined underwear, a pair 
 of blanket-lined canvas trousers, and a 
 heavy wool shirt, with a pair of thin wool 
 socks and a pair of lumber- 
 ruan's socks inside my 
 muckluks. I put on a 
 leather corduroy coat and 
 my heavy wool hood, with 
 a scarf arotuid my neck 
 and across my face. I was 
 gone, down among the 
 sand dunes, about au hour 
 and a half. The wind had 
 an unmolested sweep there 
 and I had good opportunity 
 to test my clothes. It did 
 not penetrate my clothing 
 a particle, and I was per- 
 fectly warm all except my 
 face. The wind pierced like 
 a sword right through my 
 scarf and wool hood. When I got home tlie 
 lobe of my left ear was frostbitten and also 
 the same side of my nose. Both sections of 
 my countenance are now vei*)' sore and are 
 peeling off. I should have worn a canvas 
 hood outside of my wool hood. Canvas 
 keeps the wind out better than anything 
 else. Furs are the best clothing in this 
 couutry, but are very scarce among these 
 poor Indians, and but few of our company 
 have any. Again we regret not having 
 traded for furs at Cape Prince of Wales. 
 But we do not suffer by any means. We 
 have clothing enough to last for years. We 
 are not so fortunate in the provision line. 
 However, sliould we strike it rich enough, 
 lying around in our warm cabin, to nuike it 
 pay another winter, it will be an easy mat- 
 ter to send the " Penelope " back to San 
 Francisco for anotlior load. The " Penel- 
 ope"! What will be her fate when the ice 
 breaks up in the si)ring no one can foretell. 
 At the mercy of the unlimited and savage 
 ice of Bering Sea. a frail little craft, no 
 longer than the frontage of a city lot. We
 
 GOLD BUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 39 
 
 do not think or spoak of the " Pcnt'lope " 
 very often. We may be orphans in the 
 spring. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DKC. 8.— The beautiful snow has come at 
 hist and to-day it is six inches deep on 
 the level. The trees are loaded and 
 the river and meadows are painfully white. 
 We must get out our snow-glasses, of which 
 we have an abundance for all. Our con- 
 dition seems to resemble that of the Swiss 
 Family Robinson. We find everything we 
 desire in our cabin, if not in our " wreck." 
 We have no wreck. The north wind has 
 been blowing a gale for days, which at 
 last amounted to a blizzard. I went 
 across the river in the teeth of the wind, 
 just crawling along on tlie slippery ice, 
 but the fun was in coming back. I had 
 but to keep my balance and ttie wind 
 did the rest. 
 
 We have been having some strange ex- 
 periences with the Eskimos the past 
 week, which has introduced us to more of 
 their interesting superstitions. 
 
 Sunday evening, while we were all en- 
 gaged in reading, or quiet talk, we were 
 suddenly startled by a loud groaning out- 
 side, x^s the gruesome sound grew nearer 
 we scarcely knew what to expect, but 
 were prepared to give relief to sick or 
 wounded human beings of whatever type. 
 We ruslied to the door, to find Charley, the 
 Indian medicine man from the native vil- 
 lage above. We thought at first that he 
 was but practicing his arts, but when he 
 was brought in gi-oaning and sobbing we 
 realized that he was really very sick, and 
 the doctor prouoimced it pneumonia. Soon 
 Charley's family followed, and one of the 
 little childi-en was nearly frozen. The 
 wind was blowing a gale, and Charley 
 told us tliat he had come down from his 
 igloo, four miles. 
 
 A few days before one of his wives had 
 died, she who had eaten the bear gravy, 
 and, according to Indian superstition that a 
 person who lives in a house after another 
 has died in it will surely die himself, he 
 had moved out of his warm dugout into a 
 tent. Of course it w;is very cold in rhe tent, 
 and Sunday morning one of his little girls 
 died as the result of exposure. So Charley 
 could no longer live in either the tent or the 
 igloo, and he was thrown out into the piti- 
 less storm witli his other wife and three re- 
 maining children. They went to a neighbor- 
 
 ing igloo, but a native would as soon commit 
 suicide as shelter any of the family of the 
 deceased in his house or enter the house 
 where one has died. As a last resort Char- 
 ley came to our cabin, and no doubt the 
 whole family would have died but for 
 thi.s. 
 
 Of course we warmed and fed all of them, 
 and the doctor attended upon Charley, who 
 was too sick to object to another medicine 
 man's treatment. Several of us then went 
 over to the church cabin and, by stopping 
 the fireplace and putting up a camp stove, 
 we made it a comfortable hosjiital. Charley 
 is there now. Not a single Indian has been 
 inside our cabin since Charley was here. 
 
 Indian Charley and Family. 
 
 They say if they come in they will surely 
 " mucky " (die). We ax"e very glad they 
 have taken this course, as heretofore they 
 have been too numerous altogether. It 
 would be to our advantage to keep one sick 
 man with us. We have tried to induce a 
 couple of young men to cut wood for Char- 
 ley, but they declare that also is dangerous. 
 Charley's wife dare not touch an axe for the 
 same reason, so we have to chop tiieir wood 
 ourselves. Wonder if we will any of us be 
 alive in the spring after such dangers. 
 None of the Indians give them any food, so 
 we are attending to that matter. We are 
 doing our best to get them to overcome these
 
 40 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 inhuman and exasperating superstitions. 
 They can plainly see that we do not hesitate 
 to care for the siclv or the dead. 
 
 Tuesday night the patient was so sick the 
 doctor thought he could not live without 
 especial care, so we decided to watch with 
 him. Rivers and I stayed with him from 
 one to five o'clock in the early morning. 
 And it was an odd experience. We had 
 Charley bolstered up on two benches placed 
 side by side near the stove. We kept a hot 
 water bag on his chest and occasionally 
 made him take ptarmigan broth with soaked 
 
 1 i 
 
 3- 
 
 B^^''i 
 
 ^■i 
 
 
 ^rS^^^^y 
 
 ^:,. 
 
 if 
 
 % 
 
 ^^^^SflB^I 
 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 / 
 
 A FunenI Cortege. 
 
 hardtack. Poor fellow! had he been fed on 
 such a diet while well and able to appre- 
 ciate it, he might well have been surprised. 
 But he was too near death to appreciate 
 what we were doing. He would have spasms 
 of coughing and loud groaning, catching his 
 breath and rolling his eyes. Then he would 
 fall back with his liead lying limply over 
 his shoulder, breathing short and with 
 scarcely perceptible pulse. We thought he 
 was about to die. but the climax passed and 
 he revived. While we were taking care of 
 him his wife slept, for she had probal)ly 
 been without rest for days. She now waits 
 on him and is very attentive to his wants, 
 and docs the best she knows how, being 
 generally more intelligent than most of the 
 women. They all have little ingenuity in 
 cai'ing for the sick, and this is one reason 
 why they die. Could these natives be per- 
 suaded to have a few of their women edu- 
 cated as nurses, how much less would be the 
 winter mortality! IIa<l we time we could 
 do this, but it would take years, and women 
 beside. We have no women. But here are, 
 
 or will be, all the abandoned cabins on the 
 Kowak by spring. What an opening for the 
 mission-inclined! Free hospitals and free 
 beds such as they are. And they are not 
 mean. There are chairs, too, and cai^peted 
 floors. 
 
 In the meantime Charley's dead child, as 
 we supposed, had been sole tenant of the 
 igloo which had been vacated. This fact 
 gave a sudden joy to C. C, the undertaker. 
 As if by instinct he scented a resurrection 
 of his neglected business, and it was with 
 little difficulty that he persuaded Charley 
 to let him give it a Christian 
 burial. C. C. and Joe Jury 
 went up to see about it, and 
 found that the ceremonies 
 had already been performed 
 and the corpse was resting 
 on one of the usual scaffolds 
 near the igloo. This did not 
 matter. They made a coffin 
 of boards, sawed at our mill, 
 and brought the corpse 
 down to Penelope Camp, 
 Jury as coroner and C. C. 
 as funeral director. The 
 hearse was a sled and the 
 black horses a couple of 
 dogs. Of course Charley 
 was too sick to attend the 
 funeral services, but his 
 woman came and watched 
 proceedings. She objected 
 to nothing in any way when told that 
 was the way white men buried their dead. 
 But she insisted on putting some dishes and 
 half a sack of flour in the grave before it 
 was filled. The flour C. C. had brought down 
 from the igloo, intending it for the family to 
 eat. But they couldn't think of consigning 
 a dead child to the unknown future without 
 supplying it with sufficient means of sup- 
 port until it should reach its uncertain des- 
 tination. So twenty-five pounds of good 
 flour was interred with the coffin. C. C. 
 intended this burial to teach the natives bet- 
 ter methods than their own superstitious 
 ways, but I for one doubt the i)r()priety of 
 burial in the ground in tliis country, as in 
 sumiii(>r the earth is saturated and covered 
 with water, and in winter it is frozen to 
 granite. As it turned out, the funeral was 
 not a very extraordinar.v object les,sou, for 
 not a single Eskimo attended, save the 
 woman mentioned, though they were espe- 
 cially jisked to come. I am not sure that the 
 funeral director was not guilty of making a 
 "gr;ive" mistake in the closing ceremonies.
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 41 
 
 / 
 
 lie had just been assuring the woman 
 mourner that the dead would need no 
 further food or clothinj,' in the " beyond " 
 where she had now gone, when it oeeurred 
 to liini that a sinii)le demonstration of sor- 
 rowtnl affection might be ai)i)roi)riate. Just 
 before tilling the grave he had all the by- 
 standers (gold - hunters on the Kowak) 
 throw in eaeh a spruce bough, and the 
 woman did likewise. 1 suppose he chose 
 the spruce in place of impossible flowers, 
 but the solitary mourner uiust have consid- 
 ered the act an inconsistent one after the 
 remari<s which had been made. 
 
 The doctor and 1 felt some uneasiness as 
 to a si>ecial feature of the funeral and ac- 
 cordingly acte«l. Now I have no doubt my 
 friend was no stranger to the scheme, but I 
 was; nevertheless 1 went about my duty 
 with the approval of my immature con- 
 science. We went out as if to take a stroll, 
 as was our freipient custom, and dug into 
 the grave, removing the buried sack of tlour. 
 We very carefully tilled in the grave and left 
 all as it had been before. The snow which 
 was falling at the time soon covered our 
 footprints (whereupon might be written a 
 poem I, and no Eskimo will ever suspect our 
 sul)tle deed. We put the flour into a new 
 clean sack and presented it to Charley as a 
 mutual gift. This was Kowak philan- 
 throphy, though, if the natives had found us 
 out, we might have had to suffer. The doc- 
 tor and 1 congratulate ourselves on doing a 
 real good deed in a naughty world. 
 
 Yesterday Charley's father came down 
 from the village to pay his son a visit, but 
 he evidently did not intend to enter the 
 cabin, carrying on his conversation from 
 without, very much as white folks do in 
 cases of scarlet fever or other infectious dis- 
 ease. Some cf us happened to be near by 
 chopping wood, and we tried to induce him 
 to go in. Finally the woman came out and 
 built a tire, i)utting on green spruce twigs 
 to make a dense smoke. The old man then 
 stooped over the smudge, spreading a blan- 
 ket over and around himself, thus confining 
 the smoke about his botly for several min- 
 utes. He then apparently considered him- 
 self innnune from any evil and went into 
 the cabin without further hesitation. This 
 process of disinfection is cert^iinly reason- 
 able, only it was applied at the wrong end 
 of affairs. He is a very old man and of no 
 help about the patient, so we have an added 
 charge. 
 
 Dec, 12, Monday.— I shot three redpolls 
 
 this morning over in the willows. 1 then 
 tried to utilize our brief stint of daylight to 
 skin them by, but was oliliged to resort to 
 the dim light of a candle after all. We gi't 
 no more sunshine here in the valley. At 
 noon only the snow.\ mountain peaks are il- 
 luminated by straggling rays from the tru- 
 ant sun. The landscape is often magnifi- 
 cent. 1 stood on the bank several minutes 
 at noon admiring the views. The northern 
 horizon was deep blue, and, contrasted with 
 it, were the snow-covered ranges, which were 
 tinged a rich [)ink. The sky above was 
 slightly overcast, as if covered by a delicate 
 pink veil. Dark purple shadows cros.sed the 
 zenith, but toward the sun all was bright 
 3'ellow and gold. The snow-covered river 
 and meadows beyond were so white that 
 they seemed to have a blue tint. Then the 
 spruce forests with their ragged outlines 
 looked dark and gloomy as they were 
 sketched against the mountains or horizon. 
 1 never imagined such color eff^'cts as are 
 displayed every day here. I do not think 
 that tlie briglilest colors on an artist's pal- 
 ette could exaggerate the brilliant hues of 
 the sky during our short period of twilight. 
 We are looking for a tenant for our cabin. 
 Let some club of artists engage it for ix sea- 
 son and they will be in ecstasy. 
 
 A chauge in the weather! This morning a 
 southeast wind sprang up and sent the tlier- 
 mometer to twenty-three degrees above zero. 
 x\.f this hour yesterday it was thirty-four 
 degrees below. Although nine degrees be- 
 low freezing, the air feeis balmy as it strikes 
 our faces. This is the first day in two 
 months that I have taken a walk across the 
 river in an ordinary hat. I could not go far, 
 as the snow is badly drifted now. I saw a 
 few redpolls and one raven. Rivers and 
 I.'ncle Jimmy dug a new water-hole to-day. 
 The ice is three and one-half feet thick. 
 
 In the cabin all is quiet as 1 write. The 
 only light is my little candle on tlu' dining- 
 table. Uncle Jimmy is asleep, with his liead 
 on his crossed hands, on the opposite side of 
 the table. C. C. is sitting in an ;irm-chair at 
 the further end of the rcM)m probably think- 
 ing of home. Brownie and Clyde went ovi-r 
 to one of the Iowa camps a few hours ago. 
 Some of the boys are restless and delight iu 
 visiting. 
 
 Dr. CotHn got word from Dr Gleaves to 
 go down to the Hanson Camp. A man on 
 his way up the river from one of the lower 
 camps has frozen his toes, and they are in 
 such a condition that amputation is neces- 
 sary- I>r- Coffin wanted me to go with him
 
 42 
 
 GOLD EVNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 to assist, thinking: me cool and nervy, but I 
 declined. If they were nice, fresh, sound 
 members, nothing would delight me better 
 than to render assistance, but I have a re- 
 pugnance to dead, decaying flesh. For this 
 and other reasons I never would skin a bird 
 that had died of itself, though 1 saw it fly 
 against a telegraph wire. 
 
 I am studying hard. I am at work on my 
 physiology, and also committing to memory 
 a " Glossary of Scientific Terms." The 
 boys ridicule me for reading the dictionary 
 so much, saying that the subject is changed 
 too often to make it profitable reading. I 
 am also teaching German to Rivers and 
 Brownie. They are a very willing class. 
 Other times I am studying bacteriology 
 
 Native Family at Home. 
 
 with the doctor. We are a literary and 
 scientitic crowd. Our latest argument last 
 night was " How to Dispose of the City 
 Slums." The doctor reads portions of Josiah 
 Strong's " New Era " to us and then we 
 discuss it. The Literary Society of the Ko- 
 wak met Wednesday evening with a good 
 attendance. "The Practical Value of Art" 
 was thoroughly expounded by Solsbury of 
 the Hanson Camp, though he reciuired two 
 hours to do it and some of the art-less ones 
 grew sleep.v. 
 
 Indian Charley is nearly well now, and, 
 like a white man in such circumstances, is 
 appreciative of all we have done for him. 
 He assures us that his woman shall sew for 
 us. and that he himself will bring us fish 
 when the spiiiig o|)ens. We hope he will 
 continue in a thankful frame of mind. An- 
 other native died at the Hanson ('amp of 
 pneumonia. Dr. (Heaves kept him in his 
 own cabin for days but failed to restore 
 
 him, as the man was too far gone when he 
 saw him. The relatives of the dead man 
 had heard how C. C. buried Charley's little 
 girl in a box, and insisted that they, too, 
 have a " calboona " (white man's burial). 
 Again was our undertaker alert and in his 
 " native element," so to speak, and superin- 
 tended the making of a cotfin, and the vari- 
 ous other incidentals of the funeral. The 
 friends of the deceased brought a large 
 number of articles, includmg a new gun. 
 spy-glasses, parkas, skins, etc., to be in- 
 terred with the body, but were finally 
 dissuaded from thus destroying everything, 
 save the dead man's pipe and tobacco 
 pouch. These they believed he could by 
 no means get along without in the next 
 world. Before the In- 
 dian died he begged 
 several times of Dr. 
 Gleaves to kill him with 
 a knife, and thus aid 
 him in parting from 
 his own misery. We 
 are assured that the 
 native medicine men 
 sometimes do this, and 
 at first glance there 
 seems a humane side to 
 the argument. On sec- 
 ond thought, however, 
 it is clear that the duty 
 of a physician is to 
 allay suffering, while 
 life is naturally pi'o- 
 longed, leaving it to 
 \/ some other One to name 
 the date of release. We hear of a woman 
 sick at the village. Surely the Eskimos will 
 soon be a race of the past unless civilization 
 comes to their aid. 
 
 Dec. 19.— It has blown a gale for six days 
 and we have scarcel.v been out of the house 
 in that time. The bright, warm cabin is 
 preferable. We only hear the roar of the 
 wind outside, and occasionally from the cor- 
 ners comes a cold draught of air dumbly 
 whistling through the moss-crowded chinks. 
 The two Harrys got back Wednesday night 
 after a very hard trip. They only got twenty 
 miles beyond Ambler City before they were 
 caught by the snow, which shortly was 
 more than a foot in depth and they could 
 not travel. Harry R. induced a severe 
 attack of rheumatism and could walk only 
 with difficulty. He came near freezing to 
 death. He wanted to lie down and sleep, 
 and ('ox had all he could do to force
 
 GOLD HVN21NG IN ALASKA. 
 
 43 
 
 him on until they reached a cabin. Harry 
 K. imist have suffered terribly, for he is as 
 tliiii and pale as any f:;host I ever met. Al- 
 though they went «)nly about lifty miles up 
 tlie river. tJiey heard rumors from l)eyond 
 wliieh knoclv all the props from under our 
 recent hopes. Our boys of tlie upper camp 
 who started for the AUaslioolc liave re- 
 turned, not beinjj; able to >i:et over the pass 
 on account of the deep snow. Moreover it 
 is nunored that tlie jjolden reports from the 
 Allashoulc were inventetl by a couple of 
 nu'n, one of wliom lias ei.ulit hundred pounds 
 of provisions over tliere to sell, and the other 
 wants to be recorder of claims. 
 
 There are other reports of strikes up the 
 river, but I for one shall pay no heed, nor 
 will I write about them. Several people 
 have been up from camps below, trying to 
 fret loads of provisions. They are having a 
 hard time. Several have returned and two 
 are waiting for better we;itlier. It is really 
 dangerous traveling now. More than one 
 man has nearly lost his life. One came to 
 our c-abin with his face frozen, and did not 
 know it until we told him. It is useless to 
 think of traveling in this biting cold. And 
 here comes a pounding on our woodshed 
 door. Half a dozen of us run to open it, 
 glad that we have shelter for any wan- 
 derer. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DEC. 20.— A man has just come up from 
 the Orphans" Home with bad news. 
 Poor Uncle S. is lost and probably 
 frozen to death. He left the Orphans' Home 
 to walk to the Mission a month ago and has 
 not been seen since, although several parties 
 have come up from the Sound. His tracks 
 were seen by the "Flying Dutchman" on 
 one of the forks of the Kowak in the 
 delta. I'ncle S. had our letters, so these will 
 never reach their destination and the home 
 folks will be disappointed. I'ossibly a whole 
 year with no news from the gold-hunters of 
 the Arctics. I suppose the body will be 
 found when the snow melts in the spring. 
 Uncle S. was a nice old Quaker, speaking 
 " thee " and " thou " habitually. He spent 
 the night with us on his way down and was 
 very entertaining. He played a game of 
 whist with us in the evening, and it was 
 very odd and amusing to hear such expres- 
 sions as. " Now, .Joseph, play thy hand 
 properly." " Is this my trick or thine V" 
 "Did thee play thy aceV" etc. Unele 
 Jimmy, who doesn't believe in card games. 
 
 tried to start an argument with Uncle S., 
 but the latter only said very quietly, "One 
 <-an play music with good or evil inten- 
 tions; so I think with a simple game of 
 whist." I never saw .Mr. S. iM'forc, .-ind It 
 is a strange incident up here in tlie Arctics, 
 to hear him tell me about my father, who, in 
 his youth, paid some considerable devotion 
 to a relative of his, giving me many pleas- 
 ant reminiscences of both my fatiier's and 
 mother's families. These (dd-time memories, 
 told in the dim candlelight of the peoiiled 
 cabin, interested our whole company, and 
 we all took to calling our guest " I'nde S.", 
 as much out of respect to the man as to a 
 possilile relationshii» which niiglit liave ex- 
 isted between himself and me. But he is 
 gone now and we shall look forward to pay- 
 ing him suitable cereiiujuies in the spring. 
 Our undertaker is preparing to embalm the 
 bo<ly wht'U discovered. He was a Friend of 
 S(Uiie note from Ohio, who drifted up here, 
 like the rest of us " world's people." after 
 sold. 
 
 Our camp is in quite a bustle this week 
 preparing for Christmas. We have invited 
 the Hanson boys up to dinner with us, and 
 we are getting ready for a big time. The 
 Saturday before Ciiristmas we are to have a 
 tree and feed all the natives in the country. 
 The doctor has been at work on scrai) jtic- 
 ture books for the children, tinding no end 
 of beautiful chromes on the tin cans about 
 the respective cauqis, besides other litho- 
 graphs and steel engravings from various 
 sources. Art is taking on shape and form 
 and expression under the magic of the doc- 
 tor's touch in a way surprising to both him 
 and us. 
 
 The literary society last Wednesday was 
 the best so far. Thies, of the Los Angeles 
 Camp, read a [taper on Theosophy. It was 
 entitled, " The Home of Contentment," and 
 was very reasonable from his point of view, 
 and well received by all. The do<--tor gave a 
 short talk on " How to Care for a Frost 
 P.ite." This was of great practical value to 
 all present. 
 
 Dec. 21.— Forty-six degrees below zero to- 
 day, and I, for the fun of it, walked down 
 to the Hanson Camp. It was not at all un- 
 comfortable, nothing like what it is when 
 the winil blows, at ten degrees below zero. 
 Norm.'indin, of the San .lose cabin, has 
 rigged up a turning lathe, using a grindstone 
 as the driving wheel. He is turning out all 
 sorts of things from birch and spruce. He 
 has sent up a quantity of dolls' heads and
 
 44 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 tops for the Eskimo Christmas tree. One of 
 the Los Angeles boys is carving faces on the 
 dolls' heads, to distinguish which is the front 
 side of the head, the image being of the 
 same proportions all around. He gives them 
 almond eyes and flat noses just like the na- 
 tive babies. 
 
 Now that the first snow has appeared, the 
 natives are busy at snowshoes, and several 
 of our boys are experimenting in the same 
 line. The Eskimos are very expert in this 
 kind of work, and their snowshoes are 
 models of symmetry and neatness. 
 
 The aurora is very brilliant some nights 
 now, but there is no reason visible why, on 
 
 Near-by Neighbors. 
 
 other nights just as favorable, as far as we 
 can discover, there is none at all. In this 
 extremely cold weather, and especially dur- 
 ing a sudden change of temperature, the ice 
 in the river cracks and groans terrifically. 
 This morning, as I was walking down to 
 the Hanson Camp, the phenomena were very 
 much in evidence, so much so that it was 
 gruesome to a lonely body. At one place 
 when I stei)ped off from a drift of packed 
 snow on to the bare ice, there came a series 
 of thundering reports like cannon shots, and 
 then a succession of sharp reports and 
 creaks and otlier awful sounds, that finally 
 died away into the dead silence of Arctic 
 dai'kness. Such combination of sounds, to- 
 gether with a reasonable amount of imagin- 
 ation sure to accomi)any them, is startling, 
 esjx'cially If it is quite dark and one is all 
 alone. Sometimes a faint crack will start 
 oflicrs like it all around, and these in turn 
 ■\vill give rise to a rapid fusillade extending 
 liuudreds of yards ni> and down tlie river. 
 And there are the crunch and crackle of the 
 
 dry snow under one's muckluks, emitting 
 various modulations of sound, from the 
 sharp bark of a dog to the squeak of a 
 mouse. One has company even in solitude, 
 and there can be no solitude in the world 
 like this in the Arctics. Oh, it is all so en- 
 joyable and fascinating to me! It is like 
 reading a book on a new subject, for one 
 interested in Nature to visit this country. I 
 fear I will be sorry to leave it when the 
 time comes. However, two years may 
 change one's views of many things. 
 
 Dec. 29.— Four men from the Orphans' 
 Home on their way up the river, spent last 
 night with us, and were interesting com- 
 pany. One of the men, a Mr. Thornton, 
 knows several people of Seattle and Sitka 
 whom I know. He was at Sitka and Mt. St. 
 Elias with the Prince Luigi party in 1897. 
 and has an article in the " Overland 
 Monthly " just out. He claims to have seen 
 the Silent City, a mirage exactly resembling 
 a distant view of a large city. Several have 
 seen it, and one man, a photographer whom 
 I met at Juneau two years ago, claims to 
 have a photograph of it. I have heard it in- 
 timated that the photo is a fake. Prof. Jor- 
 dan's article on the Silent City in the March, 
 1898, number of " Popular Science Monthly " 
 is to the point. Thornton says there is no 
 doubt about photos and cuts of the mirage 
 being unauthentic, but he affirms that he 
 and five men of the Prince Luigi party saw 
 it just as he describes it. We had a big dis- 
 cussion on mirages last night. Yesterday at 
 the literary, my paper was on the familiar 
 topic, " What Birds Eat." and, though rather 
 lengthy, was well received. I think our men 
 would be interested in almost any paper that 
 discussed the subject of eating. Dr. Gleaves 
 lectured a week ago on the " Cruise of the 
 Revenue Cutter ' Bear ' in 1893." He was 
 surgeon on board of her during that year. 
 He is now president of the Hanson crowd, 
 — more properly speaking, " The Kotzebue 
 Mercantile and Trading Company," — just as 
 we of the " Penelope " gang are the " Long 
 Beach, Alaska, Mining and Trading Com- 
 pany." How bulky and pompous that 
 sounds! If we do not find a bit of gold 
 while we are here, we shall have the satis- 
 faction of i)resuming ourselves to be one of 
 the best ecjuipped companies on the Kowak, 
 and are looked uj) to very mucli as the Vau- 
 derbilts are in New York. Sense of such 
 distinction as tills tends to increase the size 
 of our heads, which are really very large 
 indeed, when considered in their covering of 
 
 I
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 45 
 
 wool hood, canvas hood, scarf, etc. We are 
 advised to enjoy these sensations while it is 
 feasible, as doubtless when we reach the 
 wharf at San Francisco or San Pedro on our 
 return trip we may have to foot it home 
 just like common tramps, or prodigal sons 
 wlio have wasted their substance and that 
 of our grub-stalcers in "riotous livin;;." 
 
 On Christmas, day of all days, didn't we 
 have a "spread"! C. C. worlied at it for a 
 month beforehand and even stayed up all 
 the ni.ght previous cookin.i^ and compound- 
 ing. I suppose he will have forty pages 
 about it in his diary, for altliough he worked 
 until he was exhausted, he declares it the 
 
 Christmas Dinner. 
 
 happiest occasion we have had. And the re- 
 sults of all our labor were really immense. 
 
 The ten Hanson boys and a Mr. Van Dyke 
 dined with us. The table was twenty feet 
 long, covered with a snow-white cloth, and 
 lighted by two candelabra of eight candles 
 each. 
 
 These beautiful articles of use and orna- 
 ment were made by Clyde from a many 
 branched birch, and the effect in lighting 
 our large cabin was brilliant. The menu 
 was gotten up by Rivers. It was a sketch 
 of the landscape around our cabin artistic- 
 ally done in India ink on thin leaves of birch 
 bark, and Avould have graced any table in 
 New York. 
 
 I never sat at a table in New York, but I 
 just know they never had a handsomer 
 menu card. The toasts were classic, and in- 
 cluded a poem by Dr. Coffin, which was also 
 of a classical character. I cannot refrain 
 from quoting one or two stanzas of the lat- 
 ter, on account of their sentiment as well as 
 
 literary merit. The verses were well re- 
 ceived and delivered with startling effect. 
 
 Now just a few things I would like to say 
 To make us reinember this Christmas Day — 
 It isn't very often you dine with a Coffin, 
 When the cook and baker is au undertaker. 
 
 Now and again on a bill of choice fare 
 You find such a dish as roasted black bear ; 
 But outside of the valley of the Kowak river 
 You will not eat pate de poisson de liver.* 
 
 Or white Touste bake and Ckluk roast 
 Are rarely served without Antic frost. 
 On these hot mince pies there have been no 
 
 flies, 
 For our pastry-maker is an undertaker, etc., etc. 
 
 Now on your memories we would make a mark 
 With a plain, simple piece of brown birch bark ; 
 On one side a picture of the place we are at. 
 And a list of the stuff that we ate as we sat. 
 
 This is by no means the whole of the poem, 
 but it is enough to intimate its character. 
 It is Christmas and we are ice-bound. The 
 day of all the days in a man's life, when he 
 would naturally be blue, has been mutually 
 cheered by those who, but for this digres- 
 sion, would have suffered under the circum- 
 stiiuces. The feast lasted for two hours, and 
 was followed by songs and instrumentaJ 
 music. Cox and I were waiters, Harry 
 Reynolds served and C. C. cooked. After 
 the banipiet we four were waited on by four 
 of the Hanson boys, who took everything 
 into their own hanils. Normandin estab- 
 lished himself as eook and Joe Jury as head 
 waiter, with Hays and Jack Messing under 
 his charge. They made a combination so 
 witty and droll in everything they did that 
 we could scarcely eat for a time. We 
 tinally succeeded all too well for our subse- 
 quent comfort. Fun and frolic ami candies 
 and nuts occupied attention for an hour, the 
 party at last breaking up with the singing 
 of severid church hymns. 
 
 On Saturday before Christmas the natives 
 were all gathered in. as well as the whites, 
 and we served the former a " big feed." 
 afterwards exhibiting a brilliant Christmas 
 tree and the venerable Santa Chius. Every- 
 one took part in contributing toys and so 
 forth to the children. There were dolls, 
 tops, whistles, jumping-jacks. cooky people, 
 nuts, candy, etc. It would take a wliole note 
 book to describe this part of the Christmas 
 
 *Pie of tlsh liver.
 
 46 
 
 GOLD BUNTIJSG IN ALASKA. 
 
 At High Noon. 
 
 festivities on the Kowak — how the old peo- 
 ple awkwardly tried to use knives and forks 
 in eating, and how Santa Claus was greeted, 
 and the wooden dolls, and all the rest. Some 
 of the dolls fell to our boys. I am sure they 
 reminded us of home, .^.t'ter the tree the 
 natives danced, the girls in a graceful man- 
 ner, and the boys representing fights or 
 something of the kind, all the while being 
 accompanied by a beating of tin cans, 
 stamping and monotonous singing. There 
 were thirty Indians and as many white men 
 present. 
 
 Jan. 7, 1899.— Last 
 week we were sur- 
 prised by what we 
 took at first for an 
 Arctic apparition. 
 Uncle S., whom 
 everyone had given 
 up for dead, arrived, 
 accompanied by the 
 missionaries from 
 Cape Blossom. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Samms. 
 They had come up 
 with dog sledges. 
 Uncle S. had brought 
 mail fro m S t . 
 Michaels, and the load was very heavy, 
 there being two hundred and fifty pounds of 
 mail alone. He had but nine dogs, and left 
 most of the mail at Kotzebue Camp, where 
 the snow was too deep to travel further with 
 it. He and Mr. and Mrs. Samms pushed on 
 up here, and, as all were pretty tired, 
 several of the boys volunteered to go down 
 to the Kotzel)ue Camp, which is sixty miles 
 below us, for the mail and other sled. I was 
 a volunteer, along with several from the 
 Hanson Camp as well as of this, as we were 
 all anxious to get the delayed mail. But a 
 few hours later, when we began to realize 
 what a hard trip it would be, everyone 
 backed down until only Cox and I were left. 
 These boys stood on the Iturning deck, and 
 made believe they didn't care, especially as 
 that brave little missionary woman had just 
 niad<> a tiMp over the same road of more than 
 two liundred miles and on foot. 
 
 That same day Joe Cogan and Sam Col- 
 clough cnme alouir on their way to the Alias- 
 hook. They liad a team of eight dogs, but, 
 after in(|uiring of all the natives, they found 
 they could ol)tain no more dog's food, nor 
 is there any along the river above here. So 
 as they were going to start back down the 
 next day. Cox and I decided to go with 
 
 them. I did not relish the anticipation of 
 the trip at all, and, now that it is over, I 
 must say that it is the hardest journey I 
 ever hope to make. We returned last night, 
 having been on foot for seven days, making 
 one hundred and twenty miles of very, very 
 hard walking. 
 
 We had five dogs from here; these, with 
 Cogan's. made thirteen. We loaded our 
 blankets and clothing on Cogan's sled and 
 hitched up the thirteen dogs to it in a line. 
 The sletl was a very heavy one and the load 
 resembled it. It went all right until we got 
 on some sand-bars about a mile below the 
 Hanson Camp, and there our trouble began. 
 The snow was light and the heavy runners 
 cut through to the gravel beneath, making 
 hard pulling. We were trying our best to 
 get over when the sled struck a rock, and, 
 in dragging it off, two of the standards 
 broke off at the runner. Of course we had 
 to return, leaving the load cached on the 
 trail. At the Hanson Camp we got some 
 wire and necessary tools, and by this time 
 it was afternoon. The San .lose crew of the 
 Hanson Camp must have us stop for dinner, 
 and it was a fine one. too. with the immedi- 
 ate future ahead of us. Had we not been 
 thus refreshed. I do not think we could have 
 made the Jesse Lou Camp that night. Col- 
 clough declared our bad luck was all on ac- 
 count of the dogs, thirteen in number, so we 
 borrowed two more and also another sled. 
 The dogs pull much better in small teams 
 and we now made good time. They carrj' 
 their bushy tails curled up gracefully over 
 their l>ack.s, and trot along the trail with 
 ears erect and pointed forward, the very pic- 
 ture of lively animation. It was tlu-ee 
 o'clock by the time we got our second start 
 and darkness was soon upon us. Besides, 
 it was cloudy, with no moon, and snow was 
 falling. Light snow had fallen to the depth 
 of four or five inches, obscuring the old trail 
 so that we soon lost it. And then our fun 
 began. It is twelve miles from the Hanson 
 to the Jesse Lou Camp, and it was not imtil 
 ten o'clock that we came around the bluff at 
 the latter camp. The snow-covered river 
 l)ed was a miiform blank whiteness, bor- 
 dered by the dark line of willows and 
 spruces, and whoever was in the lead had 
 nothing to guide him but kept as near as he 
 could between the banks. 
 
 Occasionally the sleds would meet and 
 grapi)le with snags .-ind rocks or sand-bars 
 with little snow on tliem, and then we 
 would have to strike off at right angles. 
 Just before we reached our destination for
 
 GOLD BUNTINO IN ALASKA. 
 
 47 
 
 the nijrht, we jrot into a large field of broken 
 ice in wliieh we floundered about for half an 
 liour. The ice was in plates or narrow strips 
 an inch or less in thiekness, all up on edge, 
 jammed thus when the river had tirst frozen 
 over. These sharp plates mostly leaned 
 ol)li(iuel.v up stream and stuck out of the 
 snow as high as two feet, with gaps and 
 boles between. We had a dreadful time. 
 Our sled tipped over and the dogs dragged it 
 on its side for several yards before we could 
 stop them and fix the pack again. And then 
 our shins! We could 
 not see a thing, and 
 sometimes a step would 
 be down into a hole 
 and the next step on top 
 of a sharp edge of ice. If 
 1 fell down once I diil 
 twenty times. Cox had 
 never worn muckluks be- 
 fore, and it was particu- 
 larly hard on his feet. 
 Ky the time we got to 
 camp we were tired 
 enough to lie down any- 
 where, whether we froze 
 to death or not. 
 
 We were warmly wel- 
 comed at the tirst of the 
 three Jesse Lou cabins 
 which we struck, and 
 they got us a hot supper 
 and fixed our beds in true 
 Kowak hospitality. It was New Year's Eve. 
 1S!)0, before we got to bed. 
 
 By nine the next morning we were off 
 again. The next halt was an Indian igloo 
 thirty miles below. Before we had gone a 
 third of the way my legs began to pain me 
 so that I walked with ditficulty. One of 
 them was strained by '4 fall on the ice the 
 night before, and I was in absolute torture 
 all day. It was my first real suffering. 
 Finally, when we iiad gone about fifteen 
 miles, as it was getting dark and we did not 
 care for a repetition of the previous night's 
 experience, we made camp. Cogan had a 
 tent and stove, and his companion was a 
 " rustler." A patch of snow was soon 
 scraped off and the tent put up. But it took 
 a long time to heat the interior above the 
 freezing point. Too much of the exterior 
 gets into a tent. 
 
 It was forty degrees below zero that night 
 and the next day. After one has perspired 
 a good deal during the day he soon chills 
 when he stops, if he forgets to put on more 
 clothes. I had a big reindeer parka and also 
 
 a pair of huge deerskin mittens. Without 
 the latter I siiould surely have frozen my 
 hands. The dogs ate up Cox's leather-cov- 
 ered mittens, and I gave him one of my 
 pairs. The fj.iir I wore got soaked with 
 sweat and then froze on my hands a.s hard 
 as a rock. If I had not happened to have 
 the deerskin mitts to cliangc witli. I miglit 
 have lost a few of my extra lingers. Cux 
 did blister his. Colclough got up some hot 
 flapjacks and bacon and we were filled. I 
 slept in the parka and kept pretty warm. 
 
 The Jesse Lou Camp. 
 
 The rest occtipied the big deerskin sleeping 
 bag. which is the only safe bed in an Arctic 
 camp. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OT'R midwinter trip for the mail was a 
 chapter in our icy history never to V)e 
 forgotten. We made the next fifteen 
 miles to the Indian Igloo in good time. Cox 
 and I slept in the igloo, but the rest in the 
 tent. The fourth day we made the last fif- 
 teen miles to the Kotzebue Camp, where the 
 sled and mail had been left. Besides the 
 mail, there were two pipes about twenty 
 feet long and weighing perhaps one hiuidred 
 pounds each. Then there were our blankets 
 and extra clothes and dog food, bringing 
 tlie return load up to four hundred pounds 
 for our six dogs. Cogan and Colclough went 
 on down to the Riley wreck with all their 
 belongings, so we hail no stove or tent for 
 the return trip, trusting to goml weather in 
 making the long stretches. There is only 
 one cabin at the Kotzebue Camp, and this a
 
 48 
 
 GOLD BUmiJSG IN ALASKA. 
 
 very small one. but ■we managed to find 
 room to lie down somewhere. We also made 
 a big stew of canned beef, dessicated pota- 
 toes and onions, with lots of pepper and 
 sage. It was good and stimulating, and 
 upon this we based our courage. It was a 
 fine base. We found the load pretty heavy 
 for the dogs, one of which wasn't of much 
 account, and our progress was slow. Where 
 the snow was deep and the trail rough we 
 had to help some ourselves. An animal with 
 four feet has much advantage over a human 
 with but two. We made the return trip in 
 three days, fifteen miles from the Kotzebue 
 Camp to the igloo, thirty miles from the 
 igloo to the Jesse Lou, and fifteen miles 
 
 Winter Travelers. 
 
 from there to the Penelope Camp, making 
 one hundred and twenty miles in seven da.vs. 
 By the third day out my limbs became ac- 
 customed to the hard walking and my lame- 
 ness disappeared. The thirty-mile stretch we 
 made in twelve hours, starting from the ig- 
 loo before daylight. The northern lights 
 were not visible during our return trip, al- 
 though previously one could read by them. 
 The cold was not excessive nor did we meet 
 with any terrible accidents, but I will record 
 that I have had enough of winter travel in 
 the Arctics. I am of the same mind as Hard- 
 liuk Jimmy, who, after attempting to reach 
 the site of ihe " latest strike " and getting 
 caught out in a snowstorm, said in his slow, 
 comprehensive manner of speech: "It 
 would take all the men in Ambler City with 
 a great big hawser to pull me away from my 
 warm cabin and grub again this winter." 
 
 The thirty-mile stretch of our road was 
 long. So change of scenery for entertain- 
 ment. When vve got around oue bend in the 
 river it was just to plod along until we got 
 
 to the next. It took three hours for us to 
 cover one straight piece of trail. We ate 
 nothing that day but a little frozen bread. 
 We had nothing to cook, and there was no 
 time to cook it if we had, and no dishes or 
 stove. But we were served to a fine sup- 
 per at the Jesse Lou. The dogs did finely that 
 day. We gave them a feed in the morning 
 before starting. Usually dogs are fed but 
 once a day, at night, and then only about one 
 pound of frozen or dried fish to the animal. 
 At night we let the dogs loose and, if at a 
 village, they forage around for scraps of 
 anything, which of course are extra rations. 
 They steal any provisions left unprotected. 
 They ate Cox's leather mittens, the thongs 
 on Cogan's snowshoes, 
 and a leather gun case. 
 One night they broke into 
 the " grub-box." and got 
 away with everything in 
 it, including a sack of 
 oatmeal and a side of 
 bacon. Owing to their 
 preference for leather, 
 we had to sleep on the 
 harnesses and with our 
 heads on the " grub-box." 
 These Eskimo dogs look 
 just like wolves, but are 
 docile and often playful. 
 They do not bark like 
 civilized dogs, but snarl 
 and growl. Some nigats 
 they would howl in con- 
 cert for hours at a time, making a weird 
 sensation in the silence of the ice. 
 
 In sledding, the dogs are tied by their har- 
 ness strings alternately to a straight lead- 
 rope. One dog is " leader," and he is the 
 most intelligent of the pack. During the 
 trip Cox walked about a hundred yards 
 ahead of the lead dog, now and then turning 
 back and whistling or calling. I walked be- 
 hind, keeping the sled straight, and un- 
 tangling the team when it got mixed up. 
 Each dog has a name, and his character 
 qualities become as well known to us as 
 those of a human individual. Ours were 
 named Emik, Kubuck, Auboon, Xanuk and 
 Tingle. One day Emik jumped on to the 
 dog that was not pulling his share and gave 
 him a sound whipping. The whole pack 
 joined in and I had to beat them off with a 
 club. 
 
 Ordinary animals would have died of 
 broken bones, but it took a " sore chastise- 
 ment " to bring these dogs to their senses. 
 Fights are frequent and always mean two
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 49 
 
 or three minutes' delay In untangling the 
 lines. The liarnesses are provided with 
 swivels or else the lines would soon become 
 hopelessly twisted. 
 
 The two piiK's I mentioned as part of the 
 load, stuck out l)cliiud some eight feet be- 
 yond the sled, and many a time when the 
 dogs slowed up suddenly my sliins would 
 come in contact with tlie sliaiq) iron in a 
 painfully empliatic manner. The crunching 
 of the dry snow under the sled runners is a 
 combination of sounds in which one can but 
 imagine he hears familiar voices, and one 
 falls to day-dreaming as he plods along, un- 
 til he is surprised by running 
 against the slacking sled or step- 
 ping into a hole. 
 
 The two nights we spent in 
 the Eskimo igloo were interest- 
 ing in detiiil. On the way down 
 I was so tired that I paid little 
 attention to anything, curling 
 up and thankfully sleeping. On 
 the return trip we made the 
 igloo just at dusk. The trail 
 was poor and the snow deep and 
 the load heavy, so that we had 
 made scarcely more than two 
 miles to the hour. When we got 
 within sight of the igloo the 
 dogs pricked up their ears, as is 
 their wont, and started forward 
 at an increasing gait. Dogs 
 will sometimes smell a camp 
 long before it comes into view, 
 and their quickened pace testi- 
 fies to their hope of food. When 
 our team rushed up to the igloo, 
 we followed at a trot behind, 
 and nearly all the inmates hur- 
 ried out, curious to see us. These poor 
 people are very hospitable, and at once 
 invited us inside. We did not enter, 
 however, until everything was attended 
 to. for, after one has straightened out 
 to rest before a warm fire, it is very 
 hard to get up and crawl out again on stiff- 
 ened limbs to attend to duties easier per- 
 formed before one settles down. The native 
 boys helped us to untie knots, and soon the 
 dogs were loose, scurrying everywliere for 
 bits of anything devourable, and frequently 
 having a savage tight over some imaginary 
 tidbit. Everything but the two iron pipes, 
 which we trusted the dogs would not eat, 
 was deposited on the scaffold for the night. 
 This scaffold is a necessary feature of every 
 igloo. It consists of a platform of poles and 
 boughs raised about eight feet above the 
 
 gro.und and supported on four posts. On 
 this are stored all tlie fish, skins, nets, har- 
 nesses, sleds, kyaks, and, in fact, every 
 article not needed for Immediate use in the 
 igloo. 
 
 After the dogs were fed. we took a blanket 
 apiece and crawled into the igloo. We were 
 motioned to a vacant place on one side, 
 where we stretched out as far as tiie limits 
 of the room permitted. Tliis igloo was built 
 like a Sioux wick-i-up. Long, sh-nder poles 
 are fastened into the ground at one end, 
 bent over and lashed with thongs on the op- 
 posite side. These are planted about a foot 
 
 Native Igloo, with Scaffold for Stores. 
 
 apart all around, until the whole completed 
 frame is like an inverted hemisphere. Over 
 this are fastened thicknesses of spruce bark 
 stripped from the trees in sheets one or two 
 feet wide and twice as long. At the top a 
 circular opening is left, a foot in diameter, 
 for the exit of smoke. The whole structure 
 is covered and packed with si.x inches of 
 snow, wliich effectually keeps out every bit 
 of wind ;ind incidentally every particle of 
 fresh air, except what steals in through tlie 
 smoke-hole and door when they are open. 
 The entrance is closed by several strii»s of 
 sail-cloth attached above and weighted, so 
 that it always hangs over the opening and 
 completely covers it. When one enters he 
 must get down on his hands and knees and. 
 lifting up a corner of this canvas door, crawl 
 through the passage. The door falls back
 
 50 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 into its place behind. The passageway is so 
 narrow and low that a large man can with 
 difficulty crawl through. The floor inside, 
 with the exception of a space around the 
 fireplace, is carpeted with slender willow 
 saplings, laid parallel and fitted closely to- 
 gether, forming a fairly good paviug or 
 heavy matting, sufficient to protect the occu- 
 pants from direct contact with the ground. 
 A few old deerskins are spread out where 
 the elders sleep. The space on the opposite 
 side of the fireplace from the door is not 
 occupied by anyone, but is filled with cook- 
 ing utensils, the water bucket with its 
 wooden dipper, carved wooden bowls, and 
 birch bark baskets. In this igloo — about 
 
 Getting- Supper Under Omiak-puk. 
 
 twelve feet in diameter — fifteen people live 
 almost all the time, only going outside when 
 they must for wood and water. No books to 
 read, no politics to discuss, no school to get 
 ready for. and no visiting to do. Once in 
 this residence, we were allotted a space next 
 to the oldest man of the igloo. We were con- 
 tent with our small lot, for we were tired 
 and hungry. 
 
 The light was furnished from seal oil. A 
 plate of this, with a pinch of moss for a 
 ■wick, furnished the light. The penetrating 
 smell of burning seal oil is very stifling, and 
 a white man can hardly stand it. Consider- 
 ing our distinguislied character, these people 
 dispensed with the oil and lighted candles 
 in.stead, which I suppose had been obtained 
 from the whiles by trade. Our scanty grub- 
 bag next claimed our attention and, consid- 
 ering it good policy under the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, we distributed the remainder of 
 the hardtiick, which had been reduced to 
 crumbs, among our hosts, who watched our 
 every movement. We al.so had a little flour, 
 but, as we had no means of cooking it, we 
 
 presented that also to the woman on the far 
 side of the igloo, who was apparently the 
 mistress of ceremonies; for, although three 
 other women were in the house, she carried 
 all the water, chopped all the wood and pre- 
 pared the meals. We made our supper from 
 a can of corned beef and a loaf of bread, 
 baked for us at the Kotzebue camp. Seeing 
 our destitution, with true American hospi- 
 tality the woman before mentioned left the 
 igloo and shortly returned with a birch-bark 
 basket about eighteen inches long by six 
 inches wide full of a frozen mass of blue- 
 berries. This was evidently a " company 
 dish," the best in her possession. She de- 
 tached a large chunk of the preserves and 
 placed it in a frying pan over the fire. As it 
 melted into individual berries she stirred the 
 mixture constantly. After the mess was 
 thoroughly melted she passed the pan over 
 to me. and, by the smell which arose, I was 
 aware that the blueberries were put up in 
 seal oil, as a sort of salad, I suppose. Cox 
 declared his appetite lacked severity suf- 
 ficient to tempt him to even taste the com- 
 pound, but I was hungry enough to eat any- 
 thing, and partly because I did not want 
 to disappoint the motherly old woman, 
 who had taken all that ti-ouble to treat 
 us to the greatest luxury possible, I ate 
 with apparent relish. 1 did no more nor 
 less than hundreds of my people do at 
 any civilized banquet or even a meal at 
 a friend's, when they pretend to like oys- 
 ters or shrimps or anything from sheer 
 politeness, the which they thoroughly de- 
 test. I got away with the entire panful, 
 along with a slab of dried salmon given to 
 me by the old man. These kind people evi- 
 dently looked upon me as a good-natured, 
 hungry little boy whom they enjoyed enter- 
 taining out of their natural hospitality of 
 heart. I have no doubt my motlier will long 
 to grasp that old Eskimo woman's hand and 
 possibly kiss her ugly but kind features, for 
 the sake of hor goodness to her " wandering 
 boy." 
 
 Truly the fish was not at all bad, and I 
 secured a piece for my lunch the next day. 
 It proved to be just the thing, as I could 
 chew it while tramping along, and one does 
 not need water to drink with it. The native 
 next to me in the igloo showed me how to 
 strip the slcin from tlie i)iece of dried salmon 
 and prepare it for eating. He held the skin 
 side over the fire until it began to crinkle 
 and writhe. The oil wliich it contains is 
 thus melted and the dainty rendered more 
 toothsouie.
 
 GOLD MUNTmO JN ALASKA. 
 
 51 
 
 After our hnniior was, with tlicso native 
 articles of food besides our own l»read and 
 corned beef, sutticiently subdued, we 
 stretched out as far as possible in our 
 limited space. Cox was si^on aslee|). We 
 a.yreed that in order to make the tlurty miles 
 next day it would be necessary to start be- 
 fore daylij,dit. as there was then a waning 
 moon to li,s::ht us a little. Cox was especially 
 impressi'd with this idea, and went to sleep 
 deternune<l to wake up the nuuute the moon 
 rose, which would be about five in the morn- 
 ing. He had scarcely been asleep ten min- 
 utes, and I had not dozed off yet. when he 
 started up. and I had all I could do to per- 
 suade him that the niiilit liad hardly l)e«;un. 
 
 Later, and until we finally did start, he 
 woke me several times and would j;o out and 
 look for the moon, which he was sure was 
 behind the sclu'dule time. We could not see 
 the trail until it did appear, so each time he 
 would return and drop to sleep again. This 
 <-razy conduct on his part vexed me not a 
 little, as I wanted to sleep, being prevented 
 by other disturbances In'sidcs his own. 
 
 After we had eaten our supper and got 
 settled down, the other people ate theirs, 
 which consisted entirely of dried salmon. 
 This was eaten raw, each mouthful being 
 chewed for a long time. The young men say 
 that this kind of diet is what makes the 
 Kowak-mitts (natives of the Kowak valley) 
 so strong. I must confess to the apparent 
 truth of this statement, for the whole house 
 knows it when an I^skimo enters; that is. if 
 there hasn't been one around long enough 
 to have allowed an airing. Even the pretty 
 girls are so tishy that a tenderfoot in this 
 land can scarcely endure their remote pres- 
 ence. The salmon is cured during the sum- 
 mer and kept on scaffolds, being brought 
 down only as it is required for use. The old 
 nu'U soak it up in water a while before eat- 
 ing it. 
 
 Directly after their simple supper the na- 
 tives began arranging themselves in their 
 proper nooks in any place where there was 
 room enough to lie down. The men and older 
 women and all the children in the igloo wore 
 nothing but skin pants, being entirely 
 naked from the waist up. At night, how- 
 ever, they put on their skin parkas, as the 
 temperature in the room falls quickly when 
 the tire go<.\s out. When all are ready, the 
 woman of the household goes outside and 
 covers up the smoke-hole in the top of the 
 house with an old skin, and besides piles 
 snow over it thickly so not a particle of cold 
 can get in. The tire in the center of the 
 
 room has meanwhile been allowed to burn 
 down to a bed of coals, so there is no smoke 
 or lianie left. In returning the woman also 
 tightly closes the docjrway. If any air is get- 
 ting in anywhere one can sim? the stream of 
 dense vapor caused by the extremely cold 
 outside air striking the warm, nujist air of 
 the interior. If the door is left the least bit 
 ajar a stream of this vapor is seen flowing 
 along the floor straight into the lire. If 
 one's feet meet this current of cold they 
 soon chill. After the coals are heaped to- 
 gether and all other preparations for the 
 niu:ht compl(>ted, the light is extinguished 
 and sleei) reigns. For a while after tin- igloo 
 has been closed the air seems extremely hot 
 and stifling and the odors are terriflc. In 
 an hour or two the Are is dead and the air 
 cools off. 
 
 My night's rest might have been quite 
 sound but for certain disturbances. I had 
 just dozed off after being aroused by Coxie, 
 when one of the men began to sing some 
 Eskimo ditty in a weird monotone. He 
 would drone it through and stop, and I 
 woidd just be drojjping off to sleep when he 
 would start it up again. He c(jntinued for 
 fully half an hour, and I was so thorcnighly 
 tried by it that I could have choke<l the fel- 
 low. The natives all slept soundly and 
 probably considered it a lullaby. Another 
 time I was awakened by the old man next 
 to me singing in a high, jerky voice. He 
 got up, all the time singing, anil went over 
 to the old woman, who was saying some- 
 thing to him. Then followed a series of the 
 most diabolical noises — hisses, swishes, 
 grunts, groans, gutttiral rattles and so forth. 
 It hardly seemed possible that some of these 
 sounds could originate in a human throat, 
 but as they were without intermission. I sup- 
 pose they did. This was flnally interrupted 
 by a loud, ripping swish, as if something had 
 been forcibly torn up. All was then quiet, 
 and ':he old man returned and lay down 
 next to me. I did not know but he would 
 practice his incantations ui)on me next, btit 
 my fears were groundless. During the 
 creejty performance it w.is pitch dark, and 
 I couid almost imagine we were aboiu to be 
 sacriflced in some heathen rite. I asked one 
 of the young men what was the matter, and 
 he told me tiiat the woman had a pain in her 
 stomach, probably from swallowing her .sal- 
 mon in too much haste, and the old man 
 had cured her by driving the <lemon out. 
 This practic-e is like that I have heard my 
 fatluM- say existed among the Comanche 
 Indians in the Southwest.
 
 52 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 At last, after one of his frequent observa- 
 tions. Coxie reported that the moon was up. 
 The candle was lighted and we soon had all 
 our traps out of the igloo. Our mitts, scarfs, 
 socks, etc.. had been hung up to dry. The 
 dryer one's clothes are. the warmer he 
 keeps. Rain is not necessary to dampness 
 either, perspiration every walking moment 
 being free and persistent. We soon had the 
 dogs hitched up. all but one, Nanuk, who 
 caused us considerable delay by running off 
 into the brush and hiding himself. Finally 
 after several of the natives had helped, he 
 was secured and our pack arranged. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 GAMP PENELOPE, Jan. 10, 1899.— Yes- 
 terday morning Uncle S. and Samms 
 started on up the river with their dog 
 sleds and mail. C. C. and Cox went with 
 them. They hope to reach the Upper Pen- 
 
 The Departure. 
 
 elope Camp and learn as much as they can 
 of the outlook and the wish of the men as to 
 segregation in the spring. They will have 
 no easy Irip of it, but C. C. seems to covet 
 experience in winter traveling, and I think 
 he will be the recipient of it this time. 
 
 When Cox and I got in with the mail, all 
 the nciglibors crowded into our cabin and 
 there was general excitement until the sacks 
 were gone tiirough and the fate of each de- 
 termined. Nearly everyone got letters. The 
 latest news was dated August 22. and we 
 had full accounts as to tlie probable closing 
 of the war. I received six letters. Down at 
 Kotzebue Camp 1 opened only one of these, 
 the one of the late.'^t date, and found it so 
 bright and jolly that my spirits were at the 
 
 highest pitch all the way home. Moral: Folks 
 at home, write cheery letters to absent ones 
 wherever they may be. The snow may be 
 deep, and the dogs may be mad, and the 
 trail rough. 
 
 We are beginning to talk about " going 
 home." and of the probability of our cold 
 welcome among our toAvn's folk, who will 
 possibly ridicule us as " fake gold-hunters," 
 " prodigal sons," and all that. I was read- 
 ing an article in one of the magazines last 
 night, proving that an ambitious poor man 
 nowadays has far more chances for success 
 in any line than a rich one, and that '* ex- 
 treme poverty does not debar a man other- 
 wise endowed, from entrance into the best 
 society in the land." This in America of 
 course. So we are saying in concert, while 
 the latest news of gold fades into vapor, 
 " Poverty is a blessing." It's a comfort to 
 look at it in that light anyway. But it does 
 not help some of our boys over the blues. 
 Several put all they had into this venture, 
 and on their return 
 are destined to start 
 all over again at day's 
 work. I must own 
 that I am myself the 
 victim of some reluct- 
 ance to return with 
 empty gold-pan. and 
 the old story of put- 
 ting " gold into the 
 fire and behold there 
 came forth this calf " 
 comes to me. We may 
 have sufficient sup- 
 plies to keep us in 
 Alaska another year. 
 
 Uncle S. is one man 
 that is making a suc- 
 cess. He charges fifty 
 cents for each letter or package he brings up 
 the river. My bill would have been six dol- 
 lars at that rate, but of course my trip down 
 more than met that. The doctor got twen- 
 ty-four letters and many papers. Don't 
 know whether he has settled his bill or not. 
 Mrs. Samms is with us until the return of 
 Mr. Samms. which will be not less than 
 three weeks if the weather is good. It seems 
 odd to have a lady in the cabin, but she is 
 very agreeal)le and we like lier comjiany. 
 We modify our usual reckless behavior and 
 serve her in every possiltle way. 
 
 Slie is teaching a chiss of ciiildren at the 
 mission cabin. Mr. Samms is on an errand 
 to get a census of native popuhition and to 
 note the condition of the Kowak Eskimos,
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 53 
 
 There is likely to be a famine among tliem 
 before spring, as tliey liave spent too much 
 time in watoliing tlie wliites this year, neg- 
 lecting to fish and hunt at the season. 
 There is now little game in the country, and 
 by next winter they will be destitute in 
 clothing as well as food unless they receive 
 help from outside. 
 
 Jan. 11, 6 a. m.— The doctor and I have 
 just got out of bed, hours before the usual 
 time of rising. We think we can write bet- 
 ter, or read, early in the morning before 
 everybody is up and story-telling and mak- 
 ing noises in the room. When we are all 
 active it is difficult to think. 
 
 Tlie north wind is blt)\ving a 
 gale again, and its steady roar 
 through the spruces outside, ac- 
 companied b3' the mouotonous 
 whisper or undertone whistling 
 down the stovepipe, gives one a 
 lonesome, dreary feeling. I almost 
 shivered just now all on account 
 of the soimds, although there is a 
 blazing fire in the heater and the 
 whole cabin is warm and comfort- 
 able. 
 
 We have had no trouble in keep- 
 ing warm. In the corners near 
 the ground there is always plenty 
 of frost, and if one sits or stands 
 long in such a locality his feet get 
 cold. But out in the room it is al- 
 ways pleasant. We have not put 
 in double windows, as we ex- 
 pected to do, there being no need 
 of them. The single large sheet of glass in 
 each window is all-sufficient, though the 
 frost collects in very thick layers on the 
 inside. This is probably one reason why it 
 is so warm. We took out the window panes 
 the other day and melted off the ice. It was 
 nearly two inches thick on the lower part. 
 The panes are over two feet square, and 
 the frost work on them is beautiful to look 
 at. The designs are constantly changing. 
 Sometimes great fern fronds extend from 
 the bottom clear to the top, and then another 
 time the pattern is small, like delicate moss. 
 When it is thick one can see cities and 
 mountain crags and almost anything besides, 
 if his imagination is alert. 
 
 The days are perceptibly longer now and 
 yesterday sunlight touched the tops of the 
 trees near the cabin. But it will be many 
 weeks before the sun has sufficient effect to 
 make any change in the temperature. Mrs. 
 Samms says that February is our coldest 
 
 month. We are getting along quite harmo- 
 niously in domestic affairs now. C. C.'s 
 term of office as culinai-y chief expired at 
 Christmas, and Rivers was elected to take 
 bis place, with myself as assistant. So I am 
 back at my old stand again. There's one 
 tiling certain — we shall liave less [jies now. 
 I think I shall be altle to ol)tain a place as 
 cook in a restaurant when 1 go Ijack to the 
 States if notliing better turns up. Our sup- 
 ply of some articles is getting short. We are 
 going slow on mush and sugar, and the flour 
 will not last longer than April at the rate 
 we are using it now. However, our motto is 
 to eat while we have the means, and go 
 
 Some of iMrs. Samms' Pupils. 
 
 without when it is gone. Of course there is 
 plentj' in the " Penelope," if she is safe. We 
 have a great deal of company at meals. 
 Everyone traveling on the river stops in, 
 either for a single meal or for the night. 
 We like to be hospitable, and one has to be 
 in this country. Wherever our own boys 
 have been, up or down the river, they are 
 treated royally at every camp, as I can per- 
 sonally testify. 
 
 We do not feed the Indians any more at . 
 all, and it is better for them. They have ^ 
 become so dependent upon the whites that 
 they do not work for themselves any more. 
 When they might be fishing or trapping, 
 they are hanging around our cabins. They 
 do not visit us as often now as in the fall. 
 Rivers and I send them outside whenever 
 meal-time comes, and they are l>eginning to 
 learn. We must do this or suffer ourselves 
 from hunger in a late spring. 
 
 Uncle S. reported that he found the " Pen-
 
 54 
 
 GOLD EVICTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 elope " in a safe place in a small inlet in 
 Eseholtz Bay. We received letters from the 
 captain and" Jett and Fancher. They have 
 been on a sled trip up to the Buckland River, 
 but with no success. However, they are in 
 good spirits, hoping that something will be 
 found before spring. Rumors reach us as to 
 " finds " on the Xoatak River, but we do not 
 pay the least attention to them. The " Fly- 
 ing Dutchman " dropped in on us again 
 yesterday. He is a •" rustler," and will make 
 it pay under any circumstances. He has 
 more grit than all the rest of the men on 
 the Kowak. He has a partner now in carry- 
 ing mail, and a sled with dogs. 
 
 .Jan. 15. Sunday, 6 a. m.— I 
 The doctor is a great fellow 
 
 am up alone, 
 to lie in bed, 
 
 On the River Bank. 
 
 excepting on rare occasions, when he is very 
 smart. He even takes his afternoon nap 
 regularly, and then sleeps ten hours at 
 night. The wind is l)lowing at the same 
 rate it has been going for a week. One day 
 it was a fearful storm. It blew so one could 
 scarcely stand up against it, and the snow 
 and sand were driven along in blinding 
 blasts. 
 
 We can easily see now how the hills 
 and dunes on tlie soutli side of the Kowak 
 valle.v arc formed. It blows witli such force 
 that all tlu' snow Is taken off from tlie sand- 
 bars, and all the loose sand as well, and 
 finally the coarse gravel is driven off on to 
 the ice, where it travels until it reaches the 
 sonlii l>ank of the river, wliere drifts ten feet 
 deep have been formed the last week. The 
 
 natives tell us that in two moons from this 
 the wind will blow harder than ever, and 
 that it will be much colder. Yesterday we 
 piled more sand and brush around the north 
 and east side of the house. The wind had 
 carried away a good deal of the original 
 banking. Tlie doctor was quite snowed into 
 his bed one morning. We couldn't find the 
 place of entrance, but it is now doubtless 
 covered. 
 
 Yesterday was washing-day for me person- 
 ally. We do our washing one at a time for 
 reasons of necessity. I had a large wash, 
 as a part of it had been accumulating since 
 August of last year. It is our habit to put 
 off this very disagreeable duty as long as we 
 decently can. I put in two faithful hours 
 over tlie tub until my knuckles were sore 
 and my back so lame I 
 could only with diffi- 
 culty straighten myself. 
 I succeeded at last in 
 " doing " ten pairs of 
 soclvs, seven handker- 
 chiefs, three towels and 
 a suit of underwear, be- 
 sides other things. I 
 can now sympathize 
 most heartil.v with the 
 Avasherwoman of his- 
 tory. I have the clothes 
 drying on the rafters 
 above the stovepipe. 
 The union suit is an 
 a w k w a r d thing to 
 handle in washing. I 
 would rather tackle a 
 blanket. A blanket has 
 not two arms and two 
 legs to be continually 
 in the way. I could not 
 wring it out very well, and after hanging it 
 up to dry it dripped for several hours, sprink- 
 ling anyone who ventured under it. Uncle 
 Jimmy sat down comfortabl.v to read a good 
 book, but he chanced to be in the line of 
 gravity, and a splash on top of his bald head 
 prompted him to address some words to me. 
 It was only a few days ago tiiat Uncle 
 Jimmy's washing was "out," and I fre- 
 quently had the edifying sensation of a 
 slopi)y. dripping drawers leg slajiping me in 
 the face as 1 moved about the kitclieu stove 
 in my culinary duties. We have to be pa- 
 tient and chaiMtable when it is washing 
 (lay. and other days. I will say that our do- 
 mestic life is not often marred by so small a 
 trifie as water dripping from a drawers leg. 
 If we were sensitive to little things we
 
 would find frt'ouent opportunity for grum- 
 bling, 
 
 Jan. 23, 9 a. m.— Just got through with 
 liroalvfast. Our menu is mufh tlie same 
 tlicsc days — corn-meal musli, biscuit or 
 flapjaclvS, liasli, baeou, flour gravy and cof- 
 foi'. Kowak hash is a work of art. and is 
 deserving of especial mention. It is a sort 
 of literary review of the previous day's 
 dishes. This morning it was simpler tlian 
 usual, and consisted of only split peas, corn- 
 meal mush, bacon, rice, toasted bread, salt- 
 horse and beans, seasoned to taste. And 
 yet the " beasts " claim their appetite is im- 
 paired! Needn't have eaten up all the lux- 
 uries the first thing. 
 
 Several of the boys like to go out visiting 
 the other camps in the evening, and not get 
 home till morning " or thereabouts." I am 
 a " good little boy," and go to bed at nine 
 and get up at six. I have the breakfast 
 ready shortly after eight, and then the fun 
 begins, getting the boys up. They want to 
 lie in bed till twelve, and Uncle Jimmy joins 
 us in making it so uncomfortable for them 
 they prefer rising. 
 
 Harry Reynolds is washing to-day. He 
 has just discovered tliat he has made a sad 
 mistake. He dumped his bundle of clean 
 socks into the tub instead of the soiled ones. 
 General laughter at his expense. But H. 
 wrings them out "dryly." He knows the 
 laui^h will not be on him next washing 
 day. 
 
 The jolly missionary's wife is singing in 
 mj' ear something about " Darling Joe." 
 Now, she thinks because she happens to be 
 married that I must be much younger than 
 she — in fact "quite a lad." In point of fact 
 I am the older. It was my turn to shave 
 yesterday, and I did so, consequently my 
 chin is smarting. It is an unnatural pro- 
 cess, and I think should be prohibited by 
 act of congress. 
 
 I have been reading " A Scientific Demon- 
 stration of the Future Life," by Hudson. It 
 interested me very much, and the doctor 
 and I got into many a warm argument over 
 it. It is a strange fact that we never argue 
 upon subjects we agree upon. I always 
 stick to my sharp point and he to his. Our 
 discussions are usually on some biological 
 topic, and the rest of the men do not know 
 what we are talking about. One uiglit. after 
 a long argument in whicli I would not yield 
 a single point when the doctor thought I 
 ought, he wrote me the following 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 55 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Men ami. .loe. 
 A thiiiK I know 
 Is. you !iro Joe. 
 Why this is so 
 I do not know ; 
 But well I know 
 You will be .loe. 
 Until you kg 
 From earth below. 
 
 But even so. 
 My young friend Joe, 
 Before you go 
 You'll not be .Toe, 
 (The same / know) 
 For you will grow 
 Both old and slow. 
 And f.ill below 
 To what you'd grow 
 In things to know 
 Of what is so. 
 
 On things you know 
 And say ai-e .so. 
 Hard winds will blow, 
 And light will grow. 
 And change them so 
 You will not know 
 That they are so. 
 
 And then, by .Toe. 
 You'll be more slow 
 To say you know 
 A thing is so. 
 'Cause then you'll know 
 That what wits so 
 When you were .Toe 
 May not be so 
 When you're not Joe ; 
 And that is so 
 Which was not so 
 When you were Joe 
 Down here below. 
 
 I like you. Joe, 
 I'd have you know ; 
 And that is so. 
 Because you're Joe. 
 And be it so. 
 Mon ami. Joe, 
 As to and fro 
 The world you go ; 
 That which you know 
 Declare 'tis so ; 
 And so be .Toe, 
 The Joe 1 know, 
 " Chickadee Joe." 
 
 CriArTER XV. 
 
 JAN. 2.S. 2 p. m.— I went out to look at the 
 thermometer, when I heard the cackling 
 of ptarmigan the other side of the river. 
 Harry Reynolds and I armed ourselves and 
 started out for game. We spotted the llock
 
 56 
 
 GOLD EUNIING IN ALASKA. 
 
 in a willow thicket where the sun. which 
 nowadays is just at the horizon, had prob- 
 ably attracted them. Several of the birds 
 were perched on top of the bushes, and were 
 very conspicuous against the dark sky. We 
 sneaked up to them and got a shot. Harry's 
 gun got choked with snow and missed tire. 
 We followed up the birds and. after two 
 hours of hard tramping, I had four shots, 
 securing three ptarmigan. The walking was 
 
 '/h*^ 
 
 Grave Decorations. 
 
 extremely difficult. The snow from the 
 tundras northward was deeply drifted along 
 the willow thickets. It was packed just 
 hard enougli on top so that at about every 
 other step it would sustain one's weight, 
 but the alternate steps would break through 
 nearly to oue's waist. In some places we 
 fell and floundered, and we considered our 
 sport rather too well earned One of my 
 cheeks was frosted, but Harry brought it 
 out all right by a vigorous rubbing with 
 snow. 
 
 It is too cold for hunting. I cannot shoot 
 with gloves on, and my bare fingers get 
 biirm^d by the cold steel of the liamm(>rs and 
 triggers. Harry had the doctor's Wincliester 
 repeating shot-gun Although a fine gun in 
 warm w<'ntlier, it seems to get out of gear 
 now. My plain double-barreled Uemingtou 
 
 is the stand-by. I look at it and it seems to 
 say. '• Wait till spring comes, Joe, and we'll 
 get in our work." 
 
 The literary society is as interesting as at 
 first. Last Wednesday Joe Jury talked on 
 the " Art of Printing." He is a printer by 
 trade and has quite a business in San Jose. 
 The week before Jack Messing told us about 
 the Hawaiian Islands. He was there for 
 two mouths a year ago. Nearly all of us are 
 in favor of sailing around and 
 
 visiting our new islands on the 
 
 way home. It is only about two 
 thousand miles out of our way. 
 Personally I would like to make 
 a long cruise and visit the Phil- 
 ippines and . Ladrones. Several 
 of the boys are growing desper- 
 ately homesick. Time drags for 
 them, and tney are counting the 
 days to next July when they can 
 get out of the Kowak Valley and 
 start for home. I have over- 
 heard a couple of them planning 
 how they might even now go 
 across country to St. Michaels, 
 so as to be ready for the first 
 steamer in the spring. Enthusi- 
 asm is a myth. It was less than 
 a year ago that, " No matter 
 what happens, we will push on 
 into the interior and explore the 
 unknown mountains until we 
 strike gold." Now it is. " How 
 soon can we get home?" Such 
 is human nature. 
 
 Everyone is making snowshoes 
 or getting the natives to make 
 them. I must get a pair as curi- 
 osities to send home. The natives 
 do nice work, and are improving their oppor- 
 tunities to get a good price. They get three 
 to five dollars worth of food or clothes for a 
 pair of muckluks. Snowshoes bring ten dol- 
 lars. Indian Charley has made the doctor a 
 nice miniature sled and pair of snowshoes 
 for treating him when he was sick. Charley 
 shows more gratitude and good-will than 
 any other of the natives. But he has some 
 great ideas. Last week he worked liard 
 from daylight till dark in a cold wind clear 
 ing away the trees and brush from his little 
 child's grave. He cut down everything 
 clean between the grave and the river, say- 
 ing this was so " the Kowak-mitts traveling 
 up and down the riv<»r " could see his " mick- 
 aninie's " burial-place. He took the tree 
 trunks and poles and leaned them together 
 over the grave, tepee fashion, so the dogs
 
 ooLD nuNTme in alaska. 
 
 57 
 
 and wolves cannot dig in. He left several 
 of the taller trees immediately surrounding 
 the grave, and climbed to their tops, trim- 
 ming off tlie brandies as lie came down. 
 He then fastened flags to these poles until 
 he had fourteen up, with every prospect of 
 more. He used everything, such as sail- 
 cloth, handkerchiefs and sacks. We thought 
 if he kept on he might liave all tlie clothes 
 he possessed fluttering in the wind like a 
 Monday morning wash, only the clothes 
 lines were perpendicular instead of horizon- 
 tal. We remonstrated with him, telling him 
 the " cabloonas " never put flags over their 
 graves; but he Insisted that he wanted to 
 make this sjjot conspicuous so that everyone 
 would notice it. The doctor thought of a 
 scheme and Clyde put it into operation. He 
 made a windmill about four feet in diameter 
 and with a big fan. It was well made, and 
 took Clyde two whole days to finish. Char- 
 ley was vei"y much pleased with it, and it 
 was promptly lashed to the top of the tall- 
 est tree, whence resound its mournful 
 creaks whenever the wind IjIows. Charley 
 wanted to know if all cabloonas put wind- 
 mills over the graves of their dead. Charley 
 is very ambitious to do exactly like a white 
 man and yet, like many another, he seems 
 to think a disregard of native superstitions 
 
 V would be disastrous. He asked us yesterday 
 if he would die if he should take some little 
 liills the doctor gave him for some trifling 
 ailment. He said that some Kowak-mitts 
 told him so. There is an old woman in the 
 middle igloo of the village who keeps these 
 natives in such ideas. The sooner she goes 
 " mucky " (dead) the better it will be for her 
 people. About New Year's an old man at 
 her igloo was very sick and was expected to 
 die. For fear of having him die in her igloo, 
 and thus, as she believed, render the 
 house uninhabitable, she turned him out into 
 the extreme cold. His son stayed with him 
 and made a big fire. As soon as we found 
 it out the nearest cabin took the sick man in, 
 and did all they could for him, although he 
 died in a short time. Women here have a 
 harder life than can be imagined. A child 
 is never born in an igloo, but. no matter how 
 cold the weather is, the mother is driven out, 
 
 ^ not to return with her child until it is five 
 days old. There have been three such cases 
 so far near us. The last was during a ten- 
 days' windstorm. The woman went alone 
 back into as sheltered a place as she could 
 find in the woods, and made a screen of 
 spruce boughs to protect her from the storm. 
 In front of this she kept a small fire burning 
 
 Native Swcethcirts. 
 
 and there she remained with but little cloth- 
 ing all tlie bitter days of her allotted time. 
 An old w(jman occasionally visited her and 
 brought her food and wood. The baby froze 
 to death. 
 
 Jan. 2S.— Who should drop in on us night 
 before last but three of our boys from the 
 upper c a m p. Miller 
 Casey and Alec. They 
 rejKirt everyone in 
 g(K)d health, but the 
 gold outlook is alto- 
 gether " nil." All the 
 reports have been 
 run down and there 
 is no encouragement 
 offered anywhere. 
 The boys staked out 
 fifteen claims in the 
 districts which 
 showed "indications." 
 Holes have btn^n dug, 
 but in a few feet they 
 strike water and can 
 go no further. This 
 rejiort is for the late 
 fall. C. C. and Mr. 
 Samms had >ust ar- 
 rived when the boys left. Uncle S. and 
 Samms had seven out of their nine dogs 
 killed by i)oison in some unexplained way 
 at one of the camps. They bought five more 
 at the Riley Camp foi fifty dollars. Our 
 dog Tingle was among 
 the killed. C. C. and 
 Samms intended to go 
 twenty-five miles further 
 to a village at the Par 
 River. This party will 
 remain with us until the 
 return of C. C. They 
 came down "just to kill 
 time." They say it is 
 pretty monotonous at the 
 other camp. They car- 
 ried a pack of about 
 thirty pounds each and 
 were very tired. Foote 
 started with them, but 
 gave up half way down. 
 Casey and Miller, as well 
 as Alec, are jolly good 
 fellows and we hope 
 they will stay with us a good while. Our 
 grub is getting rather low. The boys up 
 the river had the larger share. It will 
 probably carry them through to July. But 
 I think, unless we can borrow from neigb- 
 
 Supcrstitious Old 
 Woman.
 
 58 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 bors. a delegation of us from this camp will 
 have to go down to the "' Penelope " at Es- 
 choltz Bay and bring supplies. I'm sure it 
 will not be I. I shall be here when spring 
 opens for the bird migrations. The boys 
 report that two of the river steamers are 
 lost. They were put into a side stream to 
 freeze up for the winter. This stream is fed 
 by warm springs which kept running after 
 the stream froze over, depositing successive 
 layers of ice around the boats until one of 
 them is buried entirely out of sight, smolie- 
 stack and all. The other, the " Agnes E. 
 Boyd." belonging to the Hanson Company, 
 is about half buried. If these boats had been 
 watched at the start and dams put around 
 them and then raised, they could have been 
 saved. But now they are entombed in solid 
 ice. and. unless they are chopped out before 
 spring, the torrents when the tliaw comes 
 will smash them to pieces. The little 
 " Helen " is so far all safe. That slow, 
 ugly-looking little scow, which everybody 
 made fun of last fall, may be ahead of all 
 the big steamers next spring. Already the 
 Hanson boys are talking about making ar- 
 rangements with us for taking them down 
 to the Mission. Thus shall the first be last 
 and the last first. The general opinion of 
 our boys now seems to be, if nothing is 
 found in this country by next .luly. to sail 
 down along the coast to Bristol Bay and 
 way stations, inquiring as to the news from 
 those sections, and finally taking in the 
 Aleutian Islands. This suits my inclina- 
 tions. Reports are coming directly from the 
 Yukon region that there is nothing to en- 
 courage one to go there. It is safe to con- 
 clude that newspaper reports are as nine to 
 ten exaggerated. There are thousands of 
 disappointed people in all sections of cen- 
 tral Alaska. Travel is almost impossible. 
 
 Jan. 31, Tuesday.— We are having cloudy 
 weather with a little snow. The thermom- 
 eter stands at ten degrees below zero, and it 
 is uncomfortably warm in our winter 
 clothes. I shot four ptarmigan yesterday, 
 two of which I have just finished skinning. 
 I got three at one shot, standing, and tlie 
 other on the wing. The doctor is out now 
 hunting the birds. Whenever I get any 
 game it excites him so that lie immediately 
 goes hunting. He seldom starts uutil I have 
 set the example. I do not have success 
 oftener than each tliird hunt. Walking 
 through the snow is very tiresome, but one 
 must Ik' persistent in this as in other things. 
 It seems to be only chance that I ever do 
 
 find the ptarmigan. I usually search for 
 fresh tracks along the bushy margins of 
 lakes or sloughs and then follow them up. 
 Mornings I find them mostly near their 
 roosting-places. and they seldom fly far. 
 They sleep on the ground, burrowing into 
 the snow and clearing a bare wallow on the 
 warm, soft moss. It is ditficult to see tliem 
 on the snow, and this accounts in part for 
 my ill success. Yesterday I walked right 
 into a flock without seeing them until they 
 flew. I also got two pine grosbeaks and two 
 redpolls. The days are growing rapidly 
 longer. Only three months until the spring 
 birds come. 
 
 Sunday there were fifty-seven persons at 
 church, including thirty-two white men. A 
 stranger conducted the services in C. C.'s 
 place. Nothing occurred of an unexpected 
 nature excepting the fact that one of our 
 boys went to sleep and snored so loud that 
 it made us all think we were back in the 
 States at church somewhere. Last night we 
 had what Kowak boys call a " great blow- 
 out." Brownie made a big wad of taffy and 
 we all pulled at it. By the way, three or 
 four of us were surprised at Christmas by 
 receiving a box each. " straight from home." 
 They had been packed and given into the 
 care of different persons, so that the re- 
 cipient of each box did not suspect that he 
 was to have one. By some oversight of the 
 party to whom my own was committed, I 
 did not get my Christmas box, but am as- 
 sured that it is '* safe somewhere," and will 
 come to light when somebody stumbles over 
 it. Dr. Cottin received his on time, and the 
 contents have yielded us no end of comfort. 
 Brownie drew upon its nuts and crystallized 
 fruits for his taffy. After the candy was 
 washed off from the table and chairs and 
 candle-sticks and faces and hands, we 
 played a game of crokonole, which lasted far 
 into the night. The result was that I did not 
 have breakfast on time. Miller and I 
 played the doctor and Rivers, the latter 
 combine winning two out of three games 
 after a very close struggle. They had the 
 " ha-ha " on me. The game finally depende<l 
 on the last sliot, whicli was mine. We both 
 had 195 — 2(M» to make. Tliere were three 
 blacks on the board and two whites. The 
 whites are Miller's and mine. I had a fairly 
 gocxl split sliot to take off two blacks, which 
 would have given us the odd game by a good 
 margin. Everyone was talking and the op- 
 position was doing its best to " rattle " me. 
 Anyhow, by some extraordinary roundabout, 
 my shot cleared the board of every white
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 5Q 
 
 one and put all three blar-ks in the center 
 rins. Oh. but the howl from the enemy! 
 
 Several eases of scurvy are reported alon>; 
 the line. One man is nearly dead. It is 
 supi)osed to be due to a sameness of diet and 
 two little exercise. Men settle down in their 
 cal)ins and. not beinj; obliged to no out, just 
 sleep the time away. Dr. Coffin suspects an- 
 other cause. A poor si'ade of food-stuffs has 
 been bi-ou^lit up. probably with adultera- 
 tions. Brownie is just now ponndiuj: up 
 lumps of sujiar on the table where I am 
 writinjr. He is usinji? the end of my rollin?;- 
 pin with great effect and much scattering of 
 sweetness, much to tlie delight of several 
 Eskimo " mickaninies," who are hav- 
 ing an active picnic in consequence. 
 
 Feb. 2.— C. C. and party have re- 
 turned, whole but tired. Besides 
 C. C, Cox and Mr. Samms, there are 
 four fellows from the Upper Agues 
 Boyd Camp, so that we are pretty 
 well crowded as to sleeping. I had 
 eighteen men to feed for tliree meals, 
 serving them at two tables. I had to 
 " rustle " for breakfast this morning. 
 Made two big pans of biscuit, a 
 kettle of mush, a mass of salt-horse 
 hash, bacon and gravy. The repast 
 was successful, excepting that the 
 gravy was somewhat salt.v. It is a 
 great idea tliis, my cooking for eigh- 
 teen men, after I have declared 
 " quits " so many times. The fellows 
 laugli now when I " resign." 
 
 Scurvy and " black-leg " are get- 
 ting common up the river. One man 
 at the Jesse Lou Camp has died of the 
 latter. The " black-leg " is what the doc- 
 tors call phlebitis. Black patches ap- 
 pear on the lower limbs, which swell and 
 become very painful. Many are affected 
 and at some of the camps above us 
 they have instituted regular " scurvy 
 trails," five to ten miles long, which they 
 tramp every day. Exercise and a change of 
 food seem to help and also to prevent tie 
 disease. Those who are sulfering have been 
 confined to their caltins so long, eating pork 
 and beans and baking-powder bread, to the 
 exclusion of fruit and fresli meats, that their 
 cases are almost liopeless. C. C. reports 
 nothing new above. He and Sanims visited 
 the big Indian village at the Par Kiver. C. C. 
 got a black bear skin in trade. Samms took 
 a census of the native population and linils 
 about four hundred and tifty on the Kowak. 
 C. C. had rather a hard trip I guess, but he 
 
 was anxious to get It. Nothing like having 
 plenty of hardships to relate on one's return 
 home. I exp«'et to do some of the relating 
 myself. He is a pretty heavy man and it 
 would seem could not endure as much as a 
 slender person. But he manages to make it. 
 Last niglit and to-day we have our heaviest 
 snowfall. Until a thaw comes to form a 
 crust tiaveling will i)e dillicult. Yi-sterday 
 the liteiary w.is well attended. Mr. Young 
 of the Iowa Camp, talked on " Butter Mak- 
 ing and Creamery MrtJKjds." and I on the 
 '• Bacteria which Assist in the .Making of 
 Cheese and Butter." Casey sang two comic 
 songs, " The Irish Jubilee." and " Put Me 
 
 Home from the Mission. 
 
 Off at Buffalo." Miller sang "Just Behind 
 the Times " and " The Queen's Hussars." 
 Miller has a tine voice. The literary is 
 growing more popular as the season ad- 
 vances, and it may well be considered an 
 important factor in helping many of us to 
 pass the winter profitably. We try to bring 
 in subjects which will interest everyone, 
 those who are not literarily inclined as well 
 as the rest, and I think we have been quite 
 successful. It seems to me that the mind 
 must be employed in these long winter even- 
 ings at different points of Alaska, as a 
 means of moral and physical health. The 
 doctor and I agree as to this. 
 
 Feb. 4.— The other day one of the boys was 
 rummaging about among the stores to see 
 wliat he could come across of interest piled 
 above the rafters, when he acciilentally 
 knocked down a box. It fell to the door and
 
 60 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 one corner burst open, disclosing the con- 
 tents, which were not " Sugar Corn," as the 
 label on the end indicated. A very insig- 
 niticant legend near one end read " C. C. 
 Reynolds." and it was set aside as belong- 
 ing to him. Yesterday it was given to C. C, 
 who at once recognized it as the very 
 Christmas box which had been entrusted to 
 him for me before we left home, by my 
 mother and sister. He turned it over to me 
 with many regrets, etc. It contained every- 
 thing that could give pleasure to a boy from 
 two years old to twenty-one — from tooters 
 and jumping-jacl^s to warm woolen hoods 
 and haudlcerchiefs and books. Stockings 
 were stuffed full of candies corked tightly 
 in bottles and tin boxes, and nuts were pro- 
 fuse. A touch of home-thought mingled 
 with the Arctic storms. I wish we had had 
 it for Christmas on account of the toys and 
 candies, which would have added greatly 
 to the presents on the natives' Christmas 
 tree. The hoods were especially acceptable. 
 They are knit with a piece across the nose, 
 openings only for the eyes and mouth, and 
 are tied under the chin. They fit like the 
 skin itself. The books are all new to our 
 library, which has been pretty thoroughly 
 digested by this time. I brought the three 
 novels out and they were immediately 
 pounced upon. The doctor is reading " A 
 Tennessee Judge." Miller " A Kentucky 
 Colonel." and Mrs. Samms " Oliver Twist." 
 I shall get at them in course of time. 
 
 I have read very little of late aside from 
 my physiology. There is a growing faction 
 in our company now favoring an expedition 
 to the Philippines. We have the " Pen- 
 elope " and sufficient supplies to go around 
 the world, for that matter. For my part I 
 think we ought not to hurry about leaving 
 Alaska. Resolutions in regard to prospect- 
 ing are dimly waning. Last summer it was, 
 " We will stay in Alaska and push on until 
 we find gold, if it takes three years." In 
 the fall they thought " two years enough." 
 Last month it was, " We will prosptK-t all 
 summer and start for home as late as the 
 boat can leave the Sound." And now it is, 
 " How can we the soonest reach home?" 
 Several men from uj) tlie river are going to 
 start overland for St. .Micliaels. Time, and 
 plenty of it, seems to be an antidote for en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FEB. 8.— Mr. and Mrs. Samms left for the 
 Mission yesterday. Harry Reynolds 
 goes with them, and will either stay 
 there or go down to the " Penelope." That 
 lessens our number, but we will still have 
 eleven in the house. C. C. talks of following 
 them later. There will be no more prospect- 
 ing done by this company this year, except 
 by myself, and that for birds. I got a pair of 
 muckluks in trade, and am now bartering 
 for a pair of snowshoes. The snow is 
 eighteen inches deep and very light and dry. 
 I shot four redpolls near the house this 
 morning. I would like to see it sixty-five 
 degrees below zero just for the experience 
 of it. I have already shot ptarmigan at 
 forty-four degrees below, and could have 
 stood it much colder without wind. 
 
 Feb. 11.— It must be admitted that life is 
 getting a little humdrum. There is nothing 
 in particular to write about unless one has 
 a poetic turn. Poetry doesn't come to any 
 of us any more. The poetry is wearing off 
 from the L. B. & A. M. & T. Co. 
 
 If I were a Mark Twain, with humor to 
 relate the doings of people about me, I could 
 write a few pages of good reading. Re- 
 sources are unlimited to the right person 
 applying. The story of our " Fool's Er- 
 rand " into this out-of-the-way country, if 
 written by an expert, would be as rich a 
 theme as one could desire. But alas! I am 
 only a bird-hunter by nature, and a gold- 
 hunter on the Kowak by grace of my father, 
 and am unable to depict the fortunes of this 
 crowd in an acceptable manner. There is 
 uni'est everywhere. All admit that they 
 have been duped. Some are making the 
 best of circumstances, but others are taking 
 it to heart in a pitiful degree. Although 
 for the most part good-natured, chagrin is 
 the rule. There are many pathetic tales 
 half hinted at. Men left families to live as 
 best they might, in vain hope, in narrowed 
 circumstances at home, selling or mortgag- 
 ing all tliey possessed to outfit tliemselves, 
 confidently expecting to return with (juickly- 
 ac(iuir(Ml wealth. About twenty-five men 
 have lost their lives so far from drowning, 
 fr<H»zing or scurvy, several of whom we 
 know to have dependent families at home. 
 It is worse than war. for there is no pension. 
 And then the ridiculousness of this mad 
 rush! How a company of excited men fol- 
 lowed an Eskimo three days across the 
 tundras and over the mountains, only to be
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 61 
 
 shown a little brook with yellow mica glist- 
 ening in the sandy bed! How another party 
 had a " sure thing," and several otliers got 
 wind of it and followed, scarcely giving 
 themselves time to sleep, until they all 
 readied the same spot together in a mood to 
 figlit, but linally lauglied at themselves as if 
 provoked by a liumorous ice demon. Sev- 
 eral i)arties paid an old sailor at San Fran- 
 cisco forty dollars eacli for a " tip " as to 
 the exact spot where gold had been dug out, 
 " lifti'cn thousand doll.-irs in two hours with 
 a jack-knife"! They all met at the supposed 
 place. We have had the laugh on them 
 many times, though I fail to see the exact 
 grounds. The ludicrous sometimes changes 
 to the doleful even while I am laughing. 
 
 •' We paid $t)00 ai)iece 
 for our tip." someone 
 says. Several have 
 owned up that they fol- 
 lowed the " Penelope " 
 crowd into this country 
 believing that we had " a 
 sure thing;" and the mis- 
 sionaries told us that it 
 has been rumored that 
 nearly live hundred men 
 came into the Sound last 
 summer following our 
 " scent." 1 cannot see 
 anything " funny " about 
 it, though some do. 
 
 Feb. 12.— This morn- 
 ing after bi-eakfast I 
 amused myself about an hour before ser- 
 vice by paying strict attention to affairs 
 about me in the cabin. It is astonishing 
 how entertaining the meaningless, helter- 
 skelter, careless conversation can be. And 
 yet there are points. We are all doing some- 
 thing, if only yawning or looking out of the 
 frosty window. 
 
 C. C. is clipping Cox's whiskers and makes 
 inaudible remarks. Rivers is shaving, just 
 like any Christian of a Sunday morning. 
 Miller, Alec, Clyde. Case.v, Brov^-nie and the 
 doctor are reading. I am writing at the 
 table. Uncle Jimmy is standing by the stove 
 with his hands in his pockets, facing the win- 
 dow and whistling. A pail of water is set 
 into the top of the heating stove and sizzles 
 in varying tones. All is quiet for a wliile, 
 when positions are changed. Ablutions are 
 going on beliind closed canvas. Uncle .limmy 
 sits down on a bench and pulls his beard in 
 a slow, rhythmical motion. He is abstracted. 
 Cox tills a stew-pail with water, pieces of 
 
 ice striking the sides with a tinkling sound, 
 and i)Uts it on the cook stove. Uncle .Timmy 
 gets Ills I{il)le and sits <lown at tlie table, 
 spending several moments in wiping ids 
 spe<"ta<les. He reads a verse and imsiies his 
 specs high up (jn liis forehead, rests his head 
 on his liand and dozes oflf. Casey and Cox 
 exchange some words about a " siiirt " that 
 has shrunken in washing. Ilivers takes the 
 thermometer and gcjes outdoors. Ueturns, 
 saying tliat it is " thirty below." and bills ine 
 put tliat in my diary. Clyde brings lils 
 camera outfit to the window and explains 
 Avhat the several picturi'S rejiresent. (,'ox 
 asks me to " blow out the lamp if I don't 
 need it." which I do. Cox gets a book and 
 sits down near the window. He liglits his 
 
 After Whitetish. 
 
 big corn-cob and. after putting several dense 
 clouds of smoke, asks, " Will 1 disturb you 
 smoking. Uncle Jimmy':'" The latter says, 
 "Oh. no; oh, nol" Rivers gets "Hamlet" 
 and sits down to the table to read. C. C. is 
 in his bedroom humming a tune. Ceases 
 humming and whistles; is again humming; 
 whistles; sings. The doctor gets up. saying. 
 " I'ncle Jimmy. I didn't know I took your 
 Bible." (iocs into bedroom and jiuts on hood 
 and mittens. Says he is " going up to see 
 Bentz." And the morning i)asses. while I 
 see and hear much more of no greater im- 
 portance than what I have recorded. Half- 
 past eleven the natives and " cabloonas " 
 begin to arrive for church. C. C. speaks, 
 and as usual we all listen. 
 
 Is it monotonous, docs one think who has 
 not sp«'nt montlis in a cabin with the same 
 faces and tlie sanu' voic«>s and the same rou- 
 tine of endless twiliglit'/ I marvel how 
 some who have not inward resources can 
 endure it.
 
 62 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 I let " Cingato " have my shot-gun yester- 
 day, and he brought me four ptarmigan. 
 two of which were the rooli ptarmigan, which 
 I have not before taken. I wanted to skin 
 them to-day. but Uncle Jimmy wouldn't let 
 me. If I insisted Casey said I might, from 
 Uncle Jimmy's threatening look. " precipi- 
 tate a rough house." I put the birds away 
 to freeze until to-morrow, so there is no 
 further danger of a " rough house." 
 
 Last night we had the most beautiful 
 aurora of the winter. The more brilliant 
 display was south of the zenith, although 
 there was scarcely a part of the sky which 
 was not illuminated at some time. Broad 
 curtains of pale blue light seemed suspended 
 
 On a Journey. 
 
 in the heavens. They were constantly 
 changing in form and intensity, and waves 
 slowly swept across them as if they were 
 disturbed by a breeze. The lower edge was 
 the brighter, and alternate light and shadow 
 chased each other endlessly from west to 
 east. The effect was like that of a stage 
 with the curtain drawn, with a succession of 
 persons passing in fnmt of the footlights. 
 And then tliere were ribbons of light sweep- 
 ing slowly across the sky. These bands 
 were often abruptly broken and continued 
 at right angles with tiie other section. Little 
 patches of light, like a lleecy cloud in a 
 sunny sky, ajtpeared for a few minutes, to 
 gradually fade out again. There was no 
 moon, and yet the land.scape was illumin- 
 ated as if by the brightest moonlight, but 
 there were no shadows. 
 
 Feb. 17.— Alec. Miller and Casey started 
 back up the river and Brownie went witli 
 them. The four "Agnes Boyd" boys who 
 
 came down with C. C. also went up, and two 
 of the Hanson boys with them. Yesterday 
 Casey. Clyde and three of the Iowa people 
 also left, and will catch up with the tirst 
 party at Ambler City. Alec, Miller, Clyde 
 and Brown will return in a month. The 
 party had two sleds and four dogs. The 
 cabin seems almost empty. We have had 
 from eleven to eighteen sleeping and eating 
 here for the past month or more, and now we 
 are only six. The comparative quiet is a 
 relief and I shall be able to do more study- 
 ing. I want to read some more books as 
 well. I expect we shall be few in numbers 
 from now on. When Alec and Miller get 
 back from the upper camp they, with C. C. 
 and Rivers, are planning to go 
 down to the vessel at Escholtz 
 Bay. Casey, our engineer, will 
 stick by the " Helen " until the 
 river opens. I am going to stay 
 here until rhe " Helen " picks me 
 up on her way to the Sound. I 
 can do more work in the spring 
 collecting, with a warm cabin to 
 dry specimens in, than chasing 
 over the country prospecting, with 
 a will-o'-the-wisp in view. The 
 weather is very gloomy. The air 
 is heavy with mist and full of a 
 fine frost which falls constantly. 
 The sun, although it shines for 
 seven hours a day, doesn't get far 
 enough above the horizon to get 
 in its genial work. It was forty- 
 five degrees below zero this 
 morning and we stay in the cabin. I.,ast 
 week Rivers and I were relieved from culin- 
 ary duties and Cox took our place. Coxie 
 proves himself to be the best cook the Long 
 Beach and Alaska Mining and Trading Com- 
 pany has produced. We feel our loss in not 
 having discovered his talents in this line be- 
 fore. He has been too modest. His art 
 shall no longer be in obscurity. 
 
 He sits straddle of the stove all day long 
 concocting original dishes and improving 
 ui)on old ones. He gives us a quarter of a 
 pie apiece three times a day, and as much as 
 we want between meals. His bread is per- 
 fect. We bad the finest kind of fried (>ggs 
 for breakfast — fish eggs. The only impi^li- 
 ment to his cooking, to my mind, is liis in- 
 ability to make mush. It is too thin. We 
 have made a fortunate deal with the Han- 
 son Conq>any. who h.-ive fifty tons of pro- 
 visions in their storehouse here, to get all 
 till' extra grub we need until summer. Their 
 steamer, the " Agues Boyd," is nearly
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 63 
 
 A Child in the Cabin. 
 
 buried in a " placier creek," and it will prob- 
 ably fall to the " Helen " to ship their pos- 
 sessions down next snnimer. I was down to 
 the San Jose cabin for dinner. We were 
 served to an individual 
 can apiece of sauer- 
 kraut a n (1 sausajres 
 steaniinj; hot. I had 
 been huntinj; across the 
 tundra for several 
 miles through the snow, 
 and my ajipetite was as 
 keen as ('. C.'s razor 
 after he has stropped it 
 on a section of the belt 
 which was made at 
 home and fastened 
 around his waist with 
 the charge that on no 
 account was it to be 
 taken off unless he was 
 found dead in the snow. 
 It has his name on it for 
 identification. Guy Sols- 
 bury has just come up with Dr. Cotlin to 
 stay with us for a few days' visit. We liave 
 plenty of room now. and are ready to re- 
 ceive in decent style. 
 
 Feb. 20. 12 o'clock noon.— Cox and Rivers 
 and I are the only ones in the I'oom. The 
 rest are cutting wood. The sunshine is 
 flooding the cabin with light, although the 
 thermometer shows forty degrees below 
 zero. One of our p].skimo neighbors, " I'oth- 
 luk." is visiting us, probably more for the 
 benefit he derives from the stove than from 
 a particularly friendly feeling. His little 
 girl is with him, and is romping around the 
 room like any white child. " Kop-puk "' is 
 the i)rettiest native child I have seen. She 
 is " four snows old," so Poth-luk tells me. 
 Her costume is typically Eskimo — a lieavy 
 deerskin parka with a big hood, lined with 
 wolverine, strips of minkskin hanging from 
 hvv shoulders and waist, and deerskin com- 
 muks. Her hood lies back from her head 
 exposing her black hair, cut bang-wise in 
 front. Her face is round and fat and her 
 mouth really very pretty. She has shining 
 dark brown eyes and perfectly white teeth. 
 At this moment she is playing •'peek-a-boo' 
 with me from behind a chair. Her laugh- 
 ing face, surrounded by the broad fringe of 
 wolverine fur, and her cluibby figure, make 
 a pretty picture. I would like to take her 
 home with me. But what could I do with 
 her? If taken from her native climate she 
 would probably soon die. 
 
 We have a new lounge, which Invites indi- 
 gence in an already lazy crowd. I iiave read 
 over and over the six letters I received in 
 the New Year's mail. It will be six months 
 yet before we get any more. We lieard from 
 an Indian that Harry K. and Sanmis had 
 reached the Orphans' Home safely, though 
 they have had hard traveling. Saturday 
 night Brownie, Clyde, two of tlie Iowa boys 
 and one Ilansonite returned, having given 
 up the trip. Tliey only went fifteen miles 
 up the river. Tlie snow is so deep iliey liad 
 to carry the sled in some jjlaces, and tliose 
 who are continuing with it have to double 
 up with the loads; that is, go over the road 
 twice in order to get the entire hjad up. 
 They will have a rough time. Brownie came 
 near freezing to death and had to return. 
 This gave the other boys who came with 
 him an excuse for returning. Brownie has 
 been around home all winter, not exercising 
 much, and was not sufficiently hardened for 
 such a trip. The first day. after tliey had 
 been out but a few hours, he sat down ex- 
 hausted and said he would come on as sonn 
 as he had rested a few minutes (the old 
 
 .v,wj|H«:---; .fl 
 
 Our Artist Snowed In. 
 
 storyK The boys had presence of mind to 
 know what the real luatter was and tried 
 to get him to walk on. but he completely 
 collajised and became unconscious. They 
 quickly unloailed the sled and several went 
 on ahead to prepare the tent and get a fire 
 going, while the rest got Brownie on the
 
 64 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA, 
 
 sled and hauled him to camp. He was 
 finally restored, but a few minutes more 
 and another would have been added to the 
 Kowak silent ones. It was thirty-five de- 
 grees below zero, not so very cold, but his 
 feet and face were frozen. The boys plied 
 the art of thawing him out so well that he 
 will lose nothing but some skin. He makes 
 a pretty picture with a black nose. His toes 
 are sore. too. Nothing will induce him to 
 leave the cabin again. It is no use making 
 light of It, it is dangerous traveling unless 
 one is in the best physical condition and 
 with proper clothes and outfit. The rest of 
 the party are used to it, and we have no fear 
 for their safety. So many together can take 
 care of each other. Brownie says that wlien 
 he sat down to rest he only felt tired and a 
 little numb. This numbness crept on him 
 with little pain until he gradually lost per- 
 ception. He says he " felt good " and didn't 
 like to be disturbed. He lost all power of 
 movement and speech until he was warmed 
 up and rubbed for two or three hours. 
 Death by freezing must be very easy and 
 pleasant. Perhaps it is easier to die almost 
 any death than we suspect. I must have an 
 argument with the doctor about that. 
 
 Saturday brought me a new experience — 
 that of writing a sick man's will. B., who 
 lives alone in a little cabin near the first 
 Iowa Camp, is very sick and will probably 
 die. He dictated his will to me, in the pres- 
 ence of Uncle Jimmy as witness. It appor- 
 tions all his goods and possessions here, 
 which are all he has in the world, among the 
 residents of this community, naming in par- 
 ticular several who have waited upon him. 
 Dr. Coffin is willed his dory. B. is a queer 
 character. He is more or less insane, evi- 
 dently from drink. The way he begs for 
 hypodermic injections of cocaine and mor- 
 phine indicates that he may have been a 
 " dope fiend." He has been here since last 
 summer. For some time previous his record 
 was not sustaining, but his people thought 
 he might be benefited by a change of cli- 
 mate. He says his folks are well off and lie 
 'doesn't want any of his things sent home. 
 Tlie different camps are shiuing in liis care 
 now. and he may live indefinitely. His legs 
 are affected very much like llie scurvy vic- 
 tim's, though the doctors do not call it that. 
 Several of the people have frost-bitten 
 cheeks, but otherwise this is a healthy neigli- 
 borli(M)d. What little sickness we have had 
 tends to make the well ones kind and char- 
 itable and helj)ful. They chop wood for one 
 another and in many ways give evidence 
 
 of having sprtmg from a long line of Chris- 
 tian ancestors. I have heard that, this is 
 the case always and everywhere at mining 
 camps. And ours is a mining camp. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FEB. 24. Friday. 9 p. m.— I went hunting 
 for the first time on snowshoes. I got 
 along famously until I struck a soft 
 snowdrift, and the shoes turned on edge and 
 I fell headlong. Otherwise I received no 
 casualties and got over the ground rapidly, 
 skirting the brushy margins of lakes back 
 on the tundra and following up the creeks. 
 I shot three rock ptarmigan, and learned 
 many interesting items about their notes 
 and habits, which are duly set down in my 
 special bird notes. The weather is calm and 
 clear and cold, ranging from fifteen to fifty- 
 one degrees in the twenty-four hours. 
 
 Wednesday afternoon the literary was 
 again well attended, as we had a very inter- 
 esting programme. Dr. Coffin had arranged 
 the east end of the room in a patriotic man- 
 ner, the designs being his own. A large flag 
 made of a red blanket with parallel stripes 
 of white cheese cloth folded across it, and in 
 the corner a square of blue mosquito netting 
 with paper stars pinned on it, formed the 
 background. On a platform in front of this 
 were stacked three guns, one an old rusted 
 muzzle-loader which C. C. found out in the 
 woods, one an old-fashioned breech-loader, 
 and the third a modern nitro-repeater, to 
 represent the three great wars — the Revo- 
 lutionary, the Civil, and the Spanish. On 
 the wall were magazine cuts of Schley, 
 Sampson, Dewey, Hobson, and other heroes, 
 while in the center of the blanket flag was 
 a large picture of George and Martha Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Mr. Legg, of the Jesse Lou Camp, gave a 
 talk on Honduras, where he was a banana 
 grower some years ago. Several George 
 W\'ishiugton speeches followed, b.v Solsbury, 
 Jury, Tliees, C. C. and others. Just at the 
 close of the meeting Uncle S. came bluster- 
 ing in from up the river. He brought a lot 
 of news that kept the people here until late 
 in the night. Two or three more men have 
 been frozen to death. Several have scurvy. 
 Our boys were at Ambler City waiting for 
 the weather to moderate before going on up. 
 There has been absolutely no gold heard 
 from. There are thousands of men in the 
 lower Yukon regions, one hundred and fifty 
 steamers and various kinds of launches
 
 GOLD IIUNTWG IN ALASKA. 
 
 65 
 
 aloDfj the Koyukuk alone, and no encourag- 
 ing prospects. Hundreds of men haven't a 
 cent to pay their passage back to the States. 
 One good tiling makes affairs l)e!ter tlian 
 they might be — tliere is plenty to eat in the 
 country. It is said that a good many have 
 signed a petition to the government to come 
 and get tlieni out of their trouble. 
 
 We feel pretty sure of our return tickets. 
 But the " renelope " is at the mercy of 
 Arctic demons, and if she is saved it will be 
 marvelous. 
 
 Feb. liO. Sunday.— I will confess that 1 did 
 not beluive well in churcli this morning. I 
 took a seat over in the corner beliind Rivers, 
 wliere 1 thought my scribbling would not be 
 noticed, and there I am writing. 1 guess no 
 one will be harmed by it unless it be myself. 
 10:'M) a. m., and the first arrivals for meeting 
 are Charley T^und and Beam of tlie first 
 Iowa Camp — tiiat is. representing the white 
 population. Services are supposed to begin 
 at eleven, but two benc-hes of Eskimo are 
 already seated. They are quite well behaved, 
 but keep up an incessant jabbering. Char- 
 ley I.und, Beam and the doctor are holding 
 an animated conversation about the sick 
 man B. B. is a good deal better. 
 
 Guy Solsbury and Normandin of the Han- 
 son Camp have just arrived, all muffled up, 
 their masks tliickly frosted. It is forty-five 
 degrees below zero, but they report that 
 their three-mile walk was " quite comfort- 
 able." Normandin brought rue a big box 
 nicely finislied with cover and shallow trays, 
 for my skins. It is in trade for a stuffed 
 ptarmigan. He is quite a genius in tlie me- 
 chnuicMl line. The box was rather too heavy 
 to carry, so he fastened a pair of runners 
 on blocks at the bottom and dragged it up 
 by a rope tied to a luindle on one end. Ly- 
 man comes in witli his clarionet case under 
 liis arm. Dr. Gleaves and D. arrive, and 
 then Young. Dougherty and Montgomery, 
 from the middle Iowa cabin, ami Legg of the 
 Jesse Lou, who is staying with tliem. Sev- 
 eral more natives come in with friendly 
 ••Halloas!" "Big .Tones" from the further 
 Iowa Camp arrives, and Brenn.-in and Mal- 
 colm from the Sunnyside. Brennan is nick- 
 named •' Noisy." because he is always very 
 (luiet and has nothing to say to anyone. 
 Remarks as to the " cold weather," wooden 
 snow-glasses and snowsiioes, are numerous. 
 The conversation is mainly desultory, cai- 
 ried on piecemeal from opposite sides of tin- 
 room. But there is a low hum from two or 
 three couples who are carrying on a more 
 
 earnest conversation. Dr. Coffin and Dr. 
 (J leaves, for Instance. I overhear discussing 
 Fish's condition. Fish is the man whose 
 toes were amputated. One can see that 
 Sunday servi<('s on the Kowak are rather of 
 a social nature. The orclu-stra begins to 
 tune up; general silence falls on the congre- 
 gation, and individuals seek permanent 
 seats. Dr. Coftin gives out the song l)ooks, 
 of which C. C. brouglit plenty. The 
 orchestra consists of the banjo by C. C, vio- 
 lin by Norm.indin. and ehirionet by Lyman. 
 There is ^(uue <lelay and more luuiiig of the 
 banjo and clarionet, which do not seem to 
 jibe (to use a musical termi. A low buzz of 
 conversation is again audible, and the leaves 
 of the hymn books rustle. Several of the 
 natives have colds and tliere is considenilde 
 coughing. It is very (piiet: sort of an air of 
 suspi-nse. Tlie sunshine streaming across the 
 room, reflected fiom yellow .Mackinaw suits, 
 gives a brownish tint to tlie scene. .Nor- 
 mandin and C. C. are discoursing •' sliarps " 
 and •' flats " in a low voice, yet audible in tlie 
 room. The violin and l)aiijo are not (piite 
 tuned together. Solsbury is talking aloud 
 about " Moth balls in furs, back in the 
 States." At last C. C. announces the num- 
 ber of the hymn in a loud, hurried voice, as 
 though he were just startled out of a 
 reverie, " No. IT, .Tesus Saves." The clar- 
 ionet .sounds the pitch and C. C. leads in 
 the singing. Tlie time is awfully slow. 
 Nearly everyone sings, the Eskimos follow- 
 ing the air nearly as well as the wliites. .Al- 
 though many sing out of tune, and individ- 
 ually would make a horrible discord, the 
 aggregation is a somewhat musical droning 
 of a quality that would soon put one to 
 sleep. After four verses of tliis hymn. " No. 
 (i4 " is announced. •' Wait and .Murmur Not." 
 Some further tuning, and four verses of this 
 hymn are gone through with. They always 
 do sing all the verses of any hymn. Dr. 
 Coffin now rises and reads the second chap- 
 ter of Matthew. Mr. D. is in charge of the 
 meeting to-day. and he calls on .Mr. W. to 
 ••lead in prayer." Uncle .Tiniiuy slowly 
 rises, takes a ste)) or two forward, clasps his 
 hands in front of him. and. closing his eyes, 
 raises his face slightly. He is a goo<l man 
 and I like to see and hear him pray. I 
 haven't anything against I'ncle .lininiy. 
 When anyone prays the Eskimos always 
 bow their heads low, resting their elbows on 
 their knees. They say '•Amen" in unison 
 when the prayer is finished. So much is the 
 result of Mr. and .Mrs. Sa nuns' missionary 
 work. I'ncle Jimmy terminates with the
 
 66 
 
 GOLD BUNII^G IN ALASKA. 
 
 Lord's Prayer, in which all join. When the 
 praying is over there is quite a hubbub of 
 coughing and sneezing. C. C. announces 
 " No. 49." and the orchestra tunes. " There 
 shall be showers of blessing." four verses. 
 The clarionet doesn't seem to know this very 
 well and makes several breaks. Toward 
 the end of the last verse the hymn-books are 
 closed and there is a general settling down. 
 D. rises and. after a pause, proceeds to apol- 
 ogize for his inability as a public speaker. 
 But he tells us he will do the best he can, 
 and we ask for nothing more. His subject 
 is " The Divinity of Christ." I should like 
 to take down the various points, but my con- 
 
 Church Service at Cape Blossom in July. 
 
 tinned scratching is noisy and attracts atten- 
 tion. I might get taken out of meeting by 
 the ear and so suffer for being a " naughty 
 little boy." A couple of men came in late 
 during the sermon and caused some disturb- 
 ance until they finally got seated, mopping 
 the melting ice from their beards. D. winds 
 up liis discourse with a prayer. The most of 
 his sermon was written, and delivered in his 
 usual halting manner, but the substance was 
 good for any location and showed that he 
 had given a good deal of study to his sub- 
 ject. After the prayer and a chorus of 
 " Amens " from the natives, who haven't 
 understood a word of what was said, there 
 is a sort of recovery, with coughing iind 
 clearing of throats and shuffling of feet. 
 " No. l.'JO " is announced. " Bringing in the 
 sheaves." three verses. C. C. starts anotlier 
 song, which he observes "will be familiar 
 to the natives," " No. 39, At the Cross." 
 The P>skimos catch a tune quite readily, the 
 women and children carrying the air very 
 nicely. They try hard to imitate the words. 
 
 Two verses conclude this song. " No. 14, 
 Jesus. I Come." is announced. It is a new 
 piece and is sung very scatteringly. Guy 
 Solsbury calls for " Sunshine." He thinks it 
 appropriate, because at this moment the 
 sunshine is flooding the room with more 
 than usual brightness. But C. C. says he 
 hasn't the music, so the orchestra can't play 
 it. C. C. asks all to rise, and he prays and 
 gives the benediction. The congregation 
 slowly disperses, little knots remaining to 
 discuss various topics. Legg declares he 
 will not go back to the .Jesse Lou until the 
 weather moderates. Thus with gossip and 
 swapping of news the Kowak Sunday ser- 
 vices are finally 
 ended and the room 
 is cleared in time for 
 the 2 o'clock dinner. 
 
 March 3.— I have 
 been pretty busy to- 
 day. Got up just in 
 time for breakfast, 
 which I don't have 
 to get any more, for 
 a while at least, and 
 took my snowshoes 
 up to the village to 
 1) e mended. Then 
 Rivers and I went 
 ptarmigan hunting. 
 We tramped across 
 the tundras from 
 eight till two. bag- 
 ging two ptarmigan and a redpoll. It was 
 tiresome. In the ravines where the wind did 
 not strike, the snow was soft and deep and 
 hard to get over even with snowshoes. 
 Rivers wore snowshoes for the first time, 
 and he got several tumbles, but always 
 struck in a soft place. 
 
 We got into a large flock of ptarmigan 
 which kept flying around us, but, after two 
 or three shots, our hands became too cold 
 and we had to give theiu up. My mitts were 
 sweaty, and froze while I had them off 
 shooting, and when I put them on again my 
 hands nearly became frosted. It is too cold 
 for comfortable hunting. When we got back 
 we were late for dinner, but Coxie got us a 
 fine lunch, hot i)ea soup, biscuits, and apple 
 col)bler. After dinner I put up two ptarmigan 
 skins that I shot l;ist Tuesday. Rivers is 
 learning how to skin birds now. He exi)ects 
 to go down to Escholtz Bay pretty soon to 
 be with the vessel when the ice breaks up, 
 and will collect eggs and skins for me there. 
 I would like to turn the whole company
 
 GOLD BUN21N0 JN ALASKA. 
 
 67 
 
 into an opg collecting? concern for a month 
 in May and June. But I puess the doctor 
 and Kivers are the onlj' ones who will tal<e 
 much active interest. Last ni;;lit 1 had a 
 very nice dream. The tirst swallows had 
 come. There were barn swallows and bank 
 swallows tlyiuK alonji the river and I was 
 after them. Before many weeks this is just 
 what will happen. It will be an excitin;; 
 time for me. More exciting than gold hunt- 
 ing. 
 
 Monday was my birthday, and there was 
 quite a celebration in the cabin. The tirst 
 thing in the morning, before I was fairly 
 awake. I was attacked by the doctoi-, and 
 we had a five-minute squabble, pitclicd high. 
 At the close of the seance he claimed to have 
 given nie twenty-two spanks. They were 
 more in the nature of bunts and kicks than 
 sciuare spanks. I made the doctor lots of 
 hard work. We rolled around the floor and 
 under the bed and on the beds, and tore 
 tilings up generally, including Brownie, who 
 got in the road with his sore leg. At break- 
 fast Coxie served me a big bowl of oatmeal 
 mush. We had been out of mush material 
 for a long time, much to my personal sor- 
 row, as all the boys and most of the neigh- 
 bors well know. Mr. Lyman, hearing of my 
 birtliday, kindly sent me in a package of 
 oatmeal. Good birthday present that! 
 
 I also received a birthday l>ox from home, 
 smuggled like the Christmas box, not to be 
 opened until the day appointed. There 
 was everything in it — games, books, candies, 
 duly bottled and boxed, etc. We all had a 
 treat. At dinner a big platter of ptarmigan 
 was set at my place (some I had shot), and 
 all in all it was a very pleasant occasion. 
 A birtliday in the Arctics, on the banks of 
 the mighty Kowak. is not often the thing 
 that happens to a fellow- 
 Wednesday, at the literary, C. C. talked 
 on " Keminiscences of an Undertaker." It 
 was very interesting, being his favorite and 
 familiar theme. It was held at the Hanson 
 Camp, and I remained as guest of Guy Sols- 
 bury, Jack Messing and Joe Jury came here 
 and visited our boys at the same time. We 
 have to visit about these cold nights and 
 sleej) under one cover when possible. 
 Blankets are none too plentiful. 
 
 Normandin mended my shot-gun. which 
 had lost a rivet, for which I paid him the 
 sum of a stuffed ptarmigan. Everybody 
 wants i)tarmigan skins now, but I have to 
 be rather " stingy," as I am freciuently told, 
 or else I won't have a ghost of a " si-ries " 
 to take home for comparison. Home! WheuV 
 
 Cuming: to TraJc. 
 
 CHArTKK XVUL 
 
 MARCH 7. 181)9.— I have succeeded at 
 last in trading for two pairs o'' suow- 
 slioes. from some Eskimos wlio have 
 just come up the river. Tlie dickt-nng en- 
 gaged the entire afternoon, and I am com- 
 pletely exhausted. It is a stupi-ndous 
 undertaking to attempt to trade for any- 
 thing. The natives want the earth, and then 
 "some more." The following is an illustra- 
 tion of the proceedings: An Indian brings 
 in a pair of snowshoes and we all rush to 
 see them, commenting 
 on their size ;iud qual- 
 ity. " Mickaninuy " (too 
 s m a 1 1»; " aiiganinny " 
 (too bigl; •• naguruk " 
 (good); "caprok pec- 
 hak " (string loose); 
 " b y m e by fixem." 
 And then "capsinic" 
 (how much?) The na- 
 tive invariably reiilies, 
 " You speak." You can 
 never makt* an Indian 
 state what he wants. 
 You begin by offering 
 him *' SOX." " Konga " 
 
 (no). He wants "cow cow" (something 
 to eat). "FlourV" "Capsinic flour?" " Ne- 
 leuea " (I don't know). Being urged on 
 flour, the native intimates " two sacks." 
 "Oh, apazh, apazh " (too mucin. One 
 sack flour all right? "No, too small." The 
 Indian then proceeds to look over the 
 sack of flour brought for his inspection and 
 he Hnds " potoa " (holei. After this is sewed 
 up he finds that it has been wet at one end 
 and the flour is a little caked in advance at 
 the bottom. He therefore states that the 
 whole thing is " no good," and " dauxic 
 pechak " (no trade). He wants bacon, "so 
 long and so broad," indicating the measure- 
 ments in the air with hands. " No, we 
 pechak " (haven't any for him). Then I 
 bring out a shirt to add to the sack of Hour. 
 He looks at the shirt and finds a torn place. 
 " Stoney-house " (no gooili. 
 
 " Stoney-house " means torn or broken, 
 and has a (pieer derivation. Fort Cosmos is 
 called stoney-house by the natives, because 
 Lieutenant Stouey and his party wintered 
 there in 1SS4. The cabin they lived in at 
 Fort Cosmos (there is no fort or an.\thing 
 else there nowt is all broken down. So. with 
 an Eskimo. " All same stoney-house." or 
 siiiqily " stoney-house," means brok«'n. 
 
 After two hours of sweating and Itarjniu-
 
 68 
 
 GOLD HUNTII^'G IN ALASKA. 
 
 ing the trade is consummated, and the " eal- 
 boona " is satisfied. It is much to the relief 
 of both parties. From the foregoing it will 
 be plainly seen that a native is amply able 
 to care for his own interests, and has 
 learned from a probably bitter experience 
 to " look a leetle out." 
 
 I got a very nice pair of snowshoes to take 
 home as curiosities for one sack of flour and 
 a pair of socks, and another pair, stronger 
 but not so prettily made, for everyday use, 
 for a half sack of flour and half a pound of 
 tea. This is very reasonable and some un- 
 der winter prices. Snowshoes make nice 
 wall decorations for halls and dining-rooms, 
 with a suitable picture stuck in them where 
 the foot belongs. 
 
 Wednesday, March 8.— Our extremely cold 
 weather is at an end, I hope. But it is more 
 disagreeable outside. I put up a spruce 
 grouse and two redpolls this afternoon. 
 Birds are becoming noisier and, I presume, 
 happier aud in better spirits as the sunshine 
 increases. An Alaskan three-toed wood- 
 pecker drums taps on a dead spruce near the 
 cabin every morning. The jays are quiet, 
 but have a stealthy, sly manner which indi- 
 cates that they are about to engage in nest- 
 building. Rivers has finished up two ptar- 
 migan skins in fair shape. He is very pains- 
 taking and I hope he gets some good speci- 
 mens down on the coast. I have everyone 
 posted as to keeping birds and eggs for me, 
 and, with this generous promise of help, I 
 ought to obtain some rare things this spring. 
 
 The literary met this afternoon, with good 
 attendance and a talk " On the Eye " by Dr. 
 Gleaves. A week ago the other otticers and 
 myself thought our terms of office had about 
 expired, so we "resigned," and our successors 
 were elected; Joe Jury, president; Clyde, sec- 
 retary; Young, vice-president. To-day, as I 
 was retiring from the chair. Dr. Coffin arose 
 and, after a most elaborate speech, pre- 
 sented nie with a gavel. He spoke of its 
 rare value on account of its associations, 
 and grew quite sentimental. It was part of a 
 birch tree, (•lioppe<l down by Uncle Jimmy 
 near our winter home "on the Kowak far 
 away." Dr. Coffin selected the pieces aud 
 worked them down. The head was turned 
 by Normandin on the famous grindstune 
 lafhe of the San Jose cabin. Joe Jury 
 worked the crank, yielding " two bjirrels of 
 sweat by measure." and Dr. Coflin turned 
 the handle and finisliod up the gavel. It is 
 a very valualile ami beautiful souvenir to be 
 kept "as long as memory lasts." 
 
 Joe Jury took the chair which I had va- 
 cated to-day and made things lively, using a 
 big hand-ax for a gavel and otherwise mak- 
 ing this, probably our final meeting, a merry 
 one. Several of the Kowak men are about 
 to leave. Nine of the Sunny siders started 
 up yesterday with their sled loads. They 
 have lots of courage and perseverance, but 
 I doubt their making the mountain passes 
 with their supplies. Solsbury and Joe Jury 
 start down to-morrow on a three weeks' 
 trip to look after the condition of their 
 barge, sixty-eight miles below us. Dr. 
 Gleaves and the boys from " Quality Hill " 
 are getting ready for a hunting trip across 
 to the N'aatak. Oh, I believe I have not 
 made previous mention of Quality Hill. It 
 is an interesting spot, the cabin being occu- 
 pied by four young men of the aristocracy. 
 They have been exclusive, as became men of 
 their distinction. Few of us have been on 
 intimate terms with them, but they are said 
 to lie in their bunks until twelve o'clock 
 noon, and to stay up, when once out. until 
 two the following morning. They divert 
 themselves by shooting at mice which run 
 across the floor, using their six-shooters. 
 Various boxes and knot-holes about the 
 walls of their residence suggest targets. 
 The walls themselves are riddled with bullet 
 holes. They are said to have trained a\ 
 young Eskimo as personal attendant, who 
 does all the work of the cabin, building 
 fires, bringing wood and water, and even 
 cooking. He sleeps on the floor, so that he 
 may lye handy to rekindle the fires of a 
 cold night. The first man to arouse in the 
 morning tosses a boot or other article at the 
 native servant, which reminds him of his 
 domestic duties. He blacks their muckluks, 
 it is rumored, and serves cofifee and cigars 
 in l>ed. They live in style on Quality Hill. 
 Thus even the remote Kowak has its aristo- 
 cratic society. 
 
 March 10.— I put up five more rock ptar- 
 migan to-day. They are difficult to skin and 
 it is slow work, and their being pure white 
 makes it necessary to l>e extra nice with 
 them. I have already used more than half 
 of my supply of pl.-ister-of-paris and the 
 migr.'itions have not begun. I use this plas- 
 ter in cleaning the skins. 
 
 Yesterday the doctor and I went hunting 
 for three hours in the forenoon and secured 
 eight i)tarmigan. It was pleasant when we 
 started, but after a while the north wind 
 blew. We were .-ibout to return when we 
 (liscovi'red a flock of ptarmigan on a hillside.
 
 GOLD HUNTJNG IN ALASKA. 
 
 69 
 
 The line snow was flrivin,sj along the prouud 
 iu a continuous blimlinj; strcain. The birds 
 squatted down close in tlie snow, facing; the 
 wind, evidently tired. Tliey paid little at- 
 tention to us until we were within easy 
 
 The Doctor Makes a Good Start — 
 
 shot, when they rose and, after a short 
 tlijrht, settled again. I felt sorry to take ad- 
 vantage of them, they are usually so wary. 
 The doctor wore his snowshoes for the tirst 
 time and on the whole got along pretty well. 
 Once, however, he got mixed up in a snow- 
 drift. He trii)ped. the pointed heel of one 
 shoe stuck, and down went the toe of the 
 other. He plunged head first into the snow, 
 where he could scarcely move. During the 
 progress of his wallowing his shot-gun got 
 crammed full of snow, and he poked it 
 out just in time \o see four ptarmigan fly 
 past. 
 
 March 15, 9 a. ni.— It has been storming 
 three days. This morning the wind is roar- 
 ing among the trees louder than ever, and 
 the snow tills the air so t'lickly one cannot 
 see a hundred yards. It is warmer, how- 
 ever, as it always is with an east wind; 
 warmer than we have seen it since last Sei)- 
 tember. I have been on my tirst hunt for 
 jay's nests. When it is cloudy one can see 
 tlnough the foliage of the spruces more 
 readily than when the sun shines, throwing 
 shadows everywhere. Last week several of 
 the " Amblerites " came down. They report 
 many cases of scurvy at Ambler City, and 
 they came to our camps to get tomatoes. 
 
 fruit and pickles. They are now stormbound, 
 and two of them, I'hillii»s and La Voy, are 
 with us. They will have hard sledding back 
 again unless it thaws enough to fornj a 
 crust. Money is very scarce up here now 
 ai'd provisions and clothing are iielow par. 
 ^^■ith half the money we spent iu the States 
 one coidd buy up a good outfit. If one could 
 only see aheadi But In that case we woiihl 
 not have been here, and I should pnjbaliiy 
 never have seen the spring migrations on ihe 
 Kowak. An ill wind that blows nobody any 
 good. 
 
 ^larch 18.— The cloudy weather continues. 
 Tlie warmth from the room is peLetrating 
 tlie roof and the water is dripping 
 through in several places. The frost and iif 
 in the lean-to are nu-lting. making a sloiipy 
 place. Icicles hang down from above, like 
 stalactites in a cave, .•ind slii»pery cones rise 
 from the fioor like stalagmites. The snow is 
 about two feet deep on the level and is soft 
 and damp, making walking even with sn(»w- 
 shoes ditticult. I v.-cnt into the woods this 
 morning a few hundred yards, wading in 
 snow above my knees, which was tiring. I 
 got a shot at a raven, but lost it. I heard a 
 woodpecker drumming and a couple of i)ine 
 grosbeaks calling. I long for the time wlu-n 
 the birds will arrive. Every moment will be 
 
 ■f^^ 
 
 
 h^:^\i *.;,i7--; 
 
 But Fimls Himself in a Changed Position. 
 
 precious then, but the time hangs a little 
 heavy now. I am glad I have something to 
 look forward to. " Looking forward to 
 something " is about half the pleasure of
 
 70 
 
 GOLD BUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 life. I have compiled my last year's bird 
 notes, have loaded all my shells, gotten 
 boxes ready, and still must wait. I spend 
 some of the time in getting as much infor- 
 mation from the natives as possible about 
 the birds. They know the natural history of 
 the region pretty well, and but for their su- 
 perstitions would be of practical service to 
 me. I have been looking for jay's nests and 
 watching these birds for several days now. 
 I cannot induce the natives to hunt for me, 
 or even to tell me of nests. They tell me 
 that if a person looks at the eggs of a jay or 
 spruce grouse he will surely " mucky " (die). 
 They firmly believe what they say. Kallak 
 told' me that a man who lived in her father's 
 igloo several snows ago. looked into a jay's 
 nest and promptly went " mucky." Doctor 
 Charley tells me the same thing, except that 
 if the person who disturbs the nest shoots 
 one of the parent birds and. holding it be- 
 hind his back, extracts the entrails and 
 throws them away out of his sight, he pos- 
 sibly may not die. I am afraid it will be 
 hard for me to obtain assistance from 
 these people at the time when I shall most 
 need it, and which I had fondly hoped for 
 all along. 
 
 March 20.— My eyes are smarting with 
 snow blindness while I write. They feel full 
 of sand. To-day the sun shone and the glare 
 was dreadful. Last evening I went down to 
 the Hanson camp and spent the night with 
 Dr. Gleaves, and to-day have been hunting 
 jays. I found one nest just started and feel 
 very much elated. It was only by accident 
 that I found it, for the birds are so shy. I 
 saw a jay flying in the direction of a strip 
 of spruces, but lost sight of it on account 
 of intervening timber. I did not see the 
 birds again, but followed in the direction of 
 their flight, keeping up a systematic search 
 through the spruces. By chance I caught 
 sight of a small aggregation of twigs in a 
 young tree, which, by a few tell-tale feathers 
 clinging around the edge, gave me the scent. 
 The nest was not more than lialf built and 
 I made haste to leave the vicinity so as not 
 to disturl) the birds. I think the full set of 
 eggs will be ready in about three weeks. 
 This, with the snow several feet deep and 
 the landscape white! I returned to Dr. 
 Oleaves' in time for dinner at two o'clock, 
 and was treated to " Gleaves' Justly Cele- 
 brated," which is an original soup of the 
 doctor's own concoction. 
 
 After a lialf day's tramp on snowshoes 
 through deep, damp snow, one enjoys a din- 
 
 ner of the " Gleaves' consomme," hash, 
 baked sweei potato and sweet corn. 
 
 Last night an Eskimo died at the village, 
 and every savage neighbor of the deceased 
 has moved into tents out of their warm 
 igloos, whict are vacated for good. They 
 are all goin;: to move across the river and 
 put up wick-i-ups. The person who died was 
 an old woman who went by the natural 
 route of old age. She was dragged out of 
 her igloo a few yards and left in the snow, 
 for the dogs to eat up, we are told, as she 
 had no especial friends. C. C.'s instinct was 
 aroused, and he and Dr. Coffin went up to 
 attend to the ceremonies. Wonderful to re- 
 late, the undertaker did not bury the body, 
 but put it on a scaffold in true native stylo. 
 He is being convinced that this is the proper 
 form of burial. It is expected that he will 
 institute the same on his return to Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 March 24.— Guy Solsbury and Joe Jury re- 
 turned from t^eir trip to look after the 
 barge. Guy has some big stories to relate 
 about their " perilous trip," which is the 
 identical one Cox and I made last New 
 Year's. They have been absent two weeks, 
 part of the time snowed m. We shall prob- 
 ably have a full account of it in the San Jose 
 " Mercury " next summer. It will bring the 
 mercury down. Colclough came up with 
 them. He had been to the Mission, and 
 brought us a letter from Harry Reynolds 
 and Cai)tain Delano, who report everything 
 " all right." Several men have lately come 
 down the Kowak. The word from every- 
 where, Naatak, Buckland, Allashook, Koyu- 
 kuk. and the entire Kowak region, is " noth- 
 ing." Men are waiting impatiently for 
 spring to open up so they can " go liome." 
 C. C, Rivers and Clyde are now waiting for 
 the boys to come down from the upper 
 camp, when they will all go down to the 
 " Penelope." There is little of note going 
 on about the cabin these days. We have al- 
 together too much sunshine. The doctor and 
 I were hunting ptarmigan Thursday. We 
 tramped seven hours and never saw a bird 
 save a few redpolls and a small siiuad of 
 chickadees. As a result of his tramp the 
 doctor is laid up with snow blindness. I am 
 not so far affected. I cannot hunt with 
 snow-glasses on, as they dim the vision. 
 But I have some natural advantage. My 
 ancestors, who did not hunt ptarmigan on 
 tlie Kowak, bequeathed to me a pair of 
 rather deep-set eyes with roofing brows, 
 which are the best protection.
 
 GOLD HUN71NG JN ALASKA. 
 
 I 
 
 " Doctor Charley," the Eskimo who re- 
 ceived so nuich kindness from Dr. Coffin last 
 fall, has been anxious to retuiui the courtesj', 
 and yesterday his opportunity t-ame. 
 
 The doctor was attacked with snow blind- 
 / ness with jjreat suffering. Dr. Charh'y called 
 on him professionally, and advised him to 
 try a treatment at the hands of his wife, 
 who was a specialist in eye cases of this 
 nature. The (loctor was ready to submit to 
 almost anything at the hands of his friends, 
 thinkinj? that i)erhaps they niijiht possess 
 some secret worthy of note. Such proved 
 to be the case. Indian Charley's wife called 
 and looked at the patient's eyes, swollen and 
 inflamed and painful to a degree. She 
 pointed to some toothpicks on the cabin 
 table, and. being told to " proceed." she 
 whittled three of them to a sharp point. 
 Handing one to the suffering doctor, she bade 
 him thrust it into his nostril. He did so and 
 found to his astonishment that the mucous 
 membrane was without sensation. Obeying 
 his doctress. he continued to thrust in the 
 point of this pick and likewise the two 
 others, when a hemorrhage of considerable 
 severity occurred. This was the thing 
 greatly to be desired. In an hour the nose 
 was inflamed and very painful, but the eyes 
 were relieved. After a few hours both nose 
 and eyes were normal, and the doctor be- 
 lieves the operation rational. He declares 
 that he will practice it upon himself and 
 others at the first opportunity. When he re- 
 turns to California lie will doubtless hang 
 out his sign as " Specialist on Snow Blind- 
 ness." Only there is no snow in California. 
 I will remind him of this fact. 
 
 "We have a " scurvy trail " now. and every 
 day it is traveled. There are two cases at 
 the Los Angeles Camp. Our boys keep busy 
 at something. Rivers started the idea of 
 making rustic furniture, and several others 
 followed. This resulted in a search through 
 the woods nearly every day for crooked 
 birch sticks. Piles of these awkward 
 " crooks " adorn our back yard, only a select 
 few ever coming up to all the reiiuiremeuts 
 of a •' natural crook." They might be of 
 some use as stove wood, but it is impossible 
 to get at them with a saw. The doctor 
 spent days and days whittling out candle- 
 sticks, and so must C. C. It is nice to 
 have something to keep the people busy. It 
 helps time to limp by. One of our 
 " best and bravest " walks the floor as if 
 he liad the toothache, he is so homesick. 
 He will not let Eskimo Charley treat him for 
 nostalgia. 
 
 March 30.— To-day the crowd left for the 
 Mission. They are C. ('., Clyde. Co.x, Uivt-rs. 
 Alec and a Mr. Driggs. a stranger. The 
 most of them will stay on the " Teuelope " 
 at Escholtz Hay. and l>e on hand there to 
 help when the ice breaks up. Miller, wiio 
 came down from tlie upper camp, will remain 
 here with us. Tliat leaves us live. Dr. Coffin. 
 I'ncle Jimmy. Brownie. Miller and myself. 
 It is a relii'f after the congestion. Yesterday 
 we had seventeen for dinner. The do<tor 
 is trying his hand at cooking now. He is a 
 specialist on toasted cheese and macaroni. 
 We expect to have this coml)inatiou served 
 up three times a day. or until the material 
 is exhausted. We each seem to have our 
 culinary idiosyncrasies; Cox for light bread 
 and i»ea soup; Rivers for beans; C. C. for 
 pie; and I for mush an<l hash. 
 
 This man Driggs has joined our company 
 till we get back to the States. He is a sailor 
 and navigator, with captain's papers, and 
 may be of use to us later. We have also 
 another prospective addition to our numbers, 
 a Mr. Van Dyke, a preacher. He will join 
 us in the spring and take passage on the 
 " Penelope." He knows of a " sure thing." 
 He says that on his way up here last year 
 his party stopped on the mainland near 
 Sledge Island, and he and another man in 
 three hours panned out two dollars' worth of 
 gold from a creek l)ed. He had the gold in 
 a bottle last fall and some of our boys ex- 
 amined it. 
 
 That is certainly a much better prospect 
 than we have heard of this side of Circle 
 City; that is, that we have any reason to 
 rely on. He joins us under the condition 
 that we furnish him passage back to the 
 States if nothing results, but he promises 
 to take us to this place within two days, 
 towing up a stream from the coast, and he 
 f.rnily believes liiiiiself tliat he has a '" sure 
 thing." We shall see. We have heard so 
 many stories of this sort that even a 
 preacher cannot arouse much enthusiasm. 
 However, we have taken up his offer and 
 will sail for the place indicated as soon as 
 the "Penelope" can get away from her 
 moorings. I'd give five dollars for the 
 chance to pan out two dollars' worth of gold- 
 dust. 
 
 t)h. yes. Van Dyke says that he met an 
 Indian near Sledge Island who liad nuggets, 
 and took him to a spot covered many feet 
 by a snowdrift, which he assured liim was 
 a motln'r lode, or something that sounded 
 vi'ry nice. Ah. I'd like to see a mother lode! 
 She's what we are after.
 
 72 
 
 GOLD BUNTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 PRIL 2. Suuday.— Evidently our Kowak 
 
 rr PRIL 2. 
 jj^ church 
 
 is dwindling. Only fifteen in 
 attendance to-day. In C. C.'s absence 
 Dr. Coffin and Tncle Jimmy conducted ser- 
 vices. Van Dyke also took part. Miller 
 and Van Dyke sang a duet. " Though Your 
 Sins be as Scarlet." It was as fine as any- 
 thing I remember to have heard anywhere. 
 And this in our little cabin on the lonely 
 Kowak: It snows a great deal and the north 
 
 Ancient InUian Grave. 
 
 wind blows. Collecting is slow and birds 
 are scarce. I got a couple of Siberian 
 chickadees the other day. They are good 
 birds to have, an Asiatic species which boils 
 over into Alaska a little. This makes three 
 species of chickadees I have found here — the 
 long-tailed. Iludsonian and Siberian. Wood- 
 peckers are drumming on the dead spruces, 
 but I take care to keep away from them. 
 Miller continues to be my partner in taxi- 
 dermy. We are planning to stop at Dutch 
 IlarlKjr next winter. 
 
 April 12.— Busy days are beginning to 
 come and I have less time for my diary. We 
 get more sunshine than is convenient. To- 
 day is cooler, fifteen degrees below zero 
 again. We used to tliink there wasn't mucli 
 puow in this country, l)Ut are learning our 
 mistake. It snows every day and is three 
 feet deep on a level. The doctor and I spent 
 the hist four days at the Jesse Lou Camp. 
 
 I got thirty-eight birds and a porcupine eictn. 
 Miller and I are hard at work upon them. 
 The doctor is laid up with snow blindness 
 again. We had a feast at Jesse Lou on por- 
 cupine, boiled, roasted and stewed. It is 
 like veal and fine eating. An Indian shot it. 
 Many people are traveling on the river, so 
 SIS to get as far as the Mission before the 
 ice breaks up. Scurvy is on the increase. 
 Two more men have died of it at Ambler 
 City. Four at the Iowa cabins are down 
 with it. None of us are in the least affected. 
 Brownie is cook now and we have plenty to 
 eat. Miller and I have begun trading some 
 of our bird skins for personal supplies for 
 next winter at Dutch Harbor. We traded a 
 pair of ptarmigan for a sack of flour and 
 fourteen pounds of bacon to-day. We can 
 get almost anything we ask in trade for 
 bird skins, but money is scarce. After tramp- 
 ing all day have just had a magnificent din- 
 ner. Here, as elsewhere, something to eat 
 is the first need. The doctor and I have had 
 fine success. Got twenty-three rock ptar- 
 migan. But we are tired and the poor doc- 
 tor is attacked again. He is at this moment 
 applying a solution of boracic acid to his 
 eyes. I continue unaffected. We are sun- 
 burned as dark as natives. For a while I 
 burnt-corked my face, but no need of it 
 now. I wear a broad-brimrjed. black slouch 
 hat, drawn close over my eyes, and find it 
 better than snow-glasses. 
 
 April 1.5.— Twenty degrees below zero. 
 The Indians say that in the last thirteen 
 years there were three summers when the 
 ice never melted out of Kotzebue Sound at 
 all. And they say this is just like those 
 years, no snow until late. When the snow 
 comes early it prevents the water and the 
 ground from freezing so deep. Men are be- 
 ginning to worry about our condition. The 
 ice in the river is seven feet thick, and there 
 isn't snow enough to float out all the ice 
 when it melts, so they say. Last winter 
 there were seven or eight feet of snow, and 
 now only two or three feet. It does look 
 dreary for those who are in a hurry to get 
 out. 
 
 I was out to-day on snowshoes. I like 
 them. One acquires a long, sliding gait that 
 is very easy. On the ridge back of tlie 
 Guardi.:in Camp I had a fine view of the 
 country north and west. The snow is drifted 
 <iver tlie west side of the ridges by the east 
 winds, forming great shelving banks with 
 jirotruding crests twenty to forty feet above 
 their bases. We are getting almost enough
 
 GOLD BVNllhG JN ALASKA. 
 
 73 
 
 sunshine to start a thaw. Miller has jrone to 
 Anibli'i- City in the interests of our new 
 "firm." He will look after the jays in that 
 vicinity. 
 
 I had almost forgotten to record the 
 latest excitement. The " Flyinj; Dutch- 
 man " arrived Thursday from St. Michaels. 
 He has a doiX team and is liurryinj; on up tlie 
 river, e.xpectinji to retuin to Cai)e Nome be- 
 fore the thaw comes. The news lie brought 
 is of a "big strilc<> " at Cape Nome on the 
 coast near SU'dge Island. " IlicUer than 
 Klondike." Three men took out ^i>(M in 
 ten hours." There may be some truth in it. 
 as this is about the place Van Dyke was to 
 take us to. But I am hard to convert to any 
 gold proposition now. I shall 
 have to see it to fully believe 
 it. All are excited over this 
 rumor, but it is useless to 
 think of travel. We got a let- 
 ter from the " Teneloiie " 
 crew stating that Harry lley- 
 nolds and Jett had already 
 started for the new gold 
 fields. They took grub and a 
 team of dogs, so our company 
 will be represented at Cape 
 Nome. I am afraid to think 
 there is something in it. It 
 excites one unduly after the 
 dis;ippointments of a year. 
 The "Flying Dutchman" says 
 flour is ten dollars a sack at 
 Cape Nome and other things 
 to eat as high. We heard that 
 C. C. and pai'ty had reached 
 the Kotzebue camp after a hard pull. Rivers 
 and Clyde gave out and had to be hauled to 
 camp. Several were snow blind. They 
 had hired two Eskimos to draw the sled to 
 the schooner. Such is life in the Arctics. 
 
 April 19, Wednesday. 1) p. m.— Two men 
 came in from Anil)ler City to-day witli 
 frozen feet. We rubbed the frost pretty well 
 out with sno\v. but they will be laid up for 
 a month and one of them may lose his toes. 
 The nights are cold, fifteen to twenty de- 
 grees below zero. By noon it is thawing. 
 A man's socks and boots become soaked 
 ■with perspiration and, as the afternoon ad- 
 vances, the temperature falls and the wet 
 footgear freezes. Then. t(X). in many places 
 the river ice cracks and the water flows up 
 through and soaks into the snow so that a 
 traveler steps through into the slush and 
 water deep enough to fill his shoes. Before 
 cauip is reached the feet freeze. The Cape 
 
 Nome excitement is spreading and many are 
 starting overland with light loads fur the 
 new iliirgings. Our ncigliiiors of the Iowa 
 cabin are getting reaily and eight will start 
 to-morrow. None of us here feel called upon 
 to attempt the trip. 
 
 A\'e have received news through other 
 channels than the one mention<'d in regard 
 to the Cape Nome district. It looks more 
 hopt'ful. Captain I:igraham. who was up 
 the Kowak last tall, is on the gnmnils. and 
 has staked several claims. He took .Sl.VS 
 out of three prospect pans. Hundrefls of 
 men are rushing into the country. There 
 are fights over claims an<l two men arc shot. 
 Miller returned from Ambler City Momlav 
 
 Looking Northward. 
 
 with eight ptarmigan. We have put up the 
 skins in fine shape. 
 
 April 22. Saturday.— It is snowing heavily 
 tins morning, with a strong nortli u'ale. The 
 doctor went down to the Hanson Camp yes- 
 terday. exiJi'cting to return to-day. but he 
 hasn't arrived yet. I feel anxious about 
 him. it is so easy to get lost. This cold will 
 I)Ut a stop for a while to the CaiM? Nome 
 procession. Men have been passing down 
 the river every day, and we have lots of 
 visitors for meals and to stay all night. 
 John Miller, tht' man witli the frozen feet, 
 is still with us and probably will be, for he 
 has no other place to go. His feet are in 
 b.id sliape; great blisters run across them, 
 and he suflirs. Dr. Cleaves is back from his 
 trij) to the Agnes Boyd Camp, and is about 
 starting for Cape Nome. It is very interest- 
 ing and amusing to those wlut stay at home 
 to note the efforts and trials of the poor peo-
 
 74 
 
 GOLD HUNTIISG IN ALASKA. 
 
 pie toiling along the trail. Most of them 
 start out with two or three hundred pounds 
 apiece, but they lighten their load each day 
 until it is reduced to one hundred and fifty 
 pounds. I am convinced myself, from what 
 the Eskimos tell us. that it is useless to 
 start for Cape Nome now. It will thaw be- 
 fore half the distance is covered. By the 
 route generally traveled it is about four hun- 
 dred miles from here. Yesterday a snow- 
 flake came hopping alx)ut the wootlpile on 
 the sunny side of the cabin — the first 
 arrival from the South. It spends the win- 
 ter as far south as the northern tier of the 
 United States, where it is the familiar snow- 
 bird. 
 
 A man up the river sent down the left 
 hind foot of a " snowshoe rabbit " to be 
 stuffed. He had the tendons pulled apart 
 so that by pulling on them the toes were 
 moved. He wants the foot preserved in 
 some way so that this mechanism will re- 
 main and the toes move by pulling an in- 
 visible string. Don't know as I can do it. 
 
 April 25.— We finished putting up our ptar- 
 migan yesterday and have more on hand 
 now. The past few days are warm, with 
 southeast winds. I started out this morn- 
 ing but found the snow too sticky and soft. 
 It clings to the snowshoes like lead weights. 
 It is uncomfortably warm. 
 
 We think the main part of the Cape Nome 
 rush has passed us. Several went by this 
 forenoon from as far up as the Kiley Camp. 
 Saturday night at ten o'clock two fellows 
 got in from Ambler City. The boys had all 
 retired but Miller and me. so we got them 
 their supper. They had come thirty miles 
 that day. pulling a sled, and were nearly 
 ready to drop from exhaustion, when they 
 got inside. Sunday at 2 p. m. eight more 
 arrived. They came staggering into the 
 cabin, groping their way to the nearest seat, 
 almost dead. Nearly all were snow blind 
 to a more or less extent. One fellow's eyes 
 were paining him so that he sobbed an<l 
 cried like a child. The crowd spent the 
 night. Saturday night it had snowed ten 
 inches. I"nless we get a hard freeze to make 
 a crust I doubt if tliese men can reach the 
 Mission even. 
 
 We have to entertain so many visitors 
 that it is getting tiresome naturally. I 
 judge we have fed sixty men in the past 
 week, or at least have served that many 
 meals. We call our cjimp the " Tenelope 
 Inn." or "Cape Nome Recuperating Sta- 
 tion." John Miller is getting well rapidly 
 
 and can stand on his feet to-day. They are 
 sloughing. Several men we know are down 
 with the mumps. We have all been ex- 
 posed. 
 
 April 29. Saturday.— An Indian arrived 
 with letters from the schooner " Penelope." 
 C. C.'s party arrived all right. C. C.'s letter 
 confirms the Cape Nome report, and he and 
 Cox. Fancher. Alec and Driggs are to start 
 in a couple of days from date. If they reach 
 there all right, it will make seven of us on 
 the ground. That left only the captain, with 
 Rivers and Clyde, on the schooner, so C. C. 
 suggested that Miller and Brown from this 
 camp make all possible haste to get there, 
 that they may assist at the breaking up of 
 the ice. 
 
 It didn't take the two boys long to decide, 
 and yesterday they spent in remodeling an 
 old sled and making up as light an outfit as 
 possible. They left at four o'clock this 
 morning with a one hundred and fifty pound 
 sled load, and, if the weather continues cold 
 enough to keep the present crust on the 
 snow, they ought to make the trip in twelve 
 days. That leaves only Uncle Jimmy, Dr. 
 Coffin and myself to take care of the stuff at 
 this camp. If anything should happen to the 
 " Helen " above, we should have some ex- 
 perience in raft building and getting down 
 the river as best we could. It is lonesome, 
 only three out of the original twenty, and 
 after having had so many neighbors, too, 
 who are mostly gone. The latest word from 
 further up was that our boys are at work 
 on the " Helen " digging her out of the ice. 
 and she is so far all right. The " Agnes E. 
 Boyd," which was buried in a glacier creek 
 during the winter, stands little chance of 
 being saved. So also with the " Hero." The 
 firm of " Miller <fc Grinnell " have disasso- 
 ciated on account of Miller's " summons," 
 but if the Cape Nome prospect fails, as I 
 think very likely, we will join again as soon 
 as we meet and pre])ar(> to spend the winter 
 at Dutch Harbor. Miller will collect birds 
 down in the Sound this spring. With Miller 
 and Rivers at work there, and myself here, 
 I ought to get a good collection by spring. 
 Dr. Coffin does a good deal of shooting. Out 
 of every five birds he brings in in good con- 
 dition. I skin one for him. That rate is fa- 
 vorable for us both. He already has a box 
 full and by spring will have (piite a collec- 
 tion. I am getting a good deal of freight on 
 my hands. It is bulky. I keep the neighbor- 
 hood gleaned of empty boxes of all sorts. 
 I am very short of cotton, either for wrap-
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 75 
 
 ping or stuffing. I use dry hay and moss for 
 even the smaller birds n<»\v'. 
 
 Last week the doctor and I took a long 
 tramp, stayinu: out all night. When we 
 started we had no idea of lieing away twen- 
 ty-four houi-s and only iiad a light lunch, 
 consisting of a little corned beef, four half 
 slices of bread and butter, a dozen walnuts, 
 a liandful of raisins, and some malted milk 
 tal)lets. And this was all we had for four 
 meals. The doctor says it is good for a per- 
 son's health for him to fast occasionally, 
 and I am certain Hiat this opportunity ought 
 to fully demonstrate the assertion. Hut I 
 do not think my health demands any further 
 treatment of the same nature. We kept go- 
 ing farther from home, hunting for likely 
 places for ptarmigan and other birds, until 
 we got pretty tired; so we thought it a good 
 time to try the experiment of sleeping out on 
 the snow with no protection whatever. I do 
 not say we were lost. (Jold-hunters are 
 never lost. 
 
 We lived through the experiment. We did 
 not sleep more than half an hour all the time 
 put together. We had to keep " tiopping " 
 over to keep one side from freezing and the 
 other from roasting. We built a tire against 
 a spruce in a dense patch of woods. The 
 snow was beaten down in front of it. and a 
 mass of spruce boughs gathered and formed 
 into a real comfortable-looking nest. This 
 kept us from contact with the snow, but al- 
 lowed of a too free circidation of fresh air. 
 A number of decayed trees in the vicinity 
 atTorded fuel for the tire with little trouble 
 on our part, our hunting knives being the 
 only tool we had carried with us. Once 
 during the night I had dozed off very re- 
 luctantly when the doctor happened to 
 notice the smell of burning wool. A spark 
 of tire had snapjied out and lighted on the 
 front of my jumper, where, in less time than 
 it takes to write it, it had eaten through my 
 clothes, including my sateen shirt and un- 
 dershirt, and was progressing towards my 
 vitals when the doctor rang up the tire de- 
 partment. I was awakened by a sudden ap- 
 plication of cold on my diaphragm an<l the 
 loud tones of my companion, who declared 
 he did not come to the Arctics to lie burnt 
 to death. In spite of the sleepless night we 
 enjoyed everytiiing. We started again at 
 three o'clock in the morning, after a break- 
 fast consisting of two walnuts .apiece, a 
 dozen milk tablets and a few raisins. The 
 doctor wanted to roast some of the birds we 
 had shot the day before, but I would sooner 
 starve than spoil such rare things as 
 
 Alaskan three-toed woodpeckers, hawk 
 owls, Alaskan jays, and widtcwinged cross- 
 bills. I stiould tiiiidv .inyonc would. On a 
 hillside where the snow liad been nearly all 
 blown off and the sun had thawed the rest, 
 we found a large bare place. The tnosses 
 and lichens htoked just as fresh an<l gnim 
 as if it were midsummer, and. growing close 
 on the ground, were lots of last year's ber- 
 ries, all the more sweet and juicy for 
 tlieir eight months' cold storage. The ptar- 
 migan were on iiaiid, loo. and 1 shot iWd old 
 roosters. The male i>tarmigari are ch.-ingiug 
 now. and spe<Mmens shot show some beauti- 
 ful mixtures of the briglit brown summer 
 plumage and the snow-while winter plum- 
 age. The willow ptarmigan are all in pairs, 
 and. though mostly shy. may be located by 
 the loud cackling of the males. A very good 
 crust on the snow makes snowshoeing a de- 
 light for a few hours, but. like any walking, 
 it grows tiresome. One's feet get worn and 
 blistered where the foot-straps work. If the 
 snow is damp it balls on the center lacing 
 and a blister is raised before one knows it. 
 
 CHArTER XX. 
 
 MAY 6. Saturday, 8 p. m.— This is the 
 strangest May weather I have ever 
 experienced. The wind has blown a 
 gale from tln' north without a moment's 
 cessation for four days. It is twenty-tive de- 
 grees below the freezing point. I was in the 
 vicinity of the Hanson Camp yesterday, but 
 got no birds. I saw only one pair of <hick- 
 adees and one redpoll. They were never so 
 scarce all winter as now. The n.atives as- 
 sure me that a change is due shortly, and 
 then there will be '■ emik apazh." and the 
 " ting emeruk " will come. 
 
 The Hanson boys came near getting me 
 into si'rious troul>le yesterday. It was one 
 of Joe .lury's jokes. When I left his cabin 
 I started back into the woods. Nolan, of the 
 Sunnyside, called in. .loe told him that I 
 h;id rejxirted seeing two caribou across the 
 river on the way down. .loe garnished the 
 tale with a few extra details, and Nolan left 
 for Sunnyside pretty well excitiHl. lie got 
 nearly everyone in camj) out before noon. I 
 h.appened .along on their trail about f<uir 
 o'clock, and the first fellow I met was .Nolan, 
 just retuining from a long tramp. lie in- 
 formed me that he had seen the caribou 
 tracks ("/i and wanted to know where I had 
 last seen the animals. I was taken by sur- 
 prise and told him that I hadn't -seen a
 
 76 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 caribou in Alaska. It thfn dawned on Nolan 
 that he had been the victim of a joke, and 
 be was somewhat " beside himself." I ti'ied 
 to explain matters by tellinsi him that I had 
 said to Joe Jury somethius about having 
 seen "ptarmigan." which no doubt he had 
 taken for •"carihou." The rest of the fellows 
 took the joke all right, but said they would 
 "get even" with Joe some way. One man 
 fired his ritle at a target and split the barrel 
 over two-thil"ds its length, owing to snow 
 Ln the end, I suppose. The gun was ruined 
 and so the joke was a costly one. 
 
 There is a string telephone between two 
 cabins at Sunnyside which is a real novelty. 
 The box resonators in each .cabin are fixed 
 up with features like a human face with a 
 tin mouth. It was exceedingly funny to see 
 the expression on the faces of the natives 
 when they tirst heard that box " talk." 
 Greenberg was talking in at the other end, 
 and they recognized his voice. One old woman 
 fled in terror. She thought it was a " doo- 
 nak " (evil spirit). It is no wonder these 
 things frighten the Eskimos so. Doubtless 
 our own ancestors would have been burned 
 at the stake by their townspeople for witch- 
 craft in the early days of New England had 
 they dared to make a tin box " talk." 
 
 I bought eighteen pounds of No. 8 shot for 
 $1.20 at the Hanson ('amp. It took me 
 nearly three hours to bring it three miles 
 against the wind. I had no snowshoes, as 
 I had let Brownie have mine when he 
 started for the schooner. The extra weight 
 was just enough to make me break through 
 the crust every five steps, and down I went 
 to ray knees. That eighteen pounds grew 
 to one hundred pounds before I reached 
 home. 
 
 John Miller, the cripple, has moved ov-er to 
 one of the Iowa cabins, so we are alone for 
 the first time in many weeks. Only three of 
 us. We cannot use all the game we shoot 
 now, and I am rather glad to have the op- 
 portunity of giving it to the hungry natives. 
 I do not waste a bird body. I give some of 
 them to Charley for hi.s mickaninies, and lie 
 loans me his snowshoes whenever I want 
 them for hunting. At first the boys 
 duiibed me "the bird fiend," but they have 
 <|uit that now. Too many sciu-vy victims 
 have Idessed me for the ptarmigan wliicli, in 
 some cases, have l)eeti all the fresh meat ob- 
 tainable, not to mention our own i)ossible 
 sufierlng had it not been for the birds I 
 shot. And now I do not object at all to the 
 wordless thanks of tliese itoor natives, who 
 devour every scrap of a bird of any sort, 
 
 excepting the skin, which only I claim. I 
 save souls, bird skins being tlie only visible 
 or invisible soul of which the creatures are 
 possessed. 
 
 We have just learned of a superstition 
 w'hich is the most cruel of any noted among 
 these strange people. It has roused our civ- 
 ilized horror. A very pretty little girl about 
 thirteen years old. who has been the pet of 
 the camps all winter, and whom the boys 
 have looked upon as a " little sister," has 
 been shut up all by herself in a small snow 
 cave back in the woods. There she is 
 doomed to stay until the snow melts, with- 
 out speaking to anyone or leaving her 
 cramped position, with no fire and with only 
 such cold food as may be brought to her. 
 And she must live alone in such an igloo for 
 one year, so their statutes decree. This is 
 the law concerning all Kowak-mitt women 
 when they are supposed to have reached 
 marriageable age. 
 
 This is but the beginning of the little 
 woman's punishments, which will be maJiy 
 and varied from this date. 
 
 The " cabloonas " around this vicinity are 
 very much incensed over this new supersti- 
 tious cruelty. To demonstrate our convic- 
 tions in the matter, eight of us armed our- 
 selves with guns, marched over to the vil- 
 lage and demanded that old Omechuck and 
 his wife, Atungena, Kalhak's parents, take 
 the child back into their igloo. The man laid 
 all the blame on the mother and grand- 
 mother (as it was in the beginning), and we 
 had a big wrangle. We informed them that 
 if they did not end this and other cruelties, 
 and liberate the girl by to-morrow noon, we 
 would come over in a great body and tear 
 down the cave and take her away. They 
 were pretty well frightened. It gave us lots 
 of fun, though we didn't change our austere 
 countenances. We mejint wliat we said. 
 TTncle Jimmy headed the expedition. He 
 had a great big knife belted on. and we all 
 presented a dangerous front. What if the 
 Eskimos had taken it seriously and mobbed 
 usV Mobbing is not their tendency. They 
 are gentle in spite of other things, and were 
 actually in fear of our threats. We are not 
 sure of the full extcMit of our infiuence. but 
 we stirred them uj) and they may conclude 
 that this " missionary association " of gold- 
 hunters is not here for nothing. Eater the 
 girl was releasi'd. 
 
 May 14, Sunday.— Spring is breaking 
 the winter's reign ;it last. The snow has al- 
 nmst disappeared from the sajid-duues and 
 
 \
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 77 
 
 is softening everywliore. Little pools of 
 water arc appoariiiir in tlie low placi's. A 
 jientli' rain is tallini;-. tlio first since last Scj)- 
 tcinbcr — ci.Lflit niontlis. The «i;iys of sliisli 
 and water are uiM)n iis. but oh. sucli cxcitin;; 
 days for niel Tlu- first ^eese and t^xiUs liave 
 arrived, very shy and very few. and I saw 
 two swans. They stay alniut the muddy 
 places across the river. I k«iI i» fairly ;:()()d 
 sliot at a f,'oose. but missed it. Evi-ryoiic is 
 after the poor creese and lots of ritle lialls 
 are wasted, with never a };oose as yet. 1 
 shot a .solitary frlaucus-winiicd f^ull sittiui; 
 on the ice. with a tliirty-caliltre Wineliesicr 
 ritle at 14.'{ yards ran.ue. Tlie bullet 
 went straiirht throu;:h the neck, cut- 
 tin;; a very clean way. and the skin 
 made a beautiful specimen. Yester- 
 day was my red-letter day. I found, 
 almost by accident, a jay's nest and 
 eggs, the thing I have been looking 
 for so constantly for tliree montlis. 
 I also found a tine set of liawk owls 
 — six eggs, three newly - hatclied 
 young and both parents. The nest 
 was in a hole in a rotten spruce stub 
 about twelve feet above the snow. 
 When I tapped on the tree the male, 
 which was sitting, left the nest and 
 flew awa.v about a hundred feet, 
 turned and made for my head as 
 straight and swift as an arrow, 
 planting himself full force, and draw- 
 ing blood from three claw marks in 
 my scalp. My hat was knocked 
 about twelve feet and the crown 
 torn out. All this the owl did witli- 
 out stopping in its swoop. I recov 
 ered myself just in time to receive a second 
 charge and liad to dodge clear to the ground. 
 Wlien the courageous defender of liome and 
 country turned for its third attack a cliargc 
 of No. 10 met it, and it died an honorable 
 death, deserving to be ranked among heroes. 
 1 liave the entire set preserved. 
 
 I have a flocli of white-winged crossbills 
 spotted in a spruce forest ten miles away, 
 which I expect will nest in a couple of 
 weeks, but I doubt if I can reach the place, 
 now the snow is going. I wore snowshoes 
 nest-hunting yesterday, but probably for the 
 last time tliis year. It is far easier snow- 
 shoeing over tlie snowy tundras than walk- 
 ing through the peat and water and " nigger 
 heads " after the snow is gone. 
 
 May 21. Sunday.— Uncle Jimmy .and I>r. 
 Coffin still keep up the Sunday services. 
 Three of the Iowa men and half a dozen 
 
 Ksklmos have come in. As I have just tin- 
 islied a bird I tliought it a go<jd idea to 
 desist unill after church, on I'licle Jimmy's 
 account. So. until singing begins. I will 
 have a little time to write. I cannot alTtjrd 
 to waste a se<(jnd these days. Most of the 
 snow is gone. .\ll the ponds an<l sloughs are 
 full of water and the river has risen fully 
 eight feet. 
 
 All the slusli ice has gone, but the thick 
 winter ice is on top and extends imbroken 
 down the middle of the river. The KskimoK 
 say fii.'it if tlie warm weather and high 
 water continue tills ice will break up and 
 
 The Prisoner We Rescu-il 
 
 float away very soon. And then it would be 
 "•tiiiis" to liird <'ollecting. for tlie steamers 
 would whistle and we wouhl all have to 
 pack up and start. I am just living in dread 
 of the " Helen." I would not cry sli(»uld she 
 Sluing a leak or otlu-rwise disable herself, so 
 that she would In- l;iid up until the l.-ist of 
 June. This is a wicki-d thought and I repent 
 of it. Solitary sandpi|»ers and Haird's sand- 
 pipers are here, and 1 know tlu-y will nest 
 by the middle of June. Small birds are Ik- 
 ginning to arrive. I heard the beautiful .song 
 of the fox sjiarrow for the first time this 
 morning, also the tree sparrows and vari«'d 
 thrush. 1 saw a single robin yesterday with 
 its familiar call note. We have goose din- 
 ners iralore. but the geese are lean and 
 tough, far from such eatinj: as they wen- In 
 tlie fall. ^^'e prefer duck and ptarmigan. 
 The doctor has made some very nice cran- 
 berry jelly from the berries which have been
 
 78 
 
 GOLD EVNTIHG IN ALASKA. 
 
 stored on the vines under the snow all win- 
 ter. The native women and children picked 
 over two gallons yesterday, which they 
 brought to us. 
 
 May 24.— The Kowak is breaking up and it 
 is a tremendous signt. The water has risen 
 until it is on a level with the bank on this 
 side, and on the opposite side it is spreading 
 out over the tundras. It is covered com- 
 pletely from side to side with a crunching, 
 grinding mass of ice from three to five feet 
 thick. Yesterday there was a jam on a 
 sand-bar below and the ice course was 
 stopi>ed. Then that from above came down 
 
 The Kowak Breaking' Up. 
 
 with force, crushing and piling into great 
 ridges of blue and green blocks from ten to 
 fifteen feet in height. There must be a tre- 
 mendous momentum in a moving field of 
 ice. In one place a field many yards in 
 diameter was forced up a steep bank until it 
 topi)led over on itself. The banks are 
 plowed by the resistless stream and trees 
 are lirokeu oft' like threads. 
 
 Indian Charley borrowed our kyak, which 
 belongs to Rivers, three days ago to go up 
 and look after a birch canoe which he 
 wanted to carry out of reach of the ice. He 
 was only going as far as the (Juardian 
 Camp, and there was plenty of water along 
 the edges tliere. He was e.xpected back the 
 same day. but has not returned yet. We 
 fear he has lost his life. His father, an old. 
 withered man. wlio smoked himself last 
 winter when Charley was sick, walks the 
 river bank all day watcliing. and yesterday 
 afternoon cried and howled a long time, 
 mourning " Kayuruk " who. he said, was 
 surely " mucky " (dead). I saw a birch 
 canoe yesterday crushed and lying on a 
 passing cake of ice. 
 
 If this was Charley's he must have met 
 with misfortune. One would think that a 
 native, who has experienced many such oc- 
 currences, would know enough to keep out 
 of harm's way. Night before last a couple 
 of the Iowa boys spent two or three hours 
 tramping through the swamp looking for 
 ducks which they kept hearing. But they 
 were not able to catch sight of the authors 
 of the numerous '• quacks," which always 
 lured them to greater distance. To-day, 
 after telling everyone of the strange birds, 
 the boys are being " joshed " in true camp 
 fashion. The bullfrogs are appearing in 
 every pond and to-day one has begun his 
 warble in a pool a few feet from 
 the door. We did not expect to 
 see frogs so far north. I fail to 
 see how they resemble the quack- 
 iug of ducks, but some imagine 
 the sound to be the same. The 
 first mosquitoes are abroad, just 
 a few, a sort of " foretaste," ac- 
 cording to Scripture. The birds 
 are arriving in large numbers, like 
 a stampede, and the woods are 
 ftill of the songs of robins, 
 thrushes, sparrows and warblers. 
 I am working hard, too. 
 
 May 31. — Oh. but spring is 
 lovely I I am sure I never spent 
 three such happy weeks, and 
 I have been happy all my life. Yet I have 
 been working hard, some days until I 
 was tired enough to drop. Last week I went 
 up to the mountains and was gone forty- 
 three hours, with only about one hour's 
 sleep. We tramped fifteen miles across the 
 tundra with heavy rubber boots on. sinking 
 into the moss and among the "nigger 
 heads" every step. And then through 
 streams, and snow, and tangles of brush. 
 The second day it rained heavily :ind we 
 started home at 7 p. m., tramping xmtil mid- 
 night, when we reached a point where we 
 had left our boat in a slough about two 
 miles ])elow on the opposite side of the Ko- 
 wak. Wliile we had been gone the river had 
 fallen and tlie heavy boat was liigli and dr.v. 
 We had to drag it througli a naiTow clianuel 
 over mud and grass a liundred yards to the 
 river. And tlien there was a stiff east wind 
 and a swift current to cross the river 
 against, and we finally had to tow up to the 
 Landing. There were four of us. including 
 Dr. Coffin, who has been my companion in 
 many of these bird hunts, so soon, alas! to 
 be over. I was so tired when I got in that
 
 GOLD BUNTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 79 
 
 I fell asleep half undressed and without 
 supper. liut I obtained what I went for, 
 and it was worth tlie hardsliips — white- 
 winsyed crossbill's nests. Youn>;, an Iowa 
 man who was with us, fell to his cliest in a 
 nari'ow stream of iee water, and we were 
 all soakeil from the rain and drippinj; under- 
 brush. 
 
 The river is entirely free of ice now and 
 people are start in;; down. Many are passing; 
 every day, b>it they will be imable to K»> 
 farther than the delta, for the Sound doesn't 
 clear earlier tlian July 1. 
 
 We have heard tliat the " Helen " is all 
 risht and is expected down in a day or two. 
 She may get stuck on a sand-bar. If so I 
 shall liave a week lon^^er for the birds. We 
 have been packing all day. 1 have a good 
 deal of stuff in l)Uik. though not lieavy. I 
 wouldn't blame the boys if they " kicked." 
 We may have to make two trips from here 
 down. We learned that our barge, which 
 we left last fall on the bank of the Scpiirrel 
 River eighty miles below us, was burned 
 last winter, so our carrying capacity is 
 limited. The steamer " Riley " has been re- 
 pairetl. She came up as far as the Hanson 
 Camp yesterday. Indian Charley has turned 
 up all safe. He has l)een down to a village 
 below, gambling for another wife. 
 
 According to the Eskimos I am to die be- 
 fore the snow is all melted off. because I 
 robbed that jay's nest. Grass is springing 
 up, and last night, while I was strolling 
 through the woods, I found a patch of cro- 
 cuses. The woods were beautiful, the long, 
 deep shadows contrasting with the yellow 
 sunlight. The silence was intense, and yet 
 there were many sounds— the (juavering song 
 of the thrush, breaking out and then dying 
 back; the chorus of frogs from a distant 
 pond, and the occasional demoniacal laugh 
 of a loon. Yet it was silence broken in 
 pieces. The scene from the sand-dunes 
 north across the river was most beautiful. 
 I wish I were able to depict the scene as I 
 perceived it and the indes('ril)able seu.sations 
 it awakened. I wonder if I were the 
 same age as I'ncle .Jimmy if I would be im- 
 pressed the same way. It is sometliing for 
 me to remember all my life, this wonderful 
 winter on the mighty Kowak. And I must 
 bid it " (lOod-by." 
 
 We had a regular thunder storm to-day. 
 with a heavy shower which set the roof to 
 leaking, in spite of the tents stretclied over 
 it. Dr. Coflin has inaugurated a new decor- 
 ation. It denotes rank of vice-president of 
 the I.. B. A. M. & T. Co. A double row of 
 
 safety pins up his shirt front. There are 
 only three of tins illustriuus company at 
 present in the " ri-ncliipc " cai»in. i)Ut all the 
 more need of distinctive decorations. 
 
 H., the partially dementeil intlividual who 
 niiglit have died of scurvy last winter if we 
 hadn't drawn u\» his " will " for him. is the 
 source of amusement to us, with his various 
 tricks. lie spends most of liis time on the 
 river bank watching for passing lM)ats. He 
 hails everyone witli a mi.\ed set of ques- 
 tions; first, " Have you any white lead for 
 sale?" second. "Did you liave the scurvy?" 
 third, " Where'd you come from'/" et<'., until 
 the boat is out of hearing. B. has a skiff he 
 is very proud of, and iie threatens anyone 
 wlio touches it. I am on very gooil terms 
 with him and he tells me whenever he sees 
 a goose on the river (usually it is a loom. 
 He makes a noise in his throat like a 
 cliiiken disturlied after it lias gone to roost. 
 I do not know wliat will become of him. He 
 is perfectly harmless. 
 
 This evening I traded three pounds of 
 raisins for a sailor bag. I have more clothes 
 now than when I left San Franci.sco. enough 
 to last me five years. Dr. ColHii is a real 
 convert. He is liimself a " bird lieiid " now. 
 after starting tliat nickname for me in the 
 beginning, lie tliiiiks of stopjiing this sum- 
 mer at Dutch Harbor. If it keeps on I shall 
 have tlie whole crew. I tliink we shall pull 
 out from the company entirely and so e.s- 
 cajie the turmoil of the ultinnite disband- 
 ment. There is little hope of realiziim fr«»m 
 the trip, even on the " renelojie." She cost 
 us enough in tlie first place, but who knows 
 where she is now'/ 
 
 1 just now thought I heard the whistle of 
 the " Helen." There is notliing in sight. 
 Tliat " Helen " haunts me. She it is who 
 will bear me away from this fascinating 
 region. By the way. she has a fine whistle. 
 A better one than any other boat on the 
 river. Perhaps we can trade that whistle 
 for something, even if nolxxly will accept 
 the gift of the boat and engiiu-s. Oh. I for- 
 got; there's Cape Nome. The boys there 
 may have staked out rich claims for us liy 
 tliis time. However. 1 would be willing to 
 trade all my stock in the L. B. A. M. A: T. 
 Co. for some plaster-of-paris. cotton bat- 
 ting and some arsenic. 
 
 June (?.— My Last date on the Kowak. The 
 " Helen " arriveil on the evening of the 2d. 
 She is O. K. and the eight boys well. They 
 brought down with them a man who Is 
 afilicted with black-leg. toe helpless to leave.
 
 80 
 
 GOLD Bl^TI^G IN ALASKA. 
 
 We shall take liim to the Mission, so we are 
 now quite a large family. Nearly every- 
 one above has already passed down the 
 river in all soi-ts of boats and rafts. We 
 have persuaded the rest to remain here a 
 few days, as it will be impossible to get into 
 rhe Sound so early. We are having a little 
 more time for game. I have taken several 
 sets of rare eggs, and have a number of 
 nests " spotted." But the boys are getting 
 restless and I fear we will have to pull out 
 to-morrow or next day. We are living 
 " high." A varied assortment was served 
 
 Some Friends We Left Behind. 
 
 up in the fricassee yesterday — ten old- 
 squaws (ducks), a curlew, two ptarmigan, 
 one loon and a blackbird. Indian Charle.v 
 brought us twenty lish, so we have plenty 
 of frcsli meat, a welcome change of diet for 
 the l)oys of the upper winter camp, as they 
 have not iK'en afflicted with a bird fiend in 
 their crowd. 
 
 The steamer " Agnes Boyd " was saved 
 from the ice, but is now higli and dry on a 
 sand-bar and the river is still falling. The 
 lianson boys are having a peck of 
 trotilije and t\u\ prospects are now that 
 they will not get out until the August rains 
 c(mie. I was out collecting until one a. m. 
 nigl)t before last, and the pink sunlight 
 never left the mountain peaks. The trees 
 are nearly full foliaged to a beautiful fresh 
 green, and several varieties of flowers are 
 in bloom. It is too bad to be compelled to 
 leave here .iust at this season. I certainly 
 can never regret leaving a place or home so 
 
 much. But siich is life. We hesitate moving 
 always. And yet who knows but there may 
 be better prospects further on? It is with 
 something of a lump in my throat and heart 
 that I turn my back on what has been the 
 scene of such wonderful experiences to me. 
 Still I must say it, *' Good-by. old Kowak, . 
 good-byl" (lood-by. mice, little redbacks;^Y 
 good-by, sand-dunes and tundras, winter, 
 spruces, birches, cabin, all. Good-by, Eski- 
 mos, funny people, who have a kind heart 
 in a little, brown, superstitious body. Here's 
 the deserted village for missionary souls, 
 houses, woodpiles, pictures yet pinned 
 on the walls, echoes of Sunday services 
 and literary societies — and voices of 
 gold hunters. 
 
 J 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 T'NE 12.— We are steaming down 
 one of the numerous channels of 
 the Kowak delta, and I am sitting 
 on the upper deck of the " Helen." 
 The channel is narrow but deep and 
 very tortuous. Half an hour ago we 
 were going in an exactly opposite di- 
 rection. The banks are low and are 
 lined continuously with willows whose 
 branches have not even budded out. al- 
 though up the river we left the trees 
 in full foliage, thus indicating the sea- 
 son to be much later along the coast 
 than in the interior. We have met no 
 ice in the stream, but there is plenty 
 stranded on the bars. Some Indians 
 told us to-day there will be plenty 
 of ice in the inlet for many sleeps yet, 
 but our bo.vs want to see for themselves. 
 I think it a great mist.-ike to have left the 
 timber so early. We left our winter home , 
 on the Sth of June and traveled three days. V 
 Yesterday we tied up all day at the last 
 timber and I put in the time collecting. I 
 obtained eight sets of eggs, a little brown 
 crane skin put uj). greasy as a duck, besides 
 several small birds. I put in every minute 
 on shore and am getting some good things, 
 —sets of varied thrush, gray-cheeked thrush, 
 etc. 
 
 We got a good deal of game yesterday. 
 Everytliing that has meat on it goes into the 
 pot. The fricassee to-day consisted of a 
 crane, two ducks and a loon, all cut up and 
 boiled together. .Tesse Farrar is cook; 
 Stevenson is fireman; Casey, engine(>r; Wil- 
 son and Foote. pilots; Shafer, Shaul. Uncle 
 .Timmy and I, deck hands; the doctor and 
 Colclough comprise the fire department.
 
 GOLD HZ'NTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 11 
 
 And this last is a vory important organiza- 
 tion. Sjiarks from tlic snioicc stacks catch 
 on sacks or anytliinj: inilammabh' and soon 
 start a smudj:;!'. The tire <U'i)arim«'nt imme- 
 diately "smell smok<'." and extin^nish the 
 contlafiration with a teacup of water. The 
 usual seat of combustion is Casey's jumper. 
 Then the back of the boiler jiets almost red 
 hot and several planks get to scorch infi. and 
 even some of the carjro is in danger. With 
 its other duties the department has put in 
 ventilators, so we have less trouble. The 
 crowd is in very good spirits. The quartette 
 is frc(iuently heard, and just before bed- 
 tin)e Foote gets out his banjo. 
 
 This morning we passed a camp of natives. 
 Six of their kyaks came out and followed 
 us a long way. They could sail circles 
 around the scow. They are very dextrous 
 with their funny craft, .lust before leaving 
 us they sang in chorus " There'll Be a Hot 
 Time." Evidences of the great Kotzebue 
 rush will be found among the Eskimos, in 
 their language as well as in other ways, for 
 many years to come. 
 
 A cold west wind from off the sea ice 
 blows constantly, and the weather is not to 
 be comj)ared with what we left at " home." 
 My sorrow at leaving the cabin does not 
 lessen. The " Helen " is loaded very heavily, 
 but we managed to get everything on. We 
 have great times keeping her on an even 
 keel. The order. " Everyone go aft." or. 
 " Everyone go forward," is freciuenrly heard. 
 She only stuck on a bar once coming down, 
 and then there wasn't much trouble in get- 
 ting her off. That is one thing in which our 
 steamer excels many others. It is dirticult 
 to make her run aground hard enough to 
 stick. She doesn't move fast enough. The 
 wheel has been enlarged, but it makes little 
 difference in her speed; the engines are not 
 large enough. Stevenson keeps from 150 to 
 175 pounds of steam in her boiler, which is 
 really more than ought to be carried for 
 safet.v. It is getting cold up here on deck, 
 and I am going down to the boiler-room to 
 warm up. 
 
 June 18.— This is Sunday and Uncle Jimmy 
 thiidvs I ought to do something besides skin 
 birds all day. so probably Ihe nwst righteous 
 act would be to write in my mother's diar.v. 
 It is a very disagreeable day. It has snowed 
 heavily all day. melting as fast as it falls 
 and sticking to everything. We have the 
 big 12 X 20 tent n\\ among the spruces, and 
 the cooking range keeps the interior quite 
 pleasant. 
 
 The crowd litis been in the tent all day 
 singing and reading, while I have one end 
 of the long table for •'the morgue." The 
 Iowa i>aity is ciimped near us. and their 
 launcii ■• low.'i " takes trips every other day 
 to the inlet ten miles down the river, to see 
 the state of the ice. Shaul went down with 
 her yesterday, but they report the ice packed 
 firndy in the inlet and as far as they could 
 see towards Kotzebue Sound. We are 
 camiied In the timber at the mouth of the 
 Kowak. A couple of warm (hiys last week 
 brought a foretaste of the niosciuito sc-ourge 
 which we expect, but they do not promise 
 to bother me much. Dr. Coltin is so kind to 
 me. He hunts birds' eggs and gives me 
 more than my share. Even I'nde .limmy 
 hunts nests in the woods, having located 
 five for me in the last tw(t days. Some of 
 the good things we have taken are the little 
 brown cranes, black-throated loon. Ilud- 
 sonian curlew and scauit duck. We were out 
 over the tundra all day yesterday and did 
 not get back until this morning. I remem- 
 bered that it was my little brother's birth- 
 day (the one who is so fond of insectsi. and 
 I managed to catch two butterllies with my 
 hat for him. I saw several, but they were 
 pretty active, and it is hard running over 
 the mossy hummocks and bogs after them. 
 I shot a crane yesterday and the doctor got 
 one a few days before. They are tine eat- 
 ing, better than any birds except ptarmigan. 
 We have two seines, and Casey. Sii.ifer and 
 Foote comprise the tisher.v departmeiit. Dr. 
 CoHin and I keep the camp in game, so we 
 have plenty of fresh meat. We got three 
 dozen duck eggs one day, and now Sh.afer 
 m-akes fine cookies and doughnuts. I 
 blow all the fresh eggs, and the contents are 
 therefore all ready for "scrambles" or bak- 
 ing. 
 
 We are a joll.v crowd and no one would 
 believe us to be disappointed gold-hunters. 
 The main occupation of this branch of the 
 L. B. A. M. iS: T. Co. at present is bird-nest- 
 ing. I hope we have to stay here two weeks 
 yet. Day an<l night are all the same to us 
 nowadays. I seldom get to bed before one 
 a. m.. and am up for breakfast at eight. The 
 snow is begiiniing to stay this evening and 
 the landscape is whitening. This is such 
 weather as the old Arctic explorers met with 
 all summer when they suffered so much 
 from exposuri'. but a warm, <lry tent like 
 ours, with jilenty of woo<l, keeps us comfort- 
 able and vt'i-y far from martyrs to the 
 "cause." The wiiuls are very chilly, and I 
 reallv suffered more from cold last night as
 
 82 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 we were sailing up the river to camp than I 
 did all last winter. It is hard to keep one's 
 feet dry. If I wear hip boots I am sure to 
 step into some hole in a swamp and get 
 them full. One time I went in to my waist 
 by surprise when I was wading in the edge 
 of a pond after a grebe's nest. For an in- 
 stant I was deprived of speech, which was a 
 great hardship. The ice is getting "rotten " 
 rapidly, with the heavy winds breaking it 
 up. 
 
 Kowak Delta, Sunday. June 25.— I am sit- 
 ting on a heap of spruce boughs before an 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 l^f n, j^i," ' " '-■*' ' -^9^^B 
 
 
 Hj 
 
 P 
 
 bn 
 
 
 
 ^r^ 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 tM 
 
 H||^ 
 
 Wm 
 
 ■■ -'4 
 
 Steamer on the River. 
 
 oi)en fire in the woods. There is a heavy 
 wind blowing and the tents and steamer at 
 the river bank are altogether too airy. This 
 is a much more sheltered and comfortable 
 sjtot. AVe have been at this cami) two weeks, 
 liut will pr()hal)ly i)ull out to-morrow and go 
 down to till" mouth of the river, and, as soon 
 as tlie weather is favorable, go across the 
 dreaded Holt ham Inlet and on to the Mis- 
 sion. The launch " Iowa " reports tlie ice 
 breaking up at the river mouth and moving 
 out. For a while there was (luite a large 
 community of tents along the river each side 
 of ours, but they have all started down now. 
 Tlie '• Agnes Boyd " passed us, luiviug been 
 laid up on !i bar several days. She brouglit 
 the sad news of the death of .lack Messing, 
 one of the San .lose crew of the Iliinsoii 
 Camp. He was found dead in his bed on the 
 steamer. Five other men were sleeping 
 
 with him, but noticed nothing unnatural un- 
 til they attempted to arouse him for break- 
 fast. Jack was a sociable, good-hearted 
 fellow, and many were the pleasant visits 
 exchanged between him and members of our 
 camp last winter. It is reported that an In- 
 dian shot two white men over on the Selawik 
 this spring. As the natives tell the story, 
 the Indian was entirely justified. They 
 forced him to mend a sled at the muzzle of a 
 revolver, and scared him so that he finally 
 tried to run away. They picked up rifles 
 and started after him. But he got behind a 
 tree with his own rifle and anticipated them 
 to the number of one man. 
 Many men are still crippled 
 with the scurvy. On the 
 Pick River fifty-two men 
 out of sixty were down with 
 black-leg. The schooner 
 " Life " wint<>red near Sela- 
 wik Lake with uine men 
 aboard. Missionary Samms 
 received word by the Eski- 
 mos that these men were 
 sick with the scurvy and 
 were helpless. So he set out 
 to their aid. He returned a 
 few days ago. reporting that 
 five out of the nine had died 
 and the other four were re- 
 covering. It is an awful 
 disease, and many more 
 have perished from that 
 cause than from disaster or 
 accident. It is strange that 
 our company has escaped 
 so far all such mishaps, but 
 we are not out of danger yet. 
 As we see them, the general run of people 
 are impatient to get home, are cross and 
 quarrelsome. Many are the " scraps " and 
 diflerences among companies. It is a com- 
 mon thing to hear men cursing each other 
 bitterly over such trivialities as loading a 
 boat or setting up a tent. Sometimes part- 
 ners will divide their supplies, even break- 
 ing a sjioon or knife in two to " make it 
 even." I am glad to say that our crowd is 
 remarkably free from such things. The 
 usual sounds are of singing and joviality. 
 The doctor and I have freciuent friendly 
 word fights over such topics as, " Which 
 way the wind blows to bring rain." whether 
 a " light object floats down stream as fast 
 as a heavy one;" or, "how close to the wind 
 we can sail tlie boat." But if there Is one 
 of us jissailed on any point by anyone else 
 we both agree at once, and bring cousterna-
 
 GOLD BUNTIAO IN ALASKA. 
 
 83 
 
 tion to the ranks of the enemy. Someone 
 made the statement the other day that a 
 razor boconu'S sharper if U'ft for a whih; 
 unused, and «'V('iy man except the dm-tor 
 and myself was of the same mind. Tliink 
 of such a tradition in tliis cnlijrlitened af^c! 
 Several maintained that for tliat reason tlu'y 
 kei)t two razors, usinj: tiiem alternate weeks. 
 When we especially feel the need of mental 
 exercise, the doctor and I arj;ne on physical 
 and mental evolution, and on this subject 
 the other boys let us alone for gofMl reasons. 
 
 Last night the doctor. Casey and I went 
 huntin.u:, and did not return before 2 a. m. 
 this morniuf;. We started about four and 
 went up a slough until we came to open 
 tundra. It began storming about eight and 
 blew and rained heavily all niglit. We had 
 agreed to be back to tlie skiff Ity nine, and 
 Casey and I were on hand before tliat time, 
 but the doctor did not appear. In spite of 
 our oil coats we were soon wet and shiver- 
 ing. After waiting a while and hearing no 
 shooting which might announce the doctor's 
 approach, we set out and walked to wliere 
 he was last seen by us at the edge of a lake, 
 but could discover no sign. We began to be 
 alarmed and, returning to the slough, spent 
 a couple of the most miserable hours. We 
 managed to start a fire at the foot of a soli- 
 tar.v scrub spruce and were speculating 
 gloomily as to wliat might have happened, 
 when we heard a distant shot. The doctor 
 came wearily tramping across the tundra, 
 and was more hai)py than we to get back to 
 the boat. lie had become mixed up among 
 some sloughs and lakes. He had followed 
 around a large lake several miles, only to 
 find progress stopped by a slough joining 
 that lake with another. He then retraced 
 his steps to his first starting point and be- 
 gan over again. His boots were full of 
 water and he was of course drenched, for 
 he had left his oil coat at the boat. When 
 we got home we were glad to find Shafer up 
 and a warm tent. He got us a hot sui)per 
 and to-day we are none the worse. The doc- 
 tor got an old goose with her four downy 
 young. I found a set of pin-tail's eggs and 
 shot some ducks and a ptarmigan. 
 
 The tundra is curiously marked off in 
 many places by ridges and ditclu's running 
 at right angles to one anotlier. The ditclies 
 are full of wati-r, and tlie tundra resembles 
 a California alfalfa field laid off in squares 
 by irrigating ditches. I cannot think of a 
 cause for this formation. The numerous 
 lakes and ponds are many of them higher 
 than the surrounding land, and are hemmed 
 
 in by dykes three or four fe<'t high. These 
 are thrown up by the fioes of ice in the 
 lakes wliich. decreasing in size as the sum- 
 mer advanci's. are driven back and forth 
 across the lakes by changing wimis, and 
 thus crowd up the mud and sod amiuid the 
 edges. The dryer parts of the tundra are 
 covered with the white reindeiT moss, really 
 a lichen, and under and among this a thick 
 mat of si)hagnum and other mosses. This 
 is soakefl full of water, and it is like walking 
 over a bed of sponges, where one " sloslitis " 
 in five or six inches ;it «'very step, to travel 
 over such groimd. Then on lower groiin<l 
 a sort of buiicli grass grows in big, stout 
 tussocks, '■ nigger heads," with water and 
 loose moss between. This last is the worst 
 walking. 
 
 — ♦ 
 
 CHATTER XXH. 
 
 IV/r ISSION INLET, Cape Blos.som, July 1, 
 JV^ 1S;»<J.— We came a<ross Il.jltliam Iidet 
 in good order Tuesday. Tliat was the 
 only day so far that any steamers have con)e 
 through. The weath«'r was fine for us and 
 a broad chainxd was open and clear of ice 
 as far as the Mission. The same evening a 
 west wind arose and the ice has been shift- 
 ing back and forth acrcjss the inlet ever 
 since. The " Riley." " Agnes Hoyd," " de- 
 light," " Mattie Farington," " Nugget," and 
 "Iowa" came through the same day, and V' 
 all are here in the little harlior safe from the 
 ice fioes. The sea ice stretches unbrokenly 
 from a couple of miles below the Mission 
 across to the north side of the Sound, and 
 no one has been able to get in or out of the 
 Sound except a couple of natives, who 
 crossed from Point Hope on a sled. They 
 report the ice as firm as winter, with no 
 prosjject of its breaking up. and say that it 
 will be "twenty sleeps" before we can ex- 
 pect to get through, and " maybe the ice 
 won't break up at all." The beach from 
 here to the Mission is lined with tents and 
 presents quite an animated scene. Every- 
 one expects to go to Cape Nome as early as 
 possil>le. We have no word from our go<Ml 
 ship "Penelope" later than May :{. and she 
 was all right then. She wintered seventy 
 miles below Cape Rlossom. Tlie weather is 
 very cold an<l disagreeable. Heavy winds 
 bring iienetiaiiiig fogs from off the Ice. with 
 storms of rain and sleet, and we have had a 
 heavy snowstorm. We have our two 10 x "JO 
 tents up. end to end, t>n the gravel bar sep- 
 arating the "goose jiond " from the Sound, 
 and have very comfortable quarters. In one
 
 84 
 
 GOLD hUNllNG IN ALASKA. 
 
 tent is the cook stove and dlning-table. and 
 the other is a sort of parlor with the big 
 heater in use. We loaded up heavily with 
 wood l>efore leaving timber on the KoAvak. 
 but I think we shall have to make another 
 trip for wood before long. Everything in 
 the line of driftwood is cleaned up in this 
 vicinity, but there will be the usual annual 
 crop when the ice breaks up. 
 
 I just now heard a gull squalling and ran 
 out with my gun in time to get a shot at a 
 Pomarine jager which was in pursuit of it. 
 I got the jager all right and it is a tine bird, 
 the first I have obtained of this species. The 
 long-tailed and parasitic jagers ax-e quite 
 common. I found a nest of each on the 
 Kowak delta. Yesterday I found four sets 
 of the eggs of the northern phalarope. and 
 shot three golden plover, which are the first 
 I have taken. Collecting now is very un- 
 comfortable. I wear the same heavy mit- 
 tens. July 1. which I wore all winter, and 
 in fact heavier clothing all through than was 
 worn at thirty degrees below zero. Our 
 warm parlor tent is quite an attraction and 
 we have plenty of company as usual with 
 us. We are talking about mail. No news 
 from the outside world since September 15 
 of last year. 
 
 July to. — Somewhere in Bering Sea off the 
 Alaskan Coast. — I am sitting on the coal-box 
 in the galley on board the " Penelope." I 
 am a fixture between the tire-box of the 
 cooking range and the window, and have to 
 flatten myself against the wall to keep from 
 burning my clothes. There are four " gal- 
 ley slaves" in this 6x8 coop, but this is 
 absolutely the only place possible to write 
 in. The sea is smooth, with a light breeze, 
 which is ahead. Foggy as usual and very 
 chilly. The galley is the only place except 
 in bed where one can warm up, and it is in 
 pretty lively demand whenever the cook 
 does not claim full possession. There are 
 twenty-four men alioard, but all have gone 
 to bed save the captain and three men on 
 watch. The captain has scarcely slept a 
 wink since we started a week ago. The 
 strong currents, unfavorable winds, and 
 thick weather are retarding us unexpectedly. 
 
 ^^'e were watching on tiie Sound on July .'? 
 when two sciioouers were sighted through 
 tiie ice off Cape Hlossoni. On the 4tli live of 
 us went out in a small boat and were de- 
 lighted to find one of them to be the " Pen- 
 elope." all safe and in good time. Captain 
 I^ciano and the four boys. Miller, Clyde, 
 Brown and Rivers, must have had a very 
 
 rough experience, being on duty twenty-four 
 hours at a time. The ice in Escholtz Bay, 
 where the schooner wintered, began break- 
 ing up and moving otit on June 15, and from 
 that date until she anchored off Cape Blos- 
 som, the " Penelope " and her little crew 
 were at the mercy of the ice floes. They 
 had very narrow escapes from being pincned 
 between tioes or crowded aground. Once 
 they were forced on a bar and only got the 
 ship out of her danger by breaking the ice 
 tip aroimd her and " kedging " out. At one 
 place their stint of open water was narrow- 
 ing, as the ice pack drifted toward shore, 
 and something had to be done immediately 
 or they were lost. A strong off-shore wind 
 was blowing, and the captain set all sail 
 and headed straight for the ice. When the 
 '• Penelope " met it with full force she raised 
 herself up, sliding gracefully on to the tioe, 
 and then her weight broke it down. Then 
 she plowed through the ice imtil she 
 reached a strip of open water beyond, where 
 she was safe for the time being. And with 
 all her battlings the "•Penelope" came 
 through with scarcely more than a skin 
 scratch on her sides. Before the ice broke 
 up the captain had repaired her. painting 
 her white with blue trimmings, and renovat- 
 ing her from deck to hold. Six vessels win- 
 tered near her and their captains all agree 
 that it was little less than a miracle that 
 any were saved. Two, tjie " Ainsworth " 
 and one other, were wrecked by the ice. 
 The " General McPherson " and " Penelope " 
 had alK)Ut the best anchorage for the winter, 
 in a cove behind the Chain Peninsular. 
 
 July 5 and 6 were stormy and nothing 
 could be done but straighten out accounts 
 with various parties at the Mission. Many 
 who left earlier in the Cape Nome rush, bor- 
 rowed or bought provisions from tlie stores 
 on tlie " Penelope," and left orders for us to 
 collect from their representatives when we 
 sliould get down in July. They thus saved 
 the labor of hauling their stuff on the first 
 part of their trip, as ihe " Penelope " was a 
 hundred miles on the way. We have heard 
 nothing of our Gape Nome contingent. On 
 July 7 we had fine, calm weather, and 
 loaded the " Peneloiie." making two trips 
 out to where she was anchored, nine miles 
 from the Mission olT Cape Blossom. These 
 two trips were our last with the "Helen." 
 We also took on six passengers and their 
 freight to Cape Nome, besides two sailors 
 who worked their passage. It was decided 
 that the poor "Helen" must be left, and, in 
 case we should not return for her this sum-
 
 GOLD HUI^TINO IN ALASKA. 
 
 85 
 
 ni(»r. Missionary Samms could have her. 
 She never couUl stand a sea, and if we tooiv 
 her machinery hack to San Francisco it 
 woukl not 1k' wortli nnicli more tlian oki 
 iron. Tliere {?oes ."vLSOO! He tiiis lier epi- 
 tapli: "She served lier puri)ose, if she was 
 slow." 
 
 We set sail southeast from Cape Blossom 
 on the 8th and anchored off Channsso Island 
 on the Dth for water. It was too rou;:li to 
 load the water tanks until nij^ht, and we had 
 until midni;;ht on the island. I was de- 
 lis^hted — fairly wild I Tliere are hi;; rookeries 
 of niurres, puHins and ^iulls on a detached 
 islet, and a party of us made landin^JC and 
 coUectwl forty dozen e<^,i;s. I went over the 
 cliffs on a rope and was hauled up and down 
 their faces. There was little dandier except 
 from falling rocks which niisht he loosened 
 al)ove me, and we were always very careful 
 about that. I had a good crew, with Dr. 
 Coffin as foreman. The murres lay their 
 e.s^s on little projections or narrow shelves 
 of rocks on the face of the cliff, in most 
 places entirely inaccessible save from alM)ve. 
 At the last descent I had one scare. 
 Whether the boys above me had an eciual 
 scare I will leave them to say. I was about 
 tifty f(»et below the eds^ of a precipice and 
 pi'obably the same distance above the rocks 
 in the surf. I had obtained everything 
 within reach and had yelled to " hoist 
 away," but got no response. I was too far 
 down to hear the voices of those above, 
 neither coidd they hear me. The rope didn't 
 budge and I continu(Ml swaying in uncer- 
 tainty in mid-air. rather dubious as to the 
 result. Finally I gave a successful " yank " 
 on the rope, and was then jerked upward at 
 a great rate of speed, scraping my elbows 
 and shins in my frantic efforts against being 
 tliumped against the sharp projecting rocks. 
 When I rose over the edge T found six men 
 on tlie rope. Tliree were tisually sufficient, 
 but this last trip the three could not start 
 the rope, and not until the sixth man, Casey, 
 took hold, did it give an inch. We found 
 that the ro[)e had caught in a narrow chink 
 in the rocks. Had it required one more man 
 to start me, where would he have been 
 found V I probably should have been left to 
 swing for many hours. Hut 1 wasn't. Noth- 
 ing happened wherewith to satisfy the ad- 
 venture-loving and ■' narrow escape " crav- 
 ing modern journal, and I haven't all the 
 eggs blown yet. I'ither I have beiMi seasick 
 or on duty. H(>sidi's, popular sentiment is 
 against me. The boys don't like the idea of 
 eating the egg after it is blown l)y my pipe 
 
 from till' slicll. In vain I assure thera that 
 the blow-jiipe is thoroughly disinfected ac- 
 cording to the latest advices of science. 
 They Insist upon seeing the shells cracked 
 open, lest there miglit lurk some hidden 
 secret within known oidy to Shafer and my- 
 self. This new lack of faith i>n the part of 
 the hitherto "idee b(»ys " is very disastir)UH 
 to scientitic investigati(tn. 1 think they 
 might trust me. for I eat at the same table 
 and get away with my share of doughnut.s 
 and (ookies. I leave it to Shafer if I don't. 
 Dr. Coftin and Kivers have taken the egg 
 craze, so between us three I Impe a good 
 series will be saved out of the lot. 
 
 On Chamisso Island we saw records 
 carved (tii logs in a f.iir state of preservation 
 of the visit of " 11. H. M. S. Hlo.s.som, 1820." 
 
 ccbtrj: 
 
 •' n. B. M. S. Herald, 1848," and some Rus- 
 sian vessel 1S:}7. Those were some of the 
 old Arctic exiilorers. 
 
 At 2 a. m. July 10, the " Penelope " set sail 
 westward out of Kotzebue Sound, and after 
 dodging through scattering ice and close 
 along the south shore, sometimes in thirteen 
 feet of water, she got safely out into the 
 open beyond Cape Espinberg. We. with one 
 other, were the hrst boats out this year. 
 The ice opened lirst this season on just the 
 opposite side of the Sound to that of last 
 year. We had a good gale in the Arctic and 
 another in Hering Sea just after getting 
 through the Straits. It was fearfully rough 
 and how the " Tenelope " did pitch and roll! 
 Worse than any time in the Tacitic last year. 
 I was seasick and so was almost everyone. 
 
 I belong to the Sailors' I'nion this year. 
 Brownie is assistant *"ook, as I was last 
 year. We sailors are divided into watches 
 of four hours each, three men in each watch, 
 giving one hour and twenty minutes at the 
 wheel to each man. I. with Clyde and
 
 86 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 Rivers, am on from 12 to 4. Eight tiours a 
 day on decli and sixteen off, doesn't read like 
 hard worli. but it's plenty. 
 
 We have had only the worst weather. 
 Until we got through the Straits we encoun- 
 tered frequent squalls of snow and sleet. 
 To-da.v it has been rainy and foggy. It is 
 difficult to keep one's hands and feet warm 
 during the hour and twenty minutes at the 
 wheel, even with our best clothing on. I 
 could not report for duty during the gales. 
 We have seen several vessels, and last night 
 spoke the whaling tender " Bonanza." Her 
 captain yelled at us that there is " A big 
 strike at Cape Nome I" I am inclined to 
 think that the whole world is making fun at 
 the expense of these " fool gold-hunters," as 
 
 Off Cape Nome. 
 
 wo are called. I wish T were at Dutch Har- 
 bor collecting birds. Later, 11 :30. — A breeze 
 has sprung up favorably and the captain 
 says we are within fifty miles of Cape 
 Nome. 
 
 Cape Nome, .Inly 120.— Got in all safe and 
 anchored close off shore. Boys have located 
 seven claims not yet developed. Plenty of 
 gold in sight. Hurrah for the Arctic gold- 
 hunters of the "Penelope" crew! 
 
 CHAPTER XXHI. 
 
 GAPE NOME. July 20.— After an eleven 
 days' voyage from Kotzebue Sound 
 we anc-hored off Anvil City on the 
 Dioi-ning of the 2()tli. Those eleven days 
 iiijikc a nigiiliiiiire. A succession of head 
 gales with deu.se fogs. We were almost 
 
 within sight of our destination when a 
 southeaster began to hum through the rig- 
 ging and a thick fog set in. The " Pen- 
 elope " hove to and for two days we ex- 
 perienced a most disagreeable combination 
 of rolling and pitching, with their inevitable 
 conditions. When the clouds finally lifted 
 we were back in Bering Straits. The north- 
 ward current is remarkably strong at this 
 season and it is almost impossible to stem 
 it unless there is a fair wind, which in our 
 case did finally favor us. We found our 
 Cape Nome representatives all here save 
 Cox. who was left with some claims toward 
 Fish River. All are well, but from their 
 account they must have had some sorry ex- 
 periences. Dr. Gleaves, Gale and party were 
 lost in the overland 
 trip and ran out of 
 provisions, resort- 
 ing to their seven- 
 teen dogs for food 
 in the last pinch. 
 They finally 
 reached supplies 
 with barely enough 
 meat for two days 
 longer. Close 
 shave. The body of 
 Dr. De F'rance of 
 ' the " Iowa " party, 
 was found frozen 
 in the trail in the 
 mountains. 
 
 On the 22d the 
 " Penelope " sailed 
 up the coast to our 
 claims, which are 
 located on the beach seven miles west of 
 Anvil City. Here we have unloaded sup- 
 plies and will proceed to work the claims 
 far enough to see what thej"^ are good 
 for. I have not visited " town " yet, 
 but there must be two thousand in- 
 habitants living mostly in tents or drift- 
 wood sliacks. Several warehouses have 
 been ])uilt and two substantial frame build- 
 ings are going up. Tliey say there are ten 
 thousand men in this district, mostly scat- 
 tered out among the hills. Five thousand 
 claims are recorded, but of these only about 
 a dozen are known to be of value. Four 
 are so far being worked, but these I know 
 to be extremely rich, for anyone can look on 
 and see the "shining" as it is separated 
 from the gravel in tlie sluice Iwxes. Shafer 
 and Stevenson were at these workings a day 
 or two ago and saw two shovelfuls taken 
 U]» indiscriminately pan out one $0 and the
 
 GOLD HUNTING JN ALASKA, 
 
 87 
 
 other $8. Those rich claims are in little 
 canons or ravines seven miles back from the 
 coast in the hills. This is really a ^ohl ht-ar- 
 ing region, for one can find eolors almost 
 nnywhere. We can get from twenty-live to 
 two hundred colors to a pan on our claims 
 here, but they are very line, and I doubt 
 their beins saved in sluice boxes. The 
 beach claims contain plenty of gold, but it 
 will recpiire improved machinery to make 
 them pay. 
 
 1 have left my bird skins and everything 
 except a single chancre of clothing on the 
 " Penelope," as we all liave done. Kut I am 
 afraid my collection is liable to damage from 
 rats or mould. There is no place on shore 
 to put the stuff and no through vessels that 
 I know of to ship 
 it by. The " Ten- 
 elope " left night 
 before last to take 
 a prospecting party 
 thirty miles down 
 the coast to exam- 
 ine some country 
 there and then to 
 visit the claims 
 where Cox was 
 left. Nine of us 
 are left here, with 
 Harry Reynolds as 
 foreman. We are 
 at present digging 
 holes in various 
 places to see if we 
 can find the " pay 
 streak." No suc- 
 cess yet. The 
 gold on the beach 
 
 is not " wash " ;cold, but no doubt comes 
 from the bluff which borders the beach 
 about one hundred feet back from the 
 surf. From this bluff the smooth tundra ex- 
 tends back some live miles to the hills. An- 
 vil City is at the mouth of Snake River, 
 which extends back through tlie hills and 
 heads in the high mountain ranges which 
 we can just see through the gap. Arvil 
 Creek, Snow Gulch and Glacier Creek, the 
 rich spots, are tributaries of Snake River. 
 To the westward is IV-nny River, but this 
 whole country, including tliirty miles ahuig 
 the water front, is all staked out. The dis- 
 trict is under military (•(Hilrol. and twenty 
 soldiers are stationed at Anvil City. With- 
 out them there might be trouble. It seems 
 that the first men to this region, the so-called 
 " discoverers." staked out as many as one 
 hundred claims each under power of attor- 
 
 ney. They then formed a mining district 
 
 and passed a law that powers of attorney 
 caniKjt lidld. tiiuK liandi( apping tliuse who 
 have come in since, so one man eau take up 
 but one claim. The other night a njlners' 
 meeting was called in town to consider the 
 matter. A resolution was brought up which, 
 if carried, would throw tiie whole district 
 o|)en to be restaked. The lieutenant was 
 tliere and lie knew lliat if this passed there 
 would be serious trouble. He infornuMl the 
 meeting tliat if tliis resolution was brought 
 up lie would clear the house. After some 
 deliberation the resolution was couche<l in 
 a different form, ilisgtiising its intent, but 
 the otticer kept his word and ordered the 
 house cleared. There was some hesitjition 
 
 Main Street. An\il Cit\'. 
 
 and several toughs even looked resistance, 
 but the order was given to ti.x bayonets. 
 The meeting was thus broken up and noth- 
 ing more lias been done. 
 
 Th«' original staking was doubtless unfair, 
 but if the district were now reojiened it 
 would be worse. There is little lawlessness 
 in Anvil City, on account of the militia. A 
 good many claims have been jumped and 
 some of them two or three times. This will 
 give work to the lawyers. Several of our 
 own claims have been jumped, but we are 
 on them now and possession is nine points 
 of the law. 
 
 .luly :5(».— This is Sunday and a day of rest 
 for us. We have worked pretty hard the 
 past week. In fact this is the first mining 
 tlie L. B. A. M. \- T. Co. has done. rr«)spe«-t 
 holes have been dug in different parts of the 
 claims. Uncle .liuiniy and I were set to dig-
 
 88 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 ging a hole back on the tundra, and if any- 
 one doubts the work is hard let him try it 
 for himself. We worked three days and got 
 to a depth of ten feet with no favorable re- 
 sults. The tundra is thawed barely through 
 its covering of moss, seldom more than six 
 inches. The rest of the way the frozen 
 ground was as hard as rock and had to be 
 chipped off bit by bit. The hole was about 
 four by five feet, just room enough to wield 
 a heavy pick. We broke the points off the 
 pick every day. A strata of pure ice a foot 
 thick was encountered, but most of the way 
 we worked through a sort of frozen muck or 
 packed mass of unrotted vegetation which, 
 when it thaws, looks and smells like barn- 
 yard filth. 
 
 After the first day the walls began to melt 
 and cave in little by little, so that each morn- 
 ing and noon we would have to bale out a 
 foot or more of mud and water. It was 
 about as dirty work as one can imagine. 
 The fresh clods, as we picked them out of 
 the bottom, were so cold that for a time 
 frost formed on the outside just like a cold 
 piece of iron brought into a warm room in 
 winter. Although as cold as a refrigerator 
 down in the pit. the perspiration poured off 
 from us from the stifling air. Only one of 
 us at a time could work in the hole, so we 
 had half hour shifts. Uncle Jimmy and I. 
 Tlie man on the outside had to haul up the 
 bucketfuls of dirt and water, but he other- 
 wise rested. After our long yachting trip 
 this work was especially hard. But such 
 labor gives one a tremendous appetite. Jesse 
 P^arrar is cook now. Shafer has deserted 
 the company. He has obtained a position in 
 a restaurant uptown at .$1.50 per month and 
 expenses, with prospects of $200 next mouth. 
 C. C. Reynolds. Dr. Coflin, Clyde. Baldwin 
 and Colcough have left on the steamer 
 " Albion " for home. Yes, for homel All 
 have made satisfactory arrangements with 
 the company. As to the rest of us who 
 " stay by the ship," there are none but could 
 better his condition by leaving the com[)any. 
 But we who have a good deal of money in- 
 vested, hate to leave everything when affairs 
 are looking better than t'ver before. 
 
 We are in a gold country here and none 
 can tell what may turn up. I never saw a 
 single color in the Kowak region, Init here 
 the sand is sprinkled with them, though not 
 in paying quantities everywhere. I must 
 admit that even I, wiio do not know what 
 homesickness is, would like very well to be 
 at home for a while. I am losing time now. 
 No matter if I were shoveling gravel and 
 
 digging holes, that isn't improving myself 
 any, is it? 
 
 I am still intent upon Dutch Harbor as 
 soon as the company leaves Alaska. I do 
 not suppose I will ever return to Alaska 
 again, and I think a few months among the 
 Aleutians would be time well put in, in 
 the natural history line. 
 
 By the way, " L'ncle S.," the Quaker gold- 
 hunter whom we had given up for lost last 
 winter, came aboard the " Penelope " when 
 we first anchored at Anvil City. He has 
 bought a small steam launch and makes 
 money ferrying people and their goods up 
 and down the coast. The Snake River is not 
 navigable except after heavy rains. I have 
 also seen the " P^lying Dutchman " here. He 
 is gray. He had black hair and beard last 
 fall. His forced journeyiugs over the frozen 
 Arctic have left a witness to his hard- 
 ships. The ■' Bear" came in last night from , 
 Kotzebue Sound, bringing eighty victims ofy' 
 scurvy. The sickness up there has been 
 awful this spring and the death rate as 
 high as ten per cent. 
 
 We hear of a great many disasters. There 
 are but few who would spend another win- 
 ter on the Kowak for a mint of gold, unless 
 it be myself. To crown it all. we have news 
 of a strike on the Kowak! " Nuggets as big 
 as hickory nutsl" This story, when we are 
 scarcely four hundred miles away from 
 thei-el Somebody is starting another boom. 
 This may start some more "fools " up there. 
 But it will take something new to get any of 
 us back. We have bit at " the hickory nut " 
 once, and I do not think we shall again. We 
 hear that the transportation companies are 
 booming this country. It is overrun now 
 and there is sure to be crowding. Wages are 
 five to eight dollars a day back at tlie mines, 
 but only a limited numl)er of men can get 
 employment at that. Expenses are high, 
 and a man had better stick to $1.50 per day 
 back in civilization than to come here and 
 sleep on the damp ground in a tent without 
 a fire and live on salt-horse and beans. 
 
 The hot weather is upon us at last and the 
 last four days have l)een " sweaters." It is 
 like an oven in the tent where 1 am writing. 
 Dr. ColUn got us each a box of lemons and 
 oranges on the " Alaska," just In, before he 
 left. Jesse just brought in a big stew kettle 
 full of ice-cold lemonade. Two bowls full 
 just serve to make one want more. It tastes 
 so good. We have had one mess of fresh 
 potatoes and onions. We ate the latter raw 
 with vinegar. It does a fellow good to be 
 without such things a while, if not too
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 89 
 
 lona:. ITo knows hotter how to appreciate 
 llioni. 
 
 Aud now I record a fact that oiij^lit to 
 make every face hlusli that turns an upward 
 irlance at Ohl (ilory. The United States lias 
 passed "a law," permitting; saloons in Cape 
 Nome. The ualives >;et all they want and 
 are killinjj each otlier when drunk. The na- 
 tive j^irl who mends some of our slioes, came 
 In drunk, and when sober slic was asked 
 where she ol)taincd the li(iuor. Sli(> ^'ave the 
 name of the man. Our foreman lold him 
 that he would report him to the c.iptain of 
 our s(iuad, and was offered ^/(■'lO by the crim- 
 inal to " keep mum." 
 
 Aug. 5.— It is nothinj; now but " work " 
 from 7 a. m. to p. m. After ten hours of it 
 one is more ready to rest than to write. I 
 do not f;et a minute to so mucli as look at a 
 bird except Sunday, which we liave voted to 
 observe. Aud then tliere is plenty to till in 
 every minute when one comes along, inclnd- 
 injr mending and washing. But I can 
 scarcely help seeing the birds that fly past 
 along the beach just as if to tauut me. 
 Bands of Pacilic kittiwakes pass up and 
 down the surf on the lookout for herrings, 
 and an occasional glaucus, or ratlier the 
 Port Barrow gull, comes sailing along. A 
 pair of Arctic terns feeding their full-grown 
 young, afford almost the only bird notes of 
 any kind. The young have a pleading, and 
 3'et harshly strong, succession of calls, and 
 hover along the beach ever ready for the 
 fish caught in the surf by the parent birds. 
 The precision with which the terns can drop 
 on a liny hsh or crustacean in the boiling 
 surf is remarkable. And yet they seem so 
 ligiit on the wing aud rise from the water 
 with so little apparent exertion. Long- 
 tailed jagers are common, coursing back 
 and forth over the tundra or poising against 
 the wind with fluttering wings much like a 
 sparrow-hawk. Their long, pointed, streamer- 
 like, central tail feathers distinguish them 
 at almost any distance from the other 
 jagers. They feed on nu-adow mice and 
 caterpillars mostly, but their habit of forc- 
 ing gulls to disgorge is of fretiueut notice. 
 As there are no mud flats or niarshes here 
 the waders are scarce. I saw a godwit, 
 probal)ly the I'acitic, flying back toward the 
 interior. Several golden plover, which I 
 have no doubt are rearing their young, are 
 always on the back part of our claims. 
 Their melodious, warblini: call reminds me 
 strongly of the robin. These plover show 
 decided preference for the dryest tundra anil 
 
 uplands, and at Cape Blossom I found them 
 on tlie hillsides in the interior nf the peuiu- 
 sula. One day last we«-k while I was at 
 work Ml a prospect hole ba< k of the bliiflf. 
 three turnsiones lit In the mossy buniiiio<-kK 
 within a few yards of me. Tliey were very 
 tame and rem.iiiied au hour <ir more uear 
 me. feeding oii insects or their larvii-. I have 
 never taken this s]ie(ies itlie comiiii.n turn- 
 stonel, although I saw it at Cape rriine n( 
 Wales and Cape Bloss(»iii. and tried hard to 
 get some specimens. I tiKjk several of the 
 black turnstdiies in Sitka in is;»»;, and also In 
 San rleineiite Isl.ind last year. Bluck- 
 throated loons are numerous aM<l are con- 
 stantly seen and heard overhead as they tly 
 back and forth from the lakes on the 
 tundra to their feeding grounds out at sea. 
 '1 his is the only loon I have seen here, 
 tliough I saw t!ie reil-throated at Kot7A'l)ue. 
 1 nave kept special watch for the yellow- 
 Itilled loon which is asciibcil to this region, 
 l)Ut have never iilentiiied it. The Eskimos 
 make clothing of loim skins, and I have par- 
 ticularly examined such evidences, but have 
 never found a scrap of yellow-billed ioou 
 skin. This species cannot therefore be very 
 numerous. Land birds are very scarce here. 
 prob.ibly on account of the awful barren- 
 ness of the region. I lliislied one snowy owl 
 back of camp one day. and the boys say they 
 saw a hawk of some kind yesterday, I think 
 from their description a gyrfalcoii. I saw 
 two juvenile Laiiland leiigspurs yesterday 
 feeding about the bliifT. and also heard a yel- 
 low wagtail. I have noted a pair of juvenile 
 redpolls several times along the bluff. 
 
 This, I think, comprises our avifauna up to 
 date, and it will be seen that a collector 
 would have rather "slim picking." They 
 tell me that back in the hills where the ra- 
 vines are lined witli willow scrubs, birds 
 are more numerous and that large flocks of 
 juvenile ptarmigan are appearing. I would 
 like to go back aud see if this is true, but it 
 is all " business " now. The financial pros- 
 pects of our party are brightening every day. 
 Our beach claims may become a paying 
 proj-ositien whi-n properly developed. Light 
 or ten of us art' wori<ing on one of them iu 
 a very crude fashion, using " rockers." antl 
 are taking out ."?.'.(» to .Sr.d per day. With im- 
 proved machinery this would be a rich thing, 
 but of course considerable capital would be 
 re(]Uired to start. 1 am " deaner-up;" tak- 
 ing out the iirevious day's clean-uii. wliidi 
 consists of several pans of mix»'d black sand 
 and gold dust (the latter in smallest pro|x»r- 
 tiou). aud panning it down so far as 1 can
 
 90 
 
 GOLD HINTING JN ALASKA. 
 
 without losing any colors or fine flakes of 
 the yellow. Then I mix in mercury thor- 
 oughly, which takes up all the dust, forming 
 an amalgum. which is finally separated and 
 retorted, leaving the buttons of pure gold. 
 We are figuring on another proposition and 
 may not continue at this much longer. We 
 have prospected these claims enough to 
 know their value, and this is enough for this 
 year. There is a good deal of trouble about 
 the strip of beach between high and low 
 tide, some claiming it to be public reserve 
 and open to be worked by anyone. Several 
 " squatters " are working on our claims who 
 refuse to get oCC. but the judge will settle 
 this next week. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 GAPE NOME. Alaska. Aug. P.. 1899.— It is 
 Sunday evening again and I am reclin- 
 ing against my roll of blankets in the 
 warm tent. Foote is playing the banjo, 
 beautiful music, too! I never appreciated 
 music until this trip. Foote's marches and 
 familiar songs, associated as they are with 
 the freedom of camp life and that feeling of 
 rest after a day's work, have impressed their 
 memory as the sweetest n^usic I ever heard. 
 ^^'e are still on our beach claims; that is, 
 part of us. The " Penelope " is back at 
 anchor, having left Jett and Wilson on the 
 scent of something under guidance of an In- 
 dian. Cox has not reported. Our property 
 is advancing in value and so is the stock of 
 the I.. B. A. M. & T. Co. The same stock 
 which I was ready to trade a few weeks ago 
 for some cotton batting, arsenic and plaster- 
 of-parisl We own a lot in Anvil City 200 x 
 ?.00 feet. The heach claims are proving bet- 
 ter. If we can hold clear to the water line 
 we are safe. The past week we have taken 
 out .$250 in gold dast. Trouble with jumpers 
 continues. Over six hundred men are work- 
 ing with rockers on the beach in sight. Some 
 are making from .$()() to $150 per day. One 
 fellow struck a i)0(ket and took out $400 at 
 one clean-up. Our claims are not as good 
 as those nearer Snake Iliver. Several jump- 
 ers are at work on them now and we cannot 
 put them off except by force, and that means 
 fight. None of us want to be disligured 
 after our successful encounter with the fi-ost 
 last winter. We appealed to the liciilcnant 
 in charge, but he says he can do nothing 
 until the arrival of the district judge next 
 week. Several of our boys have gone up to 
 one of the rich gulches to consider a new 
 proposition. Maybe we will get a good lay. 
 
 A " lay " is a lease given b.v a claim owner 
 to a party to work a claim for a certain per- 
 centage of the outcome. 
 
 Aug. 13.— Another week has passed away 
 and very qtiickly. too, in spite of the hard 
 work. From six to twelve of us are still 
 working on one of the beach claims. Up to 
 Friday night we had taken out $750 in dust. 
 If the whole company were working at the 
 same rate this would be good wages, but 
 there are twenty to share with. The " Pen- 
 elope " has gone down the coast again to 
 look after the prospectors and may bring 
 good news. Jesse Farrar, the cook, went to 
 town last night, and I have been cooking to- 
 day. We were troubled quite a little at first 
 by our numerous Kotzebue friends dropping 
 in for meals on their way up and down the 
 beach. So we put up a sign, " Meals, $1," 
 more to rid otirselves of the extra care than 
 to go into the restaurant business. Really 
 it became unbearable. 
 
 The town is booming. The beach claim 
 trouble is not settled yet, and everyone is 
 working where he pleases. Claim owners up 
 in the gulches are looking for men at $10 per 
 da.v and board, and cannot get them. A 
 $310 nugget was taken from a sluice box 
 the other day, and one man cleared $20,000 
 for four days' work. Our boys have been up 
 to see, and I ought to go. A fellow hasn't a 
 chance every da.v in his life to see such a 
 lot of gold in the rough, at its birth as it 
 were, before it is washed or dressed or al- 
 loyed. Most of the lucky ones are Swedes 
 or Laplanders, they being on the ground at 
 the beginning of the rush last spring. 
 
 Cold can only bring $15 per ounce at the 
 highest, and only $14 at some stores. In 
 other words, coin is at a big premium. The 
 beach gold runs very high, being much purer 
 than tiiat from the hills. Some was sent to 
 St. Michaels and assayed $18.40 per ounce. 
 If one had the cash he could buy up the 
 raw gold and sell it. That is where the com- 
 panies make the bulk of their money. It 
 is a great temptation for some of our 
 party to desert and start into private enter- 
 prises. But I, and most of the boys, will 
 stay together and I believe will come out 
 better in the long run. 
 
 They say Dawson is played out and that 
 this is the next place for a boom. But I 
 wouldn't advise anyone to come here if they 
 have any way of making a living at home. 
 Ten dollars a day sounds big, but when one 
 pays $90 each way for transportation and 
 ten i)rices for things here, there isn't much
 
 GOLD BUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 91 
 
 left from the short period of three months' 
 work, and one is not sure of that. 
 
 We have a sliort (ish net set out beyond 
 the surf. This niornini,' I found four salmon 
 in it, tlie first we liave liad since h'avinf; 
 Kotzebue. Onlj' four of us are liere to-day. 
 but I had three " boarders." Three dolhirs 
 in " dust " was pood. 
 
 I have forf;otten to descril)e what " rock- 
 ing " is. A roeker runs just like a baby's 
 cradle, from side to side. At the top is a 
 hopper with lioles in the bottom to keep out 
 the coarse stuff. Tlie sand falls through the 
 hrnper-holes and washes over two "ai)rons" 
 slanting back and forth to the bottom, 
 where it runs out through a sluice-bo.v. The 
 aprons, and sometimes the sluice-box, have 
 " riffles," or strips of cloth fastened in 
 crosswise, to catch 
 the gold. The 
 aprons and the 
 whole bottom of the 
 box and riffles are 
 of blanket, so that 
 the finer dust 
 catches in the nap 
 or wool. A man 
 stands d i p p i n g 
 water into the hop- 
 per with one hand 
 and rocking with 
 the other, while the 
 other man puts 
 
 in a shovelful of the pay dirt every now 
 and then, and keeps the water tub full 
 and the tailings cleaned away. Two men 
 run a rocker, tiiough when the " Peni'lope " 
 crew is ashore tliere are tliree men to each 
 of our four rockers. We liave to carry all 
 our water from the surf. Some of the rockers 
 have copi)er plates amalgamated with mer- 
 cury on the upper sides. Tliese are better, 
 as the finer particles are caught and amalga- 
 mated. To "clean up" a rocker, the aprons 
 and blankets are taken out and washed in 
 a tub and the resulting debris panned out. 
 I am amalgamator, and have notliing to do 
 with the rockers. 1 pan out the previous 
 day's clean-tjp and amalgamate the dust, 
 sciueeze "dry" the amalgam and weigh it. 
 We have no retort as yet and I have on 
 hand nearly ten pounds of dry amalgam. I 
 have experimented with it and find that the 
 amalgam is one-half gold by weight. Oh. 
 the boys have a little .joke on me. It was 
 the result of my lirst experiment and I sliall 
 never hear the last of it. There must have 
 been something else in tlie si)oon 1 was us- 
 ing, nickel or silver, for the gold melted 
 
 right Into the spf)on. 1 poure<l the stuff out 
 on to a shovel-blade to save what was left. 
 What did it do but melt right Into and all 
 over the shovel! The result of this is that 
 the L. li. A. M. & T. Co. has a gold-jilated 
 shovel. We are a wealthy company and can 
 afford it. 
 
 I-ater. Anvil City, Cape Nome.— I came to 
 town after supper and am writing in our 
 "city cabin," which Is Just back of the A. C. 
 Company's store. W'v own a very fine resi- 
 dence in the city 12 x 10 feet, on a I'A) x MH) 
 foot lot. It is a good eight miles from our 
 beach claims here, and as I walked it I 
 thought it twenty. I wore heavy shoes, and 
 the best walking I could select was on the 
 wet sand along the surf. For the entire 
 
 «:ape Nome. 
 
 eight miles there Is scarcely one hundred 
 feet without one or more tents on it. The 
 beach is riddled with ditches and holes, and 
 hundreds of rockers of all <lescriptions 
 gyrate in various rhythm. I sjuike to many 
 Kotzebue people whom we knew last winter, 
 and all are doing well. The beach is still 
 being worked by everyone, irrespective of 
 original locators, a dozen or more on our 
 own claims. The officer arrested several, 
 but discharged them again. The townspeo- 
 ple, saloonkeepers and transportation com- 
 panies are against claim owners, as it is to 
 their own interest to keep the mob taking 
 out money. And they're doing it. too. 
 Anvil City Is booming. Dozens of frame 
 buildings are being erected. Three big twt> 
 story sheet-iron buildings are going up. 
 which comprise the government barracks. 
 Several steamers" have gotten over the bar 
 and are in the mouth of Snake Uiver. About 
 two dozen saloons are raking in the mon»'y. 
 This is a speedy place. I wish I had my 
 time for the next two months here. Ptar- 
 migan are ."i;i each for eating. Wages are 
 ,$1 per hour.
 
 92 
 
 GOLD HTJNIING IN ALASKA. 
 
 Cape Nome, Aug. 22.— I am quite sure that 
 T olo not aspire to the realm of cookery, but 
 yet, for all that, I am in the kitchen a;jain. 
 •• monarch of all I survey." I do not blame 
 the cook for stubbornly declaring his inten- 
 tion to resign and refusing to leave his 
 bed. No one heeded his warning given the 
 day before. Pandemonium ensued. A dish- 
 pan of mush flually ai)peared at the hands 
 of Uncle Jimmy. No one consented to fill 
 the vacancy at any wages. Three •' board- 
 
 Rocking Out Gold at Cape Nome 
 
 ers " came in and were turned away. The 
 <lissolution of the company was imminent, 
 all because there was no one in the crowd 
 to perform a duty which is considered by 
 all to be the most disagreeable of any on the 
 list. I told them so, and several other em- 
 piiatic truths. " Practice what you preachi" 
 was hurled at nu'. Then I rose up like a 
 martyr and declared tiiat I would " risk 
 death" in the interests of the L. K. A. M vt 
 T. ("o., and here I am in imininent pe-ril of 
 being wiped off the face of the earth by 
 some "beach cond)er " whom I charge fifty 
 cents for a loaf of bread. I sold three loaves 
 at that rate yesterday. Also served fifteen 
 meals to outsiders at the rate of !?! per meal. 
 Oiif man came in for su|)per last night who 
 planked down a bag of dust worth fully 
 
 §800 for me to weigh the dollar from. I 
 poured oiit a little too much and he grabbed 
 the bag and went out. saying, " Keep the 
 change!" Most of the money taken in is 
 dust. Cash is scarcer than ever. Copper 
 plates are not obtainable, and silver dollars 
 and halves are at a premium for covering 
 the bottoms of rockers. The coins are amal- 
 gamated with mercury to catch the fine gold 
 dust. I saw fifty arranged in rows in one 
 rocker. Our claims are now covered with 
 beach jumpers and we 
 cannot get them off. 
 ^lob law rides. There 
 are one hundred beach 
 combers to one claim 
 owner, and the author- 
 ities will not or cannot 
 do anything. The li-eu- 
 tenant in charge gave 
 us some notices to " va- 
 cate," but the people 
 pay no attention. It 
 fell to me to go up to 
 one of our claims, and 
 I showed the notice to 
 each of the workers 
 along the beach. Some 
 laughed at me. Some 
 sneered. One " tough " 
 consigned me and the 
 notice to a warmer 
 place than Cape Nome 
 in August. He con- 
 tinued to swear at me, 
 and when I respectfully 
 asked him to " be rea- 
 sonable and give me a 
 hearing." he told me to 
 get to that same place I 
 have mentioned "and 
 quick, too." This at my own claim I I never 
 knew I had a temper before, but for a minute 
 then I do not think I would have been re- 
 sponsible. I can easily see how murders are 
 committed in the rage of anger, and if all 
 judges and juries could put themselves in 
 the place of the tempted, perhaps caintal 
 punishment, at least for such crimes, would 
 be annulled. The man who threatened me 
 was bigger than I, and 1 wt'nt on. And he 
 is still working there, taking out .$100 i)er 
 day. so I am told. He is in a " pocket." Our 
 pocket. We have discussed tlie advisability 
 of using force, but have abandoned it. 
 Fancher says wo " might get distigured," 
 for there are peo])le here just awkward 
 enough to hit a fellow in the face. 
 We are hemmed iu on all sides and sooii
 
 GOLD HUNTI^G JK ALASKA. 
 
 93 
 
 our beach claims will be worthless. Sun- 
 day I retorted all tlie ainal.traiii we had on 
 hand, and eijrhty-tive onnces of pure K<>ld 
 was the result. Seven pounds of the pretty 
 yellow stuff! I broke the bij; cluudcs as they 
 came from the retort into small pieces with 
 a cold chisel. It was fascinating work to 
 weifjh out the rare metal and lift the same 
 when it was put into the chamois-skin sack. 
 I have turned it over to Treasurer Rivers, so 
 it is off my hands. But what is tifteen hun- 
 dred dollars divided anion;; twenty men'.' It 
 would certainly be better to divide uj) the 
 company ri.i^ht now, for the individuals here, 
 but we cannot lawfully 
 do it. Complete deser- 
 tion is the only alterna- 
 tive to staying with it. 
 
 Anvil City, Aug. 24.— 
 We have left the beach 
 claims and are on our 
 way to Nome River. 
 We have leased a fifty 
 per cent, lay on Buster 
 Creek, and are going to 
 see what is in it. It is 
 our last chance for this 
 year. It may turn out 
 poor, but we have very 
 good reports from that 
 section. We hope to 
 feel assured of some- 
 thing good to come 
 back to next spring. 
 Ice last night, and prob- 
 ably an early winter. 
 The schooner is going 
 up to Safety Harbor in 
 Port Clarence to re- 
 main until October Isi, 
 which is about as late 
 
 as we dare stay here. I must go ashore now 
 for a boat-load of lumber for sluice-boxes. 
 
 Later.— The rats got into a box of my 
 geese and entirely ruined them. I do not 
 know how much else is destroyed. I have 
 not been so absolutely down-hearted for 
 many luoons. All on account of those mis- 
 erable rats. I came near taking all my col- 
 lection ashore and quitting the company. 
 But then I suppose " gold is to be desiret-l 
 above all things." at least this is what I am 
 told by wiser heads than mine, judging b.v 
 their whiteness and baldness. There is a 
 prospect of getting some new potatoes 
 ashore to-night, and these will be an all- 
 sulHcient antidote to low spirits. Somehow 
 potatoes, and even onions, go straight to the 
 
 seat of low spirits when a fellow has been 
 without tlu'in a year or two. Strange to me 
 that a man ever commits suieide iu the 
 midst of local markets where fresh vege- 
 tables can be obtained. All. we sliall have 
 a great supper to-night! One menu three 
 times a day — beans, dessicated vegetables, 
 rice, dried fruit and bacon — grows weari- 
 some unless the apiietite is awfully sharp. 
 
 Buster Creek, Sept. 3.— Here we are twelve 
 miles up among the mountains l)a<'k of Cajje 
 Nome. It took two days towing up Nome 
 River, which is really nothing more than a 
 
 Placer Mininj:, Cape Nom 
 
 creek. There were bars to drag the boat over 
 every hundred yarns. That brought us to 
 the mouth of Buster Creek, three mih-s from 
 here, and from ihere we had the sweet job 
 of [)acking up all our supplies and lundier 
 on our backs. IJain most of the time and 
 nothing but green willow itrush to burn. 
 It was ver.v disagreeable, hard work, but 
 here we are now, well settled, with an oil 
 stove to depend on when the willow wimhI 
 fails. We have a fairly good looking claim 
 here, No. 4. Have it oiieiied up and the first 
 gravel through yesterday. The rlflles show- 
 coarse gold, tliougii in no fabulous amount. 
 We cannot get much out before freez»'-u|> 
 this year, but ought to do fairly well nt'Xt 
 simimer fi't.-m present jirospei-ts. Some ice
 
 94 
 
 GOLD HUNTING IN ALASKA. 
 
 and considerable frost already. We "will 
 probably return to the coast the last of Sep- 
 tember, The •' Penelope " rode out the late 
 storm safely when so many other vessels 
 were lost. My latest news is that the rats 
 have taken my goose box for a nesting den. 
 One of the boys will watch from this on. 
 I am cooking and it keeps me jumping side- 
 ways to feed the fourteen hungry gravel- 
 heavers. I have to be up at five in the 
 morning and am seldom through until nine 
 at night. Have to bake every day, and have 
 nothing larger than a single camp stove 
 oven to do it in. Everyone is working for 
 all there is in him. We hope to strike a pay 
 streak, as they have on the claim above us, 
 rich enough to take out $800 per day. I 
 have scarcely time to breathe outside of the 
 cook tent these days. But I frequently hear 
 the notes of familiar birds— golden-crowned 
 sparrows, gray-cheeked thrushes and ptar- 
 migan. I shot nine ptarmigan the other 
 evening close by. We are feasting on fresh 
 venison. Yesterday morning a reindeer ap- 
 peared on the hillside above the tents. 
 Without malice aforethought one of the boys 
 aimed and it fell — to our lot. It is now 
 hinted that the wild creature was a tame 
 reindeer, and that the Laps from over on 
 Anvil Creek who have the animals in charge, 
 will most likely come to hunt it up. If they 
 get a peep into our provision tent we may 
 have to pay .$100, otherwise it will be fin- 
 ished by us with a relish such as few can 
 appreciate. These Laplanders own very rich 
 claims and. though they are really a lower 
 class of i>eople Than the Indians, the latter 
 cannot become citizens. 
 
 Last week, while we were coming up 
 along Nome River, birds were quite numer- 
 ous, especially the smaller species in the 
 willow thickets. I saw or heard the yellow, 
 black-poll and Wilson's warblers; tree, fox, 
 golden-crowned and intermediate sparrows, 
 gray-cheeked thrush, redpoll, snowy owl, 
 llocks of golden plover and pectoraJ sand- 
 pipers, one young Sabine's gull on a sand- 
 bar: lots of large gulls, either glaucus or 
 glauius-winged, and perhaps both; loons, 
 black and rcd-tluoated; little brown crane, 
 pin-tails, and other ducks not identified. The 
 last two or three days small birds have been 
 very scarce. On August 27 and 28 the fall 
 migrations were in progress. Most of the 
 birds were heard singing, especially the 
 warblers, as in si)ring. The ptarmigan are 
 very nicely phininged now in parti-colored 
 costume. I wish I couhl save some, but the 
 L. B A M. & T Co. is mining now. I can 
 
 hardly decide in my own mind to stay an- 
 other winter here. I will let circumstances 
 decide. There are hundreds of Dawson peo- 
 ple here who say this will be a greater gold 
 country than the Klondike. Some of the 
 creeks are turning out immensely rich. 
 One Swede came down from his claim the 
 other day with $88,000. He got rid of $30.- 
 000 of it in a saloon almost immediately. It 
 will be seen that the saloon people are tak- 
 ing in most of the gold. However, I think 
 we are on the right track, though it may 
 take two more years to bring us material 
 returns. In a few days now it will be: 
 
 " Penelope I Penelope ! zip I boom ! bah I 
 Going home from Kotzebue ! rah ! rah ! rah !" 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 BUSTER CREEK, Cape Nome. Sept. 16, 
 1899.— A week ago Casey went to Anvil 
 City, across country twelve miles, and 
 brought a batch of mail, containing our first 
 letters from home since our arrival here in 
 answer to our own. I received six, which I 
 have committed to memory, sitting alone in 
 the cook tent. If people at home, the wide 
 world over, would write faithfully to absent 
 ones, there would be joy in many a wan- 
 derer's heart. 
 
 Here we are, working like beavers, thir- 
 teen of us, including me, the cook. It's the 
 last struggle of a dying company. But it 
 isn't dead yet. In fact there are many good 
 signs of reviving, possibly to a more pros- 
 perous condition. We have done little so far 
 on Buster Creek but hunt for pay dirt. Just 
 now we are making wages. Took out $400 
 last week, including some very pretty nug- 
 gets. The claims are too spotted; that is, 
 the gold runs in narrow streaks, and neces- 
 sitates moving quantities of barren dirt to 
 get at it. Our largest nugget so far is $4.13, 
 with a good many $1 ones. Over on Anvil 
 Creek they took out a twenty-seven ounce 
 one last week. That is a better size. While 
 we have done little but " prospect " on the 
 claims here, we have gained a good idea of 
 their value, and expect to work them next 
 year. A cold snap struck us three days ago 
 and threatens to put a stop to our mining for 
 this season. The creek is bordered with ice, 
 and icicles adorn the edges of the sluice- 
 boxes. We shall remain as long as we can 
 possibly work. It is snowing quite heavily 
 to-day. I saw the last Siberian yellow wag- 
 tail on the 8th. also a gray-cheeked thrush. 
 I saw a gyrfalcon and snowy owl flying
 
 GOLD HUNTING JN ALA.^KA. 
 
 95 
 
 along the canon yesterday. Scattering 
 flocks of golden plover have been quite coiu- 
 nion the past few days on the hillsides feed- 
 ing on blueberries. I shot one near the tent 
 this morning, although the ground was 
 white with snow. I can hear their clear 
 notes every few minutes while I write. 
 They are flying past along the creek or u\) 
 the hills. I wish I could save sonic skins. 
 But wishes do not count with a gold-hunter 
 when gold is in sight. Yesterday ininiense 
 flocks of little brown cranes passed south 
 overhead. 
 
 I am pretty sure this is the same species 
 we see and hear so much of during the mi- 
 grations in southern California, and not so 
 often the sand-hill crane. 
 
 This "cooking job." which has been thrust 
 upon me by circumstances entirely outside 
 my control, is something terrible. I will 
 never, never get into another scrape like it. 
 And yet " I am in the hands of my friends." 
 No President of these I'nited States ever 
 accepted his oflice '• by the will of the peo- 
 ple " more surely than I now occupy my 
 oflice as cook for the L. B. A. M. & T. Co. 
 But for all that, I am elected by a sweeping 
 vote. I rei)eat my previous oft-made declar- 
 ation that I will never be caught running 
 for this office again. In fact I never did 
 run for it. It ran for me. An unquestion- 
 able illustration of the office seeking the 
 man and not the man the oflice. I get up at 
 five in the morning; nearly dark now at that 
 early hour. How cold it is I And I never 
 was eager to get up, under any circum- 
 stances. For a week nearly every night ice 
 forms in the tent. I have an oil stove, with- 
 out which I should never be able to prepare 
 breakfast. (Jreen willow brush is hard to 
 burn in the little camp stove. I have break- 
 fast ready at 0:30, dinner at 12, and supper 
 at H. It keeps me " hustling " to be prompt. 
 The office is no " snap." I am given a man 
 to chop wood when necessary, otherwise I 
 must do everything alone. And the dish- 
 washing three times a day! Let who will 
 envy me. Up to the beginning of the ccld 
 snap I made light bread. si.\ loaves i)er day. 
 But since it has been freezing in the tent at 
 night the sponge will not rise. And there's 
 no way to keep it warm. Fuel too dear and 
 scarce. The camp stove oven is about ten 
 inches square, with bake pans to fit, two 
 loaves to a pan, one pan at a time. Light 
 bread went a good deal further than baking- 
 powder biscuit. It takes nine slabs of the 
 latter a day to satisfy us now. We are re- 
 duced to the bare necessities, no butter nor 
 
 canned milk. For breakfast I give them 
 corn-meal mush, bacou, l»rend. beans and 
 coO'tH*. For dinner l)acon. i»eans. I)reail, |m'ji 
 soui», apple sauce and coffee. For Hupper 
 either bacon gravy, made of flour and water, 
 or stew, if we iiave ptarmigan or meat. 
 beans, rice, apple sauce. Itread. hurd-tuck 
 and tea. Our reindeer was flne, but lasted 
 oidy a few flays. One unaccustomed to this 
 fare of unrs may liiink we are in luck for 
 miners, and so we are, but one gets tired of 
 the sjime menu for so long. And then the 
 staleness of it, after being shipped anid 
 towed and packed and unpacke<|. and 
 swapped, and crushed, and dampeiie<l. for 
 nearly two years! Little freshness in it. 
 
 The boys are having no easy joli at shov- 
 eling. Their feet are swollen and sore from 
 standing in rubber boots in ice water, and 
 their hands are cracked and chai>i)ed. These 
 every-day monotonies are the real hardships 
 of a miner's life. lie can tramp across the 
 country for a few weeks and know that the 
 end of his journey is at han<l. and besides 
 be getting some satisfaction from the 
 thought of "glory" when he sh;ill relate his 
 perils to gaiiinir friemls at home. But this 
 "peg-away" daily toil, in heat and cold and 
 sleet and rain, after what may come to light 
 in the next shovelful, and possilily never 
 show up at all— this is hardshii). But through 
 it all the l)oys who have stuck to their work 
 are in good spirits, and this in face of the 
 fact that the "clean-ups" do not always 
 show up wages even. 
 
 I have plenty of time to think nowadays 
 all by myself, for I do not necessarily keep 
 all my thoughts upon the grub. I do a 
 good (leal of my work from sheer habit now. 
 or mechanically. The boys are workinir on 
 Claim No. 1. and these tents are on No. 4. 
 so I am quite al<>ne except at meal time. A 
 regulation claim is one-fourth of ;i mile long 
 lengthwise of a creek, and one-eighth wide. 
 
 The " Penelope " is at Port Clarence, 
 where Fancher and Jett went prosjiectiug. 
 The boat will be at Anvil City about Octo- 
 ber 1st, according to programnie. antl we 
 will sail for home as soon after that date as 
 we can get away. Yes. home! I am heartily 
 tired of this kind of living. I shall be will- 
 ing to take a six months' rest before taking 
 another trip, I am sure. 1 long to get l»ack 
 to my father's house and up In those c«m)I. 
 high chambers of ndne. where I may once 
 more find '• like a Christian and a gentle- 
 man." 
 
 The season is earlier than usual, and the 
 weather much more disagreeable than at the
 
 96 
 
 GOLD HVNTIJSIG IJSl ALASKA. 
 
 same date last year ou the Kowak. Every 
 moment or two while I write I have to stop 
 and stir the beans or apple sauce, or look at 
 a batch of bread. Tbe beans are boiling 
 with rather a melodious gurgle, while the 
 sizzling rice aad the patter of sleet on the 
 canvas overhead furnish a rather pleasing 
 accompaniment. But it makes a person feel 
 kind of lonesome-like. Therel the old stove 
 is smoking again! Whenever the wind shifts 
 around the hill the draft is damaged, and the 
 stinging, irritating green willow smoke fills 
 the tent. My eyes smart and are very pain- 
 ful from this cause. I long for the voyage 
 home across the water for the sake of my 
 eyes. And now the snow is coming and it 
 will but increase the mischief. I should hate 
 to lose my good eyesight. 
 
 A few cases of typhoid fever are reported, 
 but none on this creek. We are all in good 
 health. No one would doubt this last at 
 meal time. The boyK eat an immense 
 amount of our monotonous grub and say 
 their " grace "' as thankfully as if it were a 
 banciuet. Little Brownie, the boy who was 
 going to work eighteen hours a day if only 
 he could '• find the nuggets." comes dragging 
 himself home at night completely tired out, 
 sore feet and blistered hands. The work is 
 pretty hard on the older men. Shaul, Wilson 
 au<l I'ncie .limmy. But we have no hard- 
 ships from other causes than voluntary hard 
 work. (Jur foreman. Harry Reynolds, knows 
 his business well, and we all like him. 
 
 Anvil City. Sept. 20.— We were frozen out 
 on Buster Creek, and here we are in town 
 again. AVinter is upon us. the landscape is 
 white and the glare is very painful. The 
 ground is frozen hard, which makes walk- 
 ing much easier than tlirougli a foot of mud 
 and ooze. We are living in our cabin ou 
 our city lot just back of the A. C. Comi)any's 
 big warehouse. We made the entire trip 
 from No. 4 on Buster Creek in one day, and 
 were just in time, for next morning a snow- 
 storm began, lasting until yesterday. We 
 made the trip down Nome River in five 
 hours in our boats, and then around to Anvil 
 City outside the surf, which luckily was not 
 heavy. And how, cold it was! I was one of 
 three to l)ring a boat around, and by tlu' 
 time we got here I was so stiff I could 
 sc-arcely iu'ud my limbs. Rubber boots and 
 damp clothing inside. It would have been 
 much worse had we waited a day longer. 
 However, we are all .well in spite of hard- 
 
 ship, and are patiently (?) waiting fo.*' the 
 " Penelope." We heard a rumor that a white 
 schooner was wrecked a short time ago on 
 the rocks near Port Clarence. It was 
 thought to be the " Penelope." Alas, my 
 dear collection! But if it were the "Pen- 
 elope " we would have been informed by 
 this time. Then we have heard that tlie 
 " Penelope " has been chartered to go back 
 up to Kotzebue again for freight, and to go 
 over to Siberia to trade for dog-feed. But 
 a person must make a rule to believe noth- 
 ing he hears in this couutry or he would be 
 worrying all the time. 
 
 This, for a boom town, beats anything we 
 ever saw in the States. Thousands of people 
 are now pouring in from Dawson to stay 
 through the winter, and they say that this 
 is a bigger place than ever Dawson was. 
 Steamer loads of people and freight are com- 
 ing in every day. The town is full of money. 
 The town is incorporated, with mayor, 
 councilmen and police force. Franchises 
 have been let for electric lighting, sew- 
 erage, water works, and all modern im- 
 provements. Hundreds of houses are build- 
 ing, many large ones. Lumber is $150 per 
 thousand. 
 
 I have a job for to-morrow in the mayor's 
 ottice aligning a caligraph. Wages are .$1 
 per hour. I could have all I could do for the 
 winter, type-writing and doing mechanical 
 drawing in the Nome City Attorney's ottice. 
 But I wouldn't stay here for $300 per month. 
 No. nor for anything. I hate the place. 
 There's the toughest crowd of people, sport- 
 ing Dawsonites, everyone ready to "do" 
 everybody else. It is the liveliest, speediest, 
 swiftest mining camp ever seen in Alaska. 
 And what will it be next year? All sorts of 
 sharks are making fortunes. 
 
 Sept. 27, ISiH).— Heigh-o! The " Penelope " 
 has just dropped anchor olT Anvil City and 
 we are in high glee. Higlun- glee than we 
 ever experienced on the Kowak. for we are 
 going honiel Our hunt for gold is over. W'e 
 shall take some passengers aboard for San 
 Pedro. I shall go on ship at once and see 
 how it fares with my pi-ecious birds. They 
 are my gold. We shall start at high noon 
 October 2d, and expect to make the trip iw a 
 month or six weeks. Depends upon the 
 wind. Now for our good ship's yell: 
 
 " Penolopp ! IVnelope! zip I boom! b.Th ! 
 (loinit; home from Kotzebue! rah! rah! rah!" 
 
 THK END. 
 
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