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diff --git a/44038.txt b/44038.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 931b87d..0000000 --- a/44038.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5264 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Through the Yukon Gold Diggings, by Josiah Edward Spurr - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Through the Yukon Gold Diggings - A Narrative of Personal Travel - -Author: Josiah Edward Spurr - -Release Date: October 25, 2013 [EBook #44038] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH THE YUKON GOLD DIGGINGS *** - - - - -Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive). - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: "WE OF THE FLANNEL SHIRT AND THE UNBLACKED BOOT." -_Frontispiece._] - - - - - Through - the - Yukon Gold Diggings - A Narrative of Personal Travel - - BY - JOSIAH EDWARD SPURR - Geologist, United States Geological Survey - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON - EASTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY - 1900 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1900 - by - JOSIAH EDWARD SPURR - - - - -Preface. - - -As a geologist of the United States Geological Survey, I had the good -fortune to be placed in charge of the first expedition sent by that -department into the interior of Alaska. The gold diggings of the Yukon -region were not then known to the world in general, yet to those -interested in mining their renown had come in a vague way, and the -special problem with which I was charged was their investigation. The -results of my studies were embodied in a report entitled: "Geology of -the Yukon Gold District," published by the Government. - -It was during my travels through the mining regions that the Klondike -discovery, which subsequently turned so many heads throughout all -of the civilized nations, was made. General conditions of mining, -travelling and prospecting are much the same to-day as they were at -that time, except in the limited districts into which the flood of -miners has poured. My travels in Alaska have been extensive since the -journey of which this work is a record, and I have noted the same -scenes that are herein described, in many other parts of the vast -untravelled Territory. It will take two or three decades or more, to -make alterations in this region and change the condition throughout. - -In recording, therefore, the scenes and hardships encountered in this -northern country, I describe the experiences of one who to-day knocks -about the Yukon region, the Copper River region, the Cook Inlet region, -the Koyukuk, or the Nome District. My aim has been throughout, to -set down what I saw and encountered as fully and simply as possible, -and I have endeavored to keep myself from sacrificing accuracy to -picturesqueness. That my duties led me to see more than would the -ordinary traveller, I trust the following pages will bear witness. - -Let the reader, therefore, when he finds tedious or unpleasant -passages, remember that they record tedious or unpleasant incidents -that one who travels this vast region cannot escape, as will be found -should any of those who peruse these pages go THROUGH THE YUKON GOLD -DIGGINGS. - - AUTHOR. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - I. The Trip to Dyea 9 - II. Over the Chilkoot Pass 35 - III. The Lakes and the Yukon to Forty Mile 65 - IV. The Forty Mile Diggings 109 - V. The American Creek Diggings 156 - VI. The Birch Creek Diggings 161 - VII. The Mynook Creek Diggings 207 - VIII. The Lower Yukon 229 - IX. St. Michael's and San Francisco 264 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - "We of the Flannel Shirt and the Unblacked Boot" _Frontispiece_ - An Alaskan Genealogical Tree 12 - Bacon, Lord of Alaska 21 - Lynn Canal 31 - Alaskan Women and Children 40 - Alaskan Indians and House 63 - Shooting the White Horse Rapids 93 - Talking it Over 98 - Alaska Humpback Salmon, Male and Female 107 - Washing Gravel in Sluice-Boxes 131 - "Tracking" a Boat Upstream 137 - A "Cache" 140 - Native Dogs 153 - On the Tramp Again 165 - Hog'em Junction Road-House 171 - On Hog'em Gulch 177 - Custom House at Circle City 190 - The Break-up of the Ice on the Yukon 213 - A Yukon Canoe 230 - Indian Fish-traps 231 - In a Tent Beneath Spruce Trees 239 - Three-hatch Skin Boat, or Bidarka 261 - Eskimo Houses at St. Michael's 265 - A Native Doorway 266 - The Captured Whale 271 - - The author wishes to express his indebtedness to Messrs. A. H. - Brooks, F. C. Schrader, A. Beverly Smith, and the United States - Geological Survey, for the use of photographs. - - - - -Through -The Yukon Gold Diggings. - -Before the Klondike Discovery. - - -CHAPTER I. -THE TRIP TO DYEA. - - -It was in 1896, before the Klondike boom. We were seated at the table -of an excursion steamer, which plied from Seattle northward among the -thousand wonderful mountain islands of the Inland Passage. It was a -journey replete with brilliant spectacles, through many picturesque -fjords from whose unfathomable depths the bare steep cliffs rise -to dizzy heights, while over them tumble in disorderly loveliness -cataracts pure as snow, leaping from cliff to cliff in very wildness, -like embodiments of the untamed spirits of nature. - -We had just passed Queen Charlotte Sound, where the swells from -the open sea roll in during rough weather, and many passengers were -appearing at the table with the pale face and defiant look which mark -the unfortunate who has newly committed the crime of seasickness. It -only enhanced the former stiffness, which we of the flannel shirt and -the unblacked boot had striven in vain to break--for these were people -who were gathered from the corners of the earth, and each individual, -or each tiny group, seemed to have some invisible negative attraction -for all the rest, like the little molecules which, scientists imagine, -repel their neighbors to the very verge of explosion. They were all -sight-seers of experience, come, some to do Alaska, some to rest from -mysterious labors, some--but who shall fathom at a glance an apparently -dull lot of apparent snobs? At any rate, one would have thought the -everlasting hills would have shrunk back and the stolid glaciers -blushed with vexation at the patronizing way with which they were -treated in general. It was depressing--even European tourists' wordy -enthusiasm over a mud puddle or a dunghill would have been preferable. - -There are along this route all the benefits of a sea trip--the air, -the rest--with none of its disadvantages. So steep are the shores that -the steamer may often lie alongside of them when she stops and run -her gang-plank out on the rocks. These stops show the traveller the -little human life there is in this vast and desolate country. There are -villages of the native tribes, with dwellings built in imitation of -the common American fashion, in front of which rise great totem poles, -carved and painted, representing grinning and grotesque animal-like, -or human-like, or dragon-like figures, one piled on top of the other -up to the very top of the column. A sort of ancestral tree, these -are said to be,--only to be understood with a knowledge of the sign -symbolism of these people--telling of their tribe and lineage, of their -great-grandfather the bear, and their great-grandmother the wolf or -such strange things. - -[Illustration: AN ALASKAN GENEALOGICAL TREE.] - -The people themselves, with their heavy faces and their imitation of -the European dress--for the tourist and the prospector have brought -prosperity and the thin veneer of civilization to these southernmost -tribes of Alaska--with their flaming neckerchief or head-kerchief of -red and yellow silk that the silk-worm had no part in making, but only -the cunning Yankee weaver, paddle out in boats dug from the great -evergreen trees that cover the hills so thickly, and bring articles -made of sealskin, or skilfully woven baskets made out of the fibres of -spruce roots, to sell to the passengers. Or the steamer may stop at a -little hamlet of white pioneers, where there is fishing for halibut, -with perhaps some mining for gold on a small scale; then the practical -men of the party, who have hitherto been bored, can inquire whether -the industry pays, and contemplate in their suddenly awakened fancies -the possibilities of a halibut syndicate, or another Treadwell gold -mine. So the artist gets his colors and forms, the business man sees -wonderful possibilities in this shockingly unrailroaded wilderness, the -tired may rest body and mind in the perfect peace and freedom from the -human element, old ladies may sleep and young ones may flirt meantimes. - -All this would seem to prove that the passengers were neither -professional nor business men, nor young nor old ladies--part of which -appeared to me manifestly, and the rest probably untrue; or else that -they were all enthusiastic and interested in the dumb British-American -way, which sets down as vulgar any betrayal of one's self to one's -neighbors. - -Some one at the table wearily and warily inquired when we should get to -the Muir glacier, on which point we of the flannel-shirted brotherhood -were informed; and incidentally we remarked that we intended to leave -the festivities before that time, in Juneau. - -"Oh my!" said the sad-faced, middle-aged lady with circles about her -eyes. "Stay in Juneau! How dreadful! Are you going as missionaries, -or," here she wrestled for an idea, "or are you simply going." - -"We are going to the Yukon," we answered, "from Juneau. You may have -heard of the gold fields of the Yukon country." And strange and sweet -to say, at this later day, no one had heard of the gold fields--that -was before they had become the rage and the fashion. - -But the whole table warmed with interest--they were as lively -busybodies as other people and we were the first solution to the -problems which they had been putting to themselves concerning each -other since the beginning of the trip. There was a fire of small -questions. - -"How interesting!" said an elderly young lady, who sat opposite. "I -suppose you will have _all kinds_ of experiences, just _roughing_ it; -and will you take your food with you on--er--wagons--or will you depend -on the farmhouses along the way? Only," she added hastily, detecting a -certain gleam in the eye of her vis-a-vis, "I didn't think there were -many farmhouses." - -"They will ride horses, Jane," said the bluff old gentleman who was -evidently her father, so authoritatively that I dared not dispute -him--"everybody does in that country." Then, as some glanced out at -the precipitous mountain-side and dense timber, he added, "Of course, -not here. In the interior it is flat, like our plains, and one rides -on little horses,--I think they call them kayaks--I have read it," he -said, looking at me fiercely. Then, as we were silent, he continued, -more condescendingly, "I have roughed it myself, when I was young. We -used to go hunting every fall in Pennsylvania, when I was a boy, and -once two of us went off together and were gone a week, just riding -over the roughest country roads and into the mountains on horseback. If -our coffee had not run out we would have stayed longer." - -"But isn't it dreadfully cold up there?" said the sweet brown-eyed -girl, with a look in her eyes that wakened in our hearts the first -momentary rebellion against our exile. "And the wild animals! You will -suffer so." - -"I used to know an explorer," said the business man with the green -necktie, who had been dragged to the shrine of Nature by his wife. He -had brought along an entire copy of the New York _Screamer_, and buried -himself all day long in its parti-colored mysteries. "He told me many -things that might be useful to you, if I could remember them. About -spearing whales--for food, you know--you will have to do a lot of that. -I wish I could have you meet him sometime; he could tell you much more -than I can. Somebody said there was gold up there. Was it you? Well -don't get frozen up and drift across the Pole, like Nansen, just to get -where the gold is. But I suppose the nuggets----" - -"Let's go on deck, Jane," said the old gentleman;--then to us, -politely but firmly, "I have been much interested in your account, and -shall be glad to hear more later." We had not said anything yet. - -We disembarked at Juneau. We had watched the shore for nearly the -whole trip without perceiving a rift in the mountains through which -it looked feasible to pass, and at Juneau the outlook or uplook was -no better. Those who have been to Juneau (and they are now many) know -how slight and almost insecure is its foothold; how it is situated on -an irregular hilly area which looks like a great landslide from the -mountains towering above, whose sides are so sheer that the wagon road -which winds up the gulch into Silver Bow basin is for some distance in -the nature of a bridge, resting on wooden supports and hugging close to -the steep rock wall. The excursionists tarried a little here, buying -furs at extortionate prices from the natives, fancy baskets, and little -ornaments which are said to be made in Connecticut. - -In the hotel the proprietor arrived at our business in the shortest -possible time, by the method of direct questioning. He was from -Colorado, I judged--all the men I have known that look like him -come from Colorado. There was also a heavily bearded man dressed in -ill-fitting store-clothes, and with a necktie which had the strangest -air of being ill at ease, who was lounging near by, smoking and -spitting on the floor contemplatively. - -"Here, Pete," said the proprietor, "I want you to meet these -gentlemen." He pronounced the last word with such a peculiar intonation -that one felt sure he used it as synonymous with "tenderfeet" or -"paperlegs" or other terms by which Alaskans designate greenhorns. - -I had rather had him call me "this feller." "He says he's goin' over -the Pass, an' maybe you can help each other." Pete smiled genially and -crushed my hand, looking me full in the eye the while, doubtless to see -how I stood the ordeal. "Pete's an old timer," continued the hotel-man, -"one of the Yukon pioneers. Been over that Pass--how many times, Pete, -three times, ain't it?" - -"Dis makes dirt time," answered Pete, with a most unique dialect, which -nevertheless was Scandinavian. "Virst time, me an' Frank Densmore, -Whisky Bill an' de odder boys. Dat was summer som we washed on Stewart -River, on'y us--fetched out britty peek sack dat year--eh?" He had a -curious way of retaining the Scandinavian relative pronoun _som_ in his -English, instead of _who_ or _that_. - -"You bet, Pete," answered the other, "you painted the town; done your -duty by us." - -"Ja," said Pete, "blewed it in; mostly in 'Frisco. Was king dat winter -till dust was all been spent. Saw tings dat was goot; saw udder tings -was too bad, efen for Alaskan miner. One time enough. I tink dese -cities kind of bad fer people. So I get out. Sez I,--'I jes' got -time to get to Lake Bennett by time ice breaks,' so I light out." He -smiled happily as he said this, as a man might talk of going home, -then continued, "Den secon' dime I get a glaim Forty Mile, Miller -Greek,--dat's really Sixty Mile, but feller gits dere f'm Forty Mile. -Had a pardner, but he went down to Birch Greek, den I work my glaim -alone." - -He put his hand down in his trousers pocket and brought up a large flat -angular piece of gold, two inches long; it had particles of quartz -scattered through, and was in places rusty with iron, but was mostly -smooth and showed the wearing it must have had in his pocket. He shoved -the yellow lump into my hand. "Dat nugget was de biggest in my glaim -dat I found; anoder feller he washed over tailin's f'm my glaim efter, -an' he got bigger nuggets, he says, but I tinks he's dam liar. Anyhow, -I get little sack an' I went down 'Frisco, an' I blewed it in again. -Now I go back once more." - -We talked awhile and finally agreed to make the trip to Forty Mile -together, since we were all bound to this place, and Pete, unlike most -miners and prospectors, had no "pardner." We were soon engaged in -making the rounds of the shops, laying in our supplies--beans, bacon, -dried fruit, flour, sugar, cheese, and, most precious of all, a bucket -of strawberry jam. We made up our minds to revel in jam just as long -as we were able, even if we ended up on plain flour three times a day. -For a drink we took tea, which is almost universally used in Alaska, -instead of coffee, since a certain weight of it will last as long as -many times the same weight of coffee: moreover, there is some quality -in this beverage which makes it particularly adapted to the vigorous -climate and conditions of this northern country. Men who have never -used tea acquire a fondness for it in Alaska, and will drink vast -quantities, especially in the winter. The Russians, themselves the -greatest tea-drinkers of all European nations, long ago introduced -"Tschai" to the Alaskan natives; and throughout the country they will -beg for it from every white man they meet, or will travel hundreds of -miles and barter their furs to obtain it. - -[Illustration: BACON, LORD OF ALASKA.] - -Concerning the amount of supplies it is necessary to take on a trip -like ours, it may be remarked that three pounds of solid food to each -man per day, is liberal. As to the proportion, no constant estimate can -be made, men's appetites varying with the nature of the articles in the -rations and their temporary tastes. On this occasion Pete picked out -the supplies, laying in what he judged to be enough of each article: -but it appeared afterwards that a man may be an experienced pioneer, -and yet never have solved the problem of reasonably accurate rations, -for some articles were soon exhausted on our trip, while others lasted -throughout the summer, after which we were obliged to bequeath the -remainder to the natives. Camp kettles, and frying-pans, of course, -were in the outfit, as well as axes, boat-building tools, whip-saw, -draw-shave, chisels, hammers, nails, screws, oakum and pitch. It was -our plan to build a boat on the lakes which are the source of the -Yukon, felling the spruce trees, and then with a whip-saw slicing off -boards, which when put together would carry us down the river to the -gold diggings. - -For our personal use we had a single small tent, A-shaped, but with -half of one of the large slanting sides cut out, so that it could be -elevated like a curtain, and, being secured at the corners by poles or -tied by ropes to trees, made an additional shelter, while it opened -up the interior of the tent to the fresh air or the warmth of the -camp-fire outside. Blankets for sleeping, and rubber blankets to lay -next to the ground to keep out the wet; the best mosquito-netting or -"bobinet" of hexagonal mesh, and stout gauntleted cavalry gloves, as -protection against the mosquitoes. For personal attire, anything. Dress -on the frontier, above all in Alaska, is always varied, picturesque, -and unconventional. Flannel or woollen shirts, of course, are -universal; and for foot gear the heavy laced boot is the best. - -As usual, we were led by the prospective terrors of cold water in the -lakes and streams to invest in rubber boots reaching to the hip, which, -however, did not prove of such use as anticipated. We had brought with -us canvas bags designed for packing, or carrying loads on the back, -of a model long used in the Lake Superior woods. They were provided -with suitable straps for the shoulders, and a broad one for the top of -the head, so that the toiler, bending over, might support a large part -of the load by the aid of his rigid neck. These we utilized also as -receptacles for our clothes and other personal articles. - -Other men were in Juneau also, bound for the Yukon,--not like the -hordes that the Klondike brought up later from the States, many of -whom turned back before even crossing the passes, but small parties -of determined men. We ran upon them here and there. In the hotel we -sat down at the table with a self-contained man with a suggestion of -recklessness or carelessness in his face, and soon found that he was -bound over the same route as ourselves, on a newspaper mission. Danlon, -as we may call him, had brought his manservant with him, like the -Englishman he was. He was a great traveller, and full of interesting -anecdotes of Afghanistan, or Borneo, or some other of the earth's -corners. He had engaged to go with him a friend of Pete's, another -pioneer, Cooper by name, short, blonde and powerfully built. Between -us, we arranged for a tug to take us the hundred miles of water which -still lay between us and Dyea, where the land journey begins; after -which transaction, we sat down to eat our last dinner in civilization. -How tearfully, almost, we remarked that this was the last plum-pudding -we should have for many a moon! - -We sailed, or rather steamed away, from Juneau in the evening. Our -tug had been designed for freight, and had not been altered in the -slightest degree for the accommodation of passengers. Her floor space, -too, was limited, so that while ten or twelve men might have made -themselves very comfortable, the fifty or sixty who finally appeared -on board found hard work to dispose of themselves in any fashion. She -had been originally engaged for our two parties, but new passengers -continually applied, who, from the nature of things, could hardly be -refused. So the motley crowd of strangers huddled together, the engines -began clanking, and the lights of Juneau soon dropped out of sight, as -we steamed up Lynn Canal under the shadow of the giant mountains. - -Our fellow-passengers were mostly prospectors; nearly all newcomers, -as we could see by the light of the lantern which hung up in the bare -apartment where we were. They had their luggage and outfit with them, -which they piled up and sat or slept on, to make sure they would not -lose it. There were men with grey beards and strapping boys with down -on their chins; white handed men and those whose huge horny palms -showed a life of toil; all strange, uneasy, and quiet at first, but -soon they began to talk confidentially, as men will whom chance throws -together in strange places. - -There was a Catholic priest bound to his mission among the Eskimos -on the lower Yukon,--calm, patient, sweet-tempered, and cheerful of -speech; and near him was a noted Alaskan pioneer and trader, bound -on some wild trip or other alone. There was another Alaskan--one of -those who settle down and take native women as mates and are therefore -somewhat scornfully called "squaw-men"; he had been to Juneau as -the countryman visits the metropolis, and had brought back with him -abundant evidence of the worthlessness of the no-liquor laws of Alaska, -in the shape of a lordly drunk, and the material for many more, in a -large demijohn, which he guarded carefully. The conversation among this -crowd was of the directest sort, as it is always on the frontier. - -"Where are _you_ goin', pardner? Prospectin', I reckon?" - -Then inquiries as to what each could tell the other concerning the -conditions of the land we were to explore, mostly unknown to all: and -straightway Pete and Cooper were constituted authorities, by virtue of -their previous experience, and were listened to with great deference -by the rest. The night was not calm, and the little craft swashed -monotonously into the waves. One by one the travellers lay down on the -bare dusty floor and slept; and so limited was the room that the last -found it difficult to find a place. - -Glancing around to find a vacant nook I was struck with the -picturesqueness of the scene. Under the lantern the last talkers--the -Catholic priest in a red sweater, smoking a bent pipe, the professional -traveller and book-maker, and another Englishman with smooth face -and oily manners,--were discussing matters with as much reserve and -decorum as they would in a drawing-room. Around them lay stretched -out, over the floor, under the table, and even on it, motley-clad men, -breathing heavily or staring with wide fixed eyes overhead. The pioneer -had gone to sleep lying on his back and was snoring at intervals, but -by a physical feat hard to understand, retained his quid of tobacco, -which he chewed languidly through it all. The only space I could find -was in a narrow passageway leading to the pilot-house. Here I coiled -myself, hugging closely to the wall, but it was dark and throughout the -night I was awakened by heavy boots accidentally placed on my body or -head; yet I was too sleepy to hear the apologies and straightway slept -again. - -It was natural, under the circumstances, that all should be early -risers, and we were ravenously hungry for the breakfast which was -tardily prepared. The only table was covered with oilcloth, and was -calculated for four, but about eight managed to crowd around it: yet -with all possible haste the last had breakfast about noon. We sat down -where a momentary opening was offered at the third or fourth sitting. -A moment later a couple of prospectors appeared who apparently had -counted on places, and the hungry stomach of one of them prompted some -very audible mutterings to the effect that all men were born free and -equal, and he was as good as any one. The priest immediately got up, -and with sincere kindness offered his seat, which so overcame the man -with shame that he politely refused and retired; but the rest of us -insisted on crowding together and making room for him. And for the -remainder of the trip a more punctiliously polite individual than this -same prospector could not be found. - -After each round of eaters, the tin plates and cups and the dingy -black knives and forks were seized by a busy dishwasher, who performed -a rapid hocus-pocus over them, in which a tiny dishpan filled with -hot water that came finally to have the appearance and consistency of -a hodge-podge, played an important part; then they were skillfully -shyed on to the table again. I looked at my plate. Swimming in the -shallow film of dish-water, were flakes of beans, shreds of corned-beef -and streaks of apple-sauce, which took me back in fancy to all -the different tables that had eaten before: the boat was swaying -heavily and I gulped down my stomach before I passed the plate to the -dishwasher and suggested wiping. He was a very young man, remarkably -dashing, like the hero of a dime novel. He was especially proficient in -profanity and kept up a running fire of insults on the cook. He took -the plate and eyed me scornfully, witheringly. - -"Seems to me some tenderfeet is mighty pertickler," said he, with a -very evident personal application, then swabbed out the plate with a -towel, the sight of which made me turn and stare at the spruce-clad -mountain-sides, in a desperate effort to elevate my mind and my stomach -above trifles. - -"This is no place for a white man," said a prospector who had -been staring out of the door all day. "Good enough for bears -and--and--Siwash, maybe." Most, I think shared more or less openly his -depression, for the shores of Lynn Canal are no more attractive to the -adventurer than the rest of the bleak Alaskan mountain coast. - -[Illustration: LYNN CANAL.] - -It was a chilly, drizzling day. The clouds ordinarily hid the tops -of the great steep mountains, so that these looked as if they might -be walls that reached clear up to the heavens, or, when they broke -away, exposed lofty snowy peaks, magnificent and gigantic in the mist. -We caught glimpses of wrinkled glaciers, crawling down the valleys -like huge jointed living things, in whose fronts the pure blue ice -showed faintly and coldly. Here and there waterfalls appeared, leaping -hundreds of feet from crag to crag, and all along was the rugged brown -shore, with the surf lashing the cliffs, and no place where even a boat -might land. All men, whether they clearly perceive it or not, find in -the phenomena of Nature some figurative meanings, and are depressed or -elevated by them. - -We anchored in the lee of a bare rounded mountain that night, it being -too rough to attempt landing, and the next morning were off Dyea, -where we were to go ashore. The surf was still heavy, but the captain -ventured out in a small boat to get the scow in which passengers and -goods were generally conveyed to the shore; for the water was shallow, -and the steamer had to keep a mile or so from the land. In the surf -the boat capsized, and we could see the captain bobbing up and down -in the breakers, now on top, now under his boat, in the icy water. -The dishwasher, who evidently knew the course of action in all such -emergencies from dime-novel precedents, yelled out "Man the lifeboat!" -The captain had taken the only boat there was. The entire crew, it may -be mentioned, consisted, besides the dishwasher and the captain, of the -sailor, who was also the cook. The duty of manning the lifeboat--had -there been one--would thus apparently have devolved on the sailor, -but he grew pale and swore that he did not know how to row and that -he had just come from driving a milk-wagon in San Francisco. A party -of prospectors became engaged in a heated discussion as to whether, -if there had been a boat on board, it would not have been foolish to -venture out in it, even for the sake of trying to rescue the captain; -some urging the claims of heroism, and others loudly proclaiming that -they would not risk _their_ lives in any such d----d foolish way as -that. - -However, all this was only the froth and excitement of the moment. The -captain hauled his boat out of the breakers, skillfully launched it -again, and came on board, shivering but calm, a strapping, reckless -Cape Breton Scotch-Canadian. In due course of time afterwards the scow -was also got out, and we transferred our outfits to it and sat on top -of them, while we were slowly propelled ashore by long oars. - - - - -CHAPTER II. -OVER THE CHILKOOT PASS. - - -At this time there was only one building at Dyea--a log house used as -a store for trading with the natives, and known by the name of Healy's -Post. (Two years afterwards, on returning to the place, I found a -mushroom, sawed-board town of several thousand people; but that was -after the Klondike boom.) We pitched our tents near the shore that -night, spreading our blankets on the ground. - -In the morning all were bustling around, following out their separate -plans for getting over the Pass as soon as possible. Of the different -notches in the mountain wall by which one may cross the coast range and -arrive at the head waters of the Yukon, the Chilkoot, which is reached -from Dyea, was at that time the only one practicable. It was known -that Jack Dalton, a pioneer trader of the country, was wont to go over -the Chilkat Pass, a little further south, while Schwatka, Hayes, and -Russell, in an expedition of which few people ever heard, had crossed -by the way of the Taku River and the Taku Pass to the Hootalinqua or -Teslin River, which is one of the important streams that unite to make -up the upper Yukon. But the White Pass, which afterwards became the -most popular, and which lies just east of the Chilkoot, was at that -time entirely unused, being a rough long trail that required clearing -to make it serviceable. - -The Chilkoot, though the highest and steepest of the passes, was yet -the shortest and the most free from obstructions; it had been, before -the advent of the white adventurer in Alaska, the avenue of travel -for the handful of half-starved interior natives who were wont to -come down occasionally to the coast, for the purpose of trading. The -coast Indians are, as they always have been, a more numerous, more -prosperous, stronger and more quarrelsome class, for the sea yielded -them, directly and indirectly, a varied and bountiful subsistence. The -particular tribe who occupied the Dyea region,--the Chilkoots--were -accustomed to stand guard over the Pass and to exact tribute from -all the interior natives who came in; and when the first white men -appeared, the natives tried in the same way to hinder them from -crossing and so destroying their monopoly of petty traffic. For a -short time this really prevented individuals and small parties from -exploring, but in 1878 a party of nineteen prospectors, under the -leadership of Edmund Bean, was organized, and to overcome the hostility -of the Chilkoots, a sort of military "demonstration" was arranged by -the officers in charge at Sitka. The little gunboat stationed there -proceeded to Dyea, and, anchoring, fired a few blank shots from her -heaviest (or loudest) guns; afterwards the officer in charge went -on shore, and made a sort of unwritten treaty or agreement with the -thoroughly frightened natives, by which the prospectors, and all others -who came after, were allowed to proceed unmolested. - -The fame of that "war-canoe" spread from Indian to Indian throughout -the length and breadth of the vast territory of Alaska. One can -hear it from the natives in many places a thousand miles from where -the incident occurred, and each time the story is so changed and -disguised, that it might be taken for a myth by an enthusiastic -mythologist, and carefully preserved, with all its vagaries, and very -likely proved to be an allegory of the seasons, or the travels of the -sun, moon, and stars. In proportion as the story reached more and -more remote regions, the statements of the proportions of the canoe -became more and more exaggerated, and the thunder of the guns more -terrible, and the number of warriors on board increased faster than -Jacob's flock. The gunboat was the butt for many good-natured jokes -from navy officers, on account of her small dimensions and frail -construction. Yet the natives a little way into the interior will tell -you of the wonderful snow-white war-canoe, half a mile long, armed -with guns a hundred yards or so in length; and by the time one gets -in the neighborhood of the Arctic Circle, he will hear of the "great -ship" (the native will perhaps point to some mountain eight or ten -miles away) "as long as from here to the mountain"; how she vomited out -smoke, fire and ashes like a volcano, and at the same time exploded her -guns and killed many people, and how she ran forwards and backwards, -with the wind or against it, at a terrific speed,--a formidable -monster, truly! - -At the time of our trip (in 1896) the immigration into the Yukon gold -country had gone on, in a small way, for some years; several mining -districts were well developed, and the natives had settled down into -the habit of helping the white man, for a substantial remuneration. -These natives were all camped or housed close to the shore. They were -odd and interesting at first sight. The men were of fair size, strong, -stolid, and sullen-looking; clothed in cheap civilized garb in this -summer season,--it was in the early part of June--in overalls and -jumpers, with now and then a woollen Guernsey jacket, and with straw -hats on their heads. The women were neither beautiful nor attractive. -Many of them had covered their faces with a mixture of soot and grease, -which stuck well. Other women had their chins tattooed in stripes with -the indelible ink of the cuttlefish--sometimes one, sometimes three, -sometimes five or six stripes. This custom I found afterwards among -the women of many tribes and peoples in different parts of Alaska, -and it seems, in some regions at least, to be a mark of aristocracy, -indicating the wealth of the parents at the time the girl-child was -born. All the natives were living in tents or rude wooden huts, in the -most primitive fashion, cooking by a smouldering fire outside, and -sleeping packed close together, wrapped in skins and dirty blankets. - -[Illustration: ALASKAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN.] - -It had been the custom of the miners to engage these natives to -carry their outfits for them, from Dyea, and some of the men who had -come with us, immediately hired packers for the whole trip to Lake -Lindeman, paying them, I think, eleven cents a pound for everything -carried. The storekeeper, however, had been constructing a foot trail -for about half the distance and had bought a few pack-horses, and we -engaged these to transport our outfit as far as possible, trusting to -Indians for the rest. We had brought with us from Juneau, on a last -sudden idea, a lot of lumber with which to build our boat when we -should get to Lake Lindeman, and here the transportation of this lumber -became a great problem. To pack it on the horses was an impossibility, -and the Indians refused absolutely to take the boards unless they were -cut in two, which would destroy much of their value, and even if this -were done, demanded an enormous price for the carrying; therefore it -was concluded to leave them behind, and trust to good luck in the -future. - -In one way or another, everybody was furnished with some kind of -transportation, and the whole visible population of Dyea, permanent or -transient, began moving up the valley. Some of the natives put their -loads in wooden dugout canoes, which they paddled, or pushed with -poles, six or seven miles up the small stream which goes by the name -of the Dyea River; others took their packs on their backs, and led -the way along the trail. Not stronger, perhaps, than white men, the -Chilkoots showed themselves remarkably patient and enduring, carrying -heavy loads rapidly long distances without resting. Not only the men, -but the women and children, made pack-animals of themselves. I remember -a slight boy of thirteen or so, who could not have weighed over eighty -pounds, carrying a load of one hundred. The dog belonging to the same -family, a medium-sized animal, waddled along with a load of about forty -pounds; he seemed to be imbued with the same spirit as the rest, and -although the load nearly dragged him to the ground, he was patient and -persevering. - -The trail was a tiresome one, being mostly through loose sand and -gravel alongside the stream: several times we had to wade across. -As we went up, the valley became narrower, and we had views of the -glacier above us, which reached long slender fingers down the little -valleys from the great ice-mass on the mountain. It was evident that -the glacier had once filled the entire valley. As soon as we were up -a little we were obliged to clamber over the piled-up boulders in the -strips of moraine which the ice had left; in places the rows were so -regular that they had the appearance of stone walls. - -We were seized with fatigue and a terrible hunger. "You haven't a -sandwich about your clothes, have you?" I asked of some prospectors -whom I overtook resting in the lee of a cliff. Here the stream becomes -so rough and rapid that the natives can work their canoes no further, -and so the place has been somewhat pompously named on some maps the -"Head of Navigation," by which most people infer that a gunboat may -steam up this far. - -"No, by ----, pardner," was the answer, "if we had, we'd a' eaten it -ourselves before now." - -Crossing the stream for the last time, on the trunk of a fallen tree, -which swayed alarmingly, the trail led up steeply among the bare -rocks of the hillside. All the pedestrian groups had separated into -singles by this time, every one going his "ain gait" according to his -own ideas and strength, and in no mood for conversation. I overtook a -young Irishman, who had started out with a pack of about seventy-five -pounds; he was resting, and quite downcast with fatigue and hunger. - -Just where we stopped some one had left a load of canned corn and -tomatoes. We eyed them hungrily, and gravely discussed our rights -to helping ourselves. We did not know the owners and could not find -them--certainly they were none of those that had come with us. We could -not take them and leave money, for although the natives respected -"caches" of provisions, we could not expect them to do the same with -money. "Again," said the Irishman, "the feller what lift them here may -be dipinding on every blissed can of swate corn for some little schayme -of his, while we have plenty grub of our own, if we can on'y get our -flippers on it." - -At this period, all through Alaska, provisions and other property was -regarded with utmost respect. Old miners and prospectors have told me -that they have left provisions exposed in a "cache" for a year, and on -returning after having been hundreds of miles away, have found them -untouched, although nearly starving natives had passed them almost -daily all winter. In the mining camps the same custom prevailed. Locks -were unknown on the doors. When a white man arrived at the hut of an -absent prospector, he helped himself, taking enough provisions from the -"cache" to keep him out of want, till he could make the next stage of -his journey, and wrote on paper or on the wooden door, "I have taken -twenty pounds of flour, ten pounds of bacon, five pounds of beans, and -a little tea," signed his name, and departed. It was not a bill, but -an acknowledgment; and to have left without making the acknowledgment -constituted a theft, in the eyes of the miner population. This -condition of primitive honesty did not last, however. Later, with the -Klondike boom, came the ordinary light-fingeredness of civilization, -and a state of affairs unique and instructive passed away. - -We arrived finally at the end of the horse-trail, a spot named Sheep -Camp by an early party of prospectors who killed some mountain sheep -here. Steep, rocky and snowy mountains overhang the valley, with a vast -glacier not far up; and here, since our visit, have occurred a number -of fatal disasters, from snowslides and landslides. Pete had arrived -before us: he had set up a Yukon camp stove of sheet iron, had kindled -fire therein and was engaged in the preparation of slapjacks and fried -bacon, a sight that affected us so that we had to go and sit back to, -and out of reach of the smell, till Pete yelled out in vile Chinook -"Muk-a-muk altay! Bean on the table!" There were no beans and no table, -of course, but that was Pete's facetious way of putting it. - -Further than Sheep Camp the horse-trail was quite too rocky and steep -for the animals; so we tried to engage Indians to take our freight for -the remaining part of the distance across the Pass. Up to the time of -our arrival, the regular price for packing from Dyea to Lake Lindeman -had been eleven cents a pound. For the transportation by horses over -the first half of the distance--thirteen miles--we had paid five cents -a pound, and we had expected to pay the Indians six cents for the -remainder of the trip. In the first place, however, it was difficult to -gather the Indians together, for they were off in bands in different -parts of the neighboring country, on expeditions of their own; and when -they arrived in Sheep Camp, with a bluster and a racket, they were so -set up by the number of men that were waiting for their help that they -took it into their heads to be in no hurry about working. Finally they -sent a spokesman who, with an insolence rather natural than assumed for -the occasion, demanded nine cents per pound instead of six, for packing -to Lake Lindeman. It was a genuine strike--the revolt of organized -labor against helpless capital. - -Being in a hurry to get ahead and fulfill our mission, we should -doubtless have yielded; but there were many parties camped here -besides ourselves--namely, all those who had been our fellow-sufferers -on board the Scrambler--and a general consultation being held among -the gold-hunters, it was decided that the proposed increase of -pay for labor would prove ruinous to their business. A committee -representing these gentlemen waited on us and begged us not to -yield to the strikers, in the carelessness of our hearts and our -plethoric pocket-books, but to consider that in doing so they--the -prospectors--must follow suit, the precedent being once established; -whereas they were poor men, and could not afford the extra price. To -this view of the case we agreed, considering ourselves as a part of -the Sheep Camp community, rather than as an individual party; and the -English traveller (who was likewise suspected of being overburdened -with funds, and therefore likely to be careless with them) was also -waited upon and persuaded to resist the demands. So everybody camped -and waited, and was obstinate, for several days: not only the white -men, but the Siwash. - -By way of digression it may be mentioned that the word Siwash is -indiscriminately applied by the white men to all the Alaskan natives, -to whatever race--and there are many--they belong. The word therefore -has no definite meaning, but corresponds roughly to the popular name -of "nigger" for all very dark-skinned races, or "Dago" for Spaniards, -Portuguese, Italians, Greeks, Turks, Armenians, and a host of other -black-haired, olive-skinned nations. The name has been said to be a -corruption of the French word "sauvage,"--savage,--and this seems very -likely. - -Like the corresponding epithets cited, the word Siwash has a certain -familiar, facetious, and contemptuous value, and this may have been -the idea which prompted its use just now, when speaking of the natives -as strikers and opponents. At any rate, they took the situation in a -careless, matter-of-fact way; cooked, ate, slept, borrowed our kettles, -begged our tea and stole our sugar with utmost cheerfulness, and -were apparently contented and happy. We white men likewise tried to -conceal our restlessness, and chatted in each others' tents, admired -the scenery, or went rambling up the steep mountain-sides in search -of experiences, exercise, and rocks. Some of us clambered over the -huge boulders, each as big as a New England cottage, which had been -brought here by glacial action, then up over the steep cliffs, wrenched -and crumbling from the crushing of the same mighty force, supporting -ourselves,--when the rocks gave way beneath our feet and went rattling -down the cliff,--by the tough saplings that had taken root in the -crevices, and grew out horizontally, or even inclined downwards, bent -by continuous snowslides. So we reached the base of the glacier, where -a sheer wall of clear blue ice rose to a height which we estimated -at three or four hundred feet, back of which stretched a great uneven -white ice field, as far as the eye could see, clear up till the view -was lost in the mists of the upper mountains; an ice field seamed with -great yawning crevasses, where the blue of the ice gleamed as streaks -on the dead white. - -One morning we heard a yell from the Siwash, and soon they came -running over the little knoll which separated our camp from theirs, -and began grabbing the articles that belonged to some of the miners. -We were at a loss to know the meaning of what seemed at first to be -a very unceremonious proceeding, but when we saw the miners, with -many shamefaced glances at us, help the natives in the distribution -of the material, we realized that these men had forsaken us and their -resolutions; so greedy were they to reach the land of gold that -they had gone to the natives and agreed to pay them the demanded -rates on condition that they should have all the packers themselves, -leaving none to us. We let these men and their natives go in peace, -without even a reproach: less than a week afterwards we had the deep -satisfaction of passing them on the trail, and even in lending them -a hand in a series of little difficulties for which, in their haste, -they had come unprepared. The veteran miner in Alaska is a splendid, -open-hearted, generous fellow; the newcomer, or "chicharko," is a thing -to be avoided. - -After this we had to wait till the natives had got back from carrying -the miners' supplies, and then we agreed, with what grace we could, -to pay the price that the others had. The Indians were quite a horde, -capable of carrying in one trip all the supplies belonging to our -party and that of the English traveller. Since they were paid by the -pound they vied in taking enormous loads; the largest carried was 161 -pounds, but all the men's packs ranged from 125 to 150 pounds. Women -and half-grown boys carried packs of 100 pounds. It was a "Stick" or -interior Indian, named at the mission _Tom_, but originally possessed -of a fearful and unpronounceable name, who carried the largest load. -He was barely tolerated and was somewhat badgered by the Chilkoots, -hence he fled much to the society of the whites, and would squat near -for hours, always smiling horribly when looked at; he claimed to be a -chief among his own wretched people, and spent all his spare time in -blackening his face, reserving rings around the eyes which he smeared -with red ochre--having done which, he grinned ghastly approval of -himself! - -Pete started over the Pass in advance of the party, to procure for us -if possible a boat at Lake Lindeman. - -"Dis is dirt time I gross Pass," said Pete. "Virst dime I dake leedle -pack--den I vos blayed out; nex' dime I dake leedle roll of clo'es--den -I vos blayed out too, py chimney: dis dime I dake notting--den I vill -be blayed out too!" - -The natives, after much shouting and confusion and wrangling, made up -their packs about noon, and started out, we following; just before -getting to snow-line they stopped in a place where a chaotic mass of -boulders form a trifling shelter, grateful to wild beasts or wild men -like these. Here they deposited their loads, and with exasperating -indifference composed themselves to sleep. We tried to persuade them to -go on, but to no avail, and we discovered afterwards, as often happened -to us in our dealing with the natives, that they were right. It was -June, and yet the snow lay deep on all the upper parts of the Pass; -and in the long, warm days it became soft and mushy, making travel -very difficult, especially with heavy packs. As soon as the sun went -down behind the hills, however, the air became cool, and a hard crust -formed, so that walking was much better. - -We left the natives and followed a trail which led among the boulders -and then higher up the mountain, where many moccasined feet had left a -deep path through the icy snow. We tramped onward, sometimes on hard -ice, sometimes through soft snow, strung out in Indian file, saying -nothing, saving our breath for our lungs; at times the crust rang -hollow to our tread, and beneath us we could hear torrents raging. It -was about eight o'clock at night when we started, and the sun in the -narrow valley had already gone down behind the high glaciers on the -mountain-tops, even at this latitude and in the month of June; so the -long northern twilight which is Alaska's substitute for night in the -summer months soon began to settle down upon us. At the same time the -moisture from the snow which all day long had been lying in the sun, -began cooling into mists, changeful and of different thicknesses; and -in the dim light gave to everything a weird and unnatural aspect. - -Even our fellow-travellers were distorted and magnified, now -lengthwise, now sidewise, so that those above us were powerful-limbed -giants, striding up the hill, while those behind us were flattened and -broadened, and seemed straddling along as grotesquely as spiders. When -we drew near and looked at each other we were inclined to laugh, but -there was something in the pale-blue, ghastly color of the faces that -made us stop, half-frightened. At twelve o'clock it was so dark that -we could hardly follow the trail; then we saw a fire gleaming like a -will-o'-the-wisp somewhere above us, and clambering up the steep rock -which stuck out of the snow and overhung the trail, we saw a couple -of figures crouching over a tiny blaze of twigs and smoking roots. -It was a native and his "klutchman" or squaw; he turned out to be -deaf-and-dumb, but made signs to us,--as we squatted ourselves around -the fire,--that the night was dark, the trail dangerous, and that it -would be better to wait till it grew a little lighter. So we kept -ourselves warm for a half-hour or more by our exertions in tearing up -roots for a fire: the fire itself being nothing more than a smoky, -flary pile of wet fagots, hardly enough to warm our numbed fingers by. -Then a dim figure came toiling up to us. It was one of our packers, -and he explained in broken, profane, and obscene English, of which -he was very proud, (the foundation of his knowledge had been laid in -the mission, and the trimmings, which were profuse and with the same -idea many times repeated, like an art pattern, had been picked up from -straggling whites) that the trail was good now. So we very gladly took -up our march again. - -Two of us soon got ahead of the guide and all the rest of our party, -following the beaten track in the snow; after a while the ascent became -very steep, as the last sheer declivity of the Pass was reached, and -we began to suspect that we had strayed from the right path, for -although here was a track, we could find no footprints on it, but only -grooves as if from things which had slid down. Yet we decided not to -go back, for we did not know how far we had strayed from the path, -and the climbing was not so easy that we were anxious to do it twice. -So we kept on upward, and the ascent soon became so steep that we were -obliged to stop and kick footholds in the crust at every step. - -It was twilight again, but still foggy, and we could see neither up nor -down, only what appeared to be a vast chasm beneath us, wherein great -indistinct shapes were slowly shifting--an impression infinitely more -grand and appalling than the reality. At any rate, it made us very -careful in every step, for we had no mind that a misplaced foot should -send us sliding down the grooves we were following. At last we gained -the top, found here again the trail we had lost, and waited for the -rest. Around us, sticking out of the snow, were rocks, which appeared -distorted and moving. It was the mists which moved past them, giving a -deceptive effect. My companion suddenly exclaimed, "There's a bear!" -On looking, my imagination gave the shape the same semblance, but on -going towards it, it resolved itself very reluctantly into a rock, as -if ashamed of its failure to "bluff." Most grown-up people, as well -as children, I fancy, are more or less afraid of the dark--where the -uncertain evidence of the eyes can be shaped by the imagination into -unnatural things. Goethe must once have felt something like what Faust -expressed when he stood at night in one of the rugged Hartz districts: - - "Seh' die Baueme hinter Baueme, - Wie sie schnell vorueber ruecken, - Und die Klippen, die sich buecken, - Und die langen Felsennasen, - Wie sie schnarchen, wie sie blasen." - -Presently the rest of the party came up from quite a different -direction and with them a whole troop of packers. The main trail, from -which we had strayed, was much longer, but not so steep; while the one -we had followed was simply the mark of the articles which the packers -were accustomed to send down from the summit to save carrying, while -they themselves took the more circuitous route. - -On the interior side of the summit is a small lake with steep sides, -which the miners have named Crater Lake, fancying from the shape that -it had been formed by volcanic action; it has no such origin however, -but occupies what is known as a glacial cirque or amphitheatre--a deep -hollow carved out of the dioritic mountain mass by the powerful wearing -action of a valley glacier. This lake was still frozen and we crossed -on the ice, then followed down the valley of the stream which flowed -from it and led into another small lake. There are several of these -small bodies of water and connecting streams before one reaches Lake -Lindeman, which is several miles long, and is the uppermost water of -the Yukon which is navigable for boats. Our path was devious, following -the packers, but always along this valley. We crossed and recrossed the -streams over frail and reverberant arches, half ice, half snow, which, -already broken away in places, showed foaming torrents beneath. As we -descended in elevation, the ice on the little lakes became more and -more rotten and the snow changed to slush, through which we waded knee -deep for miles, sometimes putting a foot through the ice into the water -beneath. - -We were all very tired by this time and were separated from one -another by long distances, each silent, and travelling on his nerve. -The Indian packers, too, in spite of their long experience, were -tired and out of temper; but the most pitiful sight of all was to see -the women, especially the old ones, bending under crushing loads, -dragging themselves by sheer effort at every step, groaning and -stopping occasionally, but again driven forward by the men to whom they -belonged. One could not interfere; it was a family matter; and as among -white people, the woman would have resented the interference as much as -the man. - -Finally we came to a lake where the water was almost entirely open -and were obliged to skirt along its rocky shores to where we found a -brawling and rocky stream entering it, cutting us off. After a moment -of vain glancing up and down in search of a ford, we took to the -water bravely, floundering among the boulders on the stream's bottom, -and supporting ourselves somewhat with sticks. Afterwards we found -a trail which led away from the lake high over the rocky hillside, -where the rocks had been smoothed and laid bare by ancient glaciers, -now vanished. Here we found the remnants of a camp, left by some one -who had recently gone before us; we inspected the corned beef cans -lying about rather hungrily, thinking that something might have been -left over. Our only lunch since leaving Sheep Camp had been a small -piece of chocolate and a biscuit. The biscuit possessed certain almost -miraculous qualities, to which I ascribe our success in completing the -trip and in arriving first among the travellers at Lake Lindeman. I -myself was the concocter of this biscuit, but it was done in a moment -of inspiration, and since I have forgotten certain mystic details, it -probably could never be gotten together again. It was the first and -last time that I have made biscuit in my life, and I did it simply for -the purpose of instruction to the others, who were shockingly ignorant -of such practical matters. - -We had brought a reflector with us for baking,--a metal arrangement -which is set up in front of a camp-fire, and, from polished metallic -surfaces, reflects the heat up and down, on to a pan of biscuit or -bread, which is slid into the middle. These utensils as used in the -Lake Superior region, that home of good wood-craft, are made of -sheet iron, tinned; but thinking to get a lighter article, I had one -constructed out of aluminum. This first and last trial with our -aluminum reflector at Sheep Camp showed us that one of the peculiar -properties of this metal is that it reflects heat but very little, but -transmits it, almost as readily as glass does light. So when I had -arrived at the first stage of my demonstration and had the reflector -braced up in front of the fire, I found that the dough remained -obstinately dough, while the heat passed through the reflector and -radiated itself around about Sheep Camp. Still I persisted, and after -several hours of stewing in front of the fire, most of the water was -evaporated from the dough, leaving a compact rubbery grey BISCUIT, as -I termed it. I offered it for lunch and I ate one myself; no one else -did, but I was rewarded by feeling a fullness all through the tramp, -while the others were empty and famished. I also was sure that it gave -me enormous strength and endurance; while some of the rest were unkind -enough to suggest that the same high courage which led me up to the -biscuit's mouth, figuratively speaking, kept me plugging away on the -Lake Lindeman trail. - -We reached Lake Lindeman at about nine o'clock in the morning, and -found Pete and Cooper already there. It was raining drearily and -they had made themselves a shelter of poles and boughs under which -they were lying contentedly enough, waiting until the packers should -bring the tents. In a very short time after we had arrived all the -natives were at hand, and setting down their packs demanded money. They -could not be induced to accept bills, because they could not tell the -denomination of them, and would as soon take a soap advertisement as -a hundred-dollar note; they dislike gold, because they get so small a -quantity of it in comparison with silver. - -Like the Indians of the United States, the Alaskans formerly used -wampum largely as a medium of exchange--small, straight, horn-shaped, -rather rare shells, which were strung on thongs--but when the trading -companies began shipping porcelain wampum into the country the -natives soon learned the trick and stopped the use of it. I have in -my possession specimens of this porcelain wampum, which I got from -the agent of one of the large trading companies on the Yukon. Silver -is now the favorite currency, whether or not on the basis of sound -political economy; and each particular section has often a preference -for some special coin, such as a quarter, ("two bits," as it is called -in the language of the west coast) a half-dollar or a dollar. Where the -natives have had to deal only with quarters, you cannot buy anything -for half-dollars, except for nearly double the price you would pay in -quarters; while dimes, however large the quantity, would probably be -refused entirely. - -[Illustration: ALASKAN INDIANS AND HOUSE.] - -The Chilkoots, however, on account of their residence on the coast -and consequent contact with the whites, had become more liberal in -their views as regarded denomination of silver, but drew the line at -bimetalism, and had no faith whatsoever in the United States as the -fulfiller of promises to redeem greenbacks in silver coin. So there -was some trouble in paying them satisfactorily; and after they were -paid they came back, begging for a little flour, a little tea, etc., -and keeping up the process with unwearied ardor till the supply was -definitely shut off. The toughness of these people is well shown by -the fact that when they had rested an hour and had cooked themselves a -little food and drunk a little tea, they departed over the trail again -for Sheep Camp, although they had made the same journey as the white -men, who were all exhausted, and had, in addition, carried loads of -as high as 160 pounds over the whole of the rough trail of thirteen -miles. When affairs were settled we pitched our tents, rolled into our -blankets, and for the next twenty hours slept. - - - - -CHAPTER III. -THE LAKES AND THE YUKON TO FORTY MILE. - - -Upon reaching Lake Lindeman, we found a number of other parties -encamped,--men who had come over the trail before us, and had been -delaying a short time, for different reasons. From one of these parties -Pete had been lucky enough to buy a boat already built, so that we -did not have to wait and build one ourselves--a job that would have -consumed a couple of weeks. The boat was after the dory pattern, but -sharp at both ends, made of spruce, lap-streaked and unpainted, with -the seams calked and pitched; about eighteen feet long, and uncovered. -During the trip later we decided that it ought to be christened, and -so we mixed some soot and bacon-grease for paint, applied it hot -to the raw, porous wood, and inscribed in shaky letters the words -"_Skookum Pete_," as a compliment to our pilot. _Skookum_ is a Chinook -word signifying strength, courage, and other excellent qualities -necessary for a native, a frontiersman, or any other dweller in the -wilderness--qualities which were conspicuous in Pete. Pete was overcome -with shame on reading the legend, however, and straightway erased -his name, so that she was simply the SKOOKUM. And skookum she proved -herself, in the two thousand miles we afterwards travelled, even though -she sprung a leak occasionally or became obstinate when being urged up -over a rapid. - -It may be observed that the Chinook, to which this word belongs, is -not a language, but a jargon, composed of words from many native -American and also from many European tongues. It sprung up as a sort -of universal language, which was used by the traders of the Hudson Bay -Company in their intercourse with the natives, and is consequently -widely known, but is poor in vocabulary and expression. - -There were several boats ready to start, craft of all models and grades -of workmanship, variously illustrating the efforts of the cowboy, the -clerk, or the lawyer, at ship-carpentry. Several of us got off together -in the morning, our boat carrying four, and the English traveller's -boat the same number, for he had taken into his party the priest whom -we had met on the Scrambler. - -This gentleman, with a number of miners and a newspaper reporter, had -been unlucky enough to fall into the trap of a certain transportation -company, which had a very prettily furnished office in Seattle. This -office was the big end of the company. As one went north towards the -region where the company was supposed to be doing its transportation, -it shrunk till nothing was left but a swindle. They promised for a -certain sum of money to transport supplies and outfits over the Pass, -and to have the entire expedition in charge of an experienced man, who -would relieve one of all worry and bother; and after transportation -across the Pass, to put their passengers on the COMPANY'S steamers, -which would carry them to the gold fields. Even at Juneau the -"experienced man" who was to take the party through, and who was a high -officer of the company, kept up the ridiculous pretences and succeeded -in obtaining a number of passengers for the trip. When these men -learned later, however, that the guide had never yet been further than -Juneau; that he had no means of transporting freight over the Pass; -that the steamers existed only in fancy; and finally, when opportunity -to hire help offered, that the leader had no funds, so that they were -obliged to do all the work themselves, in order to move along: when -they learned all this they were naturally a disgusted set of men, -but having now given away their money, most of them decided to stick -together till the diggings were reached. The priest, however, who was -in a hurry, became nervous when he saw different parties leaving the -rapid and elegant transportation company in the rear, and effected a -separation. - -When we left Sheep Camp, the manager was trying to cajole his -passengers into carrying their own packs to the summit, even going so -far as to take little loads himself--"just for exercise," as he airily -informed us. He was an Englishman, of aristocratic tendencies, with an -awe-inspiring acquaintance with titles. "You know Lord Dudson Dudley, -of course," he would begin, fixing one with his eye as if to hypnotize; -"his sister, you remember, made such a row by her flirtation with Sir -Jekson Jekby.--Never heard of them?--Humph!" And then with a look -which seemed to say "What kind of a blarsted Philistine is this?" he -would retreat to his own camp-fire. - -We sailed down Lake Lindeman with a fair brisk wind, using our tent-fly -braced against a pole, for a sail. The distance is only four or five -miles, so that the lower end of the lake was reached in an hour. -A mountain sheep was sighted on the hillside above us, soon after -starting, and a long-range shot with the rifle was tried at it, but the -animal bounded away. - -At the lower end of this first of the Yukon navigable lakes there is -a stream, full of little falls and rapids, which connects with Lake -Bennett, a much larger body of water. According to Pete, the boat could -not run these rapids, so we began the task of "lining" her down. With -a long pole shod with iron, especially brought along for such work, -Pete stood in the bow or stern, as the emergency called for, planting -the pole on the rocks which stuck out of the water and so shoving and -steering the boat through an open narrow channel, while we three held a -long line and scrambled along the bank or waded in the shallow water. -We had put on long rubber boots reaching to the hip and strapped to -our belts, so at first our wading was not uncomfortable. On account -of the roar of the water we could not hear Pete's orders, but could -see his signals to "haul in," or "let her go ahead." On one difficult -little place he manoeuvered quite a while, getting stuck on a rock, -signalling us to pull back, and then trying again. Finally he struck -the right channel, and motioned energetically to us to go ahead. We -spurted forward, waddling clumsily, and the foremost man stepped -suddenly into a groove where the water was above his waist. Ugh! It was -icy, but he floundered through, half swimming, half wading, dragging -his great water-filled boots behind him like iron weights; and the rest -followed. We felt quite triumphant and heroic when we emerged, deeming -this something of a trial: we did not know that the time would come -when it would be the ordinary thing all day long, and would become so -monotonous that all feelings of novelty would be lost in a general -neutral tint of bad temper and rheumatism. - -On reaching shallow water the weight of the water-filled rubber boots -was so great that we could no longer navigate among the slippery -rocks, so we took turns going-ashore and emptying them. There was a -smooth round rock with steep sides, glaring in the sun; on this we -stretched ourselves head down, so that the water ran out of our boots -and trickled in cold little streams down our backs; then we returned to -our work. - -Before undertaking to line the Skookum through the rapids we had taken -out a large part of the load and put it on shore, in order to lighten -the boat, and also to save our "grub" in case our boat was capsized. -The next task was to carry this over the half-mile portage. Packing -is about the hardest and most disliked work that a pioneer has to do, -and yet every one that travels hard and well in Alaska and similar -rough countries must do it _ad nauseam_. In such remote and unfinished -parts of the world transportation comes back to the original and simple -phase,--carrying on one's back. The railroad and the steamboat are for -civilization, the wheeled vehicle for the inhabited land where there -are roads, the camel for the desert, the horse for the plains and where -trails have been cut, but for a large part of Alaska Nature's only -highways are the rivers, and when the water will not carry the burdens -the explorer must. - -In a properly-constructed pack-sack, the weight is carried partly by -the shoulders but mainly by the neck, the back being bent and the -neck stretched forward till the load rests upon the back and is kept -from slipping by the head strap, which is nearly in line with the -rigid neck. An astonishing amount can be carried in this way with -practice,--for half a mile or so, very nearly one's own weight. Getting -up and down with such a load is a work of art, which spoils the temper -and wrenches the muscles of the beginner. Having got into the strap he -finds himself pinned to the ground in spite of his backbone-breaking -efforts to rise, so he must learn to so sit down in the beginning that -he can tilt the load forward on his back, get on his hands and knees -and then elevate himself to the necessary standing-stooping posture; -or he must lie down flat and roll over on his face, getting his load -fairly between his shoulders, and then work himself up to his hands and -knees as before. Sometimes, if the load is heavy, the help of another -must be had to get an upright position, and then the packer goes -trudging off, red and sweating and with bulging veins. - -By the time we had carried our outfits over the portage, we were ready -for supper, and after that for a sleep. We pitched no tent--we were -too tired, and the blue sky and the still shining sun looked very -friendly--so we rolled in our blankets and slumbered. - -There were other craft than ours at Lake Bennett,--belonging to parties -who had come over before us, and who had not yet started. The most -astonishing thing was a small portable sawmill, which had been pulled -across the Chilkoot Pass in the winter, over the snow and ice; and the -limited means of communication in this country are well shown by the -fact that no news of any such mill was to be had anywhere along the -route. Men went over the Chilkoot Pass into the interior, but rarely -any came back that way. - -Among the gold hunters was a solitary Dutchman, a pathetic, desperate, -mild-mannered sort of an adventurer, who had built himself a boat like -a wood-box in model and construction, square, lop-sided, and leaky; -but he started bravely down Lake Bennett, paddling, with a rag of a -square-sail braced against a pole. We pitied, admired, and laughed at -him, but many were the doubts expressed as to whether he could reach -the diggings in his cockle-shell. Then there was a large scow, also -frailly built; this contained several tons of outfit, and a party of -seven or eight men and one woman. They were the parasites of the mining -camp, all ready, with smuggled whisky and faro games--Wein, Weib, und -Gesang--to relieve the miners of some of their gold-dust: and I am told -that the manager of the expedition brought out $100,000 two years later. - -We all got away, one after the other. There was a stiff fair wind -blowing down the lake, which soon increased to a gale, and the waves -became very rough. The lake is narrow and fjord-like, walled in by high -mountains which often rise directly from the shores. Lakes like this -all through Alaska are naturally subject to frequent and violent gales, -since the deep mountain valleys form a kind of chimney, up and down -which the currents of air rush to the frosty snowy mountains from the -warmer lowlands, or in the opposite direction. The further we went the -harder the wind blew, and the rougher became the water, so that when -about half-way down we made a landing to escape a heavy squall. After -dinner, it seemed from our snug little cove that the wind had abated, -and we put out again. On getting well away from the sheltering shore we -found it rougher than ever; but while we were at dinner we had seen the -scow go past, its square bow nearly buried in foaming water, and had -seen it apparently run ashore on the opposite side of the lake, some -miles further down. Once out, therefore, we steered for the place where -the scow had been beached, for the purpose of giving aid if any were -necessary. On the run over we shipped water repeatedly over both bow -and stern, and sometimes were in imminent danger of swamping, but by -skillful managing we gained the shelter of a little nook about half a -mile from the open beach where the scow was lying, and landed. We then -walked along the shore to the scow, and found its passengers all right, -they having beached voluntarily, on account of the roughness of the -water. - -However, we had had enough navigation for one day, so we did not -venture out again. Presently another little boat came scudding down -the lake through the white, frothy water, and shot in alongside the -Skookum. It was a party of miners--the young Irishman whom I had -overtaken on the trail to Sheep Camp, and his three "pardners." - -It was not an ideal spot where we all camped, being simply a steep -rocky slope at the foot of cliffs. When the time came to sleep we had -difficulty in finding places smooth enough to lie down comfortably, but -finally all were scattered around here and there in various places of -concealment among the rocks. I had cleared a space close under a big -boulder, of exactly my length and breadth (which does not imply any -great labor), and with my head muffled in the blankets, was beginning -to doze, when I heard stealthy footsteps creeping toward me. As I -lay, these sounds were muffled and magnified in the marvellous quiet -of the Alaskan night (although the sun was still shining), so that I -could not judge of the size and the distance of the animal. Soon it -got quite close to me, and I could hear it scratching at something; -then it seemed to be investigating my matches, knife and compass. -Finally, wide-awake, and somewhat startled, I sat up suddenly and -threw my blanket from my face, and looked for the marauding animal. I -found him--in the shape of a saucy little grey mouse, that stared at -me in amazement for a moment, and then scampered into his hole under -the boulder. As I had no desire to have the impudent little fellow -lunching on me while I slept, I plugged the hole with stones before -I lay down again. Some of the same animals came to visit Schrader in -his bedchamber, and nibbled his ears so that they were sore for some -time.[1] - -As the gale continued all the next day without abatement, we -profited by the enforced delay to climb the high mountain which rose -precipitously above us. And apropos of this climb, it is remarkable -what difference one finds in the appearance of a bit of country when -simply surveyed from a single point and when actually travelled over. -Especially is this true in mountains. Broad slopes which appear to be -perfectly easy to traverse are in reality cut up by narrow and deep -canyons, almost impossible to cross; what seems to be a trifling bench -of rock, half a mile up the mountain, grows into a perpendicular cliff -a hundred feet high before one reaches it; and pretty grey streaks -become gulches filled with great angular rock fragments, so loosely -laid one over the other that at each careful step one is in fear of -starting a mighty avalanche, and of being buried under rock enough to -build a city. - -Owing to difficulties like these it was near supper-time when we gained -the top of the main mountain range. As far as the eye could see in -all directions, there rose a wilderness of barren peaks, covered with -snow; while in one direction lay a desolate, lifeless table-land, -shut in by high mountains. Below and near us lay gulches and canyons -of magnificent depth, and the blue waters of one of the arms of Lake -Bennett appeared, just lately free from ice. Above, rose a still higher -peak, steep, difficult of access, and covered with snow; this the -lateness of the hour prevented us from attempting to climb. - -Next day and the next the wind was as high as ever; but the waiting -finally became too tedious, and we started out, the four miners -having preceded us by a half an hour. Once out of the shelter of -the projecting point, we found the gale very strong and the chop -disagreeable. We squared off and ran before the wind for the opposite -side of the lake, driving ahead at a good rate under our little rag -of a sail. Although the boat was balanced as evenly as possible, -every minute or two we would take in water, sometimes over the bow, -sometimes in the stern, sometimes amidships. I have in my mind a very -vivid picture of that scene: Wiborg in the stern, steering intently and -carefully; Goodrich and Schrader forward, sheets in hand, attending to -the sail; and myself stretched flat on my face, in order not to make -the boat top-heavy, and bailing out the water with a frying-pan. On -nearing the lower shore we noticed that the boat containing the miners -had run into the breakers, and presently one of the men came running -along the beach, signaling to us. Fearing that they were in trouble, -we made shift to land, although it was no easy matter on this exposed -shore; and we then learned that they had kept too near the beach, had -drifted into the breakers and had been swamped, but had all safely -landed. Three of our party went to give assistance in hauling their -boat out of the water, while I remained behind to fry the bacon for -dinner. - -After dinner we concluded to wait again before attempting the next -stage; so we picked out soft places in the sand and slumbered. When we -awoke we found the lake perfectly smooth and calm, and lost no time in -getting under way. On this day we depended for our motive power solely -on our oars, and we found the results so satisfactory that we kept up -the practice hundreds of miles. - -Below Lake Bennett came Tagish Lake, beautiful and calm. Its largest -fjord-like arm is famous for its heavy gales, whence it has been -given the name of "Windy Arm"; but as we passed it we could hardly -distinguish the line of division between the mountains in the air and -those reflected in the lake, so completely at rest was the water. At -the lower part, where we camped, we found the first inhabitants since -leaving the coast, natives belonging to the Tagish tribe. They are a -handful of wretched, half-starved creatures, who scatter in the summer -season for hunting and fishing, but always return to this place, where -they have constructed rude wooden habitations for winter use. We bought -here a large pike, which formed an agreeable change from bacons, beans, -and slapjacks. - -While camped at this place we met an old man and his two sons, who had -brought horses into the country some months before, with some crazy -idea of taking up land for farming purposes, or of getting gold. The -old man had been taken sick, and all three were now on their way out, -having abandoned their horses on the Hootalinqua. All three were thin -and worn, and agreed if they ever got out of the country they would not -come back. The old man begged for a little tea, which we supplied him, -together with a few other things; he insisted on our taking pay for -them, with the pathetic pride of a man broken in health and fortune, -but we understood the pioneer custom well enough to know we should give -no offence by refusing. - -After passing out of this lake we entered another, appropriately -called by the miners "Mud Lake"; it is very shallow, with muddy bottom -and shores. Here we found camping disagreeable, for on account of the -shallowness we could not bring our heavily laden boat quite to the -shore, but were obliged to wade knee deep in soft mud for a rod or two -before finding even moderately solid ground. - -About this time we experienced the first sharp taste of the terrible -Alaskan mosquito--or it might be more correct to reverse the statement, -and say that the mosquitoes had their first taste of us. At the lower -end of Tagish Lake they suddenly attacked us in swarms, and remained -with us steadily until near the time of our departure from the -Territory. We had heard several times of the various hardships to be -encountered in Alaska, but, as is often the case, we found that these -accounts had left a rather unduly magnified image of the difficulties -in our imaginations, as compared with our actual experiences. In this -generalization the mosquito must be excepted. I do not think that any -description or adjective can exaggerate the discomfort and even torture -produced by these pests, at their worst, for they stand peerless among -their kind, so far as my experience goes, and that of others with whom -I have spoken, for wickedness unalloyed. - -We were driven nearly frantic when they attacked us and quickly donned -veils of netting, fastened around the hat and buttoned into the shirt, -and gauntleted cavalry gloves; but still the heat of rowing and the -warmth of the sun made the stings smart till we could hardly bear it. -From time to time I glanced at Pete, who sat in the stern, steering -with a paddle, his face and hands unprotected, his hat pushed back, -trolling his favorite song. - - "And none was left to tell me, Tom, - And few was left to know - Who played upon the village green, - Just twenty year ago!" - -I admired him beyond expression. "How long," thought I, "does one have -to stay in Alaska before one gets so indifferent to mosquitoes as this? -Or is it simply the phlegm of the Norwegian--magnificent in mosquito -time?" Just then Pete broke in his song and began a refrain of curses -in Norwegian and English and some other languages--all apropos of -mosquitoes. He averred emphatically that never--no, never--had he seen -mosquitoes quite so disagreeable. This lasted about five minutes; then -he settled down to a calm again. I perceived that men's tempers may be -something like geysers--some keep bubbling hot water continually, while -others, like Pete's, keep quiet for a while and then explode violently. - -It seems strange to many that a country like Alaska, sub-Arctic in -climate, should be so burdened with a pest which we generally associate -with hot weather and tropical swamps. But the long warm days of summer -in these high latitudes seem to be extraordinarily favorable to all -kinds of insect life--mosquitoes, gnats, and flies--which harbor in the -moss and dense underbrush. Other countries similarly situated, such as -the region between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Arctic Ocean--Northern -Finland--which is north of the Arctic Circle, are also pestered with -mosquitoes during the summer months. - -In Alaska the mosquitoes are so numerous that they occupy a large part -of men's attention, and form the subject for much conversation as long -as they remain--and they are astonishing stayers, appearing before the -snow is gone and not leaving until the nights grow comparatively long -and frosty. They flourish as well in cool weather as in hot, thawing -cheerfully out after a heavy frost and getting to work as if to make -up for lost time. We were able to distinguish at least three species: -a large one like those met at the seaside resorts, which buzzes and -buzzes and buzzes; then a smaller one that buzzes a little but also -bites ferociously; and, worst of all, little striped fellows who go -about in great crowds. These last never stop to buzz, but come straight -for the intruder on a bee-line, stinging him almost before they reach -him--and their sting is particularly irritating. Many stories have -been told of the mosquitoes in Alaska; one traveller tells how bears -are sometimes killed by these pests, though this story is probably an -exaggeration. But men who are travelling must have veils and gloves as -protection against them. Even the natives wrap their heads in skins or -cloth, and are overjoyed at any little piece of mosquito-netting they -can get hold of. With the best protection, however, one cannot help -being tormented and worn out. - -We always slept with gloves and veils on, and with our heads wrapped as -tightly as possible, yet the insects would crawl through the crevices -of the blankets and sting through the clothes, or where the veil -pressed against the face,--not one, but hundreds--so that one slept but -fitfully and woke to find his face bloody and smarting, and would at -once make for the cold river water, bathing hands and face to relieve -the pain, and dreading to keep his veil up long enough to gobble his -breakfast. - -The climate of this interior country is dry, and the rains infrequent. -We worked so long during the day that we seldom took the trouble -to pitch a tent at night, but lay down with our backs against some -convenient log, so that the mosquitoes had a good chance at us. Even in -the day, when protected by veil and gloves, I have been so irritated -by them as to run until breathless to relieve my excitement, and I can -readily believe, as has been told, that a man lost in the underbrush -without protection, would very soon lose his reason and his life. As -soon as the country is cleared up or burned over, the scourge becomes -much less, so that in the mining camps the annoyance is comparatively -slight. Mosquitoes are popularly supposed to seek and feed upon men, -while the reverse is true. They avoid men, swarming most in thick -underbrush and swamps which are difficult of access, and disappearing -almost entirely as soon as the axe and the plow and other implements in -the hands of man invade their solitudes. - -Out of Mud Lake we floated into the river again, and slipped easily -down between the sandbanks. Ducks and geese were plentiful along here, -and we practised incessantly on them with the rifle, without, however, -doing any noticeable execution. On the second day we knew we must be -near the famous canyon of the Lewes; and one of our party was put on -watch, in order that we might know its whereabouts before the swift -current should sweep us into it, all heavily laden as we were. The rest -of us rowed and steered, and admired the beautiful tints of the hills, -which now receded from the river, now came close to it. Presently we -heard a gentle snore from the lookout who was comfortably settled among -the flour sacks in the bow; this proved to us that our confidence had -been misplaced, and all hands became immediately alert. Soon after, we -noticed a bit of red flannel fluttering from a tree projecting over -the bank, doubtless a part of some traveller's shirt sacrificed in the -cause of humanity; and by the time we had pulled in to the shore we -could see the waters of the river go swirling and roaring into a sudden -narrow canyon with high, perpendicular walls. - -We found the parties of miners already landed, and presently, as we -waited on the bank and reconnoitered, Danlon's party came up, and not -long after, the barge, so that we were about twenty in all. Wiborg, and -Danlon's guide, Cooper, were the only ones that had had experience in -this matter, so all depended on their judgment, and waited to see the -results of their efforts before risking anything themselves. - -In former years all travellers made a portage around this very -difficult place, hauling their boats over the hill with a rude sort of -a windlass; but a man having been accidentally sucked into the canyon -came out of the other end all right, which emboldened others. In this -case Wiborg and Cooper decided that the canyon could be run, although -the water was very high and turbulent; and they thought best to run the -boats through themselves. Our own boat was selected to be experimented -with; most of the articles that were easily damageable by water were -taken out, leaving perhaps about eight hundred pounds. I went as -passenger sitting in the bow, while the two old frontiersmen managed -paddles and oars. Rowing out from the shore we were immediately sucked -into the gorge, and went dashing through at a rate which I thought -could not be less than twenty miles an hour. So great is the body of -water confined between these perpendicular walls, and so swift is the -stream, that its surface becomes convex, being considerably higher in -the centre of the channel than on the sides. Waves rushing in every -direction are also generated, forming a puzzling chop. Two or three of -these waves presently boarded us, so that I was thoroughly wet, and -then came a broad glare of sunlight as we emerged from the first half -of the canyon into a sort of cauldron which lies about in its centre. - -Here we were twisted about by eddying currents for a few seconds, and -then precipitated half sidewise into the canyon again. The latter half -turned out to be the rougher part, and our bow dipped repeatedly into -the waves, till I found myself sitting in water, and the bow, where -most of the water remained, sagged alarmingly. It seemed as if another -ducking would sink us. This fortunately we did not get, but steered -safely through the final swirl to smooth water. During all this trip I -had not looked up once, although as we shot by we heard faintly a cheer -from the rocks above, where our companions were. - -Next day, after a night made almost unbearable by mosquitoes, we rose -to face the difficulties of White Horse Rapids, which lie below the -canyon proper, and are still more formidable. Here the river contracts -again, and is confined between perpendicular walls of basalt. The -channel is full of projecting rocks, so that the whole surface is -broken, and there are many strong conflicting currents and eddies. -At the end of these rapids, which extend for a quarter of a mile or -so, is a narrow gorge in the rocks, through which the whole volume of -water is forced. This is said to be only twenty or thirty feet wide, -although at the time of our passing the water was sufficiently high to -flow over the top of the enclosing walls, thus concealing the actual -width of the chute. Through this the water plunges at a tremendous -velocity--probably thirty miles an hour--forming roaring, foaming, -tossing, lashing waves which somehow make the name White Horse seem -appropriate. - -Above the beginning of the rapid we unloaded our boat, and carefully -lowered it down by ropes, keeping it close to the shore, and out of -the resistless main current. After having safely landed it, with -considerable trouble, below the chute, we carried our outfit (about -twelve hundred pounds) to the same point. Danlon's boat and that -belonging to the miners were safely gotten through in the same way, all -hands helping in turn. - -When it came to the scow, it was the general opinion that it would be -impossible to lower it safely, for its square shape gave the current -such a grip that it seemed as if no available strength of rope or -man could hold out against it. As carrying the boat was out of the -question, the only alternative was to boldly run it through the -rapids, in the middle of the channel; and this naturally hazardous -undertaking was rendered more difficult by the frail construction of -the scow, which had been built of thin lumber by unskilled hands. The -scow's crew did not care to make the venture themselves, but finally -prevailed upon Wiborg and Cooper to make the trial. - -[Illustration: SHOOTING THE WHITE HORSE RAPIDS.] - -Reflecting that at any time I might be placed in similar difficulties, -in this unknown country, and thrown upon my own resources, I resolved -to accompany them, for the sake of finding out how the thing was -done; but I was ruled out of active service by Wiborg, who, however, -consented finally to my going along as passenger. Two of the scow's -own crew were drafted to act as oarsmen, and we pushed out, Cooper -steering, and Wiborg in the bow, iron-shod pole in hand, fending off -from threatening rocks; and in a second we were dancing down the -boiling rapids and tossing hither and thither like a cork. I sat facing -the bow, opposite the oarsmen, who tugged frantically away, white as -death; behind me Cooper's paddle flashed and twisted rapidly, as we -dodged by rocks projecting from the water, sometimes escaping only -by a few inches, where a collision would have smashed us to chips. -The rest of the party, waiting below the chute, said that sometimes -they saw only the bottom of the scow, and sometimes looked down upon -it as if from above. As we neared the end, Cooper's skillful paddle -drove us straight for the centre, where the water formed an actual -fall; this central part was the most turbulent, but the safest, for on -either side, a few feet away, there was danger of grazing the shallow -underlying rocks. As we trembled on the brink, I looked up and saw our -friends standing close by, looking much concerned. A moment later there -was a dizzying plunge, a blinding shower of water, a sudden dashing, -too swift for observation, past rock walls, and then Wiborg let out an -exultant yell--we were safe. At that instant one of the oarsmen snapped -his oar, an accident which would have been serious a moment before. On -the shore below the rapids we found flour-sacks, valises, boxes and -splintered boards, mementoes of poor fellows less lucky than ourselves. - -We camped at the mouth of the Tahkeena River that night, and arrived -the next day at Lake Labarge, the last and longest of the series. -When we reached it, at one o'clock, the water was calm and smooth; -and although it was nearly forty miles across, we decided to keep on -without stopping till we reached the other side, for fear of strong -winds such as had delayed us on Lake Bennett. Danlon's party concluded -to do the same, and so we rowed steadily all night, after having rowed -all day. - -About two o'clock in the morning a favorable wind sprung up suddenly, -and increased to a gale. At this time we became separated from the -other boats, which kept somewhat close to the shore, while we, with our -tiny sail, stood straight across the lake for the outlet. As soon as we -stopped rowing I could not help falling asleep, although much against -my will, for our position was neither comfortable nor secure; and -thus I dozed and woke half a dozen times before landing. On reaching -the shore we found difficulty in sleeping on account of the swarms of -hungry mosquitoes, so we soon loaded up again. - -We had got caribou meat from some people whom we passed half-way down -Lake Labarge; and the next day we saw a moose on an island, but the -current swept us by before we could get a shot at him. Large game, on -the whole, however, was very scarce along this route. The weather was -warm and pleasant after leaving Lake Labarge, and there were no serious -obstructions. The swift current bombarded the bottom of the boat with -grains of sand, making a sound like a continual frying. "Look out!" -Pete would say. "The devil is frying his fat for us!" We travelled -easily sixty or eighty miles a day, floating with the current and -rowing. - -Danlon's party, which we had lost sight of on Lake Labarge, reached us -a couple of days afterwards, having pulled night and day to catch up. -They were grey and speckled with fatigue and told us of having decided -to leave one boat (they came with only one of the two they had started -in) at Lake Labarge, and also of leaving some of their provisions. They -had unfortunately forgotten to keep any sugar--could we lend them some? -We produced the sugar and smiled knowingly; a few days later we ran -across the solitary Dutchman, who had engineered his wood-box thus far, -and he told us the whole story: how when the boats got near the shore -one was swamped in shallow water, losing most of its cargo, and how the -occupants had to stand in cold water the rest of the night, finally -getting to shore and to rights again. The priest had been naming the -camps after the letters of the Greek alphabet, and the night on Labarge -should have been Camp Rho; and this was appropriate as we rowed nearly -all night. - -From here the journey was comparatively easy. The skies were always -clear and blue, and the stream had by this time increased to a lordly -river, growing larger by continual accessions of new tributaries. It is -dotted with many small islands, which are covered with a dense growth -of evergreen trees. On the side of the valley are often long smooth -terraces, perfectly carved and smoothly grassed, so as to present -an almost artificial aspect. From this sort of a country are sudden -changes to a more bold and picturesque type, so at one time the river -flows swiftly through high gates of purple rock rising steeply for -hundreds of feet, and in a few moments more emerges into a wide low -valley. The cliffs are sometimes carved into buttresses or pinnacles, -which overlook the walls, and appear to form part of a gigantic and -impregnable castle, on the top of which the dead spruces stand out -against the sky like spires and flag-staves. Usually on one side or -the other of the river is low fertile land, where grows a profusion of -shrubs and flowers. - -In the mellow twilight, which lasts for two or three hours in the -middle of the night, one can see nearly as far and as distinctly as by -day, but everything takes on an unreal air. This is something like a -beautiful sunset effect further south, but is evenly distributed over -all the landscape. At about ten o'clock the coloring becomes exquisite, -when the half-light brings out the violets, the purples, and various -shades of yellow and brown in the rocks, in contrast to the green of -the vegetation. - -[Illustration: TALKING IT OVER.] - -We had some difficulty in finding suitable camping-places in this -country. One night I remember, we ran fifteen miles after our usual -camping-hour, with cliffs on one side of the river and low thickets on -the other. Three times we landed on small islands, in a tangle of vines -and roses; and as many times we were driven off by the innumerable -mosquitoes. At last we found a strip of shore about ten feet wide, -between the water and the thickets, sloping at a considerable angle; -and there we made shift to spend the night. - -There are two places below the White Horse Rapids where the channel -is so narrowed or shallowed that rapids are formed. At the first of -these, called the "Five Finger Rapids," the river is partially blocked -by high islets, which cut up the stream in several portions. Although -the currents in each of these "fingers" is rapid, and the water rough, -yet we found no difficulty in running through without removing any part -of the load, although one of the boats shipped a little water. When we -arrived at the second place, which is called the "Rink Rapids," and is -not far below the Five Fingers, we were relieved to find that owing -to the fullness of the river, the rough water, which in this case is -caused by the shallowing of the stream, was smoothed down, and we went -through, close to the shore, with no more trouble than if we had been -floating down a lake. - -During the whole trip the country through which we passed was -singularly lonely and uninhabited. After leaving the few huts on Tagish -Lake, which I have mentioned, we saw a few Indians in a summer camp -on Lake Labarge; and this was all until we got to the junction of the -Lewes and Pelly Rivers, over three hundred miles from Tagish Lake. At -Pelly we found a log trading-post, with a single white man in charge, -and a few Indians. There were also three miners, who had met with -misfortune, and were disconsolate enough. They had started up Pelly -River with a two years' outfit, intending to remain and prospect for -that period, but at some rapid water their boat had been swamped and -all their provisions lost. They had managed to burn off logs enough to -build a raft, and in that way had floated down the river to the post, -living in the meantime on some flour which they had been lucky enough -to pick up after the wreck. - -Although there are very few people in the country, one is continually -surprised at first by perceiving solitary white tents standing on -some prominent point or cliff which overlooks the river. At first -this looks very cheerful, and we sent many a hearty hail across the -river to such places; but our calls were never answered, for these -are not the habitations of the living but of the dead. Inside of each -of these tents, which are ordinarily made of white cloth, though -sometimes of woven matting, is a dead Indian, and near him is laid his -rifle, snowshoes, ornaments and other personal effects. I do not think -the custom of leaving these articles at the grave implies any belief -that they will be used by the dead man in another world, but simply -signifies that he will have no more use for the things which were so -dear to him in life--just as among ourselves, articles which have been -used by dear friends are henceforth laid aside and no longer used. -These dwellings of the dead are always put in prominent positions, -commanding as broad and fair a view as can be obtained. At Pelly we saw -several Indian graves that were surrounded by hewn palings, rudely and -fantastically painted. - -When we reached the White River we found it nearly as broad as the -Yukon. The waters of the two rivers are separated by a distinct line -at their confluence and for some distance further down, the Yukon -water being dark and the other milky, whence the name--White River. All -over this country is a thin deposit of white dust-like volcanic ash, -covering the surface, but on White River this ash is very thick, and -the river flowing through it carries away enough to give the waters -continually a milky appearance. As we approached White River we beheld -what seemed a most extraordinary cloud hanging over its valley. It was -a solid compact mass of white, like some great ice-flower rising from -the hills, reminding one as one explored it through field-glasses, in -its snowy vastness and unevenness, of some great glacier. The clouds -were in rounded bunches and each bunch was crenulated. Below was a -mass of smoke with a ruddy reflection as if from some great fire, -and smaller snowy compact clouds came up at intervals, as if gulped -out from some crater. This we thought might be the fabled volcano of -the White River, but on getting nearer it seemed to be probably a -forest-fire. Although there are no railway trains to set fires with -their sparks, nowhere do fires start more easily than in Alaska, for -the ground is generally covered deep with a peat-like dry moss, which -ignites when one lights a fire above and smoulders so persistently that -it can hardly be extinguished, creeping along under the roots of the -living moss and breaking out into flame on opportunity. - -The Fourth of July was celebrated by shooting at a mark; and that night -we had a true blessing, for we camped on a little bare sandspit on an -island, where the wind was brisk and kept the mosquitoes away. These -insects cannot stand against a breeze, but are whisked away by it like -the imps of darkness at the first breath of God's morning light, as -we have read in fairy stories. The freedom was delicious, so we just -stretched ourselves in the sand, and slept ten hours. We were awakened -by a violent plunge in the water and stuck our heads out of the -blankets in a hurry, thinking it was a moose; but it turned out to be -only one of our party celebrating the day after the Fourth by a bath. - -At Sixty Mile we found an Indian trading-post, located on an island in -the river, and kept by Jo La Du, a lonely trader who a year afterwards -became rich and famous from his participation in the Klondike rush. He -had no idea of this when we saw him, but shook hands with us shyly and -silently, a man whom years had made more accustomed to the Indian than -to the white man. - -The name Sixty Mile is applied to a small river here, which is sixty -miles from old Fort Reliance, an ancient trading post belonging to -the Hudson Bay Company. The hardy and intrepid agents of the company -were the first white men to explore the interior of Alaska. The lower -Yukon in the vicinity of the delta was explored by the Russians in 1835 -to 1838, and the river was called by the Eskimo name of Kwikpuk or -Kwikpak,--the great river: in 1842-3 the Russian Lieutenant Zagoskin -explored as far as the Nowikakat. But the upper Yukon was first -explored by members of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1846 a trader named -Bell crossed from the Mackenzie to the Porcupine, and so down to the -Yukon, to which he first applied the name by which it is now known: -it is an Indian, not Eskimo, word. Previous to this, in 1840, Robert -Campbell, of the Hudson Bay Company, crossed from the Stikeen to the -Pelly and so down to its junction with the Lewes or upper Yukon. At -the point of the junction Campbell built Fort Selkirk, which was -afterwards pillaged and burned by the Indians, and remained deserted -till Harper built the present post, close to the site of the old one. -Forty miles below old Fort Reliance is Forty Mile Creek, so that the -mouths of Forty Mile and Sixty Mile are a hundred miles apart. The -river by this time is a mile wide in places, and filled with low -wooded islands: its water is muddy and the eddying currents give the -appearance of boiling. - -We found no one on the site of old Fort Reliance, and we used the -fragments of the old buildings lying around in the grass for fire-wood. -It was practically broad daylight all night, for although the sun went -down behind the hills for an hour or two, yet it was never darker than -a cloudy day. - -The day of leaving Fort Reliance we came to the junction of the -Klondike or Thronduc River with the Yukon, and found here a village -of probably two hundred Indians, but no white men. The Indians were -living in log cabins: on the shore numbers of narrow and shallow -birch canoes were drawn up, very graceful and delicate in shape, and -marvellously light, weighing only about thirty pounds, but very -difficult for any one but an Indian to manoeuvre. Yet the natives spear -salmon from these boats. At the time we were there most of the male -Indians were stationed along the river, eagerly watching for the first -salmon to leap out of the water, for about this time of the year the -immigration of these fish begins, and they swim up the rivers from -the sea thousands of miles, to place their spawn in some quiet creek. -On account of the large number of salmon who turn aside to enter the -stream here, the Indians called it Thronduc or _fish-water_; this -is now corrupted by the miners into Klondike, the Indian village is -replaced by the frontier city of Dawson, and the fame of the Klondike -is throughout the world. - -[Illustration: ALASKA HUMPBACKED SALMON, MALE AND FEMALE.] - -The trip of forty miles from Fort Reliance to Forty Mile Post was made -in the morning, and was enlivened by an exciting race between our boat -and that belonging to Danlon. We had kept pretty closely together on -all our trip, passing and repassing one another, but our boat was -generally ahead; and when we both encamped at Fort Reliance, the other -party resolved to outwit us. So they got up early in the morning and -slipped away before we were well awake. When we discovered that -they were gone, we got off after them as quickly as possible, but as -the current flows about seven miles an hour, and they were rowing -hard besides, they were long out of sight of us. However, we buckled -down to hard rowing, each pulling a single oar only, and relieving -one another at intervals, tugging away as desperately as if something -important depended on it. When we were already in sight of Forty Mile -Post we spied our opponents' boat about a mile ahead of us, and we soon -overhauled them, for they had already spent themselves by hard rowing. -Then Pete knew a little channel which led up to the very centre of the -camp, while the others took the more roundabout way, so that we arrived -and were quite settled--we assumed a very negligent air, as if we had -been there all day--when the others arrived. We called this the great -Anglo-American boat race and crowed not a little over the finish. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] A portion of this description is similar to that used by the writer -in an article published in "Outing." - - - - -CHAPTER IV. -THE FORTY MILE DIGGINGS. - - -Forty Mile Creek is the oldest mining camp in the Yukon country, and -the first where coarse gold or "gulch diggings" was found. In the fall -of 1886 a prospector by the name of Franklin discovered the precious -metal near the mouth of what is now called Forty Mile Creek. This -stream was put down on the old maps as the Shitando River, but miners -are very independent in their nomenclature, and often adopt a new -name if the old one does not suit them, preferring a simple term with -an evident meaning to the more euphonious ones suggestive of Pullman -cars. At the time of the discovery of gold there was a post of the -Alaskan Commercial Company at the mouth of the stream, but the trader -in charge, Jack McQuesten, was absent in San Francisco. As the supplies -at the post were very low, and a rush of miners to the district was -anticipated for the next summer, it was thought best to try to get -word to the trader, and George Williams undertook to carry out a letter -in midwinter. - -Accompanied by an Indian, he succeeded in attaining the Chilkoot Pass, -but was there frozen to death. The letter, however, was carried to the -post at Dyea by the Indian, and the necessary supplies were sent, thus -averting the threatened famine. From 1887 to 1893 the various gulches -of Forty Mile Creek were the greatest gold producers of the Yukon -country, but by 1893 the supplies of gold began to show exhaustion; and -about this time a Russian half-breed, by the name of Pitka, discovered -gold in the bars of Birch Creek, some two hundred miles further down -the Yukon. - -A large part of the population of the Forty Mile district rushed -to the new diggings and built the mining camp to which they gave -the name of Circle City, from its proximity to the Arctic Circle. -The Forty Mile district is partly in British and partly in American -territory, since the boundary line crosses the stream some distance -above its mouth, while Birch Creek is entirely in American territory. -The world-renowned Klondike, again, is within British boundaries. So -the tide of mining population has ebbed back and forth in the Yukon -country, each wave growing larger than the first, till it culminated -in the third of the great world-rushes after gold, exciting, wild and -romantic--the Klondike boom, a fit successor to the "forty-nine" days -of California, and to the events which followed the discovery of gold -in Australia. - -At the time of our visit, in 1896, Forty Mile Post was distinctly on -the decline. Yet it contained probably 500 or 600 inhabitants, not -counting the Indians, of whom there were a considerable number. These -Indians were called Charley Indians, from their chief Charley. There -is a mission near here and the Indians have all been Christianized. -It is told that the Tanana Indians, who had no mission, and who came -here out of their wild fastnesses only once in a while to trade, did -not embrace Christianity, which rather elated Charley's followers, as -they considered that they now had decidedly the advantage; and they -openly vaunted of it. In this country at certain times of the year, -particularly in the fall, great herds of caribou pass, and then one -can slaughter as many as he needs for the winter's supply of meat, -without much hunting, for the animals select some trail and are not -easily scared from it. One fall a herd marched up one of the busiest -mining gulches of Birch Creek and the miners stood in their cabin doors -and shot them. - -So the Indians always watch as eagerly for the caribou, as they do for -the salmon in the summer. But this particular fall it happened that -the animals stayed away from the Charley Indians' hunting grounds, but -passed through those of the Tananas in force. The heathen then came -down to the trading post laden with meat, and the chief, who knew a -little English, taunted Charley in it. - -"Where moose, Charley?" he asked. - -"No moose," said Charley. - -"Woo!" said the Tanana chief, grinning in triumph. "What's the matter -with your Jesus?" - -The Indians at Forty Mile Post were mostly encamped in tents or were -living in rude huts of timber plastered with mud; while the white men -had built houses of logs, unsquared, with the chinks filled with mud -and moss and the roof covered with similar material. Prices were high -throughout: A lot of land in the middle of the town, say 100 by 150 -feet, was worth $7,000 or $8,000; sugar was worth twenty-five cents a -pound and ordinary labor ten dollars a day. All provisions were also -very expensive, and the supply was often short. Many common articles, -usually reckoned among what the foolish call the necessities of life, -could not be obtained by us. I say foolish, because one can learn -from pioneering and exploring, upon how little life can be supported -and health and strength maintained, and how many of the supposed -necessities are really luxuries. - -The Alaskan Eskimo lives practically on fish alone throughout the year, -without salt, without bread,--just fish--and grows fat and oily and of -pungent odor. But white men can hardly become so simple in their diet -without some danger of dying in the course of the experiment, like the -famous cow that was trained to go without eating, but whose untimely -death cut short her career in the first bloom of success. - -The miners have always been dependent for supplies on steamers from -San Francisco or Seattle, which have to make a trip of 4,000 miles or -more; and, in the early days, if any accident occurred, there was no -other source. - -I have heard of a bishop of the Episcopal Church, a missionary in this -country, who lived all winter upon moose meat, without salt; and an old -miner told me of working all summer on flour alone. When the fall came -he shot some caribou, and his description of his sensations on eating -his first venison steak were touching. Hardly a winter has passed -until very recently when the miners were not put on rations--so many -pounds of bacon and so much flour to the man,--to bridge over the time -until the steamer should arrive. The winter of 1889-90 is known to the -old Yukon pioneer as the "starvation winter," for during the previous -summer a succession of accidents prevented the river boat from reaching -Forty Mile with provisions. The men were finally starved out and in -October they all began attempting to make their way down the Yukon, -towards St. Michaels, over a thousand miles away, where food was known -to be stored, having been landed at this depot from ocean steamers. -Nearly a hundred men left the post in small boats. Some travelled the -whole distance to St. Michaels, others stopped and wintered by the way -at the various miserable trading posts, or in the winter camps of the -Indians themselves, wherever food could be found. It happened that this -year the river did not freeze up so early as usual, which favored the -flight, though the journey down the lower part of the river was made in -running ice. - -In connection with the shortness of provisions and supplies in these -early years, a story is told of a worthless vagabond who used to hang -around Forty Mile Post, and whose hoaxes, invented to make money, put -the wooden nutmeg and the oak ham of Connecticut to shame. There was a -dearth of candles one year at the post, and in midwinter, when, for a -while, the sun hardly rises at all, that was no trifling privation. The -weather was cold, as it always is at Forty Mile in the winter time. The -trickster had some candle molds in his possession, but no grease; so he -put the wicks into the molds, which he filled with water colored white -with chalk or condensed milk. The water immediately froze solid, making -a very close imitation of a candle. He manufactured a large number and -then started around the post to peddle them. All bought eagerly--Indian -squaws to sew by, miners, shop-keepers, everybody. One man bought a -whole case and shoved them under his bed; when he came to pull them -out again to use, he found nothing but the wicks in a pile, the ice -having melted and the water having evaporated in the warm room. What -punishment was meted out to this unique swindler I do not know, but I -could not learn that he was ever severely dealt with. - -The evening of our arrival in Forty Mile Post we were attracted by -observing a row of miners, who were lined up in front of the saloon -engaged in watching the door of a large log cabin opposite, rather -dilapidated, with the windows broken in. On being questioned, they said -there was going to be a dance, but when or how they did not seem to -know: all seemed to take only a languid looker-on interest, speaking of -the affair lightly and flippantly. Presently more men, however, joined -the group and eyed the cabin expectantly. In spite of their disclaimers -they evidently expected to take part, but where were the fair partners -for the mazy waltz? - -The evening wore on until ten o'clock, when in the dusk a stolid Indian -woman, with a baby in the blanket on her back, came cautiously around -the corner, and with the peculiar long slouchy step of her kind, made -for the cabin door, looking neither to the right nor to the left. She -had no fan, nor yet an opera cloak; she was not even decollete; she -wore large moccasins on her feet--number twelve, I think, according to -the white man's system of measurement--and she had a bright colored -handkerchief on her head. She was followed by a dozen others, one far -behind the other, each silent and unconcerned, and each with a baby -upon her back. They sidled into the log cabin and sat down on the -benches, where they also deposited their babies in a row: the little -red people lay there very still, with wide eyes shut or staring, but -never crying--Indian babies know that is all foolishness and doesn't -do any good. The mothers sat awhile looking at the ground in some one -spot and then slowly lifted their heads to look at the miners who had -slouched into the cabin after them--men fresh from the diggings, -spoiling for excitement of any kind. Then a man with a dilapidated -fiddle struck up a swinging, sawing melody, and in the intoxication of -the moment some of the most reckless of the miners grabbed an Indian -woman and began furiously swinging her around in a sort of waltz, while -the others crowded around and looked on. - -Little by little the dusk grew deeper, but candles were scarce and -could not be afforded. The figures of the dancing couples grew more and -more indistinct and their faces became lost to view, while the sawing -of the fiddle grew more and more rapid, and the dancing more excited. -There was no noise, however; scarcely a sound save the fiddle and the -shuffling of the feet over the floor of rough hewn logs; for the Indian -women were stolid as ever, and the miners could not speak the language -of their partners. Even the lookers-on said nothing, so that these -silent dancing figures in the dusk made an almost weird effect. - -One by one, however, the women dropped out, tired, picked up their -babies and slouched off home, and the men slipped over to the saloon -to have a drink before going to their cabins. Surely this squaw-dance, -as they call it, was one of the most peculiar balls ever seen. No -sound of revelry by night, no lights, no flowers, no introductions, no -conversations. Of all the Muses, Terpsichore the nimble-footed, alone -was represented, for surely the nymph who presides over music would -have disowned the fiddle. - -All the diggings in the Forty Mile district were remote from the Post, -and to reach them one had to ascend Forty Mile Creek, a rapid stream, -for some distance. Pete left us here, and we three concluded to go it -alone. Inasmuch as we were young and tender, we were overwhelmed with -advice of such various and contradictory kinds that we were almost -disheartened. Every one agreed that it would be impossible to take -our boats up the river, that we should take an "up river" boat, (that -is, a boat built long and narrow, with a wide overhang, so as to make -as little friction with the water as possible, and to make upsetting -difficult); but when we came to inquire we found there was no such boat -to be had. We were advised to take half-a-dozen experienced polers, -but such polers could not be found. Evidently we must either wait -the larger part of the summer for our preparations _a la mode_, or go -anyhow; and this latter we decided to do. We announced our intention at -the table of the man whose hospitality we were enjoying. He stared. - -"You'll find Forty Mile Creek a hard river to go up," he said, slowly. -"Have you had much experience in ascending rivers?" - -"Very little," we replied. - -"Are you good polers?" asked another. - -"Like the young lady who was asked whether she could play the piano," -I answered, "we don't know--we never tried." Everybody roared; -they had been wanting to laugh for some time, and here was their -opportunity. Later a guide was offered to us, but we had got on our -dignity and refused him; then he asked to be allowed to accompany us -as a passenger, taking his own food, and helping with the boat, and we -consented to this. He had a claim on the headwaters of Sixty Mile, to -which he wished to go back, but could not make the journey up the river -alone. A year afterwards this penniless fellow was one of the lucky -men in the Klondike rush and came back to civilization with a reputed -fortune of $100,000. - -We could row only a short distance up the creek from the post, for -after this the current became so swift that we could make no headway. -We then tied a long line to the bow of the boat, and two of us, walking -on the shore, pulled the line, while another stood in the bow and by -constant shoving out into the stream, succeeded in overcoming the -tendency for the pull of the line to make the boat run into the shore -or into such shallow water that it would ground. We soon reached the -canyon, supposed to be the most difficult place in the creek to pass; -here the stream is very rapid and tumbles foaming over huge boulders -which have partially choked it. We towed our boat up through this, -however, without much difficulty, and on the second night camped at the -boundary line. - -Here a gaunt old character, Sam Patch by name, had his cabin. He was -famous for his patriotism and his vegetables. His garden was on the -steep side of a south-facing hill and was sheltered from the continual -frosts which fall in the summer nights, so that it succeeded well. -Foreign vegetables, as well as native plants, thrive luxuriantly in -Alaska so long as they can be kept from being frost-bitten: for in -the long sunshiny summer days they grow twice as fast and big as they -do in more temperate climates. "Sam Patch's potato patch" was famous -throughout the diggings, and the surest way to win Sam's heart was to -go and inspect and admire it. Sam was always an enthusiastic American, -and when the Canadian surveyors surveyed the meridian line which -constituted the International boundary, they ran it right through his -potato patch; but he stood by his American flag and refused to haul it -down--quite unnecessarily, because no one asked him to do so. - -The next day we reached the mouth of the little tributary called Moose -Creek. From here a trail thirty miles in length leads over the low -mountains to the headwaters of Sixty Mile Creek, where several of the -richest gulches of the Forty Mile district were located. We beached -our boat, therefore, put packs on our backs and started. At this time -the days were hot and the mosquitoes vicious, and nearly every night -was frosty; so we sweat and smarted all day, and shivered by night, -for our blankets were hardly thick enough. We used to remark on rising -in the morning that Alaska was a delightful country, with temperature -to suit every taste; no matter if one liked hot weather or moderate or -cold, if he would wait he would get it inside of twenty-four hours. - -We were tired when we started over the trail, and the journey was not -an easy one, for we carried blankets, food, cameras, and other small -necessaries. We camped in a small swamp the first night, where the -ground was so wet that we were obliged to curl up on the roots of -trees, close to the trunks, to keep out of the water. The second day -a forest fire blocked our journey, but we made our way through it, -treading swiftly over the burning ground and through the thick smoke: -then we emerged onto a bare rocky ridge, from which we could look down, -on the right, over the network of little valleys which feed Forty Mile -Creek, and on the other side over the tributaries of Sixty Mile Creek, -clearly defined as if on a map. The ridge on which we travelled was cut -up like the teeth of a saw, so that a large part of our time was spent -in climbing up and down. - -On the latter part of the second day we found no wood, and at night we -could hardly prepare food enough to keep our stomachs from sickening. -My feet had become raw at the start from hard boots, and every step -was a torture; yet the boots could not be taken off, for the trail was -covered with small sharp stones, and the packs on our backs pressed -heavily downward. The third day we separated, each descending from the -mountain ridge into one of the little gulches, in which we could see -the white tents or the brown cabins of the miners, with smoke rising -here and there. My way led me down a rocky ridge and then abruptly into -the valley of Miller Creek. As I sat down and rested, surveying the -little valley well dotted with shanties, two men came climbing up the -trail and sat down to chat. They were going to the spot on Forty Mile -Creek which we had just left--there was a keg of whisky "cached" there -and they had been selected a committee of two by the miners to escort -the aforesaid booze into camp. They were alternately doleful at the -prospect of the sixty mile tramp and jubilant over the promised whisky, -for, as they informed us, the camp had been "dry for some time." - -Descending into the camp where the men were busily working, I stopped -to watch them. Gaunt, muscular, sweating, they stood in their long -boots in the wet gravel and shovelled it above their heads into -"sluice boxes,"--a series of long wooden troughs in which a continuous -current of water was running. The small material was carried out of -the lower end of the sluices by the water. Here and there the big -stones choked the current and a man with a long shovel was continuously -occupied with cleaning the boxes of such accumulations. Everybody was -working intensely. The season is short in Alaska and the claim-owner -is generally a hustler; and men who are paid ten dollars a day for -shovelling must jump to earn their money. - -Strangers were rare on Miller Creek in those days, and everybody -stopped a minute to look and answer my greetings politely, but there -was no staring, and everybody went on with his work without asking -any questions. Men are courteous in rough countries, where each one -must travel on his merits and fight his own battles, and where social -standing or previous condition of servitude count for nothing. I -wandered slowly down from claim to claim. They were all working, one -below the other, for this was the best part of one of the oldest and -richest gulches of the Forty Mile district. One man asked me where I -was going to sleep, and on my telling him that I had not thought of it, -replied that there were some empty log cabins a little distance below. -Further down a tall, dark, mournful man addressed me in broken English, -with a Canadian French accent, and put the same question. - -"I work on ze night shift to-night," he continued, "so I do not sleep -in my bed. You like, you no fin' better, you is very welcome, sair, to -sleep in my cabine, in my bed." - -I accepted gratefully, for I was very tired; so the Frenchman conducted -me to a cabin about six feet square and insisted upon cooking a little -supper for me. He was working for day's wages, he answered to my rather -blunt questions, but hoped that he would earn enough this summer and -the next winter to buy an outfit and enough "grub" to go prospecting -for himself, on the Tanana, which had not been explored and where he -believed there must be gold; prospectors get very firmly convinced of -such things with no real reason. - -After supper he darkened the windows for me and went to work. I sought -the comfort of a wooden bunk, covering myself with a dirty bed-quilt. -It was very ancient and perhaps did not smell sweet, but what did I -care? It was Heaven. The darkness was delicious. I had not known real -darkness for so long throughout the summer--always sleeping out of -doors in the light of the Alaskan night--that I had felt continually -strained and uncomfortable for the lack of it, and this darkened cabin -came to me like the sweetest of opiates. - -When I awoke the Frenchman was preparing breakfast. I had slept some -ten hours without moving. There was only one tin plate, one cup, and -one knife and fork, and he insisted upon my eating with them, while he -stood by and gravely superintended, urging more slapjacks upon me. I -suddenly felt ashamed that I had told him neither my name nor business, -for although I had questioned him freely, he had not manifested -the slightest curiosity. So without being asked I volunteered some -information about myself. He listened attentively and politely, -but without any great interest. It was quite apparent that the most -important thing to him was that I was a stranger. Soon after breakfast -I thanked him warmly and went away--I knew enough of miners not to -insult him by offering him money for his hospitality. - -The night shift of shovellers had given way to the day shift, and work -was going on as fiercely as ever. The bottoms of all these gulches are -covered with roughly stratified shingle, most of which slides down from -the steep hillsides of the creek. Among the rocks on the hillsides -are many quartz veins, which carry "iron pyrite" or "fool's gold"; -these often contain small specks of real gold. So when all the rubble -gets together and is broken up in the bottom of the stream, where the -water flows through it, the different materials in the rocks begin to -separate one from another, more or less, according to the difference -in their weights and the fineness of the fragments into which they -are broken. Now gold is the heaviest of metals, and the result is, -that through all this jostling and crowding it gradually works itself -down to the bottom of the heap, and generally quite to the solid rock -below. This has been found to be the case nearly everywhere. In process -of time the gravel accumulations become quite thick; in Miller Creek, -for example, they varied from three or four feet at the head of the -valley, where I was, to fifty or sixty at the mouth. But all the upper -gravels are barren and valueless. Where the gravels are not deep, they -are simply shovelled off and out of the way, till the lower part, where -the gold lies, is laid bare; this work generally takes a year, during -which time there is no return for the labor. - -Once the pay gravel--as it is called--is reached, a long wooden trough -called a "sluice," is constructed, the current turned through it, -and the gravel shovelled in. This work can only be carried on in the -summer-time, when the water is not frozen, so that the warm months are -the time for hustling, day and night shifts being employed, with as -many men on each as can work conveniently together. In case the barren -overlying gravel is very deep, the miners wait until it is frozen -and then sink shafts to the pay dirt, which they take out by running -tunnels and excavating chambers or "stopes" along the bed rock. In -this work they do not use blasting, but build a small fire wherever -they wish to penetrate, and as soon as the gravel thaws they shovel it -up and convey it out, meanwhile pushing the fire ahead so that more -may thaw out. In this way they accumulate the pay dirt in a heap on -the surface, and as soon as warm weather comes they shovel it into the -sluices as before. - -At the time of my visit, the construction of the sluices was a work of -considerable labor, for as there was no sawmill in the country, the -boards from which they were made had to be sawed by hand out of felled -trees. - -In the last few of the trough-sections or sluice-boxes, slats are -placed, sometimes transverse, sometimes lengthwise, sometimes oblique, -sometimes crossed, forming a grating--all patterns have nearly the same -effect, namely, to catch the gold and the other heavy minerals by means -of vortexes which are created. Thus behind these slats or "riffles" -the gold lodges, while the lighter and barren gravel is swept by the -current of water out of the trough, and the heavy stones are thrust -out by the shovel of the miner. Nearly the same process as that which -in nature concentrates gold at the bottom of the gravels and on top of -the bed-rock is adopted by man to cleanse the gold perfectly from the -attendant valueless minerals. - -[Illustration: WASHING THE GRAVEL IN SLUICE-BOXES.] - -Everybody was hospitable along the gulch. I had five different -invitations to dinner,--hearty ones, too--and some were loath to be -put off with the plea of previous engagement. They were all eager for -news from the outside world, from which they had not heard since the -fall before; keenly interested in political developments, at home and -abroad. They were intelligent and better informed than the ordinary -man, for in the long winter months there is little to do but to sleep -and read. They develop also a surprising taste for solid literature; -nearly everywhere Shakespeare seemed to be the favorite author, all -nationalities and degrees of education uniting in the general liking. -A gulch that had a full set of Shakespeare considered itself in for a -rather cozy winter; and there were regular Shakespeare clubs, where -each miner took a certain character to read. Books of science, and -especially philosophy, were also widely sought. It has been my theory -that in conditions like this, where there are not the thousand and one -stimuli to fritter away the intellectual energy, the mental qualities -become stronger and keener and the little that is done is done with -surprising vigor and clearness. - -Down the creek I found a Swede, working over the gravels on a claim -that had already been washed once. He had turned off the water from the -sluice-boxes and was scraping up the residue from among the riffles. -Mostly black heavy magnetic iron particles with many sparkling yellow -grains of gold, green hornblendes and ruby-colored garnets. He put -all this into a gold pan, (a large shallow steel pan such as used in -the first stages of prospecting), and proceeded to "pan out" the gold -yet a little more. He immersed the vessel just below the surface of -a pool of water, and by skillful twirlings caused the contents to be -agitated, and while the heavier particles sank quickly to the bottom, -he continuously worked off the lighter ones, allowing them to flow -out over the edge of the pan. Yet he was very careful that no bit of -gold should escape, and when he had carried this process as far as he -could, he invited me into his cabin to see him continue the separation. - -Here he spread the "dust" on the table and began blowing it with a -small hand-bellows. The garnets, the hornblendes and the fragments -of quartz, being lighter than the rest, soon rolled out to one side, -leaving only the gold and the magnetic iron. Then with a hand magnet he -drew the iron out from the gold, leaving the noble yellow metal nearly -pure, in flakes and irregular grains. As the material he had separated -still contained some gold, he put this aside to be treated with -quicksilver. The quicksilver is poured into the dust, where it forms -an amalgam with the gold: it is then strained off, and the amalgam is -distilled--the quicksilver is vaporized, leaving the gold behind. - -This man had his wife with him, a tired, lonely looking woman. I asked -her if there were no more women on the creek. She said no; there was -another woman over on Glacier Creek, and she wanted so much to see her -sometimes, but she was not a good woman, so she could not go. She was -lonely, she said; she had been here three years and had not seen a -woman. - -From some of the miners I obtained a pair of Indian moccasins, which -I padded well with hay and cloth to make them easy for my chafing -feet; then I slung my own heavy boots on top of my pack and the next -morning bade the gulch good-bye, feeling strengthened from my rest. As -I climbed out of the gulch I met the miners who had gone as a committee -to escort the whisky, arriving with it, white and speckled with -fatigue, speaking huskily, (but not from drinking), yet triumphant. The -day was cool and when one is alone one is apt to travel hard; but the -unwonted lightness of my feet and the freedom from pain encouraged me, -so I set my Indian moccasins into a regular Indian trot, and by noon -had covered the entire fifteen miles that constituted the first half of -the journey. This brought me to a locality dignified by the name of the -"Half-Way House," from a tent-fly of striped drilling left by some one, -in which the miners were accustomed to pass the night in their journeys -over the trail. Here I found Schrader, who had arrived late the night -before and was preparing to make a start. We lighted a fire and made -some tea, which with corned beef and crackers, made up our lunch. -While we were eating, our old companion Pete, with two more miners, -came in from the opposite direction to that from which we had come; he -was on his way to visit his old claim on Miller Creek. Afterwards we -got away, and kept up a steady Indian trot till we reached our camp on -Forty Mile Creek at about six o'clock. - -We found Goodrich already arrived and wrestling with the cooking, -with which he was having tremendously hard luck. This travelling -thirty miles in one day, carrying an average of thirty-five pounds, I -considered something of an achievement; but the tiredness which came -the next day showed that the energy meant for a long time had been -drawn upon. - -[Illustration: "TRACKING" A BOAT UPSTREAM.] - -For four days after that we worked our way up Forty Mile Creek, making -on an average seven or eight miles a day. Mosquitoes were abundant, -and the weather showery. We used the same method of pulling and poling -as before,--a laborious process and one calculated to ruin the most -angelic disposition. The river was very low and consequently full of -rapids and "riffles," as the miners call the shallow places over which -the water splashes. On many of these riffles our boat stuck fast, and -we dragged it over the rocks by sheer force, wading out and grasping -it by the gunwale. Again, where there were many large boulders piled -together in deep water, the boat would stick upon one, and we would be -obliged to wade out again and pilot it through by hand, now standing -dry upon a high boulder, and now floundering waist deep in the cold -water at some awkward step--maybe losing temper and scolding our -innocent companions for having shoved the boat too violently. - -We generally worked till late, and began cooking our supper in -the dusk--which was now beginning to come--over a camp-fire whose -glare dazzled us so that when we tossed our flapjack into the air, -preparatory to browning its raw upper side, we often lost sight of it -in the gloom, and it sprawled upon the fire, or fell ignominiously over -the edge of the frying-pan. Those were awful moments; no one dared to -laugh at the cook then. We took turns at cooking, and patience was -the watchword. The cook needed it and much more so, those on whom -he practiced. One of our number produced a series of slapjacks once -which rivalled my famous Chilkoot biscuit. They were leaden, flabby, -wretched. We ate one apiece, and ate nothing else for a week, for, as -the woodsmen say, it "stuck to our ribs" wonderfully. - -"How much baking powder did you put in with the flour?" we asked the -cook. - -"How should I know?" he answered, indignantly. "What was right, of -course." - -"Did you measure it?" We persisted, for the slapjack was irritating us -inside. - -"Anybody," replied the cook, with crushing dignity, "who knows -anything, knows how much baking powder to put in with flour without -measuring it. I just used common sense." So we concluded that he had -put in too much common sense and not enough baking powder. - -Just above where the river divides into two nearly equal forks, the -water grew so shallow that we could not drag our boat further, so we -hauled it up and filled it with green boughs to prevent it from drying -and cracking in the sun; then we built a "cache." - -It may be best to explain the word "cache," so freely used in Alaska. -The term came from the French Canadian voyageurs or trappers; it is -pronounced "cash" and comes from the French _cacher_, to hide. So a -cache is something hidden, and was applied by these woodsmen to hidden -supplies and other articles of value, which could not be carried about, -being secreted until the owners should come that way again. In Alaska, -when anything was thus left, a high platform of poles was built, -supported by the trunks of slender trees, and the goods were left on -this platform, covered in some way against the ravages of wild animals. -To this structure the name "cache" came to be applied; and later was -extended to the storehouses wherein the natives kept their winter -supplies of fish and smoked meat, for these houses have a somewhat -similar structure, being built on top of upright poles like the old -Swiss lake-dwellings. - -[Illustration: A "CACHE."] - -The next morning we shouldered our pack-sacks, containing our -blankets, a little food, and other necessities, and were again on the -tramp, this time having no trail, however, but being obliged to keep on -the side of the stream. Here, as below, the river flowed in one nearly -continuous canyon, but on one side or the other flats had been built -out on the side where the current was slackest, while on the opposite -side was deep water quite up to the bold cliffs; and since the current -sweeps from side to side, one encounters levels and gravel flats, and -high rocks, on the same side. Many of the cliffs we scaled, crawling -gingerly along the almost perpendicular side of the rock. The constant -temptation in such climbing is to go higher, where it always looks -easier, but when one gets up it seems impossible to return. However, we -had no accidents, which, considering how awkward our packs made us, was -lucky. At other times we waded the stream to avoid the cliffs. - -At night we reached the mouth of Franklin Gulch, where active mining -had been going on for some time. The miners were almost out of food, -the boat which ordinarily brought provisions from Forty Mile Post -having been unable to get up, on account of the low water. Yet they -gave us freely what they could. We took possession of an empty log -cabin, lighted a fire and toasted some trout which they gave us, -and this with crackers and bacon made our meal; then we discovered -some bunks with straw in them, which we agreed were gilt-edged, and -proceeded to make use of them without delay. Only a few of the total -number of miners were here, the rest having gone over the mountain to -Chicken Creek, where the latest find of gold was reported. The men had -not heard from "the outside" for some time. Even Forty Mile Post was a -metropolis for them and they were glad to hear from it. They had few -books and only a couple of newspapers three years old. - -"Doesn't it get very dull here?" we asked of an old stager; "what do -you do for amusement?" - -"Do!" he echoed with grave humor, "Do! why, God bless you, we 'ave very -genteel amusements. As for readin' an' litrachure an' all that, wy, -dammit, wen the fust grub comes in the spring, we 'ave a meetin' an' we -call all the boys together an' we app'int a chairman an' then some one -reads from the directions on the bakin'-powder boxes." - -I set out alone for Chicken Creek the next morning, following a line -of blazed trees up over the mountain from Franklin Creek. I had been -told that once up on the divide one could look right down into Chicken -Creek, and I have no doubt that this is true, for on attaining the top -of the hill a stretch of country twenty miles across was spread out -before me as on a map, while directly below was a considerable branch -of Forty Mile Creek, divided into many closely adjacent gulches. One -of these must be Chicken Creek, but which? There were no tents and no -smoke visible, much as the eye might strain through the field-glasses. -Just here the trail gave out, the blazer having evidently grown tired -of blazing. Thinking to obtain a better view into the valley, I set -out along the hill which curved around it, tramping patiently along -until nearly night over the sharp ridges, but without ever seeing any -signs of life in the great desolate country below me. When the dark -shadows were striking the valleys, I caught sight of what appeared to -be a faint smoke in the heart of a black timbered gulch, and I made -straightway down the mountain-side for it, hurrying for fear the fire -should be extinguished before I could get close enough to it to find -the place. I had no doubt that this came from the log cabin of some -prospector, who would be only too glad to welcome a weary stranger with -a warm supper and a blanket on the floor. - -On getting down, away from the bare rocks on the mountain ridge, I -found deep moss, tiresome to my wearied limbs, and further down great -areas of "niggerheads"--the terror of travellers in the northern -swamps. These niggerheads are tufts of vegetation which grow upwards by -successive accumulations till they are knee high or even more. They are -scattered thickly about, but each tuft is separated completely from all -the rest, leaving hardly space to step between; if one attempts to walk -on top of them he will slip off, so there is nothing to do but to walk -on the ground, lifting the legs over the obstacles with great exertion. -The tops of the tufts are covered with long grass, which droops down on -all sides, whence the name niggerheads,--_tetes de femme_ or women's -heads is the name given them by the French Canadian voyageurs. - -Still lower the brush and vines became so thick that it was almost -impossible to force the way through in places. At last I emerged upon -a grey lifeless area which seemed to have been burned over. There were -no trees or plants, but the bare blackened sticks of what had once -been a young growth of spruce still stood upright, though some trunks -had fallen and lay piled, obstacles to travelling. The whole looked -peculiarly forlorn. A little further I came to the spot where I had -seen the smoke. There was nothing but a stagnant pool covered so deep -with green scum that one caught only an occasional glimpse of the black -water beneath, and from this, unsavory mists were rising in the chill -of the evening air. I had mistaken these vapors for smoke from my post -miles up the mountain. My dream of a log cabin and a blanket went up -likewise in smoke. - -It was now eleven o'clock at night, and twilight; I had walked at least -twenty miles through a rough country and could go no further. So I -broke off the smaller dried trees and sticks and lighted a fire, then -I ate some crackers and bacon that I had with me, but I did not dare -to drink the water of the stagnant pool, which was all there was to -be had. The night grew frosty, and I had no blankets; but I lay down -close to the fire and caught fifteen-minute naps. Once I woke with -the smell of burning cloth in my nostrils: in my sleep I had edged -too close to the grateful warmth, and my coat and the notebook in my -pocket, containing all my season's notes, had caught fire. I rolled -over on them and crushed out the fire with my fingers, and after that -I shivered away a little further from the fire. At about three o'clock -it grew light enough to see the surrounding country, and I started -out again for the first point I had reached on the ridge the morning -before, thinking to get back to Franklin Gulch, for I was thoroughly -exhausted. On reaching the ridge, however, I met a miner coming over -the trail; he agreed to pilot me to the new prospects, so I turned back -again. - -There were fifteen or twenty men in the gulch which we finally reached, -all living in tents in a very primitive way, and all very short of -provisions, yet, hospitable to the last morsel, they freely offered -the best they had. They were poor, too; everybody does not get rich in -the gold diggings, even in Alaska. In fact, previous to the Klondike -discovery, the largest net sum of money taken out by any one man was -about $30,000, while hundreds could not pay for their provisions or -get enough to buy a ticket out of the country. The Klondike, too, has -been badly lied about. Not one man in twenty who goes there makes more -than a bare living, and many have to "hustle" for that harder than -they would at home. So the hospitality of the miners, such as I found -it nearly everywhere on the Yukon, is not a mere act of courtesy which -costs nothing, but the genuine unselfishness which cheerfully divides -the last crust with a passing stranger. - -Having been strengthened by two square meals, simple but sufficient, -I started back for Franklin Gulch the same night. It began to rain in -torrents on the way, and this, as usual, drove out the mosquitoes and -made them unusually savage. They attacked me in such numbers that in -spite of my gloves and veil I was nearly frantic. The best relief was -to stride along at a good round pace, for this kept most of the pests -at my back, and gave me a vent for my wrought-up nerves; and at the -same time I had the satisfaction of knowing I was "getting there." The -thong of my moccasin became undone, but I did not dare to stop to tie -it, but kept plunging along, shuffling it with me. I reached our cabin -at the mouth of Franklin Gulch, and the sight of the bunk with straw in -it, and the familiar grey blanket, was sweet to me. - -Next day we bade the miners at the creek's mouth good-bye, with -promises to hurry up the provision-boat if possible, and made our way -to where we had left our boat and cache. The next morning we launched -the Skookum again, and began our journey back. Going down was quicker -work than coming up, not so laborious, and far more exciting. Owing -to the lowness of the water, the stream was one succession of small -rapids, which were full of boulders; and to steer the boat, careering -like a race horse, among these, was a pretty piece of work. One pulled -the oars to give headway, another steered, and the third stood in the -bow, pole in hand, to fend us off from such rocks as we were in danger -of striking. We soon found that the safest part of such a rapid is -where the waves are roughest, for here the water, rebounding from the -shallow shore on either side, meets in a narrow channel, where it -tosses and foams, yet here is the only place where there is no danger -of striking. - -The second day out we ran twenty-five or thirty of these rapids. In -running through one we pulled aside to avoid a large boulder sticking -up in midstream, and then saw in front of us another boulder just at -the surface, which we had not before noticed. It was too late, however, -and the boat stuck fast in a second, and began to turn over from the -force of the water behind. With one accord we all leaped out of the -boat, expecting to find foothold somewhere among the boulders, and -hold the boat or shove her off so that she should not capsize; but -none of us touched bottom, though we sank to our necks, still grasping -the gunwale of the boat. Our being out, however, made the boat so much -lighter that she immediately slipped over the rock and went gloriously -down the rapid, broadside, we hanging on. As soon as we could we -clambered in, each grasped a paddle or oars or pole, and by great good -luck we had no further accident. - -Some distance further down we again sighted white water ahead, where -the stream ran hard against a perpendicular cliff. Some miners were -"rocking" gravel for gold in the bars just above; and we yelled to them -to know if we could run the rapids. - -"Yes," came the answer, "if you're a d----d good man!" - -"All right--thanks!" we cried, and sailed serenely through. This was -known by the cheerful name of Dead Man's Riffle. Owing to the strong -wind blowing, the mosquitoes were not very annoying these few days; -the sun was warm and bright, and the hillsides were covered thickly -with a carmine flower which gave them a general brilliant appearance. -These things, with the exhilaration of running rapids, made a sort of -vacation--an outing, a picnic, as it were--in contrast to our previous -hard work. When we got to the Miller Creek trail we took on a couple -of miners who wanted to get out of the country, but had no boat in -which to go down to Forty Mile Post. They had worked for some time and -had barely succeeded in making enough to buy food, and now, a little -homesick and discouraged, they had made up their minds to try to get -out and back to "God's country" as they called it--Colorado. With their -help we let our boat down through the "Canyon" safely, and the next -day,--the 29th of July,--arrived at Forty Mile Post. - -At the Post we found that plenty was reigning, for the first steamboat -had arrived, bringing a lot of sorely-needed provisions. The trader in -charge gave us a fine lunch of eggs, moosemeat, canned asparagus, and -other delicacies, and then we took possession of a deserted log cabin. -On ransacking around we found a Yukon lamp, consisting of a twisted bit -of cotton stuck into a pint bottle of seal oil, and when it began to -grow dusk we lighted it and sat down at the table and wrote home to our -friends; for the steamer had gone further up the river and would return -in a few days, so that letters sent down by her would probably be ahead -of us in getting home--eight thousand miles! We had laid in a new stock -of provisions. Flour, I remember was $8.00 for 100 pounds, and we -managed to get a few of the last eggs which the steamer had brought, -at $1.00 a dozen. - -The Skookum had suffered considerably in our Forty Mile trip, and we -spent a large part of the next day in patching her, plugging her seams -with oakum and sealing them with hot pitch. One of our number, who was -cooking for the boat-menders, suddenly appeared on the scene, chasing -a pack of yelping dogs with our long camp-axe. He had gone to the -woodpile for a moment, leaving the door ajar. At this moment a grey -dog whose tail had been cut off somehow, was looking around the log -house opposite--he had been on guard and watching our door for the last -twenty-four hours. He uttered a low yelp which brought a dozen others -together from all quarters, all lean, strong and sneaking; and they -slipped into our door. When the cook turned from the woodpile a minute -later he was just in time to aim a billet at the last one as he emerged -from the cabin with our cheese in his mouth. They fled swiftly and were -not to be caught: and an examination showed that they had, in their -silent and well organized raid, cleaned our larder thoroughly, having -eaten the delicacies on the spot and carried off nearly all the rest. - -[Illustration: NATIVE DOGS.] - -The Indian dog is a study, for he is much unlike his civilized brother. -He rarely barks, never at strangers, and takes no notice of a white man -who arrives in the village,--even though the village may never have -seen such a thing, and the children scream, the women flee, and the -men are troubled and silent--but he howls nights. A dog wakes up in -the middle of the night, yawns, looks at the stars, and listens. There -is not a sound. "How dull and stupid it is here in Ouklavigamute," -he thinks; "not nearly as lively as it was in Mumtreghloghmembramute. -There we had fights nearly every night, sometimes twice. If I only -knew a dog I was sure I could lick--anyhow, here goes for a good long -howl. I'll show them that there is a dog in town with spirit enough to -make a noise, anyhow." With that he tunes up--do, re, mi, tra-la-la, -dulce, crescendo, grand Wagnerian smash. The other dogs wake up and one -nudges the other and says, "Oh, my, what a lark! Isn't it fun! Let's -yell too--whoop, roo, riaow!" And just as men get excited at a football -game, or an election, or when the fire-alarm rings, these dogs yell -and grow red in the face. Then the inhabitants wake up and get out -after the dogs, who run and yelp; and after a while each cur crawls -into a hiding-place and goes to sleep. In the morning they wake up and -wriggle their tails. "What enthusiasm there was last night--but--er--I -didn't quite catch on to the idea--of course I yelled to help the other -fellows--it's such fun being enthusiastic, you know." - -This happens every night. The Indian dog makes it a point to stand -around like a bump on a log and look stupid; when he has fooled you to -that extent he will surprise you some day by a daring theft, for he is -clever as a man and quick as an express train. - - - - -CHAPTER V. -THE AMERICAN CREEK DIGGINGS. - - -From Forty Mile we floated down the Yukon again, and in a day's journey -camped at the mouth of Mission Creek, not then down on the map. It had -received its name from miners who had come there prospecting. Several -of them were encamped in tents, and they came over and silently watched -our cooking, evidently sizing us up. - -"When did you leave the Outside?" asked a blue-eyed, blonde, shaggy -man. (The Outside means anywhere but Alaska--a man who has been long in -the country falls into the idea of considering himself in a kind of a -prison, and refers to the rest of the world as lying beyond the door of -this.) - -"In June," we replied. - -"How did the Harvard-Yale football game come out last fall?" he -inquired eagerly--it was now August, and nearly time for the next! - -"Harvard was whipped, of course," we answered. - -"Look here," he said, firing up, "you needn't say 'of course.' Harvard -is _my_ college!" - -I was engaged in reinforcing my overalls with a piece of bacon sack; I -could not help being amused at this fair-haired savage being a college -man. "That makes no difference," I replied. "Harvard's _our_ college -too--all of us." - -"What are you giving me?" he ejaculated, and at first I thought he -looked a little angry, as if he thought we were trifling with him; and -then a little supercilious, as he surveyed the forlorn condition of my -clothing, which the removal of the overalls I wore instead of trousers -had exposed. - -"Hard facts," I said. "Classes of '92 and '93. Lend me your -sheath-knife." - -"Why-ee!" he exclaimed. "Ninety-three's my class. Shake!--Rah, -rah, rah! Who are we?--You know!--Who are we? We are Harvard -ninety-three--what can we do?--WHAT CAN WE DO?--We can -lick Harvard ninety-two--cocka-doodle-doodle-doo--Harvard, -Harvard--ninety-two--hooray!" - -The next day we tramped over to American Creek together, where some -new gold diggings were just being developed. The Harvard miner had -had no tea for several months, as he told us (and one who has been -living in Alaska knows what a serious thing that is) so we brought a -pound package along to make a drink for lunch. At American Creek we -got a large tomato can outside of a miner's cabin, and the Harvard man -offered to do the brewing. - -"How much shall I put in?" he asked. - -"Suit yourself," was the answer. - -He took a tremendous handful. "Is this too much?" he asked, -apologetically. "You see, I haven't had tea for three months, and I -feel like having a good strong cup." We assured him that the strength -of the drink was to be limited only by his own desires. He was tempted -to another handful, and so little by little, till half the package was -in the can. When he was satisfied, we told him to keep the remaining -half pound for the next time. He was disappointed. - -"If I had known you intended giving it to me," he replied, "I wouldn't -have used so much." We drank the tea eagerly, for we were tired, but my -head spun afterwards. - -There were some paying claims already on this creek--it was a little -stream which one could leap at almost any point--and on the day we -arrived we saw the clean-up in one of them. It was very dazzling to see -the coarse gold that was scraped from the riffles of the sluice-boxes -into the baking-powder cans which were used to store it. There was gold -of all sizes, from fine dust up to pieces as big as pumpkin seed; but -this was the result of a week's work of several men, and much time had -been spent in getting the claim ready before work could begin. Still, -the results were very good, the clean-up amounting, I was told, to -"thirty dollars to the shovel"--that is, thirty dollars a day to each -man shovelling gravel into the sluices. - -On the edge of the stream the rock, a rusty slate, lay loosely; one of -the miners was thrusting his pick among the pieces curiously, and on -turning one over showed the crevice beneath filled with flat pieces of -yellow gold of all sizes. They were very thin and probably worth only -about five dollars in all, but lying as they did the sight was enough -to give one the gold fever, if he did not yet have it. The Harvard -man and his companion were immediately seized with a violent attack, -and set off down the stream to stake out claims, meanwhile talking -over plans of wintering here, so as to be early on the ground the next -spring. - -I slept on the floor of a miner's cabin that night and the next morning -made my way back to our camp on the Yukon. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. -THE BIRCH CREEK DIGGINGS. - - -The next night we reached that part of the river where Circle City -was put down on the map we carried, but not finding it, camped on a -gravelly beach beneath a timbered bluff. When we went up the bluff to -get wood for our fire the mosquitoes fairly drove us back and continued -bothering us all night, biting through our blankets and giving us very -little peace, though we slept with our hats, veils, and gloves on. We -afterwards found that Circle City had at first been actually started at -about this point, but was soon afterwards moved further down, to where -we found it the next day. - -We had been looking forward to our arrival in this place for several -reasons, one of which was that we had had no fresh meat for over a -month, and hoped to find moose or caribou for sale. As our boat came -around the bend and approached the settlement of log huts dignified -by the name of Circle City, we noticed quite a large number of people -crowding down to the shore to meet us, and as soon as we got within -hailing distance one of the foremost yelled out: - -"Got any moose meat?" - -When we answered "No," the crowd immediately dispersed and we did not -need to inquire about the supply of fresh meat in camp. - -We landed in front of the Alaska Commercial Company's store, kept by -Jack McQuesten. On jumping ashore, I went up immediately, in search -of information, and as I stepped in I heard my name called in a loud -voice. I answered promptly "Here," with no idea of what was wanted, for -there was a large crowd in the store; but from the centre of the room -something was passed from hand to hand towards me, which proved to be -a package of letters from home--the first news I had received for over -two months. On inquiry I found that the mail up the river had just -arrived, and the storekeeper, who was also postmaster _ex officio_, -had begun calling out the addresses on the letters to the expectant -crowd of miners, and had got to my name as I entered the door--a -coincidence, I suppose, but surely a pleasant and striking one. - -We obtained lodgings in a log house, large for Circle City, since -it contained two rooms. It was already occupied by two customhouse -officers, the only representatives of Uncle Sam whom we encountered -in the whole region. One room had been used as a storeroom and -carpenter-shop, and here, on the shavings, we spread out our blankets -and made ourselves at home. - -The building had first been built as a church by missionaries, but -as they were absent for some time after its completion, one room was -fitted up with a bar by a newly arrived enterprising liquor-dealer, -till the officers, armed in their turn with the full sanction of the -church, turned the building into a customhouse and hoisted the American -flag, on a pole fashioned out of a slim spruce by the customs officer -himself. The officers, when we came there, were sleeping days and -working nights on the trail of some whisky smugglers who were in the -habit of bringing liquor down the river from Canadian territory, in -defiance of the American laws. - -There were only a few hundred men in Circle City at this time, most of -the miners being away at the diggings, for this was one of the busiest -times of the year. These diggings were sixty miles from the camp, and -were only to be reached by a foot trail which led through wood and -swamp. Several newcomers in the country were camped around the post, -waiting for cooler weather before starting out on the trail, for the -mosquitoes, they said, were frightful. It was said that nobody had been -on the trail for two weeks, on this account, and blood-curdling stories -were told of the torments of some that had dared to try, and how strong -men had sat down on the trail to sob, quite unable to withstand the -pest. However, we had seen mosquitoes before, and the next morning -struck out for the trail. - -It was called a wagon road, the brush and trees having been cut out -sufficiently wide for a wagon to pass; taken as a footpath, however, -it was just fair. The mosquitoes were actually in clouds; they were of -enormous size, and had vigorous appetites. It was hot, too, so that -their bites smarted worse than usual. The twelve miles, which the trail -as far as the crossing of Birch Creek had been said to be, lengthened -out into an actual fifteen, over low rolling country, till we descended -a sharp bluff to the stream. Here a hail brought a boatman across to -ferry us to the other side, where there stood two low log houses facing -one another, and connected overhead by their projecting log roofs. - -[Illustration: ON THE TRAMP AGAIN.] - -This was the Twelve Mile Cache, a road-house for miners, and here we -spent the night. Each of the buildings contained but a single room, -one house being used as a sleeping apartment, the other as kitchen -and dining-room. The host had no chairs to offer us, but only long -benches; and there were boxes and stumps for those who could not find -room on the benches, which were shorter than the tables. We ate out of -tin dishes and had only the regulation bacon, beans and apple-sauce, -yet it was with a curious feeling that we sat down to the meal and got -up from it, as if we were enjoying a little bit of luxury--for so it -seemed to us then. There were eleven of us who slept in the building -which had been set apart for sleeping; we all provided our own blankets -and slept on the floor, which was no other than the earth, and was so -full of humps and hollows, and projecting sharp sticks where saplings -had been cut off, that one or the other of the company was in misery -nearly all night, and roused the others with his cursings and growling. -The eight who were not of our party were miners returning from the -diggings with their season's earnings of gold in the packs strapped to -their backs; they all carried big revolvers and were on the lookout for -possible highwaymen. - -On getting up we washed in the stream, ate breakfast, and prepared to -start out again. In the fine, bright morning light we noticed a sign -nailed up on the dining cabin, which we had not seen in the dusk of -the preceding evening. It was a notice to thieves, and a specimen of -miners' law in this rough country. - - - NOTICE. - TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. - - _At a general meeting of miners held in Circle City it was - the unanimous Verdict that all thieving and stealing shall - be punished by WHIPPING AT THE POST AND BANISHMENT FROM THE - COUNTRY, the severity of the whipping and the guilt of the - accused to be determined by the Jury._ - - SO ALL THIEVES BEWARE. - -Our packs were about twenty-five pounds each, and contained blankets, -a little corned beef and crackers, and a few other necessities: they -were heavy enough before the day was over. From Twelve Mile Cache to -the diggings we travelled over what was called the Hog'em trail, since -it led to the gulch of that name: it ran for the whole distance through -a swamp, and was said to be a very good trail in winter--in summer -it was vile. We had been informed of a way which branched off from -the Hog'em route and ran over drier ground to a road-house called the -"Central House," but we were unable to pick up this; and we discovered -afterwards that it had been blazed from the Central House, but that the -blazing had been discontinued two or three miles before reaching the -junction of the Hog'em trail, the axe-man having got tired, or having -gone home for his dinner and forgotten to come back. So people like -ourselves, starting for the diggings, invariably followed the Hog'em -trail, whether they would or not, and those coming out of the diggings -and returning by way of the Central House, followed the blazes through -the woods till they stopped, and then wandered ahead blindly, often -getting lost. - -The Hog'em trail was a continuous bed of black, soft, stinking, -sticky mud, for it had been well travelled over. At times there was -thick moss; and again broad pools of water of uncertain depth, with -mud bottoms, to be waded through; and long stretches covered with -"nigger-heads." We walked twelve miles of this trail without stopping -or eating, for the mosquitoes were bloodthirsty, and even hunger can -hardly tempt a man to bestride a "nigger-head" and lunch under such -conditions. We arrived at night at what was called the "Jump-Off,"--a -sharp descent which succeeded a gradual rise--where we found two sturdy -men, both old guides from the Adirondacks, engaged in felling the trees -which grew on the margin of the stream, and piling them into a log -house. This they intended to use as a road-house, for the travel here -was considerable, especially in the winter. In the meantime they were -living in a tent, yet maintained a sort of hostelry for travellers, in -that they dispensed meals to them. As soon as they were through with -the big log they were getting into place when we arrived, they built a -fire on the ground and cooked supper, after which we were invited to -spread our blankets, with the stars and the grey sky for a shelter. -They made some apologies at not being able to offer us a tent--theirs -was a tiny affair,--and promised better accommodations if we would come -back a month from then, when the cabin would be finished and the chinks -neatly plugged with muck and moss. - -The next day's journey was again twelve miles, over about the same -kind of trail. Crossing a sluggish stream which was being converted -into a swamp by encroaching vegetation, we were obliged to wade nearly -waist deep, and then our feet rested on such oozy and sinking mud that -we did not know but the next moment we might disappear from sight -entirely. Further on, the trail ran fair into a small lake, whose -shores we had to skirt. There was no trail around, but much burnt and -felled timber lay everywhere, and climbing over this, balancing our -packs in the meantime, was "such fun." Sometimes we would jump down -from a high log, and, slipping a little, our packs would turn us around -in the air, and we would fall on our backs, sprawling like turtles, and -often unable to get out of our awkward position without help from our -comrades. - -Reedy lakes such as this, fringed with moss and coarse grass, with -stunted spruce a little distance away, are common through this swampy -country, and have something of the picturesque about them. The -surrounding vegetation is very abundant. Excellent cranberries are -found, bright red in color and small in size; and on a little drier -ground blue-berries nourish. Raspberries of good size, although borne -on bushes usually not more than two or three inches high, are also -here; and red and black currants. - -[Illustration: HOG'EM JUNCTION ROAD-HOUSE.] - -At the end of the second day we arrived at Hog'em Junction, where the -Hog'em trail unites with that leading off to the other gulches where -gold is found. Here was the largest road-house we had seen. There were -fifteen or twenty men hanging about, mostly miners returning or going -to the diggings, and a professional hunter--a sort of wild man, who -told thrilling stories of fighting bears. - -One of the structures we saw here was called the dog-corral and was -a big enclosure built of logs. Dogs were used to carry most of the -provisions to the Birch Creek diggings from Circle City, freighting -beginning as soon as the snow fell and everything froze hard. There was -a pack of these animals around the inn--a sneaking, cringing, hungry -lot, rarely barking at intruders or strangers, and easily cowed by a -man, but very prone to fight among themselves. They were all Indian -dogs, and were of two varieties; one long-haired, called Mahlemut, -from the fact that its home is among the Mahlemut Eskimo of the lower -Yukon; the other short-haired, and stouter. Both breeds are of large -size, and a good dog is capable of pulling as much as 400 pounds on a -sleigh, when the snow is very good, and the weather not too cold. The -dog-corral is used to put the sleighs in when the freighter arrives, -and the dogs are left outside, to keep them away from the provisions. -The winter price for freight from Circle City was seven cents per -pound; in summer it was forty. - -We ate breakfast and supper at Hog'em Junction, paying a dollar apiece -for the meals; and when we learned that the bacon which was served to -us had cost sixty-five cents a pound, the charge did not seem too much. -No good bacon was to be had, that which we ate being decidedly strong; -and even this kind had to be hunted after at this time of the year. Not -only was food very high in the diggings, but it could not always be -bought, so that in the winter, when freighting was cheap, enough could -not often be obtained to last through the next summer, and the miners -had to wait for the steamer to come up the Yukon. The Hog'em Junction -innkeeper paid twenty dollars for a case of evaporated fruit, such as -cost a dollar in San Francisco; condensed milk was one dollar a can, -and sugar eighty-five cents a pound. The previous winter beans brought -one dollar a pound, and butter two and a half dollars a roll. In summer -all prices were those of Circle City, plus forty cents freighting, plus -ten cents handling. So a sack of potatoes, which I was told would cost -twenty-five cents in the state of Washington, cost here eighty-five -dollars. Even in Circle City the prices, though comparatively low, were -not exactly what people would expect at a bargain counter in one of -our cities. Winchester rifles were sold for fifty dollars apiece, and -calico brought fifty cents a yard. Luckily there were few women folks -in the country at that time! - -Of the Hog'em Junction Inn I have little distinct recollection except -concerning the meals. We were so hungry when we reached there that -the food question was indelibly branded on our memory. For the rest -I remember that when supper was cleared away, the guests wrapped -themselves in their private blankets and lay down anywhere they thought -best. There was a log outhouse with some rude bunks filled with straw, -for those who preferred, so in a short time we were stowed away with -truly mediaeval simplicity, to sleep heavily until the summons came to -breakfast,--for there were no "hotel hours" for lazy guests at this -inn, and he who did not turn out for a seven o'clock breakfast could go -without. - -We three separated on leaving here, each taking a different trail, -so that we might see all of the gulches in a short space of time. I -shouldered my blankets and after a seven mile tramp through the brush -came to the foot of Hog'em Gulch, which was in a deep valley in the -hills that now rose above the plain. This gulch derived its name -from the fact that its discoverer tried to _hog_ all the claims for -himself, taking up some for his wife, his wife's brother, his brother, -and the niece of his wife's particular friend; even, it is said, -inventing fictitious personages that he might stake out claims for -them. The other miners disappointed him in his schemes for gain, and -they contemptuously called the creek "Hog'em." Afterwards a faction -of the claim-owners proposed to change the name to Deadwood, claiming -that it sounded better and was also appropriate, inasmuch as they had -got that variety of timber on the schemer. It was somewhat unkindly -asserted, however, by those who were not residents of the gulch, that -the first name was always the most appropriate, since the spirit of the -discoverer seemed to have gone down to his successors. - -Be that as it may, I noticed a remarkable difference between the men -whom I found working their claims along the creek and the miners of -Forty Mile. Nobody showed the slightest hospitality or friendliness, -except one man on the lower creek, who invited me to share his little -tent at night. He had not enough blankets to keep him warm, so I added -mine, and beneath them both we two slept very comfortably. In the -morning he cooked a very simple meal over a tiny fire outside of the -tent--wood was scarce along here--and invited me, with little talk, -to partake of it with him. He was evidently far from happy in this -cheerless existence; he was working for wages, which, to be sure, were -ten dollars a day, but with provisions as high as they were this was -nothing much, and the work was so hard that, great stalwart man as he -was, he had lost thirty pounds since he had begun. He would have liked -to return to the States, for he was somewhat discouraged, but he could -not save enough money to pay for the expensive passage out. I hope he -has struck it rich since then and brought back to his wife and babies -the fortune he went to seek! - -[Illustration: ON HOG'EM GULCH.] - -After I left this silent man, I found none who showed much interest. -Some of them were a little curious as to what I was doing, but most -of them were fiercely and feverishly working to make the most of the -hours and weeks which remained of the mining season; the run of gold -was ordinarily very good, and all were anxious to make as good a final -clean-up as possible. At dinner-time everybody rushed to their meal, -and I sat down by the side of the trail, ate stale corned beef, broken -crackers, and drank the creek water. When I was half-way through I -observed two young men in a tent munching their meal, but watching -me; and a sort of righteous indignation came upon me, as must always -seize the poor when he beholds the abundance of the rich man's table. I -walked into the tent and asked for a share of their dinner. They gave -me a place, but so surlily that I said hotly, "See here, I'll pay you -for this dinner, so don't be so stingy about it." The offer to pay was -an insult to the miner's tradition and one of them growled out, - -"None of that kind of talk, d'ye hear? You're welcome to whatever we've -got, and don't yer forget it! Only there's been a good many bums along -here lately, and we was getting tired of them." - -After this they were pleasanter, although I could not help reflecting -that I was actually a bum, as they put it, and mentally pitied the -professional tramp, if his evil destiny should ever lead him into the -Yukon country. - -As it grew near nightfall I climbed out of the gulch, and, crossing -the ridge, dropped down into Greenhorn Gulch, which, with its neighbor -Tinhorn Gulch, form depressions parallel to Hog'em. There was only one -claim working here, and on this the supply of water was so scarce that -not much washing could be done. The people seemed like those of Hog'em -Gulch, and took little notice of strangers. Having learned a new code -of manners on Birch Creek, however, I walked into the cabin where -one of the claim owners was getting supper. He was a short, powerful, -fierce-eyed man, who never smiled, and spoke with an almost frenzied -earnestness. He did not speak for some time, however, but glared -suspiciously when I walked in. I looked at him without nodding, took -off my pack and put it in the corner, sat down on a stool and fished -my pipe out of my pocket. He glared until he was tired, and then said: -"Hallo!" - -"Hallo," I returned, and drawing up to the table, began working with my -specimens and notebook. Looking up and finding him still regarding me, -I continued: "How's the claim turning out?" - -"Pretty fair!" he growled. "What in h--l are _you_ reportin' for?" -"Uncle Sam," I replied. He was from the moonshine district of -Tennessee, and this was no recommendation to him, so he kept his eye -on me. Presently his "pardner" came in and looked at me inquiringly. I -spoke to him quite warmly, as if I was welcoming him to the cabin. Soon -supper was ready, and the fierce-eyed moonshiner looked at me four or -five times, then said, beckoning me to the table: "Set up." - -After supper the two men crawled into their bunks; I spread my blankets -on the floor. The Tennessee man poked his head out. - -"Goin' to sleep on the floor?" he asked. - -"Yes," answered I. He crawled out and pulled a caribou hide from the -rafters above. - -"Lay on that," he said. - -When I thanked him, he looked at me suspiciously. - -In the morning I sat down to breakfast without being asked, and ate -enormously and silently. The moonshiner warmed up at this. - -"You're a better sort of feller than I thought at first," he said; "I -thought you was goin' to be one of them d--d polite fellers." - -"Me? Oh, no; not me," I replied, "you're thinkin' of some one else, I -reckon?" - -After breakfast he showed me his gold dust; a little flat piece -interested me, and I said, "Gimme that, I'll pay yer; what's it worth?" - -"Nothin'," he replied. "Yer can take it." - -Afterwards I shouldered my pack and made for the door; when I got there -I stopped and looked over my shoulder and said, "So long!" - -"So long to _you_!" he answered, looking after me with more human -interest than I had previously seen in him. "Stop here when you come -this way again." - -I climbed out of the gulch and walked along the mountain ridge for a -while, encountering, whenever there was no wind, swarms of the tiny -gnats which the miners often dread worse than the mosquitoes. They -are so numerous as actually to obscure the sun in places and they -fill nose, ears, and eyes; there is no escape from them, for they -are so small that they go through the meshes of a mosquito net with -the greatest ease. On top of the ridge, where the wind blew, they -disappeared. As I walked along here I met a prospector, and after a -friendly talk with him, dropped down another mountain-side to the bed -of Independence Creek, and followed that to the junction of Mammoth -Creek, so called from the number of bones of the extinct elephant, -or mammoth, which are buried there. Wading across a swamp, I found -in the brush another road-house, the Mammoth Junction. This was a -large log building containing a single room, which served as kitchen, -dining-room, parlor, general bedroom, and barroom. At first I was the -only guest, but afterwards a prospector arrived from a hard trip to the -Tanana, and he related his experiences; how he had shot three bears, -seven caribou, and a moose in seven days. He was a tall, well-built -Cape Bretoner, Dick McDonald by name. When he got tired of talking -I spread my blankets on the floor (for which privilege I paid fifty -cents) and gladly stowed myself away for the night. - -The next day a tramp of seventeen miles brought me to the Central -House, on the way home from the diggings; for although our rendezvous -should have been at Mammoth Junction, yet I concluded to wait for the -others at Circle City. The trail was very bad, and during the first -part of the journey the gnats were as annoying as they had been on -the mountains the day before. There were millions of them. During the -last part the mosquitoes got the upper hand, and gave me the strictest -attention. - -"Ah," I soliloquized, perspiring freely and tugging at my pack -straps like a jaded horse at his harness, "the trials of an Alaskan -pioneer! Stumbling and staggering through mud knee-deep, and through -nigger-heads, wading streams, fighting gnats and mosquitoes, suffering -often from hunger and thirst, and rolling into one's sole pair of -blankets under the frosty stars or the rain-clouds!" - -When my views were thus gloomy, a smell of smoke came to my nostrils, -and crossing a little stream on a fallen tree, I came to the friendly -inn I was seeking. - -The next morning, at five o'clock by my watch and eight by the host's, -(it is unnecessary to observe that there was no standard time used in -the Birch Creek district) I started for Twelve Mile Cache. The first -part of the trail was fairly well worn, but was covered with small dead -trees which had fallen across it, necessitating the continual lifting -of the feet and the taking of irregular steps. Ten miles of this was -enough to make one very weary. I lunched on my stale corned beef and -cracker crumbs, and drank from a little creek that I crossed. Soon -after this, I came to a place where a newly blazed trail, leading to -the Twelve Mile Cache, diverged from the older path, which ran up -over the mountains. Deciding to take the newer route, I found it very -hard walking, especially as my feet were clad in the Eskimo sealskin -boot, or makalok, which are soft and offer little protection. Much of -the road lay among immense untrodden nigger-heads and in swampy brush, -where the sticks which had been cut off in making the trail stuck up -three or four inches above the ground, just convenient for stubbing the -toe; and yet the long grass quite concealed them, so they could not -be avoided. Afterwards the trail struck into an old winter sleighing -road, and I got on more rapidly for a few miles; but the mosquitoes had -increased to legions and stung painfully. The gnats and flies were also -numerous, the big deer flies biting my ears where the mosquito netting -rested on them, till they were bloody. - -At about four o'clock the cut trail came to an end, and here was a -stick pointing into the woods, inscribed: - -"FOLLER THES BLAIES TO TWELV MILL HOUSE. SIX MILLS TO TWELV MILL HOUSE -9 MILLS CENTRAL HOUSE." - -The "blaies" (blazes) had been newly cut, and as I started to follow -them, it seemed that they led through the thickest of the brush, -where it was almost impossible to fight one's way, especially with a -pack, which protrudes on both sides of the shoulders, and which often -wedges one firmly between two saplings. Soon the blazes grew further -and further apart; after leaving one it often took ten minutes to -find the next, scouting around everywhere in the tangle of bushes. -The mosquitoes kept up their attacks, and my head began to ache -splittingly, partly from their bites and partly from the jerking of the -head strap of my pack in my struggles through the brush. - -At last in despair I abandoned the attempt to follow the blazes, -and turning square away from them, struck off in the direction -where I knew the Hog'em Junction trail, by which we had reached the -diggings, must lie, steering by my compass. Very soon I found better -walking,--comparatively open swampy patches, with alder thickets -between--and in half a mile I cut into the trail I was seeking. Three -miles of this trail brought me to Twelve Mile Cache, after one of the -hardest days I had had in Alaska. Compared with such a trip as this -the dreaded Chilkoot Pass was not so formidable, after all. The entire -distance I had travelled was twenty-seven miles. I had counted my paces -through it all, and they tallied with the count of my companions, who -came on later. - -For supper at Twelve Mile Cache we had fresh fish,--pike and Arctic -trout--taken from a trap in the river, and fresh vegetables raised on -the roof, which was covered with a luxuriant garden. A thick layer -of rich loam had been put on, and the seed dropped into this throve -amazingly, for the fires inside the cabin supplied warmth, and the -plants did not have to fight against the eternal frost which lies -everywhere a short distance below the surface. The long glorious -sunshine of the northern summer did the rest, and splendid potatoes, -rutabagas, cabbages, beets, and lettuce were the results. - -The fifteen miles back to Circle City the next day was a very weary -walk, for my overwork on the day before had left me tired out. The -mosquitoes were maddening on the last part of the trail, in spite of -gloves and veil. On getting into Circle City, however, I was kindly -welcomed by my friends, the customs officers, and given a square meal. -The room we had occupied as a bedroom had, in the short time since we -had left, been put to still other uses. A newly arrived physician was -using it for a laboratory, and a man who had brought a scow load of -merchandise down the Yukon was storing his stuff in the same room. Also -a red-sweatered young man turned up who said he had been told to sleep -here, but the customs officers kicked him out and he went and slept -under an upturned boat on the bank. After a bath I felt refreshed, -but glancing into a looking-glass for the first time for many a day, -I saw that my appearance was still against me. I was a long-haired, -bushy-bearded, ragged, belted and knifed wild man, not fair to look -upon. - -I spent the next day in wandering around town in a desultory fashion, -and on returning to the customhouse found the door locked. When I -knocked I was challenged and then cautiously admitted: on entering -I was surprised to see the officers with their rifles ready for use -alongside of them. Ross lifted up the strip of calico which formed a -curtain hiding the space under the bed and disclosed two good-sized -kegs. These he told me he and Wendling (the other officer) had seized -while we were away. It was, and is, entirely illegal to bring liquor -into the territory of Alaska, and this law and its attendant features -have brought about much of the dishonesty and corruption which have -made the inside history of Alaskan government since its acquisition by -Americans such a dismal one. - -[Illustration: CUSTOM HOUSE AT CIRCLE CITY.] - -In Circle City liquor was freely brought down the river from the -British side of the boundary. The first customs inspector was said to -have been a notorious rascal, who had not only winked at the bringing -in of liquor, but had taken a hand in the trade himself. The present -representatives of the government, however, seemed to wish to do -their duty, and their watching nights and sleeping days had finally -resulted in their trapping the smugglers as they were landing, and -they had captured the whisky and had brought it to the customhouse, -where the whole camp knew it to be. The whole camp was interested in -it, moreover, for it had been whisky-dry; and the feeling towards the -officers was probably none of the best in any quarter, although most -recognized that they were simply doing their duty. At the enormously -high prices which prevailed, these two kegs were worth several thousand -dollars, and so were valuable booty. Therefore, a plot had been hatched -to recover the liquor, and this plot had come to the officers' ears -a few hours before the _coup_ was to have taken place. Hence the -caution and warlike preparations which greeted me. The men from whom -the whisky had been taken were the leaders in the scheme, and they -had also enlisted several miners, among them a gigantic fellow who -called himself "Caribou Bill," and whom I had met on the trail to -the diggings. Bill gave the thing away by going to a saloon-keeper -and trying to borrow a second revolver--he already had one. On being -questioned as to why he wanted it, he took the saloon-keeper into his -confidence. The saloon-keeper told a friend of his, who being also a -friend of one of the customs officers, cautioned him. - -Both of the officers advised me to go elsewhere till the trouble was -over, but reflecting that I was their guest and so under obligations -to them, and also that I was an officer of Uncle Sam, and was in duty -bound to "uphold the government of the United States by land and sea, -against foreign and domestic enemies" as had been specified in my oath -of office, I decided to remain with them. Ross hunted up two of his -old friends among the miners and told them he proposed to resist the -attack till the last, and that if there should be any bloodshed he -hoped the camp would treat him fairly, considering that he had simply -been doing his duty. The miners offered to stay with us and help in the -resistance, but as we knew their hearts were hardly in their offer of -loyalty, we refused to let them stay. One of them, however, loaned his -rifle to Wendling; and as he went to get it, a couple of forms behind -the house jumped up and ran away. The other miner, who had also gone -out for a moment, returned with the news that he had seen four men -skulking behind the bank which lay in front of the house. - -The plan of the smugglers and their friends, as Ross had learned it, -was to come to the door of the cabin and knock. When the officer went -to the door to open it, he would be covered with a revolver, and the -second officer with another, and the whisky would be rolled out and -over the bank into a boat which would convey it up the river into a -new hiding-place. If the officers resisted they would be shot and the -whisky taken just the same. The plan we determined upon was to leave -the door unlocked, so that when the expected knock should come we -would not have to go to the door to open it, but would call out "Come -in" without stirring. I had my post on a box near the wall directly -opposite the door, while Ross sat in the darkness close by the window, -so that when the knocker should enter he would find the muzzles of -repeating rifles levelled at him from two opposite directions, and be -invited to drop his fire-arms and surrender. Wendling was in the other -room watching the second door and window, but we did not expect the -attack to be made there, since the smugglers must know very well that -the whisky was in the officers' living-room, where we were. - -Directly after we had taken our places a man came and stood twenty -yards in front of the cabin in the dusk, and beckoned. Ross went out -to him, and a long talk ensued, which ended by the officer returning. -He said that the man had told him that we were three against many, and -that they were bound to get the whisky anyway, since it was theirs and -they would fight for it; so if Ross would simply yield without fighting -it would save us. At the same time they would be willing to pay him a -nice little sum as a plaster wherewith to heal his wounded dignity. -Ross had replied that they had mistaken their man; whereupon he was -informed that he must take the consequences. So he returned, and we -waited with tense nerves, in momentary expectation of an attack, our -eyes strained, our fingers on the triggers of our cocked rifles, our -ears listening. - -After an hour or more had passed, and no sound was heard, the suspense -began to grow unbearable. Ross whispered to me, "If them fellers are -coming I wish they'd hurry up, and not keep us waiting here all night." -Shortly afterwards Wendling, crawling cautiously and silently around -in the other room, knocked down from some shelf on the wall a pile -of tin pans, which made a terrific rattle and bang; this upset our -tightly-drawn nerves so that we laughed convulsively, trying to choke -down our merriment so that it could not be heard. Still no noise from -the outside, save that once we heard coughing behind the logs at the -back of the building. Ross, peering through the window, saw now and -then a shadowy form creeping along the bank in front; and Wendling, -reconnoitring through the window in the other room, saw other figures -passing around back of the house. And still no alarm. Sitting bolt -upright on my box, I suddenly caught my head, which was in the act of -falling forward--caught it with a jerk which brought my eyes wide open, -and at the same time horror filled my soul--I was in danger of falling -asleep! This frightened me so that I kept awake easily after that. So -we waited till the morning grey brightened in the sky, when finally -Ross remarked: "Well, there's no more danger, and I'm tired enough to -sleep." We rolled ourselves in our blankets and dropped asleep without -a moment's delay, not waking until the day was late and Goodrich and -Schrader, just returning from the diggings, pounded on the door and -asked for admission and a bite to eat. - -Concerning the reasons why the raid was given up, there was much inner -history that I never learned. I suspect that the miners who had offered -to help us afterwards warned the smugglers, telling them how well we -were prepared, and that this kept them from carrying out their plans. - -The next night a grand ball was gotten up by the ladies of Circle City, -and our bedroom in the customhouse--being one of the largest places -available--was selected as the scene of the dance. I was requested to -write the announcements of the ball, which I did, and stuck one up on -each of the Companies' stores. They ran as follows: - - SOCIAL DANCE. - - _There will be a SOCIAL DANCE - given by the ladies of CIRCLE CITY - Wednesday Eve. Aug. 19th, - At the residence of Mr. George Ross. - The supply of ice cream brought up on the - Arctic being exhausted, there will be - no collation. - No rubber boots allowed on the floor. - Dogs must be tied with ribbons in the anteroom._ - -After the notices were posted, one of the customs officers came to me -in great perturbation concerning the regulation about rubber boots, -saying that such a restriction would exclude many desirable and -well-meaning gentlemen who would otherwise be able to attend. - -The shavings were swept out of the room and our beds and other stuff -cleared out. Wax candles were cut up and rubbed on the floor, and by -dusk everything was in readiness. One of the trading companies donated -the candles, which were stuck up around the room to the extent of -nearly a dozen, and furnished a brilliant illumination. The services -of a pock-marked vagabond who was employed around a saloon and -dance-house was secured as director of the affair, and two miners just -in from the gulches (they had taken only one change of clothes to the -diggings and had not had time to change them after coming back before -going to the dance), furnished the orchestra, playing very acceptably -on guitar and fiddle. The music was all classical,--Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay -or the Irish washerwoman occupying most of the time. Each of the -players was so enthusiastic in his art that he often entirely forgot -his companion, and would be fiddling away at the closing spasms of -Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay, with perspiring zeal, when his more rapid partner -had finished this tune and was merrily galloping through - - "Wuz ye iver inside of an Irishman's shanty? - Wid salt an' peraties an' iverything planty, - A three-legged stool an' a table to match, - And the door of the shanty unlocks wid a latch!" - -The pock-marked director yelled out "_Swing_ your pardners. _Ladies_ -to the left. _Forward_ and back! _Alleman left!_ etc.," loud above the -squeak of the stringed instruments. The couples gyrated in eccentric -curves around in obedience to the cries; the candles flickered in the -draft from the open door; and a row of miners too bashful to dance, or -who could find no partners, sat on boxes close to the wall, hunched up -their legs and spit tobacco-juice, until the middle of the floor was a -sort of an island. In short, it was the most brilliant affair Circle -City had ever witnessed; even the Indians who crowded around the open -door and peered in over one another's heads murmured in admiration, and -all agreed that it was a "_haioo_ time", which is equivalent to saying -a rip-roaring time. This was not the first dance held in the camp. -The small but powerful contingent of ladies of adventure held nightly -dances, but this was the first where the ladies were respectable. - -We were hard put to it for finery. The dancer of our party, having, as -we explained to him, to bear in a way the brunt of the social duties -for us all, bought a new pair of blue overalls, much too large for -him; these he turned up at the bottom, and braced up mightily, so that -they covered many shortcomings; then he bought a green and yellow -abomination of a necktie, which had been designed to catch the heathen -fancy of the natives, plastered his hair down, and worried the tangles -out of his beard. After this he was the beau of the evening, the gayest -of the gay, being snubbed by only one woman, and she of doubtful -reputation, as we consolingly reminded him. - -The men in general wore the most varied costumes, high boots being -the prevailing style, though even the rubber boots I had been so near -forbidding were seen; then one might notice the Indian moccasins, and -the sealskin makalok, which had been brought up from the Eskimos on the -lower Yukon. Flannel shirts without coat or vests were the rule, for -the night was warm. Here and there was a corduroy coat, or a mackinaw -checked with red and green squares four inches across, but the wearers -of them suffered for their vanity. In striking and almost ridiculous -contrast to this picturesque attire was the black cutaway suit and -polished shoes of the baker who had just arrived on a Yukon steamer -from St. Michael's. - -After midnight we had cake, which the ladies had brought with them, and -considering the fact that they had so little material for cooking, the -variety and excellence were remarkable. Underneath the festive board -which covered the bed still lay concealed the two kegs of whisky which -we had watched over the night before. It was at a late hour (to adopt -country newspaper phraseology) that the company broke up, loud in their -praises of the success of the fete, and returned to their respective -homes. We then rolled our blankets out upon the waxed floor, and lay -down for another night. - -The same day a river steamer had arrived in Circle City from the lower -Yukon, bringing our trunks to us, which we had sent around by water -from Seattle. These were well filled with a goodly outfit for the -winter, for we had expected that our work would take us two seasons. We -had, however, gotten on twice as well as we had expected, and already -saw the end of our task ahead, so there was nothing to hinder us from -going out this same fall. The freight on our three trunks from Seattle -was one hundred and eighty dollars, and we did not feel justified in -expending a like sum to carry them back. We therefore determined to -sell our things, and the day after the party I wrote out notices -announcing an auction to be held in the room where we had danced. - -Wendling volunteered to act as auctioneer, provided he were allowed -to work in as part of our effects several hundred pounds of tobacco -which he had brought up as a speculation. At seven o'clock we started -in, having borrowed a pair of gold-scales for the sake of transacting -the financial part of the business, for almost the sole currency of -the camp was gold dust. Not being ourselves accustomed to the delicate -operation of weighing, we persuaded some of the miners to do it for us, -so that there should be no question as to fairness. At eight the miners -began leaving and we were told that a miners' meeting had been called, -so we adjourned for an hour, and attended the gathering. - -The miners' meeting was the sole legislative, judiciary and executive -body in these little republics. To settle any question whatever, any -one had the right to call such a council, which brought the issue to -a summary close. This one was held in the open air close to the river -bank in front of the Company's store. The miners flocked together and -conversed in groups. Nobody knew who had called the meeting or why; -but presently some grew impatient, remarking: "Let's have the meeting. -Who's for chairman?" - -One man answered: "What's the matter with Sandy Jim for chairman? Here -he is, just in from the diggings! Come over here, Jim!" - -"Second the motion, somebody. Any body object to Sandy Jim?" said the -first speaker. "Climb up on the box, Sandy, my boy." - -Sandy Jim was a slender, blonde young man with quiet manners, and a -style of speech which told of a good education. He mounted the box -in the centre of the crowd, and having thus obtained a commanding -position, he began, with correct parliamentary methods, to bring -about order. Having requested silence, he inquired who had called the -meeting. A man who acted as town clerk or some similar officer in the -miners' vague system of government, explained that he had issued the -call, to inform the miners that some one had settled upon a piece -of land that had been set aside for town purposes, and, in spite of -warnings to the contrary, was proceeding to erect a log house upon it; -and that the tent temporarily occupied by the individual mentioned -was already pitched upon the lot. As an officer of the camp he had -felt in duty bound to call a meeting and let the boys decide what was -to be done. Instantly there was a rattle of contradictory suggestions, -everybody addressing everybody else, and forgetting to turn to the -chairman. Finally a tall man with a heavy black beard mounted the box -and addressed the meeting, arguing coldly and logically that the person -had acted in defiance of the miners' meeting, which was the only law -they had; and proposing that he be fined, and in case he resisted -further, put in a boat and set floating down the Yukon. There was a -general murmur of approval, and the chairman, putting the question to -a vote, found a fairly unanimous verdict in favor of the speaker's -suggestion. - -"Before I appoint a committee," said the chairman, "the meeting should -know who the person is who has to be dealt with, and I will ask the -gentleman who called the meeting to give the information." - -The clerk of the camp elbowed his way forward a little. "I've been -trying to get a word in for a long time," he said. "I don't think we -ought to be so hard in this case. You all know the person--it's Black -Kitty. She's a woman, even if she _is_ black and a fighter, and she's -alone and working for a living. I move we go it easy." - -Amid another buzz the tall bearded man got up and remarked: "That's -different. I don't think any one wanted to quarrel with a woman, and -a black one at that." This was only his way of expressing it, for he -certainly did not mean that he would rather have quarrelled with a -white woman. "Anyhow, there's plenty of land for public purposes out -there in the brush, and I move an amendment that we let Kitty alone!" - -In defiance of all parliamentary usage, this amendment was accepted -with a chorus of approval by the crowd, which, satisfied with itself, -scattered almost before the chairman could make himself heard, -sanctioning and proclaiming valid the last expression of opinion. - -Most of the miners returned to our cabin, where the auction began -again, and lasted till twelve o'clock, by which time we had sold nearly -everything we cared to, at prices a little above cost in Seattle. -Wendling also succeeded in disposing of a hundred pounds of his -tobacco, putting up lots every now and then. Some miners expressed -surprise to Ross that we should use so much tobacco, and Ross winked -and put his finger on his nose and said, "You don't know the inside, -that's all. See that little feller over there?" indicating me. "That -little feller chews a pound a day. Yes, sir! He eats it sometimes." - -The next morning we weighed out our gold dust and found it some -twenty-five dollars more than we had any record of, from which we -inferred that the miners who had so kindly superintended the weighing -of the various sums paid in had been a little generous, and always -given full weight. When we got to San Francisco, and presented our gold -dust at the mint, where it was weighed accurately, we received several -dollars more for it than we made it from our final weighing; so it -appears that the Yukon miner's currency is none of the most accurate. -Stories were told around camp, of barkeepers who panned the sawdust on -their floor and made good wages at it; and it was alleged that one had -a strip of carpet on his counter, into which he let fall a trifle of -gold dust every time he took a pinch for a drink of whisky, and at the -end of the day, by taking up his carpet and shaking it, he had a nice -little sum over his day's earnings. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. -THE MYNOOK CREEK DIGGINGS. - - -The next day, the 21st of August, we loaded up the Skookum again, and -dropped away from Circle City with the current. The customs officers -were short of rice, but they sent a pair of old slippers flying after -us as we moved away; and several of the ladies who had been at the -dance stood on the bank and waved us adieu. Soon the river broadened -out, with many channels flowing amid a maze of low wooded islands. This -was the beginning of the great Yukon Flats, which stretch in dreary -monotony for so many miles below Circle City. - -The wind blew strong, with gusts of rain, in the morning, and increased -to a gale which lasted nearly all day. The proper channel was difficult -to determine, and we were often sucked into some little channel or -slough (pronounced "sloo"), only to find our way back again, after a -long circuit, to the larger body of water, at a place near where we -had left it. No hills were visible in any direction--nothing but the -waste of waters, the sandspits, and the level wooded islands and banks. -At night we reached Fort Yukon, a trading post, which is situated at -the junction of the Porcupine with the Yukon; we had made the distance -from Circle City, estimated at about eighty miles, in sixteen hours. So -bewildering are the various channels here that one would hardly suspect -that any stream entered the Yukon, and the current is so varied and -sluggish that one might easily attempt to ascend the Porcupine, having -the impression that he was still descending the Yukon--a delusion that -would be dispelled after the first few miles. - -Like other so-called "Forts" in the Alaskan country, Fort Yukon was -simply a rough log building inhabited by one white man, who had a -scanty stock of very poor provisions, such as flour and tea, to -exchange for skins with the natives. Around the building the Indians -had made their camp, as usual, a trading-post being always the nucleus -of a dirty and foul-smelling congregation of natives. From one Indian -we bought a whitefish, and on his presenting it to us whole, we -motioned him to clean it; he did so, laying the entrails carefully on -a board. He wished tea in exchange for it, and not being experienced -in native trading, we gave him what we afterwards learned was ten -or twelve times the usual price. We had the best English breakfast -tea, and he was at first doubtful at this, having seen only the cheap -black tea always sold to the natives; but he was vastly pleased at the -quantity, and, laughing delightedly, proceeded to "treat" his friends -on the occasion of his good fortune, by handing around the raw entrails -of the fish, which they divided and ate without further ceremony. - -Not liking to sleep within reach of the Indian dogs, who are very -dangerous enemies to one's bacon, we dropped down the river half a mile -below the post and made camp in a spruce grove--a beautiful spot, cool, -and free from mosquitoes. - -The next day we were still in the flats. There was a high wind -blowing and the sky was spotted with curious clouds. Some were like -cauliflowers in form; others were funnel-shaped; and still others were -dark, with long black tentacles of rain. Whenever these tentacles -passed over the river in a direction against the current, an ugly chop -sea was the result, and our boat, stout dory though she was, shipped -water in some of these places. - -Floating down through the network of channels we suddenly ran hard -upon a sand-bar, and it took a couple of hours' work to get us off, -for as soon as we were lodged the sand which the Yukon waters carry -began settling round the boat and banking it in, making it the hardest -work imaginable to move it. While we were tugging and groaning in our -efforts, a steamer--the Arctic--came down the river behind us, and -being steered by experienced Indian pilots, struck the right channel -only a short distance from us and floated past triumphantly. The deck -was swarming with miners who were bound for St. Michael's, and they -made many jocose remarks at our expense, offering to take word to our -friends, and do other favors for us. We said nothing, though we fumed -inwardly. Finally we succeeded in getting free, and floated off. Some -time afterwards we saw behind us what appeared to be the smoke of -another steamer; but when we stopped for lunch the craft caught up -with us, and proved to be an ordinary open boat like our own, but with -a Yukon stove made of sheet iron set up in it, whereon the solitary -passenger cooked his dinner while he floated. - -In the afternoon we caught sight of a bona fide steamer ahead of us, -and as we came steadily closer, it seemed as if she must be stopping; -soon we recognized the Arctic, and saw that the crew and all the -passengers were laboring excitedly in many ways, trying to get the boat -off the sand-bar on which she was stuck. We ran close by her, for there -was water enough for our little boat, although the rapid deposit from -the river had built up a bank to the surface of the water on one side -of the steamer. We were sorry for these men, who were in a hurry to get -to St. Michael's, and so on home; at the same time we could not resist -the temptation to return to them their greetings of the morning, and -offer to take letters to their friends. They did not seem to be so much -amused at the joke as they had been in the morning--probably because -they had heard it before. - -We were several days floating through this monotonous part of the -river. There were always the same banks of silt, from which portions, -undercut by the current, were continually crashing into the stream; -these were immediately taken up and hurried along by the current to -form part of the vast deposit of mud which the Yukon has built up at -its mouth, and which has filled up the Behring sea until it is shallow -and dangerous. On the higher banks, which were forty feet or so above -the river (it was then low water), spruce and other trees were growing, -and as the soil which bore them was undercut, they too dropped into -the river and started on their long journey to the sea. Along the vast -tundra at the Yukon mouth, and the treeless shores of the Behring sea, -the natives depend entirely upon these wandered trees for their fuel. -The quantity brought down every year is enormous, for the stream is -continually working its way sidewise, and cutting out fresh ground. - -Everywhere we noticed the effects of the ice which comes grinding down -the river in the spring. The trees had been girdled by the ice and were -dying, the underbrush cut down, the earth plowed up, and occasionally -there were piles of pebbles where a grounded cake had melted and -deposited its burden. - -[Illustration: THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE ON THE YUKON.] - -We used to camp on the gravel bars mostly, to avoid the mosquitoes; -but every now and then a night was cool and even frosty, and the -mosquitoes and gnats, after starting in their assault, were gradually -numbed, and their buzzing grew fainter and fainter till it disappeared. -When we felt such nights coming on, we camped in the spruce groves on -the higher banks, built roaring fires and sat by them comfortably and -smoked, looking out on the smooth river with the dark even fringe of -trees between it and the sky with its snapping stars; and for the first -time on our trip we began to have some of the pleasures which usually -come to the camper-out. - -We passed Indian hunting and fishing camps occasionally, and once a -solitary white man engaged in cutting wood for the river steamers. The -natives seemed always to have plenty to eat, and we frequently obtained -from them fish, duck, moose, and berries. As we passed a camp the -inhabitants would put out in their tiny birch-bark canoes, if we did -not stop; and, overtaking us with ease, would hold up for purchase such -articles as they had. The berries were in native dishes of hewn wood, -or of birch-bark tied with wooden thongs, and were so quaint that we -took them home as curiosities. - -After several days in the Flats, we saw--when the clouds lifted after a -prolonged rainstorm--that the course of the river was apparently barred -by low mountains, level-topped, with occasional higher peaks rising -above the general level, but all with smooth and rounded outlines. As -we drew nearer we saw a narrow valley cutting through the mountains, -and into this the river ran. Just before entering, we found a trading -post, Fort Hamlin by name, and from the trader, who was the only white -man here, we each bought a pair of Eskimo water-boots, made of the -skin of the makalok or hair seal, soaked in oil. We had long ago worn -out the most of our civilized foot-gear, and were obliged to adopt the -native styles. These Eskimo boots often have soles of walrus, and yet -they are too thin for walking over stones, so they are made very large, -and dried grass is put into the bottom; the foot, too, is wrapped in as -many thicknesses of cloth or skins as possible, and thus is protected -against bruises and against the cold of the severest winter weather. - -Leaving Fort Hamlin, we floated down through picturesque hills, on -the sides of which the birch was beginning to yellow. Another day -brought us to Mynook Creek, of which we had heard at Circle City as -likely to be a good gold producer. At the mouth of the creek we found -the temporary camps of a few prospectors, who were on their way up to -stake out claims. There were also numerous Indians encamped in the -vicinity--true savages, with very few words of English among them, -"yes" "no" and "steamboat" making up almost their entire vocabulary. - -A sort of chief among them was a Mynook, a half-breed with more Indian -than white in his features. It was after him that the creek had been -named (or rather renamed, for it had formerly been known as the -Klanakakat or Klanachargut, the native name); he had been the first -to discover gold, and was engaged in working a claim with a crew of -natives, notwithstanding the fact that Indians have, according to -our somewhat peculiar laws, no legal right to stake mines. He was a -good-looking fellow with a fair knowledge of English, which he was very -proud to air, especially the "cuss-words," which he introduced into -conversation very gravely and irrelevantly. He said when he got dust -enough he was going to "San Francisco," that being to him a general -name for the world of the white men. He had always hired natives to -work his claims, although he admitted that they did not work nearly as -well as white people; they would labor only until they had a little -money ahead, and then would quit until it was all spent, although it -might be the very busiest season; and if perchance a steamboat was -reported on the river, the gang to a man would drop pick and shovel and -trot down the trail to the mouth of the creek, there to stand open-eyed -and open-mouthed, gazing at the smoking monster which held them with a -fascination stronger than even Mynook's displeasure. - -We camped on the beach, and made preparations the next morning to -visit the diggings. We separated, as usual, each taking a different -route, and each hiring an Indian to accompany him and carry his pack. -The first Indian I hired had on a new gingham jumper, and a sly smile -which gave an impression that his subsequent actions did not belie. He -wanted to be paid before starting, and when this was refused said he -was hungry, and was so weak that he could not walk without food. So we -administered to him a substantial breakfast, after which he disappeared -and never could be found again. Soon another Indian presented -himself--a particularly wicked looking fellow, with red bulging eyes -that gave one a sort of shiver to look at him. He wanted to go with -me, and I hired him, having no other choice. Then he too explained by -gestures, that he was starving and must have some breakfast to keep him -strong on his long walk; whereupon I explained, also by gestures, that -the first Indian had gotten the second Indian's breakfast already, and -that, having delivered the breakfast, the rest was no affair of mine (I -having carried out my share of the transaction as was fitting), so that -the only possible subject for discussion lay between him and the first -Indian. - -He seemed to be impressed with the logic of this, shouldered his pack -and trotted off meekly enough. As we started, the smoke of a steamboat -became visible down the river; the natives raised the excited cry of -"shteemboot" and my guide showed signs of sitting down to wait for it -to come and go before he should proceed with his journey. However, a -few studiously stern looks, accompanied by prodding in his ribs with a -stick, started him along the trail, to which he kept faithfully after -that. This led through a thick growth of alder brush, across brooks, -but always kept in the valley of the main stream, on each side of -which were hills with the bare rocks peering from among the yellowing -foliage. - -After three hours' tramp, we turned up a little side valley, and soon -came upon a claim that was being worked by a number of miners. This was -the only active one on this creek, and with the exception of Mynook's -claim on another small branch, the only one being exploited on Mynook -Creek as a whole. Several other men, however, had staked claims and -were engaged in building log cabins, preparatory to the winter's -prospecting. - -Here I dismissed my Indian, telling him by signs to come back again -on the next day. During the two days he and I were out together, we -did not utter an articulate sound in trying to communicate with one -another. It was of no use, for he could not understand the English -any better than I Yukon. So in this case I looked at him fixedly and -silently, and pointed to the miner's cabin, laid my head on my hand -and shut my eyes, signifying that I intended to sleep there. Then -with my finger I followed in the sky the course the sun would take on -the following day, halting at a point midway in the afternoon; then, -pointing to him, I imitated the motion of a man carrying a pack, and -with a rapid movement of the finger indicated the trail back to the -mouth of the creek; finally with a comprehensive gesture I gave him -to understand that he might do as he pleased in the meantime. He -disappeared immediately, coming back at night to beg for food from my -hosts; failing in that, he bivouacked at a camp-fire, with a few other -Indians who were working on the creek, in front of the miner's log -cabin, and before we were up in the morning had disappeared again. At -exactly the appointed time the next day, however, he returned, ready -for the harness, as red-eyed, dumb and vicious-looking as ever. - -The sign language of all these Yukon Indians is wonderfully clever; -it is also very complicated, and I have seen two natives conversing -fluently behind a trader's back, using their faces and hands in rapid -movements which, however, conveyed no idea to the uninitiated observer -as to their meaning. Some of their signs which I have understood are -remarkable for the clever selection of a distinguishing characteristic -to designate a given object. For example, a white man was expressed by -stroking the chin as if it were bearded. In this wild country razors -were unknown and even scissors a rarity, so that all white men wore -thick and usually bushy beards, while the natives had very little or -no hair on their faces. Since I wore spectacles, I was described in -sign language first by a gesture of stroking the beard, which indicated -that I was a white man, and then by bending the thumb and forefinger -in a circle, and peering through this circle, thereby sufficiently -identifying me among others. - -At the cabin where I spent the night was a man who had been on the -exploring expedition of Lieutenant Allen some years before, when that -young officer accomplished such a splendid journey under such great -difficulties, through a barren and unknown country, ascending the -Copper River, descending the Tanana, exploring the Koyukuk, and finally -returning to St. Michael's by way of the Yukon. On learning that I was -in the government service, this man insisted on my becoming his guest. -He slept and ate in a little log cabin of his own, where he had a bed -built of hewn wood, which was pretty exactly proportioned to his own -length and breadth. By a little careful manipulation, however, we -both managed to stretch out on it and as the night was frosty and our -covering none of the thickest, neither of us objected to the proximity -of the other, although we were so crowded that when one turned over the -other had to do so at the same time. In the morning my "pardner," as -he might fitly be called, had a savory breakfast well under way when I -opened my eyes. - -After our meal my host went to his work, while I undertook a journey -a little further up the main stream to a tributary gulch. Here one -man was engaged in prospecting--Oliver Miller, one of the remarkable -prospectors of early Alaskan times. He had been in this region many -years already, always prospecting, often lucky in finding, but never -resting or stopping to reap the benefits of his discoveries, and always -pushing restlessly onwards towards new and unexplored fields. In the -early eighties he had been among the first who had come to the Forty -Mile district from Stewart River and the other affluents of the Yukon -above the international boundary. He discovered the creek still known -by his name--Miller Creek,--which really lies at the headwaters of -Sixty Mile Creek, but is separated only by a low dividing ridge from -the gold-producing gulches at the head of Forty Mile Creek, and is -therefore usually reckoned as a part of the Forty Mile district. - -Miller Creek was one of the richest creeks in the district and was -soon staked out by eager prospectors; but Miller himself got restless, -and saying the place was getting too crowded for him, sold his claim -one day for what he could get, and investing the amount in "grub" and -outfit, started out over the hills alone, prospecting. In the Birch -Creek district, which was discovered later, he found gold again, but -as soon as miners came in he sold out and went further. Now after many -wanderings he was in Mynook Creek, and it was characteristic of the man -that instead of being industriously engaged in washing gold in one of -the already prospected tributaries nearer the Yukon, he had vanished -into the brush, out of reach of the sound of pick and shovel, and was -nosing around among the rocks and panning gravel. - -According to directions, I left the trail, which indeed ran no further, -and followed the bank of the main stream, working my way through the -brush, till I came to a little brook, then went up along this nearly to -where it emerged from a rocky gorge in the hills. At this point I came -upon a grassy nook under the birches, where a fire was smouldering; -and under a tree a man's heavy blankets were spread on a bed of green -boughs, as if he had just stepped out. A couple of kettles were -standing near the fire, and a coat was lying on the ground, while an -axe was sticking in the tree above the blankets. There was no tent or -any superfluities whatever, and it was evident that this camping outfit -was one of those which a man may take on his back and wander over hill -and dale with. Not hearing or seeing any sign of life, I sat down and -waited, but no one appearing after half an hour, I began following a -man's trail from the camp up the gorge, tracing him by the bent grass -and broken twigs. After having gone a short distance, I heard the -thumping of a pick on a rocky wall in front and above me, and gave a -hail. The prospector came down very slowly, his manner not being so -much that of a man who was sorry to see one--on the contrary, he was -pleasant and cordial--as that of one who is reluctantly dragged away -from a favorite employment. We went back to his camp under the birches -and as it was now noon he invited me to dinner with him. - -It was a sunny day, and the grass was warm and bright, with the shadow -of the delicate leaves falling upon it; the mosquitoes had disappeared -in this period of frosty nights and chilly days, so that the sylvan -camp was ideal. Some boiled beans, boiled dried apples, and bread, -baked before an open fire, constituted the meal; yet I remember to this -day the flavor of each article, so delicious they appeared to my sharp -appetite. Miller was embarrassed somewhat about dishes. He had by good -luck two kettle covers, which served as plates for us, and he was, he -explained, in the habit of using his sheath-knife to manage the rest, -for he had neither table-knife, fork, nor spoon. I produced my own -sheath-knife and assured him that I was born with it in my mouth, so to -speak, and we set to eating cheerfully. - -For a professional recluse, I found Miller very cordial and -communicative. He travelled alone, he told me, not because he would not -have been glad of company, but because it was hard to find any one to -go with him, and almost impossible that two "pardners," even when at -first agreeable, should remain very long without quarrelling; so he had -decided, as the simplest solution, to carry out his ideas alone. He -was in the habit of exploring the most remote parts of the territory, -searching for minerals. He had tramped over the mountains between the -Yukon and the Tanana, back and forth; and had been a thousand miles up -the Koyukuk, to where it headed in a high range, climbing which, he -had looked out upon the Arctic ocean. On returning down the river, he -had been knocked out of his boat by a "sweeper" (a log which extends -out from a bank over a stream, two or three feet above the water). -The current was so rapid where he met with the accident that when he -rose to the surface his boat was some distance ahead of him. He struck -out swimming to catch up with it, but, as if animated with a perverse -living spirit, the boat moved off on a swifter current toward the -centre of the river. Soon he was in danger of being benumbed in the icy -water, and he was exhausted from his efforts, yet he knew if he should -swim to the banks and lose his boat he would eventually perish in the -wilderness, without resource and hundreds of miles from the nearest -human being. So he swam desperately, and when on the point of giving -up and sinking, a check in the current ahead slackened the speed of -the boat so that by an effort he was able to reach it and grasp the -gunwale. But it was some time before he gathered strength enough to -pull himself aboard. - -The history of the prospectors in any new country, especially in -Alaska, would be a record of intensely interesting pioneering. -Unfortunately these men leave no record, and their hardships, lonely -exploring tours and daring deeds, performed with a heroism so simple -that it seems almost comical, have no chronicler. They penetrate the -deserts, they climb the mountains, they ascend the streams, they dare -with the crudest preparation the severest danger of nature. Some -of them die, others return to civilization and become sailors or -car-conductors or janitors; but they are of the stuff that keeps the -nation alive. By that I do not mean the false or imitation prospector, -who has no courage or patience, but only the greed of gold. Thousands -of such poured into Alaska after the Klondike boom, and many of them -turned back at the first sight of Chilkoot Pass, which is nothing -to frighten a strong boy of twelve. Many more got enough of Alaska -in floating down the Yukon, and kept on straight to St. Michael's, -scarcely stopping in any of the mining regions; thereby benefiting the -transportation companies greatly, and adding much to the territory's -sudden apparent prosperity. But before the Klondike rush nearly all the -Alaskans were of the hardy true pioneer type I write about. - -In the afternoon I returned, and finding my Indian punctually on hand -at the appointed time, we went back to the Yukon together. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. -THE LOWER YUKON. - - -The next day we broke camp, and floating down the river, soon entered -the main range of the Rampart Mountains. They were not high, but -picturesque, and the lower parts and the valleys were gay with green -and gold. It was a perfect day, cool and clear. We stopped for the -night below the so-called rapids, which at this time of low water were -hardly noticeable. An Indian came to our camp from his village across -the river, and we traded a can of condensed milk with him for a silver -salmon. I got into his little narrow birch canoe, and managed to paddle -it with the feather-like paddle, thanks to my experience in rowing a -racing-shell; but it required infinite care in balancing. I could not -help admiring the ease with which the Indian managed the delicate boat -when he left us for home again, and wondering how these people catch -salmon out of canoes like these. - -[Illustration: A YUKON CANOE.] - -[Illustration: INDIAN FISH-TRAPS.] - -All this day and the next we passed many Indian villages, made up -of white tents, with red dried salmon hung up on frames in front. -Although these natives are classed as Indians, (belonging to the group -of Athabascans) and although they show certain traits of physiognomy -like them, yet in their general nature they are entirely different. -Unlike the stoical Sioux or Arapahoe of the United States, these -people are childlike and open in their manners. They chatter freely -in their own language, whether it is understood or not; they are -anxious to give and get information; and they seize the slightest -excuse for a joke to giggle convulsively. They are fine boatmen, and -good hunters and fishermen. All along the river could be seen their -traps of stakes, set in some eddy near a bend of the river, and in the -early frosty mornings the squaws would come down to the traps in their -canoes,--which are broader than those of the men, and managed by a -wider paddle--propelling them swiftly and rhythmically along, crooning -a song. They are an intelligent, good-humored people, already a little -spoiled in their manners and ideas by contact with whites who were -hardly fitted to teach the untutored savage. Yet they are on the whole -far from disagreeable people to deal with, and although their habits -did not always seem up to the civilized standard, yet in contrast to -the Eskimos whom we saw further down the river, they were models of -cleanliness. There is no lack of variety in their faces, and in one -camp I saw a woman whose dark beauty would have ornamented the finest -drawing-room. Whether or not she had some share of white blood I do not -know. - -These Indians, as a rule, have no chief, but live in the most complete -independence, the only authority over them being that of the _shaman_ -or medicine man, who attains his ascendency by his cleverness in duping -others to believe he has supernatural gifts, such as prophecy. It is -the custom for any one who aspires to high position to make prediction -as to the weather, when the next steamboat will arrive, and so on. When -his predictions become true frequently, he gradually obtains influence. - -Great travellers are the Alaskan Indians too, and at a trading post -along this part of the Yukon one may see, besides the Yukon Indians, -others from the Koyukuk, the Tanana, and even the Kuskokwim; but -one rarely sees Eskimos, who are not such great wanderers, and when -they make voyages visit only the regions peopled by their own race. -Those Indians who live on the flats of the river frequently go to the -mountains a long distance off to hunt. Dr. Dall, in his "Alaska and its -Resources," gives the following translation of a song which he heard a -Koyukuk woman singing to her infant. - - "The wind blows over the Yukon. - My husband hunts the deer on the Koyukun mountains. - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one. - - "There is no wood for the fire. - The stone axe is broken, my husband carries the other. - Where is the sun-warmth? Hid in the dam of the beaver, - waiting the springtime? - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not! - - "Look not for ukali,[2] old woman. - Long since the cache was emptied, and the crow - does not light on the ridge-pole! - Long since my husband departed. Why does he wait - on the mountains? - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, softly. - - "Where is my own? - Does he lie starving on the hillside? Why does he linger? - Comes he not soon, I will seek him among the mountains. - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, sleep. - - "The crow has come, laughing. - His beak is red, his eyes glisten, the false one. - 'Thanks for a good meal to Kuskokala the shaman. - On the sharp mountain quietly lies your husband.' - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not. - - "Twenty deer's tongues tied to the pack on his shoulders; - Not a tongue in his mouth to call to his wife with. - Wolves, foxes, and ravens are tearing for morsels. - Tough and hard are the sinews; not so the child in your bosom. - Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not! - - "Over the mountain slowly staggers the hunter. - Two bucks' thighs on his shoulders, with bladders - of fat between them. - Twenty deer's tongues in his belt. Go gather wood, old woman! - Off flew the crow,--liar, cheat, and deceiver! - Wake, little sleeper, wake, and call to your father! - - "He brings you back fat, marrow, and venison fresh - from the mountains. - Tired and worn, he has carved a toy of the deer's horn, - While he was sitting and waiting long for the deer - on the hillside. - Wake, and see the crow, hiding himself from the arrow! - Wake, little one, wake, for here is your father." - -Although we saw fish in front of all the tents and apparent contentment -in every face, yet we were told that the catch had not been nearly so -great as usual that summer, and that there must inevitably be much -suffering during the winter. "Yes," said Mynook, at Mynook Creek, -philosophically, "Goin' be hard winter; tink old people all die." -We asked him why just the old people, and he explained that the old -people had not been able to gather so much provisions as the young and -vigorous ones, and would therefore sooner starve. We told him that in -our country we cared for the old first, and he seemed to think such a -custom very unjust, observing that the old who had lived should die if -there was any famine, and make room for the younger ones who could live -yet a long time if they could get food. It is starvation, one may add, -which keeps the Indian population of the whole Alaskan interior within -very meagre limits. - -On the 3d of September we came to the mouth of the Tanana, a large -tributary which enters the Yukon on the left side; the country around -its mouth is low, and the river itself splits into many channels, -forming a delta. On the bank of the Yukon opposite the mouth of -the Tanana we found a trading post with two white men and a host of -Indians. When we landed at the store we were met by the Indians, the -white men having not yet observed us. The first was evidently a shaman -or medicine man, a copper-colored old fellow with cross eyes and a -cunning wrinkle around his mouth. He ceremoniously pulled off his -buckskin gloves before offering his hand to shake; then pointing his -finger to the sky he began a long speech in his own language, with many -gestures. We all listened very gravely, and when he got through and -looked at me with an air of self-satisfaction and triumph, I placed -both hands on my stomach, and rolled my eyes, then thumbed my nose at -him, and finally began to quote to him the immortal soliloquy of Hamlet -"To be or not to be," with much emphasis and many variations. Everybody -listened with evident delight, especially the shaman, and when we -were through they conducted us up to the trading post. An old fellow -was smoking a curiously carved wooden pipe, which filled the soul of -one of our party with the desire to obtain it, since it seemed such a -remarkable bit of native work. He offered five dollars for it as a -starter, and the old fellow, astounded but willing to accept the gifts -of the gods without questioning, handed over the pipe with an alacrity -that made Goodrich examine it a little more before parting with his -money. On the bottom of the bowl was stamped in the wood "Smith & Co., -New York," and on closer inspection it was evident that the apparent -carving was in reality pressed, and that the pipe was worth in the -neighborhood of twenty-five cents in the States. - -We were welcomed by the trader, and after a lunch with him floated -down the river about eight miles to the mission below. There our eyes -were delighted by a neat little building with a belfry and bell, and -actually two dormer windows. It was the work of the pioneer Mike Hess, -from whom the stream entering the Yukon above Mynook creek had been -named. The missionary was absent in a parochial call five hundred miles -away, but his wife and child and a nurse were there. The missionary -published the only paper on the Yukon at that time; it appeared once -a year, and consisted of four small pages, printed on a hand-press. -The items were from all over the country, and many of them were very -interesting and amusing. - -From here we kept on travelling with the current down the Yukon, -helping our speed by continuous rowing. There being three of us, -"tricks" of one hour were arranged, so each man steered for an hour, -rowed an hour, and then sat in the stern for an hour, regarding the -landscape and making notes. It grew so chilly that often the time for -resting was hardest to endure, for the skin would cool and the teeth -would chatter even with all the clothes we could get on, and we would -be glad to get a little vigorous exercise again. Storms were frequent, -and we often had the pleasure of sitting in the driving rain all day -long. We covered over our outfit as well as we could and even rigged -up a sort of awning of sail-cloth on a frame-work of boughs, which -kept the rain off the steersman, while the man who was resting crawled -under a tarpaulin, and the oarsman rowed and got wet; so that under -these conditions the position of steersman was most coveted. The wind -blew with such violence that sometimes we took water over the bow and -stern of our boat, and the steerman had to exert skill to keep from -swamping. When the weather was clear, however, it was cool, and we -enjoyed life more at such times than we had before done. - -[Illustration: IN A TENT BENEATH SPRUCE TREES.] - -To wake up on a gloriously bright morning, in a tent pitched beneath -spruce trees, and to look out lazily and sleepily for a moment from -the open side of the tent, across the dead camp-fire of the night -before, to the river, where the light of morning rests and perhaps -some early-rising native is gliding in his birch canoe; to go to the -river and freshen one's self with the cold water, and yell exultingly -to the gulls and hell-divers, in the very joy of living; or to wake -at night, when you have rolled in your blankets in the frost-stricken -dying grass without a tent, and to look up through the leaves above to -the dark sky and the flashing stars, and hear far off the call of a -night bird or the howl of a wolf: this is the poetry, the joy of a wild -and roving existence, which cannot come too often. No one need look for -such moments during mosquito time in Alaska. But the pests were over -now, and men and animals who had been fighting them all summer rested -and drew deep draughts of peace, and strengthened themselves for the -stinging cold of the winter, likewise hard on the temper and on the -vital powers. - -In our downward journey we passed close by mountains whose tops were -beginning to be snow-covered, and were higher than those of the Rampart -Mountains, which we had crossed above the Tanana; yet they were further -from the river, with level country between. Leaving these behind we -came to flats similar to the great Yukon flats above the Ramparts, but -not so extensive. Here the river split into many channels, enclosing -low green islands. The clay banks were fifty or a hundred feet high, -and as we followed the current it took us against the side which it was -engaged in cutting away. We had to avoid getting too close, for one -never knew when a portion, undermined by the stream, would topple over -with a tremendous splash; and if such a mass should strike the boat -it would bear it to the bottom of the river and bury it so deeply and -easily that when the dust of the fall should clear away, the circles on -the water would be as regular as usual. - -The banks showed on the upper parts, deposits of black peat, twenty or -thirty feet thick, and it was evident that the accumulations are going -on at the surface yet. Alaska is, like other Arctic regions, densely -covered with moss, which grows alike in the swamps and on the steep -hillsides; and the successive generations of mosses, one rearing itself -on the remains of the others, bring about in time a deposit of peat -which one can find nearly everywhere, if he digs down. It is well known -that such vegetable accumulations, after having been transformed into -peat, may by further change become a lignite or sort of brown coal, -and when much altered by the heat or pressure attending the uneasy -movement of the earth's crust may even become anthracite. In many -regions the crust, apparently still, is in reality constantly moving, -although so slowly that we do not notice it; yet in the course of ages -the most stupendous changes have been brought about. We are accustomed -to picture coal as originating in tropical swamps of the carboniferous -period, with enormous trees bearing leaves many feet long, and -bullfrogs as big as men squatting in the background, while the air is -so heavily laden with carbonic acid that it would put out a candle; but -here, at the Arctic Circle, the formation of coal is evidently going on -rapidly, and future generations may derive benefit from it. - -Beds of vegetable matter belonging to a past age are abundant all -along the Yukon, but the coal is as yet only a black shiny lignite, -for it has not been altered much; and leaves found in it show that -the vegetation of the period when the beds accumulated was not far -different from what it is to-day, and had nothing to do with gigantic -tadpoles and malaria. - -One of the most interesting of the high clay bluffs which we passed -lies on the left-hand side of the river, not far below the Tanana. It -has been called by some early travellers the Palisades, and this name -appears on the map, but the miners and traders know it by the name of -the Boneyard, from the fact that there are buried in the silts near the -top (which is about two hundred feet high) many bones of large animals, -which come down to the river as portions of the bluff are undermined -and fall. We stopped at this place, and, slumping through the mud to -the foot of the bluff, we came across the tusk of a mammoth, which -probably weighed over a hundred and fifty pounds. It was as thick as -a man's leg at its larger end, but the whole of it was evidently not -there. Further on we found a smaller tusk with the end worn off as if -the animal had been using it severely for some purpose. Afterwards -we saw other bones,--leg bones, fragments of the backbone, etc.,--in -great abundance. Our little boat was too small to carry these gigantic -relics, but we preserved a huge molar tooth from a mammoth, measuring -several inches across, and we sawed off portions of one of the tusks. - -The extinct hairy elephant, or mammoth, inhabited Alaska at a time -previous to the memory of man, yet not very ancient, geologically -speaking. Remains of these animals are also abundant in Arctic America -and Siberia. It was at first supposed that the climate was tropical -when they existed, since it is well known that the elephant is a native -of hot countries, and the bones are almost exactly like those of the -elephants of the tropics. The discovery of some of these remains in -the River Lena in Siberia was one of the most interesting of modern -scientific events. From some reason or the other, many mammoth had -been caught in the ice of the river and had been frozen in, the ice -never melting through all the thousands of years that followed. So well -preserved were they at the time of their discovery that it is said they -furnished food for dogs; but what amazed scientists most was to find -that this elephant was covered with very long hair or fur, forming a -protection against the cold such as few creatures possess. The fur and -much of the skin of one of these mammoth may be seen in the museum at -St. Petersburg. - -We know from geologic evidence that Alaska, firm and solid land though -it appears to be, is really slowly rising out of the sea, and we also -know that this rising motion has been going on for a very long time. -At a period which must have been many hundred years ago, the country -was covered with a multitude of shallow lakes, many of them large, and -some of immense size--rivalling our Great Lakes of the St. Lawrence -river system. Most of these lakes are now drained and we have, as -records of them, only broad flats composed of fine clays and silts -which accumulated as sediments in the lake bottoms. Through this vast -lake region roamed the mammoth in herds, and so far as we can tell the -climate was much the same as it is now; but with the elevation of the -land and the draining of the lakes the mammoth has disappeared--the -reason no one is able to tell. - -The Eskimos carve the mammoth tusks into ornaments, pipes, and other -ivory articles. They are familiar, in fancy, with the animal, and have -a special name for it, as well as for its ivory as distinguished from -walrus ivory. They also have some vague legends about it, which the -traveller may learn through an interpreter. At St. Michael's a Mahlemut -Eskimo told me that a long time ago, when the whole country was full -of lakes and darker than it is now, these animals were alive, and in -the time of their fathers they were said to still exist, far in the -interior, on the shores of a great lake; and that their fathers never -went near this lake, hunting, for fear of this beast. It is more than -likely, however, knowing what we do of the Eskimo habits and character, -that this was simply fancy, which grew out of finding the tusks and the -bones; or an invention, gotten up to satisfy the white man's curiosity, -for the Eskimo is so willing to please that he always tells exactly -what he thinks will be appreciated, whether or not it is the truth. -Moreover, so far as I have been able to judge from other things, the -Eskimo tradition does not run nearly so far back as it needs must to -extend to the time of the mammoth. - -Breaking camp one morning, just as the smoke was beginning to curl from -the camp of our Siwash neighbors on the other bank of the river, we -ran rapidly down stream, and by the early afternoon passed the mouth of -the Koyukuk. This is a large stream of clear water contrasting sharply -with the muddy roily waters of the Yukon, from which it is separated -almost by a distinct line. Above the rivers at the point of junction -rises a beautiful sharp cliff, probably a thousand feet high and nearly -perpendicular to the top. - -On reaching this place we were met by heavy winds which tossed the -surface of the river into waves, and where it blew against the current -made a chop sea, so that the Skookum took in a good deal of water. -Soon we were unable to make any headway at all against the wind, so -we landed, and tracking our boat along the bank till we came to a -little "slough" or shallow side channel where the water, protected -by trees which grew on both sides, was smooth, we made camp. It was -a flat smooth place, and the ground was covered thickly with fuzzy -bright green plants of the horse-tail family, which made everything -look so downy that one felt like rolling in it. These beautiful plants -are easily crushed under foot, and a little tramping around had the -effect of pressing out the water with which the sand was filled, and -transforming all into a very soft mud. We had to keep our heavy boots -on, therefore, especially around the fire, which is the most frequented -spot in a pioneer's camp; and finally we had to lay poles along the -path between the camp and the boat, to prevent slumping too deeply. -To add to our discomforts, the rain came down in torrents that night, -piercing our somewhat service-worn tent, so that by morning most of our -outfit, including blankets, was more or less wet. - -Starting out again, we found, soon after leaving our sheltered nook, -that the wind was still blowing, and in stretches of the river where -the wind was ahead we could move only very slowly, while on other -curves we went at a high rate of speed. So we moved along by jerks -till about noon, when we were brought to a standstill by an increase -in the wind, and after an effort to proceed further, which resulted -in our being blown back a little up the river, we landed, waited an -hour and lunched; after this, the wind having gone down somewhat, we -proceeded. We passed several native villages, both winter and summer -camps, the former with their clumsily built log houses and attendant -log caches, the latter with their white tents and lines of fish drying -on frames in front. The inhabitants shouted out vociferous greetings -to us as we passed, which we did not understand; but we responded -quite as cordially in our own tongue. At about five o'clock we reached -the native village of Nulato, one of the largest on the river, with a -population of several hundred, and a small trading post, at that time -kept by a half-breed trader. - -Our first question on landing was whether the steamer had passed down -the Yukon for St. Michael's. This steamer would be the last which -would make connections with Seattle or San Francisco, so if we missed -it we would be obliged to remain all winter in the country. We knew -approximately when the boat would leave Circle City, and from time -to time, as we had been floating down the river, we had inquired -at trading posts whether she had yet passed us, for this would be -very easy by day in the many channels of the Flats, and still easier -by night, especially as the river, even when confined in a single -channel, is often several miles wide in this lower part, and a steamer -passing on one side would hardly be observed from our camp on the other -bank. - -We had last heard at the station opposite the mouth of the Tanana that -she had not yet passed, though she was daily expected--but that was -several days ago. Of course we would have been able to lie by at any of -these posts and camp until the steamer should arrive; but so great was -our desire to make the best possible use of every minute we had to stay -in Alaska that we preferred to take the risk of being left all winter, -with an opportunity of building a log hut and laying in fire-wood till -spring, rather than lose the last part of our journey in the Skookum. -But we were relieved by the trader at Nulato, who told us that the -steamer had not arrived. We were then given the use of a log cabin, -with glass windows, which was sumptuously furnished with a stove, a -hewn-wood bed, a table and a three-legged stool. - -After supper we made the tour of the village, crawling into the little -cabins of the natives, where the women sat cross-legged in groups, -occupied in their sewing. They were making gloves of moose-skin trimmed -with beaver, caps of the ground squirrel or marmot fur, and high boots -of the hair seal with bottoms of walrus hide. Most of them used steel -needles, though many still kept to those of pierced bone, which seemed -in skillful hands to serve the purpose quite as well. Our curiosity -was soon satisfied, for each dwelling was much like every other; so -after we had made bargains for some of the articles, we went back to -our cabin and turned in. The joy of having a roof over our heads as a -protection against the rain which was now pelting down was so great -that I lay awake some little time staring gloatingly up at the logs. - -In the morning the one whose turn it was to cook rose early, and -soon large kettles were full of beans, dried apples and rice, and -all were boiling merrily away, while the bacon sizzled and smoked in -the frying-pan. The other two of us lay lazily in our blankets, and -sniffed the delicious odors, turning now and then from side to side -when the hewn logs upon which we were lying grew conspicuously hard. -Suddenly the door was burst open and a deaf-and-dumb Indian who had -made himself useful the night before, bringing us wood and water in -consideration of a square meal afterwards, rushed in, and with many -gestures began to try to make us understand something. We had seen a -surprisingly large number of deaf mutes among the natives, and they -were always more easy to understand than the others, who had the habit -of sputtering and choking away in their own tongue, although they knew -very well that we did not understand a word of it; while the deaf mutes -immediately enlightened us by some of the signs they were so practiced -in making. This one, by energetic revolutions of his hands around one -another, recalled to us immediately the stern-wheel of a steamboat, -while the puffing he made with his mouth took away all doubt as to his -meaning. Then he pointed up the river, and gesticulated violently. - -We all turned out on the double quick, and, sure enough, the steamer -was not more than a half a mile away. She was due to stop at Nulato -a half hour to get wood, and so heavy was the traffic on the river -at this time of the year and so important every hour in making -connections with the ocean steamer that we knew she could not be got -to stay longer. So we began hasty and energetic preparations, first -rolling our blankets and strapping them with our personal outfit -into the pack-sacks which we had carried throughout the trip, then -hurriedly bundling together tents, specimens, and whatever else we -deemed necessary and practicable to take out of Alaska with us. Many of -the more cumbersome articles we abandoned, as they were much worn, and -it would cost more than the original price to carry them back to the -United States at the extraordinary prices for freight then prevailing. -The natives soon became aware of our hurry and hung around in numbers, -eager to help, but generally getting in the way; each had his eye on -some article which he hoped to fall heir to. To many of these natives, -poor beyond our ordinary conception of poverty, a nicked camp-axe is -a substantial private fortune, and one Siwash to whom this article -was awarded for general good conduct marched off in great happiness. -Another fell heir to our boat--the faithful old Skookum, who had -carried us two thousand miles, and now was somewhat battered and leaky -as the result of her travels. - -Meanwhile the steamer had swung in close to the flat high bank, the -gang planks had been dropped down, and scores of natives, partly those -of the village and partly those who had come on the steamer, scampered -back and forth carrying wood on board in the most clumsy and ridiculous -fashion, but still accomplishing much work by reason of their numbers. -Miners, with whom the boat was crowded, came ashore and strolled around -the village; they walked into our cabin and pestered us with idle and -aimless questions, as we were working hard to get our stuff ready to -take on board. At the last moment, when sufficient wood had been gotten -in, the whistle was blown; we grabbed our pack-sacks and gave the -remaining burdens to the natives to carry, and hurried on board. We -had left some things, others than those mentioned. I felt then a keen -regret, which occurs to me whenever I think of it, at being obliged to -abandon all the good "grub" which had been boiling and frying away so -merrily on the stove when our deaf-and-dumb friend had roused us from -our dream. None of us being enthusiastic cooks, it had been our custom -to prepare large amounts of the stock articles of diet at a time, in -order that one cooking, with some few additions, might last most of -each man's allotted time of three days; so the quantity we left behind -was ample to feed quite a number of Siwash, and I have no doubt they -gorged themselves, and had lively times trying to see who could eat the -most and the quickest. - -The steamer was packed. Miners who had intended to go to the "Outside" -this year, had waited as late as they dared, so as to work their claim -and bring out as much as possible, and then had taken this last boat. -We found every sleeping accommodation taken, and not until late in -the afternoon did the steward's resources find us a place. The only -available space left under cover was that occupied by the tables in -the steerage division. After supper was eaten, these tables were -taken out, and the floor-room thus gained was allotted us. The rest -of the floor was already occupied, and we had to exercise great care -to keep from rolling over into another man's preserves. We spread our -rubber blankets on the deck to protect us from tobacco juice and -other unpleasant things, and spread our woollen blankets on these. -Lights were put out at about ten o'clock, and after that there was -considerable stumbling around. - -On the forward deck in front of the steerage department an active -poker game, conducted by a professional gambler, was continually in -progress, under a sail which had been rigged up as a cover. This game -always wore on until midnight and attracted many interested spectators -as well as players, all crowding around the table on which stacks of -gold pieces were piled, under the light of a lantern tied overhead. -When the men finally started to bed, they lost their bearings in the -almost complete darkness and wandered far and wide, stumbling over the -prostrate sleepers, whose loud and heartfelt oaths disturbed the peace -almost as much as the hobnailed boots on one's stomach. At the first -glimmer of dawn--_i.e._, about three in the morning--we were routed -out and made to roll up our blankets out of the way in order that the -tables might be set up for a seven o'clock breakfast; so on the whole -our sleep was light and short. Yet we had paid first-class fares on -boarding the boat. I have since taken a comfortable two-weeks' voyage -on a transatlantic steamer to Germany for the same price as I paid for -this passage to St. Michael's, occupying four or five days. - -The next day we stopped at the native village of Anvik. By this time we -had left the land of the Indians or Ingeliks, which reaches down the -river below Nulato, and had reached that of the Innuits or Eskimos. -Anvik was the first Eskimo village I had seen and the impression I -carried away with me was one of extreme disgust. The whole place was -a human sty, from which arose an overpowering stink. The houses were -mere shacks built of poles laid close together, with holes in the -centre to allow the smoke to escape. All around the houses, in front, -behind, and along the paths, was ordure. Most of the people whom we -saw had the appearance of being diseased: whole rows of the maimed, -the halt, the blind, and the scrofulous, sunned themselves in front of -the huts. Others sat huddled in their long fur shirts or parkas (which -constitute their only garment), and coughed constantly, too sick to -show much interest in the white visitors. A little apart, in front of -the houses, a woman squatted, sobbing, while beside her crouched an -old crone with a mouth like a fish, who crooned incessantly a weird, -monotonous and mournful chant, to which the sobbing woman made brief -responses at intervals. Other women sat around in their doors, all -looking sad, and many sobbing. A young Indian boy from the steamer, who -had picked up some English in a mission school, explained the scene to -us. "That woman's baby die," he said. "Everybody all day cry." - -We were glad to turn away from the most dismal and degraded set of -human beings it had ever been my lot to see; on our way back to the -steamer we passed a building of sawed boards used as a mission, and met -the missionary, who was properly attired in a suit of clerical black, -with white linen and tie. He had a book in his hand. I had rather seen -him dressed in a parka, with an axe over his shoulder. - -Below Anvik a short distance, we came to the Holy Cross Mission, a -Catholic station located at another Eskimo village. The village was -only a little better than that of Anvik to look at, but somewhat -better to smell of. The mission itself, however, was a model. The -buildings were well-built and clean, and there was a flourishing -garden, containing potatoes, rutabagas, cabbages and lettuce, the whole -surrounded by a rail fence; and in another little enclosure there was -a real live cow, almost as much a novelty to us as to the natives from -further up the river, who left the steamboat and pressed around the -strange animal with wondering eyes, as children view the elephant at -their first circus. We saw many little girls, pupils of the school, -spotlessly arrayed in new calico dresses, with gay silk or cotton -handkerchiefs on their heads. They made quite a pretty picture, and -the contrast of the little maidens with their relatives at Anvik was -something almost startling. These children had been taken away from -their parents by the sisters who teach at the Mission and were being -brought up by them, to be sent away again only when grown. - -Between the Holy Cross Mission and the Yukon delta the river grows -continually wider till it is in places fully five miles from bank to -bank, without islands. The banks themselves become low and very flat, -and the timber disappears almost entirely, leaving the swampy plains -known as tundra. Along here the only fuel is driftwood; and this the -natives had stacked up in places ready for the steamer. Landing to take -on wood was always the opportunity for a run on shore, dickering with -the natives for curiosities, and general hilarity. The people here -were wonderfully different from those on the Yukon from Nulato to the -headwaters, being round and rosy, rather small in stature, and with a -certain Mongolian appearance. They are childlike in look and action, -with round wondering eyes, and mouths always ready to smile broadly and -unreservedly at any hint of a joke. They were dressed in the Eskimo -parka, made of furs of various sorts, especially squirrel, mink, -reindeer, or muskrat. The whole sustenance of the people in this barren -tundra district appeared to be fish, and many of them had been obliged -to make their parkas and leggings out of the fish skins, which were -sewn together with much neatness and taste, and were ornamented with -red ochre. In wet weather they wore long shirts made of the entrails of -animals, split open and sewn together; these had tight-fitting hoods -and sleeves, and were practically watertight. The Eskimo kayak or -covered boat, made by stretching seal or walrus skins over a wooden -frame, makes its appearance along here, although the birch canoe is -still to be seen. In the houses of these people we saw sealskins full -of oil laid up as a provision against the winter. - -[Illustration: THREE-HATCH SKIN BOAT, OR BIDARKA.] - -At a mission further up the river a Russian priest of the Greek -Catholic church had gotten on board. He wore the plain black gown, full -beard and long hair of men of his class, and spoke broken English. He -seemed well acquainted with the country, however, and assured us that -these people were distinct both from the Kolchane or Indians, who were -found all along the Yukon above Nulato, and from the Mahlemut Eskimos. -These middle people he called Kwikpaks; but I am sure they are really -Eskimos, with perhaps some peculiarities, due to their position on the -border-line of two races differing so greatly as do the Eskimos and the -Indians. - -The same day we left the Yukon for good, emerging from the northern -or Ap-hoon mouth, (for the Yukon forms a delta which spreads out -many miles and includes many channels) out on the open sea. We were -struck with the color of the clear green water, after so long viewing -the muddy brown Yukon or the clear black of some of its tributaries. -Before us the country was barren, untimbered, and black, with volcanic -cones rising here and there. As we advanced, low islands rose out of -the sea around these cones,--fields of lava, covered with swamps and -ponds,--while we left behind us the dead level untimbered tundra of the -Yukon delta. We anchored under the lee of an island that night, and as -usual we were roused from our sleeping places before daylight the next -morning by the cook. The sun rose gloriously from behind the low black -volcanic hills and just as we were getting around to breakfast at the -fourth table we steamed into St. Michael's. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] Dried salmon. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. -ST. MICHAEL'S AND SAN FRANCISCO. - - -St. Michael's is the usual port for the Yukon, though seventy miles -from its mouth. The Russians had a fort and garrison at this place -before they sold the territory to the United States, and since then -the commercial companies have had posts here. The chief part of the -population, however, consists of Eskimos. - -These people are very expert in carving. From stone they make axes, -lamps, skin-scrapers and many other implements; and from bone, and -especially from the walrus and mammoth ivory, they carve many things, -among them polished pipes. These pipes are evidently modelled after -the opium pipes of the East, with a peculiar shaped bowl having only a -very small cavity in it, and a long stem. They are ornamented with many -figures scratched on the ivory with a sharp knife, and then colored by -having charcoal and grease rubbed into the scratches; these figures, -of which there may be several hundred on a single pipe, represent the -Eskimo in his daily occupations, especially his hunting of deer, wolf, -and whale, his dancing in the _kashim_, or his travelling in his kayak. - -[Illustration: ESKIMO HOUSES AT ST. MICHAEL'S.] - -[Illustration: A NATIVE DOORWAY.] - -Strolling around the village, and peering into the _barabarras_, or -private houses, I ran across an old savage who was handling an object -which immediately attracted my attention; when he saw my curiosity he -explained by signs that it was an apparatus for making fire, and at my -request he actually performed the feat. It was the old plan of rubbing -two sticks of wood together, such as we have often read that savages -do; yet I had never known any one who knew exactly how it was done, -although as a boy I had often worn myself out in vain endeavors to make -fire in this way. So far as I know, no one had ever satisfactorily -explained how the Alaskan natives get their fire, one writer having -even supposed that they brought it from volcanoes in the first place; -and from the extraordinary care which they take in preserving hot coals -and often in carrying them considerable distances, one does not often -see them in the process of obtaining a new supply. - -The apparatus which I saw here used was simple and ingenious. -In a thoroughly dry stick of spruce were cut a number of little -grooves,--this was the wood destined to catch fire. The other piece of -wood was a rounded stick of some very hard variety, which the Eskimo -told me was picked up in the driftwood along the shore: it was very -likely a foreign wood. The point of the hard stick was set upright in -one of the grooves of the soft dry piece and by means of a leather -thong was made to revolve rapidly in it, the hard upright piece being -kept in place by a stone socket set in a piece of wood, which was held -in the mouth of the operator. After vigorously twirling the stick by -means of the thong for about a minute the soft wood began to smoke; a -moment afterwards a faint spark was visible. Then the Eskimo stopped -revolving the stick and heaping all the fine dust of the soft wood -which had been worn off by the grinding on the spark, and blew it -carefully till it grew to larger dimensions; then he placed a blade of -dry grass on the spark, and, blowing again, it burst into flame. The -whole process had lasted about three minutes. The old man explained -also that in boring the holes in stone, bone or ivory, they used the -same device, employing a stone drill instead of the wooden stick. - -There was great commotion among the natives at St. Michael's the -morning after we arrived, and the men all dragged their kayaks into the -water and getting into them paddled out into the harbor, where a number -of small whales were seen disporting themselves. When they neared the -school the men separated, and when a whale would sound they spread -themselves out so as to be nearly at the spot where he should come -up. Each man had several of the light spears they used for capturing -fish; these weapons are perhaps three and a half feet long, and weigh -about a pound, the shaft being slender and of light wood and the tip -of a barbed piece of bone. To each of these they had fastened by a -long thong, as they were paddling out, a blown-up bladder. As soon -as a whale rose the Eskimo who happened to be near sent his little -spear with great force deeply into its flesh. The wound was of course -insignificant, and the animal, taking alarm, sank into the water -again; but when after some time he was forced to return to the surface, -he encountered several hunters again, and received several more spears -with attached bladders. This time the buoyancy of the bladders made -it difficult for him to sink, and he rose soon afterwards, only to be -filled with so many spears that the bladders kept him from sinking at -all; then the natives drew near and with all kinds of weapons cut and -slashed and worried the creature till he finally gave up from loss of -blood, and died. Then he was towed ashore amid great excitement and -with rejoicing, not only by the hunters, but by the women, children and -old men who flocked down to the beach as it came in. - -The next thing was to cut up and divide the carcass, and this was done -thoroughly, everybody in the village coming in for a share. Nothing was -wasted. Even the blood was carefully saved and divided, and the sinews -were given to the women, who would dry and make them into threads for -sewing. Soon all the fires in the village were burning, and the smell -of boiling whale-flesh came from many pots, into which the women -peered expectantly. One old lady whom I noticed doing this showed in -her dress some of the effects of civilization, which is a rare thing -with the Eskimo, as they dress by preference in their squirrel or -muskrat-skin parkas; her flowing garment was made of flour-sacks sewn -together, and one might read the legend, inscribed many times and -standing in many attitudes, that the wearer (presumably) was Anchor -Brand. - -St. Michael's is made up of volcanic rock, and has been lifted from -the sea in recent geologic times. The natives know this, and say that -they find lines of driftwood marking the ancient limit of the waves, -at places far above where the highest water now reaches; on the other -hand, they say that the island has been thrice submerged since the -memory of man. Out of the general swampy level of the land around the -village rise, further back, broken cones with old craters at their -tops; these were very likely under the level of the sea when they were -active. We had time to spend a few days wandering over this country, -climbing through the rocky craters, and looking down on the numberless -swamp lakes which cover the southeast side of the island. One day, -however, we received sudden word that the steamer on which we had -engaged passage was about to sail, and we hurried on board. That night -we were far out on Behring Sea, tossing in a strong wind which soon -increased to a terrific gale. - -[Illustration: THE CAPTURED WHALE.] - -We lay several days "hove to" in this gale, with oil casks over the -bows to break the great waves which threatened more than once to -smash us and often seemed about to roll us over and over. Finally, -however, it quieted enough to let the seasick ones drop asleep, while -the sailors made things taut again, and before long we were in harbor -at the island of Unalaska--one of the great chain of Aleutian islands -which reaches from America to Asia, and the chief stopping point for -nearly all boats between the Yukon mouth and the coast of the United -States proper. Unalaska is a country of chaotically wild scenery. -The streams in turn meander over level benches and then tumble in -waterfalls over steep cliffs to the next bench, and so on till they -reach the sea; such a cataract we saw on the right as we entered the -harbor. - -In the village here we found the Aleuts semi-civilized from their long -contact with white men, for here the Russians held direct control long -before the territory was sold to the United States; they live in neat -wooden houses, and if one peeps in by night he may even see here and -there lace curtains and rocking-chairs. - -Seventeen days after leaving St. Michael's we finally reached San -Francisco. It was a clear, fine Sunday when we passed through the -Golden Gate, tingling with excitement which we had felt since seeing -the first land on the California coast. The sight of the multitude of -houses on the hillside, the smoke of the city, the craft of all kinds -going back and forth, had in it something very strange and discomposing -for us. It was only when the ship was at the dock, and we had gone -ashore, that we realized, from the way the curious crowd formed a -circle around us and stared in open-mouthed wonder, that our appearance -was unusual for a city. We had not taken much baggage through the -Yukon country, and our camp clothes were very shabby. None of us had -had opportunity to have hair and beard trimmed since we left--with the -result that we had a mane reaching to the shoulders and fierce bushy -buccaneer whiskers, inches deep all around. Two of us wore ancient high -leather boots and the third wore a kind of moccasin. We all had heavy -"mackinaw" trousers of blanket-cloth, with belted coats of the same -material, while coarse flannel shirts and dilapidated felt hats, burned -with the sparks of many a camp-fire and seamed with the creases of many -a night's sleep, completed our costume. - -Finding the attention of the crowd embarrassing, we took a carriage -for the Grand Hotel, and as we were driving through the streets I -noticed that if one so much as caught a glimpse of our faces through -the carriage window, he would turn and stare after the cab till it was -out of sight. It was Sunday afternoon, and the streets were filled with -smartly dressed men and women. For our part, the sight of all this -correct and conventional dressing made a disagreeable impression on us, -after so long a period of free and easy life; the white collars and -cuffs of the men, in particular, obtruded themselves on my attention -and irritated me. - -We had left our "store clothes" in Seattle and had to telegraph to -get them. It took a couple of days for this, and in the meantime we -had only to wait. We had been looking forward to going to the theatre -as soon as we should arrive in San Francisco, and when our clothes did -not arrive, were disappointed, till we suddenly braced up in defiance -of the whole city, and said, "Let's go anyhow." We had not had time to -get our hair and beard trimmed, and our costume was in all respects the -same as when we left Circle City, but we sallied out bravely. We were -late at the theatre, and the play had already begun; it was a popular -one, and the only seats left were some in the "bald-headed" row. - -Although we had by this time the idea forced on us that our appearance -was unusual, we were by no means prepared for the commotion which we -brought about, as we walked up the broad aisle to our seats. There was -a hum and a sizzle of whispers throughout the house, which changed to -laughter and exclamations; and the actors on the stage, catching sight -of us, got "rattled" and forgot to go on. Up in the peanut gallery -the gods began to indulge in catcalls and make personal inquiries. We -hurried to our seats to escape this storm, and meeting an usher thrust -our tickets into his hand. He looked at us with a puzzled air and a -broad grin, as if he thought it all some huge joke, but we were getting -nervous, and gave him a glare which made him indicate our seats for us. -The audience evidently believed we were part of the show; many were -standing by this time, waiting to see what the next would be, but after -a while the buzz subsided and the play went on. There was a constant -current of conversation about us, however; behind us a young fellow was -excitedly asking his companion "Who are they, who are they?" "Don't -know," said the other. "Sailors, I guess." - -After a while we felt like returning to the solitude of our hotel -rooms; the play, too, did not please us, so in the middle of an act we -got up, and having remarked very audibly "Dis is a rotten show," we -went. As we started down the aisle the commotion grew louder than ever, -and we slipped quickly out and down a side street. - - - FINIS. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes - -Obvious punctuation errors repaired. - -Hyphen removed: "network" (p. 123), "sawmill" (p. 130), "Thronduc" (p. -106). - -Hyphen added: "wood-box" (p. 73). - -Both "nigger-head" and "niggerhead" are used and have not been changed. - -P. 13: "comtemplate" changed to "contemplate" (contemplate in their -suddenly awakened fancies). - -P. 18: "synonomous" changed to "synonymous" (he used it as synonymous -with "tenderfeet"). - -P. 93: "bottow" changed to "bottom" (the bottom of the scow). - -P. 183: "caribon" changed to "caribou" (he had shot three bears, seven -caribou, and a moose). - -P. 222: "read" changed to "reap" (reap the benefits of his discoveries). - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Through the Yukon Gold Diggings, by -Josiah Edward Spurr - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH THE YUKON GOLD DIGGINGS *** - -***** This file should be named 44038.txt or 44038.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/0/3/44038/ - -Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive). - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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