384 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



snow-drift, and put in a couple of deer-skins. The sleds then 

 started on, leaving the prospective mother behind alone. That 

 evening the mother and child came into camp, the woman having 

 given birth to the child and walked several miles. While travel- 

 ing the next day the woman had hard work keeping up, and, upon 

 passing her as she rested in the snow, I offered her a seat upon 

 my sled, but the others would not allow her to ride. Also, in 

 cooking, she was compelled to make her own fire and cook alone, 

 for she could not drink from the same cup as the others; and 

 there were numerous other absurdities. According to their super- 

 stitions, the non-observance of these customs would result in mis- 

 fortune to the child. 



After a week's hard sledging the head- waters of the Kunya- 

 nook or Colville River were reached. Here all hands encamped 

 near the site of an old village, and preparations were made for 

 spending several days. Part of the caravan were to remain at 

 this .place until the river broke up, and then make the remainder 

 of the distance in boats. This point was the highest on the river 

 that the natives could reach in boats. They ascend here in the 

 fall and wait for the snow to come to enable them to sledge to the 

 mountains. The boats are stripped, the skins which form their 

 covering being buried until the next season, and the frames placed 

 high up on racks to prevent wild animals from reaching them and 

 eating the lashings. In the spring they sledge from the mountains 

 to the boats, where they wait for the river to break up and thence 

 descend to the coast. This practice is general with all the interior 

 natives. 



After resting three days at this village the journey was re- 

 sumed, only six sleds going on. The Indians told of another river 

 farther to the westward, and I concluded to accompany them to 

 find this new river. After sledging upon the Colville six days, 

 that river was left, and a range of hills about five hundred feet 

 high crossed, bringing us to the Ik-pik-puk, the Indian name of 

 the new river. These hills form the northern limit of the mount- 

 ains of Alaska. On one side is the Colville, which here makes a 

 sudden bend to the eastward ; on the other the Ik-pik-puk finds its 

 head-waters. Proceeding farther north, the country gradually 

 becomes more and more level, until, for the last fifty miles from 

 the arctic coast, it is perfectly flat, with no elevation, and is so full 

 of lakes, marshes, and rivers that it is impossible to walk any dis- 

 tance in a given direction. In crossing this section we could 

 gather no fuel of any kind, and our food had to be eaten un- 

 cooked ; but this fact did not trouble the natives. The greater 

 part of the time we had no food, and our diet consisted mainly of 

 a succulent root growing in the marshes, which the natives gather 

 in quantities, depending upon it when other resources fail. 



