No. 19. NOETH AMEEIOAN FAUNA. October, 1900. 



RESULTS OF A BIOLOGICAL REdONNOISSANCE OK THE YUKON 



RIVER REGION. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE REGION. 



By Wilfred II. Osgood. 



Nowhere else in North America is such a vast extent of ])oreal coun- 

 tr}' so easily accessible as along- the Yukon. The navigable waters 

 of the river begin at Lake Bennett, only 35 miles from the port of 

 Skagway, on the coast of southeast Alaska, and with but one short 

 interruption, extend northward as far as the Arctic Circle and then 

 westward to Bering Sea; in all, a distance of more than 1,800 miles. 

 The recent developments resulting from the discovery of gold in this 

 region include a modern railroad from Skagway to Bennett and a tram- 

 car service around the dangerous White Horse Rapids. The chief 

 oT)stacles to ready access to the territory have thus been removed, and 

 an opportunity is afforded for obtaining specimens and information 

 from a region much of which was previously unknown to naturalists. 

 Accordingly, with Dr. Louis B. Bishop as voluntary companion and 

 A. G. Maddren as assistant, I was detailed to make a hasty biological 

 reconnoissance of this region during the summer of 1899. 



ITINERARY. 



After outfitting at Seattle, Wash., we sailed via the Inside Passage 

 direct to Skagwa}^, Alaska, where we arrived on May 30. From 

 Skagway we worked slowly over White Pass and down to Lake Ben- 

 nett, at the head of navigation on the Yukon. Here we embarked in 

 a small flat-bottomed l)oat suited to our needs and sailed down the 

 series of lakes that follow one another for nearly 200 miles. From 

 the lakes we passed into Thirty-Mile River, thence into Lewes River, 

 and finall}' into the Y^ukon proper, stopping frequently and making 

 collections at favorable points. With the aid of the swift, even cur- 



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