66 CRUISE OF TUE STEAMER CORWIN. 



slioals in tbe stream in this locsility. Wo got on theni many times daring the day, and the launch 

 was only saved from capsizing or running out too far for us to get her afloat by all hands plunging 

 overboard and bearing her bodily against the current into deep water. At i p. tn. we ran the 

 rapids above the village visited July 18. Here we ceased pulling and allowed her to drift witli 

 the current, and it was really alarming to see with what velocity we were whirled along i>ast the 

 crumbling banks and over the rocky shoals. In ten minutes, however, we were through this bad 

 place and took to our oais with considerably more heart and spirit, feeling that the prospecit of 

 getting the launch back to the coast was much improved. The wind was ahead all the afternoon, 

 and seemed to draw ahead in every reach. It served, however, to keep us comijaratively free 

 from mosquitoes, for which we were duly thankful. At 7. .50 p. m. we pitched our camj) on the 

 side of a rocky canon about six miles from the Indian village visited July 18, and upon reckoning 

 up the distance, I found we had gone uearly fifty miles this day, and as the oars were of little use 

 except to keep the launch in mid-channel, some idea of the force of the current can be obtained. 

 Temperature, 90°. 



August "), 1SS4. — The day dawned clear and continued so throughout. At 7.30 a. m. we got 

 under way and proceeded down the river, and at 9.30 a. m. arrived ofl' the second village passed 

 in coming up, but did not stop, as I was anxious to reach the other village before noon in order to 

 correct some observations previously made there. We found the current very strong, and were 

 obliged to go around an island by a way we did not discover in passing up, in order to avoid a 

 shoal place in the larger part of the river. At 11.30 a. m. we arrived at the first village, and I got 

 several observations for latitude, longitude, variation, etc. We obtained a good supply of fresh 

 fish and salted them down for future use. The Indians had caught an unusually large quantity 

 of fish at this village, and the racks on the beach were covered with drying salmon. At 1 p. m. 

 we again started on our way, and at 2 p. m. arrived at the rapids above the coal mountain. The 

 water had fallen some ten feet since we passed up, and I now discovered that the bed of the river 

 was filled with many gravel shoals, and that from the east bank many ugly rocks projected into 

 the channel. In seeking to avoid these latter the launch ran hard on to one of the shoals and we 

 had dillicult work getting her oil'. Fortunately a fresh breeze 8])rung up ahead just at this time, 

 and ^>e hoisted our sail, and by tacking her through the narrow sloughs managed to shoot the 

 rapids without further accident. We now emerged into the still part of the rapids mentioned 

 before, and found very little current to aid us for about ten miles. I determined to run all night, 

 as there are no shoals in this part of the river. During the afternoon we arrived at the place 

 where we had cached the skiff, and stopped long enough to get a cup of tea and take her in tow. 

 As night came on the river became strangely silent, and as we sped (juietly i)ast the dark banks 

 there was no sound to show that we were moving. Only the murmuring of the rapidly flowing 

 current as it raced over the limbs of some tree which had fallen into the water, or the sudden 

 noise of a portion of the high bank breaking away and tumbling into the stream, broke the solemn 

 stillness. The darkness increased, and a light mist settled upon the river as the hours wore on, 

 and I would have stopped about midnight had not the moon suddenly appeared above the high 

 wooded shores and flooded the river with its silvery light. At 12 o'clock we passed the in<iuth of 

 the Sheeleelictok and discovered a large shoal in the river at this place. We had arranged to i)ass 

 the night in watches, but the mosquitoes were so bad that it was impossible to sleep, and so we 

 sat up all night smoking and fighting these pests. Average temi)erature, 95°. 



Atif/ust G, 1884. — At 2 a. m. we arrived at Highland Encami)ment, and stopped long enough 

 to take on boaid some stones we had collected as specimens on our way up. Just below this 

 place the river widens to 1,100 yards, and the current decreases somewhat. About 4 a. m. a light 

 breeze sprang up, and we went along a little faster than the current until 5.30 a. m., when we 

 arrived at some high blufl's in a bend of the river a short distance above Lost Aiiclior Encamp 

 ment. Here we stopped for breakfast, and I got some sights for longitude and latitude. After 

 getting my noon observation we started again down stream, making good time, as we were 

 assisted by a light breeze. The banks in this locality are ]>eri)en(licular masses of black mud and 

 decaying vegetable matter, broken into many irregularities by the action of the current. At 9 

 a. m. we arrived at Glacier Bend, and I made several sketches of this remarkable formation. We 

 shot a beautiful specimen of gull common to this region as it fluttered along the face of the 



