no Smithsonian Exploration in Alaska in 1904 



" While making investigations in the vicinity of Elephant Point, 

 Mr. Nelson discovered the remains of a beaver dam at one end of 

 the ice clifif, which gave rise to a great deal of speculation and dis- 

 cussion on board as to whether this particular body of ice was not 

 originally a lake ; and indeed, considering the habits of the beaver, 

 it is difficult to account for the presence of this dam upon any other 

 hypothesis. The dam was in a good state of preservation, the wood 

 plainly showing the marks of the animals' teeth. It is readily seen 

 how the land forming the north shore of the lake may have been 

 washed away, and the ice exposed, by the water from the Buckland 

 and other rivers, which discharge into Eschscholtz Bay. The shal- 

 lowness of the bay, and the difference in the height of the cliff, on 

 its opposite sides, show that a large amount of washing away has 

 taken place. The moss and grass covering the surface of the ice are 

 also easily accounted for. The germs are readily transported from 

 the surrounding hills by small streams on the surface, snow-slides, 

 high winds, etc. It is of a parasitic and very rapid growth, covering 

 the most barren ground in a short time, even the dry hard surface 

 of volcanic rock, and that it readily thrives on the ice is shown by 

 the luxuriant growth found by us on every projecting point on the 

 face of the ice-cliffs. Kotzebue was undoubtedly in error in sup- 

 posing that the fossil remains of animals found in the vicinity were 

 imbedded in the cliff". I examined them carefully each season and 

 saw no signs of animal remains of any kind, while on shore; below 

 high-water mark, we found them in abundance. They were not 

 confined to the locality of the cliff, but extended each way as far as 

 our investigation reached. They evidently came from the Buckland 

 River, and were brought down by the drifting ice in the spring. 

 The other rivers emptying into Kotzebue Sound contain large num- 

 bers of them, as also those emptying into Norton Sound. The 

 natives assured us that large beds of these bones were to be found 

 in the rivers but a few miles inland. Many of the tusks found in 

 America up to the present time are very much decayed from expo- 

 sure, but it is probable that by digging into the frozen earth they 

 would be found in a perfect state. Our half-breed interpreter, 

 Andrew, claimed to have seen large quantities in the bed of a 

 stream which he discovered while on an overland trading voyage 

 from Norton Sound to Kotzebue Sound the previous winter. He 

 said he had taken a small piece on his sled and brought it down 

 near the coast, but finding that it, was overloading his dogs, he threw 

 it off and left it. Some of our men accompanied him to the spot 

 and found a portion of a small tusk in a perfect state of preservation. 



