2IO Natural History Bulletin. 



one of the roughest and meanest pieces of woods it has ever 

 been my misfortune to see. Though the distance could not 

 have been more than two miles it took nearly as many hours 

 to walk through the brush before I struck the "blazed" trail 

 that I knew led to the place of meeting. 



The Indians were there ahead of me and tiie trip up to 

 Glenora took very nearly tvv'o days of hard work, much of it 

 in the way of "poling" the canoe or by dragging it forward 

 with long hooked poles made b}^ the natives to catch hold of 

 bushes or branches and so aid in the progress of their craft by 

 pulling. Running so close to the banks, which were over- 

 grown with brush, wa could use only half of our large sail 

 except in making crossings where we often lost in a few min- 

 utes what had taken much hard work to gain. It was a wild 

 ride, many a time the water was so rough that w^e shipped a 

 good lot of it, and but for the perfect familiarity of the Indians 

 with the river we could have m.ade no headway at ail. 



About five o'clock on the afternoon of the 21st we reached 

 Glenora, where, by the courtesy of Mr. George Pritchett, 

 the customs ofKcer, I was installed in the old custom.s house 

 which has not been used as such since the lime of the mining 

 activity several years ago. The village itself is almost de- 

 serted, except for a few Indians — of whose morals the less said 

 the better. Just above Glenora and for some distance up the 

 river is a famous berrying ground, and the Tahl-tan Indians 

 gather the berries for winter use, preparing many also to be 

 disposed of to the Coast Indians at Wrangel. Back of the 

 village, which is built on a flat close to the river, rise terraces, 

 and in the distance ranges of mountains are to be seen. The 

 climate is very different from that of Wrangel, being much 

 warmer in summer and colder in winter, the rainfall also much 

 less. The forest is not so dense, the trees smaller and the 

 underbrush not thi^k enough to oppose any great obstacle to 

 a man on foot. Berries of many kinds grow in great profu- 

 sion and of good flavor, contrasting with the insipid, water- 

 soaked fruits of the coast. 



