TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 45 



The men were informed that they would be required 

 to accompany us on a trip extending far beyond the 

 confines of their native island, but this appeared to 

 have no terrors for them since they had all made 

 expeditions in former days along the shores of the 

 Alaska Peninsula, when engaged on board sailing 

 vessels in quest of the valuable sea-otter and fur seals, 

 which then were plentiful along those coasts. 



We were advised to take on board the schooner two 

 or three of the native bidarkas, and our men assured 

 us that these little craft would be found most useful 

 when making expeditions up any of the numerous 

 rivers of the country, and this indeed subsequently 

 proved to be a fact. We also purchased two flat- 

 bottomed boats known as " dories," which we were 

 told would be invaluable for landing in shallow places. 



One more day was given up to making final 

 arrangements for our departure from Kodiak, and a 

 few more necessaries and supplies which had been 

 omitted in Victoria, were laid in from the local stores 

 in order to make the commissariat department as 

 complete as possible. 



It had been decided to make a trip to the westward 

 along the southern shores of Kodiak, and to look 

 for bears in some of the bays which indent the island's 

 coast. The men assured us that in a certain bay, 

 well known to them, we should find a good anchorage 

 for the schooner, near a place where bears had once 

 been very numerous. But they added that persistent 

 killing of them for years by the natives had greatly 

 diminished the number of bears on the island. 



