50 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



fir and cottonwood came into view, and soon we 

 found ourselves amidst a thick growth of trees inter- 

 spersed by dense alders and willow bushes. Here in 

 the sheltered valleys timber grew abundantly, although 

 the trees did not reach any considerable size in height 

 or girth. Here also the river ran more swiftly as it 

 wound a serpentine course, now rushing over rocky 

 shallows, here and there hollowing out deep pools 

 beneath the overhanging banks, whilst in other spots 

 the foaming waters came tumbling down a seething, 

 boisterous mass, where the river had for centuries past 

 cut deep gorges through the solid rocks which rose 

 dark and frowning sheer on either side above the 

 raging waters. 



Along the river banks great sunken bear trails ran, 

 showing where for ages past these huge beasts had 

 wandered up and down the stream in quest of salmon, 

 which teem at spawning time in most Alaskan rivers. 

 Even now, dead bodies and decaying skeletons of fish 

 were thickly strewn along the banks or lying in the 

 eddies of deep pools, grim relics of a strange fate 

 which befalls Alaskan salmon after they have spawned. 



Bears were not in evidence, but their tracks of recent 

 date showed up plainly on the snow, where they had 

 been wandering on the hillsides seeking patches of 

 grass which forms their earliest food on issuing from 

 winter quarters. 



Having pushed on some four or five miles up the 

 valley without seeing a living thing, save a few willow 

 grouse, and after searching the hillsides in vain with 

 glasses for sight of a moving bear, we decided to 



