TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 133 



venturesome little aeronauts, hanging apparently 

 from fragile single threads beginning and ending 

 Heaven knows where, all tangled with each other's 

 films of silk. On every side the fairy gossamer en- 

 filaded our position. 



Some of the little spiders sailed away on their 

 silken wires like pantomime fairies, other enterprising 

 spirits investigated the bidarka thoroughly, running 

 over her skin decks on to the paddle blade, and then 

 on the endless threads over the side into the water. 

 Even then they did not drown, but seemed to skim 

 over the surface lightly, deftly, with the grace of a 

 coryphee. About twenty yards or so of river was 

 enchained by this gossamer web, a sort of spider 

 " Cook's Excursion " somewhere. I am afraid we 

 must have upset the calculations of the little travellers 

 very much. 



The next day we crossed the river, skirted the 

 estuary, and covered the coast-line for some distance, 

 until the face of the country changed and low alders 

 grew to the edge of a little creek, whose reaches were 

 covered with decaying salmon. On our horizon some 

 moving forms loomed, and in great excitement we 

 made out, through the glasses, that the perambulat- 

 ing bears were four in number, two fully grown, and 

 two cubs. 



This was a most unusual thing. Sometimes a she- 

 bear wanders in company with a previous youngster 

 of two seasons back and this year's baby the natives 

 have it that bears seldom breed two years in succes- 

 sion but it is certainly unusual for the little band 



