182 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



From Cape Newenham onwards to the estuary of 

 the Kuskokwim one gravelly beach succeeded the 

 other, and going ashore was made delightfully simple, 

 because the water held deep right up to the tide line. 

 Driftwood was very plentiful, but the only growing 

 timber seemed to be entirely composed of belts of 

 attenuated dwarf willows. 



Near one of the prettiest of the 'shingly beaches 

 Cecily and I landed one afternoon bent on a long 

 foray, and for the first time on this trip we intended 

 to sleep in the open, with the sky for tent. The Lily 

 lay out in the offing, a sentinel for our safety. 



With our sleeping-bags strapped to our backs, and 

 a few eatables bestowed in our pockets, we took a 

 straight line from the beach, through the dense 

 willow scrub. 



Trekking onwards, with the enthusiasm of untried 

 explorers, we suddenly came on the smallest little 

 homestead, for all the world like a settler's hut in 

 the Canadian backwoo'ds, which so surprised us we 

 pinched our arms to see whether or no we were awake 

 or dreaming. There stood the shack right enough, 

 shakily, a rude dwelling made from the whitened 

 timber cast up on the beach, a stove-pipe doing duty 

 for chimney, and a window about the size of a hand- 

 kerchief inset into the rough logs. A low door stood 

 open, a-swing, and on a rubbish-heap near by a 

 pair of bald-headed eagles fought each other for 

 possession of some putrid bones. No smoke arose; 

 the silence seemed charged with the electricity of 

 mystery, ami burdened with weird, indescribable 



