TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 277 



size in height or girth, a profusion of forest trees 

 grew around us, and these consisted chiefly of firs, 

 cottonwood and silver birches, which in places were 

 most densely packed, since the region had escaped 

 all forest fires, which in more frequented parts of 

 Alaska have wrought havoc over countless acres of 

 the woods. 



Not far from camp the timber line abruptly ended, 

 and beyond there lay an open track of tundra, which 

 sloped upwards till it reached the grassy mountain 

 sides. From this point a climb of some three thou- 

 sand feet led to the summit of a commanding peak, 

 which we had christened Beacon Hill. On its top- 

 most point our natives collected heaps of wood, and 

 each night a brilliant fire was kindled there, to act 

 as a guiding light and beacon for the natives whom 

 we daily expected from the Sushitna. 



From the top of the hill on a clear day the climber 

 was rewarded with a view which baffles description. 

 Far below, on either side, lay the great basins of the 

 Sushitna and Kuskokwim rivers. Gazing out to- 

 wards the north-east, although some eighty miles 

 away, the vast perennial snow-clad peak of Mount 

 McKinley reared its towering height, a veritable 

 giant amongst giants, the highest and grandest of 

 Alaskan mountains, whose topmost pinnacle has still 

 defied the foot of man to reach it. A lonely watcher 

 on this Beacon Hill, looking upon the boundless 

 panorama of great mountains, wide fopen valleys 

 leading downwards to the ocean, vast forests dotted 

 here and there with countless lakes, and intersected 



