"Travels in Alaska 



a forest of short, closely planted trees to the second 

 North Fork of the Stickeen, where a still greater de- 

 posit of stratified gravel is displayed, a section at least 

 six hundred feet thick resting on a red jaspery forma- 

 tion. 



Nine hundred feet above the river there is a slightly 

 dimpled plateau diversified with aspen and willow 

 groves and mossy meadows. At "Wilson's," one and 

 a half miles from the river, the ground is carpeted 

 with dwarf manzanita and the blessed Linncea borealisy 

 and forested with small pines, spruces, and aspens, 

 the tallest fifty to sixty feet high. 



From Wilson's to "Caribou," fourteen miles, no 

 water was visible, though the nearly level, mossy 

 ground is swampy-looking. At "Caribou Camp," 

 two miles from the river, I saw two fine dogs, a New- 

 foundland and a spaniel. Their owner told me that 

 he paid only twenty dollars for the team and was 

 offered one hundred dollars for one of them a short 

 time afterwards. The Newfoundland, he said, caught 

 salmon on the ripples, and could be sent back for 

 miles to fetch horses. The fine jet-black curly spaniel 

 helped to carry the dishes from the table to the 

 kitchen, went for water when ordered, took the pail 

 and set it down at the stream-side, but could not be 

 taught to dip it full. But their principal work was 

 hauling camp-supplies on sleds up the river in winter. 

 These two were said to be able to haul a load of a 

 thousand pounds when the ice was in fairly good con- 

 dition. They were fed on dried fish and oatmeal 

 boiled together. 



[78] 



