40 TNTRODITCTION OF DOMESTTO REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 



into Bering Sea one-tliird more water than does the Mississij)j)i into 

 the Gulf of Mexico. In its upper course it has sawn in twain the gran- 

 ite w^alls of the mountains whicli barred its progress; in its lower 

 courses its rapid current undermines the mudd}", forest-clad banks,, 

 sweeping along on its surface down to the sea the trees which it has 

 overturned. Wlien this driftwood reaches Bering Sea the great cur- 

 rents sweep it northward, distributing it along thousands of miles of 

 treeless coast as far as Point Barrow, thus providing fuel and build- 

 ing material for many an Eskimo village. The mud which the 

 fukon deposits forms the treacherous bars and flats which extend 

 into Bering Sea far out of sight of the low-lying land. 



During the short season of navigation in midsummer the waters of 

 the Yukon are plied by many large, flat-bottomed, well-equipped 

 steamers carrying hundreds of passengers and thousands of tons of 

 provisions and mining material for the busy settlements along the 

 riv&r and its tributaries. As the traveler is borne along, an ever 

 varying panorama is unfolded before Mm. Along its vast reaches 

 the banks of the river are covered with timber; here and there 

 appears a treeless, grassy meadow, once the bottom of a lake which 

 has been drained by the encroachment of the stream, now a favorite 

 grazing ground for moose. In order to avoid the swift current in 

 midstream, the steamer often hugs the shore near enough to hear 

 the songs of the birds and to distinguish the flowers and moss that 

 carpet the lianks. In this land of paradoxes, while glaciers sleep 

 between the mountains and snow rests on theu summits, a luxuriant 

 w^ealth of wild flowers colors the valle3^s at their feet. Toward the 

 end of September the scene changes; before the chilly blasts of 

 Autumn the buds fly to the soutliland, the prospector betakes him- 

 self to his cabin, the native to his hut, and in liis retreat in the 

 mountains the bear settles into his winter-long sleep. Soon every 

 stream is locked in ice, every mountain is white from base to summit, 

 snow lies deep above the withered flowers, and the great w^hite silence 

 broods over all. 



From dawn until dark on August 8 we steamed thi'ough the Yukon 

 delta, its low-Mng, distant banks covered wdth w^iUow^ and cotton- 

 wood and fringed with bleacliing driftwood. Many sand banks pro- 

 jected from the muddy water. A few gulls that had stra3'ed in from 

 Bering Sea were the only signs of life. Early in the day w^e passed 

 a flourishing settlement of natives who support themselves by cutting 

 wood and selhng it to the river steamers. Tliis was the fu'st of a long 

 series of wood camps which are found at frequent intervals ah the 

 way from the mouth of the Yukon to the head of navigation more 

 than 2,000 miles above. The selling of wood to the steamers, employ- 

 ment as deck hands and as stevedores on the wharves, are industries 

 which, together wdth packing supplies to the mines and selling dried 



