I02 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap. 



The following day Glyn returned from his trip down the 

 river. He reported that the river ran down a great valley 

 which was one vast swamp, and that to cover a distance of 

 some twenty miles straight the river flowed nearly twice that 

 distance. He had been unable to reach the sea owing to 

 lack of provisions for the return journey, but as he drew 

 nearer to the coast, there were many fresh tracks of bears on 

 the hills and river-banks. He had not actually seen a bear, 

 but all the signs tended to show that the bears from the 

 mountains and the neighbourhood of the lake were making 

 their way towards the Bering Sea. This was indeed what 

 we had surmised after a few days spent near the lake. There 

 is little doubt that the favourite food of these bears is salmon, 

 and as soon as the fish are due at the river-mouth in the early 

 part of June, most bears work towards the sea, there to await 

 the run of fish and follow them up as far as they go. Distance 

 is no object to a bear, and it is surprising how far these beasts 

 will travel in a day, even in such mountainous country as 

 this, especially early in the season, when all kinds of food are 

 scarce. 



Glyn had managed to bag two caribou, which put the 

 meat question at rest for some time, and although rather thin 

 at this season of the year, they were excellent eating and a 

 pleasant change from the inevitable bacon and Yukon straw- 

 berries (as beans are called in Alaska), which form the staple 

 food of a hunting party there. 



As we were convinced that we had bagged the only two 

 bears that had lived within a radius of many miles from the 

 camp, nothing then remained but a sorrowful return to the 

 coast to await the arrival of the schooner Alice from Kodiak. 

 For a wonder we were favoured with bright sunshine and a 

 pleasant day for our trip down, which was easily accomplished 



