IN GREEN ALASKA 



bottom of the sea, visible a long way out from shore. 

 The water seemed suddenly to become shallow or 

 else to take on a strange transparency; the color and 

 configuration of the rocky floor were surprisingly 

 distinct. 



A new species of small blue fox was found and 

 killed upon the island, and a sorry apology for a fox 

 it was.^ It looked as though it might have been 

 singed or else skinned once, and as though this was 

 the second growth of fur. The polar bears which our 

 sportsmen had hoped for were not found, though 

 the deep, broad, unused trails leading back from the 

 chffs had doubtless some time been made by them. 

 Nothing is plainer than that one cannot go to Alaska, 

 or probably to any other country, and say, " Come, 

 now, we will kill a bear," and kill it, except as a rare 

 streak of luck. It is a game at which two can play, 

 and the bear plays his part extremely well. AH 

 large game has its beat or range. The first thing to 

 be done is to find this beat, which may take days 

 or weeks, then the trial of strategy begins. If you 

 outgeneral the bear, you may carry off his pelt. 



We found the hyperborean snow bunting nesting 

 in crevices of the rocks. It was probably compelled 

 to this course to escape the foxes. This was the type 

 locality for this bird, and it was very abundant. The 

 rosy finch also was seen along the cliffs. There were 



1 This was the Hall Island Arctic fox {Vulpes hallensis Merriaml 

 £n worn summer dress ; in winter it is snow white. 



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