200 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



name on a low flat between the water and the great 

 Valdez Glacier wliich is thirty miles long. Near it, Fort 

 Liscum is an important military station. Between 

 Cordova and Valdez are several mines producing mostly 

 copper, Ellamar and Fidalgo Bay being the principal 

 ones. At the western edge of the bay the Latouche 

 copper mine is a valuable property and steamers call 

 frequently at all of these points. 



But our attention for the ensuing month was to be 

 centered upon the Kenai Peninsula. Seward, its most 

 important town, was a struggling village of two himdred 

 and fifty souls, nearly a tenth of its one-time size. 

 Although we found an unusually substantial and interest- 

 ing lot of men among its business people, the possibility 

 of amusement in this place was very limited. There was 

 not even a moving-picture show. A scrap of conversa- 

 tion heard on the dock one evening put the situation as 

 tersely as may be. Two men were walking up toward 

 the town, one a very large man, the other a small fellow. 

 The following dialogue ensued: 



The very small man (in a complaining tone): "I'm 

 the only fellow that can furnish any excitement in this 

 place." 



The very large man (contemptuously): "Well, you 

 don't furnish such a lot of excitement." 



The small man (defiantly): "Well, I would if I could 

 only get drunk." 



There was much for us to do. Our guides were on 

 the pier when the "Abler" docked: Ben Swesey for Dr. 

 Elting, "Colonel" Revell for Collins, Crit Tolman for 

 Lovering and "Wild Bill" Dewitt for me. Om- first care 

 was to make lists of provisions for the month in the 

 interior, and to have them ordered and packed. We 



