l8 ALASKA. 



Bay to Shelikof Strait, via \\ alker Lake and the Naknek River. 

 Speaking of this region, Mr. Dall (Alaska and its Resources, 

 1870, p. 273) says: "The country between and at the bases of 

 the high mountains, which form the prolongation of the Alaskan 

 range in the peninsula, is very low and marshy. In many places, 

 large lakes are found, emptying into the sea by rivers on either 

 side, and it is said that in some places a passage can be made in 

 canoes from one shore to the other, hardly lifting the canoe out of 

 water during the journey." 



The Yukon can be reached from Norton Sound via the Una- 

 laklik and Autokakat rivers (or via the Kaltag), the usual route 

 of travelers from St. Michaels. The Yukon also connects, via 

 the Koyukuk, with Kotzebue Sound. The statement is made by 

 natives that there are routes of travel between the northern tribu- 

 taries of the Yukon or the Noatak and the rivers that empty 

 direct into the Arctic Ocean. 



Beginning on the south, the Stikine is the first river of large 

 size, although it lies within Alaskan territory, only 30 miles in an 

 air line from its mouth. It empties into Dry Strait, near Wran- 

 gell Island. The river has become well known on account of the 

 gold diggings on its banks, all of which are in British territory. 

 It is over 250 miles in length, and is navigable only by boats, 

 except during the spring freshets. The North Fork (about 40 

 miles long) rises on the east side of the Bald Mountains, near the 

 headwaters of the Yukon. A small stream called the Taku flows 

 into Glacier Arm of St. Stephens Strait. The Chilkat, a much 

 larger river, enters the northern extremity of Lynn Channel. 1 he 

 general direction of this river is from the north. The Indians 

 ascend it against a rapid current in twenty days, when they make 

 a portage by several lakes to the Lewis River, a tributary of the 

 Yukon. 



The mouth of the Copper River lies in latitude 60° 17' and 

 longitude 145° 20'. The delta is 30 miles long by 4 or 5 wide, 



