THE ALPINE ZONE OF MOUNT ST. ELIAS. 69 



ciently by flowing a dozen or fifty yards from their origin over peb- 

 bly bottoms ; Siwashes will soak themselves in this manner for 

 hours at a time, with nothing but their heads visible. Though 

 the Koloshian, like all others of his kind, never verbally complains, 

 yet he is subject to acute rheumatism, to fevers, and to divers malig- 

 nant cutaneous diseases ; these springs, wherever known to him, 

 are always well regarded as his happy relief and hope. Certain it 

 is that when you behold the parboiled skin of a native, after bathing 

 here, the fair almost white complexion really startles, for, prior to 

 the immersion, he was a coppery brown or black. 



Midway between these thermal fountains and Sitka is the site 

 of an old Russian jail or prison ; in a deep inlet, with no land 

 in sight, but lofty mountains rising abruptly from the water's edge, 

 is the "Redoubt." Here a small alpine lake empties itself in a 

 foaming cascade channel of a few yards in width, that quickly 

 plunges into a canon, the perpendicular walls of which are a full 

 thousand feet in mural height. The Russians erected mills of 

 various kinds along the rapids to avail themselves of such abundant 

 water-power ; the buildings stood upon a bare rocky portion of the 

 channel, and were kept in order by an old veteran in command ; 

 a squad of soldiers aided him ; the fish, dried and salted salmon, 

 which were required for the use of the company, were annually 

 caught here as they swarmed up the cascade from the sea, into 

 Gloobaukie Lake. 



The great facility of travel afforded by these sheltered canals of 

 the Alexander archipelago, has enabled and facilitated a most 

 energetic and persistent search for gold and silver by our miners, 

 but the rugged features of the country and its dense timber and 

 jungle have rendered the progress of such investigation slow, and 

 one of great physical difficulty. In the sands of every stream flow- 

 ing between Calif ornia and Cook's Inlet the " color "of gold can be 

 found, but the paying quantities therein seldom warrant a mining 

 camp or settlement. To-day the only mining rendezvous which we 

 find in Alaska is a little village of rough cabins called " Juneau 

 City," located on the north side of Gastineaux Channel, at a point 

 near the upper end of that passage ; near by, and adjacent, is 

 established a large gold-quartz stamp-mill* on Douglas Island, 



* The Treadwell Mine free-milling gold ore ; 130 stamps ; employs 150 

 to 250 men situated right at the tide-level. 



