12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 51 



protruding" from the bank, a picture of which is shown on plate II, 

 fig. 2, in Mr. Maddren's account of his trip in 1904. 



This small stream enters a branch of the Yukon from the south 

 three miles below the settlement of Louden. At the time of our 

 visit there was a high stage of water, and it was with some difficulty 

 that we made the comparatively short distance upstream to the point 

 where the river cuts the elevated silts. That portion of the bluff 

 where Collier had photographed the tusk in place had been under- 

 mined and washed away. Scattered fragments of fossil ivory found 

 by us on the bars below probably tell the story of its disappearance. 

 A few fragmentary bones were found, some imbedded in the undis- 

 turbed silt and others in the talus at its base. 



Eight miles below Louden, on the right bank of the Yukon, occurs 

 a typical exposure of the Yukon silts. The bluffs extend for a dis- 

 tance of perhaps two miles and present faces from two hundred to 

 two hundred fifty feet in height, equal to those of the Palisade 

 escarpment, which they resemble in all their stratigraphic detail. 

 Mr. Motschman told us of finding fossils here, but not even a frag- 

 ment was secured at the time of our visit. 



Here, it was observed that the wind is quite a factor in the erosion 

 of these bluffs. The fine silt dries rapidly, and as it commences to 

 sift down the precipitous face it is caught by the currents of air and 

 carried away. From a distance this silt-laden air, as it poured up 

 over the crest of the bluff, reminded one of an ever-ascending vol- 

 ume of smoke. In places large drifts had accumulated like so 

 much wind-drifted snow. 



Nulato, an important Indian village, was reached on August 2, 

 and Kaltag on August 5. Here the Government telegraph line that 

 extends down the river leaves the bank of the Yukon, ascends Kaltag 

 River to near its head, crosses the divide to Unalaklik River, and 

 descends that stream to Norton Sound, a total distance of one hun- 

 dred miles. 



Inquiry here concerning localities on the Kaltag River failed to 

 elicit information of enough importance to warrant investigation ; 

 so canoe travel was resumed to Anvik, some two hundred miles 

 below Nulato. Many stops were made to examine silt deposits, but 

 in only two places were fossils found. Some five or six miles above 

 Hall's Rapids, on the right bank, bones of the mammoth and bison 

 were collected at the foot of the silt bluffs, and again above the old 

 station of Greyling, some twenty-five miles above Anvik, where the 

 silts are exposed for two or three miles by the cutting of the river. 

 Here, during the summer of 1907, a fine pair of lower jaws of 

 Elcphas were picked up by Mr. W. C. Chase, of Anvik. and pre- 



