32 CRUISE OK TTIK STEAMER COIIWIN. 



Tlie width fit' the rivci- duriiii;- tlir d.-iy was from two liiindi-(Ml lo ( wo Imndrrd muT tift v vards. 

 The shores were generally low. excejit wliere I'idi^cs crossed the stream, foriiiinn' stee]) rorky 

 Itaaks. The hed of the stream is mostly nivivel in this locality. 



After a sound iii,i;-hfs slee[) on the soft moss of the tundra we j^ot away at an early houi', 

 so as to take advantage of the cool air of the morning-. On tine days tlu^ theruioineter ranges 

 from seventy-five to eighty degrees in the sha.de. By noon we espied the smoke of an Inilian 

 encampment on an island ahead. With i-eiiewed efforts the Indians walked away, often up 

 to their waists in the ice cold water, and in an hour we reached the island and found a collec- 

 tion of summer iiouses and .some half-dozen miserahly clad natives, waiting foi' t he expected run 

 of salmon. 



They expres.sed no gi-eat .surprise hy their actions, Imt went ahout their work .seemingly 

 quite oblivious of our ])resent'e. After we landed, however, and made a few presents, their 

 natural curiosity overcame all other scrui)les and all crowded around me, anxious for a good 

 look at the white man. At this place 1 found a record left l)y Lieutenant Stoney, U. S. N., in 

 18S-f, .giving an account of a lake visited liy him and his party, liearing north and distant about 

 eleven miles from the river. A small sti-eani, which is a branch of the inlet to the lake, called 

 Nud-re-wok Ijy the natives, flows into the Kowak f)pposite the village. This was the highest 

 point reached by Stoney in 1884. After taking a coi)y of this record. I reiilaced it where I found 

 it. acconi])anied by a reconl of my visit. 



The Indians at this place informed me that in iive days we would reach the cataracts, where 

 boat navigation ceases, and where it is customary to cache their boats and wait until snow falls 

 to jjroceed farther into the interior. 



In actual distance this village is alu.iut three-quarters of the distance from the mouth of the 

 ri vfr to its headwaters. Between us and Lake Car-loog-ah-look-tah there lies a part of the river 

 which the Indians informed me was impassable with boats. 



At (I o'clock, July 14, we started from the Indian village, s(jon after reaching a part of 

 the river wliere the channel was free from rocks; l)ut the shores along which we had to tow the 

 boat were fringed with l)Owlders and it was tedicnisly slow work to get the frail affair ]>ast them 

 without tearing her to pieces. Paddling against the current was utterly impossible with a boat 

 as large an ours, ajid wheu the nature of the banks is such that we cannot tow, the boat is jiro- 

 pelled by "poling." The Indians stand well in the bow of the boat and with poles eight to ten 

 feet long shove her step by step against tlie current. Considerable skill has to be shown in this 

 kind oi work, and < iften it happens that a lireaking pole or careless movement of one of the party 

 will l)e the means of losing all control of the Iioat. At such times all hands iilunge overboard 

 the mouient the boat drifts in shoal water and hold her head u]) stream until a fresh start can 

 be made. 



With the continued fine weather of the last few days the river subsided greatly and became 

 beautifully clear. Fish can be seen twenty or thirty yards distant as they lie in the liottom of 

 deep pools. The current averaged eight knots in this portion of the river. Many islands were 

 passed during this and the succeeding day, and the .shores of the river were in some places two 

 miles apart. The mountains here run almost parallel, nearly noi'theast and southwest, and are 

 from two thousand to three thousand feet high. Among the timber the birch was observed to 

 be more conspicuous and of larger growth than farther down stream. Many Indian hou.ses 

 were s(-en in this vicinity, but no natives, as they are either in Ihe mountains liunling deer or 

 at the fishing villages. A delicious trout is found in the small tributary sti'eams which is not 

 seen elsewhere on the I'iver. Following is a description: 



Back dusky greenish, sliading to lilac Sides lilac, rosy spotted. Undei- parts white. 

 Dorsal fin a.iid tail dusky gray; others rosy. Native name, Ai--ko-hik-pnk. 



Tills fish and the grayling, which is abundant everywhere above the rapids, lake the hook 

 readily. 



With tlie subsiding of the water from tlw. gravel beaches good walking was afforded the 

 party and the jirogress of the expedition was in con.sequence nuudi m(n-e rajjid. The tempera- 

 ture of the air increased as we atlvauced until tlie thermuineter registered as high as uiuety-six 



