36 CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 



ubriipt, and at 8 i>. in., when wo canipwl. tin- Indians ^Kjinlcd (uit tu nu' the peaks of tlif uiuunt- 

 ains around Lake Cin--l()og-ali-l()()k-tah, wliicli lies at the head wf the river. 



At ciur 11 1 halt a lighted match was eiindessly thrown down on the di-y moss of tlie tnn- 



dra, and shortly ;d'li'i' Ica.vin.i;- we saw it had si4 (ire to the inilammable stulf. AVhen we stoi>])ed 

 to camp at nighl 1 rlimlicd a iici,i,dd)orinj; hill and saw that the fire had spn-ad until it covered 

 acres and acivs ol' ground. Nowhere in the worhl probalily will forest lires spread so (juickly 

 as liere. and I felt considerable aii.xicty to know where tins coidfa.nratinn would end. l^'ortu- 

 nately. h<iwever. .there was no wind to carry the sparks, and hy in p. m. the lire had Ijurni'd 

 itself to water in all directions, and only a dense cloud of smoke renuuned to tell the stoi'y of 

 so much liavoc iikmIc liy a little careless act. When the fact that explorers and others must 

 depend almost wholly nn the ciiUiilry foi- food is taken into consideration, the imjiortaiice of 

 being carefid not to .-<et tire to one"s larder will be aj)parent, and ever after that 1 never left a 

 camp until every spark of fire had been e.xtinguished. 



Next morinng when we got under way the wind was from the noi-th. and a pelting rain- 

 storm beat in our faces. By 11 o'clock we passed from the low country, and were once more 

 shut in l)y high abrupt banks. Here and there rugged masses of slaty rock, fifty to seventy- 

 five feet high, liroken into many curious forms by frost, projected into the river. The river 

 at this point was not over twenty-five yards wdde, but the current was not nearly so strong 

 as in the lower gorge. The bluff's were bare of vegetation, except in spots where a shelt<jred 

 ledge gave a chance for the bright-colored moss to grow. Thousands of mud nests made by 

 the swallow were observed as we walked along the rocky banks, and sometimes as we rounded 

 a projecting ledge a perfect storm of sharp (juerulous cries would greet us as these graceful 

 little liirds Hew excitedly in ami out of their curious little liomes. 



This goi'ge was aliout two and one-half miles long, and its general direction was east and 

 west through a ridge running back to the mountains to the north of the river. Toward noon 

 we passed out from between the rocky shores of the gorge into a low counti-y. bounded on all 

 sides by mountains. At :! o'tdock wc jiassed tlii'ough what was once a lake, but the strong 

 cui-rent of tic livo- had lu-uki-n through the banks, and now it is simi)]y an enlargement of the 

 river, with a, shoal in the center, whii-!i will iloubtless lieconu' an island in time, ami the idcidity 

 of the lake will be lost. 



Our pi'ogrcss was fi-oin this point exceedingly slow. The water shoaled so rapidly and 

 there were so many gravel Ijeds in the river that we were compelled to wade iu tin.' water and 

 partly push and partly pull our boat most of the time. Tlie Pioneer had become Ijy this time 

 so wiu-n by constant hard usage that the utmost care had to be taken not to let her strike a 

 rock or drag heavily over the shoal places. 



On July "^1 the day became clear and bright, and after getting observations for longitude 

 and variations of the (•ompa.ss, we broke camp and began our day's work. Soon the river 

 began to shoal very rapidly, there being in some places not more than a foot of water any- 

 where. The width of the stream was from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five yards, 

 and the shores low. l)acked on l)oth sides by mountains. The northern range still preserved 

 its northeast direction, and at a point not far ahead seemed to terminate in a collection of 

 I'ugged peaks. 



Nearer the rivci' banks on our left there were several remarkable looking mountains, 

 densely wooded from l)ase to summit. These latter were not over fifteen hundred feet high, 

 but being entirely c(jvered with timber, form a ciistinguishing feature of the landscape in this 

 locality. 



Durin.'j,- the afternoon we reached the junction of the Kowak with a stream llowin.ii- from 

 the north, anil the Indians informed me that this was the outlet of Lake Car-loog-ah-look-tah. 

 The moidh of the stream was sixty yards wide and contaiiu'd from four to six feet of water, 

 being somewhat wider and much deeper than the nuiin stream at this point. We entered this 

 tributary and pushed ahea^d uidil we reached a point where the river is obstructed li\' ra])ids, 

 and I stopi)ed to reconnoiter. O])posite to us, on the right of the stream (ascemling). the banks 

 were composed of high conical sand blutt's, along the sides of which and in the intt'rvenir.g hoi- 



