44 CRUISE OK THE STEAMER CORWIN. 



sued onr jcmrnoy down stream. IKiring tlie artenionn we i)a,sscil and examined flie mouths of 

 the river which Mr. Towiisend and I notieeil Howint; Ironi tlic imrthcast wliih' we were on the 

 mountains. The river lias two principal mouths, rorniini;' ;i drll.-i about two miles long, 'i'hcy 

 were about seventy-live yards wide and from si.x to ten feet deep. The native name is Kl-yog- 

 o-lok-tok, or Roclcy Riven-. None of my party had over ascended it, and no extended infornni- 

 tiou, except that it llowt-d through a minintninous country, and its cjiannel was filled with 

 rocks, could be obtained. 



At night, after passing many islands covered with spruce and willow, we reaclieil tlie foot 

 of th(^ nujuntains hounding the Kowak Valley on the south. From this point tbecoursisof 

 the river turns to the nortliward and westward toward the Jade Mountains, which can be seen 

 lying dim and blue in th(^ distance. As the ])(isition is an important one, heing possibly the 

 southern limit of the river's course, I stop[ied :ind camped in onler to get a good si^t of obser- 

 vations. 



The niin still came dcjwn in a steady, willful, persistent fashiuii which was most liisheart- 

 ening. and ev(>n the Jndians, who generally seem to care as little for a wetting as a duck, huiked 

 washe(l out. faded, and disconsolate. The camp was ])itched on a rocky lieach at tlie linse of a 

 luw blulT. but ln'fore morning the river rose foui' feet and drowned us out. and it w,-is with 

 considerable haste that tlii^ tents and im]iedimenta were bundled u]i the steep bank and jilaced 

 beyond the reach of the tlooiL The to]> of the bluH' was overgrown with mossa.nd willow bru.sh, 

 and it was I'dinid to be imjiossible tn jiitch our tents. The tnosipiitoes have hecoine impervious 

 to rain, and after the party hail finished ex]iloring the bushes for a lit place to cnnip they 

 returned to the rivei' bank, each attended by a chmd of mos(|uitoes. which, if they did not 

 m.-ike our li\('s ha]ipy. at least caused ns to forget :dl othei' discoinforls hy their persistent ;ind 

 bloodt hirsty attacks. 



^^'ith the first stre.-iks of clawu steam w;is got on the laumli. and as soon ;is we could see 

 well eiKiugli to jiick out the channel we left our dismal cani|i ;inil i]icontinentl\- lied. < )ur tor- 

 mentors followed ns a short distance, hut once out in the middle of the river, bei'e about five 

 hnndreil yards wide, the launch was urged ahead .it full speed, and. aideil by (be strong cur- 

 rent, we swept <lown ]i;ist the tloodeil banks witli frightful \elocity. and the mos(|uitoes were 

 left, behind. 



.\l sunrise we came in sight of a fishing village, and my lliree river Indians immediately 

 recognized it as their home, which had been removed from tin' ]ilace where I liad picked them 

 U]i. \Ve landed, and. finding a good place to camp, we soon liacl oiir tents ])itched and tires 

 built to ilry our soaked (dothing. The father of the Indians who :i<-comiianieil me was on hand 

 to meet us and I watched with some curiosity how he would meet his sons. I was surjirised to 

 see that he did not notice them, nor they him. by the slightest word or action. All of his 

 i-emarks \\ei-e addressed to Tah-tah-rok. and had relation to the we;itliei-. run of lish. <fcc. 



,\fter the camp had been pitched the Indians of my party and those fi-oni the viUage sat 

 down rouinl the fire ;iud smoked silently for some time. At last one of my jinrty hegan in a 

 high ki'y and very abruiitly to give an account of our trip. He \vas interrupted from time to 

 time by short ejaculations of surprise or aiijiroval, and as the narrative progi'essed these 

 interruptions became more ii-einient until at its idose the speaker ended i|uite as abruptly as he 

 had begun, and, rising from his seat on the ground, walked slowly to the tisliing village and 

 went into his fatlier's house. 



Hv ;i, strange coincidence, oiii- cam]i was sitnnted on the very spot whei'c. the ye;ir before, 

 1 Inwl reached the Kowak by tnakiiig a ]iort;ige from ;in Indian \ill;ige situated on the Um-ok- 

 a-look-tok Rivei'. A short distance back of the river, on the south side, a- series of lakes extended 

 almost to the mountains bounding the valley in that direction. The conformation of the coun- 

 try ninl the position of Ihese lakes with reference to e:i<-h ot liei- plainly show s t hat at no dis- 

 tant day the channel of tlu' river was there, and that in accordance with the principles of a 

 meandeiing stream the swift current liad gradually cut a new (diannel through the soft banks, 

 ;iud the olil river hed soon resolved itself into a chain of sh.-ilhiw lakes. As this formation is a 



