46 CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 



ili.staiu'i'. ('i)al of a very ;;'i)()il <|ualily is rmiiiil in clitl's alonj; its banks, and in m-dcr to ascer- 

 tain t]u:> native idea, <>{' ^dod coal I asked my informant if it was as good as the coal found on 

 the Kowak. and he said that the Kowak coal was "rocky" (/. e.. slaty), hut that on the river 

 descrilx'd was vei'y soft and hlack. The Indian name for this stream is Kar-n"yer-uok, and I 

 have no liesitalion in sayini;- lliat it is the ('ohille of ,t;-eoi>-ra|»liei's. 



On Auii;ust S the I'ain ceased, and soon afterwards the river heti^an to fall. By next da.y the 

 l)anks of the stream became dist in,t;'uisha,l>le, and soon the eni])tyin^ lagoons formed miniatur(! 

 cascades, which t uinl4e(l dow n t he lii'okcn banks a.nd s) dashed noisily into the I'iver. 'I'lie clouds 

 rolled away, the sun came out. and the dank, Ijedraggled foliage seemed to take fresh courage 

 under the influence of its warming rays. 



With the lirst ajipea ranee of tlu^sun 1 got some observations, and at noon of August fi I took 

 the launcdi out and started ba(dv up the river, in order to get a set of observations at the placj 

 where our camp of August 1 had been drowned out. We found tlie river still liigli and the 

 curi-cnt proporticmately stronger, liut the launch, being unhampered l)y tlie skin boat, made 

 good way against it. and by nightfall we reaidied a high sand bluff formed by a T'idge rTinning 

 in fi'om tlu! mountains on the soTithern side of the river. This I considered a favoi'alile spot for 

 a set of observations, as it is where the river turns in its course towai-d the southwest and flows 

 more toward the northward and west. In coming down the river the Jade Mountain here first 

 comes in sight, and for a long distance forms a prominent feature of the landscape. 



Mr. Townsend was soon busy with the birds, and succeeded in getting several new speci- 

 mens for his collection. The weatlier (deared up cold, and during the night a liglit snow fell 

 in the valley, ami when morning dawned the tops of the mountains were covered with a white 

 fleecy mantle which gave to the scene a wintry aspect and warned us that the short An-tic 

 summer was drawing to a close. 



The natives inform me that at this time the mountains at the head of the river are entirely 

 covered l)y snow, and that in ten or twelve days ice will begin to form there. The river is never 

 entirely frozen over, the strength of the current always keeping a small channel 0])en. When 

 the river opens in the spring and the accumulation of ice begins to move toward the sea the 

 sight must be inex])ressiljly grand. The tremendous pressure tears asunder the banks, iipheaves 

 huge bowlders, and I have seen jdaces where a large mass of ice had left the river bed and 

 carved its way witli irresistible forci^ tlirougli a. forest of spruce, leveling all obstructions and 

 leaving in its path the ineffaceable evidence of appalling strength: prostrate trees, iiprooted 

 bushes, ami trenches in the frozen e-arth six feet deep. 



During the afternoon of August 1 1, having completed the work of (ditaining asti'onomical 

 observations at this point, we were about starting on our way down stream, when the 

 yelling and sluHiting of the natives at the village just below us attracted our attention in that 

 direction, and we beheld the United States steam-launch Explore)', with Lieut, fjeorge M. Stoney 

 in command, coming slowly around the bend and standing over towards the site of our late 

 camp. We were already under way and going down stream; but I stoi)p( d the launch and 

 asked Lieutenant Stoney if I could be of any service to him. He requested me to stop long- 

 enough to enable him to make up his mail intended for the United States, which I did. 



While lying alongside the Explorer the gauge-glass of our launch broke, and the i)rompt 

 action of Lewis and Marsh alone ijrevented serious injury to the boiler. Mr. Zane. of the 

 Explorer, offered me the facilities of the engineer's department to repair the damage; but 

 as we had every facility at hand on the launch, it was not necessary to avail ourselves of his 

 kindness further than to accept an extra gauge-glass in case of future accident. 



After spending an hour very pleasantly together we parted company. Lieutenant Stoney "s 

 party proceeding up stream toward the place which he had selected for his winter headcjuarters. 

 while the expeditif)n UTide?- my command dro])p(>d leisurely down stream, stojjping at intervals 

 to get. observations. U> obtain sjiecimens of the tlowers and gi'asses. whiidi grew in the utmost 

 |irofusion along tln' slmrrs. oi- to clindi sonir hill w Ihtc tlie cdiaractci' of the country could be 

 hest ascei'tained. 



At niglit we reached asand-sjiit in the liver a shoi-t distance above the Not-mok-to-way-ok 

 (river) and camped. The course of the Kowak is here about northwest, and t icnds more toward 



