1910] Heller—Mammals: Alaska Expedition, 1908. 327 
A light breeze and a flooding tide aided us for a few miles, but 
a calm overtook us and we had to anchor close inshore. While 
lying here a fierce squall suddenly struck our boat with such 
force that we were drifted ashore, although both anchors were 
out. This storm subsided as suddenly as it had come. It was 
two days before the tide became sufficiently high to float the 
boat. The wharf at Valdez was reached on September 21 and 
a few days afterward our outfit was shipped south. Hassel- 
borg departed for the Yakutat region to continue his search for 
Yakutat brown bears, and the writer returned to Berkeley. 
Upon arriving at Valdez, August 28, Miss Alexander made . 
a hasty trip to Thompson’s Pass, where she spent a few days 
collecting birds and mammals before leaving for California. 
DESCRIPTIONS OF LOCALITIES. 
Prince William Sound and its contained archipelago is situ- 
ated on the southern coast of the Alaskan mainland and at the 
head of the Gulf of Alaska. It lies between longitudes 145° 
and 149°, and latitudes 60° and 61°. The region therefore 
occupies, roughly speaking, 10,000 square miles. This area is 
set off topographically from the rest of Alaska by the lofty land 
mass of the adjacent interior. This elevated tract surrounding 
the immediate borders of the Sound sharply defines the area 
under consideration, rather more so than in the case of any 
other coastal area of Alaska of similar extent. 
HEAD OF CORDOVA BAY. 
The bay, which is about four miles wide at its head, termi- 
nates squarely at the extensive tide-flats which have been built 
up by the Cordova River. The ridges forming the walls of the 
bay rise precipitously from the water, and this abruptness is 
continued inland in the form of confining walls to the long 
valley. The floor of the valley is generally level, the bordering 
mountains rising abruptly to heights of 2000 to 3000 feet. These 
ranges are sharply cut and chiseled into many small peaks, pro- 
ducing a saw-tooth topography. The rock formation consists 
chiefly of shallow, alternating beds of sandstone and slate which 
