People of the Yukon. 183 



Captain Everett Smith, of the Western Union Telegraj)h expe- 

 dition, ma^e a reconnaissance of the delta, and the present maps 

 nearly all use the chart made by him of the mouth of the river. 

 The great reward for the pioneers in the salmon canning trade 

 on this river has made the agents of the Alaska Commercial 

 company at Saint Michael very anxious to discover a channel 

 in the river up Avhich ocean-going vessels might be taken. At 

 present all stores intended for the Yukon river valley must be 

 taken to Saint Michael and there transferred to small, light- 

 draught river steamboats, Avhich then have a risky outside sea 

 voyage of eight}^ miles before they can find safety in the most 

 northerly of the outlets of the river, which is the x^phoon mouth. 

 Its great volume of water is j^oured out through so many dif- 

 ferent channels that in no one can a sufficient depth be found to 

 allow of admittance into the river of sea-going vessels. Tempted 

 by the prize which is in store for the first ones to establish sal- 

 mon canneries on the river, the Alaska company's agents have 

 spent much time in searching for a deep-watei channel. In this 

 quest they can secure no help from the natives, who appreciate 

 what the consequences will be for themselves if the white man 

 can bring his ships in, and hitherto the search has been a failure.- 



The inhabitants of the lower Yukon were the most miserable, 

 foul and degraded beings that we saw in Alaska. Of personal 

 cleanliness they seem to have no conception, and it was distress- 

 ing to note the terrible diseases under which some of them 

 seemed to be wasting away. The chief reason for their dreadful 

 personal condition is their partialit}^ for seal oil under all condi- 

 tions and circumstances. They seemed to steep themselves in it. 

 It never has an odor which would make it acceptable to civilized 

 people, and coat after coat of this stuff, laid on from childhood 

 to old age, results in making the person so treated a very unwel" 

 come object for notice for either nose or eye of the Avhite man. 

 The lower part of the delta is regularly submerged each spring, 

 and often the miserable dwellers therein have to seek refuge in 

 their boats ; but just so soon as the waters subside the people 

 return to their damp and sodden hovels, which really never dry 

 out entirely, on account of the excessive rain that characterizes 

 the lower river. This condition of person and dwelling, together 

 with an almost exclusive fish diet for one-half the year, results 

 in some terrible forms of diseases among the Maklemuts, and at 

 various points we saw poor miserable creatures whose condition 



