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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ground are the snowfields, giving rise to 

 a series of cascading glaciers, typically 

 crevassed, which flow down the steep 

 slopes of the cirque-like valley. The 

 contributions of these cascading glaciers 

 form the main stream of the valley gla- 

 cier below, showing white, crevassed ice 

 at its upper end. As this glacier emerges 

 from between the mountain walls, how- 

 ever, it expands, its crevassing disappears, 

 and in the middle distance of the picture 

 the ice surface is already thickly mantled 

 with ablation moraine (an accumulation 

 of earth and rocks). In the immediate 

 foreground the ablation material has 

 buried the ice so deeply that one would 

 hardly suspect that there was ice under- 

 neath. Vegetation has gained a foothold, 

 and the only sign to betray the inert 

 glacier below is the occasional slumping 

 induced by its very slow melting. 



In Yakutat Bay and its extensions 

 there is, except on the low ocean fore- 

 land, an entire absence of forest growth — 

 a condition accounted for by the recency 

 of the glaciation. When working here 

 the outdoor photographer comes to real- 

 ize how much he is dependent on trees 

 to lend grace and softness to his compo- 

 sitions. The succession of pictures that 

 he secures in this wonderful region are 

 monotonous, harsh, and forbidding, be- 

 cause they so much lack the soft shadows 

 and the graceful contours furnished by 

 the forest citizens of other climes. 



In Prince William Sound, however, 

 especially in the region about the Colum- 

 bia glacier, a forest of spruce and cedar 

 advances close to the ice margin. A 

 thick turf of peat covers the floor of 

 these woods, and this peat in turn is 

 dotted with little lakelets which have 

 their edges hemmed with bright flowers. 

 W^heh climbing the slopes of the moun- 

 tains of this neighborhood one is afforded 

 most interesting vistas of water, woods, 

 ice, and snow through the forest glades 

 and lanes. 



I have been informed that Curtis, the 

 famous photographer of Indians, intends 



eventually to picture the Alaskan natives. 

 He will find some very interesting mate- 

 rial in the neighborhood where we 

 worked. At Yakutat, however, the 

 Thlinkets have been in contact with the 

 white man so long that typical studies 

 are difficult to secure. At Dry Bay, a 

 village to the south, a tribe of the same 

 nation still live in their primitive environ- 

 ment, and probably do not demand a fee 

 of "two bits" (25 cents) when asked to 

 pose, as is customary at Yakutat. If the 

 fee is not forthcoming the women will 

 cover their faces and run. The children, 

 however, are more docile and afford 

 some interesting studies. 



To the untutored mind this desire on 

 part of the white man to secure many 

 pictures of everything with which he 

 comes in contact must present a perplex- 

 ing problem. This was indicated by the 

 attitude of our Japanese cook. On each 

 favorable day we would leave camp early 

 in the morning, taking with us our 

 cameras and instruments. But on our 

 return late in the evening we brought 

 back no gold or trophies of the hunt. 

 The cook's curiosity was aroused to such 

 a pitch that he begged permission to ac- 

 company us on one of our trips. This 

 proved to be a hard morning's work, 

 climbing over mountain spurs and strug- 

 gling through alder thickets. At noon we 

 came to a glacier front, set down some 

 notes, exposed a number of plates, ate a 

 light luncheon, and prepared to return. 

 That was too much for the cook ; he burst 

 out: "Walk so long — so hard trip — only 

 picture take ! Mak' me sick !" 



In conclusion I would emphasize this 

 caution: Do not attempt to carry exposed 

 but undeveloped plates or films back to 

 civilization from a region whose humid- 

 ity is equal to that of the southeast coast 

 of Alaska. Only a few will develop up 

 as perfect negatives. Most will be mealy, 

 or, worse, be peppered with opaque spots 

 the size of a pinhead, whose origin is 

 difficult to explain. Develop in the field, 

 and as soon as possible after exposure. 



