MEMORIAL OF C. W. HAYES 101 



The ascent of the Takii Eiver proved difficult, but finally the party left 

 the Coast Eange behind and emerged in the Central Plateau region. 

 Here Hayes for the first time in his life viewed a broad landscape under 

 a clear atmosphere and wrote of it a delightful description. 



"Pushing on a couple of miles beyond this camp to a high point on the 

 divide, I had a view 'siah illahee.' Away to the westward were the snowy 

 summits of the Coast Range, with an intervening high, rolling plateau, above 

 which projected round domelike summits. The valleys and lower slopes showed 

 the dark green of spruce forests, while a mantle of brownish green moss spread 

 over all the higher land. To the north and south extended the same great 

 stretch of moss-covered moorland, with an occasional bare, rocky peak extend- 

 ing above the rolling surface. Immediately to the east and about 3,000 feet 

 below the point on which I stood was a level valley filled with innumerable 

 small lakes, and to the north occupied by the larger body of water called 

 Aklene, or big lake. Across the valley, about 20 miles away, was an escarp- 

 ment corresponding to the one at my feet ; beyond that a broad, rolling plateau 

 similar to the one we had been traversing ; and still farther east appeared the 

 sharply serrate Oassiar Range, white with perennial snow." 



Every Alaska explorer has noted the insect pest of which Hayes's de- 

 scription is as follows : 



"Although the snow lay in deep drifts about us and several small lakes were 

 still covered with ice, it was at this high camp that we made our first intimate 

 acquaintance with the great Alaskan mosquito. They are not the coy, coquet- 

 tish kind with which you may be familiar, but with an appetite inherited 

 from many generations of famished ancestors, they attack any exposed parts 

 with fairly murderous vehemence, and nothing but complete annihilation 

 causes them to desist. They swarm about the head of the unhappy traveler 

 in such numbers that at a little distance his head appears to be enveloped in 

 a dense cloud trailing off behind like the tail of a comet. Many of the In- 

 dians protect themselves by covering the face with a thick coating of soot and 

 grease — a practice which does not tend to heighten their personal charm. . . . 

 Without doubt this insect pest will always be a greater hindrance to the de- 

 velopment of this country's resources than all other diflBculties combined. 



"Two days more of weary plodding through the dense forests and deep 

 swamps of the valley brought us to the head of the lake. From this point the 

 Indians were sent back to the coast, and it was with feelings of intense relief 

 that we watched them disappear on the homeward trail and knew that we 

 were no longer dependent on their caprice. . Setting up the two portable canvas 

 canoes, after a day's stop in order to get observations for latitude, we con- 

 tinued our journey, turning to the northwest down Lake Aklene." 



Tracing the Hootalinqua Eiver to its mouth, the three explorers con- 

 tinued their journey down the Lewis Eiver, already well known to Fort 

 Selkirk. Here a long delay was occasioned by the necessity of securing 

 Indian packers for the overland trip to the head of the White Eiver. 



