IX BACK TO THE KENAI PENINSULA 169 



was no clean and level spot suitable for pitching our tents, 

 but there was a large scow or flat-bottomed barge, roofed on 

 top, but open at both ends, which lay at anchor about 

 100 yards from the shore. On this abode we finally set 

 our affections, and thither we conveyed our blankets. A 

 prospector named Reese, who was on his way up the inlet, 

 and like ourselves awaiting the Tyonook, joined us in this 

 domicile. He was a cheery companion, and a type of the 

 best American prospectors to be found in Alaska. It was 

 seldom that we did not finally roll ourselves up for the night, 

 and drop off to sleep laughing over some quaint saying of 

 his, as he curled himself up in his own blankets. 



The next question was how to employ our time whilst 

 waiting for the steamer. There appeared to be no form of 

 sport except sea-fishing, and the off-chance of getting a black 

 bear which came down in the evenings to fish for the dog 

 and humpback salmon that ran up two small streams not 

 far from the settlement. 



Glyn and I tried both forms of amusement, the fishing 

 giving poor results and the bear-hunting still poorer. One 

 day I made an expedition to a small stream some three miles 

 away from the village. I paddled up with a local native in 

 his bidarki. At the mouth of the stream we found all the 

 men from the village of Saldovia living in a temporary 

 summer camp, where they were busy catching the salmon 

 with nets. When caught, the fish were split open, cleaned, 

 and hung up in long lines on ropes, the branches of trees, or 

 any available place. Here they remained to dry in the wind 

 and sun, and were used as food throughout the winter 

 months by the natives. The smell of rotten fish pervading 

 the whole place was so awful that I was glad to get away 

 from the spot, and follow up the stream for a couple of miles 



