236 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap. 



Before describing what followed, it is necessary to 

 digress slightly from the subject in order to make matters 

 clear. 



When we visited Washington in the spring, Glyn and 

 myself were given full permits allowing us to take out of 

 Alaska the full number of trophies allowed by law. 



In addition to my ordinary permit, I was given a special 

 permit allowing me to kill two extra specimens of each kind 

 of big game for scientific purposes, as I had promised Pro- 

 fessor Ray Lankester, Director of the Natural History 

 Museum in London, that I would, if possible, obtain some 

 good specimens of Alaskan game for the Museum. This 

 special permit distinctly stated that the specimens for scientific 

 purposes might be killed at any time of year. 



Furthermore, when in Seattle, knowing that I was likely 

 to have a rough trip along the Bering Sea shores, where 

 papers might get lost or damaged, I had a type-written copy 

 made of each permit, so that if occasion arose I could leave 

 the originals behind in safe custody at Kodiak, and carry the 

 copies in case I might meet any officials on my travels who 

 might want something more than my word to prove that I 

 actually possessed a permit. It so happened that I left all 

 my papers at Kodiak, and thus had nothing more than my 

 word to inform the District Commissioner on the Bering Sea 

 coast that I held such permits. Fortunately this man was a 

 gentleman — Mr. Barstow, to whom I have already referred, 

 and being such he took my word as equal to my bond. 



The original permits were of course signed by the Minister 

 of Agriculture at Washington, Mr. James Wilson. Naturally 

 the copies bore no such signature, nor the stamp of the 

 Government Offices at Washington ; in other words, they in 

 no way resembled the originals, so that no one could possibly 



