IN GREEN ALASKA 



these men in the darkness, in an open boat on an un- 

 known coast many miles from shore. Might they not 

 miss the bay ? Might they not find the surf running 

 too high to land, or might not some other mishap 

 befall them ? But after a hard pull of several hours, 

 they made the shore at a suitable landing-place, and 

 their days spent there were in every way satisfactory. 

 On the morning of July 1, we woke up in Uyak 

 Bay on the north side of the Island of Kadiak. The 

 sky was clear and the prospect most inviting. 

 Smooth, treeless, green hills and mountains sur- 

 rounded us, pleasing to the eye and alluring to the 

 feet. Two large salmon canneries were visible on 

 shore, and presently a boat came off to us with fresh 

 salmon. Here we left a naphtha launch with a party 

 of six men, heavily armed, bent on finding and kill- 

 ing the great Kadiak bear, the largest species of 

 bear in the world, as big as an ox. They had been 

 making up their mouths for this monster bear all the 

 way, and now they were at last close to his haunts. 

 In two or three days we were to return and pick 

 them up and hoist their game aboard with the great 

 derrick. In the dehcious sunshine we steamed out of 

 Uyak, bound for Kadiak village on the east end of 

 the island, one hundred miles away. Kadiak Island 

 lies nearly south from Cook Inlet, about fifty miles 

 from the mainland. It is one hundred and fifty 

 miles long and one third as broad. It would just 

 about fill up Cook Inlet, out of which it may have 

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