226 THE HARR1MAN ALASKA EXPEDITION 



known Metlakatla mission of Rev. William Duncan on Annette 

 island; the next at Wrangell, opposite the mouth of the Stikine ; 

 but lack of time will probably make it impracticable to ascend 

 very far up the river. Thence, after stopping at Juneau to in- 

 spect the Treadwell gold mines, which operate the largest stamp 

 mills in the world, they will proceed to Lynn canal and visit 

 Skagway and Dyea. A railroad is at present being built over 

 the White pass by an enterprising American company, and if 

 completed in time the party will cross over to Lakes Bennett 

 and Lindeman, on the headwaters of the Yukon. Returning to 

 Skagway, the}' expect to proceed to Muir glacier, named after 

 one of the party, and to explore it and the neighboring glaciers ; 

 and thence to Yakutat bay and the Mt St Elias range, the grand- 

 est mountains in the world. The course now changes westward 

 to Prince William sound and Copper river, then around Kenai 

 peninsula into Cook inlet and Kamishak bay. Here some days 

 will be passed exploring Iliamna, a smoking volcano rising 

 12,000 feet directly from the water's edge, and hunting for per- 

 fect specimens of the white Dall's sheep and the black Alaskan 

 moose, the largest of the deer tribe. After crossing Shelikof 

 strait to Kadiak. the party will probably separate, some mem- 

 bers remaining on the island to hunt and explore, while the ship 

 continues on to Unalaska and lliuliuk, a region of smoking vol- 

 canoes. On Kadiak island lives the Kadiak bear, the biggest 

 bear and largest carnivore in the world — an animal twice the 

 size of the largest grizzly. No perfect specimen of this huge 

 beast is at present owned by any museum in Europe or America. 

 The ship expects to return from Unalaska to Kadiak in time to 

 bring the entire party back to Seattle about August 1. 



The character of the men who make up the party is the best 

 index of what is likely to be accomplished. The different 

 branches of scientific research are in charge of the following : 

 Biology, Dr C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Biological Survey, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, assisted by Dr A. K. Fisher, Assist- 

 ant Biologist, and Edwin C. Starks, and with Prof. W. E. Ritter, 

 University of California, as associate; botany, F. V. Coville, 

 Botanist of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, assisted by 

 Thomas H. Kearney, Assistant Botanist, with D. W. Trelease, 

 Director of Shaw Botanical Gardens, St Louis, Mo., assisted by 

 De Alton Saunders, of South Dakota, as associate ; geology, G. K. 

 Gilbert, and Prof. B. K. Emerson of Amherst College, assisted by 

 Dr C. Palache, of Harvard University. The other scientists of 



