CANOE TRIP FROM BETTLES TO POINT BARROW. 23 



From the camp of August S the bluffs of the Colville were seen, and on August 9 

 we ran into that river, which, at the confluence of the Anaktuvuk, is 12 feet deep 

 and about S00 feet wide, with a current running i miles an hour. High- water 

 marks were 10 feet above the stage of August 9. The water was fairly clear, but 

 increased in turbidity as we floated down. I believe this turbidity is due to the wash 

 from the bluffs, from which muddy little rivulets continually drip with the thawing 

 of ice. Five miles below the mouth of the Anaktuvuk a short stretch of rapid water 

 (6 miles an hour) occurs, in which bottom was touched at 2$ feet in midstream. 

 Though it is possible that deeper water might have been found, I doubt if it would 

 have been more than -i feet at that stage. Between the rapids, shown on the map 

 accompanying this report, the current was not over 2 miles an hour, and in them it 

 was not greater than 6 miles. The rapids shown are all very gentle, and average not 

 more than 100 yards in length. Four feet of water was the minimum found over all 

 of these swift places, except the one opposite Sentinel Hill," where the depth was 

 not over 3 feet. At high water, which probably occurs in June, all of these small 

 rapids would disappear. Good grass was found on " Coal " Bluffs. 



At Sentinel Hill the Colville divides and thence flows in two or more channels. 

 The one nearest the bluffs on the western side of the valley is the deepest. Twenty- 

 four miles below Sentinel Hill the end of the bluffs is reached, and the river, con- 

 taining four islands, runs in one channel through a flat whose surface is 10 to 15 feet 

 above sea level. The river gradually widens from 1,100 feet at the end of the bluff 

 to 5,000 feet at the head of the delta. The head of the delta, where a very small 

 tide is perceptible, was reached August 13. The main channel has a course N. 30° E. 

 magnetic, and is the one farthest to the right, or the most easterly one. There was 

 not sufficient time to follow this to the sea. It is over 12 feet deep at the head of 

 the delta and apparently continues unbroken to the ocean. This is the only one that 

 would be navigable for river steamers. In the endeavor to find the native village of 

 Jsigaluk, several channels were explored and the delta was roughly mapped, but it 

 being evident that we had passed the westernmost or left-hand channel, on which 

 Nigaluk is probably located, and not having time to return, we put out to sea. I 

 estimated the delta to be about 20 miles wide. 



Tracks of caribou were numerous on the delta, and later I learned that caribou 

 frequent the coast to avoid the clouds of mosquitoes in the interior. On August 18 

 we left the delta and its mud flats and followed the coast, which varies from a low 

 beach to ice bluffs 10 to 20 feet high. A camp of natives was seen on the delta, but 

 little information could be obtained from them. They appeared friendl}*-, but were 

 not communicative. On August 20 these natives overtook us, followed by about a 

 dozen umiaks, each containing from three to six persons — men, women, and children — 

 on their way to Point Barrow. As they appeared to weather seas that we dared not 



"An isolated hill, so named on account of being a prominent landmark. 



