OUR ALASKAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 

 IN THE ETSEZA MOUNTAINS. 



A. J. STONE. 



After waiting almost 2 days for my Ind- 

 ian, " Dennis," to say good-by to his sweet- 

 heart, we finally made a start, and although 

 it was past 4 in the afternoon, I was de- 

 termined to get out of the village while 

 Dennis was ready to go. 



Packs, for ourselves and 2 dogs, were 

 already made up and we soon had them in 

 the boat and were pulling across the river. 

 Dennis forgot something and we had to go 

 back for it; but I had it brought to the 

 boat for I was not willing to trust him to 

 go for it. 



It was almost 5 o'clock when our boat 

 was made fast on the other shore and our 

 dogs packed and ready for the start. Head- 

 ing in the direction of the Etseza moun- 

 tains, we travelled rapidly, considering the 

 long, steep climb we had to make on leav- 

 ing the river. When we pitched camp it 

 was late, but we were all feeling good, and 

 even Dennis seemed glad to be on the trail. 

 He proved good help on the entire trip. 



We travelled 5 days with heavy packs, 

 through a terribly rough country, across 

 deep canyons, fording ice cold streams and 

 climbing over fallen timber. 



Most of the time we kept up a good, 

 swinging gait; but one morning, just after 

 starting out, we ran into a wind-fall. We 

 did not try to skirt it for we thought we 

 would soon pass through it. In this we 

 were doomed to disappointment; for night 

 came on when we emerged from the wilder- 

 ness of fallen timber. We had put in a 

 long day, at hard work, and had put no 

 more than 4 miles behind us. This was 

 really trying for our scanty supply of grub 

 diminished just as rapidly, when making 4 

 miles a day as when making 20, and we had 

 only taken what we could put on the dogs. 

 We had packed them light. One carried 

 20 pounds of flour and one pound of baking 

 powder, while the other carried 10 pounds 

 of bacon, 5 pounds of rice, y 2 pound of tea 

 and our kitchen. 



During the exasperations of this day's 

 work we were many times compelled to get 

 down, loaded as we were, and crawl under 

 fallen logs. Then we travelled on top of 

 others, stepping from one to another, until 

 we would often find ourselves 20 feet above 

 the ground. We had constantly to assist 

 the dogs, with their packs, through rough 

 places. 



Our greatest trouble came on the even- 

 ing of the fourth day out, when we under- 

 took to descend a slide, into a deep canyon. 

 We were compelled to seek the canyon 

 in order to find water. 



The walls were so steep everywhere, that 

 it was impossible for us to descend except 

 by going down the slide. This looked steep 

 and bad, but the thought of a dry camp, 

 where we were, drove us to make the trial. 



The slide was very narrow. In fact it 

 was simply a trough, with steep walls, that 

 kept crumbling off, keeping a mass of de- 

 composed lava always sifting down. Down 

 this we went, little realizing the task be- 

 fore us. We supposed a drop of 300 or 400 

 feet would take us to the bottom of the 

 canyon; but it proved nearer half a mile and 

 took more than 2 hours to travel. We soon 

 found, after starting, that had we once lost 

 our footing we would have made the trip 

 in a few seconds. The short curves in the 

 narrow slide enabled us to brace ourselves. 

 This was our only means of safety; for had 

 we encountered any long stretch, that was 

 straight, it would have been impossible for 

 us to have maintained a footing. 



Our packs here were a serious burden 

 and often threatened our destruction. The. 

 dogs followed, after a great deal of coax- 

 ing, whining pitifully and showing great 

 fear. I felt sorry for the poor brutes, al- 

 though their packs were now very light. 

 We could not get them to go ahead, and in 

 their scrambles they would often start some 

 of the soft stuff going, making it all the 

 worse for us. 



At last we could hear the running water 

 below, but it was some time before we came 

 in sight of the stream. What a welcome 

 sight when we did reach it! Worn, tired, 

 nervous, hungry and thirsty we at last stood 

 on a little shelf not more than 100 feet from 

 the water we had endured so much hard- 

 ship to reach, with all danger behind us. 



We found a little level rock, large enough 

 for camp, in the bed of the canyon, and en- 

 joyed a hearty and well earned supper. 

 After eating, an inventory of our food sup- 

 ply disclosed the fact that but about one 

 pound of bacon and one pound of flour re- 

 mained. 



The flour was carefully tied up and voted 

 a reserve. For breakfast one small strip of 

 bacon each, and tea, was all we could af- 

 ford, and we were not yet in the hunting 

 country. The canyon walls stared us in 

 the face and behind empty stomachs our 

 hearts sank into our boots. 



We finally assaulted the opposite wall, 

 and while it proved tough enough it was 

 not nearly so steep as where we came down. 



Noon found us in a high country, trav- 

 ersing an immense stretch of willows. By 

 2 o'clock we passed out of these on to a 



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