562 RECREATION 
to the harpoon a long rope and to it at 
the other end a number of these seal- 
bladders, which keep the harpooned 
leviathan from diving and also show 
his course. 
We passed next to the cabin-of Sea- 
wit, where a group of men were seated 
on the ground engaged in sharpening 
long stout poles for use in pushing 
their canoes upstream against the 
mighty current of the river. Such 
poles are carefully selected and cut 
from an indigenous tree akin to iron- 
wood in hardness. The sharpened 
points are made harder by burning. 
We seated ourselves on the ground with 
them and making use of our limited 
Chinook vocabulary, likewise limited 
on their part, began something of a 
conversation, which was supplemented 
by Sam in their native Kwakwelth 
tongue. We thus learned of the great 
glacier some twenty miles farther back 
in the mountains, where the river heads, 
and of the perils of life and splendors 
of scene attendant upon a trip upstream 
to it. They also became garrulous, 
and excitedly gesticulated in telling of 
the huge grizzlies, the many deer, goats 
and some sheep that ranged along the 
river’s course. Their.bear stories were 
harrowing in the extreme and Seawit 
displayed a scar or two to substantiate 
some hair-breadth escapes. 
On the strength of their many state- 
ments of the fabulous region beyond 
we determined to make the trip to the 
glacier and see for ourselves. Accord- 
ingly we instructed Sam to open nego- 
tiations for the hire of two pole-men 
and a canoe of suitable size for our 
party. This proved to be no easy 
matter, for at once they found we 
wished to go thither they all displayed 
an unwillingness to accompany us, even 
suggesting dire results. But the sal- 
mon fishing had not been particularly 
good, and while money would hardly 
seem to be an object in such an out of 
' the way place, its temptations were too 
strong for them to resist and we finally 
succeeded in engaging two skokum 
(strong) men, Chief Seawit and Mo- 
nok-Kwa-la (One who gives away 
many blankets), for the journey, both 
polers of accomplishment as we were 
assured by all, nor were we to be dis- 
appointed. We were to pay five and 
a half dollars per day for the two men 
and a canoe, and the start was fixed 
for the following morning. These ar- 
rangements completed we went aboard 
the sloop and got together sufficient 
supplies and a light outfit for the trip. 
Next morning about nine o’clock 
Seawit and Mo-nok-Kwa-la came 
alongside in a well-proportioned dug- 
out canoe some thirty feet in length 
and of ample beam, into which we 
loaded our dunnage and embarked. 
The early morning had been foggy, but 
as we left the village the fog began to 
lift, with promise of a clear day. The 
work of our polers began at once, as 
the current everywhere was much too 
swift to be stemmed by paddling. 
Mo-nok-Kwa-la stood upright in the 
bow and Seawit in the stern.. Each 
would alternately plant his pole firmly 
in the river-bed and then push on it 
with all his might, the other holding 
the position already attained. Thus- 
wise they managed to force the canoe 
slowly and laboriously ahead. They 
certainly earned their money. A detour 
through a branch stream, where the 
_ foliage was so thick as to nearly over- 
arch, brought us several miles on our 
way through waters less rapidly run- 
ning. Then we came out into the main 
river again which swept along like a 
tide-race, boiling, tumbling and whirl- 
ing as it went its mad way. The river 
was a succession of elbows and curves, 
as it wound here, there and everywhere 
through a broad gravel flat, which was 
walled on both sides by lofty moun- 
tains, fir clad half way up. On the flat 
were frequent copses of fir, aspen and 
a species of maple, the shelter of deer, 
and of the grizzly bear. The ascent of 
the river valley would have been impos- 
sible on foot, for every hundred yards 
or so brought up on some meandering 
of the river which must be crossed. 
It was almost impossible by canoe. 




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