THE REFERENDUM 



9i 



paddling that is as distinctive as their canoes. 

 After a couple of strokes the paddle is shift- 

 ed with lightning-like rapidity to the other 

 side of the canoe, and back again after two 

 more strokes. This they can keep up for 

 hours, owing to long practice, but it must be 

 fatiguing in the extreme, as the paddles are 

 ponderous affairs with a broad blade, and 

 weigh considerably more than the rock maple 

 paddles used in the East. 



The Siwash Indians, inhabiting the sea 

 coast of British Columbia and Washington, 

 have yet another system of paddling. In- 

 stead of turning the paddle handle inward, 

 when paddling over the port side of the ca- 

 noe, they turn the right wrist out at the end 



ous. The streams are usually very swift and 

 shallow, and there are few lakes in the gen- 

 eral water systems. Secondly, the Siwash, 

 Thlinket, and Russian Aleut are fish-eaters 

 and turn their canoe-bent backs on the sheep 

 mountains of the interior. I have seen Alas- 

 kan natives eat refuse from the beach, when 

 only seven days travel away there were 

 mountains teeming with sheep. 



On the larger rivers such as the Stikine, 

 Pelly, Liard and Yukon, there is, of course, 

 some canoe travel, but among the interior 

 tribes the canoe is little used. 



Because of the swiftness of the waters pad- 

 dling, and even poling, are impracticable. 

 The tracking line is universally used, and 



PACK FORDING 



Drawn by Bellmore Browne 



of the stroke, forcing the back of the paddle 

 outward. The Eastern Indians, of course, 

 just reverse this custom. 



Hank Hennings. 



HOW TO CROSS STREAMS. 



A stream in the wilderness may be either 

 a blessing or a death-trap. 



When the hunter or prospector is traveling 

 by canoe, every stream is a benefit, and the 

 rushing waters carve for him a broad high- 

 way through mountains and lowlands. 



In the mighty land that stretches from the 

 Frazier to Point Barrow the streams are 

 legion and yet the canoe is seldom used. 

 Along the coast the natives are masters of 

 the canoeing art, but their knowledge is con- 

 fined to salt water. There are two reasons 

 for this. In the first place a good part of the 

 Alaskan coast and interior is very mountain- 



even the large Hudson Bay barges are drawn 

 by man-power. The "trackers" become most 

 skillful in this mode of travel, and it is a hard 

 and dangerous calling. The same reason that 

 makes these northern streams difficult to 

 canoe renders them a source of danger to the 

 wilderness hunter and prospector. These men 

 in their wanderings must continually ford 

 them ; in this work they are often threatened 

 with starvation through the loss of their pro- 

 visions, and sometimes with death by the fury 

 of the waters. To a man alone in the wilder- 

 ness there is no sight or sound so appalling 

 as the irresistible force of a glacier river, and 

 the snarl and roar of its milky waters. As 

 one stands on the bank and looks yearningly 

 across, one can think of many graves that are 

 more attractive. But the river must be 

 crossed, so how shall it be done? If the river 

 is large and one has pack-dogs, or horses, the 



