THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



157 



Photograph by D. B. Church 



FORDING THE CREEK UNDER THE SHADOW OE MT. MAGEIK 



The waters of this stream were swift, but shallow, and presented no dangers in crossing, 

 fears of quicksand proving ungrounded. All supplies for the stay in this valley had to be 

 man-packed from base camp, and obstructions like this creek presented many difficulties for 

 the heavily laden members of the expedition, even though the element of personal peril was 

 not always present. 



CARRYING IN SUPPLIES ON MAN BACK 



The problem of transportation was in 

 a way the crux of the whole situation, for 

 everything else depended on its solution. 

 We considered pack-horses, but the diffi- 

 culty of landing them through the surf, 

 of providing fodder in the devastated 

 district, and of managing them in quick- 

 sands and bad lands made them seem im- 

 practicable. We therefore fell back on 

 the most primitive of all means of trans- 

 portation — man - back packing. Every 

 member of the expedition understood 

 from the start that he was to be pack- 

 animal first and scientist second, and all 

 stood up under the strain of labor, to 

 which several of them were quite unac- 

 customed. 



The plan of operation was to proceed 

 half a day's march from camp, establish 

 a new camp at the terminus, from which 



two men explored the country round 

 about, while the others brought up sup- 

 plies, returning each night to the starting 

 point till a sufficient quantity had been ac- 

 cumulated to permit another move for- 

 ward. By thus moving short distances 

 the packers were able to dispense with all 

 duffle, carrying freight exclusively, and 

 the heaviest consumption of food was 

 kept behind the front. 



Perhaps the best way to convey an im- 

 pression of the labor involved in such 

 procedure will be to state the cost. We 

 found that by the time a 50-pound sack 

 of flour had been carried into the Valley 

 of Ten Thousand Smokes it had cost us 

 $17.50. 



BANDING THROUGH THE SURE 



In previous years we had landed near 

 Katmai village, on the north side of the 



