FEBRUARY 29, 1884.] 
them from the lake, turned one’s thoughts to 
the stubble fields of grain in temperate climes. 
On the 28th, on Lake Marsh, a spirited rain 
and thunder shower lasted from 12.45 p.m. to 
2.15 p.m., and is, I believe, the first thunder- 
storm recorded on the Yukon, it being unknown 
on the lower river, according to all accounts. 
It brought us a head wind; and, after dying 
out, a favorable breeze sprang up, and kept us 
going until 12.30 next morning, so essential 
was it for us to take advantage of all favorable 
wind. At midnight it was so light, however, 
that but one star could be seen in the un- 
clouded sky,—the planet Venus. For the 
SCIENCE. 
247 
until its current settled the matter by carry- 
ing us into the proper channel. This channel 
much more closely resembled some of the 
streams in temperate climes than any we had 
met. Its flanking hillsides of rolling ground 
were covered with spruce and pine, here and 
there breaking into pleasant-looking, grassy 
prairies, while its own valley was densely 
wooded with poplar and willows of several 
varieties. These latter, in fact, encroached 
so closely upon the very water’s edge in such 
impenetrable confusion that camping-places 
were hard to find, unless a spur from the hills, 
covered with evergreens, wedged its way in on 
LAKE BENNETT FROM PAYER PORTAGE. 
Tron-capped mountains on the right, covered with fog. 
first time bathing was possible in the lakes, 
although not pleasant, except on very warm, 
still days. 
The northern shores of Lake Marsh are 
especially flat and boggy, making our camps 
very disagreeable. Our rough mode of navi- 
gation also suffered from the ceaseless banks 
of ‘ glacier-mud’ as we approached its outlet, 
most of which was probably deposited by a 
large river (the McClintock *) that here comes 
in from the east, —a river so large that we 
were in some doubt as to its being the outlet, 
1 In honor of Vice-Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock, Royal 
navy. 
the river’s face to break the continuity of this 
barrier to a night’s camping-place. The raft’s 
corduroy deck of pine poles often served us 
for a rough night’s lodging. 
Muskrats were plentiful in this part of the 
river, and in the quiet evenings a number could 
be traced at once by their wedge-shaped ripples 
as they were swimming about. Small broods 
of ducks were also occasionally noticed, and 
numbers of the great American diver were 
seen on almost all the lakes. 
On the Ist of July, with a Tahk-heesh In- 
dian as a guide, we approached the great rapids 
of which we had heard so much. An inspec- 
