JUNE 6, 1884.] 
THE MIDDLE YUKON. —I. 
Tue extent of the Alaska military reconnois- 
sance of 1883 was so great that I deemed it 
best to divide the account of it into conven- 
ient sections; and the three subdivisions, of 
which this is the second, have already been ex- 
plained as made wholly with reference to my 
own travels. It was therefore not intended as 
a geographical division of this great river, al- 
though it would not be altogether unavailable 
even for this purpose. The Middle Yukon, 
SCIENCE. 
677 
fishery or mineral, that may spring up along 
it. 
I have spoken, in my previous article, of the 
comparative sizes of the Pelly and the Lewis, 
showing the latter to be undoubtedly the Yukon 
proper; and the view (fig. 1) taken looking 
into the mouth of the Pelly from an island at 
the junction of the two, and that (fig. 2) 
looking back up the Yukon from the site of 
old Selkirk, show the evident preponderance 
of the latter, although, in the case of the Pelly, 
but one of its mouths, the lower and larger 
Fic. 1.— YUKON RIVER: VIEW LOOKING INTO THE MOUTH OF THE PELLY RIVER. 
with reference to my expedition, extends from 
the site of old Fort Selkirk to old Fort Yukon, 
—a part of the river which we know in an 
approximate manner by the rough maps of the 
Hudson-Bay traders, who formerly trafficked 
along these waters, some envoys of the West- 
erm union telegraph company, and a few oth- 
ers. This part of the river, therefore, had 
been explored; and. to my expedition fell the 
lot of being the first to give it a survey, which, 
though far from perfection, is the first worthy 
of the name, and, I believe, sufficient to answer 
all purposes until commerce is established on 
the river subservient to the industries, either 
1 See Science, Nos. 55, 56. 
one around the island, can be seen distinctly. 
The perpendicular bluff of eruptive rock, dis- 
tinctly columnar in many places, and with its 
talus reaching from half to two-thirds the way 
to the top, shown in the first view, extends up 
the Pelly on the north bank as_far as it was 
visited, some two or three miles, and continues 
on down the Yukon on the same (north) bank 
for twelve or thirteen miles, when the en- 
croaching mountains obliterate it. In but one 
place that I saw was there a break, so that 
one could climb from the bottom, over the 
débris, to the level plateau that extended back- 
ward from its crest; although in many places 
this plateau could be gained by alpine climbing 
