Oot. 18, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
811 
about three miles out we sighted them, and the chase 
began in earnest over the prairie. Their horses had been 
on a long journey, but they traveled well, and owing to 
the start which they had of us, held their own well. 
When we sighted them they were nearly tbree miles off; 
and then commenced a race which I have never seen 
equaled. It was a test of endurance in horseflesh in 
which blood counted. In the start there were eleven 
fairly good horses; but at the pace we went one after 
another began to drop out until at the end of ten miles 
there were only four of us. Eleven, twelve, thirteen 
miles were passed, and we were fast gaining on the fugi- 
tives. Ah, that wild ride! The wind that fanned our 
faces played with the long grasses, over which we were 
flying. Riding in our stirrups, we held the gallant little 
steeds steady. Their measured hoofbeat on the prairie 
was the only noise to be heard as we scurried along. 
Away we went, pursuers and pursued. Occasionally a 
flock of prairie chickens would rise and whir away, or a 
jack rabbit hop out of the way of our horses' feet, move 
off to a safe distance and turn on us with a look which 
plainly said, "Are they mad?" 
Our»companions, whom we had outridden, were fast 
fading out of sight as we measured off mile after mile of 
our course. The pursued rode like men who knew how 
to manage horses; but ride as they would their horses 
could not stand the strain put upon them. "We were rid- 
ing them down, and it was only a question of time when 
we would overtake them. On nearing a small creek 
fringed with timber we had gained on them until only 
about 300yd8. separated us. They reached the creek and 
rode into it, but did not go up on the other side. We 
thought of course they were waiting for us, so we halted 
for a brief consultation as how to best approach them. It 
was no child's play riding on those fellows, who were 
even numbers with us and had the creek bank for a shel- 
ter. Our halt was only momentary; we went forward 
cautiously until we rode under the hill, when to our sur- 
prise they were not in sight anywhere. We went up on 
the opposite bank, but still could not see them, though 
the prairie was open for nearly two miles over to the Ber- 
nard timber, the nearest point of which was up the creek; 
and judging that they would make for the point, we rode 
in that direction, scanning it closely as we went; but still 
could not see them. Glancing back in the other direction 
down the creek, we saw them come out below us over 
600yds. away, and ride hard for the Bernard timber. 
They had ridden in the bed of the creek, whose banks 
were high enough to screen them until they had gained 
on us sufficiently, and then had come up. We knew they 
would be lost to us once they entered the Bernard timber, 
but we rode after tbem, and had another exciting chase 
all to no purpose. They rode into the timber some dis- 
tance ahead of us and we could only track them. After 
following their trail for a while we gave it up, for we 
never could have overtaken them. 
If we could only have had the patience and forethought 
to have looked for their tracks at the creek, the affair 
would have had a different termination; perhaps resulted 
in our capturing them or vice versa. 
When we called a halt on the Bernard and looked at 
the time, our watches marked one hour and ten minutes 
since we had left the court house at Richmond, and the 
distance was twenty miles. 
Of the four horses of our party that made the race all 
were blooded stock, and though some of those that fell 
by the wayside were as good-looking, they did not have 
the blood to carry them through; and say what you will, 
"blood will tell." s. D. Calder. 
Galveston, Texas. 
ON THE KUSKOKW1M. 
Fort Wrangell, Alaska. — Notwithstanding Alaska 
has so long been an outlying possession of the United 
States, but little real exploration has been made of the 
vast territory west and north of Mt. St. Elias, that em- 
braces and includes the immense Yukon Valley, which 
rises within thirty miles of the sea coast of southeastern 
Alaska, and debouches in Bering Sea, after a course of 
several thousand miles. Many consider the Yukon the 
principal river in western Alaska, and in fact it is such, 
but there are other great rivers in that region, almost un- 
known to white men. The Kuskokwim is one of these 
other rivers. For several years scores of miners have en- 
tered the Yukon Valley by Lynn Canal and the portage 
across the mountains by the way of the Chilcat villages. 
It is only thirty miles from the waters of the Pacific by 
this portage to the small lakes which constitute the sources 
of the Yukon. Some of these miners whom I have met 
have visited Stuart and Pelly river valleys, and others 
again have reached the headwaters of the Kuskokwim, 
and descending that stream have reached Bering Sea at 
its southeast extremity. I have found few of these men 
who are not entirely trustworthy. 
I have just met a gentleman of intelligence who went 
into the Yukon country more than two years ago, and 
eventually found his way into the valley of the Kusko- 
kwim, and at last reached this place from Bering Sea. I 
have thought over the substance of what he said respect- 
ing his observations in the journey from the headwaters 
of the stream to its mouth. The Alaska Commercial 
Company has a temporary trading station about 700 miles 
up the river, in charge of a Finn and a half breed Aleut. 
From this trader he procured a badarka, or skin boat, and 
an outfit with which to descend the river. These boats 
are made of the skin of the sea lion, and are about 25ft. 
long, 28in. wide, and 14in. deep. There are three circular 
holes in the deck or cover, in which three persons can 
sit, while the craft is navigated with paddles. When the 
traveling outfit is complete, each one of the three persons 
aboard wears a waterproof parka or shirt put on over the 
head, and having a hood which incloses and covers the 
head. This parka is made of the dried entrails of the hair 
seal, neatly sewed together, and when the voyager is 
seated in the badarka, resting on his knees, the skirt is 
closely gathered about the circular hole in the cover of 
the craft, and in that way the rain is totally excluded. 
The badarka will carry besides the three men from a ton 
to a ton and a half of freight. My friend employed two 
Eskimos to aid in navigating the boat. He had with him 
an old tent, and in addition to some tinned vegetables a 
few articles fur traffic with the natives, abundance 'of 
ammunition for his rifle and double-barreled shotgun. 
Both sides of the great river have numerous Eskimo 
villages at a distance of about fifty miles apart. Each 
village consists of no more than half a dozen huts, each 
capable of containing from forty to fifty persons, and 
made of dirt thrown up. partly under ground, and roofed 
with hair seal skins. The huts have no chimneys, and 
the smoke escapes through a hole in the roof. Through- 
out the entire length of the river there are no natives 
except Eskimos. The Tinneh tribes of the British pos- 
sessions, a savage people, seldom -enter the valley of the 
Kuskokwim, except to trade, by which silver fox, bear 
skins, wolf pelts and beaver skins in large numbers reach 
the coast through the factors of the Alaska Commercial 
Company. 
My friend embarked with his two native companions 
only a short distance west of the source of the Kus- 
kokwim, about nine hundred miles from its mouth in 
Bering Sea. In their entire progress they encountered 
neither falls nor wild rapids. For the first 850 miles both 
banks were lined with a dense forest of small pines, firs, 
hemlocks and cedars, none of the trees being more than a 
foot in diameter; a fact closely observed at all the camp- 
ing places while passing this scrub timber region. The 
valley is broad on either side, and back of it rise a range 
of hills covered with forests of a like kind, and still fur- 
ther back ranges of high mountains clad with tlys kind of 
timber until it meets the snow. 
After the first day's voyage the river widened to a mile 
in breadth and the water was deep, clear as crystal and 
swift. It was the latter part of June and the red salmon 
were moving up stream to the breeding grounds in im- 
mense schools, miles in length. In scores of places these 
salmon were packed so closely in their struggle to get for- 
ward that the bardarka was with difficulty pushed 
through them. During the whole course of the voyage 
for the first 500 miles these countless schools of red salmon 
were encountered, and a thousand tons of fish might have 
been taken without perceptibly diminishing the number. 
Not only did they encounter billions of red salmon, but 
untold numbers of king salmon, actual princes among 
their species, were on the same errand of reproduction in 
the tributaries of the Ko-skokwim. No attempt was 
made to capture either the king or the red salmon with 
the hook. The two natives frequently speared a king 
salmon for food, and none were taken in that way that 
would weigh less than 401bs. 
Though the party made short journeys, often laying by 
until noon, and camping, and carefully investigating for 
traces of wild animals, they observed signs and saw 
nothing but the small mule deer of Alaska, gray— almost 
white — in winter, and red in midsummer. They saw not 
the least signs of either the brown or the black bear of 
Alaska, and the natives who were in company, informed 
my friend that bears were seldom seen in the Kusko- 
kwim Valley. A few beaver are found in some of the 
tributaries of that river, but they were never abundant. 
The clothing of native Eskimo, men, women and 
children, was made of tanned deer skin, and of the 
tanned skins and the entrails of the hair seal and the sea 
lion, ornamented where the material unites in seams with 
the down of wild geese, ducks and swans, which are 
abundant every where. 
The^ principal food of the natives is smoked or dried 
salmon and salmon roe, which are dried on ricks in the 
open air. Salmon are stored in the ground in large quan- 
tities at each village. A trench is dug in the tundra or 
spongy soil, and on the bottom of this grass is laid. On 
the gras3 large quantities of fresh salmon are placed, and 
the pile is then covered over with further quantities of 
grass and tundra or moss. As can easily be imagined, 
the odor of this food when taken out for use would not 
make it very tempting to a civilized taste and appetite. 
These Esk imo of the Kuskokwim Valley are an unwar- 
like, good-natured, happy-go-lucky people, and thor- 
oughly honest. Frequent chances were given them at 
the villages where the voyagers stopped for petty pilfer- 
ing, but not the most trifling article was missed on the 
entire trip. The Greco-Russian priests have neither 
churches nor missions among these natives, but their 
priests, near the mouth of the river, visit the villages up 
the river in the spring of the year, and marry and bap- 
tize the children and the young people in a sort of "com- 
bine" for the sake of economy and time. All the knowl- 
edge of religion they acquire is how to make the sign of 
the cross, which they do on the most trivial occasions. 
After passing through this slightly timbered region for 
about 350 miles, they reached a section which stretched 
to the mouth of the river, about 600 miles away, which 
was a continuous savannah. Broad bottom lands covered 
with high grass extended to the f oot hills.equally destitute 
even of shrubs, having nothing but tall grass, and behind 
these again high mountain ranges, with grass and moss 
only to the snow line. At intervals of forty or fifty miles 
on either side of the river were small clumps of scrub 
birch and alder, and that was all. 
_ The surface of the broad savannahs was here and there 
relieved by small lakes of fresh water, even after the 
voyagers reached a point to which the tide reached from 
Bering Sea. Millions of wild ducks and geese haunted 
these lakes, and nested in the tall grass, and the natives 
at that season of the year gather immense quantities of 
eggs for food. At the various camping places, in an hour 
or so after the tent was pitched, twenty or thirty fat 
young geese were shot and brought into camp. No other 
signs of game on land, from the time they left the timber 
belt to the mouth of the river, were observed, except when 
they ascended one of the lower tributaries of the Kusko- 
kwim, and then made a portage to the headwaters of 
another tributary, to escape the necessity of rounding 
Cape Newenham by badarka, in a high tide and a stiff 
breeze. In passing over the portage they saw evident 
bear traces, about a day's journey up from the mouth of 
the tributary. 
The width of the Kuskokwim at its mouth is about 
thirty miks, and after narrowing to about three miles, it 
retains that width for the first 300 miles from the sea. It 
has many islands, covered only with tall grass. Here 
geese, ducks and wild swans in great numbers find a 
resort. Ice never forms on the river for 500 miles from 
Bering Sea, and in winter the ground freezes to a depth 
no greater than in the Middle States. The rainfall during 
summer is considerably less than at Sitka and further 
east and south along the coast, and the mercury during 
the entire six weeks spent in descending the river raneed 
at about 60°. & 
My friend, who was always an enthusiastic hunter and 
had spent many years in the mountains of Montana, Ore- 
gon and British Columbia, does not consider the valley of 
tl e Kuskokwim by any means the sportsman's paradise, 
except in respect to the wildfowl and the salmon. All 
the small tributaries and lakes are alive with small moun- 
tain trout, requiring no skill or tact whatever to capture 
them by the thousands. Commercial greed or enterprise, 
just as you choose to call it, will seek this valley as afield 
for fish-canning eventually, but the long distance from 
civilization, the difficulties of access and the absence of 
the real elements of sport, will in my judgment cause 
this region to be ignored by the sportsman who seeks 
simply a delightful vacation. j, h. jj. 
MY FRENCHMEN. 
While standing one afternoon at the door of Cobb & 
Co.'s stage office, on the Diamond Fields, South Africa, 
watching the unloading of the passengers from the' 
freshly arrived stage, my attention was attracted by the 
actions of a party of youthful diggers who had formed a 
knot around one of the new arrivals and seemed highly 
amused at his gesticulations and actions. One of the 
group happened to break away and pass by me, when I 
asked him the cause of the merriment. He replied "Oh, 
Dad!* Step out there and see the capers of a Frenchman' 
who can't speak a word of English." 
Walking out to the outer edge of the assemblage, I saw 
that they had surrounded a young Frenchman who 
seemed to be very much annoyed that no one understood 
him. Pressing through the throng I spoke to him in 
broken French and proffered my assistance, when he 
sprang forward, and it was with some difficulty that I 
prevented him from embracing me. He then said, "I 
have arrived here with sufficient funds to pay my 
way, but find there is not a hotel, or any place where I 
can lodge m the whole camp, what am I to do? I can't 
remain out here in the road all night." Instantly form- 
ing the opinion that he was a gentleman, I said "If you 
will accept such rough accommodations as I can offer 
you, there is a corner in my tent to which you are very 
welcome." Again I had to use some force to preveht a 
second attempt at a hug, and finally managed to pick up 
one of his valises, while he shouldered the other and 
followed me to my quarters, where he seemed delighted 
with his first experience of camp life. 
For some days he knocked about the claims and paid 
particular attention to the modes of mining, leading me 
to believe that he wished to get a thorough insight into 
the business before embarking in it. About a week elapsed 
when one night as we sat smoking our pipes he said, 
"You have been so kind in not questioning me about my 
business or intentions, I think it nothing but right that 
you should be told who I am and what I intend d>ing. I 
did not come here to dig diamonds, but to buy them; as 
my father is one of the largest diamond cutters in Paris. 
In a short time I expect the foreman of the shop to join 
me, but don't see how we are to purchase stock, as he 
knows no more English than myself. To prove that I am 
telling the truth I will show you that I am prepared finan- 
cially to carry on my business in a proper manner." 
Whereupon he unbuttoned his vest, passed his hands be- 
neath his shirt and drew out a belt, from which he un- 
folded letters of credit for £50,000, besides several thous- 
ands in bank bills. To say that the revelations made me 
uneasy would be a mild way of expressing my sensations. 
The idea that something might happen to my guest and 
his money sadly interfered with my rest, and I did not 
feel easy until I persuaded him the next morning to ac- 
company him to the bank. 
When we passed into the building he seemed to think 
that a joke was being played on him, as he very naturally 
associated the business with a fire-proof structure, thief- 
proof vaults, etc. Instead of which he found only a cor- 
rugated iron affair, with a dirt floor, and the manager's 
office separated from the teller's counter by a simple 
canvas screen, while the only visible solid appurtenances 
were a couple of heavy iron safes. Taking him behind 
the screen I introduced him, and it was comical to note 
the amazed look of the manager when my companion 
coolly produced his belt and carelessly displayed its con- 
tents. I explained the gentleman's wishes, which, after 
a strict examination of the let ters and bills, were promptly 
attended to, when we were treated with marked courtesy 
and respectfully bowed out of the shanty. Feeling much 
relieved I parted from my friend and hastened to my 
claim ; but had been at work but a short time when he 
joined me and pressed the immediate necessity of com- 
mencing business as soon as he could arrange suitable 
quarters. He seemed to be afraid that some of his craft 
would arrive from Europe and interfere with h 8 picking 
up a particular class of stock which he was sure that he 
could secure at about his own price. At that time very 
little was known about the true value of rough stones, 
and a greater proportion of those which were sold on the 
fieids were bought by parties sp culating on their own ac- 
count, or representing those in Cape Town who were in- 
terested in the weekly auction sales held at that place. 
My friend had attended the sales, and judging from what 
he had seen, was perfectly satisfied that there was not a 
competent judge of rough stones in the whole of South 
Africa. 
In a few days I managed to secure a spot on one of the 
main thoroughfares of the camp, suitable for the location 
of a tent, and contracted for its construction with a run- 
away sailor who had been smitten with the diamond 
fever and had left his ship in the lurch in Cape Town. In 
the mean time the expected foreman arrived, and the pair 
took possession of the tent, but were afraid to display the 
usual sign of "Diamant Kooper," as neither of them 
could speak English or Boer. About a week elapsed, 
when one morning, just as I reached my claim and was 
starting to work, I was accosted by a young man, solicit- 
ing a job. His peculiar accent caught my ear, and I im- 
mediately asked him if he wasn't a Canadian. His answer 
convinced me that I had found an interpreter for the new 
firm, as he spoke the patois. Dropping pick and shovel, 
I started with him for the Frenchman's tent, where he 
was instantly engaged to translate, and the sign hung out 
for business. I heard nothing of the parties for some 
days, when one of my neighboring diggers asked if 1 had 
heard of two crazy Frenchmen who had turned up in the 
camp, buying nothing but "chips," which the boys were 
unloading on them at a lively rate. To the uninformed I 
would say that a large majority of our finds were not 
whole diamonds, but pieces, which were called "chips" or 
"splints," for which there was scarcely any sale, as at that 
time no one was capable of telling what the loss would be 
in cutting, particularly if there were many flaws or cracks 
in the chip. Being sure that my two acquaintances were 
* My soubriquet, from having hees lopger iu South Africa than any 
other American on the Fields, 
