222 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept, i6, 1899. 
After Salmon with Alaska Indians* 
While en route to Cooke's Inlet, Alaska, about three 
months ago, I was obliged to wait at Sitka several days 
for a steamer up the coast. The delay had become 
tedious, and time began to drag heavily after the first 
day, which can be put in very well visiting the old 
■Russian buildings, Indian Mission school and the Indian 
settlement; after that I was ready to clutch at anything 
to break thcmonotony; so when I saw some Indians getting 
their canoe, nets and other trappings ready, and heard 
they were going out after salmon, the first of the season, 
I hustled down to the beach and asked the chief mogul 
of the outfit, who 1 learned was called Sitka Jake, an 
old ex-chief of the Thlinklet tribe (who possessed the 
ugliest face I ever saw — one of those faces that would 
cook coffee) if I could go along with them. He grunted 
and still kept at work. I pulled out a couple of silver 
dollars and held them up, and he then condescended 
to grin and put up three fingers; so we closed the bar- 
gain at $3 and started off at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 
I su])poscd we were only going to 'the mouth of a 
river about six miles distant and would return that night. 
There were seven Indians in the crew. I made eight. 
The canoe, like all of their craft, was hewed out of a 
solid log, and was about 25ft. long and 5ft. wide in the 
middle. Five young bucks did the paddling, and from 
the time we started they did not stop until ri o'clock 
that night, when they landed the canoe on the beach of 
a narrow inlet, and as nearly as I could calculate about 
thirby- miles from Sitka. We started a fire, and while my 
oompanions chewed on their dried salmon and tough 
bread I got away with a little lunch I had, all with the 
exception of a little piece of raw venison, w.hich I saved 
for breakfast. In the meantime old Sitka Jake had dug 
out of his grub basket two seal's feet — that is, of the coarse- 
hair seak which is very plentiful all along the Alaska 
coast. These thej' proceeded to roast in the ashes until 
they looked black and greasy; then they split them 
down between the toes, divided and devoured them, and I 
think felt hurt because I did not indulge. I did want to 
be sociable, if for no other reason than that I was so 
distinctly in the minority; but I had to draw the line 
on seal's foot; and I thought then, as I saw them licking 
their ■ chops (over what seemed to them to be a sweet 
morsel), of my friend up at Standing Rock Agency on 
beef killing day, watching the Sioux eat, when he casu- 
ally remarked that, "If that was the Indian meal he did 
not want any of the mush." I took the liberty to ask 
Ckief Jake, who was the only one who would "sava" at 
all, why tliey ate seals' feet; His reply was simply, 
"Injun eat seal's foot catch big salmon." So I con- 
cluded they were eating them to carry out some super- 
stitious notion or custom, and not because it was par- 
ti cuTarly appetizing. 
After this Indian meal was over they held a sort of 
war council around the camp-fire, jabbering awaj' among 
themselves in their strange dialect. You could hardly 
©all it a language, and I can best describe it by conparing 
it with three chokes and a swallow, and I had about 
Goncluded that I was to be "stuck for the drinks" or 
roasj-ed for breakfast, when they coolly piled into the 
canoe, pushed ofif, and anchoring it about looft. from 
shore lay down in the bottom and went to sleep. I 
tried to make the best of it, but with no blankets, rain, 
wet ground and mosquitoes, sleeping was out of the 
question. 
About 2 o'clock my partners began to grunt and 
Stretch (a little cramped, I imagine), pulled in shore 
andpinadc a bluff at breakfast. I found my piece of 
venison, which I cut into nice little steaks, and tried to 
f fry it in a tin dish, but it Avas conspicuously lacking in 
tallow, necessitating my borrowing a little grease of the 
Indians, which I thought to be pork grease. With this 
I managed to fry the venison in good shape, but not 
until I took a mouthful did I discover that the pork 
grease was fish oil. Bah! I ean taste it now. The In- 
dians get the venison. 
After this repast Avas over off we started. The night 
before old Jake had told me we were going back toward 
Sitka in tfie morning, which. I presume, meant just the 
opposite, as a Thlinklet or Ckilkoot Indian can't tell the 
truth. After paddling about two hours, the inlet or strait 
began to narrow down lo about one-half mile in width. 
Suddenly something attracted their attention on the op- 
posite shore, and they jabbered away again excitedly. 
I strained my eyes for the object of their attention, but no 
sign of life appeared^ — not even a fish jumped. All at 
Ottce Capt. Jake kollered "Chuk, chuk" (which means 
go, go), and away we went, the old kyak fairly jumping 
out of the water, and I began to think the crew were 
- going mad, when the canoe struck the beach. One In- 
dian jumped out and grabbed the end of a rope about 
150ft. long, which was tied to one end of the net; and 
while he held on to this the others pulled out, plajang 
out the net, making a half-circle in order to bring the 
other end of the net and rope up toward the beach, about 
250ft. away. Then all except two of the Indians waded 
out along the ropes and with their paddles striking the 
water andyellingattempted to drive what I soon discovered 
were salmon toward the center of the circling net, which 
was hauled in as far as possible. Then with a gaff hook 
arrajigement the Indians dragged the fish up on the 
beach. I counted 134 salmon, of which not one would 
weigh less than islbs — big, gamy, beautiful fish, with 
bright silvery sides. It was fun for the Indians, and 
would have been for me if I could have caught them one 
at a time with hook and line. As it was, I could only 
look upon it as an experience, not sport. When we 
got them loaded into the canoe, I was seriously consid- 
ering whether the boat would not sink with eight persons 
added to the cargo, and so told Capt. Jake: but he re- 
sponded. "Injun want more salmon." I kicked like a 
mule, but they insisted on going through the same per- 
formance again as soon as they located another school of 
fish. Fortunately the haul was not quite so heaw. and 
the boat still floated after catch No, 2 M^as loaded into 
it; but I was sure that it would not carry us back to 
Sifka, an^ I contemplated seriously which was best to 
da, take my chances in the boat or on the isolated beach. 
I concluded that drowning was preferable to starvation, 
and consoled myself with the thought that if the boat cap- 
sized and I was drowned the Indians would not all 
escape; so I embarked with them. Why or how we ever 
niade the trip back to Sitka without being shipwrecked 
is a mystery and a miracle. We went across a three-mile 
stretch of open sea, with a swell that would make an 
ocean steamer roll, and through a school of whales 
.spouting and playing so close to our boat that the In- 
dians became quite uneasy. One whale in particular, 
about 6oft. long, just to show us what he could do, came 
up within loott. of our boat, spouting Avater 30ft. high 
and then going under with a flop of his huge tail which 
made the water foanr as does the propeller of an ocean 
liner. But, thanks to immortal destiny, at 8 o'clock 
that evening, thirty hours from the time I had started— 
cold, wet, cramped and hungry — I landed at Sitlca, and 
all the gold in Alaska w^ould have been no temptation for 
me to take another such trip. 1 admit I was looking ' 
for experience, but not in such chunks as I got on this 
expedition. F. H,. tossELi^ 
Bee Hunting, 
To the Idvers of nature, ozone and hunting, and to the 
man who requires some motive other than tlresc to take 
him from store, office or shop for the good of his health, 
bee hunting offers a field where each may enjoy 
himself in his own peculiar Avay. Coming as it does dur- 
ing the summer and early fall months,' it is followed when 
otlier kinds of hunting are out of season, I have seen 
many description of bee hunting, but none that came very 
close to our mode of procedure here, I do not mean to 
.say that our Avay is best, but it gives me the Best satis- 
faction of any I have tried. 
The first things to be considered are the tools to Avork 
with; these consist of two boxes, or rather a double box. 
The upper box, or catcher, is made about 4in. long, 3in. 
wide and 3in. deep.. It has a sliding bottom of wood, 
which projects beyond the box far enough so that it may 
be readily drawn out; a sliding partition of glass about 
half -way betAveen the top and bottom of the box, Avhich 
projects the same as the bottom, and a fixed top of glass. 
Both of these slides work in grooves cut in the sides of 
the box. The bottom, or honey, box, is a plain wooden 
box with wood bottom, but no top, and is tnade about 2in. 
deep and just large enough so that the catcher will fit in- 
side. There should be some cleats arotmd the inside of 
the bottom box about ^in. from the top for the catcher 
to rest on. Care must be taken to cut the grooves for 
the bottom slide of the catcher high enough up so that 
the slide may be drawn Avhen the catcher is on the honey 
box; also that the catcher box fits the honey box loosely, 
so that it may be taken oft' without jar. 
Tack a leather loop on the long sides of the box, the 
loop to be large enough to take in y^m. stick. Procure a 
tough piece of honeycomb and cut it to fit the honey box 
snugly, for if it is loose around the edge bees are apt to 
get down on the bottom of the box and bother you. Take 
a small bottle of honey, or if honey is not handy, take 
some granulated sugar and melt in hot water until about 
the consistency of honey. This makes a very good sub- 
stitute. Take another small bottle Avith a little Avater in 
it and a pocket compass, and you are ready for business. 
Go out into the fields and find Avhere the bees are 
working, and AA'hen you have found one draw the bottom 
slide of your catcher box part way out and hold the box 
in your right hand; take your handkerchief in your left, 
approach the bee carefully, and catch him by clapping 
the box OA^er him and at the same time bringing the 
handkerchief up against the bottom of the box. By look- 
ing down through the glass top of the catcher you can see 
if you have caught the bee. If not, try again. You will 
probably miss some at first, but a little practice will en- 
able you to catch all you need. When you see that you 
have one in the bottom of the box, shut the lower slide, 
open the middle one and the bee will go into the upper 
part of the box, then you can shut the middle slide and 
you are ready to catch another. Repeat until you have 
three or four more bees. 
Cut a .stick small enough at the top to go into the loop 
on the honey box, and as long as you can have it and see 
into the honcj'- box. When the stick is stuck up in the 
ground, lea\-e a limb at the top about an inch long for the 
loop to rest on to keep the box from sliding down the 
stick. Point the lower end of the stick. Get on to a hill, 
knoll or any place Avhere 3'OU can have as clear horizon as 
possible. Set up your stick and hang your. Jiotiey box 
on it. 
Take sotue of your clear honey,, reduce it about one- 
third with water in your other bottle (this is done so that 
the bees will fill up quicker), pour ,some on the middle of 
the comb in the honey box. Take your catcher and get 
a bee into the lower chamber, place the catcher on the 
honey box and draw the loAver slide part Avay out, cover 
the top of the catcher Avitb your handkerchief to make it 
dark inside and the bee will generally go down on to the 
honey. I say generally, because sometimes a bee will re- 
fuse to work, bttt not very often. 
After waiting a short time, close the loAver slide and 
look throtigh the glass on top of your catcher and see if 
the bee has gone doAvn. If he has not, open the slide. 
coArer her up and try again. You may have to try scA'^eral 
times with some before they Avill go doAvn, but when 
they do step back from the stick, reach out au'l lift the 
catcher gently from the honey box. If the bee flies off as 
soon as it sees the light, we generally consider it no 
good, but if she stays and gets a full load, she Avill likely 
come back and work. If the bee clears out at once you 
Avill have to let doAvn another and try again. However, do 
not be in haste about it. Sometimes a bee will go back 
on, after she has looked things over a little, and work all 
right. We Avill .suppose a bee has filled up all right. The 
next thing Avill be to see Avhere she goes. This Avill be 
rather a hard task for the amatuer, for a bee on her first 
trip Avill circle a good deal before ''he gets straightened 
out on her true course for home. After the eye has had a 
little practice, hoAvever, yott can generally get A'^ery neaf 
th"^ tiM.ic course the first time. 
When the bee has gone, look at yblir v'atch, note the 
time and remember it or set it doAvn. Then let down 
another bee, watch where she goes, and so on, until you 
have let them all go. Now look at yoiir watch -again and' 
note the time. Timing bees I consider one of the 
most important parts of the sport, as by it I have found . 
bees that I probably should never have found without it. 
For instance, suppose the bees have gone toward a house' 
where you know tame bees are kept. You knew about,' 
the distance you are from the house, and after a little, 
practice you can tell about how long it would take a bee to! 
fly that distance, deposit her load of honey and return to 
the box. Carefully note the time of several of the bees 
marked, as I shall hereafter tell you, and if you find thati 
some are gone a shorter or longer time than you think 
it ought to take them, or if you find any great dift"erence 1 
in the time of the several bees, it will be weU to follow,^ 
them up, and be sure whether they go to the house or not. 
1 found a SAvarm of wild bees in this way this summer. 
But AA-hile we have been talking about this part of the 
sport, our bees ought to be coming back. Note the time 
the first bee arrives. This will give a^ou a rough estimate 
of how far you are from the nearest swarm of bees. 
After the bee has gone on to the box (which she probably • 
will not do until she has done more or less fussing and 
bobbing around the box to see that everything is all 
right), carefully approach the box and mark her so thai 
you will know her again. To do this I have a small bottle 
Avith some whiting mixed up thick with water. Take a.'' 
spear of grass, dip in the mixture and just touch the bee .' 
where you want to mark her, being careful not to get any ; 
on her wings. Some I mark on the shoulders, others on. 
the back, some on one side, some on the other, or on 1 
both, and so on. But as each marked bee goes, carefully ' 
note the time and direction, and if you cannot remember 
them all, set them down on a piece of paper. 
You will find that after the bees have made two dv 
three trips you can see where they go much more readily, 
as they do not do so much circling then. As each marked ■ 
bee comes back, note the time, and then by comparing this i 
with the time she Avent, you will find hoAV long she has 
taken to make the trip, and so by noting the return of each 
bee you will find the one that makes the quickest time and 
is therefore probably of the nearest swarm. The quickest 
time that bees will make even when you are close to them 
is about five minutes. A bee Avill go a mile in from 
fifteen to tAventy minutes, according to how hard the wind 
blows and how far she has to craAvl to get in to Avhere 
she deposits her honey. I never had bees work in less 
than four minutes, and they were fool bees that Avere hung 
up on the outside of a limb. 
If the bees all go in the same direction you have but 
one thing now to decide, viz., whether they are tame bees 
or not. To determine this, you have tAVO points to go 
on, namely, the direction they take and the time they 
are gone. 
But if you have two or more times you have additional 
points, some of v^fhich are as to which line is the most: 
likely to be Avild, which line leads through the best 
country to folloAV them through, Avhich Avorks the quickest, 
etc. When j'ou have decided on which line to follow and 
have watched them go several times so that you are sure 
of the direction, catch the marked bees that you know^ 
go on that line by carefully and quickly setting your 
catcher box over the honey box while the bees are filling 
up, draw the slides and let them into the Upper part. After 
having caught all the bees going in the right direction, 
catch a fcAV fresh bees and move forAvard as far as yoti 
can, and be sure you are keeping nearly on the line. 
Set up your box and proceed as before. If the coun- 
try you have to go through is open, you can gain up quite-- 
fast, but if it is through woods it is slower work. If the. 
piece of Avoods is small and you judge by the length of 
time the bees are gone that they go through, go around 
or through the piece to the opposite side, get as near on 
the line as possible (here is Avhere a pocket compass 
comes in handy), and let the bee go from there. If yon 
think the bees do not go through the wood, get a cross 
line and that will very soon tell you whether they do or 
not. To do this it is better to catch new bees, if possible, 
as the old ones if they are taken so far directly off the 
line may not come back. Then go to a point as nearly 
at right angles to the line you have been following and as 
near opposite the point on that line as you shoukl judge 
they Avould have time to go to, as you can set up your 
box and let the bees go from there. Wherever this ncAv 
line crosses the old, there will your bees be. If the piec( 
of Avoods is large and the time record tells you the bees are 
quite a distance from the edge of the woods, you have got 
more of a job on your hands. Try and find some open 
place in the woods on as high land and as near the line a;, 
possible (here the compass helps again), let your bee;; 
go from there. If the Avoods are thick and you cannot 
find any such place, I Rave a great many times climbed 
a small tree on top of a ridge or knoll and let the bees go 
from there. 
If the bees are working well, when you get near enough 
so that they will work in eight or ten minutes, they aviII 
commence to gain up. That is, the other bees in the 
swarm will find out that the bees you have working are 
bringing in honey and Avill folloAV them back along the 
line till- they find it, then they Avill go to Avork too, so that 
Avhen you get close to the tree the Avoods will be full of 
bees looking for the honey. This is not ahvays the case, 
however. Sometimes when you get quite close to a swarm 
they will not cotne back to you at all, thus leaving you 
in the lurch. I have had this happen to me several times 
in my experience, and it is considered a good sign, as the 
bees that do this generally have a large quantity of 
honey. As a general rule the less honey a .SAvarm has 
the more eager they are to work, and vice versa. 
If you get caiight in this way, all you can do is to keep 
as near on the line as you can and go ahead, looking over 
all the likely trees until you find the right one. 
When you get near enough so that your bees vpork in 
five or six minutes, you ought to be able to find the tree 
by going along the line and looking carefully over all the' 
trees in range. Often it takes some little time to find 
them, especially if they go into the tree high up. but 
patience and perseverence will generally disclose them to 
you. Sometimes a pair of binoculars are a great help to 
you in seeing the bees if high up in the tree. 
There are one or two things I have noticed that may 
'help you in finding a bee tree. One is that you Avill nearly 
always find them near the border of the Avoods or .some 
open place in the woods; another is you will nearly al- 
ways find them near the water. In taking up a, tree we 
save both bees and honey. 
