r 
'he Harriman Alaska Expedition* 
IV.— Prince William Sound, 
{hum Yakutat Baj' the ship sailed for Prince William 
und. To reach this body of water it was necessary to 
1 nearly due west im til Middletown Island had been 
ssed, and then turning sharply northward, to lay a 
urse direct for Orca, the only settlement near this 
and. It would have been interesting to follow the coast 
)und, instead of going out to sea, but the waters have 
ircely been surveyed at all, and are known to be in- 
rupted by many uncharted reefs and rocks. So it was 
It on June 23 the Elder's prow was turned westward 
d we pushed out into the open sea. There was but little 
lid. but fog hung over the water, and the land soon 
appeared. There was some motion to the ship from 
)und swell, but nothing like a sea. The next morn- 
liglit fogs still hung over the water. About 11 o'clock 
ddletown Island was sighted, a low-lying mass, two or 
ee miles long. No doubt this is a great breeding place 
■ sea fowl, for in the water near it were seen many 
:ks of ducks, cormorants, horned pulfins and murres. 
e ship passed at some distance from the island and did 
: stop. About noon the fog cleared, and the day gradu- 
y became beautifully fair. A little later land appeared 
rer twei 
ovef i|0 feet Ff om oiie 
aeveti glaciers ate m sight" 
The Indians on Copper River are known as Stick In- 
dians. Two years ago they were said to number about 
175 or 200 scattered along the river for 200 miles above its 
mouth, but starvation and disease have terribly reduced 
their numbers within the past two years, and there are 
how said to be not more than thirty-five Indians in the 
district. 
Black bears, wolverines and beaver are said to be com- 
mon along Copper River, and there are a few goats. 
About noon of June 25 we sailed from Orca for Colum- 
bia Fiord, in Prince William Sound, and here found the 
largest glacier yet seen at close quarters. It has a front 
of perhaps two and a half miles, and a height of from 
250 to 300 feet, and a great depth running back to ab- 
solutely white and jagged mountains many miles away. 
The front of the glacier is constantly breaking off with 
tremendous reports, and with vast splashings of the water, 
into which the enormous ice masses are continually fall- 
ing. This glacier appears to be considerably larger than 
the Muir Glacier. Its face is very white, showing 
much less blue than the Muir, and looking like white 
marble and compacted snow rather than like hard blue 
ice. When it breaks off it is apparently not in great 
masses holding together, but when a huge piece falls it 
seems at once to break up into small pieces, so that it 
little boatj Ibaidaf 
prince: WILLIAMS SOUND, ALASKA 
« I 2 J t s 10 wt.es 
HARRIMAN FIORD AND GLACIER. 
From the National Geographic Magazine. 
the northeast, and before very long we entered Prince 
lliam Sound. Beyond it, eighty miles distant to the 
th, high, snow-covered mountains were seen, while the 
:rer shores of the island, along which we were passing, 
re beautifully green, rising to snows above. The tim- 
line seemed low— 1,200 to 1,500 feet— and the forest 
)wing on the slopes was chiefly of heavy spruces. These 
sonietiraes very large, some near Orca, almost at 
her Hue, measuring 6 feet in diameter, and being from 
to 175 feet in height. The open spaces in the spruce 
ests- are still clad with alders and devil's club, and 
>ve timber line the mountains are covered with stiinted 
lows, 30 that even after the fore.st is passed, the 
nbing is difficult. 
Nt landed at Orca, a post-office and half-dozen houses, 
ose reason for existence is found in the salmon can- 
■j which is^ run by the Pacific Steam Whaling Com- 
ly. Orca is also a landing place for vessels from 
north, and being near the mouth of Copper River, it 
hered a few discouraged miners who had come down 
in that much-lauded but barren district. The men 
d pathetic tales of cold, hunger, scurvy, and, above 
of no gold. All united in blaming their sufferings 
the transportation companies, who had advertised 
pper River as a great mining country, and as being so 
5tly accessible. They said that on Copper River are 
4jy glaciers, and of vast size. Two especially large 
es are known as the Miles and Stiles. Both come 
wn to the river and break off into it. One of them has 
ront of two and a half miles, and an estimated height of 
looks almost like an avalanche, or a great torrent of 
falling water streaming down over the glacier's front. It 
results from this that there are no great bergs floating 
about in the water. A considerable stream flows out from 
under the glacier, staining with its muddy current the 
western waters of the bay, which are usually clear blue, 
as seen; yet as the steamer passes along, the propel- 
ler stirs up muddy water from beneath, showing that the 
clearer water is lighter than that which holds the mud in 
suspension and floats on top of it. The ship steered quil'? 
near the glacier's front, the sounding line, which wa 1 
continually cast, showing no bottom at fifteen fathoms 
As this glacier was unknown and unnamed, a boat con- 
taining two geologists, a photographer and two others, 
landed here to examine it. It was named by the expedi- 
tion Columbia Glacier. 
From this point the vessel sailed to Gladhough Bay 
just south of Valdes Inlet, from which it is separated b3 
a moimtainous neck of land. Here there is a copper mint 
just at the water's edge, and besides the mining expert 
who landed, a party of collectors went ashore and made 
camp at the mouth of the little stream. Some of the 
botanists also went ashore, and had much enjoj'ment in 
studjang the plants, which were thickly scattered over a 
bog close to the shore. The bird men and mammal men 
were the only ones who spent the night on shore. When 
the others reached the ship at 10 or 11 o'clock, they found 
hovering about it an Aleut, paddling a bidarka, the first 
that they had seen. This vessel is the same that is 
called on the Atlantic coast, kayak. Here -it' is called 
baidarka, which means In Russiaii 
being a boat. 
One Busby, who lives here, states that on Copper 
Mwmtam, northeast of Gladhough Bay, therfe are a ffc\* 
white goats. This is a westerly, if not the most westerly, 
record for this species. 
During the night the vessel sailed for Port Wells, and 
before breakfast next morning was at anchor in tllis 
inlet; m sight of ten or twelve glaciers. The largest one, 
at the head of the arm, is of great size ; while on the west 
side of the arm, on mountains 2,500 or 3,000 feet high, are 
a series of glaciers in all stages of beginning, increase and 
decadence. There are simple snow banks; larger snow 
banks which end m small masses of ice which is well 
compacted ; other ice masses that are larger and have 
begun to move; others still larger, moving and sending 
out glacial streams; those which are moving and have 
built up characteristic moraines; one or two which have 
ceased to move, and are retreating; and finally, several 
that come down the mountains to tide wat«r, and there 
break off in small bergs. 
Here several parties left the ship, the geographers to 
measure some glaciers, others to shoot birds, and others, 
still, to paint, sketch and for other purposes. During 
the morning the ship watered. This was done in prirnitive 
fashion, by towing one of the boats to shoref and filling 
It with water from a mountain brook that rushed down 
the cliff into salt water. The boat was then towed back 
to the ship and the fresh water pumped out. The ice 
boxes were also filled, by lifting on board in a great net, 
small bergs weighing from 500 pounds upward. These 
were hoisted on deck and chopped into cakes small enough 
to be handled. 
^ It was late in the afternoon when all the boats got back 
and all hands had interesting things to report. The bird 
men had secured some interesting specimens; among 
them a pme grosbeak, of the Kadiak form, black oyster- 
catchers, wandering tatlers, short-billed gulls and eggs 
and other things. The geographer had done his survey- 
ing, but the ship m steaming up and down the inlet had 
collided with a berg and broken off one of the blades of 
Its. propeller. 
It was just before dinner that we started down Port 
WeJls and ran around a pdint on the south side of wliich 
was an Aleut village. We turned into an unnamed arm 
toward the' west and steamed toward the great glacier at 
Its. head,, which is high and wide and runs back well into 
the mountains. As we drew nearer, but not until we had 
come within two or three miles of the front of the glacier 
It became evident that there was an opening in the south 
side ot the inlet, a drainage channel of some sort. At 
first It was thought that another glacier came down here 
but soon It appeared that it was open water, an arm of the 
inlet m fact with glaciers flowing down the mountains 
mto It on- either side. As we approached it, new glaciers 
S ^" ' ^ half-dozen were in 
The ship continued to move forward very slowly feel- 
"^f^'- ^"""^ ^^.^^^^ advanced so far that we 
l n fif". ''^ the bay, It became evident that it was 
twelve or fifteen miles long, that there was a superb 
glacier at its head, and that there were several others on 
both sides, runmng down almost or quite to the sea level, 
borne of these glaciers are like broad, gently sloping 
rivers, with many tributaries flowing down from faf 
Daclc in the mountains; others on steeper slopes are Tike 
cascades_arrd waterfalls coming down over precipices: 
Avhile others still are no more than huge fragments of 
mounta"S"^ "^^'"^ ledges of the 
On the way up the rfiain inlet. +oward the glacier at its 
head, which seemed then to bar our progress, there was 
seenaschoolot four or five killer whales (Or.a) They rote 
hen th/'P l^'^'^'^'i^'u^^^ appearing firsf. and 
then the shoulders and back. One or more of these 
whales had a white patch on the back, in front of the fin. 
When not more than half a mile fr6m the glacier, at 
«nH °!i^' "'^^^ '"^^^' ^'^^sel turned vfry slowly 
K^f^^ '^^^^ toward the head of the new 
and hitherto unknown arm. Progress was' very slow 
Poslbnitv of ;n'f ^"^^T" '^S^^'^' there'^wS a 
possibility oi' rocks or bars, which might be dangerous 
The water, however, was deep, and we kept on until pS 
fhf intf "'r^r^ S^^^'^"- f^'^^t, -at the hid of 
SLThx r.u was now well advanced. Dark 
eiW efect of t' wu ^^^^'^ '? the.sinister and threat- 
ening ettect of the hills on either side. From meltine 
do7n S ^<^e masses great waterfalls came t«3 n| 
down the steep mountains. The fiord was narrow--^ 
of the slite Sh.^"'V*^i°^.-^^' mountain tops, the black , 
01 the slate rocks which term the r mass, and the Dale 
green water, made a picture which was curiously wekd 
^aT'S^ '''T'fu ^ ^^^ had ev-ertfo^en: 
mvster 00.4,. Ji, 1^^' w^^^ ^" waters as 
^r^i c y "^^^^ unknown. 
Ihe fiord and the great glacier at its head were named ■ 
Harnman Fiord and Harriman Glacier — 
Plal this^ inlet ''^n f^^ went ashore to measure and 
pidt tnis mJet and the glaciers, and the shin turnpd 
about to retrirn to Gladhough Baj' for the party left « ere ' 
and then o Orca, where the blade of the propeller S 
Port Wells, was to be replaced ' 
R.J'^T^p''^^™™'"^ fl""*^ at anchor in Gladhough 
Bay Here the party of bird collectors came on board and 
related to us their adventures. Thev had caS' that 
Sunday mght just above high water mark, but on the 
J^^'f^l^""^ K^""^' '''^''^ mosquitoes woX be 
less troublesome than among the grass. Tents were 
pitched about 10 o'clock and almost iramediatelv the ' 
cam^ers went to bed^ Just about this time the tfde began 
u- n-.-i' '^^Ppened that on this very night rame the 
highest tide ot the month, and during the nilht the water 
iTtL-^'T '^V"''- ^'^^ obliged f hem Kse to take 
Vtir rln '."^ '^'■gher ground 
1 heir collections were not very large. Many niants 
were gathered, but only a few birds and mammals ^ ThJ 
SkkaXe."'' birds, were chiSy of the 
T^'- '■^^'^^^'^ that night, and the ship was put on 
the beach in order that the lost blade of the proDelle^ 
might be replaced. propeller 
The next day the ship was still aground, as the tide nf 
the night before did not fall low enough to enable the 
