134 
DALL. 
and dried in the open air by millions; they furnished food 
for man and dog, and when well cured were not unpalatable. 
Vegetable food was almost unknown, except in the form of 
berries. The green flower stalks of Rumex and Archangelica 
were occasionally eaten, and the dwellers by the sea some¬ 
times gathered dulse, but for practical purposes the diet was 
meat and fish. 
It was known that gold existed in the sands of the river, 
but the inexperienced fur traders looked for it in the bars 
of the main river and not in the side canons of small streams, 
where it has since been found in such abundance. The real 
riches of the Yukon valley then lay in its furs. In a 
garret at Fort Yukon the post trader showed me with par. 
donable pride 300 silver fox skins of the first quality. Beau¬ 
tiful in themselves and for what they represented—gold, 
praises, and promotion in the service—one might almost 
forget that some of the company’s servants at this post had 
not tasted bread or butter, sugar or tea for seven long years. 
The region of the delta was and is still remarkable as 
being the breeding place of myriads of water fowl, some of 
which are peculiar to the Alaskan region. Nearly one hun¬ 
dred species gather there, and one of them comes all the 
way from north Australia, by the coasts of China and Japan, 
to lay its eggs and rear its young in the Yukon delta. It 
is also remarkable for the abundance of the great king 
salmon, sometimes reaching a weight of 130 pounds, a fish 
less plentiful further up and which does not ascend to the 
headwaters of the river. 
All this immense territory has since been penetrated by 
traders and prospectors. Stern-wheel steamers have defied 
the current, and ply regularly on the river during the sea¬ 
son of open water. Mission schools are numerous and rein¬ 
deer scarce. The fur trade wanes, while many thousands of 
dollars in gold dust have been laboriously extracted from 
the gravels. The natives buy tea and flour and dress in 
woolen clothing. With the miners whisky has reached the 
wilderness, and the sound of the American language is 
