16 THE AUDUBON BU DLL heise 
methods of fishing and trapping before the coming of white men in numbers, 
illustrating his talk with small operating models which he explained in 
detail. Our train brought us back to Skagway in time to do some shopping 
for souvenirs of the Far North, and we headed south on our return cruise. 
We arrived at Juneau very early in the morning and took a bus trip to 
Mendenhall Glacier before breakfast. The route carried us through a farm- 
ing section that we had not been able to visualize before and gave a much 
better impression of the country than we had received at other stops. We 
were taken almost to the foot of a glacier two miles wide, the landmarks 
showing a gradual recession over a term of years. This was by far the best 
idea of a glacier we obtained from the hundred or so that we saw. On the 
return we stopped at a small mountain stream to watch a salmon run with 
perhaps a hundred of the fish in sight at one time. They were so thick and 
moving so sluggishly against the current that one of our party simply 
reached down from the bank and picked one out by the gills. It was about 
two feet long, and after he had been photographed with his “catch” it was 
returned to the river. The trip back to Seattle was without special incident. 
During all this time we were being continually puzzled by the strange 
birds we were seeing. As usual, gulls were always following and we finally 
sorted them out into herring, glaucous-winged, short-billed, Bonaparte’s, 
and California gulls. The pigeon guillemot was quite common with the 
white spot in his wing so prominent. Two that gave us much trouble were 
the California murre and the petrels that skimmed just over the waves in 
flocks of from four or five to fifty or more. Fish crows were seen along the 
shores in the ports and great blue herons in various places. On Lake 
Bennett we spotted a pair of loons. From the deck we watched salmon 
jumping, a school of porpoises followed the ship for awhile, and several 
blackfish (a small whale) were seen at a little distance, spouting and 
showing themselves as they rolled along. 
The scenery on this thousand-odd miles between Seattle and Skagway 
is simply indescribable. Seldom were we out of sight of snow-capped 
mountains which frequently developed into glaciers, and from each snow 
field came a mountain stream with waterfalls that must have been hundreds 
of feet high. In the coves or inlets nestled small settlements with either a 
lumber mill or a cannery, and the fishermen were legion, so that we were 
practically never out of sight of life in some form. 
In Seattle we reclaimed our car and started the long jaunt homeward. 
Portland, Oregon, the Rose City, held us for a day. The Columbia River 
Highway, called one of the world’s most beautiful drives, was taken at a 
leisurely pace. Beautiful Multnomah Falls required a short stop, but the 
call of “home” was strong and the high point of 8,835 feet between Laramie 
and Cheyenne made but little impression. The prairies of Nebraska and 
Iowa were almost a welcome sight, and when the Mississippi came into view 
we felt that the journey was ended. Just two more birds did we pick up on 
the way, a long-billed marsh wren and a white-breasted nuthatch. Illinois 
looked good again after the ups and downs of several thousand miles of 
mountain roads, and, after all, it was what we were looking for—HOME. 
Chicago, Illinois 
