The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-01
Letter in Chicago Times.

friendly demonstrations were not needed
Crossing the Miles glacier and its
companion glaciers, the largest in the
world south of the Arctic circle, Allen paused to
look back upon the grand spectacle which they
presented. Cleaning fields of ice stretched
far up the crystalline heights and flashed brill
iantly in the steady rays of the midnight sun;
blood-red rocks and crags jutted out from the
vistas Of blue. bright ice-like gems of fire or
stars set in cloudless sky, brought the effects
of relief and contrast to the powerful and pict-
uresque scene The most considerable difficulty
which Lieutenant Alien had to encounter was
the scarcity of food The river was navigable,
as its rocky bed pitched to the sea with fall of
twelve feet to the mile. The country was too
rough to employ dogs. and Indians could not be
used because they would in few days consume
moe than they could carry Each man was
compelled to make pack and carry it on his
back. One man can carry rations for fifteen days
only, SO that in a little more than two weeks the
party was provisionless. The men carried guns,
blankets and ammunition. At night they were
forced to sleep on the snow IN wet garments
which were often frozen to them. "We had,
said Lieutenant Allen last night, ito rely upon
the country for our food. and a more bleak and
desolate country you never saw. 1t was snow
clad, cold, and devoid Of life warmth or color.
For weeks the only living things we saw were
rabbits. and they were powerfully scarce So
every particle Of the rabbits except the hair.
After we had been gone month from the coast,
we began to suffer greatly from hunger. The
uppermost thought in the minds of every man,
as he toiled along in the intense silence of that
snowbound country was how to fill his stomach.
and stop the fearful gnawing sensation which we
all felt under the belt. We did not care what
we ate. Anything would do. l tell you that
twenty days of starvation will upset all of ones
superfne ideas about food and diet / saw my
men wasting away to mere skeletons, and /
knew that I must be in the condition they
were in, for we shared alike in everything.
can understand why Greedy and his men ate
human flesh to allay their sufferings, and it has
not been long since saw the time would have
consented to casting lots to decide which of us
should die for the others, had not food been OBJ
tanned within twelve hours. You may spin fine
theories and moralze in your comfortable homes
by the side Of the well-filled tables but 90 north
and starve, freeze, and suffer for six months,
until You are reduced to a miserable, hollow
eyed skeleton, and You shall learn that natures
most imperative law 10 self preservation"
From the source of the Copper river, which is
450 miles from the mouth, Lieutenant Aliens
party crossed the Alaska mountains to the head
waters Of the Tanana river. which Lieutenant
Schwatka declared to be the largest unexplored
stream in the world 'It was my fortune to ex-
plore it," said Lieutenant Allen. eve vert
moved at the rate Of twelve miles an hour and
the course was very irregular. We had no
guide, no chart, so the voyage was one of ever
present peril. The intense strain which we were
under was extremely painful We could not re-
lax a moment while we were on the water and
we had q hundred narrow escapes from speedy
death.
Zone day we were moving quietly along on q
part of the river where it broadened out into a
lake. AS we approached the outlet of the lake
and narrow walls of rock The boat began to
move faster as we approached this outlet and
we soon darted into it with o bound. The wa
tor rushed through the rocky passage with a con-
tinual roar, and we were borne on with frightful
rapidity The channel few hundred feet
ahead Of us took sharp turn to the left. and we
could not see beyond the curve AS we swept
around it, every man struggling to keep our lit
tie craft in the channel, we saw that we were in
broad pool, but as we looked again we saw
break in the smooth sheet of water. and, going
forwar,. saw it take up its course again seventy
feet below us. We. were gliding down to that
awful precipice with frightful rapidity. We
could not turn the boat to the left or the right.
We were not four hundred feet from the falls
when we discovered it. There was nothing to
be done. We worked our paddles mechanically,
and rushed down to death in a moment
1.-THE roar Of the falls filed our ears, and
fine white mist enveloped as like cold shroud
We closed our eyes; the canoe darted forward,
"a.
prov overhanging the edge of the falls. We
looked and saw that our boat was firmly wedged
between the sharp edges of two partiallysub
merged rocks. We were saved but it took US
the remainder of the day to work our way over
the projecting rocks to the bank. We went
down the Tanana to it's junction with the Yukon
river; thence to the coast We set out from
SitKa in February, we'll, strong and hopeful; we
came back in nine months shattered, wasted aud
i'll My men suffered terribly from scurvy For
several months we had no vegetables The men
became hopeless toward the last of the trip.
Their limbs were swollen twice their normal size
and ugly black blotches came out on their faces,
gums and bodies am still bearing scars from
scurvy on my person."
what were your experiences with the ma
tives2s was asked.
Our relations were on the whole of peace
full character. The country through which we
passed was very lightly inhabited. The natives
live in little villages, twenty to fifty to village
Many OF them had never seen white man till we
came among them. They are miserably poor
and are altogether beastly in their customs and
ideas. Slavery of the most degrading type pre-
walls among them and they have no word which
means wife. The females are simply women
The chief of the village is absolute, and has his
position by reason of bis superior wealth or skill
in hunting The chief is generally one who is
able to own bigger kettle than the others The
chief aim of existence with the natives is TO get
enough food to keep them in the long winter |
So, many of them starve, and most of them suf |
fer for want of food. The children or large
per cent of them, die for lack of sufficient nour-
ishment. and the women can scarcely endure the |
hard life. They are greatly outnumbered by the |
men. The women are the property of the chief,
who can turn them over to such of his |
followers as he chooses. Sacred relations of |
families are unknown, and incest and other foul |
crimes are freely committed. The women are |
not quite common property, and iIlegitimate |
children are disposed of by the mothers who |
fill their mouths with ashes and toss them out |
into the snow to die
I'm one village which visited there were if |
teen bucks, and eleven of them were deaf mutes. |
This unhappy condition OF affairs was due to |
continual close and criminal intermarriage |
There Is o promising field for missionary work |
along my route through the interior Of Alaska