Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-14
WAY OUT IN ALASKA.
A TENOERFOoT's ACCOUNT OF HIS
 FIRST TRIP PROSPECTING.

! Roseate Romance of Boundless Wealth
 and Magnificent Scenery-Feasted by a ! Hospitable Indian-His Claim to the E Country-A Bad Indian and Family
 On the morning of July we left Douglas ! Clty on the favorite and fast sailing canoe ' Hlak, Capt. Jim (both well and favorably
 kno"n ln Alaskan waters), for prospecting trip in Lynn canal. As the day was fine and
 the wind fair, the sail through Gastineaux, Stephens passage and Lynn canal was de ! hghnul, as each one is dotted with little
 Islands, rising from the waters edge to a \ helght of a thousand feet or more whilst the ! mountains on the main land are thousands of ' leeO nlSh, With ragged peaks not unlike the ! teeth of an old fashioned cross cut saw. the spaces between the peaks being filled with
 glaciers and the peaks themselves are covered
 With perpetual snow. As am a chee-chaco
 ln the country Chats what my chums call ! mel, everything appeared wild and pictur- I esque, and as burst out in e1clamations of ! admiration every once in a while at ths l scenery, they would say, "Oh, shucksl that ! amt nothing; you had ought to see the ! scenery on the Yukon"
 ! The first night we camped on creek about I thlrty miles from Juneau, where our native ! Oo4u Us there was some quartz We stayed ! ana examined 1t, but did not think euouoh of
 1t to locate it. The next day we arrived at ! our natives illahee Jas he called it), situated ! ut Lynn Canal, and distant about forty l ---!iHS from Juneau. It is q beautiful bsy l nI4ed Wll3 many islands and teening with | hSh, from u" mighty whale to the tiny her. ! ring, "hl-" tho woods and mountains are full ! of galne-tho sn7s'l and harmless ground bo,- and the large and | 70 brown bear. The Indian who ecc, n2anied us is q fine | specimen of his Io ] feet in his bare feet, and weighs over POO pounds. He is Mormon in proclivities for l ne has number of wives, who appear we'll satlshed with him as their lord and master. ana could see no sign of the green eyed 1 monster. He is q bear hunter by occupation, ! an enthusiast in that line, and many were the stories :nd hair breadth escapes he re- l lated. can well believe he is good hunter IS his la1der is well stocked with fish, flesh md fowl; his wives were brown fat and greasy; his dogs, of which be had seven. were all in splendid condition, and that is more than can be said of most Indian does lie told us the pecuiiarit;es of eaun, and showed us the many wounds they had re- cslved in the encounters with bruin. He also showed us the hole where he buried the pears hearl, a.ul there must have been twenty skulls Ill 1t. l inquired of him why he did so, and he told me, Bear all same h.
 dian; by and by he go to the happy roofing ground"
 As a host he is prince, and right royalty
 he treated us to all kinds of game put up in Indian style. We had smoked porcupine put up i'll seal oil, artl ono of our crowd who pre- tends to be an epcure said it was delicious. there were seals fiippers cooked in grease, whlcn were not dissimilar to pigs feet;
 baked grouQd hog stuffed with mussels' hn c1, proved the flavor of the mussels, His bears
 head cheese was actually immense, and there were many more dishes too numerous to mention. lie showed many kinds of roots
 and herbs good for food and medicine, He
 also showed his canned haIibut, hooks and all
 of his dancing outfit. His headpear and
 mask cost him $50; it was wild and uncouth.
 and was carved out of yellow cedar. It had
 a large nose like parrots beak, eyes made
 or mother of pearl, mouth which contained
 the teeth of the only siwash doctor on Noah,s
 ark, ears made from the hide of the ichthyo-
 saurus, hair made from the sea lionls whis-
 kers. His hunting knife had some unioue
 carving on the handle that represented some
 Indian myth the bears were afraid of. Asa
 prospector, like many more following that
 vocation, do not consider him a success. as
 we examined many places that he showed us
 but could see nothing except white and bar.
 ren quartz.
 He had other places he wanted to show us.
 and We would have gone with him, but one
 of the party had an acute attack of inf1an-
 matory rheumatism The native told us the extent of his territory, and said he expected
 white men prospecting on his domain to pay
 nm S@oo per day for his knowledge and services. He said the land and water be-
 longed to his ancestors from time inlmemo- rlal. and he iO0uirnH if NrbS
 similar amount of land would allow eyerv-
 body on It. His argument brought forcibly
 to our mind the "bloated bondholdersn of
 America and the land question that is now agltatlng the British empire, where lords. dukes and earls arc holding hundreds of miles square that their ancestors acquired bv might, while hs claims his by right. The only difference I see between them and this Indian is that he will be glad to see you hunt or fish on his supposed country, while if you caught a trout in their wa CTS or shot q s-lHasant Ill their woods You would get about five year
 So we par 1 with feelings of regret, prom ising to return if tke Hoonah springs cursd our companion. We ran across two man looking for fresh tor. Just think of itIn my chums exclaimed, hunting for fresh water in Alaska! They must be pilgrims like yourself" The next camp we made was on large stream, where we found all Indian and his family on barren point, exposed to the elements from all points He had to carry water nearly half mile We won dered why he built on such q bleak place, but he was not communicative, so we con- cluded he hal committed some depreciation on his fellow Indians, and was continually on the lookout, as a foe could not approach him without being seen.
 The next day we travelled against head wind and a terrible rain, and after get ting drenched to the skin we camped. It would be very pleasant p-osplc.ing in Alaska were it not for the rain, head wind and tides, thick brush and musquitoes, and few other little inconveniences. Then, again, if was looIih2, through tourists eyes from .he deck of all ocean steamer, how romantic he majestic mountains and rivers, hundreds 'f miles of pine clad shores, and every now md then vast glacierl Then in smooth, narrow channels can be seen the mammoth whale, forging his way along nearly as fast IS the steamer, and every few feet can be cen the shining silvery sides of beautiful almon, disporting, or trying to escape from ome tinny monster who is trying to catch Jim for meal. I saw a seal gobble one in