Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-24
WHOLE NO. II. .s31.

.woald be twenty hours in ice water portar.
lns the boat IN and out and moving spT-
plies.
Oar next piece of hard work was cross
ing sulphur Bay-so- called because of the
sulphur springs around it. When we
started across ii there was no sign of ice.
out before We had started one quarter ofsn
nour strong gale sprang up from the
nortn ana we look refuge behind rock.
W nile mere two blocks Of ice caught orr
ooai and kept us there Tor tw, ntv-eieht
days. made bridge across the openings
anc soi to lsnd, but could not find any
game. On July 9th the ice broke and /
determined 10 cross, ice or no ice. The In
dams were terribly frightened. and lay
down IN the boat useless. Billy and I
holsted the sail, made out of tarpaulin,
and at o'clock one evening we made a
start and though ismmed and Knocked
about, we went into the lake and reached
Hay river the next dav. Here found fbs
Hudson Bay Companys 5 steamer that wss
pat on last year for the first time TO run
freight up the Mckenzie river.
While on the Hay river saw the most
beautiful waterfall III the world Ii IS
horseshoe shaped, and has a sheer fall OF
200 feet, and step with another fall above
II. II Is about one and half miles wide
at the top and one and three-fourth miles
wide at the bottom. 1t is far more beauti-
iul than Niagara, although there is not the
same weight Of water. Who can picture
it, as great block after block of ice and ice.
berg after iceberg come whirling over and
down into the abyss below?
went 10 Peel river in the steamer and
there l got boat and eight natives and
started for the Arctic ocean.
1t was with the greatest difficulty that
| could get the Indians TO go with me a.
they were terribly afraid of the Esauimsux,
who up there are called Huskeys. These
Huskeys seem to be race of Esquimaux
all by themselves. Instead OF being small
OF stature and dark as at Liverpool bay and
Cape Bathurst, they are big and tall, some
of them taller than myself, and stand 6
feet
When We arrived in their part of the
country my Interpreter advised me not 10
so among them, as Sir John Robinson and
all other travellers had made circuits 10
escape them. | was determined. so | went.
They made half-circle as | advanced and
all held long knives in their hands about
six inches long. One fellow walked right
up 10 me and tried to stick me, but hit
him in the nose with my fist and he went
down like a ninepin. He said afterwsrd
be wanted to see if was made the same in
side as they were
Against the advice of my Interpreter
Went into their chasm snow house, or place
where ell public meetings are held, and sat
down. The natives told my Interpreter
that they heard all white men were brave
and that they were going to try me. The
braves formed in line before me as sat
on box, and each, drawing his knife, with
a frighttul war whoop, rushed at me with
their knives ready TO strike They stopped
RIGHT q my tpef and fl,a I.a.lo-
vancing, put his ear over my heart to hear
how 1t was beating. l didn't take the
slightest notice, but asked them to show
me how they danced This they did, but
would stop right in the middle and make
rush at ME with their knives. The chief
was so surprised at what he called nv
courage that he gave me present of his
state clothes | went into their little snow
houses and made myself at home with
them. was the first white man who had
ever visited them in their village
That night as | was going home a fell
low was watching for me. He had killed
three or four men and had vowed TO kill
me. He was hiding behind an omaha "a
boat and as l passed jumped out at me
with knife. | Strengthened out my right
arm and he went down. He then skulked
into his house and l went after him.
offered him some tobacco, but instead of
taking il he rushed at nee asain with knife
uplfted. l struck him again and knocked
him into corner dazed The other natives
then rushed in, and when they saw their
bad man lying in a corner quite stupid they
could not understand it. They took his
knife from him and gave it TO me, but rs
thought this was meant as an act of sub
mission gave II back to him again. After
this l had no more trouble and they
treated me with the greatest kindness
When l left they begged me to come back
and see them again. | only went owing 70
the prayers OF the Hudson Bay men, who
were afraid of their lives.
After leaving we went round Banks
Land on to the edge of Melville Island
and then back to the Mckenzie, where i
expected letters and fresh clothes. The
steamer, however, had left all those things
LOU miles south, and had gone back for
them, so | had to 90 on without them.
determined to walk 10 the Yukon
across the mountains, a distance of eighty
miles. Each of my men carried forty
pounds OF provisions, and | carried fiftv
pounds. | got a boat on the Porcupine
river and descended into Alaska. | hoped
TO catch the revenue cutter about the middle
OF October at 81. Michaels, but expected
difficulties on the way, as the Indians had
Killed two miners a short time before. l
descended the Ajnko, but as the ice began
to set when 1,200 miles on NV Journey
when near the Russian Mission / had to
stop there. The question was, could | get
any further the missionaries said could
not get as far as katmai, which is lust the
other side OF Kodiak, and told me all kinds
OF stories to deter me- but | was deter
mined. got dogs and sleds and started.
aHer many dlfhcnltles | arrived at Kstmai
about the 10th of February.
"DurlnC the iournav ua a,oourto-o5
many difficulties, and it was bitterly cold
weather. The coldest it was was GO below
zero. 1t was worst after walking and run
ming all DAY TO have to lie in the snow 10
sleep. There was no wood to warm ones
clothes, and we had the greatest difficulty
IN crossing the mountains. People said it
was impossible-that twelve men had died
trying. | started with nine sleds and
sixty-nine dogs. At the foot of the mount
ANS the Indians refused to cross, and tried
to desert in the night, bat l took one by
the neck and made him go before and I
walked after him. | took all their rifles
and snowshoes. put them in nv sled and
sat on 1t. AT 3 o'clock in the morning.
when they got up to abandon me in the
dark, they were surprised TO find me before
them. started at 5 clock that morning
in the dark, and had to cross ranges the
highest point of whose pass was $500 feet.
The cold was intense and terrible storms
would come up at times.
When l got across had only twenty
nine dogs left-all the others had frozen 10
death. There were seven Indians missing
and five sleds. After waiting two days /
set out TO look for the missing rnen, and
found them in terrible condition. All the
dogs We're dead. | brought them down
safe and sound, they only being frozen
about the hands and feet ] waited at
Katmoi until Saturday, the 18th of March,
when the Alaska Company sent the Lettie
Tor me Then waited for the Bertha, on
which | have just arrived"
In conclusion, Lord Lonsdale said he did
not think anything would ever be made
out of the Yukon mines There was gold.
but only in small quantities. The miners
we're suffering greatly.