The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-11-08
ON MOUNT ST. ELLIS
Where Giant Bears Browse !,
the Strawberry Pastures
FLOWER BEDS ON THE -.
Glaciers Open Their Mouths to s-
Explorers, and Avalanehes Ch...
Them-What Russell sav

/ WAsHISeroS CRY, Nov 2.-ISpecisl G..
respondence.l - Strawberries and :.
squitoes seem to be equally plentifuI;,.s
neighborhood Of Mount 81. Elias s,a. 'ss
ing to the testimony Of Professor Is-..S $50
Russell, who has just returned N n.
ington City from that region Of ct. r,.Isl
and snow IN Alaska. where the -
| peak IN North America rises 70 an al,;,-s''
/ OF 1900 feet from the midst Of -.
1000 square miles in area and a. bio :. n
those OF the Alps put together.
! Along the edge Of the glacier all
from Icy bay 10 Takutat bay thers !.
tends a strip Of green coast which !. -
I cred with luXuriant vegetation g..
berry vines cover the ground TOR m;lss -.
the verdant fields are REDEEMED a. =. l
! the eye can reach with luscious f-,;.
which compares favorably in point Of =,
1 and flavor with the finest grown in ..-
| perate ATTITUDES. There are huckleba,-;s.
too, and salmon berries of gian, -
| measuring nearly two inches in diams..s
! All the Iowlands are carpeted With -
| lets, buttercups, yellow monkey aovs.
! and other wild blossoms. Here and IT,
| in the midst Of the vast ice felds s,s y.
loveliest gardens watered By the msItr.
| snow.
There are plenty Of grizzly bearsipa.
! vicinity OF Mount St. Elias. but Prof.,s,.
Russell did not find them very dangers.
| He says that his encounters with tb.~
reminded him Of killing pigs. Or bnx,
/ and black bears he saw and sbot -.
many. The expedition met with enough
| perlls, however, TO satisfy the most al.
venturous geographical explorers. Nearly
all OF the climbing had to be done m
steep walls of ice ant snow by cuttins
steps. At almost any time slip wouId
have precipItated the party down the
frozen preclpices thousands of feet. On ona
occasion they were descending. when tbev
found that an avalanche had carried awav
the steps which they had made in going
up. The impromptu staircase was de-
stroyed for 800 feet, and they had TO lower
a man by rope 20 chop ont another
there being no other way Of getting down.
SUCH accidents as this were not uneom.
mon. Avalanches were continually fall.
ing. rushing down the slopes with the
speed OF railway trains and with roar
ike thunder that could be heard twenty
miles away.
One night about II O'Clock the party was
passing over bad place in the Agassiz
glacier. Two men were in the lead, draw
ing sled. Suddenly they disappeared
from sight, having fallen into crevasse or
assure IN the ice. Luckily they were
caught upon projecting ledge
at the depth of about twenty
feet, else they would have never
been seen again. They were hauled
out with ropes. The next day, in
the same neigh borhood, Professor Russell
CHANGED TO look behind him and saw that
the Ice field over which be had Just passed
was gone, leaving an enormous hole Of
unknown depth. At another time one Of
his men tumbled into a creyasse, and was
only saved Sy the pack fastened to bis
shoulders, which interrupted his progress
through twist in the frozen tunnel that
had yawned for him.
The Agassiz glacier is one of four great
glaciers which, together with about q
thousand small ones, flow out from the
mountains at the north to the mighty
Malaspina glacier, pouring their streams
Of ice continually into this vast frozen sea.
This glacier of Malaspina, from 1900 to
1000 feet thick, is interesting not merely
because of its enormous size. but also
by reason of the fact that it is
the only one now in existence of the
same type as the glacier which
formerly covered all of this continent as
far south as Philadelphia and ST. Louis,
leaving traces that are visible 10 this day
IN scratches on the rocks.
Professor Russell tells q remarkable
story of meeting that he had with two
bears. He was returning 10 camp over
rather steep slope Of glacier, and found
that the quickest and easiest way to make
the journey was by sliding. Says he:
Using nv alpenstock as brake de-
scended swiftly and without difficulty for
several hundred feet, my dogs bounding
along beside me. Suddenly, upon looking
up, | was startled TO see two huge brown
bears not more than l50 yards away. Had
my slide been continued a few seconds
more | should have been in exceedingly
unpleasant company. | was unarmed and
entirely unprepared for conflict with
pair of the most savage animals found IN
that country. They were not at al dis
turbed by my presence, and, IN spite Of
nv shouts. which ! thought would
make them travel of, one of them
came leisurelv toward me. His strides
over the snow revealed q strength and
activity commanding admiration despite
the decidedly uncomfortable feeling
awakened by his proximity and eviden.
curiosity. Later in the season measured
the tracks OF an animal of the same spec
les. made while walking over soft, level
surface and found each impression 10
measure 9xt7 inches, and the stride TO
reach sixty-four inches. So Tar as nave
been able 20 learn, this is the largest bear
track that has been reported. Realizing
nv danger | continued my snowsilde, oas
n different direction and with acceIer-
ated speed. The upper limit OF the dense
thicket clothing the slope of the mountain
was soon reached and my unwelcome COM
panions were lost TO sight"
Where the land in that region - bare Oh
ice vegetation attains an almost tropical
luxurIance, and the Arctic lungies are
well nigh impossible 10 the explorer. Vns
of the chief obstacles encountered IA
threading them is the Devils cluo'
which grows 70 q height Of ten or nitee1
feet, its stems running along the gronna
for some distance and then turning up
ward. Every part OF its surface, even y
the RIBS of the leaves, is thickly set Win
spines, which intiict painful wounds, ana,
breaking off in the tesh, cause festerms
sores.
In the Lucia glacier occurs an interest
ing feature, in the shape of a glacial rvsf
which comes out from q mountain
through an archway of ice. flows for MIS-
and half in plain view and then is lost %
sight in another tunnel. Where the stream
emergss finally Is unknown. No explorer
has as yet been bold enough TO enter tns
tunnel and drift through, after the fashion
of Allan Quartermain and UmslOpogssS
The greatest risk in such an undertaking
would be from falling blocks of ice. a.
the mouth Of the tunnel there are alWsys
confused noises and rhythmic vibrationst 2
be heard from the dark recesses within. Ins
air is filled with pulsations like deep or
gan notes, and it requires little imagins
ton to transform these strange sounu