The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-30

and yvairus hide shoes, and we tool; turns OF
sleeping on tho slels as, we moved slowly south
r warq rocks M0 F s1pP pRe ia Sad nf teen days tho cold was
intensely severe. IL was away below zero gu oI
tho way back. We noted tho mercury AT 81
below zero ono day, and rs VIC lost our Their.
mometcr tho following day, wo were unap,c 20
tbs ,o ISpspSt Sor a Week thereafter was
35o below. Frost-bitten. hands, cheeks. ana
n ISst wv were MsrS SG SnSSIod with with S Ss; nSt FUR ssTmsnts.
Wo wore dark glasses ovory minute, OF day.
light, or We should have been blinded for life
S 81 ane we S'P Travelled Sef ali night long. The days
were SO short Mt that time that we had TO
weather OF tho winter which was fast advanc.
ing. We ran out OF food tho last two days, wo
F TstS S%sd o anp efforts to reach tho Yukon River.
When we struck that we saw familiar land.
marks We wero, twenty-five miies east OF
mutt camp on the bank Of the, Yukon. and we
were taken in and cared for by these savage
samaritans. A few days later We started ieis-
Mr.. SterrItt has made other Journeys Of hun.
afsss Oh WIFI WhiIo i" he was at Cape Prince Of
Wales no heard Of a large population OF friend
y En m,Ssr, w liyins e IN Nc sf ISto k sss%Sen t Sound nSli
and tho Yukon River, some. 800 miles to the
south. Mr.. Sterritt found that no white man
had. mt that time, at least, ever. penetrated that
region. and that 1t was somewhat Of q terra In
cognita to gcographers:.
In this unexpiorcd region" said Mr.. Steritt,
siam l ! %as IN aS the ioc sS E 'f of fho AZ re I'm Geo t sfs.
tion that strangers were well received by the
Indians whore ! had planned TO go. With two
largo sled, I set out for this unknown region on
March u, 1894. -.
200 Indians live there, and the only white man
was a German named Engelhardt. He was q
trader a, among the ,s India as and IL in all my eNps,
of far-off Alaska, this man Engelhardt was tho
most int ttI'f ting ! heard LIST S Sspite, n rsm thSt
ably well.rcud man in science, literature, and cs-
pecially German and French philosophy. He was
Went to sitka twenty odd years ago. with some
capital. looking for u place where he could, DO
alone with his books and theories and thoughts
He became. q trader with tho Indians. He set
tied at st. Michael, but there was too much civ
lived in tho town, for his comfort. So no got
some Indians to move him across the Norton
There no S| has been NJ ever since. Four or fivc
times n year he and some Indians transport az
Norton Sound. There the whalors buy the stuff
| and give provisions and clothing in trade. Then
EngelhRrdt and his savage companions go back
to tho log house with a mud floor at Unalakik.
This trader is ny no means q recluse or n mono
maniac, He is a Jolly, we'll balanced man. who
rude and rough in life. And he certainly finds
it in overwhelming abundance where no lives.
ios f cab:n. He i said he h atiu not seem a pale face
but mine in several months. He never hears
from tho world outside his own locality-has
not written q letter since he went there. and
seemed strange to find here amid snow banks
S Mho &c, could ID quote sno e' Homer Psi flia d in tho original iaaI
who delighted In Aristippus. Who knew the
the them most subtle phiIosophers with Familiarity,
and yet who did not know. until I told him; that
Emperor William j. of Germany was dead. and
that tho imperial grandson was on the throne.
Won Moitko were stlli living. That ended his
]I bessins IN Mot thG at %hen q t t toid Ff Sim t aS6as ihs
telephone. the phonograph. and tho wonders
6 q t sIp poW ' thorop We're re many many Inventions that tla
would interest him IL he ever went back to the
United nRSd States i,d aSSai nj 70 t,,s ur,o,o maj, h,r,sa
in the heart of widest and most desolate Alas
ka. for much information about the new region
self had never been five. miles into the interior
f Fbs m at Tna!sk Mss w sd panh te 81 sts"i salem n%0 ssno, Sat
we had littlo wind to travel against.
Finally wo came unon a settlement OF about
est savages i found In that part Of Alaska. They
are n very hardy race, and tho most wonder
I%l o osse a n0tive ese e q ALASKA iaas .n Who o" ase wat Kr0 so
freely as they. The Indians f1ocked about me
and my indian companions, and many of them
asked permission to go along with. us on our
Journey 500 miles further to Kotzebue Sound.
1 found good material here for the establishment
Five days more travelling through a bar.
ron region and in a temperature varying from
and we reached tho steppes or high mesa lands
that divide the waters that flow. in the summer
reseenii 1aiS NG More S tRan S soS f fSnuits l fHaf IN
gion. They are, a race of hunters. They hunt
with primitive weapons and are most dcXterous
with bow and arrow. They trap Arctic hares
and a species Of wolf almost daily. Several
hamlcts go out across the plains over 100 miles
to the east. and in the vicinity OF the HoSatia-
for Weeks at a time. That they have re- been sue,
cessful the %antlers. horns, and bones that lie
strewn about the settlements through years Of
accumulation are ample evidence.
after two weeks of steady travel through
snow and ice, we found a house at an Indian
traders at tho mouth of the selwik. 1t was
river, The first thawing OF. the season had be.
gun, but inasmuch as the ice had been frozen
orr dogs and sled. Thirty miles up and tho
| river suddenly widcned and formed Selwik
square N miles ie in nn ares, U %nd d do Weaet Ii hR0 evenly mlty
tiny islands upon which the native Fskimos live.
They are slightly taller and more agile than most
are scrupulously honest. and one who bars or fas.
tens his door there Is MS unpopular as a crusty,
The natives said that they got hundreds Of
moose and caribon every year; and that bears
skins. which are sold to the Indian trader down
tho Selwik River. He, IN turn; dlsposes OF
thcm 10 the whalcrs, and they find n market for
them In San Francisco or Vancouver. We saw
literally hundreds of white foxes and bca ycrs
| along the Sclwik River. besides many land otter
and red foxes. j never realized before where
the vast quantities of valuable furs worn nova
days came from. until 1 made that tonr In tho
Selwik River country and saw the heaps Of
skins in tho lluts OF Indians, and especially in
tho huge packing boxes at tho Indian traders
log houses near tho sea coast. The Indians
part with years gathering OF deer, bear. moose,
caribou. otter. beaver. and white fox skins for
molasscs, brown sugar, tea, coffee. sea biscuits,
heans, bacon. and especially guns and ammuni-
ton. ] saw one maGniicenf pelt and hoad from
an enormous white polar bear among the stores
at tho traders cabin on Atom Island. in Kot-
zebuc Sound. 1t was tho finest skin I ever
saw. The trader told me that he rave only a
pound of powder, n fow pounds of ouckshot.
and a jug OF molasses for tho skin. which would
| easily sell for 1878 in San Francisco.
The Indians at tho head waters of the Selwik
were cordial. Most Of the younger ones had
never before seen u white man. but they had
heard their parents tell of white whalers and
traders down along the coast. Wo rested Ave
weeks at tho head of the Selwik. Our dogs were
sadly worn and we were ~foOtsorc and tired. We
had come about 900 miles. The weather grew
warmer fast. IT was then the middle OF June
and the annual fishing of salmon N the river
began. The whole ventilation turned from hunt.
ing to fishing; hut the inhabitants of one town,
twenty or SO miles away. found timc to come in