Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-13
AN ALASKAN CAVE.
The Discovery Made by a Shipper IOe.
Bound ON the Yukon.

The Discovery Made by a Shipper Ice
Bound ON the Yukon.
From the New York Sun.
Capt. D. c. Bayse of the Yukon river
steamer Oil City was one of the shippers
caught midway between Dawson and st.
! Michael by the freezing of the Yukon
| last October. He spent the winter hunt
ing and exploring, often making long trips
| into the interior from the steamer. On
one of these trips he had an exciting bear
hunt and discovered traces of ancient Alas
kan history that may prove valuable when
properly investigated.
1.-The beginning Of last winter on the
Yukon found the stern-wheel steamer Oil
| City midway between Dawson and st. Mi
| chael with a big cargo of oil on board"
| he said to the Sun correspondent. "There
| were unmistakable signs of an early clos
| ing of the stream. In consequence l ran
the steamer into a short but deep stream
! that flows into the Yukon opposite tne
! Russian mission. We got everything In
good order before the river finally closed
| on October 10.
| river opened, six months later. and there
| were few ways of doing it. Hunting was
| not good, as game was scarce, but we had
| no choice. few white grouse now and
| then. q large white rabbit or red FOX
| were about the only targets that presented
| themselves on an ordinary days hunt MY
companion on these trips was usually LIN
| Que the Americanized Chinese steward OF
| the steamer Lin had cut off his queue
| and was good Baptist. Moreover, he
was fond of hunting and did not mind car
| rying the heavy pack of provisions that
| sudden changes in Alaskan weather made
| necessary to have at hand always
| "About midwinter we decided on long
| err trip than usual After a hard mornings
| travel over the snow we finally made the
| crest Of low range of white sandstone
hills. From the marks of wear on their
| straight white sides, where one could see
! through the snow, / judged that they had
| once been washed by mighty river We
made detour for the purpose of reaching
| a higher ridge of the same kind of rock.
and finally found ourselves in a sort OF
| cove entirely shut off by rocks, except for
| the entrance which we had made use or
While I was resting Lin went out on a pr,
| waite prospecting trip. l was soon aroused
| by hearing him call.
!" Captain! Captain! Come long quick:
! heapy hole in rock!
| 81 found him peering into what I took to
be the entrance to bear or rox den; !
| replied about twenty feet. but that 1t was
too dark to see anything told him we
| had not lost any bears or wild animals In
| the cave, and did not care to look for one in
| so dangerous a place Giving the China
| man my revolver with which to back me
| I'D, / fired my Winchester several times into
| the cave. The report sounded like can
non. and waited patiently for the appear
| ance of some wild animal. Nothing came
| out and we decided to go in.
| "After clearing away some of fresh
| rock slide that almost blocked the entrance
| and making an improvised torch. we enter
| ed the hole cautiously. With Lin In ad-
| vance, we crawled some six feet and found
| ourselves In sort of room 1t was about
| twenty feet square with high rock in the
| center which had evidently been used as
| table. On the north side was crude sort
| of fireplace. Going further back. we no
ticed the entrance to somewhat larger
| chamber.
1--WE had no sooner entered this than I
saw six balls of fire glazing out of the dark
| ness directly ahead. Lin moved his light
| to one side, and by it's glare I saw mon
ster form rise and come toward me with
rush. The beast was almost upon me be-
| fore I remembered the Winchester. raised
| the weapon, and with no aim at al pulled
| the trigger. AS luck would have 1t, killed
| the bear.
"In the excitement I lost sight of Lin,
who was having a touch of excitement on
his own account He too, had seen balls of
| fire approaching. He took one hurried shot
with his revolver, but fired low, and hit the
bear that was making for him in the loin.
He threw away the gum and, whipping out
his long cooking knife prepared for a hand
| to-hand struggle. His opponent, half
| grown bear, was on him in an instant. The
| pair rolled over and over. Whenever Lin
was on top he plunged his big knife in to
| the hilt. l could not shoot, as the China
| man and the bear were too mixed up. The
| Chinaman finally won out. but not until the
| flesh about his arms and limbs had been
| badly torn. The other cub easily kill
| ed. We decided to return to the boat that
night and send Lin and our dog drivers
after the meat the next day.
LAS soon as the arctic sky indicated
stretch of good weather Lin and I started
out to investigate our discovery. We
hauled two days rations. an oil stove and
blankets on sled and found the cave with
little trouble. The day very cold and
we were very tired after our five hours
trip. Lin soon had a refreshing dinner
ready, which he served on the ancient stone
| table. 1t while smoking my pipe efter
this meal that 1 CHANGED to notice the
culiar drawings on the walls, which made
our discovery most interesting.
After carefully brushing off the wall
with some hay that we wore inside our
Arctic socks. "a carefully drawn panorama,
which / judged to be the history of the
people who occupied the. cave in former
times was disclosed. The first scene,
drawn in red on the white sandstone.
very plain. 1t showed three small boats.
with three people In each, putting GU, on a
storm sea from rugged coast On the
shore God a crowd of people waving fare
| we'll About three feet further along was
another drawing in which the same three
boats figured. The boats had evidently
crossed the sea and were landing a low
shore. Between the pictures were draw
| ings of whales, walrus and seals. The
| third drawing was four feet from the sec
| ond and showed the three boats coming up
a wide river.
After examining these scenes closely I
came to the conclusion that the natives; had
crossed Boring sea and come up either the
Yukon or Kuskokwim river. Or it is quite
probable that the Yukon once flowed along
the bluffs in the side of which found
the cave and entered the sea by the pas
sage now known the Kuskokwim river.
The map shows a low fiat country between
the two rivers, with chain of lakes that
empty into the Yukon, and that are fed by
small river during the high water season.
This river is called the Talobaksok, and
| IL but sixty miles distant.
Further investigation showed other
sketches. of the chase after buffalo. deer,
bear and moose. The hunters always APP
reared with dogs and canoes. In none of
| the sketches was there any Indication of
| sleds or snow. This led me to wonder if
| the Yukon country at that time had the
| same terrible winters It now has. 1t seems
| strange that the ancient historian would
forget the cold winters when he
curate in putting in other details.
Investigation of the inner room proved
| equally interesting. 1t had undoubtedly
been cut out years before. and had con-
| cave roof The walls were very smooth.
| Three hunks had been cut into the sand
stone walls They were shaped like canoes,
| and the rock above had been hewn out in
| the shape of a half moon. The hunks were
| all on one side. and measured five by two
sind half The walls were elahorata-