Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-19

which are formed from driftwood gathered
| in the summer. Whole families sleep in
| one small hut. Seal oil lamps are used
| to warm the hut and are burned all night
Awful filth is occasionally met with. and
more than once the WORKOUT members of
| the party preferred to pitch their tents at
night to sleeping in the huts. When no
villages could be found at night the party
pitched tents and took everything eatable
inside the tents. The dogs are ravenously
hungry all the time, and will eat every
thing not made of wood or metal.
Feeding the Dogs.
After the evening meal of warnned-over
| pork and beans, tea and hard bread had
been prepared and eaten. the dogs were
fed and the days work was over. Feeding
the dogs was always trying and interest
| ing task. They always hungry, and
upon appearing among them with an arm
| full of dried fish, in their eagerness to get
stray mouthful, they crowd around in
one lighting, jumping mass, and make 1t
uiHlcuit Tor one to even keep his balance
t ai.er throwing out a fish to each dog, it
takes all hands with clubs to keep off the
| larger fellows and see that the smaller and
weaker ones are allowed to keep and eat
tneir snare. Usually they are peaceful
eHouSh, out when being fed they are like
wild animals. and snarl and bite each other
ana Keep up a continual fight until every
| thing Is eaten. When the meal is finished
ana there Is nothing more to eat in sight
go to sleep. They are tough and need no
protection. During the coolest weather
and the most violent billiards. they will
cur up on the snow anywhere and Sleep
ana When the snow has drifted over them
get up. snake themselves and lie down
again IN the same place for another Sleep
Natives Very Poor.
IL was along in this region where Lieu
tenant jarvis found the natives so poor
me farther he went north the cleaner and
more comfortable he found the natives
me people lived on fish and birds, with
occasional seals. Their clothing is made of
the breasts of birds and sealskins. and
their boots of tanned salmon skins Far
ther north the clothing is comfortable be-
ing made of deersk:n and the natives have
stronger and healthier look One of tina
native villages at which a halt was made
Tor night had the brief name of Chuk-
woktulieugamute
on December "a the party reached the
Yukon, striking a village near where de-
serted Russian village had once stood A
trading post of the Alaska Commercial
Company was found and mail delivered to
some Americans who We're on steamers
which had been caught here in the ice
The party did not rest there on Christmas
day, but continued the journey.
December 30 the party reached ST. Mi
enact, and We're warmly received by Lieu
tenant Colonel George NJ. Randall, COM
mandinF the army post at this point Mai
was delivered to several hundred miners
whose steamers had gotten that far. The
miners enjoyed the treat very much.
So far this stage of the Journey the
thermometer had ranged from 40 above
zero to 10 below, but the weather was I'M
eXpectedly warm. Lieutenant Jarvis SAYS
that the trip had given him an idea thai
with good roads and fair weather twenty
to twenty-five miles a day could be made
but it could not be done in the manner
usually pictured. There is no sitting back
sled and cracking, the Whin q
dogs, bounding merriiy along. The men
must not only walk, but push and haul and
occasionally harness themselves to the dogs
to get along. Lieutenant Jarvis says:
Preparations at St. Michael.
''It was necessary that careful and COM
plete preparations be made before leaving
ST. Michael, for, as far as we knew, this
was the last base of supplies we could de-
pend upon for food or transportation as far
north as Point Hope. The dogs which had
brought us thus far had made with us
trip of 375 miles, and were completely
Worn out. They had been going constantly
for twenty-cne days with only one days
rest, and the hard, rough ice of the Yukon
river and the crusty snow had worn their
feet bare. Nothing short of weeks rest
and good feeding would put them in con-
ditiOn to go on. I was loath to part with
them. for they were the best dogs I saw
in Alaska, but could not wait for them to
recuperate. The great influx of white peo-
pie into the Yukon country had made such
a demand for dogs that it was next to i'm
possible to procure any here.
1T was necessary here to refit ourselves
with deerskin clothing. The dogskin and
wooden clothing we brought from the yes
sci was heavy and cumbersome and not
suited to the cold weather We were to en-
counter. The sleeping bags we had were
made of goatskin, with canvas and rubber
covers, and were too heavy to haul and
too cold for comfort safety. Fortunate
ly. we had been favored thus far with mild
weather, but every days use of such cloth
ing was dangerous. Deerskin clothing,
boots, socks and sleeping bags were an alb
solute necessity. These We're rare and
commanded extravagant prices.
Another point to be. considered here
was to supply our party with provf-
sions to last from here to Cape Prince of
Wales and far as Point Barrow. It
was impossible to load the sleds with more
than two or three hundred pounds ana
travel with the speed should. MIR. Lopp.
at Cape Prince of Wales, could have but
limited supply, probably only enough for
himself and family. large party " as
necessary to care for and drive the deer
herd. and even in the time we hoped to
reach Point Barrow they would, for two
months, be wholly dependent upon them
selves. With accidents or delays they
might be until summer.
ITO make the party wholly independent
of all villages to the north and capable OF
sustaining itself, whatever route it was
provisions to be taken across the divide
from the head. of Norton bay to KotZebae
sound to meet us at Cape Blossom on our
arrival there, depending upon Port Clar-
ence and Cape Prince of Wales for enough
to take us that far"
Deer Teams Taken On.
In a few days the party reached the
shores Of Norton bay, and skirted along this.
using snowshoes a greater part of the time,
the weather growing colder each day. On
January 10 the party ran across DR.. Kettle
son. who was on his way with reindeer to
Colonel Randall for relief of miners in the
Yukon country. Dr. Kettleson went with
the party over to Golovin bay. which was
reached on January II. There deer teams
were provided from the government herd
which DR.. Ketteson had in charge, and the
dog teams which had come from st. Michael
were sent back there. DR.. Kettleson
brought four sleds and two poulkas-freight
sleds shaped like boats-on which provis-
ions and each mans outfit had been packed.
A Laplander named Mikkel was secured
from DR.. Kettleson to manage the teams.
He was stolid. determined fellow, who had
little to say, but knew everything about the
management of teams. He took the lead
with two deer harnessed to his sled, while
we had but one. All hands must be ready
at the same time when starting deer train
for, just as soon the animals see the herd