The daily morning Alaskan., 1901-08-16
DOWN ALSAK
Drift Down the East Fork
 Over l25 Miles
An Exciting Story Told By a PrOs- psotor Who To Now Patiently Making Another Grubstako For One Moro Soigo Of Hardship


 E1st fork of thc Alsuck river
 Uc lcn Uulncs on Che ninth of last June with Kliucna Bul. a Chulut Indian and hls suuaw. Susie. iu canoe. and made their way Che first day oa
 mr as Nluckwan and arrived at rorcu- pine tho following day.
 Herr hc hired pack horses from Joch
 Dalton and packed their outfit Co the snow line. about fifteen miles below thc hcadwatcrs of Che Elahcna river and about thirty miles from porcuplnc Nla- hcna Bm contracted Co mako Che one urc trip Two Yukon slcds were brought opp Co snow llnc with thc outnt The Kla. hona heads In 70 vast rolling moorcl5nd. at an attitude of about 2oO feet This
 great moor is fairly alive with murmots
 Lower down thc mountains Che country
 is spotted with open places intcrpcrscd with woodland. In Che open thor, is lux rnnt forage for horses The ascent of th, divide is not prccIptoys and hand
 sI,,is can hc hauled over it without great lahnr by mounting Che long winding hog backs that onorl au easy grade. They
 w.rr a day and half crossing Che div .dr and descended thc opposite slope.
 which is thc watershed of Che east fork or thc Rlohcna. Here they made a
 cache and followed up a stream which thsy discovered was % drain Go Che north
 west side of Che glacier that feeds Che KI1hcn1 river The country is Of a lime stone formation and thc rocks arc easily worn by water 40 one place on this
 stream Che water hls worn ts way through 70 tunnel nearly 0ftv feet long | forming massive natural bridge over th. stream. Wherever running water pcr- criltes from higher rocks beautiful cEs. t1Is nrc formed I'm Che cavern worn | through thIs obstruction. which iu times pIst must have been thc dam of an cV- teus.vc lake. Che formations of umcy scd- m,ut wcrc worry beautiful md curious l Sf,lcutrs. some of which were very la-er. hung from Che ceiling. while along | On. walls. wh,rc thc rcc,dIur water would permit styaemltc1 rose from tho bod r.ck and m places mot thc sNnclitcs and formed columns Gut 1s none of mcac beautiful rcod formations were of Ibut slender proportions It may hc sup-
 pased chat thc bursting of this roariur l arauct through thc massive obetruc- t.ons could have been hut rcccnt-prob- ably not over h1lf % century Two or hr.c days wcrc consumed prospecting l ll.out thc edge of Che cllcicr with but poor results and thcu for nvc d1vs tho l banks of this stream wcrc followed until | it .mbouchcd In Che east fork of thr Al- l ncI. Hero Che river is so feet widc. lnd while Che current is swift it is mol
 broken with rapids that far up tho coun- trv Provisions for thirty dIya together with avc. guns and blankets. m1dc heavy ulc',s and Mr. Mlynon 1nl his Indians u.re glad Co remain 1 fow days on Che banks of tho river to hunt. rsh and rest They caught many trout and thc Indians r1Tcd 1 number of huge salmon at Che
 mouth or little creeks running Into Che
 river There was small rod salmon
 running mp thceo Ituc streams beyond
 where thorr was sufficient water for
 hcm to cover their backs Some of these
 streams had thclr source in lttlc wet
 mountain prairlcs. and these ucrvy utuc
 salmon had worked their way up among
 thc grass and could bc gathered up hkc chips
 rhc Indians had four dogs with thcm and tho Indian woman dried largo quou- ttv of thcsr salmon in thc sWn for dog food X good sized mft was huilt on which to drift down Che rivcr and for 1rite a long period there was no more nacrinur to do A good supply of meat and fish was oddcd Go thc lIrht storc or nroyisions Several goats were shot ana ,s thc lakes ot thc bead of thc htue brook branches of tho river were swarm- ing with d1cks hrout and gcoec it was Intlr trouble Co kiu moro waterfowl than they had an appetite Co cat
 rrt that which afforded tho most cN- citcmont was on encounter with two biz ainnomon bears Every night thov would come down from Che mountains fo raod upon Che salmon. They could hc| heard beyond a fringe of brush. between rhe camp and a littlo stream. sp.'sh'ns ,rl wouovinr m Ono water on account ,f trc swarmin- clouds of moeGuitos thot m1de lira miserable ot n.rht whom not hovcrinc over emu1rr thc pleasure or turr bclr would hardly compensate for th, misery or lying several hours in om- trqh for thcm. Eut Che sport was too ..ool to w1stc and Che aG11w made a ,nosouito 1rmor which Was nearly as hard or thc ecusc of smell oa thc mosquito bros were unpleasant Co Che feelings lt consisted or an ointment made of sol- mon on and spruce pitch This was daub ol over hc face. neck and hands ItI IiI thc worl, very we'll or course thcro w1e no dark period during thc night ot th1t time of thc year They took their station behind o moss-covcrcd rock at| tbe edge of thc stream ot ohout ten o'clock 1t night and hod scarcely waited lu hour when a sploshIng was heard up thc stream and it was not long before two huge cinnamon bears came in sight They were perfectly unaware of Che presence of enemies and Mir Maynou and .bc Indian could watch ot their loasurc
 10 was a curious sight Co gee the great clumsy monsters paw out thc salmon upon thc bank and then doiptlv suck the flesh from tho bones. leaving the skeleton Intact The Indian made a sign io shoot and they each drew a bead on 1 different bear and fired almost simul- t1ncouslv Both monsters rose on their launches ana wore given another charge onc of the bears made a retreat while thc other plunged Into the stream with thc manifest intention of making a charge ou thc enemy When within twelve feet of Che rock both men fired another shot and the bear turned Fummcrsault but roso again Co his launches Tho next ..t..t t-..,.-bt tfr, C., tho f.roun1 Tho