Adventures in Alaska

gets and Hydas. I had to be carpenter, and show them how to build better houses. I had to be undertaker, and teach them to make coffins and bury their dead decently. I had to be farme

ole and put all the turnip seed

could. The hardest surgical cases I had were the result of little love-taps by old Mr. Hootz, the big brown bear. This bear is almost identical, except in color, with ursus horribilis, the grizzly-he is as large and

paw and went away. The poor man presented a horrible appearance. One eye was torn out, the skin of one side of his face torn loose and hanging down on his shoulder, th

hen suddenly the mother-bear came on him like an avalanche and he was knocked senseless. When he came to, hours afterwards, he was unable to move. The bear had torn off much of his scalp with

. He was a good-natured, happy-go-lucky fellow, a typical gold-prospector, making money very fast at times and spending it just as fast. Like the most of the miners of the Cassiar region (which was reached by traveling by steamboat from Victoria to Fort Wrangell, then by canoe o

, whose Stickeen wife was a member of m

and see Big Mike," he

ying on a bed, entirely helpless. He could only use his arm

t-a domd bad river-little flat islands thick as spots on a burrd-dog-th' river swift an' shaller-lots av quick-sands an' rocks everywhere-th' shores an' th' islands all matted thick w

pectin'. Th' thickets an' brush has scared off prospectors, an' it's new counthry. A wake ago Oi made up me pack for

. Oi tackled it as well as Oi cud wid me pack, an' got onto th' top log. Th' brush wuz that thick Oi cuddn't see pwhat wuz undher me. Oi tuk hold av a limb an' swung down into th' bushes. But before I touc

fair. He tuk a foul hold o' me when Oi wasn't lookin', an' niver guv me a chanst to break ut. Whin Oi swung down me left arrum wuz straight up,

me dandher riz an' Oi thought av me knoif. 'Twas in a scabbard on me roight hip, an' th

aff th' groun' an' Oi had no purchase. At las' Oi got ahold av th' handle av th' knoif. Jist as Oi felt me sinses lavin' me Oi got th'

o git up, but me legs wuz dead. Oi cud pull mesilf up a little wid me arrms, an' there Oi saw fur t

ums wuz good, an' th' bushes wuz thick, so Oi begun to pull meself along troo th' muck by me hands, usin' me knoif whin th' bushes blocked me. It tuck me two hours to gain th' top av th' hill in soight av th' camp, an' anither to make a flag av a bit o' ma shurrt an' w

he position of watchman on the wharves, and we used to see him-a pathetic figure, creeping slowly about the dock,

es, Showing

house Sn

and kill him. In the Stickeen tribe this man's name was Snook. Tilly, our star pupil and my interpreter, proudl

, stalwart, big-boned savage with a huge head and a tremendous jaw. He was almost always absent from Fort Wrangell, hunting in

good grip, and polished until it shone like brown granite. It was carved all over with the totemic images of the eagle and the brown bear, the totems of Snook's family. The head was made of a large steel rasp and was a foot and a half long, five inches across in the widest place, finely pointed, the edges sharp as a razor. The handle

Chinook, Thlinget and bad English, Snook's way of killing the big bears. He acted it so perfectly that even if I had not understood a word, the scene would have stood out very vividly before my mental vision. He showed the hootz grubbing among mossy logs and flirting the salmon

; he stands up on his hind feet to investigate. His lips a

trunk-sinks on one knee-raises his gun-aims. "Bang!" from the gun,-"wah-a-ah-gr-r-r!" from the bear. The bear whir

ands still, his left foot advanced, his spear slanting upwards, braced for the shock. The bear comes

tunity. He springs forward before the bear is steadied on his two feet and thrusts mightily with his spear. The bear strikes viciously at the man and howls hoarsely. A stream o

bloody now, while the man's face is covered with drops of sweat. The breath of both comes in gasps. The air seems full of violent motion and raucous sounds. At every fresh wound the bear howls-"wa-a-ah"-thi

ghtning in them. The man begins to taunt him, "Oh, you big-chief hootz-I thought you brave ma

, bending back to gain force for his blow, thrusts upward and forward with all his strength, striking just under the bear's breast bone and buries the spear-

he bear's mouth open with a stick, to let his spirit go forth in peace, and he also places between the dying jaws a piece of dried salmon, that the bear may n

's part and then the man's, shouting and growling out his words; and when he had finished, his own face was bathed in perspiration. His acting was an artless piece of art, very perfect in its way; and

dent pride in his own performance, struck me as irresistibly funn

with the wil

the long,

dance about

ou beat

howl and

u shake y

e man, in a de

el-o-cu-

hero of the story, ceased his carving, fixing his eyes intently on the speaker, and rewarding him with a fe

with pride, and she whispered to me, "Isn't my gran'fader, Snook, just

ey looked upon him as a sort of Indian superman, lauding him in their spee

ingle-handed, to a grizzly and kill him with a spear, must have unqualified nerve

hough many of the posts were rotting, the circle enclosing the parade ground, barracks, hospital and officers' quarters was still unbroken. Our house was one of the old officers' dwellings and not far from the gateway which led "up the beach" towards the Indian village of temporary houses in which th

old fort. School was in session in the old hospital, our little children we

milk. She was the first cow which had been brought to Fort Wrangell, and was a great curiosity and wonder to the Indians. The Thlingets had no name for cattle, because these animals we

of cabbage. Once I came upon a group that made me laugh. "Spot" was lying down and placidly chewing her cud; Abby, aged five, was seate

ence was shattered by a strong Indian voice, pitched high through fear, calling to me: "Uh-

ered. I rushed past "Spot," who was calmly munching grass, undisturbed by the hullabaloo. At first I could see nobody; then I discovered the huge bulk of

t, "what's the matter? Is anythi

r towards the cow and quaver

was too much for me, and I burst into a roar of laughter. When I had recovered m

), I explained. "She will not hurt any

xed in fascinated terror upon "Spot," a

ed to come away from the shelter of the stump until I had driven "Spot" away some distance; and even then he sidled past, eyeing her

what was in the gateway, or because of unfamiliar obstacles. It is the unknown that terrifies us. If we march right up to the bugab