"Alone with the Indians? Why, the Alaska Indians are civilized, aren't they?"
"Spose so, but Mendenthall Valley is a great place for men to come up missing."
THE FOREST.
At the landing, the Indians set about to prepare us breakfast of hot no-cake and coffee. The coffee is from burned wild rice, and the no-cake corresponds to our corn bread. They pound the dry corn in a mortar with a pestle and make and fry them. The guide and I filled up on about ten cakes and a quart of coffee each, but Archibald refused, whispering to me that the dishes smelled of bear's oil; besides, the excitement had taken away his appetite.
Archibald then said: "That old Indian says they live here mostly on fish and bear. Really, do you think those bears are of the savage kind?"
"Oh, no," I replied, "only when they have cubs, but they say this is just cubbing time."
Mendenthall Valley is about ten or twelve miles west of Juneau, lies between two precipitous mountain ranges over 2,000 feet high. The timber, brook and soil give evidence of great age, and no indications appear to cause one to think it is a grown-up pathway of a glacier. After entering the woods we could see nothing ahead, only timber, except at intervals an opening, which gave us a view of the mountains on either side, as we followed the brook, which led us in a zigzag course.
When several miles in we discovered unmistakable evidence of where some large animal had fled at our approach, but we saw nothing but owls, eagles and other small game. I was urging the guide to hurry up, while Archibald was grumbling because we were going so fast, saying he was faint and hungry, so we stopped for lunch, and Archibald was glad to eat the no-cake, which he refused when it was hot.
The foliage was remarkable for its large leaves. Wild berries were in abundance, and the trees appeared to be of great age, which caused me to remark that it seemed incredible that, where we were sitting, the ice was more than two hundred feet above our heads not so very long ago.
"Not so very long? Do you believe that yourself, Mr. Richardson?"