IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) !.0 I.I ;^ m m •^ litt |||||Z2 2.0 1^ 1^ 1.8 11.25 1.4 — iiii < 6" — ► pm '/, s m e% -^ ar <»> '/ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716) 872-4503 ^\ %^ \ <, ^,r -^ * &? CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVJ/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques i Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibllographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checiced below. EZf Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur rn\ Covers damaged/ L£J C D D D Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or blacic)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or Illustrations/ D Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reiiure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge inttrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restaiiration apparaissent dans le texte, mais. lorsqus cela Atait possible, ces psges n'ont pas AtA filmies. Additioncil comments:/ Commenvaires supplAmentaires; L'Instltut a microfilm* le meiileur exemplaire qu'il iul a 6tA possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une Image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mAthode normale de fllmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. r~n Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restaur^es et/ou peilicuides Pages discoloured, stained or foxei Pages d6color6es, tachet^es ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages d^tachdes Showthroughy Transparence Quality of prir Qualiti in6gale da i'impression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du matiriei suppiimentaire Only edition avaiiabie/ Seule Adition disponible |~~1 Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r~7^ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ I I Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ r~l Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition avaiiabie/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totaiement ou oartieilement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont M filmAes A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. Tl t( Tl P o fi O b< tf si 01 fii si oi Tl s» Tl w M di er bi rlj re This item is filmed At the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* aj taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X MX 28X 32X ■ I tails du sdifier une Tiage The copy filmad hara haa baan raproducad thanks to tha ganaroAity of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spacifications. Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad beginning with the front covar and ending on tha last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back covar when appropriate. All other original copies ara filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recordod frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaira fllmA fut reproduit grAce A la gAnArosltA da: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Las images suivantas ont 4tA reproduites avac la plus grand soin, compta tenu de la condition at da la nattetA de I'exemplaire film*, et en conformity avac las conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exempiaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimAe sont filmis en commen^ent par la premier plat et en terminant soit par Ua darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres axemplaiies originaux sont filmAs en commen^ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symboie — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsq>«e le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film* A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauohr de gauche d droite, et de haut en has. en pre- t le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Loa dr grammes suivants iliustrent la mdthode. Tata o >alure. Id 1 2 3 n 32X tk r. J^ /A"- , tt >f 0.1, Vol. IV, pp. 117-162, PLs. is-20 THE May 15, isqp NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE AN i<:xi'i:i)iTi()N THijoiTar Tin-: vikox distiiict. I'.V ClIAin.KS WIIJ.AIM) IIAYKS. i^l'r(.«iil('(l liijdiu the Siirlih/ /uhrcuri/ ■'>. Iliic l'"('atiin'.-i 12S I )i-aiua,ii't' l''l Vct^i'tatioii !•>*> Ilanl (icnliiL'y 1"'" Ciiaractor "f tlic ( tliscivatiniis K>7 Kocks ..(■ Takii Valh'v l:!'^ Uocks of till' iiitcriiir I'latvau l^W Rocks uC.S'oiai Pass HC l{nfks (if Copiicr Itivi'i- Vailoy 1-11 IJ.ii'ks of riinrc William .Siuiid. . . 142 .Mineral Ifesimnrs I-*- (I..1.1 1-t- ( 'nj i| ter l"*-' \'ul('iiiiic I'lieiioiiieiia '"*■' .\etive VdleaiUH's I"*'' Recent volcanic .\clivily 1^^" Tertiary volcanic Activity !•'" < ilacial I'licnoiiiena '"''' Kxistinir'ila.'iers ^^^] I'ornier (ilaciation '''■' Appeiwlix -Crypiouanis collected liy IMC. W'ill.ir.l Have- in .\laska, l.sin ; by Clara !'.. ( uniniini.'s !•'" 17 -N*i. lir.ii;, M\.;.. \oi l\ . l.s'iJ. <'I"J ^ BL-— .**>«» HMI7 118 C. W. llaycs — lupcdUion throvrjh tlia I'ulon DiMrirt. iNTROOrcTION. An ex|)oossil)le, l)ut so little has been knnwn of it geologically or otlierwise tiiat such observations as were made po.ssess a value out of proportion to their completeness. It is the object of this paper to give in systematic form the main facts of seientifit^ interest observed during the journey. A (vM account of tlic journey itself, which is not without interest, can- not be given here, but will appear elsewhere through its appm- priate channels. Enough of the! narrative will be included. Imw- evtr, lo indicate tlie route and means of travel and sometiiiiiji of the conditions under which the scientilic observations were made. Mr Schwatka's original jdan was to go over Chilkoot pass ami down the Lewes, following the regular miners' route to the inte- rior; but on reaching Juneau, at the rcfpiest of the citi/cns, backed up by their substantial assistance, it was decided togii in by way of Taku river, with a view to determining whether a trail for pack-animals could be constructeassing from the Htikine to the Lewes, but the map which resulted from tlieir cx])lorations is only a very crude approximation to the \'<\>n- graphic facts, and must have been drawn largely from nicnmry. I)r Dawson obtained from a prospector named Hoswell scmie information concerning Teslin river ami lake .\hkleii wbicli lie embodied in the map accompanying his report on the Viikcm district. The location and form of th<' lake proved to he re- markably accurate, though the regularity of the to|)ogra|'liic \ \ 'Hie lioiile mid the Surrri/s. 10 li'iittires of the re;j;ion is such that ii clear idea of their relations is easily ohtained even without instruments. The whole of the route from Taku inlet to tlie TiOwes was traversed in the si)ring and sunnner of 18l)()hy a party of eijiht minors, anionjjwhom >[arlv llusselha nu'mher of our jtarty, was a loading si)int. They started from Juneau hefore the ice was out of the river, hauling their outlit on hand-sleds so long as the snow lasted, and then packing them. Jt re(|uired eighty days to reach the lake, where the party built a numher of hoats. After prospecting the Xisutlin and other streams on the eastern side of Ahklen valley they went down the Teslin and hack to the coast 1»y licwes river and Chilkoot pass. Tiiis is an example of the many unhcraldeewes and I'elly, had already been twice surveyed, first by ('. A. Ifoman, the topoirrapher of Schwatka's i)arty in l.SS;>, and more accurately i>y O^ilvie in 1887. Chittenah and ('(ipjjer rivers had been surveyed by Allen in 1885,80 that no continuous survey of these rivers was under- taken thoujih numerous oltservations were made to supplement those embodied in Allen's map. NaKH.XTIVK urate the river into many channels. While Taku river is i'ar from liein;i- an ideal hitihway to the interior, still a ilat-liottonied steamer of li;ilit draft and jiood power would jirohahly have no serious dilliculty in rea('hinaekers, each was oliliucd to make two trijw ; so that our projiress was extrunely slow. The first twenty miles of the portajj;c are in the narrow caiiyondike valley of an eastern 1)ranch of the river, and the next lifty in broad valleys of the upper Taku basin, from ;>,.')()() to o.OOII feet al)ove sea level. The last fifteen miles are in the densely wooded Ahklen valley among innumer- able small lakes and ponds. \\'e reached lake Ahklen June 1(). and from this [)oinG the Indians were sent back to the coast. It was with a feelinu; of great relii'f that we watched them disapjjcar on their homeward journey and knew that we were no longtjr dependent on their caprice. Setting U[) the two portalde canvas canoes which had l)een packed in from the coast, we continued our journey toAvard the northwest, down lake .\hklen and Teslin river, which forms its outlet. The Lewes was reached June '2\ and Selkirk, at the junction of the Lewes and IVlly, four days later. The original plan had l»een to continue down the Yukon to the mouth of White river and u\) that stream so far as possible by boat, but the Indians whom we I'owul at Selkirk told us the earlier route to the head of White river was overland, keeping southeast of the main rivi'r valley; and this route we decided to follow. .\ store has recently been estaldished on the site of old fort Selkirk, the Hudson IJay company's post, which was burned by 122 ('.]\'. Hayes — Krj)cdil ion through flic VkLoii l>i.di'id. the const Iiidiiins in 1S|S. TIic tnvtlcr, Mr lIurixT, was down tlu! river and we tounil only a couple of Indians whom lu* had left in char;je. These were dis])at(;hed up the I'elly to collect the nrtives in the vicinity and we soon had altout forty of them camped around lis. Only a I'vw of them, however, were ahle- hodied men, and it was extremi-ly dillicult t(» persuade these to jjo with us; and when they had promised it was only to hack out the next day. After laltorint to secure the necessary packers was hopeless, and we were prepariuf; to <,'o d(twn to the mouth of White river and try the ascent hy hoat, when the tide was turned hy the opportune arrival of a prosp^ctui, Frank Howker. Ho had come up the river from Forty-mile cre(lateau which stretches from the Yukon to the St Klias mountains. The headwaters of Selwyn river were crossed and .several eastern trihutaries of White river. The country is very scantily peo[)l(,'(l, and although we prob- ably saw most of the natives inhabiting the White Kiver basin they only numbere?> rocky summits, moose and hciir in tlic river valleys, and rein- deer or liarren-^n-ounds earihou on tiie plateau above tinil>er line. Several of the latter were killed Ity memliers of our party, and (»ur supply of i)rovisions was also Iielped dut liy the dried meat which we ol)tained from the natives. On the Kluantu wa,s found a second ])arty of Indians, most of wlutm hataininort. They refused to go with us further, as'^uring us that it was(piite impossil)le to get through the mountains at that season since the pass was only traveled by Indians in the winter on snow-shoes. Bowker had already come further than he originally intended, so that he turned back with the Indians. It was something over two hun- dred miles back to Selkirk, and although through an unknown country a considerably shorter distance to an Indian village on the other side of the mountains. Trusting in our ability to reach the latter inside of two weeks, a period for which we had provis- ions, we decideil to push forward. Discarding everything not absolutely essential our i)acks still amounted to seventy-tivc or eighty pounds apiece, so that progrc'^s was necessarily slow. The weather since leaving the coast in May had been very warm, with little rain except local thunder showers, but from this time until we again reacheassa,f tbe provisions witii which we left Selkirk. M Taral we found Nicolai. or " Scolai."as tlie Yukon Indians call him, the autocrat of the Copper river country. lie gave us a most hospitable reception and supplied us with provisions .so far as his limited stores permitted. Salmon, both fresh and rejiu- tation for treachery and bostility to the whites: liut we saw nothing to justify it. They are greatly su|terior to the Yukon natives, physically .at li-ast. and have a niucli more elaborate familv and tril)al oriranization. is—Nat. l(' survey made by Professor Harry Fielding Hied in 1890, embodied in the map iiccomi)any- ing a paper entitled Studies of Muir gliu-icr, Alaska. J * Ann, Ki'i). (tool. Survey Cana«lii, pt. B, Montreal, IHSH. fNaoh finciien Anfniiliiiicti iiii .liilo'c lSH-_» voii Or Artliiir Knuisc lin, ISH.'!. { Nat. f Lynn canal nortlnviistward the range decreases in altitude and i)robably spreads out and merges in tin; l>roken * Am. Jour. St-i., ;!i| .moiU's, vol. xliii, l.Si)2, pi. iv. Mountain Systems and liavfjc 1'2\) l)liiteau which occupien the eastern part of \\'liite River busin. This region is praetieally unlvnown, however, and the precise relation of the Coast range to tlie St Elias range has not yet l)een determined. Where the former range is cut through by Taku river its northeastern face! like its northwestern termination, is not shar|)ly defined, hut the mountain range merges with the high plateau lying to the eastward between the Coast range and the Rocky mountains. The 8t Elias range appears to hv due to a^ separate and more recent ui)lift. Its continuation southward is i)artially submerged and forms the islands of the Alexander an^liipelago. Still further southward, in Queen Charlotte and Vancouver islands, it has been called by Dawson the Vancouver range, the western- most member of the Cordilleran system. liike the southern (H)ast range, it is a broad elevated belt with numerous peaks and short rilateaus. When considered in detail the surfacvel, while broad and rounded dome- like sunnnits and a t'cw sharp peaks rise from "00 to 1.200 t'eet alutve it; but there a])pear t(» be no well defined ridges or chains of peaks. For about loO miles southwest of Selkirk the 130 C. \V. Hayes — Expedition through the Yukon District. i If (•(intours are generally smooth and flowing, aiid the surface, excei-t in the southern and glaciated portion of the region, shows the ett'ect of long continued exposure to the action of subaerial agencies. While rock deca}' has made little progress, so that the surface is practically free from soil, rock disintegration has been extremely active and the country is thickly mantled with rock debris of varying degrees of coarseness. Projecting through this mantle of debris, above smooth gentle slojies, are many isolated pinnacles and towers of rock rendered especially con- spicuous by contrast with their moss-covered talus slopes. Sur- face degradation is greatly retarded l)y the luxuriant growth of moss which covers practically the entire surface of the country. The annual precipitation is largely confined to the winter months, and the water from the melting snow is held by the sponge-like moss, which remains saturated throughout the short but hot and dry sunnner. Thus, with a rainfall which in lower latitudes would condition ati arid region, a large j)art of the surface is swampy, quite irrespective of slope; that is, wherever the ma- terial composing it is sufficiently compact to become impervious to water by freezing. On account of this slow and imperfect surface drainage the slopes are not cut into the ravines and arroyas so (iharacteristic of arid regions. The plateau extends west of White river, though it is there rather more diversified than toward the east by a number of high sharp peaks, prol»ably of volcanic origin. Apj)roaching the northern base of the St F^lias range the plateau character is almost whi>lly lost, giving way to st(,'ep and rugged though not loft}' mountains separated by rather wide river valleys. There is, however, no merging of the plateau in the St Elias mountains, but south of a well marked limit the whole character of the topograi)hy suffers a complete change. Between the southern limit of tlie interior idateau and tlu; northern base of the St Klias mountains is a depression running parallel with the mountain range and having an altitude of about 4,(MK) feet. It contains the upper part of White river for a distance of about thirty miles, and i)robal)ly also in its north- western continuation the headwaters of the Tananah. Soutli- ward across this depression was seen the abrui)t northern face of the St Elias mountains, with many sharp and rugged peaks rising to altitudes of 10,()IK) to 12,(KMM\'et. Only the stt'cpest slopes were free from snow, and the regit)n presented a striking Plains and Snow-Fieldn. 131 contrast to the ^vw.n nioHrf-covcrcd phitoau country toward the north. The ran^e here occupies a l)elt nbout eily buried channel excavated when the land stood relatively much higher than at present. Its valley, Avhich is a continuation of Taku inlet, is from one to two miles wide with steep sides rising in many |>laces almost vertically from 3,000 to 0,000 feet. The river, interrupted by many sand bars and low, wooded islands, meanders over a gravel iloo(l])lain be- tween tho high walls of tlie valley. Its current is rapid and it is transporting to the inlet great quantities of sediment from its upper course. IJeyond the junction of the no -thern and southern forks, Avhich may be regarded as approximately at the eastern . limit of the Coast range, the valley sides are ratlier steep to an elevation of about l.oOO feet from the river, while above that' elevation the slopes are gentle to broad, rouncied summits of the interior jdateau. The upper l)ranches of the Taku How in open valleys from 3,0(X) to 4,0(K) feet above sea level, indicating a long l)eriod of erosion during which the land stood at a much lower level than at present. Similar broad vall(>ys at the upper courses of many rivers in British Columbia have been referred l>y Dr Dawson t to long-continued erosion i ii middhi Tertiary time, and it is i)rol)al)le that the same conditions prevailed far to the north- * Mount St. Klius and its (ilaciers: Am. .Four. Sci., .'!d series, vol. xliii, ]S<»2, p. 171. t'On the later Piiysiojrraphical GeDUijry of the Rocky .Mountain Heirion in ('tiniuhi, with sijccial reference to cliHU'Tt's in elevation ami to the iiis- tory of the Olacial IVriod : Trans. I'oy. Soc. Can., vol. viii, sec. Iv, I.SIIO, ; pp"l7-lil. rpj 132 CW. Hayes — Expedition through the Yukon District . ward, producing the broad valleyn of the upper Taku tril)utarieH. The deep ranyoii-Uke valleys in the lower i)ortion of the river ha.sin represent a part of the erosion due to uplift in late Tertiary and Pleistocene time. The divide between the Taku and Yukon drainage basins is on the edge of an escarpment l)y which the surface drops from the high plateau 2,()00 feet to the level of Ahklen valley. The altitude of the pass is 5,100 feet, which corresponds very nearly A\ the average altitude of the interior plateau at this point. (le valley is from twelve to twenty miles broad, and on its eastern side is the steep edge of a plateau corresponding to the one on the west and extending eastward to the base of the Cas- siar range, forty or fifty miles beyond. Bounded by these ap- proximately parallel plateau escarpments, the valley extends in an almost perfectly straight line for at least 2")0 miles in a north- west-southeast direction. The ujjper, that is, the southeastern, half of the valley is occupied by lakes. From one j)oint on the escarpment, aflbrding only a i»artial view of the valley, fifty-four were counted. Of these lakes, Ahklen^ is the northernmost and l)y far the largest. This lake is ninety-five miles in length and from six to ten in breadth. Several small streams enter the ui)per end, but its main feeder comes in from the northeast about midway between the head of the lake and its outlet. This stream, the Nisutlin, enters the head of an inlet about ten miles in length which extends at right angles to the direction of the lake. According to Mark Russell, who has prospected the stream, its current is very sluggish for seventy-five or one hundred mih^ aV)ove the head of the inlet. IJeyond the lake the valley continues with little change, ex- cept that the bounding escarpments draw somewhat closer to- gether and decrease in height with the decreasing altitude of the l»lateau toward the north. A consideration of the name to be a|)plied to the river which *Ain(^ii)j; the various luinii'H which have l)ce» appUed to tlio lake, Ahkli'ii is uiulouliteiliy the oiu" which slioiild bo retained. It is tiio imine in coin- 1111)11 iiHO iiiiioiif^ the Tiiku Iiuliiuis. ()iu> hniiich of this tribe i-iaiiiis tlie coimtry about the soutiiern oud of the liilve, s|H.'iiort on an Exi)loration in tlie Yukon district, X. W. Territory, and adjacent northern jjortion of British Coluinhia, in 1SS7: Ann. Rep. Gcol. Surv. of Canada for 1HS7-.HS, vol. .•5, |.t. i, ISSd, i>p. 1 ir,-isr>. I Report of a Military Reconnoissanci' in Alaska niaile in 18S;!, W'asli- injjton, l.SS.'), map (pt. i, sheet 4). 1!I~\at. (iKiMi. Hr.\ii., MH. IV, ls;i^. irr 1 1 i'l 134 C. W. Jlayea — Expedition through the Yukon District. The current if from four to nix miloH por liour and, except for a few slu;:jrish expansions near the hike, is (juite iinif«)rni throuj^h- out. The water was exceptionally hi^jh in the si»rinfj; of 181)1, however, and this would tend to increase the uniformity and velocity of the current. There are no shoals or rapids which would prevent the i)assage of a river steamer from its mouth to the head of the lake. The course of White river, except for a short distance near its mouth, has hitherto heen entirely unknown. Some miners are said to have spent a winter at the first fork, about sixty miles from the Yukon, but beyond this they have failed to penetrate, probably because of the unpromisinj>; character of tlie stream, for it is difficult to conceive physical obstacles sufhciently for- midal)le to turn back these hardy explorers. The White Hiver basin was entered by the writer fifty miles southwest of Selkirk. From the high land between the Nisling* and Donjok the main valley could be seen for a long distance north and south, with the river pursuing its extremely tortuous coui-se among innumerable low islands and l)ars. At one point alH)ve the mouth of the Nisling the river passes through the point of a mountain spur by a narrow canyon, probably a case of superposed drainage due to the occupation of the valley by ice. Further northward it turns sliarply toward the west and enters a dee[) narrow valley, in which, by native rei)ort, there are many dangerous rapids. For the first seventy miles in the White River l)asin only clear tributaries were crossed. The largest of these, the Nisling, [)rob- al>ly drains the greater \)nvi of the large area bounded on the east by the Tahkeena and Lewes, occupying very nearly the l)osition which Dawson has assigned for the main White river, but receiving no })art of its waters from the high C(}ast range. Evidenth' the greater [)art of the northward-flowing drainage of the St Elias mountains is carried off by other tributaries of the Wliite river, which show ample evidence of glacial origin in their extreme turbidity. The Donjek is the largest eastern tribu- * In luiiiiinj^ the tributaries of Wliito river I liuve f()llo\voy jinivol Mutts about a mile aiiart and from '2(M) to -UK) tVet hifili. The courne of Copper river from the mouth of theChittotiah to the coast is nearly (hie south. Tlie river lias eutthroujjli tin; Coast range a valley which closely resemhles that of the lower Taku. Its walls are high and rugged, and the stream meanders from side to side over a Hoodplain of coarse gravel. Miles glacier, which is the largest of several ice streams tribu- tary to ('opjx'r river along its lower course, has ()ushed across the valley, forming slack water several miles up the river. The glacier is now retreating, but its northern lateral moraine remains a.s a dam, over Avhich the river tuml»les in a series of rapids. The lake formed by this dam is almost entirely filled with gravel in its ii|>per portion and with tine sand and mud below, so that the water is for thi; most part only a fcAv inches in depth. A short distance below Mil - glacier is the head of the delta, which reaches thirty miles southward to the line of l»ars or keys at the edge of deep water. Excepting a few sand dunes, the delta consists of broad, level meadows and still more extent^ive mud flats exposed at low tide. Deposition is going on at a rapid rate o\tr this considerable area, and it is interesting to note that subsidence! also is taking i)lace. There are no trees grow- ing upon the delta now, but the remains t)f many large spruce trees were observed standing several feet below tide-water. Veoktation. The vegetation of the Yukon basin pre.sents a marked contrast to that of the coa.st, the luxuriance of which is too well known to re(|uire dcscrijjtion. This contrast consist)- more in the amount of vegetati(m than in the difference of species. Cut ot\ by high mountains from the abundant supi)lies of moisture which the coast enjoys, the interior supports a comparatively scanty growtli, especially of arl)oreal vegetation, while some of the moisture- loving species of the coast are ab.sont. Excepting surfaces covered by snow or ice throughout the year and the stecjpest rocky cliffs and screes, i>ractically the whole Yukon basin, as well as the Alaskan coast strip, is covered by a more or less luxuriant growth of moss. Meadows of coars(! grass were seen in a few of the interior valleys and some of the gravel terraces along Tcslin and licwcs rivera are covered with sage brush, but The Tundra and the meager Forests. 137 those anriis an; wholly in.Hijjiiificant wlicn (M)iii|>j\n'(l with those which arc! covort'd with moss. Tiic Itlack ahk-r, so nlniixhiiit on the coast, is also very coiniuon in the interior, hut in a ilwarJ""*! form, (It'creasinj; in size; with incrt'asiiij^ altitudes from toi; or twelve feet in the valleys to a few inches on the hijiher parts of the |»lateau. The U|>i)er limit of the spruce forests is reache(l along the coast at an altitutle of al)out 1,.S(K) feet, hut this limit, alonfj with the snow line, gradually ascends toward the interior. The high valleys of the Taku trihutaries have considerahle spruce tim )er. although the trees are not dose together and the largest are seldom over a foot in diameter. Taku |>ass, with an altitude of o 10() feet, is approximately at the timher line and only a few stunted trees manage to exist there. Ahklen valley is ijuite heavily timhereil, and some trees eighteen inches in diameter, the largest seen anywhere in the interior, were amo?ig the drift from Nisutlin river. In the White River basin only the valleys are wooded, the timher extending less ihan a thousand feet up their sides, while the greater part of the plateau surface is i)ractically treeless. The timher line on the northern side of the St Elias mountains ha.s an altitude of about 4.o(X) feet. The Chittenah and ("o])per river valleys feel the influence of the coast climate, and their vegetation is conseijuently much more luxuriant than in the valleys of White Hiver basin. Hakd Geology. Character of the Obxerrations — -Any attempt to solve the many ditlicult problems connected with the geology of the region trav- ersed would necessitate detailed study of large areas. The op- portunities afforded by a hasty reconnaissance along a single line of travel are obviously inadeipiate t(» the solution of these problems, particularly when the greater part of the geologist's energy is absorbed in overcoming the physical ob.staclcs to his {progress and in making even the crudest topograjdiic map to which to refer his observations. The most satisfactory information on the hard geology of any portion of this region is contained in Dawson's report, ahead}' cited, on the geology of the Yukon district. Dr Dawson had the great advantage of familiarity with similar rocks and geologic problems from i»revious .study in Hritiyh Columbia. He was also WT^ m \m\\ ' i ! ' I III 138 0, [V. Ilaycs — Expedition through the Yukon District. in a position to control the movements of his party, and so was able to give more than a passing glance to points of special im- portance. Since the writer was without previous ac(iuaintance with the rocks of the Cordillcran system and had iio opportunity for observation, except as it was afforded along the route or at stops selected without reference to the geology, the information obtained is ofiered only as supplementary to the observations made by others and as preliminary to the more thorough study of those who may hereafter visit the region. Roch of Takii Vnlky. — The section affonhvl by Taku river as it cuts through the Coast range is (piite similar to those described by Dawson on Stikine river and (,"hilk(K)t pass. After leaving the argillites of the coast, which extend to near the head of Taku inlet, a broad belt of gray hornblende granite is crossed ; this is called the Coast Range granite by Dawson. The belt is about forty miles in width, extending nearly to the South fork of the Taku. In addition to the granites, this belt also contains altered eruptive rocks in horizontal or undulating and some- times highly contorted beds. Rocks of the interior Platemi. — Forming the high plateau between the Coast range and Ahklen valley is a somewhat l)roadcr l)elt, containing a great variety of rocks, ])t)tli eruptive and sediment- ary but all highly altered. TI:e sedimentary rocks consist of limestones and marl)les, shales and shvtes with conglomerates, sandstones nnd quartzites. The least altereil mend)ers of this series are along the western side of the belt. At the junction of the North and South forks of the Taku, near the eastern limit of the Coast Range granites, there are l)huk slaty shales and, api)arently overlying them with a dip of from 25° to 50° north- eastward, are compact bluish limestones. Still farther eastward there are siliceous shales with lavge conglomeratic peV)bles of the underlying limestone. The i)cbbles cuntain some obscure fossils, jtrobably Carboniferous, which would indicuitc a Mesozoie or later age for the shales. These slightly altered rocks occupy a belt about eight miles wide, east of which lies a region traversed l)y many dikes that have converted ])robably similar shales and limestones into talcose slate and highly crystalline marble. Among the non-sedimentary rocks of this plateau belt there are many basic eruptives largely altered to serp(>ntine, and also considerable areas of granite. .\ portion at least of the granite is older than the sediments as indicated by basal eonglomeratos Complex geologic Struclure. 130 at tho contacts. The hnau; (sruptivcs arc confined to a narrow strip less than a (juarter of the width of the plateau belt and lying along its western side. The seiiuencc of these rocks, as well as their relation to the Coast kange granite, is extremely involved, and much further study will be reciuired in order fully to determine these relations. Their age is probably upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic, though very few fossils were found and none except in the less altered western portion of the belt. East of Ahklen valley there is another belt of granite, quite distinct in character from that of the Coast range. It is free from hornblende and contains a large amount of pink feldspar, giving a decided red color to the rock in mass. The granite has in some places a well develo[)ed gneissoid structure, the cleavage being approximately parallel with the direction of the lake. Teslin river Hows in a valley deeply lilled witli silt and gravel, so that not more than two or three rock exposures occur through- out its whole length ; but so far as could be determined at a dis- tance the escari)ments on both sides of the valley are comjxjsed of rocks similar to those forniing the plateau west of the lake. About thirty miles above the mouth of the river the liills toward the northeast are composed of bright red sandstones with yellow and gray shales, prol)al)ly less altered and perhaps younger than any of the sandstones above descril)ed. The extensive plateau region l)etween the Yukon river and tho northern base of the .St Elias mountains is cotnposed of various kinds of crystalline rocks with small arcvas of highly altered sedi- ments. CJray hornblende granite similar to that forming the Coast range of sontiiern Alaska occurs in a somewhat narrow Itelt just north of the St Elias mountains. The prevailing rock of the greater part of the n'gion north (jf this belt is a reddish granite fjuite free from hornblende and frci|U<'iitly containing large porphyritic crystals of l"cldsi»ar. Hoth kinds of granite are cut l)y numerous ;iikes or covered by sheets of eruptive rocks, from the most recent vesicular basaltic lavas to higldy altered diabase. The red granites, at leiist, appear to be .\rchcan, de- posited upon which are small areas of sedimentary rocks that liave been infolded with the granite and penetrated l)y the basic dikes and thus so completely changed from tlieir original con- dition that no clue is allordcd as to their age. They consist of aikose-conglomerates. slates and marl)lcs. Xortb of tlic Klnaiilu vall(!V the only clastic rocks seen were a il'w exposures of con- (TH 140 C. W. Hayes — Ex^^edilion through the Yukon District. glomerate and schist. The district between the Donjek and Koidern rivers is composed almost entirely of white marble and talcose schist, and is the largest observed area of sedimentary rocks between the St Elias mountains and the Yukon. Rocka of Scolnl Pass. — As already described, two slightly diver- gent ranges, separated by the Chittenah valley, extend toward the west and northwest from mount St Elias. The geology of the northern range is simple. In the walls of Scolai pass, by which the range was crossed, its stratigra})hy and structure are magnificentl}' disj)laye(l. The rocks are comparatively recent, for the most i)art Carboniferous, Triassic, and Cretaceous. A bed of limestone about oOO feet thick contains many crinoids and corals, probably of Carboniferous age. Above it are red sandstone and jasper and a great thickness of black shale. Col- lections of fossils from the limestone and the black shale were made, but before reaching the coast they unfortunately were lost, with the exception of a single small piece of shale; this, however, contained several tolerably perfect impressions and was submitted to Professor Alpheus Hyatt for identification. He says : " Thi' fossils in the shale are clearly the reinains of a Monotlx of a Triassic type, allied to M. suhcirctdaris, CJabb, a char- acteristic Triassic form in California. This one seems to be distinct specifically, but is evidently of the same age.'' Interl)edded with tliese sedinunitary rocks and jienetrating them as dikes arc fine-grained, greenish amygdaloid lavas form- ing perhaps half of the whole rock-mass. The structure of the rangd^ consists essentially of a broad, gentle sj'uclinal, with a highly contorted belt on either side. Kxcellertt examples of tyi)ical faa structure were seen in the intensely plicated rocks which form the abrupt northern face of the range. This structure is remarkably well shown in the sides of the gorge from which KIctsan creek issues. The ')()()- foot stratum of white limestone above referred to is folded in with dark greenish-black erui)tivc rocks so as to form a double V ; the ovcrturnc. and south of it the synclinal in which the ')eds are practically I'.orizoiitid (coinciding Avith the axis (»f the ninge) (H'cupics a belt IVom twcnty-(ivc to thirty miles in widtii. Hstrid. Typical overthrust Faulting. 141 >onjek and narble and ?dimentary n. ;htly diver- !nd toward geology of ai pass, by ructuro are ^'cly recent, aceous. A ny crinoids it are red shale. Col- shale were lately wer»' shale; this, lissions an«l I'ntifioation. oinains of a abl), a char- ecms to he penetrating lavas forin- 'ture of the inal, witli a re seen in rtliern face lown m the The 5(K»- foldcf the little altered rocks forming the northern range. AV/-.S (if ('(tj)i)(r Uirci- Vullrii. — Several massive dikes intersect the course of the ("hittenah a fi'w miles above its junction with the Copper, forming high clifls, and a number of rocky iolands in the river chaimcl. The dikes iirc composed of a very com- ai— Nat, liKdci. Mail, vm,, IV, Isicj. imr^ 11 r I ! ' ! 1 1 i liih 142 C. W. Hayes — Expedition through the Yxilcou District. \iact greenish-black rock, traverHcd by man}' streaks of lighter green seri)entinc anil white veins apparently of calcite. Tlie rocks of the southern range which extends westward from St p]lias differ widely from those exposed in Scolai pass. About Taral they consist for the most part of siliceous talcose schist with gray hornblende granite, which is apparently eruptive. Between Taral and the coast the prevailing rocks are bluish-gray ([Uartzite or quartzite-schist. The moraines of glaciers along the lower course of Copper river flowing from the eastward are com- posed largely of eruptive granites and granitoid gneiss contain- ing inclusions of black slate and schist. All the sedimentary rocks between the Chittenah and the coast have been so thor- oughly metamorphosed that their original bedding is wholly obliterated, and no statement can yet l)e made as to their prol)- able age. Rc-ks of Prince Williaia Sound. — Forming the shores about Prince William sound there is a series of black shales and thin- l)edded dark-l)rowii sandstones. They are higldy contorted and somewhat altered, especially the shales. The strike, wherever any regularity can be detected, is about north-and-south, and the dips are generally steep, often vertical. They l)ear a strong resenddance to the rocks of the Yakutat series described by Rus- sell,* and it is not imi)rol)able that they are the continution west- ward of that series. Fossil plants are rejiorted to occur in these rocks at some points on Prince William yound, but none have yet been collected. While the series is perhaps all Mesozoic or younger, any statement as to its age made at tlie |)resent time must be regarded as purely liypothetic. Mineral Resourcrs. Gold. — Placer gold occurs widely dis.seminated tlirougliout the Yukon basin, though only in a few ])laces lias it been found in sulli(nent (juantity to make profitable working. Th(; most im- jxirtaiit of tliese are bars along the I.ewes between Teslin and Little Salmon rivers and on Forty-mile creek, a southern tribu- tary of the Yukon emi)tying near the 141st meridian. Ten men were located on the bars of the liCwes, and, although the water *Aii I'',xiK'\vn to trade with those living on Copper river from whom they might have obtained the metal. The Pelly Indians whom we secured at Selkirk for packers j)romised to show us the source from which in the past they had secured copper for making arrow-heads and more recently for making l»ullets, which are still used to some extent when lead cannot be o])tainod. While still at Selkirk they told us of great masses of co|)per as large as houses on a stream called the Klet-san-dek, or Coi)[)er creek, flowing into White river near its source. As we approached this locality, however, the masses of copper rapidly decreased in size, first to pieces as big as a man and then to bowlders of such size that they coubl be lifted by lirying witb a stout stick, and tinally wliat they actually showed us consisted of small nuggets, the largest oidy a fi'W ounces in weight. Kletsati creek issues from a narrow gorge in the steep northern rrprn ' 'Ml' In 'li! ! ill H\m\\ i Mil 144 C. W. Hayes — Expedition through the Yukon District. face of the St Elias mountains, flowing from numerous small glaciers a mile or two back from and several thousand feet above the valley of White river. At a former stage, probably when the glaciers descended to a much lower level, the stream deposited a broad alluvial cone about the mouth of the gorge. This de- jjosit of gravel is now being cut away and in its lower portions or in crevices of the bed rock numerous small nuggets of native copper are found. This seemed to be the only locality for the metal known to the Indians who were with us, thf Wales island in 1775, and of mount Edgecumbe in 1796 it has l)een confined to the southwestern extremity of the territory. The most easterly known crater which shows any activity at present is mouni Wrangell, This was observed for several days during August, 1891, from Taral, at the confiuence of Chittenah and Copper rivers. It lies al)out fifty-five miles nearly north of Taral, and only the top of the mountain, a sharp black cone, appears above the intervening broad snow-covered dome of mount Blackburn. From this cone masses of densely black vapor were constantly rising. At intervals of about half a minute a cloudy pillar would rear itself to a height of several thousand feet and, floating off toward the east, quickly dis- ai)pear, to l)e replaced by another burst of vapor from the crater. No illumination of the vapor was noticed at night and, so far as I could learn from the chief Nicolai, no ap])earance of fire was ever seen. According to the diary of John Brenner,* a miner, who spent the winter of 1884-"85 at Taral, the volcano was at that time in a state of somewhat violent eruption. He says : "The volcano has been verj- qniot a good while, hut today it is send- ing out a vast (tolunni of smoke and hurlint; immense stones hundreds of feet hiph in tiie air. The masses it is throwing up nuist he very large to he seen here. * * * It has made no loud re})Pi is, only a sort of rum- bling noise." It is possible that an active volcano may exist east of mount Wrangell in the upper White river ])asin, but our information as to its existence depends on tiie vague and unreliable state- ments of the Yukon natives — statements that may refer to mount Wrangell. 8ome sharp cones Avere seen northwest of lake Wellesley and also some in the St Elias mountains between Klutlan glacier and Scolai pass. Their volcanic origin, how- ever, could only be inferred, and any present activity would *Tlie Shores and Alps of .Vlaska, H. W. iSeton Karr : London, 1887, p. 2 IV). mm I. I I ■!ll iil 140 C, IF. Hayes — Expcdilion through the Yukon District. hi^xc boon concealed from us by the cloudw which hung aband in vwi l)anks of the river nearly down to Selkirk, at the confluence of the I^ewes and Pelly. Where first seen the layer of tufa was less than an inch in thickness, and from this increased to a niaxi- mum of nearh' a foot near the mouth of the Teslin, with some local accumulations of two or three feet. Tlie alluvium which has accumulated upon the layer of tufa is generally about a foot in dei)th, but it occasionally varies from nothing to three or four feet. A foot, however, probably represents the normal accumulation of soil under the prevailing conditions since the deposit of the tufa. The first point at which the tufa was noticed in the White River l)asin was about one hundred miles southwest of Sel- kirk, on the divide l)etween the Nisling and Donjek, eastern tributaries of White river. It is altogether i)robable that the deposit was continuous over the whole of this country, but no localities favorable for its preservation and display were seen on the high land traversed. A layer much heavier than that ap- ]»earing on the Lewes would in a short time be wholly lost on a surface almost entirely destitute of soil and composed of rock fragments of varying degrees of coarseness. In the banks of the Kluantu and Donjek the tufa does not form a distinct layer as along the l>ewes, but is probaldy repre- sented by certain stratified beds of white sand, whicih were re- garded at the time as lake deposits. They are indistinguishable from the scdimeut^s carried and deposited by the river at the present time, except in being somewhat coarser. I ■ m I District. hung al)()ut vity in this tuta, wliif^h KiHin. This naisHanco of lie Pelly and cpodition of ssell in 1889 shortly after rd it forms a 1 cut banks lence of the ufa was less 1 to a niaxi- 1, with some ivium which al)<)ut a foot to three or the normal •ns since the 0 the White west of Sel- iijek, eastern hie that the ntry, hut no were seen on han that ap- )lly lost on a losed of rock ufa does not )ltahly repre- liich were re- ;tin|»earance of sand which results from the disinteiiration of a rather coarsely crystalline marble, the indi- vidual fragments being from O.o mm to 1 mm in diameter. The average dimensions increase to the westward, and in the Klutlan valley the deposit contains many fragments of white vesicular pumice from two to ten centimeters in diameter, though the greater part is much finer, jjcrbaps from 1 mm to 5 mm in diam- eter. Nothing in the nature of true volcanic bombs was seen in the tufa, though their presence may have been overlooked. Taking the approximate linuts of the deposit, as observed on the Yukon by McConnell, on the I'elly and Lewes by Dawson, and on the Teslin and at 8colai pass by the writer, it will be seen to cover an oval area, with the maximum thickness near the western extremit}'. The oval anni (which is depicted on j>late IS) is about o70 miles from east to west and 'I'lO from north to south, or about o2,280 stpiarc !uiles. Assuming the deposit to be in the ft)rm of a flat cone with the above base and a vertical height of but fifty feet, its volume amounts to 1G5 cubic miles of material. From the facts of distribution, as above stated, a fairly safe inference may be drawn as to the source of the deposit. The explosive eru[)tion which produced the tufa probably occurred in the northern part of the St Elias mountains, near the source of Klutlan glacier. As already stated, it was impossible to tell whether there is any present volcanic activity in this region. One conspicuous peak, of which the top remained hidden by clouds, was pointe mountain wius Nat-azh-at, mean- ing, iis near as I could make out, " shape of a man ; " but, owing to native reticence and lack of an inter{)reter, it was imj)Ossible to obtain any satisfactttry information concerning the mountain, ^[ount Wrangell has been suggested as the source of the tufa, *Ri>|K)rt of an cxiiloration in tlic Yukon district, N. W. T., and adja- cent nortliern portions of Uiitisli ('oluniliiii, 1SS7; Ann. Hep. (iool. Surv. (.'ana