Taiya Inlet, but it is not as complete as I would have liked. I have named this pass "White Pass," in honor of the late Hon. Thos. White, Minister of the Interior, under whose authority the expedition was organized. Commencing at Taiya Inlet, about two miles south of its north end, it follows up the valley, of the Shkagway River to its source, and thence down the valley of another river which Capt. Moore reported to empty into the Takone or Windy Arm of Bove Lake (Schwatka). Dr. Dawson says this stream empties into Taku Arm, and in that event Capt. Moore is mistaken. Capt. Moore did not go all the way through to the lake, but assumed from reports he heard from the miners and others that the stream flowed into Windy Arm, and this also was the idea of the Indian "Jim" from what I could gather from his remarks in broken English and Chinook. Capt. Moore estimates the distance from tide water to the summit at about 18 miles, and from the summit to the lake at about 22 to 23 miles. He reports the pass as thickly timbered all the way through.

"The timber line on the south side of the Taiya Pass, as determined by barometer reading, is about 2,300 feet above the sea, while on the north side it is about 1,000 feet below the summit. This large difference is due, I think, to the different conditions in the two places. On the south side the valley is narrow and deep, and the sun cannot produce its full effect. The snow also is much deeper there, owing to the quantity which drifts in from the surrounding mountains. On the north side the surface is sloping, and more exposed to the sun's rays. On the south side the timber is of the class peculiar to the coast, and on the north that peculiar to the interior. The latter would grow at a greater altitude than the coast timber. It is possible that the summit of White Pass is not higher than the timber line on the north of the Taiya Pass, or about 2,500 feet above tide water, and it is possibly even lower than this, as the timber in a valley such as the White Pass would hardly live at the same altitude as on the open slope on the north side.

"Capt. Moore has had considerable experience in building roads in mountainous countries. He considers that this would be an easy route for a wagon road compared with some roads he has seen in British Columbia. Assuming his distances to be correct, and the height of the pass to be probably about correctly indicated, the grades would not be very steep, and a railroad could easily be carried through if necessary.

"After completing the survey down to the lake, I set about getting my baggage down too. Of all the Indians who came to the summit with packs, only four or five could be induced to remain and pack down to the lake, although I was paying them at the rate of $4 per hundred pounds. After one trip down only two men remained, and they only in hopes of stealing something. One of them appropriated a pair of boots, and was much surprised to find that he had to pay for them on being settled with. I could not blame them much for not caring to work, as the weather was very disagreeable—it rained or snowed almost continuously. After the Indians left I tried to get down the stuff with the aid of my own men, but it was slavish and unhealthy labor, and after the first trip one of them was laid up with what appeared to be inflammatory rheumatism. The first time the party crossed, the sun was shining brightly, and this brought on snow blindness, the pain of which only those who have suffered from this complaint can realize. I had two sleds with me which were made in Juneau specially for the work of getting over the mountains and down the lakes on the ice. With these I succeeded in bringing about a ton and a-half to the lakes, but found that the time it would take to get all down in this way would seriously interfere with the programme arranged with Dr. Dawson, to say nothing of the suffering of the men and myself, and the liability to sickness which protracted physical exertion under such uncomfortable conditions and continued suffering from snow blindness expose us to. I had with me a white man who lived at the head of the inlet with a Tagish Indian woman. This man had a good deal of influence with the Tagish tribe, of whom the greater number were then in the neighborhood where he resided, trying to get some odd jobs of work, and I sent him to the head of the inlet to try and induce the Tagish Indians to undertake the transportation, offering them $5 per hundred pounds. In the meantime Capt. Moore and the Indian "Jim" had rejoined me. I had their assistance for a day or two, and "Jim's" presence aided indirectly in inducing the Indians to come to my relief.

"The Tagish are little more than slaves to the more powerful coast tribes, and are in constant dread of offending them in any way. One of the privileges which the coast tribes claim is the exclusive right to all work on the coast or in its vicinity, and the Tagish are afraid to dispute this claim. When my white man asked the Tagish to come over and pack they objected on the grounds mentioned. After considerable ridicule of their cowardice, and explanation of the fact that they had the exclusive right to all work in their own country, the country on the side of the north side of the coast range being admitted by the coast Indians to belong to the Tagish tribe just as the coast tribes had the privilege of doing all the work on the coast side of the mountains, and that one of their number was already working with me unmolested, and likely to continue so, nine of them came over, and in fear and trembling began to pack down to the lake. After they were at work for a few days some of the Chilkoots came out and also started to work. Soon I had quite a number at work and was getting my stuff down quite fast. But this good fortune was not to continue. Owing to the prevailing wet, cold weather on the mountains, and the difficulty of getting through the soft wet snow, the Indians soon began to quit work for a day or two at a time, and to gamble with one another for the wages already earned. Many of them wanted to be paid in full, but this I positively refused, knowing that to do so was to have them all apply for their earnings and leave me until necessity compelled them to go to work again. I once for all made them distinctly understand that I would not pay any of them until the whole of the stuff was down. As many of them had already earned from twelve to fifteen dollars each, to lose which was a serious matter to them, they reluctantly resumed work and kept at it until all was delivered. This done, I paid them off, and set about getting my outfit across the lake, which I did with my own party and the two Peterborough canoes which I had with me.

"These two canoes travelled about 3,000 miles by rail and about 1,000 miles by steamship before being brought into service. They did considerable work on Chilkoot and Tagish Inlets, and were then packed over to the head of Lewes River (Lake Lindeman), from where they were used in making the survey of Lewes and Yukon Rivers. In this work they made about 650 landings. They were then transported on sleighs from the boundary on the Yukon to navigable water on the Porcupine.

"In the spring of 1888 they descended the latter river, heavily loaded, and through much rough water, to the mouth of Bell's River, and up it to McDougall's Pass. They were then carried over the pass to Poplar River and were used in going down the latter to Peel River, and thence up Mackenzie River 1,400 miles; or, exclusive of railway and ship carriage, they were carried about 170 miles and did about 2,500 miles of work for the expedition, making in all about 1,700 landings in no easy manner and going through some very bad water. I left them at Fort Chipewyan in fairly good condition, and, with a little painting, they would go through the same ordeal again.

"After getting all my outfit over to the foot of Lake Lindeman I set some of the party to pack it to the head of Lake Bennet.