At the first fire Toyatte fell, shot through the breast. Thus died
for his people the noblest old Roman of them all.
On this first Alaska excursion I saw Toyatte under all
circumstances, - in rain and snow, landing at night in dark storms,
making fires, building shelters, exposed to all kinds of discomfort,
but never under any circumstances did I ever see him do anything, or
make a single gesture, that was not dignified, or hear him say a word
that might not be uttered anywhere. He often deplored the fact that
he had no son to take his name at his death, and expressed himself as
very grateful when I told him that his name would not be
forgotten, - that I had named one of the Stickeen glaciers for him.
Part II
The Trip of 1880
Chapter XIV
Sum Dum Bay
I arrived early on the morning of the eighth of August on the steamer
California to continue my explorations of the fiords to the northward
which were closed by winter the previous November. The noise of our
cannon and whistle was barely sufficient to awaken the sleepy town.
The morning shout of one good rooster was the only evidence of life
and health in all the place. Everything seemed kindly and
familiar - the glassy water; evergreen islands; the Indians with their
canoes and baskets and blankets and berries; the jet ravens, prying
and flying about the streets and spruce trees; and the bland, hushed
atmosphere brooding tenderly over all.
How delightful it is, and how it makes one's pulses bound to get back
into this reviving northland wilderness! How truly wild it is, and
how joyously one's heart responds to the welcome it gives, its waters
and mountains shining and glowing like enthusiastic human faces!
Gliding along the shores of its network of channels, we may travel
thousands of miles without seeing any mark of man, save at long
intervals some little Indian village or the faint smoke of a
camp-fire. Even these are confined to the shore. Back a few yards
from the beach the forests are as trackless as the sky, while the
mountains, wrapped in their snow and ice and clouds, seem never
before to have been even looked at.
For those who really care to get into hearty contact with the coast
region, travel by canoe is by far the better way. The larger canoes
carry from one to three tons, rise lightly over any waves likely to
be met on the inland channels, go well under sail, and are easily
paddled alongshore in calm weather or against moderate winds, while
snug harbors where they may ride at anchor or be pulled up on a
smooth beach are to be found almost everywhere. With plenty of
provisions packed in boxes, and blankets and warm clothing in rubber
or canvas bags, you may be truly independent, and enter into
partnership with Nature; to be carried with the winds and currents,
accept the noble invitations offered all along your way to enter the
mountain fiords, the homes of the waterfalls and glaciers, and encamp
almost every night beneath hospitable trees.
