very large, perhaps four
feet at the base. When the carving is completed they are planted firmly in
front of the hut, there to stay until they fall away. At the lower end,
some four feet from the ground, there is an opening into the already
hollowed pole, and in this are put the bones of the burned bodies of the
family. It is only the wealthier families who support a totem pole, and
no amount of money can induce an Indian to part with his family tree.

[Illustration: SITKA HARBOR, ALASKA.
Reached via the Union Pacific Ry.]

THE GRAVES

of those not having totems are found in clusters, or scattered on the
mountain sides, or anywhere convenience dictates. The bones are put in a
box with all the belongings of the deceased, and then deposited anywhere.
The natives are exceedingly superstitious and jealous in their care of the
dead, and would sooner die than molest or steal from a grave. That
tourists who are supposed to be civilized, refined, and Christianized
should steal from them is a crime which should never be tolerated, as it
was among the passengers of our steamer.

The natives have a belief that all bodies cremated turn into ravens, and
that probably accounts to them for the endless number of those birds in
Alaska. Ravens are sacred birds to them, and are never molested in
anyway. There are other methods of disposing of the dead in different
parts of Alaska. The bones are sometimes put in a canoe and raised high
in the air on straddles; again, in trees above the reach of prowling
animals, or set adrift in a discarded canoe.

JUNEAU--THE TREADWELL MINE.

After leaving Wrangel the steamer anchored off Salmon Bay to lighter
eighty tons of salt for fishermen, then on to Juneau and Douglas Islands.
Here was the same general appearance of location, the gigantic background
of densely wooded mountains, the tide-washed streets, on broken slopes,
the dirty native women with their wares for sale, with prices advanced
200 per cent, since the steamer whistled, and behind them their stern
male companions, goading them on to make their sales, and stealthily
kicking them in their crouched positions if they came down on their
prices to an eager but economical tourist.

Juneau is the only town of any importance on the mainland. It has arisen
to that dignity through the quality of its mines, and it is now the
mining centre of Alaska. Here we found Edward I. Parsons, of San
Francisco, erecting an endless-rope tramway for condu