re than
twice the height of the highest peaks seen anywhere on the lower river,
and consequently must be ten or twelve thousand feet above the sea. He
stated that the current in the river was very swift, as far as he
ascended, and the water muddy. The water from this river, though
probably not a fourth of the volume of the Yukon, discolors the water of
the latter completely; and a couple of miles, below the junction the
whole river appears almost as dirty as White River.

"Between White and Stewart Rivers, ten miles, the river spreads out to a
mile and upwards in width, and is a maze of islands and bars. The survey
was carried down the easterly shore, and many of the channels passed
through barely afforded water enough to float the canoes. The main
channel is along the westerly shore, down which the large boat went, and
the crew reported plenty of water.

"Stewart River enters from the east in the middle of a wide valley, with
low hills on both sides, rising on the north sides in steps or terraces
to distant hills of considerable height. The river half a mile or so
above the mouth, is two hundred yards in width. The current is slack and
the water shallow and clear, but dark colored.

"While at the mouth I was fortunate enough to meet a miner who had spent
the whole of the summer of 1887 on the river and its branches
prospecting and exploring. He gave me a good deal of information of
which I give a summary. He is a native of New Brunswick, Alexander
McDonald by name, and has spent some years mining in other places, but
was very reticent about what he had made or found. Sixty or seventy
miles up the Stewart a large creek enters from the south which he called
Rose Bud Creek or River, and thirty or forty miles further up a
considerable stream flows from the north-east, which appears to be
Beaver River, as marked on the maps of that part of the country. From
the head of this stream he floated down on a raft taking five days to do
so. He estimated his progress at forty or fifty miles each day, which
gives a length of from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles. This
is probably an over-estimate, unless the stream is very crooked, which,
he stated, was not the case. As much of his time would be taken up in
prospecting, I should call thirty miles or less a closer estimate of his
progress. This river is from fifty to eighty yards wide and was never
more than four or five feet deep, often being not more than two or
three;