uld 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 exclusiv