ly about three-quarters of a mile of river, which
is not more than fifty or sixty yards wide, and two or three feet deep,
and is so swift and rough that navigation is out of the question.

"Lake Lindeman is about five miles long and half a mile wide. It is deep
enough for all ordinary purposes. Lake Bennet[3] is twenty-six and a
quarter miles long, for the upper fourteen of which it is about half a
mile wide. About midway in its length an arm comes in from the west,
which Schwatka appears to have mistaken for a river, and named Wheaton
River. This arm is wider than the other arm down to that point, and is
reported by Indians to be longer and heading in a glacier which lies in
the pass at the head of Chilkoot Inlet. This arm is, as far as seen,
surrounded by high mountains, apparently much higher than those on the
arm we travelled down. Below the junction of the two arms the lake is
about one and a half miles wide, with deep water. Above the forks the
water of the east branch is muddy. This is caused by the streams from
the numerous glaciers on the head of the tributaries of Lake Lindeman.

[Footnote 3: A small saw-mill has been erected at the head of Lake
Bennet; lumber for boat building sells at $100 per M. Boats 25 feet long
and 5 feet beam are $60 each. Last year the ice broke up in the lake on
the 12th June, but this season is earlier and the boats are expected to
go down the lake about the 1st of June.]

"A stream which flows into Lake Bennet at the south-west corner is also
very dirty, and has shoaled quite a large portion of the lake at its
mouth. The beach at the lower end of this lake is comparatively flat and
the water shoal. A deep, wide valley extends northwards from the north
end of the lake, apparently reaching to the canon, or a short distance
above it. This may have been originally a course for the waters of the
river. The bottom of the valley is wide and sandy, and covered with
scrubby timber, principally poplar and pitch-pine. The waters of the
lake empty at the extreme north-east angle through a channel not more
than one hundred yards wide, which soon expands into what Schwatka
called Lake Nares.[4] Through this narrow channel there is quite a
current, and more than 7 feet of water, as a 6 foot paddle and a foot of
arm added to its length did not reach the bottom.

[Footnote 4: The connecting waters between Lake Bennet and Tagish Lake
constitute what is now called Caribou Crossing.]

"The hills at