s place was already becoming thickly populated with temporary
tenants like ourselves, small stores of various kinds, and
lodging-tents, not to mention a fat individual near us who, decorated
and bedecked with medals, hung out her sign--"Lady Barber." Our camp was
about fifty yards from the ocean. Driftwood from Siberia, tossed up by
unusually severe storms, lay about in quantity. V----, with his mining
partner, R----, camped with us, and all took turns in guarding the
provisions, cooking, and doing camp chores generally, during this period
of deliberation. At times during the day it was very warm,--the sun
blazed down hot,--but toward six o'clock in the evening it became
chilly, and at night it was positively and uncomfortably cold; for, be
it remembered, all through that section of the country, a few feet from
the surface, and this, too, in the case of the tundra, perennial layers
of ice and frozen ground are met. Putting a flooring to the tent, and
the purchase of some reindeer-skins to fill the want caused by the
"lifting" of our sleeping-robes and the mysterious disappearance of the
folding cots, made the nights much more agreeable, and, furthermore, we
were becoming inured to the climatic conditions. The midnight sun stood
up in the heavens small and red like a toy balloon; and it was the
perpetual daylight, aggravated through the whiteness of the tent, which,
aided by the cold, made those first nights almost sleepless ones. Near
us, living in a small hut fortified with driftwood and canvas, was a
queer little old German-American, who was one of the pioneers in the
Nome region. He was addressed as "Captain Cook," and, with a twinkle in
his bright eye, he referred to his abode as his "castle." We secured his
good will, and the old fellow related some of his interesting
experiences. He said, now that he had accumulated some gold, he was
going home in the autumn to see his "leetle wife in Kansas City," whom
he had not seen for many years.

Westward along the beach, for miles, all kinds of contrivances, from the
simple hand-"rocker" to complicated machinery, were being used to get
the gold; but the men did not seem cheerful in their work, and most of
them would freely and candidly admit that they were not making even good
wages. Among the many strange sights on the beach was an enormous
machine, built upon huge barrels, which some of our friends with the
blue-prints were making ready to dredge gold from the sea. It
rep