e supplies, sold or otherwise
disposed of provisions which were less essential, for the carrying of
freight and supplies in that impossible country, however short the
actual distance, is a very serious and expensive matter. V---- and R----
were building their boat, though they had not yet decided in which
direction to go; but they agreed to communicate with us somehow during
the season. A tent labeled "Undertaker," with the American flag on top,
had just been put up for business across the way from us; and it seemed
fitting that we should celebrate the Fourth of July by leaving Nome.
This was accomplished on the little steamer _Dora_, belonging to the
Alaska Commercial Company, not much to look at, but it afforded the
greatest comfort and luxury we had known since the days at San
Francisco, and, furthermore, it carried drinkable water.

III

TRAVEL TO THE INTERIOR

Leaving Nome in the evening, by the following noon we were off a small
settlement comprising a few scattered sod houses, warehouses, and tents,
called either by the Indian name "Chenik," or "Dexter's," after the
pioneer who lived there with his Eskimo wife and children. Dexter had
settled at Chenik a number of years ago, and was making money by trading
with the natives, when, in the autumn of 1898, the discovery of gold at
Nome made him a very rich man. He was among the first to secure
valuable claims. Chenik, as I prefer to call it, is a sand-spit in the
entrance to Golovin Bay, a large and shallow body of water with
treacherous mud-flats, surrounded by great barren hills and the
all-pervading tundra. Not a tree is to be seen, but rising immediately
behind the scattered settlement is a steep hill, less somber than the
rest, upon which the occasional wooden bier of a departed Eskimo makes
the scene less monotonous. There is a small Swedish mission, in charge
of a good man, Mr. Hendricksen, who was looking after the welfare of
fifty or sixty natives there encamped. The entire picture is far more
cheerful than that of Nome. Until further and more definite information
concerning our destination could be gathered, we made temporary camp on
dry ground not far from the shore, fortunate in being able to borrow
some loose boards for a flooring. The weather certainly had been and was
very good to us, the days bright and clear and, at times, quite warm,
but the nights always cold.

Generally, what was learned about the Council City country was far from
rea