of the agents and voyageurs of the two
companies at this point the identity of the Yukon and Quikpak Rivers was
discovered.

The stories that linger with the village ancients of the great numbers
of Indians who used to inhabit the country are doubtless based upon
recollections of the gathering at old Nuchalawoya, when furs were
brought here from far and wide, when there was no other place of
merchandise in mid-Alaska. Now almost every Indian village has a trader
and a store. That the race has diminished, and in most places is still
diminishing, is beyond question, but that it was ever very largely
numerous the natural conditions of the country forbid us to believe.

[Sidenote: WHISKY-PEDDLERS]

During the Reverend Jules Prevost's time at Tanana--and he was in
residence in the year of this journey--from careful vital statistics
kept during two periods of five years each, the race seemed barely to be
holding its own; but since that time there has been a considerable
decline, coincident with the increase of drunkenness and debauchery at
the village when Mr. Prevost's firm hand and watchful eye were
withdrawn. The situation tends to grow worse, and while one does not
give up hope, for that would mean to give up serious effort, the outlook
for the Indians at this place seems unfavourable. Two hundred soldiers,
six or eight liquor shops,--the number varies from year to year,--three
miles off a native village of perhaps one hundred and fifty souls, and
dotting those intervening miles cabins chiefly occupied by "bootleggers"
and go-betweens--that is the Tanana situation in a nutshell. The men
desire the native girls, and the liquor is largely a lure to get them.
Tuberculosis and venereal disease are rife, and the two make a terribly
fatal combination amongst Indians.

It was good to enjoy Mr. and Mrs. Prevost's hospitality, and it was good
to speak through such an admirable interpreter as Paul. Something more
than intelligence and knowledge of the languages are required to make a
good interpreter; there must be sympathy and the ability to take fire.
With such an interpreter, leaping at the speaker's thoughts, carrying
himself entirely into his changing moods, rising to vehemence with him
and again dropping to gentleness, forgetting himself in his
identification with his principal, there is real pleasure in speaking to
the natives who hang upon his vicarious lips. On the other hand, one of
the most intelligent mission interp