This was all familiar country to me, for I had spent over a month in this locality the year before, and as we camped for the night I could hardly realize that twelve months had gone by since I left this beautiful spot.  For the Island of Afognak, with its giant cliffs and deep bays, is to my mind one of the most picturesque regions I have ever seen.

The next morning the wind was unfavorable, but in the afternoon we were able to visit one of the salmon streams.  The red salmon had come, but it would be another week or more before the humpbacks would begin their run.  It was a bleak day, with the rain driving in our faces.  We forced our way up the banks of a stream for some miles, following well-defined bear trails through the tall grass.  Some large tracks were seen, but we sighted no game.  We returned to camp after ten o’clock that night, wet to the skin and chilled through.  The following day was a repetition of this, only under worse weather conditions, if that were possible.

I now decided to push on to a large bay on the northeast side of the island.  This is locally known as Seal Bay, and is supposed to be without question the best hunting ground on Afognak.

Unfortunately a heavy wind detained us in Paramonoff Bay for two days.  The morning after the storm broke we made a four o’clock start.  There was a strong favoring breeze, and we made a sail of one of the blankets.  The baidarka fairly flew, but it was rather ticklish work, as the sea was quite rough.  Early that afternoon we turned into the narrow straits which lie between the islands of Afognak and Shuyak.  Shuyak is uninhabited, but some natives have hunting barabaras there.  Formerly this island contained great numbers of silver gray foxes.  A few years ago some white trappers visited it and put out poison.  The result was the extermination of all the foxes upon the island, for not only the foxes that ate the poison died, but the others which ate the poisoned carcasses.  The hunters obtained but one skin, as the foxes died in their holes or in the woods, and were not found until their pelts were spoiled.  This is a fair example of the great need for Alaskan game laws.

At the present time Shuyak is rich in bear and in land otter, and I can imagine no better place for a national game preserve.  It has lakes and salmon streams, and would be an ideal place to stock.

The straits between Shuyak and Afognak are extremely dangerous, for the great tides from Cook Inlet draw through this narrow passage.  My nerve was tested a bit as the baidarka swept by the shore, for had it once got well started we should have been drawn into the rapids and then into a long line of angry breakers beyond.  At one point it seemed as if we were heading right into these dangerous waters, and then abruptly turning at a sharp angle, we glided around a point into a shallow bay.  Circling this shore we successfully passed inside the line of breakers and soon met the long ground swell of the Pacific, while Seal Bay stretched for many miles inland on the other side.