If it is impossible to get so far north as this, it is proposed to put in at Norton Sound, on which St. Michaels is situated, the port which has come into so much prominence lately through the discovery of gold on the Klondike.

Whichever of these points can be reached, it is purposed to send the provisions across Alaska to Point Barrow by reindeer.

There is a reindeer station at Point Clarence, and so it would be better to reach this spot if possible; but the captain of the revenue-cutter Bear, which cruises in Alaskan waters, says that there is too much ice already for it to be possible to reach either Port Clarence or St. Michaels.

The reindeer will, however, be used when other means of travelling are impossible, and they will bring the supplies to the imprisoned whalers.

There are at present eleven hundred head of deer in Alaska, all in a healthy and thriving condition.

Last December, the superintendent of the reindeer station at Port Clarence thought he would try and see just how useful these beasts could be made, and whether it would be possible, by their aid, to establish communication between Arctic Alaska and civilization.

He took with him nine sleds, seventeen reindeer, and two Lapp teamsters.

[Illustration:  REINDEER TEAM. From Photograph Taken in Alaska.]

Here is his description of the trip: 

“The journey was a very difficult one.  Barren mountains whose sides had been swept bare by blizzards, and ravines which held deep snowdrifts, had to be crossed.  The icy waters of mountain torrents had to be forded; sometimes a way had to be cut with axes through tangled undergrowth.  The cold was intense, sometimes 73 deg. below zero.”

Though reindeer moss was found in sufficient quantities throughout the entire trip, at one time the party was storm-bound on the mountains, and the animals were thirty-six hours without food.

The hardy creatures suffered no permanent injury from this long fast, and their skins, thickly covered with long hair, were sufficient to protect them from the icy blasts.

With servants such as these to do its bidding, there is every hope that the Government may be able to send provisions to the unfortunate whalers before they begin to suffer the pangs of hunger.

Cheering news has been received from the captain of the whaling-steamer Devall and the captain of the revenue-cutter Bear, who state that there are between three hundred and four hundred barrels of flour at the Point Barrow refuge-station, probably within reach of the men.

The Bear, which is now at Seattle, has been ordered to prepare for another Arctic trip, and be ready to push on through the Straits as soon as the spring conies, and go round to Point Barrow to rescue the whalers, in case the packing of the ice has crushed and wrecked their vessels.

The Bear has a noteworthy Arctic record.  It was this vessel which was sent in search of, and was successful in finding, the Greely expedition.