"Mr. Harper, of the firm of Harper & Ladue, went up this river with sleds in the fall of 1872 a distance of fifty or sixty miles. He describes it as possessing the same general features all the way up, with much clay soil along its banks. Its general course, as sketched by him on a map of mine, is for a distance of about thirty miles a little north-west, thence south-west thirty or thirty-five miles, when it deflects to the north-west running along the base of a high mountain ridge. If the courses given are correct it must rise somewhere near the head of Forty Mile River; and if so, its length is not at all in keeping with the volume of its discharge, when compared with the known length and discharge of other rivers in the territory. Mr. Harper mentioned an extensive flat south of the mountain range spoken of, across which many high mountain peaks could be seen. One of these he thought must be Mount St. Elias, as it overtopped all the others; but, as Mount St. Elias is about one hundred and eighty miles distant, his conclusion is not tenable. From his description of this mountain it must be more than twice the height of the highest peaks seen anywhere on the lower river, and consequently must be ten or twelve thousand feet above the sea. He stated that the current in the river was very swift, as far as he ascended, and the water muddy. The water from this river, though probably not a fourth of the volume of the Yukon, discolors the water of the latter completely; and a couple of miles, below the junction the whole river appears almost as dirty as White River. "Between White and Stewart Rivers, ten miles, the river spreads out to a mile and upwards in width, and is a maze of islands and bars. The survey was carried down the easterly shore, and many of the channels passed through barely afforded water enough to float the canoes. The main channel is along the westerly shore, down which the large boat went, and the crew reported plenty of water. "Stewart River enters from the east in the middle of a wide valley, with low hills on both sides, rising on the north sides in steps or terraces to distant hills of considerable height. The river half a mile or so above the mouth, is two hundred yards in width. The current is slack and the water shallow and clear, but dark colored.