The seal, the walrus, the reindeer and the polar bear,--all are here. They are the oldest residents of the north country. But there is one thing which does _not_ abide with us. This is the serpent. Evidently Ireland is not the only country from which the good St. Patrick banished the snakes. The Eskimos and Indians of Alaska probably never saw one. In fact, it is claimed that no poisonous thing exists here. But to this I make one exception. The mosquito is still with us in certain sections of the country. There are none in St. Michael, however. And no snakes! As a corroboration of this statement I submit the information that the serpent has no place in either the heraldry or the basketry of the natives of Alaska. The absence of the snake in the Northland, however, may be due, not to the influence of St. Patrick, but to the frigidity of the climate. Anyway, we rejoice that it is so. The most timid of women may wade barefooted in the marshes without a shiver! Besides, Alaskans are proverbially kind-hearted and what one of us would willingly put himself in the position of "Old Man Snyder" of whom the mid-western poet who wrote under the name of _Ironquill_ once said: "Old man Snyder found a snake Frozen stiffer than a stake And he tucked it in his vest. When the saurian became thawed Mr. Snyder became chawed! And in one unbroken stream He proceeded to blaspheme And eradicate the plug From a little old brown jug! Year by year, both day and night, Snyder tried to cure that bite, But he didn't have the heft! So one day he while tug- Ging at the plug Caught the jim-jams and got left! =Moral.= Frozen saurians are safer! And it's bitterer than borax To be gnawed about the thorax One's humanity to pay for!" CHAPTER X THE ALL-ALASKA SWEEPSTAKES No story of Alaska would be complete unless it included reference to that most vital element of all the Northland, the Alaskan dog. I once heard a story of an old Southern planter who said: "Whenevah Ah meet up with a man who says he don' like a niggah, Ah always set it down that he nevah _owned_ one!" I can truthfully say the same about a dog. Ever since the days when Ulysses roamed the seas man has loved his dog. Dearest (and most valuable) to the heart of an Alaskan is his "Malamut" or "Husky," as the Alaskan dog is usually designated. So intelligent that he is almost human, strong as a young ox, oblivious (apparently) to the cold,--he is a part of the land itself! His importance to the life of the North can not be over-estimated. He carries the mail into far regions which but for him would be closed to the outside world for many months of the year.