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Surely, God's blessing did accompany them, and the Archbishop's absence is beyond the measure of time.

The details of the journey are too well known by Mgr. Seghers' long and interesting narrative to be repeated here. We shall give only a few items. The route chosen was from Victoria to Juneau, and thence to Chilcat by steamer. There Indian guides and packers were secured for the crossing of the coast range of mountains. They experienced great annoyance at the hands of the chief of the Chilcat Indians, who to extortion added violence. They entered the Yukon country, writes the Archbishop, fulfilling nearly to the letter our Lord's commandment to go forth, "without gold, without silver, without money in our purses." On Saturday, July 24th, the Feast of St. Francis Solano, an American saint, they left salt water navigation. They formed a numerous party. Besides Mgr. Seghers and Fathers Tosi and Robaut, S.J., there were two servants, Frank Fuller and Antoine Provot, a French Canadian lately engaged, and in addition five miners and about sixty Indian packers, some with over a hundred pounds on their backs, "all in good spirits and great glee to begin the wearisome, arduous tramp."

By a remarkable coincidence, the Archbishop saw the Yukon the first time this year, on the same feast on which he had seen it in 1877 -the Feast of St. Ann. The next day Provot mysteriously disappeared, and was never heard of after. On the 30th, Mgr. Seghers had the happiness of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the head waters of the Yukon, where, as he believed, no Mass had ever been offered. "But where was I?" he asks. "Was I still in Alaska, inside of the line that runs parallel with the coast? Was I in the Vicariate Apostolic of British Columbia or in my own diocese, in the far end of the Northwest Territory or in the Dominion? This is difficult to determine. I hope, however, that some accurate map will soon determine all the boundary lines and clearly show where the foot of Lindeman lake is situated. At all events, before leaving that place I nailed to a tree the following inscription: "Archbishop Seghers, of Victoria, V. I., accompanied by Fathers Tosi and Robaut, camped here and offered the Holy Sacrifice, July 30th, 1886." We must pass over the interesting account of how they built a raft, and gave evidence of how the Archbishop availed himself of the absence of his companions on the search for timber, to overhaul his wardrobe. So, on the shore of Lake Bennett, Saturday, August 14th, was a general washing day; not only the altar linen, but towels, handkerchiefs and underwear underwent a thorough cleansing. "If you had seen my clothes-pins," he writes, "you would have been very much amused; some of them burst. But, of course, my discom

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fiture was all to myself. Monday, August 16th, was a general mending day. I had to remain under my blankets to subject some of my clothing to the necessary repairs, perfectly safe from the intruder's visit. I hope," he adds, "you will pardon me the minuteness of these private details. They serve, at any rate, to give a complete description of a missionary life in a new country. The raft built, the most serious obstacles to navigation were in the shape of a succession of rapids about four miles long. These rapids are on the river connecting Lakes Marsh and Labarge, and between two cañons-Miles Cañon and White Horse Cañon. Each cañon is about one mile long, and necessitated consequently two portages, the packing of which was done by ourselves. Miles Cañon lies between two steep, almost perpendicular, banks of basalt in the shape of columns, through which the whole river, compressed into a space of fifty feet, rushes with tremendous velocity. The water boils up in large waves, having a depression in the centre, so that no floating object can possibly strike against the rocks of the bank. For about a quarter of a mile the banks are nearly parallel, then they widen out, the current being more slack between two eddies; the water, after leaving this wide spot, rushes over a large rock into another channel, and leaves the cañon roaring and foaming, as if to testify to its fury. One boat was unloaded, and the cargo, as I said, packed across the trail along the cañon. Fuller took the helm, Father Robaut took the oar, a miner we had picked up at the foot of Lake Marsh took one other, and as I did not want to see my people jeopardize their lives without sharing their danger, I took my place in the front of the boat, my watch in hand to measure the velocity of our locomotion. My presence seemed to remove from my followers all dread of the gloomy cañon. We started off at I P.M., and in a moment the swift current caught our boat, and whirled it between the breakers on each side of the cañon. It was a terrible scene. We were visibly on an incline, and rushing downhill with the velocity of a locomotive. The roaring of the water, the spray that filled the air all around us, the waves that struck our scow, which rolled and pitched as on the billows of the sea, made an impression on our minds that will not easily be forgotten. But we had no time for reflection. In a few minutes we found ourselves in a slack current and between two eddies, which we had to avoid most carefully. Then another plunge into the rest of the cañon. Passing over a rock over which the water poured and formed a real liquid hill behind us, that screened from our view the head of the cañon, we were hauled right and left, tossed and shaken, skipping the water at intervals, and emerged from the dark place, having made a mile in three minutes and twenty-five seconds. A quick motion VOL. XIII.-8

of the rudder gave a sharp turn to our scow, and brought her into slack water; whilst we landed, three of the miners waved their hats at us to congratualte us on the success of our achievement.”

The party arrived at the mouth of the Stewart River on September 7th. Here they were heartily welcomed by Mr. Harper, a trader of the Alaska Commercial Company, by about thirty miners who had come to camp for the winter, and by the Indians. The river was already freezing up, and the Arctic winter with its intense cold was rapidly approaching. The zealous Archbishop thought that three missionaries in the same place were too many, especially as he learned that any delay in reaching Nulato might give the Protestants the first possession. He determined then to push on, without loss of time, though Nulato was nine hundred miles away. The Fathers were opposed to the plan, but had to yield to his superior judgment, though they seriously mistrusted the companion he had chosen-Fuller. This latter had given signs of mental derangement on the steamer "Ancon," expressing fears that white men were seeking to take his life, so much so that Fathers Tosi and Robaut both begged his Grace to send Fuller back by the same steamer. But the Archbishop, judging his services necessary, decided to take him along, hoping that his fear of white men would subside when they reached the interior, where they would meet but few whites. Fuller's extravagances, it seems, had not lessened, as had been hoped; still the Archbishop insisted upon taking Fuller with him. On the 8th of September they started on the long journey. Fr. Robaut says: "This separation was very hard for him (Mgr. Seghers) and for us; but it was necessary, he said, and so, after a tender and repeated good-bye, he departed from us." The two Fathers agreed to meet the Archbishop at his new station as soon as the river should be travel, at the end of May, or the beginning of June.

open for Monsignor Seghers and his companions reached Nuklukayet, a small Indian village and trading post on the Upper Yukon, on the 24th, where they were hospitably received by the trader, Mr. Walker, and the Indians. They remained there four days, and then the Archbishop decided to go back up the river eight miles to an abandoned trading-post where there was a small tribe of Indians, build a cabin and return in about ten days for supplies. It was noticed during their stay that Fuller was querulous, complaining and disposed to get out of sorts if required to do any work that did not meet his views, while the Archbishop was always pleasant and apparently light-hearted. Their Indian companions had observed the same thing. As they did not return at the expiration of ten days, Mr. Walker became alarmed and sent an Indian to find out the reason. In the meantime the missing

party returned by a different trail. They had not built the cabin as intended, and though it was not then stated, it appears that Fuller refused to assist in the undertaking. The Archbishop remained at Nuklukayet till about the 19th of November, and spent the time in instructing the Indians, to whom, as with all the Upper Yukon Indians, he had long been well known, and by whom he was revered and beloved. Fuller continued to be peevish and suspicious, showing resentment on the slightest cause, particularly towards the Archbishop, who, however, appeared to take no notice and always seemed in good spirits. Monsignor Seghers had not given up his intention of reaching Nulato, and tried to induce Mr. Walker to accompany him, but did not succeed, nor had he any better success with the miners; for the weather was growing bitter, the temperature ranging between 10° and 20° below zero. Finally he hired two trusty Indians—a man and a youthand an outfit of three sleds with dogs. The Archbishop used one sled, Fuller and the Indian each one, and the boy went ahead on snow shoes, leading the dogs. Fuller, it seems, was much incensed because the outfit was only hired, and not purchased. About the 23d of November, three days after leaving Nuklukayet, the party reached a small trading-post kept by a Russian named Kokran, who was also an old acquaintance of his Grace's, whom he warmly welcomed. From this point the Archbishop wrote to Walker, giving an account of the journey thither. The letter was full of characteristic pleasantry about their little mishaps on the way, the behavior of the dogs, and other incidents, but nothing to indicate any trouble. It was the last letter that the beloved prelate is known to have written, and is still in Walker's possession. On the morning of the 24th they resumed their journey, and travelled on about four days. Towards the evening of the 27th, Fuller, who, according to the Indians' account, had grown more and more impatient and dissatisfied because of the Archbishop's attention to the suggestions of the Indians and indifference to him, asked his Grace to stop and pitch camp for the night at a place selected by him. The Indians advised going farther on to a place two miles distant, where they could find more comfortable quarters for the night in some abandoned huts. The Archbishop agreed to this, telling Fuller that the Indians knew best, and they pushed ahead and reached an empty hut in the evening. According to the Indians who accompanied the Archbishop, Fuller was very much displeased because his advice had not been followed, and he complained bitterly that the advice of Indians had been preferred to that of a white man. They say, also, that Fuller was very much excited during that night, and seemed not to have slept. At daybreak they saw him get up and go about as if he would start the

fire, but did not do it. All at once he called the Archbishop and told him to get up. The Archbishop sat up, and on seeing Fuller with his gun levelled, folded his arms on his breast and bowed his head in resignation. The bullet passed through his forehead near the left eye and came out from the upper part of the neck, causing instantaneous death. The Indian witnessing the tragedy got frightened, and fearing that Fuller would kill them also, disarmed him. But he reassured them by saying that he meant to kill only the Archbishop. Nor did he show the least sign of regret. He seemed perfectly calm and cool, even helping to arrange the body of the martyred prelate. He took off the pectoral cross and episcopal ring, saying that he would deliver them to the ecclesiastical authorities in Victoria, B. C. Leaving the body, Fuller and the Indians went at once to Nulato. The murderer confessed his crime to the trader, Mr. Frederickson, but stated that he had a good cause for killing the Archbishop. The Indians of the village were so much incensed that Fuller's life was in danger. The next day, Mr. Frederickson sent for the body, which was found frozen, and had it brought to Nulato. There he had a wooden coffin made for it, and on the 10th of December it was taken to St. Michael's by some Indians, whom Fuller followed. The guilty man, while at Nulato, had written to Mr. Walker, at Nuklukayet, confessing the crime and giving all the details. When the Archbishop's body arrived at St. Michael's, Fuller presented himself to Mr. Henry Numann, the Agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, saying that he had brought the body of the Archbishop and that he had killed him, without showing any compunction at the foul deed. Numann was stunned by the news, as he had a warm regard for Monsignor Seghers. He had the body placed in a zinc coffin and laid in the old Greek Church at St. Michael's, awaiting its removal to Victoria. There the precious remains lay until July 6th, 1887, as the captains of the steamers that touch at St. Michael's refused to take them on board to convey them to San Francisco. "Then," Father Robaut says, "I was confident that Captain Healy, of the revenue cutter 'Bear,' which was expected every day, being himself a Catholic, would surely do it. But even he, though most willing to do anything he could, said that it was not in his power to do it; for, according to the law, a permit from the Government must first be obtained. The only way left me then was to bury temporarily the remains of the Archbishop at St. Michael's. As soon, therefore, as I received this answer from Captain Healy, I made arrangements for the burial. I chose a corner of the Russian graveyard about 200 yards from the post just over the sea, as being the driest place. After the grave had been dug, six white men, who happened to be at St. Michael's, carried the coffin to the

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