.?/2 All Al^^ LASK ISSUED BY PACIFIC COAST STEAMSHIP CO. SAN FRANCISCO. 1890 GOODALL, PERKINS & CO. —^GENERAL AGEIMTS^^-^ No. 10 Market St.,, San Francisco, Cal. GENERAL TICKET OFFICE, ^. B. Jackson, General Passenger and Ticket Agent, 214 MONTGOMEKY STREET, San Francisco. California. ific Coasts ^team^hip dompanij. ii^AMERS WILL SAIL from Broadway Wharf, San B'rancisco, J as follows: For Wrangel, Sitka, Juneau, and other ports in Alaska, as per time schedule, see pages 5, 6 and 7. For Victoria and Vancouver, (B. C), Port Townsend, Seattle and Tacoma, (Wash.), Steamers City of Puebla, Umatilla and Walla Walla, 9 A. M., April and May 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30; June and July 4, 9, 14, ig, 24, 29; August 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28; September 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, and every fifth day thereafter. Connecting at Vancouver, B. C. with Canadian Pacific and at Tacoma. with Northern Pacific railroads; con- 1 necting at Port Townsend with Alaska Steamers. For Eureka, Areata and Field's Landing (Humboldt Bay), Steamer Pomona, 9 A. M., Wednesdays. For Point Arena, Cuffey's Cove, Whitesboro, Little River, Mendo- cino and Fort Bragg, Steamer Coos Bay, 4 P. M., Mondays and Thursdays. For Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Simeon, Cayucos, Port Harford, (San Luis Obispo,) Gaviota, Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, Hueneme, Redondo, San Pedro, (Los Angeles), 8 A. M., every four days. For San Diego, stopping only at Port Harford .(San Luis Obispo), Santa Barbara and San Pedro, (Los Angeles,) 11 A. M., every four days. For Ensenada, San Jose del Cabo, Mazatlan, La Paz and Guaymas (Mexico), Steamer Newbern, 10 A. M., 25th of each month. For Portland and Astoria (Oregon), from Spear street Wharf, 10 A. M., every four days. Note. Nearly all of the Company's Steamers are new, fast, and elegantly fitted with all modern improvements. GENERAL TICKET OFFICE, D. B. JACKSON, Gen. Pass, and Ticket Age^ 214 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. / ♦♦•*♦*******♦ ************ GooDALL, Perkins &/ Ho. 10 Olafket St., San ppp' /' F 904 .P12 Copy 1 Pacific Coast Steamship Co ♦******••**•*****■*•+*******♦ 8H 8B01IT flLJlSP -♦**-^**********************-** [ggUED BY PAglFIg (50AST STEAMgHIP SO..,:;'oroX^ 1B90. J-ifwral.^l GOODALL, PERKINS & CO. GENKRA.L AGENTS, No. lo MARKET STREET, - SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Genepal Ticket Offiee, - 214 IWontgomery StPeet, San ppaneiseo, Gal. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 3^0/0 i Pi c (2 o a<> t S I eci. pn^hip (Bo. IMPORTANT NOTICE Ulf?ITH^G FOf? Il^FOt^jWATION. Parties purchasing tickets or making inquiry by letter with the view of purchasing tickets, will save themselves and their correspondents much trouble and delay by furnishing specific information. Please bear in mind that there is a material difference between engaging a stateroom and a berth; a stateroom usually contains three berths; it 'frequently happens, however, that people writing for information con- found these two terms. Full information should invariably be given when parties write seeking a definite reply in reference to this matter. First. — State the name of steamer and date on which you wish to take passage. Second. — State whether you want a berth, two berths or a stateroom and whether these sleeping accommodations should be on the upper or saloon deck, and whether or not you want the best (which of course is the highest price) in the ship, or that may remain unsold. Third. — State the number in your party; giving their names and sex, and relationship; and if not adults, their ages and how you want them berthed; z. e., who should occupy staterooms together. The object of efigaging accommodations being for the purpose of pre- venting others from purchasing same, they must be paid for as soon as practicable after being engaged. They will be reserved only sufficiently long for parties to purchase their tickets. This has been found necessary from the fact that it has happened on several occasions that those who have engaged accommodations have subsequently changed their minds and the accommodations engaged have been unoccupied during the voy- age; while they might have been sold in the mean time to parties who were anxious to pay for them, had they not been reserved for others who failed to do so. fl^' ALL ABOUT ALASKA. DURING the excursion season of 1889 many thousand tourists vis- ited Alaska. To say they werti pleased conveys but a faint impres- sion of their enthusiasm. They were delighted — charmed. Ask any one of them, it matters not whom, they all m.ake the same re- port and tell the same story of the matchless grandeur of the trip, of the midnight sun, of the placid waters, of the aurora borealis, of the majestic mountains, of the inland seas, of the mighty glaciers, of the thundering iceberg plunging into the sea and floating off in its glory of inimitable splendor, of the wealth of fish, timber and mineral, of the biggest quartz mill ever constructed, of the queer customs of the natives, of novelty and incident that may well make the trip the object of a lifetime. There is nothing like it. Without doubt it is " the biggest show on earth." The company will run two regular steamers to Alaska this season mak- ing fifteen-day trips. These are the large iron steamers City of Topeka and Geo. VV. Elder. There will also be run this season as a special excursion steamer, for seven trips only, the new and elegant iron steam- ship Queen. This steamer is fitted with electric lights and all mod- ern improvements, and will make two trips per month. They will connect at Port Townsend with the San Francisco steamers. The Queen will make Tacoma her starting point, calling at Seattle, Port Townsend and Victoria, while the Geo. W. Elder and City of Topeka will start from Portland, calling at Tacoma, Seattle, Port Townsend and Victoria. Canadian Pacific passengers can take the Alaska steamers at Port Townsend or Victoria. Northern Pacific passengers, or passengers by rail from or via. Portland, can take the steamers at Tacoma or other Sound ports. . Tickets will be sold from San Francisco good either via. tjie Columbia River, Portland and Tacoma, or by the Straits of Fuca and Victoria, to go one way and return the other. Passengers from the East holding through tickets to Alaska via. Portland, can take the Alaska steamers the Geo. W. Elder or City of Topeka, direct from Portland or go from Port- land to Puget Sound by rail and take steamer there. When the fact is considered that the fare includes meals and a berth as well as transportation, it will be seen that the cost of the excursion is exceedingly small, in fact it is cheaper to travel than to stay at home. This company's maps and folders and other printed matter and inform- ation can be obtained at any of the Agencies of this Company, and the principal offices of all the large Rail and Transportation Companies in all the principal cities in the country. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. PRICES OF EXCURSION TICKETS TO ALASKA AND RETURN. SOLD ONLY DURING EXCURSION MONTHS, VIZ., MAY TO SEPTEMBER INCLUSIVE. (Including a Berth and Meals on Oceati Steamers. Extra Charge for Extra Stateroom Accomvwdations.). From San Francisco, via Victoria and Port Townsend, returning same way $130 From San Francisco, via Victoria, returning via Tacoma, Port- land and Columbia River 140 From San Francisco, via Portland and Tacoma, returning via Victoria a)id Straits of Fuca. 140 From Portland, Orei^on, via Astoria, returning same way 109 From Portland, Oregon, via Tacoma and Port Townsend. (N. P. R. R. to Tacoma) 109 From Tacoma 100 From Seattle — 98 From Port Townsend 95 From Yictoria, B. C 95 Tickets (not retnrn) as follows: San Francisco to Juneau or Sitka Cabin $70.00 San Francisco to Wrangel Cabin 50.00 Portland to Juneau or Sitka Cabin 60.00 Portland to Wrangel Cabin 40.00 Tacoma to Wrangel Cabin 33.00 Tacoma to Juneau or Sitka Cabin 53-00 Seattle to Wrangel Cabin 32.50 Seattle to Juneau or Sitka Cabin 52.50 Victoria or Townsend to Juneau or Sitka. Cabin 50.00 Victoria or Townsend to Wrangel Cabin Alaska excursion Steerage, $40.00 Steerage, 25.00 Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, Steerage, 35-00 20.00 17-50 32-50 17.00 32.00 30.00 15.00 30.00 tickets can be purchased at San Francisco at ( D. B.Jackson, (xen COMPANY'S GENERAL TICKET OFFICE, \ Pass. & Fk't Agt. ( 214Mont*;omerySt W. T. WALLACE, 83 First St. ( L. E. LYONS, at wharf or J G. G. CHANDLER, 1 Headqnarters iiuilding. P. C. S. S. Co., Ocean Dock. - H. L. Tibbals, Jr. - R. P. Ritliet & Co. - Northern Pacific R. R. Union Pacific Railway. Canadian Pacific Railway. PORTLAND, TACOMA, SEATTLE, - - - - PORT TOWNSEND, VICTORIA, ST. PAUL, Minn., OMAHA, . - - MONTREAL, - - • Also at most of the Coupon offices of the principal Railway Companies all over the country and Canada. For the map of the Alaska Route obtain one of the P. C. S. S. Co.'s new Folders at any of the Agencies of this Company, and the principal offices of all the large Rail and Transportation Companies in all the prin- cipal cities in the country. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 8 (M I^ fM r^ r-l -^ r-( ,-1 -^ CC 1-1 -^ lO if^oo-^i-^icisos-^ 1 ^^ ._, ,— .tr^ 1— iCMCO I— lC! r-l C<1 t-i — 1 !M 1— 1 rH Cl CO 1—1 1— 1 (M CO 1— 1 .— ( (M CI .— ( Cl Due bai Vic tori and Po Tovvusei O3'*<0OC00CC0i?^t^l^(M(N00t^C1i-H?C«D.— 1— iiOO sisS^ (MdCJ >-(-i i-s ■< CO -^ o O — 1 lO O UO O • -+i O • lO Cl CO CO Cl 1- ?1a . r' d d <-S Cl Cl Cl • 1—1 1—1 1—1 QJ -•-' 4^ • § < S :h; - be <; - *^ 3 00 CO l-~ Cl t^ Cl rt CC :.-5 -^ 1— ( t- -jS 1-1 i-H lO lO O O •^ Cl l^-< Cl Cl Cl .-^ Cl — H d :o 1-1 CQ CO i-i 1^'S^ -?'- ^- >-- C- - ^ ^' fee-. -. ^ "S^^ > S- c3 ci-;3 S <3 S H^ h^ ^ C/3 a:.-roocooocOdi^ir^ClC1ooi:^Cli-icOi:o-Jr^iCO Cl d ca 1-1 Cl r-i c^ 1-1 Cl CO Cl ^ n3 >. 2 >> to o t,:: ei ^ ------w r^^ Ci^ ■a n ?S^ 5 = 3 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ OJ t- >-, n C t:" tT "" jT c" t,' cf t,"~ irf ^r n~ C ^S2 ^.2 .^OJ-^OJ-^ai J2i ^Oi a;-^ai-3a>2 '^ '^ '^ t; i' "S a>"3 ■S> o^W c*3 o'W o" W o" S o" S oS o H.H.H-H .H.H .H. 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C<) CI I— I C^l '^^ oo c ■ 'y 1) »^ g; -^ rw ; §-;:i §-a §-3 §-S rS C "^ n'^ ^'^ oi'^ 0) _-J .ai.a> — ^cj >->o K >-.o >-. o >ic >>o >-.c O' >->o a;~ - >. ;j O O*:.) o o o ^' O o O :.^ O (y-^ ::: (y^ 1^ -^ 1^ S to .5 ■:3 f:^ — ,i' a. o ^ ==! a. . - c be 'H I* g ■" "3 • g 2i Ji 3 en d) O tH a; g IH ^ 3 -3 IV y ■" a> I. r rt ^ Om -*j -0 C be ^ "4-; be 'T3 a ^ c •r; ti -^ bl t-t !*H C3 tc ^ ^ Tl ^H r1 c « Oi ■^ « C a C 0) ^ • ^ t2 -s fS .w c s &■ '- OJ bo .^ o '3 'S ^ ;> ^ a a S-i .S a n S a 0) _0 a> -Q :o OJ ^ •"■ H <^ H ai ^ ° 1 ci U 0) , c2 :2 S E-i D Q "o 1 1 -^ M ci ~ a, ALL ABOUT ALASKA. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. Stateroom Rates, Alaska Route STEAMSHIP QUEEN. KOOMS Chai'Ke for One Person Two Persons Three or more HURRICANE DECK. Kooms 57 to 92 inclusive . - Large rooms, 2 berths in each. UPPER DECK. Booms 1 to 10 inclusive 21-22-24-25 to 44 inclusive. lArge rooms, 3 berths in each. Bridal, A and B Large with one double berth. Rooms 11 to 20 inclusive Small rooms, 2 berths in each. SALOON DECK. Kooms 45 to 5(> inclusive Very large rooms, 3 berths in each. One Berth Two Berths One Berth Two Berths Three Berths One Berth One Berth Two Berths One Berth Two Berths Three Berths 1 i fare . . 2 fares., 2i fares .. 1 fare. . 1^ fares., 2 fares.. 2 J fares.. 2 fares.. 2.T fares.. 2h fares., 1 fare. , 2 fares. 2 fares . 1 fare.. 1^ fares., 2 fares., 2 fares.. *2^ fares.. Regular Single fare each Regular Single fare each Regular Single fare each *Except to man and wife, two fares. Berths are numbered from top down. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. Stateroom Rates, Alaska Route STEAMSHIP CITY OF TOPEKA. ROOMS UPPKR DECK Eooms 1-2-3-4 Large rooms, 3 berths in each. Hooms 5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 15-10-21-22-23-24 Large rooms, 2 berths in each. Eooms 13-14-1 7-18-19-20 . . . . Very large rooms, 2 berths in each. SALOON DECK. Room8 25 to 30 inclusive . . . Good rooms, 2 berths in each. Rooms 31 and 32 Good rooms, 3 berths in each. Charge for One Berth Two Berths Three Berths One Berth Two Berths One Bertii Two Berths One Bertii Two Berths One Berth Two Berths Three Berths One Person 1 fare. 1.^ fares. 2 fares . 1 fare 2 fares.. 1\ fares. 2 fares. Two Persons 1 fare. , 2 fares . I fare . . \h fares.. 2' fares.. 2 fares .. 2) fares.. 2 fares . 2.^ fares. 2 fares 2 fares, *2h fares Three or more. Regular Single fare each Regular Single fare each *Except to man and wife. Man and wife two fares. Berths are numbered from top down. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 13 Stateroom Rates, Alaska Route STEAMSHIP GEO. W. ELDEK ROOMS UPPER DECK Nos. 23 and 24 (Bridals) [ Two berths in each. "| ■< Berths numbered 2 are large > ( double berths. j A B C D and Nos. 25 to 44, inclu- sive (Three single berths in each.) No. 45 (Two berths. Lower Berth is wide.) ROOMS SALOON DECK. ¥o8. 1 to 11, and 13 to 22, inclu- sive (Three single berths in each room.) No. 12 'Two single berths.) Charge for One Person Two Persons Three or more Persons One Berth Two Berths One Berth Two Berths Three Berths One Berth Two Berths One Berth Two Berths Three Berth One Berth Two Berths XH- fares.. 2 fares .. 1 fare . . 1 J fares. 2 fares .. 2] fares. 2 fares. 25 fares. 1^ fai-es.. 2 fares .. 2h fares. 1 fare . , 2 fares . 2 fares. nh fares. 1 fare . , 2 fares . 2 fares . Regular Single fare each do do do * Except to man and wile. Man and wife two fares. Berths are numbered from top down. Berths indicated as "wide" are large enough to accommodate one person and a child. I Do not sell one berth in Bridal room if a berth in another deck room can be offered. Prefer to sell Bridal room as a whole. 14 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. rSxcu]?si©r)S TO THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN. USEFUL INFORMATION. No traveler or tourist has ever returnod from Alaska, after making the voyage by the steamers of the PACIFIC COAST STEAMSHIP CO., but has acknowledged it to he pre-eminently t/ie cheapest, grandest, and most enjoyable excursion ever advertised or patronized. As people have, as a rule, very crude and often very erroneous ideas in relation to Alaska — the means of getting there, the cost and length of time required to make the voyage — the following facts and information will be of inter- est to those who intend to stay at home as well as those intending to make the excursion. WHERE THE COUNTRY IS, AND ITS EXTENT. The name "Alaska" is a corruption of Al-ay-ek-sa, the name given by the native islanders to the mainland, and signifies "great country." It contains nearly 600,000 square miles of territory, or is nearly one-fifth as large as all the other States and Territories combined. It is larger than 12 States the size of New York. The portion of Alaska visited by these excursions is the southeastern. It would require a couple of months to visit the western, and an indefi- nite and uncertain time to reach and return from the northern portion. In fact, the whaling fleet and the regular organized Arctic expeditions are about the only outfits that attempt to pass Point Barrow on the north- ern shore of Alaska. There are probably few people on the Pacific Slope, or elsewhere for that matter, aware of the fact that San Francisco is several hundred miles east of midway between the eastern and westernmost shores of the United States. Yet such is the case. It is nearly 4,000 miles from the longi- tude of the most western of the Aleutian Islands directly east to San Francisco, while it is not over about 3,500 miles from San Francisco di- rectly east to the longitude of the east coast of Maine. THE BEST TIME TO GO. The besfe time to visit Alaska for pleasure, is from May to September inclusive. Prospectors and miners should take either the April or May steamer, so as to be on the ground when the snow melts. September is ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 15 the last month in the year that can be recommended for excursion pur- poses. The weather in September is usually lovely and the sea as smooth as a mirror; the days, however, begin to grow comparatively short. WHICH WAV TO GO AND RETURN. The excursion tickets from San Francisco are good for trip only of steamer for which sold. It takes about 30 days to make the trip via Victoria and Townsend and return the same way, but tickets are also sold to return via Townsend, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, and thence by steamer to San Francisco. If you can spare the time and extra cost (which is slight) this latter is the ticket to buy, as it enables you to see the up-sound ports as well as Portland and the grand and majestic Col- umbia River, It will also give you an opportunity to spend a few days visiting the Cascades, Oregon Falls, Willamette Valley, and other noted and interesting points in Oregon. Passengers via the Canadian Pacific can take or leave the Alaska steamer either at Port Townsend or Victoria. The service between Van- couver, the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Vic- toria, is performed by the C. P. N. Co's. steamers, which make daily trips (Mondays excepted). WHAT TO TAKE. As the rainfall in Alaska is usually very large, it naturally follows that an umbrella is a convenient companion. A gossamer for a lady and a mackintosh for a gentleman, and heavy shoes, and coarse, warm and comfortable clothing for both should be provided. You have no use for your swallow-tail or court dress, or Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes in Alaska. Ladies' skirts should be short, so they will not draggle over the wet deck of the steamer, or over the damp grass or moss on shore. If you intend (as you no doubt will and certainly should) to climb up on to and take a run over a Glacier, you will find much advantage if you have spikes in your shoes, and a stiff cane with a good ferrule on it, or else a regular Alpenstock. It is best for several to keep together in climbing around on a Glacier. A little hatchet and small rope in charge of some one of the party would be very handy in case of an accident, which is always possible if people are careless, but not probable if they are care- ful. You need not take any eatables — these are furnished without any extra charge, in abundance and of the best quality, on board. You are allowed to take 150 pounds of baggage free. PASSENGERS STARTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO Should take the steamer which leaves Broadway Wharf No. i for Victoria (B. C), and Puget Sound ports. On the third day out, in the morning i6 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. probably, by or before daylight, you arrive and tie up to the outer wharf at the entrance to Victoria harbor, B. C. Here the steamer remains sev- eral hours discharging her freight, during which time you can ride into and around the city. It is possible the Alaska steamer will be here waiting your arrival, but the chances are that you will make the connection over at Port Townsend, which is the regular port of transfer — selected (it being an American port) in order to avoid the annoyance from the Cus- toms officials. Victoria is, however, a much more enjoyable place than Port Townsend to spend a day or so in, and many passengers prefer to do so. A call on the Company's Agents, Messrs. R. P. Rithet & Co., Wharf Street, will obtain the information as to whether or not you can remain here or must proceed to Port Townsend and join the Alaska steamer at that point. PASSENGERS STARTING FROM PORTLAND, OREGON, Have a choice of two routes, viz: ist. Take the Alaska steamer at Portland and proceed down the Columbia River to Astoria, thence across the Bar, up the coast, through the Straits of Fuca to Port Townsend, and await the arrival of the con- necting steamer from vSan Francisco. 2nd. Via the Northern Pacific R. R., from Portland by way of Ka- lama to Taconia. Passengers to leave Portland can obtain tickets and further information by calling at the ticket office of the P. C. S. S. Co., 83 First Street. Passengers from Seattle or other points on the Sound can engage passage and obtain information by applying to the Company's agents at Victoria, Port Townsend, Seattle or Tacoma. START OUT FROM PORT TOWNSEND FOR ALASKA. Two or three hours steaming and you are in Victoria, B. C. — you have probably been here before, and will not care to tarry long — you will be ac- commodated — a few hours at the farthest and you are headed north — the chances are that next morning you will wake up and find yourself in Nanaimo, which is the coaling station. You may have time while the vessel is coaling to ride out to the coal mines. If you have not, you can amuse yourself fishing and rambling about the town and adjacent coun- try. You will not be kept here longer than absolutely necessary, for the Captain is anxious to start on his journey north — ready — all aboard — off we go! Now you can bid good-by to the railroad and telegraph, to the bustle and worry and confusion of the world — all you have to do now is to see and enjoy the sights; to eat, drink, and be merry. You would like to know ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 17 WHAT THERE IS IN ALASKA TO ADMIRE. Well, let us see. There are a variety of things to admire, some to wonder at, others to ponder over, and all of them we hope to enjoy. First, then you will scarcely believe your own senses or realize the fact that the waters you are sailing over are the salt waters of the Pacific Ocean. It does not seem possible that you can glide along day after day, and week after week, without encountering a wave, or scarcely a ripple to disturb the equilibrium of the vessel. You will realize, how- ever, by the compass of your appetite, that you are obtaining all the ad- vantages of a sea-voyage, without being obliged to wrestle with that much dreaded monster, sea-sickness — you will wonder how, and when and why these thousands of islands, past which you are constantly sailing, were formed — islands, some of them no larger than a good sized house, while others are empires in themselves. You will sail through narrow and ser- pentine passages, which can only be navigated at slack and high tide, on account of the terrific current which rushes through at other stages of the tide. You will see, admire and pass through channels hundreds of miles in length, as straight as an arrow and of unfathomable depths, banked on either side by perpendicular and gigantic mountains, whose untrod sum- mits are clothed in clouds and ice. But what will interest you most of all will be the Glaciers — you will see a number of them on your way up to Juneau, glittering in the distance before you have an opportunity to climb on to one. There is such a romance and satisfaction in impart- ing the fact to your acquaintances that you have seen the Glaciers of Alaska, and travelled over them, which for beauty are unapproachable, and as for size — why, the largest one in Switzerland would scarcely make a respectable sized nose if it could be transferred bodily to the face of one of those sleeping giants in the fastnesses of Alaska. If the tide is right you will hear the thundering crash caused by the icebergs breaking off from the Glaciers and tumbling into the water. You will also most likely see the ship surrounded by a "sea of ice," which is the prettiest picture you have ever seen, and which you will be sure to admire and never forget. If you have never visited a mining camp and seen the miners with their picks and shovels and red shirts, you will doubtless be pleased at the opportunity which you will have at Douglas Island (near Juneau) of looking over the Treadwell mine and seeing the largest quartz- mill in the United States in full operation. It is only a short walk from Juneau to the placer mines. Alaskan waters abound in the choicest kinds of fish which, though you may not particularly admire, you will doubtless enjoy. The salmon and hallibut, fresh as the morning dew, of which you frequently have opportunity to partake, are simply delicious— i8 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. Yum! yum! If you prefer to catch, rather than to eat these beauties, no one objects, and there is plenty of opportunity. The Indians are much finer and more intelligent than those you have seen further south. You will be amused to see the squaws, on the arrival of the steamer (by the way, the arrival of the steamer is the great event of the month), sit- ting around on the sills of the wharf, dressed in their best raiment, and many of them with a portion of their face blackened — sometimes their teeth — which, added to their natural ugliness, makes them look like the very old Nick himself. The more stormy the weather the less clothing these Indians wear as a rule, for they evidently consider clothing made more for ornament than use. They will offer you furs, silver bracelets, little carved images, canoes and various knicknacks for sale, but, as a rule, they have a high appreciation of their wares, and you can do better to buy from a white man's store in Sitka or Juneau. You will be amused at their totem poles — which are made by cutting down a good, straight tree, dressing it down to the desired size, and then carving it in a very rude way, with figures of birds, Indian warriors, and other fantas- tic shapes which resemble very much Chinese carving. After these poles receive a sufficient amount of labor and skill, they are raised and planted on end before the owner's hut — and great value is attached to some of them — a couple of thousand dollars being considered a very reasonable price for some of the largest and choicest. AT WHAT POINTS STEAMERS STOP IN ALASKA. That depends on circumstances. They ahvays call at Wrangel, Sitka and Juneau. Sitka is the capital of the Territory, but Juneau is the chief settlement, and is the headquarters of the mining business. You must not fail lo see the Greek church in Sitka, There are but two Greek churches in the United States, outside of Alaska, and this is the most ancient and interesting of them all. Most of the other places the steamers stop at are trading-posts and fisheries. Fishing, mining and trading are the principal industries in Alaska. There are no "Palace" hotels in Alaska. You will have no desire to remain over there a trip. You will go necessarily when and where the steamer goes, and you will have an opportunity to see all there is of note or worth seeing in Southeastern Alaska. The steamer sometimes goes north as far as Chilcat, say up to about the 58th degree of north latitude. The pleasure is not so much in the stopping as in the going. You are constantly passing through new channels, past new islands, opening up new points of interests, until you finally surfeit of the grand and magnifi- cent in nature and are dad to ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 19 RETURN. The transfer will be made at either Port Townsend or Victoria from the Alaska steamer to the San Francisco steamer. Passengers going to or by way of Portland, can take the train at Tacoma, over the N. P. R. R. to Portland. Steamer Queen will terminate her trip at Tacoma. H.AVING ARRIVED HOME You will find your eyes clear and sparkling, your appetite keen, your step more elastic, your general health immensely improved, and in case you were not up to a proper and healthy standard when you started out, your avoirdupois increased anywhere from five to thirty pounds. You will be delighted at having made the journey. You will have lots of stories to tell of your experiences, which will make you the lion of your social gathering and the envy of those who stayed at home or went to the springs. This is the almost invariable experience of those who take this trip to Alaska. The following is an extract from Miss Scidmore's book "Journeys in Alaska:" "Life on the waveless arms of the ocean has a great fascination for one of these Alaska trips, and crowded with novelty, incidents and surprises as each day is, the cruise seems all too short when the end approaches. One dreads to get to land again and end the easy, idle wandering through the long archipelago. A voyage is but one protracted marine picnic, and an unbroken succession of memorable days. Where in all the list of them to place the red letter or the white stone puzzles one. The pas- sengers beg the Captain to reverse the engines, or boldly turn back and keep up the cruise until the autumn gales make us willing to return to the region of earthly cares and responsibilities, daily mails and telegraph wires. The long nightless days never loose their spells, and in retrospect the wonders of the northland appear the greater. The weeks of contin- uous travel over deep, placid waters in the midst of magnificent scenery might be a journey of exploration on a new continent, so different is it from anything else in American travel. Seldom is anything but an In- dian canoe met, for days no signs of settlement are seen along the quiet fiords, and making nocturnal visits to small fisheries, only the unbroken wilderness is in sight during waking hours. "The anchoring in strange places, the going 10 and fro in small boats, the queer people, the strange life, the peculiar fascination of the frontier, and the novelty of the whole thing affect one strangely. Each arm of the sea and the unknown, unexplored wilderness that lies back of every mile of shore, continually tempt the imagination." 20 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. Y^^ l\0utc lo ir)e Vu^oi). HOW TO GO AND WHAT THE TRH' COSTS— PRICES OF PROVISIONS ON THE GROUND. [From the Alaskan Free Press, February 25, 1888.1 As a great deal has been said regarding tlie expenditure and hardships encountered in going to the Yukon mines, I beg to make a few remarks on the same. I left Victoria on March ii, 1887, ^^'i^^h several months' provisions, including mining implements, gum boots, quicksilver, etc., amounting to 750 pounds in all. The total cost of the outfit, including steamboat fare and freight on goods to Juneau, sleigh, snowshoes, fare and freight from Juneau to the foot of the portage by steamer, Indian help on the summit, and landed at Lake Lindeman (the headwaters of the Yukon) with 700 pounds, was $125. The distance from Haley's house, at the head of Lynn Canal, over the divide to Lake Lindeman, according to Mr. Ogilvie's measurement, is 233^ miles, and out of this there is about five miles of bad traveling. Lake Lindeman once reached, I consider the real hardships over. Here the miner can load up his sleigh and go down on the ice, or if he starts later in the season he can either build his boat or raft and proceed down to the mines without further obstruction, except Prayer Portage, ]^ of a mile, and the White Horse Rapids, the latter through which some run, while others make a portage of j^ of a mile. To prove that the trip down from the above lake to the mines in boats and on rafts is an easy one, numbers of inexperienced boatmen have ac- complished it within the last five years without meeting with any accidents worth mentioning. At the mines the extreme lowest and highest pay was from $5 to $130 per day. But the majority of the miners made from $10 to $40 per day. One does not go out of the world in going into the Yukon. At Juneau City all the requirements of the miner are very reasonable, and good stocks are constantly kept on hand, and board in the hotels not ex- celled for the price on the Pacific Coast at $1 per day. At the Chilcoot Mission, situated 18 miles from the portage, Mr. Dickinson keeps a store with a well-assorted stock and reasonable prices. At the head of Lynn Canal, the foot of the portage, Mr. Healy keeps a store and hotel, where the best of meals are furnished for 50 cents. Messrs. Harper, McQuestin & Co. are the sole merchants in the mines at present, and their prices are very moderate, as follows: Flour @ $17 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. per loo lbs; bacon @ 40c per lb; beans @ 20c per lb; sugar @ 33c per lb; dried fruit @ 25c per &; butter @ 75c per lb. Although it would be advisable for miners to take in supplies enough to last until the middle of August, as the first shipment of goods by way of the mouth of the Yukon does not reach the mines until the latter part of July. By helping the ground to thaw out, the mining season in open diggings lasts about five months. , i?©S"0ecii peciii)g Quifif. The country being as described, prospecting will be seen to be very- difficult and laborious. Still, by taking the beds of the streams it can be done satisfactorily, and there is enough in sight now to induce a more thorough exploration than has ever yet been made. Hopeful indications continue to reward every attempt, and the opinion is general among mining men that many more rich gold fields will be discovered. For the work of prospecting a boat of some kind is the first necessity, and it should have a good sail and be fitted with the means of securing goods (a few at least) against rain and wave. Besides a boat, a good tent large enough to shelter the entire party should be provided, and bear or other skins enough to lay under them to protect bed and body from the damp- ness in the ground. These last can be obtained in the country. After this a stout rain-coat and gum-boots come next, and the remainder of the outfit, as to tools, provisions, etc., can be according to individual preference. Each party should have at least one good rifle of large cali- ber, as bears are sometimes encountered, and deer frequently seeen. Slirr)Gtle. During the four winter months just passed the following has been the range of the thermometer: December. January. February. March. Highest Lowest Range 50-5 20.5 30.0 48.0 4.0 44.0 52.5 24.0 28-5 49.0 24.0 25-0 22 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. The Spring in Alaska is generally more backward than in more south- ern latitudes, doubtless because the mountains invariably become covered with snow during winter, and until it has begun to appreciably disappear, the atmosphere is kept more or less chilled. But the compensation •comes in the Fall, when the mild weather is extended far beyond its limit in many other places nearer the center of civilization. Vegetables and flowers frequently are found, growing out in the gardens after De- cember has arrived, and it is rare that heavy frosts occur before that month. The Summers in Alaska are delightful — never oppressively warm, but enough so as to cheer and invigorate. The thermometer clings around 79" for weeks, and sometimes months, while the pleasant daylight never entirely fades out of the amberfsky. Extracts from Letters Received by the P. C. S. S. Co. [From John T. Morris, the celebrated Iron Manufacturer of Pliiladelphia.] "I have been trying to find time ever since my return from our Alaska trip to express my and our thanks to you for having arranged everything so pleasant for us; also for having encouraged us to take the trip at all. It exceeded my every expectation, and I can only hope that many more parties will visit those beautiful land-locked waters; and I hope they will also enjoy as delightful weather and have as pleasant company as we had. The trip will be an ever-memorable one to us." [From Prof. Jas. Dennian, Principal Denuian Grammar School, San Francisco.] "The sea-voyage after leaving Victoria is upon quiet waters, which are land-locked from the swell and storms of the ocean. The scenery from Puget Sound to Glacier Bay is beautiful beyond description. In all my wanderings through Europe and South America I have never seen any- thing so grand and beautiful as Alaska. I shall take pleasure in recom- mending to my travelling friends the trip to Alaska, as I think they will never regret the time and expense." [From the Hon. Southard Hofl'man, Clerk of the U. S. District Court, S. F.] "I enjoyed the trip amazingly and returned enthusiastic as to its beau- ties. The officers were polite and attentive. The excursion is bound to be one much sought after in the near future, and I am doing, and shall in the future do, what I can to induce people not to deny themselves the great pleasure of taking it. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 23 [From His Honor M. R. Waite, late Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.] Palace Hotel, Sept. 10, 1886. Messrs. Goodall, Perkins & Co. : My Dear Sirs: I cannot leave this coast without letting you know what a delightful trip I had to Alaska on the Idaho in July and August. It was all I had looked for, and more, too. The officers and men on the ship were thoughtful and attentive, and nothing was left undone that would contribute to the comfort and pleasure of the passengers. I am certain the excursion will soon become one of the most popular on the continent, and it surely is one of the most enjoyable. Very sincerely yours, (Signed) M. R. WAITE. [From Wm. G. Hibbard, Esq., of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., Chicago.] I sailed on the Idaho about the 26th of July. Had one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever taken. I found the Idaho a very fair vessel, the fare very good, officers all Dleasant, and Capt. Hunter double Ai. Think every man and woman who was on that steamer would say the same thing. [From E. M. Barton, Esq., Chicago.] I made a trip to Alaska in the steamer Ancon the fore part of August, 1887. I had my family with me, consisting of my wife and three chil- dren. Every member of the family enjoyed the trip, which we shall re- member with pleasure as long as we live. [From H. B. Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota.] Maitland, Fla., Jan. 17, 1889. Dear Sir: I know of no scenery in our country more beautiful, and no excursion that I have ever made has left so many delightful memories as our excursion on your steamer to Alaska with the Lord Bishop of Rochester. [P'rom Wm. Garrard, Esq., Savannah, Ga.] Gentlemen: I enjoyed my trip to Alaska very much. It was like going into a foreign country. It is a most interesting excursion. 24 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. nothing to equal it that I know of. The climate in summer, the beauti- ful land-locked water-way, the gold mines, fisheries, Indians, glaciers, and the good service on the boats combine to render it a charming voy- age, and I only wish I could go again. [From L G. Wickersham, Esq., Petaluma, Cal.] Words fail to express the satisfaction and pleasure enjoyed by myself and family on our trip to Alaska. The accomodations were good, the weather delightful, the scenery magnificent, and all tourists should by all means make an excursion to Alaska. I hope to go again. [From J. B. Phelps, Esq., Davenport, Iowa.] One must admit that the Alaska trip cannot be duplicated in this country, and probably not in the world. We were delighted; the scenery is grand. Every day from Tacoma until our return was a grand surprise. Have heard tourists remark that Norway scenery was the nearest like it of any to be found, but did not equal it. Have not been a great trav- eler, but having been born in the x'\dirondacks, have always enjoyed fine scenery, such as Lake George, Thousand Islands, White Mountains. Down the Hudson, also St. Lawrence river, St. John's river, Florida, our own Mississippi and Colorado, but Alaska is a combination of them all. [From Thos. Egleston, Esq., of Metallurgical Department, vSchool of Mines, Columbia College, New York.] Gentlemen: A party of us from here are talking of going to Alaska next summer if we can be assured of seeing certain things which I did not see in my trip there last summer. I have been asked to make ar- rangements for the party, providing the trip extends to Chilcat and we are able to see the Davidson Glacier and the three glaciers in Takou Inlet. When I went last summer the Chilcat trip was given up, or rather, we were given the choice to go to Chilcat or Takou Inlet, and as the most of us knew nothing about what was to be seen at Chilcat we chose Takou Inlet and then failed to see the Glaciers except at a great distance. I should be glad to hear from you and also to receive copies of such pam- phlets as you have published relating to the trip. I never spent in my life a more interesting two weeks than those that I spent in Alaska. I ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 25 have over 150 photographs, which I am constantly showing to people and never fail to elicit from them the wish that they might be able to go there. [From Alex. G. Hawes, Esq., San Francisco.] All things considered, the visit to Alaska was the most .satisfactory pleasure trip I ever made. To get beyond telegraphs, and away from the hustling hurly-burly a while, is pretty good in itself; but there is something in the primeval grandeur of the Northern Scenery — in the solitude of its woods — which gives more than rest. It rests one every time he thinks of it afterwards. [From J. H. Sadler, Esq., San Francisco.] I have traveled a great deal, yet I do not think I ever enjoyed any- thing so much as I did the trip from Port Townsend to Chilcat and intermediate points and return. The courtesies of the officers on board the steamer were all that a man could desire. The scenery is grand and it would pay any man to take the trip. To business men, who wish to take a rest, or to pleasure-seekers, there is nothing I have ever seen that can compare with it in any part of the world. Although the trip takes but twenty-four days to go and come, I would have liked to have stayed twice that length of time and I sincerely hope you will have excursions to go direct from San Francisco to Alaska, as I have no doubt they would prove very profitable to your good selves and of great benefit to the public. [From C. S. Thomas, Esq., Denver, Colorado.] I have no hesitation in asserting that the excursion from Tacoma to Sitka and return is the most enjoyable and delightful trip that can be taken upon this Continent, and, while I have never visited another, I doubt if its equal can be found in any part of the world. It combines so completely the advantages of an ocean voyage with the delights of an inland excursion, that one forgets completely that he is upon or near the ocean. It seemed to me that the only parallel presented by any- thing in the East is the Hudson River; if one can imagine that extended to ten or twelve times its length and opening out here and there into enormous bodies of water, he can obtain some faint conception of the 26 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. delights experienced by the Alaskan tourist. The constant change of magnificent scener)-, the mountains both near and far, the snow, the native races and, above all, the stupendous glaciers, all of which are so accessible, together with the splendid accommodations enjoyed on board the Olympian — not the least of which is the uniform and delightful cour- tesy of Captain Carroll and his assistants — makes the trip an epoch in my existence. We have urged all our Colorado friends to take the trip by all means, knowing that if they fail to do so they will miss one of the features of this quarter of the present century. This may seem extrava- 2;ant, but it nevertheless expresses not only my own but the sentiments of every man and woman who sailed on the Olympian on the 21st of August, 1 887. It m;iy not be amiss to add that it is also the cheapest excursion, considering the comforts and accommodations afforded, that can at present be taken in any direction. [From L. F. Monteagle, Esq., San Francisco.] As it is part of my belief that when one finds a new subject for enjoyment he ought to at least try to induce others to share it with him, and as I feel that I owe you a debt of gratitude for selling me tickets, for my wife and myself, for our recent trip to Alaska, I desire to write you a few lines conveying to you our thorough gratification with the result of our experience. It would be rather a difficult matter to condense into a few lines a description of the natural beauties and wonders which the constantly changing panorama of the voyage discloses, nor shall I attempt to do so, but I must say that to any one capable of appreciating both the beautiful and sublime in nature, I believe that nowhere can he find a larger field for the play of his admiration than among the winding channels and thousand islands, the towering mountains and giant glaciers of Alaska. Much has been written by able pens on the subject of Alaskan glaciers, but when one stands on the beach under the frowning face of such a glacier as the "Muir," watching the icebergs break off and fall with a noise like thunder into the sea, or sees it sparkle in the glor}' of a July sun, he realizes that no pen, however gifted, can do justice to the scene. For healthfulness, pleasure and rest this trip surpasses any in my experience, for all these things can be seen without discomfort. The demon, seasickness, dreaded by so many, is banished from these realms, as the steamer's course, winding in and out among the innumerable ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 27 islands which line the coast, is shut in and protected from the ocean swell; and as one, wrapped in a rug and extended comfortably in a steamer chair, drinks in the pure air and watches the changing beauties of island and channel, he feels new life coursing through his veins. There are many objects of interest also in the towns of Sitka, Juneau and Wrangel, and as the steamer only stops long enough at each place to afford an opportunity of seeing "the sights," one is not wearied by tedious delays. For the busy city man, seeking relief from the cares of business and from the noisy hum of the human bees in town, this trip, on which neither letter nor telegram can reach him, gives a rest which is both necessary and enjoyable; and if any one who may make this voyage does not feel repaid for his time and expenditure, I shall feel sorry for him as a man who lacks the power of enjoying much of any thing in life. NINETEEN DAYS IN ALASKA. REV. THOMAS ROGERS, D. D. , ELDRIDGE, N. Y. Scenery. — No artist's brush or poet's pen can adequately set forth the extraordinary scenery of the labyrinthine water-ways of this land, winding amidst snow-capped mountains, immense glaciers and towering forests of spruce and pine and cedar. The passage from Victoria to Chilcat is on the salt water of the Pacific, but sheltered most of the way from its swell and storms by outlying islands. Through these nar- row winding channels which cut Southeastern Alaska into a delightful archipelago the steamer makes her way, sometimes with, and sometimes against, the tide as it ebbs and flows through its tortuous windings. There are places where the velocity of the current at ebb or flow renders navigation dangerous. This is notably so at Seymor Rapids between Vancouver Island and the mainland where the current attains to twelve knots an hour. Advancing northward the scenery increases in grandeur. Mountain tops are more heavily capped with snow, occasionally the bosom of a glacier embedded in the mountain side flashes in the sun, below we seem to have reached the ultimate haven in a land-locked bay. But as we approach the rocky shore the ship slowly swings to port or starboard, and we glide into another stretch of waters so^new, so wildly primeval, that it seems — 28 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. " We were tlie first thiit over l>tirst Into that silent sen." If I were able to paint one of many choice spots I would describe "Wright's Sound." It is a lake-like sheet of water entered by five different channels. All aiound this sleeping beauty rise dome-shaped mountains as sentinel guards. Some reader will recall his first view of the dotne of the National Capitol on approaching Washington. There is one small dome, less than three hundred feet high, yet one view of it makes an impression not soon forgotten. Here are five or six great domes two or three thousand feet high which look down upon you and on the steamer on whose deck you sit as giant sentinels might view a company of Lilliputians. On the northern border of New York State there is a spot widely cel- ebrated for its scenic beauty. Summer tourists in growing numbers resort thither to seek rest from mental toil, or to find a pleasurable summer outing. These "Thousand Islands" are embraced in a widening of the St. Lawrence River, sixteen miles long and seven miles broad. South- eastern Alaska besides its thirty-mile belt of coast line on the mainland extending from Mt. St. Elias to Fort Tongas, embraces an area four hun- dred miles long and forty miles broad; cut by thousands of miles of wind- ing channels into thousands of islands. While many of these islands are small barren rocks, or bearing only a few trees, many of them are moun- tains belted with splendid timber at their bases, and piercing the clouds with snow-covered summits. Every morning of our northward voyage we wake up to look on mountain scenery more imposing. At last we reach "Glacier Bay." The water is covered with icebergs, the tops of which are chiseled by nature's artists into groups of fantastic statuary of endless variety. Timber has disappeared, mountains are bare, and scen- ery assumes a decidedly bleak appearance. Suddenly our farther prog- gress is arrested by a frozen Niagara in front of us stretched entirely across the narrowing bay a distance of five thousand feet, and rising per- pendicularly above the water two hundred and fifty feet, and reaching below the surface four hundred and fifty feet. This is the foot of Muir Glacier, the largest of the five glaciers which dip their feet and shed their substance into this wonderful bay. The steamer anchors near the eastern shore, boats are lowered, and the passengers are landed for a day's ex- perience to be enjoyed but once in a lifetime. While lost in wonder at what our eyes see, we are startled by the ears hearing what resembles the report of a heavy cannon. Looking across in the direction whence the sound came we see great commotion of the water caused by the plunging ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 29 of an immense mass of ice into its depths. Soon a tidal wave reaches the shore and dashes up on the land like the waves of the tempest-driven sea. During low tide this phenomenon is often repeated. On the lateral moraine we climb upward to the top of the glacier and look across its bosom, which presents a rough and jagged appearance. Pinnacles of clear ice with nearly perpendicular sides glisten in the sun. Deep chasms yawn beneath; so that it would be all one's life is worth to attempt to cross. The average movement of this stream of ice, as reported by Prof. G. Frederick Wright, of Oberlin, Ohio, is forty feet per day; seventy feet in the center and ten feet at the margin; discharging into the waters of the bay one hundred and forty millions cubic feet of the clearest of ice every twenty-four hours. The ship's steward availed himself of this free market to fill his icehouse on board, while his boarders were enjoying themselves on land. The face of this glacier is fast receding, as appears from the fact that on the east side there is a lateral moraine extending more than a mile from its present position. Behind this moraine there flows a glacier river of milky looking muddy water, such as drops from a grindstone when in use, the result of the grinding process going on by the movement of unnumbered tons of ice and rock, by nature's enginery. There are many wonderful facts about the Muir Glacier which are an as- tonishment and a pleasure to the beholder. It is a giant moving in his might, and in comparison w-ith it the glaciers of Switzerland are infantile. A view of it alone is worth a journey to Alaska; and as a Cyclopean piece of "bric-a-brac" in the National Museum of Wonders, it is well worth the extra two hundred thousand dollars paid for these Northern posses- sions. [Extract from the report of the Hon. N. H. R. Dawson, Commissioner of Education 1887.] 1 was a passenger on the Ancon, and passed through the famous Alex- ander Archipelago, studded with its thousand islands. The ship stopped at nearly all the villages and settlements, affording me an excellent op- portunity of seeing the country and conversing with its inhabitants. Islands, mountains, glaciers, inlets and channels appear all along this inland passage; the eye is delighted at every turn by a succession of most beautiful and picturesque scenery. The islands are never out of sight, and rise from the bosom of the sea like emeralds in a crown of diamonds. The atmosphere is so light and pure that you are hardly conscious that you are breathing the elixir of life. The blue waters are as smooth and 30 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. calm as those of an Alpine lake. Ranges of lofty mountains, rich in forest and verdure, with snow-capped summits and glaciers covering large areas, are nearly always in sight. All is wild, weird and grand. Mounts La Perouse, Crillon and Fairweather, and many others equally imposing, rising from 9,000 to 15,000 feet above the level of the ocean, with im- mense glaciers debouching from their frozen valleys and slopes, are suc- cessively seen; while Edgecumbe, whose fires have slumbered for a hun- dred years, with its crown of volcanic scoria glistening in the sunlight, appears like a sleeping giant resting from his labors. From its frozen peak cascades come leaping down like threads of silver until lost to view in the forest line. En route I visited Nanaimo, Bella-Balla, Metlakahtla and Port Simp- son, in British Columbia; Ft. Tongass, Annett Island, Port Chester, Fort Wrangel, Loring, Juneau, Douglas Island, Chilcat and Haines. The steamer stopped for several hours, and parts of days, at each of these points. At all of these towns schools have been in operation since 1885. Neither pen nor pencil can paint the wonderful scenery of this part of our continent, with its bays, inlets and islands. It would be well for those who seek the delights of travel at least to acquaint themselves, first, with the wonderful beauties and features of this part of our continent before seeking them in the Old World. Its calm and placid seas, its pic- turesque islands, its marvelous glaciers, its magnificent ranges of lofty mountains are wonderful features of its beauty and grandeur. Its im- mense forests, the abundance of its minerals, its furs and its fisheries, all promise to make it one of the wealthiest portions of our American em- pire. It may not be extravagant to predict that, in the years that are to come, the exhaustless resources of this coast will furnish the material to rebuild the American shipping of the Pacific, and that these harbors will be the navies and havens for the commerce of half the world. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 31 (s/i H'^rfp f© ©/il0:s^0:. [Extract from the San Francisco Bidletin.'] We left Port Townsend at midnight, and in the forenoon of the next day we were off Nanaimo, on our journey up the coast. The tourist will see, all through this wonderland, a thousand things which he can never describe — neither by mouth, nor pen, nor brush. There is at first a thrill of pleasure, mingled with awe, as one enters this almost limitless sweep of inland, island-studded seas. The charm of the first conscious- ness that you are being, without a jar or jolt, borne over these narrow seas, almost fathomless in their unbroken depths, winding in and out among tiny islands, covered with forests and veined with various miner- als, is well-nigh irresistible. The average tourist has no disposition to re- sist the spell; he surrenders unconditionally. But, as the scene broadens into empires and continents, and sweeps on and on for hundreds of miles in unbroken and unvarying grandeur, the prisoner chafes under the burden of his bondage. There is a surfeit of wonder; the mind reacts, and the traveler would hail with real pleas- ure the sight of something common. Indeed when the morning broke upon us in the little mining village of Harrisburg, there are many an old miner who almost wept as he recognized, in the shadow of mountains of eternal snow, the rude cabin of the gold-hunter, and a simultaneous ex- clamation of pleasant surprise broke forth from our uninitiated passengers. The archipelago is but the handle of the cup, so to speak, that reaches to the north and west — a country equal in extent to all of the United States east of the Mississippi River, save the States of Alabama and Miss- issippi. Lord Dufferin has pronounced the scenery of Alaska to be the sublim- est he has witnessed in all his ravels. He says, that while its glaciers and mountains are five times as large as those of the Alpine regions, Alaska possesses, in addition, the changeful beauty of the sea; that while the Alpine mountains attain their grandeur slowly, rising from the level by a succession of foothills, these peaks of the northland rise abruptly from the sea to a snow-crowned, ice-crowned height, not surpassed by the loftiest peaks of the Alps. 32 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. icluresquc ^' /ilersi^Cf. [E'roiii tlie San Francisco Chronicle.'] Whatever xA^laska has not, it most certainly has one feature in an emi- nent degree which is prized by most countries and possessed by few; its scenic beauties are ahnost incomparably grand, and its natural peculiari- ties are such that it might be called the Switzerland or Norway of Amer- ica, only neither of those countries is the equal of Alaska, and it is be- littling to our Territory to speak of it in the same breath with the hith- erto champion scenic attractions of the world. Sailing northward through the labyrinth of islands and greeted on every side by new, strange beauties of purely natural magnificence, one's admiration is constantly challenged and his stock of adequately forcible adjectives is exhausted even before the best features of all, the glaciers and the mountains of perpetual snow, are caught sight of. And when the dazzling peaks, rising at a bound far above the wooded hills around them, and the frozen rivers, wide and long, are seen, the admission can be easily obtained that Alaska \% par excellence the scenic store-ground of the world, its inlets rivaling the fjords of Norway and its glaciers those of Switzerland. YJ^e fyaturcil weallr) o| e/ilGts^et. [From the New York Times, October 5, 1884.] The lumber interests are undeveloped, but a great industry is in prom- ise for the future, as all southeastern Alaska from Cape Fox to the Kenai Peninsula is clothed with forests denser than anything in Oregon or Washington Territory. The comparatively mild temperature, the heavy ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 33 rainfall, and the nightless days of the summer season, force everything to a tropical luxuriance. No forest fires ever devastate these pine-clad shores and islands, and one season suffices to clothe with living green undergrowth the scars of landslides or avalanches. The vast area of forest includes little besides coniferc-e. Much of the pine is as poor as Oregon pine, which is such bad ship timber that vessels built of it can only be insured as A No. t for three years. The white spruce, or Sitka pine, which grows to a height of 150 to 175 feet, and is from three to six feet in diameter, is the common tree in all these forests, and Menzies and Merton spruce, red and yellow cedar, pinus concorta, fir, cottonwood, ash, alder, small ma- ple and small birch are the other trees most frequently met with. The red and yellow cedar are the most valuable woods, and the latter, more particularly, is the only good shipbuilding timber on the Pacific Coast. Its value arises chiefly from the fact that it is impervious to the toredo, or boring worm, which eats up the pine piles under Puget Sound wharves every two or three years. It has a fine grain and a certain fragrance, and when made into chests it affords protection from moths to anything placed within. This yellow cedar is rarely found south of the Alaska boundary, and the largest tracts of it are on Kupreanoff, Kon, and the Prince of Wales Island. The density of the forest growth, the tangle of underbrush, and the thick carpet of moss that covers every inch of ground, has made mineral prospecting very slow and difficult. The men who discovered a ledge of quartz near Sitka worked ten days to clear off a small patch of ground over the outcroppings, and the more one sees of these dense, tangled forests, the more one marvels at the extensive mining region that has been opened up near Juneau and across on Douglas Island. The great mining region is at Juneau, 150 miles southeast of Sitka. Three small creeks on the shore of the mainland lead to basins back of the mountains, where rich placers have been worked for five seasons. On Douglas Island, opposite Juneau, the Paris or Treadwell mine is the great mine of Alaska. The gold-bearing ledge there is 500 feet wide, cropping out upon the surface and fronting like a stone quarry to the open air. It has been prospected by four tunnels, and a small five-stamp mill has been at work for three seasons. The ore is not rich, averaging from $9 to $50 per ton, but the decomposed quartz is easily milled, and the supply is inexhaustible. 34 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. BV KATE FIELD. Soon after leaving Wrangel the first Alaskan glacier is seen in the dis- tance, looking like a frozen river emerging from the home of the clouds. The sea is glassy, and a procession of small bergs, broken away from the glacier, float silently toward the south. It is nature's dead march to the sun, to melt in its burning kisses, and to be transplanted into happy tears. Wild ducks fly past, and from his eyrie a bald-headed eagle surveys the scene, deeply, darkly, beautifully blue, apparently con- scious that he is the symbol of the republic. There are glaciers and glaciers. In Switzerland a glacier is a vast bed of dirty air-holed ice that has fastened itself, like a cold p^orus plaster, to the side of an Alp. Dis- tance alone lends enchantment to the view. In Alaska a glacier is a wonderful torrent that seems to have been suddenly frozen when about to plunge into the sea. Down and about mountains wind these snow- clad serpents; extending miles inland with as many arms sometimes as an octopus. Wonderfully picturesque is the Davidson glacier, but more extended is the Muir glacier, which marks the extreme northerly points of pleasure travel. Imagine a glacier three miles wide and three hundred feet high at its mouth. Think of Niagara Falls frozen stiff, add thirty- six feet to Its height, and you have a slight idea of the terminus of Muir glacier, in front of which your steamer anchors; picture a background of mountains fifteen thousand feet high, all snowclad, and then imagine a gorgeous sun lighting up the ice crystals with rainbow coloring. The face of the glacier takes on the hue of aqua marine, the hue of every bit of floating ice, big and little, that surround the steamer and makes navi- gation serious. These dazzling serpents move at the rate of sixty-four feet a day, tumbling headlong into the sea, and as it falh-, the ear is startled by submarine thunder, the echoes of which resound far and near. Down, down, down goes the berg, and woe to the boat in its way when it asain rises to the surface. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 35 jl^poclucls of e/llctsKci. [From the Alaskan, Feb. 2, 1889.] We have to acknowledge the receipt by last mail, through the cour- tesy of Prof. David T. Day, Chief of Division of Mining Statistics and Technology, U. S. Geological Survey, a copy of the Report upon the Mineral Resources of the United States for the year 1887. We find therein enumerated for Alaska the followmg useful minerals: Silver glance, at Glacier Bay, m dolomitic limestone. Sulphide of antimony and iron at Glacier Bay, associated with silver and gold. Lignite coal, at Cape Lisburne, Arctic Coast, occasionally utilized by whalers and U. S. Revenue vessels. Galena, at Juneau, associated with pyrite and mined for gold and .silver; at Golovin Bay, auriferous. [We are now also aware of large quantities of that metal near Sitka.] Garnet, at the mouth of the Stikeen River, near Wrangel. Gold, at Juneau, Douglas Island, Silver Bow Basin, Sitka, Yakutat, Berner Bay, and numerous placers on tributaries of the Yukon. The Alaska gold fields contain free gold in quartz veins and irregular lodes, auriferous sulphurets and shallow placers. Pyrites, iron sulphurets (auriferous) at Douglas Island, mined for gold. Wire, or native silver, at Glacier Bay, associated with native copper. Blende, or black jack, at Juneau, mined for gold and silver. Gray copper, at Glacier Bay, mined for silver and gold. Among the '.iseful minerals, not mined, are mentioned: Asbestos, reported in several localities. Limestone, near Sitka, Killisnoo, Glacier Bay, and elsewhere. Native copper, in small quantities, at Glacier Bay; also at the head- waters of Copper River. [To our own knowledge a copper mine was also worked near the entrance of Kasan Bay, on Prince of Wales Island.] Plumbago, black lead, near Port Clarence, Glacier Bay, Golovin Bay 36 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. Mica, reijorted in considerable quantities at various points. [VV'e can also mention Red Ochre, from personal observation, in the islands of the Alexander Archipelago.] The gold production for Alaska during 1887 is given as $675,000, estimated. The estimate is, according to our opinion, below the mark, as it may be safely assumed that the returns of the Treadwell Mill on Douf'las Island alone reached that amount. We are justified, therefore, in placing the sum total for the year in question at over $1,000,000. Even assuming the amount as given in the report to be correct, it shows whal resources this region possesses, considering the very limited explo- ration it has thus far undergone. [Extract fi-om the Portland Neim.] Mr. Adolph Sutro, of Sutro Tunnel fame, who was here last month, was interviewed in Portland by a N'e7eis reporter on his return from •Alaska. He speaks thus of the country: "The glaciers of Alaska are much grander than those he had seen in Switzerland, and the Alaskan joui- ney was a succession of delightful surprises to himself and daughter." /Hctsi^o: e/ir)e0:d-. NEARLY ONE MILLION CASES OF CANNED SALMON PACKED IN SIX YEARS OREGON OUTSTRIPPED IN THE INDUSTRY. The San Francisco Bulletin thus summarizes the past year's opera- tions in Alaska canned salmon: Alaska canned salmon is to make the market of the world hereafter. Heretofore Oregon has held that position. A scarcity of fish in the Columbia River and the arbitrary action of the Fishermen's Union has given the lead in this business to Alaska. The industry has been a source of considerable prosperity to Oregon. Commencing in 1866, ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 37 with a pack of 4,000 cases, the business has gone on developing year after year, until it reached over 600,000 cases. The largest pack was 629,400 cases in 1883. Since then there has been a falling off. The pack for the past year was about 350,000 cases, the smallest since 1874. The exorbitant demands of the Union, $1.25 per fish, no doubt affected the supply. There is some talk of asking $1.50 next season. That is a more excellent way to preserve the fish and kill the business. It is only within the past few years that these extravagant prices have been asked. Prior to 1882 the average cost of the fish was never above 60c. apiece. When the business was first inaugurated the fishermen were content with 15c. per fish, and the average was never above 25c. until 1879; yet, in the mean time the pack had been increased to over 400,000 cases per annum. Fishermen have made more out of the busi- ness than the cannery men for several years. It is about time they changed places. It is worthy of note that the year which witnessed the heaviest pack on the Columbia River also witnessed the inauguration of the business in Alaska. In 1883 when the Columbia River reported a i)ack of 629,- 400 cases, Alaska sent down 36,000 cases. Another feature of interest is the rapidity with which business in Alaska has been developed. It took the Columbia River canners from 1866 to 1875 to increase their pack to 375>ooo cases, with comparatively little competition in the field with which to contend. What took Oregon nine years to accomplish, Alaska has accomplished in five. Though Alaska is supposed to be in the icy regions, it will, evidently, be a cold day when she gets left in the race with Oregon to control the canned salmon trade. Her pack this year is practically 400,000 cases, though the receipts at this port, so far as we have been able to trace them, have been only 382,280 cases. The Alaskan canned salmon receipts at San Francisco compare as follows: Pack of 1883, cases 36,000 " 1884 " 45,000 1885 " 74,800 1886 " 120,700 1887 " 190,200 1888 " : 382,300 Total 849, 000 Seventeen canneries were operated in Alaska this year, and the number will be larger next year. The fish are small, averaging only six pounds, while the average of the Columbia River fish is twenty pounds, so that 38 ALL ABOUT ALASKA. while it takes only three of the latter for a case of 48 one-pound tins, it takes ten of the former. The Alaska fish has less oil and is a deeper red than the Oregon, l)ut it is probably just as good for the stomach. The Alaska canners are well satisfied with the past year's business. They are now better fixed than ever for a successful campaign. "^rrjC l\oul 1886 18-^7 100,000 1873 188(.i 100,000 1874 1881 1882 1888 100,000 1 875 Total 1876 1883 1,793,438 Upon which there should have been received by the Government, unless some part of the rent, tax, or royalty has been remitted, the sum of $5,752,774.75. ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 63 To Prevent Sea-sickness. While there can be no sea-sickness on the Alaska Excursion Trips from Puget Sound north, it is occasionallv a little lumpy on the open ocean and some people insist on getting sea-sick. The following Recipe has been tried by many and found wonderfully efficacious^ viz.: Bromide Sodium four drachms Bromide Ammonium two drachms Peppermint Water three ounces Mix and take a teaspoonful before meals and at bed-time; begin treatment three days before going on board. BAGGAGE CHECKED. 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