USA > Alaska > The new Eldorado: a summer journey to Alaska > Part 20
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On the evening before we left Sitka a brass band consisting of twenty-one performers marched down to the wharf from the mission school, in good military order, headed by their teacher as band-master, and serenaded the passengers. The band was composed entirely of native boys, the oldest not over eighteen, not one of whom had ever
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seen a brass musical instrument two years ago. They performed eight or ten elaborate pieces of composition, not passably well, but admirably, in perfect time, and with real feeling for the music they expressed. It was a surprise to every one on board the Corona to hear such a performance by natives in this isolated spot in the far north. A liberal purse was handed to the teacher to be divided among them.
" Do you know what they will do with this money ? " he asked, gratefully.
" Purchase some trifle, each one after his own fancy," we replied.
" No, sir," said the teacher, " they will tell me, every one of them, to purchase some new music with the money, which they can practice and learn to play together."
Their means are of course quite circumscribed, and they have had but little variety afforded them, either in school-books or music. They look upon their musical tuition as a reward for good behavior, and the severest punishment to them is to be deprived of any favorite branch of instruc- tion.
At our final view of Sitka, the quaint capital of Alaska was lying quiet and peacefully at the feet of Vestova, while enshrouded in a voluptuous sheen of afternoon sunlight. A rose-glow rested on everything, beautifying the simplest objects. Lofty, thickly-wooded hills formed the back- ground, while the Greek church and the old cas- tle dominated all the humbler buildings. The
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waters of the island-dotted bay were as still as an inland lake, and flooded with golden reflections. Now and again an eagle sailed gracefully from one wooded height to another, and the hoarse croak of many ravens, held sacred by the Indians, greeted the ear. A few United States soldiers lounged about their barracks, and a few cannon were arranged upon the broad common. These were light fieldpieces, more for show than for use. Groups of natives clad in bright-colored blankets were seen here and there before their simple dwellings which line the beach. A broad, intensely green plateau forms the centre of the set- tlement, about which the better houses of the whites are situated. A little to the left, nearer to the hills, is the curiously arranged burial-ground of the aborigines, with a few totem-poles, and many boxes reared above ground in which are de- posited the remains of former chiefs. On a slight rise of ground stands the ancient blockhouse, built of logs, from which the Russians once made a des- perate fight with the natives. Behind us Mount Edgecombe loomed far up among the clouds, where its apex was half hidden, and in the same direc- tion, not far away, was the open Pacific. It was nearly ten o'clock P. M. before the sun set behind the distant western hills in a blaze of scarlet, yellow, and purple, reflected by soft, butterfly clouds and mountain tops in the east. After that came the luminous moonlight, making a regal glory of the darkness, and flashing in opal gleams from the sea.
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While watching the rippling lustre of the water, tremulous with starlight and the languid breath of the night air, one was fain to ask if it was all quite real, if this was not a fancy picture from the land of dreams. Could these be the far-away shores of Alaska ? The pathos and tenderness of the scene, the glow, and fire, and throbbing love- liness, were indescribable. Even the few fleecy clouds which sailed between us and the planets seemed as if they came to waft our hymn of praise to Heaven. Is not such surpassing beauty of na- ture an image of the Infinite One ?
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Return Voyage. - Prince of Wales Island. - Peculiar Effects. - Island and Ocean Voyages contrasted. - Laby- rinth of Verdant Islands. - Flora of the North. - Political Condition of Alaska. - Return to Victoria. - What Cloth- ing to wear on the Journey North. - City of Vancouver. - Scenes in British Columbia .- Through the Mountain Ranges.
THE return voyage from Sitka by the inland course takes us first through Peril Straits, so named on account of its many submerged rocks and reefs. It is, however, a wonderfully pictur- esque passage between the two lofty islands of Chicagoff and Baranoff, strewn as it is with im- pediments to navigation. We pass the Indian village of Kootznahoo, occupied by a tribe of the same name, a people who have always proved to be restless and aggressive, requiring a strong hand to control them. They are peaceable enough now, having been taught some severe lessons by way of discipline. This tribe as a body still adheres to many of the revolting practices of their ances- tors, which other Alaskans, who are brought into more intimate relations with the whites, have dis- carded. They are also said to be more under the influence of their medicine-men, who foster all sorts of vile rites and superstitions, without the prevalence of which their occupation and impor- tance would vanish.
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We make our way through the winding chan- nels of the Alexander Archipelago, of which the Prince of Wales Island is one of the largest and most mountainous. It is about a hundred and seventy-five miles long by fifty miles in width ; that is to say, it is as large as the State of New Jersey, and in fact contains more square miles. It is mostly covered with dense forests of Alaska cedar, the best of ship-timber. The shores are indented on all sides by fjords extending a con- siderable distance into the land. Salmon abound in and about this island, which has led to the establishment of several large fish-canning facto- ries, two new ones being added during the past season. The principal native tribe upon the island is known as the Haidas, whose villages are scattered along the coast. The interior of the island is not only uninhabited, but it is unex- plored. The shore hamlets are called " rancher- ies." Each sub-tribe has a special one represent- ing its capital, where the head chiefs live. Their laws seem to be simply a series of conventional- ities. The houses of these Haidas are better structures than those of most natives of the Ter- ritory, and they surround themselves, as a rule, with more domestic comforts. Woolen blankets appear to be the investment in which all the spare means of the members of this, as well as most other tribes, are placed, and by the number they possess they estimate their wealth. Woolen blankets, in fact, averaging in value from two dol- lars and a half to three and a half, are the native
IN THE ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO. 323
currency or circulating medium, being received as such when in good condition; and also given out at the trading stations as payment to natives for furs or for any service, unless specie is preferred.
The meandering course of the steamer brings us now before one Indian hamlet and island, and now another; but these villages are very few in num- ber, hours, and even a whole day, being sometimes passed, while on our course, without meeting a sol- itary canoe or seeing a human being outside the vessel's bulwarks. These islands, as a rule, have no gravelly or sandy beach, but spring abruptly from out the almost bottomless sea, in their pro- portions ranging from an acre to the size of a Eu- ropean principality.
Now and again we come upon a reach of the shore where it is shelving, and for a mile or more it is bastioned by a course of stones, of such uni- form height and even surface as to seem like the work of clever stone-masons. Skilled workers with plummet and line could produce nothing more regular.
In some places, as we quietly glide close in to the shadow of the land, shut in by the morning fog and mist wreaths, the effects are very curious and even startling. It not being possible to see very far up the shrouded cliffs, down whose sides there rush narrow, silvery cascades, with a merry, laughing sound, they often have the appearance of coming directly out of the sky. It seems as though some peak had punctured one of the over- charged clouds, and it was pouring out its liquid contents through the big aperture.
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The contrast between a voyage across the open ocean and a sail of two weeks in this inland sea is notable. In the former instance the voyagers find fruitful themes in the vast expanse and fabulous depth of the ocean, the huge monsters and tiny creatures occupying it, the record of the ship's progress, her exact tonnage, and the trade in which she has been engaged since she was launched. Few persons have in themselves sufficient intel- lectual resources not to become oppressed with ennui under the circumstances. Between Puget Sound and Glacier Bay how different is the expe- rience! There is no monotony here; every mo- ment is replete with curious sights, every succeed- ing hour full of fresh discoveries. The panoramic view is crowded all day long with sky-reaching mountains, scarred by wild convulsions ; verdant islands embowered in giant trees ; rocky peaks ris- ing from the bottom of the sea to a thousand feet and more above our topmast head ; cascades tum- bling down precipitous cliffs ; Indian hamlets dot- ted by totem-poles ; canoes gliding over the silent surface of the deep channels ; inlets crowded with schools of salmon ; mammoth glaciers emptying themselves into the sea and forming opaline ice- bergs sharply reflecting the sun's dazzling rays. There is no time for ennui among such scenes as these ; the eyes are captivated by the beauty and the variety, while the imagination is constantly stimulated to its utmost capacity.
The flora of this far northern country does not exhibit the wonderful luxuriance and productive-
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AN ATTRACTIVE REGION.
ness which captivates us in the tropics, though one gathers some extremely attractive specimens. Nei- ther the flowers, the insects, nor the birds are marked with the brilliancy of color which distin- guish those bathed continually in waves of equa- torial sunlight. Here, grandeur prevails over beauty ; the trees, if not so verdant, excel in size and majesty ; the mountains, in height ; the riv- ers, in volume and length ; while the glaciers are without comparison in magnitude and power. Here, is simplicity, vastness, magnificence ; there, fertility, fragrance, loveliness. Neither in the north nor in the south is there the least infringe- ment upon the great harmonies of Nature ; admi- rable consistency and order exist everywhere, typ- ifying a great, overruling, supreme Intelligence.
We pause for a moment amid the silent tran- quillity to sum up our experience while gliding along this beautiful and peaceful inland sea on the return voyage. The author does not hesitate to pronounce Alaska to be one of the most at- tractive regions in the world for summer tourists. From early June to September the temperature prevailing upon the entire route is equable, the thermometer ranging all the while between sixty and seventy degrees Fah. The progress of the steamer always creates a gentle and agreeable breeze, which renders warm clothing desirable, especially at early morning and in the evening, though these are periods not so distinctly defined as with us in New England. An overcoat is rarely rendered necessary or desirable. If the
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mosquitoes are troublesome at certain places on shore, in marshy regions, they are never so on the water, as the breeze inevitably drives such insects away. Let us say especially there is no other such inviting resort for pleasure yachts as this inland, island-dotted sea of Alaska. If the fogs put in an appearance sometimes in the morning, they are after a while burned away by the warmth of the sun. Local rains on shore are to be oc- casionally endured, but they are no great draw- back to observation and brief excursions. At Sitka, Wrangel, and Juneau several showers may occur during the day, with intervals of bright and cloudless skies between. We have witnessed seven copious, well-sustained showers of rain on a May forenoon in Chicago, the intervals sand- wiched with sunshine of gorgeous clearness and warmth. Why pretend that Alaska is exceptional in this respect? The weather is not perfect, ac- cording to our estimate, anywhere. Finally the extended trip upon the boat was found to cover a little over two thousand miles in all, and was with us one of continuous pleasure, enlivened by as bright and cheerful weather as one experiences on an average elsewhere, winding among an im- mense archipelago of mountains, emerald islands, and land-locked bays, through narrow channels dominated by precipitous cliffs, and crossing broad, lake-like expanses as placid as the serene blue overhanging all.
No other government on the globe, in this nineteenth century, would permit so large and im-
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POLITICAL CONDITION OF ALASKA.
portant a portion of its territory to remain unex- plored. Congress should send at once a thoroughly equipped scientific expedition, competent to report minutely upon the geology, fauna, flora, and geog- raphy of this immense division of the country. It is more than an oversight, it is a gross blunder, not to do this without further delay. If our own pen-pictures of this neglected Territory shall in- cite to the fulfillment of such an act of official duty, these pages will have served at least one im- portant purpose.
" With a comparatively mild climate," says C. E. S. Wood, in an account of a visit to Alaska, printed in the " Century Magazine," " with most valuable shipbuilding timber covering the islands, with splendid harbors, with inexhaustible fisheries, with an abundance of coal, with copper, lead, silver, and gold awaiting the prospector, it is surprising that an industrious, shipbuilding, fish- ing colony from New England or other States has not established itself in Alaska."
The political condition of Alaska is anything but creditable to our country. It has little more than the shadow of a civil government, and is en- tirely without any land laws by which a resident can secure a title to the soil upon which he builds his house. The act of Congress dated May 7, 1884, providing an apology for a civil government, was not passed until twenty years after the Terri- tory had been acquired. As a consequence the material progress of the country and its inviting possibilities remain undeveloped. With the ex-
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tension of the United States local laws to this section, immigration would be at once promoted and various industries established. " Why we are so neglected is incomprehensible," said a resident of Sitka. " All we ask is the same advantages enjoyed by the citizens of the other Territories of the United States." It is certainly to be hoped that Congress will give early attention to this important matter, for Alaska is destined to become one of our most valuable possessions. We shall be excused for making use of so strong an expres- sion, but it is only too true that her interests have been persistently and shamefully neglected by the law-makers at Washington.
" Like the dog in the manger," says Miss Kate Field, " Congress will do nothing for Alaska, nor will it permit Alaska to do anything for herself locally, or at Washington through a delegate. Yet, in 1890, two islands of this despised and neglected province will have paid into the United States Treasury $6,340,000, - within one million of Alaska's entire purchase ! "
The present comparative isolation of Alaska will not be of long duration ; not only are the facilities for reaching the Territory being annually increased from the east, but it is being also rapidly approached in this respect from the west. The Russian government is building a railroad in almost a straight line from Moscow to Behring Sea, which it is confidently believed will be com- pleted within five years. Direct communication will thus be established between St. Petersburg
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TOURING DRESS.
and the Russian Pacific ports, through Siberia, whose most easterly point is less than forty miles from the soil of Alaska.
After sailing four or five days southward, bear- ing always slightly to the east, through a wilder- ness of islands and along the mountain-fringed coast of the mainland, the ship comes upon the open sea, and the passengers realize for a short time the effect of the Pacific Ocean swell. The sensitiveness of some people to its influence is as remarkable as the stolid indifference of others. Here, where the Japanese Current meets the cold air from off the coast, fogs are very liable to pre- vail, though it was not so in the writer's case. We are now in comparatively open navigation and can lay our course without fear. Soon Queen Char- lotte's Sound is entered, and for a day and a half the steamer again skirts the picturesque shore of Vancouver, whose features are reproduced in the deep, quiet waters with marvelous distinctness, until finally we are once more landed at Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
We are frequently asked since our return what clothing and other articles one should take, with which to make the inland voyage through Alaskan waters. This is easily answered.
As the rainfall is frequent be sure to have a good stout umbrella. Ladies would do well to take a gossamer waterproof and gentlemen a mackintosh. Heavy shoes, that is with double soles, and a light overcoat should be provided. There is no occasion for full dress, -court dress,
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on this route, swallow-tails are so much needless baggage. Ladies' skirts should be short so they will not draggle on the wet deck of the steamer, or in walking through the damp grass, or over the surface of a glacier. In the latter instance gentle- men generally carry portable spikes that can be screwed on to the bottom of the shoes, and a staff cane with a stout ferule. When a party is formed to ascend a glacier a small hatchet and small rope should always be taken by some one of their num- ber. In case of an accident these often become of great importance. There need not be any acci- dent, however, if ordinary prudence is observed.
A large and well-appointed steamer named the Islander, which plies regularly on this route, takes one across the island-sprinkled Gulf of Georgia in six or seven hours from Victoria to Vancouver on the mainland. This is the ter- minus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, situated a short distance from the mouth of the Fraser River. From here the homeward course is almost due east through British Columbia, Alberta, As- siniboia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec to Mon- treal, thence southeast to Boston.
So late as 1886 the present site of Vancouver was covered with a dense forest of Douglass pines, cedar and spruce trees. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed to Vancouver in May, 1887, when the first through train arrived from Montreal. The youthful city is well situated for commercial purposes on what is called Burrard Inlet. It has extensive wharves, substantial ware-
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CITY OF VANCOUVER.
houses, and very good hotel accommodations. Well-arranged public water-works bring the need- ful domestic supply in pure and healthful condi- tion from the neighboring hills. The surrounding scenery is strikingly bold, embracing the Cascade Range in the north, the mountains of Vancouver Island across the water in the west, and the Olym- pian Range in the south, while the great snowy head of Mount Baker rears itself skyward as the main feature in the southeast. The steamer whichi brings us here from Victoria passes through a beautiful archipelago of peaceful islands, verdant and wooded to the very brink. The busy popula- tion of this infant city number between thirteen and fourteen thousand, and the place is growing rapidly. It is lighted by both gas and electricity. Forty substantial edifices for business and dwell- ing purposes are in course of erection at this writ- ing. There are steamers which sail regularly from here for Japan, China, and San Francisco. As it is in the midst of what may be called a wild country, there is excellent hunting near at hand and large game is abundant. Many sports- men, especially from England, make their head- quarters here while devoting themselves to hunting for a large part of the summer season. Four large English sloops of war were observed in the harbor at the time of the writer's visit, together with a couple of torpedo boats bearing the same flag, des- tined for Behring Sea, to " emphasize " the British side of the Alaska fishery question as between our government and that of Great Britain.
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As one stands on the shore the harbor presents a picture of great variety and interest, compris- ing men-of-war boats pulled by disciplined crews ; canoes, paddled by Indian squaws wrapped in high- colored blankets ; boats loaded with valuable furs and propelled by aboriginal hunters; here a raft of timber, and there a steam ferry-boat. Just in shore there is passing as we watch the scene a native canoe carrying a sail made of bark-mat- ting, brown and dingy, steered with a paddle by an aged, withered, white-haired Indian, while in the prow is a four or five year old native boy, trailing his hands idly in the water over the side of the tiny craft. A striking picture of the voyage of life : thoughtless, happy, vigorous youth at the prow, with weary age and experience awaiting the end at the stern. A couple of large steamers close at hand are getting under way loaded with preserved fish, put up at the canneries near by ; one is bound for Australia, the other for England, by way of Cape Horn.
Vancouver has many edifices of brick and stone, with good churches and several schools; some of the private residences being remarkable for their complete architectural character in so new a city as this which forms the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The principal part of the city occupies a penin- sula, bounded north by the waters of Burrard In- let, south by a small indentation called False Creek, and west by English Bay. The city is fast ex- tending beyond these limits, both east and south.
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THE LONG JOURNEY HOMEWARD.
The peninsula rises gradually to an altitude of two hundred feet, more or less, affording the means of perfect drainage for the new city, which is laid out on a grand scale. A tramway, embracing the several suburbs, is in course of construction, the motor for which will be electricity.
We take the cars at Vancouver for our long journey homeward over the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, through the British Dominion to the Atlan- tic coast, indulging in a last admiring view of the grand elevation known as Mount Baker, which in these closing days of July is a mass of snow two thousand feet from its summit. Upon starting our attention is first drawn to the gigantic trees, big sawmills, immense piles of lumber, and exten- sive brick-yards in the environs of the city. Small villages are passed, straggling farms, Indian camps, mining lodges, and Chinese "hives," where these people congregate after working all day at placer mining, and gamble half the night, sacrificing their laboriously acquired means. The grand winding valley of the Fraser River - a water- course as large as the Ohio - is followed for over two hundred miles in a northeasterly direction, affording glimpses of most charming and vivid scenery, leading through cañons fully equaling in grandeur of form and beauty of detail anything of the sort in Colorado.
Now and again groups of Indians are seen pre- paring the salmon they have caught for winter use. The fish are split and stretched flat by wooden braces, then hung in long pink lines upon
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low frames of wood. They use no salt in this cur- ing process, but simply dry the fish by atmos- pheric exposure, and succeed very well in thus preserving it. Dried salmon forms the principal staple of food for this people in the long Canadian winters. These natives, as in our own instance, are subsidized by the Dominion ; that is, they are placed upon reservations and receive a certain amount of money and rations annually from the government. Light green patches of raspberries are passed here and there, where children are gath- ering the ripe fruit in abundance, the bright color about their mouths betraying how abundantly they have feasted while thus engaged. It was a pleas- ant picture to gaze upon under the pearly blue sky, where we were surrounded with the fragrant odor of pine and spruce, and the ceaseless music of hurrying waters.
At times the river rushes through deep rocky ravines, and at others expands into broad shallows with glittering sand bars, on which eager groups of miners are seen washing for gold. We cross a deep, cavernous gorge of the river on a graceful steel bridge, which, though doubtless of ample strength, yet seems of spider-web proportions, then plunge into a dark tunnel to emerge directly amid scenery of the wildest nature, set with huge bowl- ders and noisy with boiling flumes and roaring cascades, where color, splendor, and inspiration greet us at each turn, while every object is soft- ened by the pale afternoon sunlight.
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