262 GANNETT 



Farther to the northwest stretches a low coast, rising into 

 mountains a score or two of miles inland. Through these 

 mountains flows Copper River, at whose mouth is an 

 enormous delta, built up of detritus which it brings down 

 from the interior. 



Then comes Prince William Sound, a bay of irregular 

 shape, with many tentacle-like fiords extending in various 

 directions into the land. Its entrance is nearly closed by 

 islands between which are several navigable passages. 

 The islands near the shores are everywhere mountainous, 

 and on the north shore mountains rise to about 10,000 

 feet, the higher ones everywhere skirted with glaciers, 

 many of which come down into the sea. Several of the 

 fiords are of great length, reaching far inland. Thus Port 

 Valdez, up which the Copper River route to the interior 

 passes, extends inland more than thirty miles, and Port 

 Wells, on the northwest of Prince William Sound, pushes 

 forty miles into the interior, far up among the high moun- 

 tains, and each of its branches terminates in a living gla- 

 cier. Passage Canal, too, up which runs the portage route 

 to Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, has a length of thirty miles. 



Prince William Sound, in the mountainous character of 

 its shores, in its multitude of islands and fiords, and in the 

 almost total absence of level land, resembles southeastern 

 Alaska. It was, until recently, but little known, all our 

 information concerning it being derived from the explo- 

 rations of Vancouver and Malaspina, made a century or 

 more ago. Within the past two years, however (1898 

 and 1899), exploring parties under Captain Abercrombie 

 and Captain Glenn have supplemented the work of Van- 

 couver and Malaspina, and have added materially to our 

 knowledge of the coast and adjacent lands. Some addi- 

 tional information also was gained by the Harriman Expe- 

 dition, especially concerning Columbia Fiord and Glacier, 

 and of Port Wells and its glaciers, in the form of sketch 



