canoes 



1896] Toward Bering Sea 



Sitka, the quaint, dying, old Russian capital, I sitka 

 found unexpectedly charming. Few towns, indeed, 

 have a fairer site. In front, at the mouth of its 

 green harbor, towers the white cone of Mount 

 Edgecombe, a great cold volcano, while behind, the 

 damp, green forest leads backward to a high, broken 

 range, snow-covered and singularly picturesque. In 

 the ancient church are some beautiful paintings 

 dating from the time when the sea-otter trade filled 

 the Russian ports with gold. 



Two days out from Sitka we hoped to see the 

 mighty snow mass of St. Elias, 18,000 feet, with its andvol 

 huge Malaspina glacier, forty miles across where it 

 ends near the sea; but the cloud rack hid both 

 completely in this and my subsequent trips. From 

 Kodiak on, however, the journey was brightened by 

 the sight of occasional snowy islands. White Shi- 

 shaldin, a still-smoking volcano of perfect symmetry 

 rising apparently sheer from the sea, stands unique 

 in my memory; Pavlof on the mainland is also 

 active and likewise white with driven snow. But 

 Unimak and Akutan islands bulk huge and dark at 

 the eastern base of the long Aleutian chain. 



Beyond them lies the greater Unalaska with its 

 monstrous volcano, Makushin, not at all a cone, 

 at the foot of which the splendid waterfall of 

 Cape Cheerful plunges off a high shelf in one swift 

 leap out into the sea. Commercially, Unalaska is 

 by far the most important of the Aleutians, as its 

 two excellent harbors are necessarily utilized by all 

 vessels bound for the north. Captain's Harbor, the 

 inner anchorage, was named for Cook, the celebrated 

 explorer, who once spent the winter there. The 

 outer and then more important landing-place is 



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