Travels in Alaska 



to furnish, cautiously keeping the pressure low be- 

 cause the salt water foamed in the boilers and some 

 of it passed over into the cylinders, causing heavy 

 thumping at the end of each piston stroke, and 

 threatening to knock out the cylinder-heads. At 

 seven o'clock in the evening we had made only about 

 seventy miles, which caused dissatisfaction, especially 

 among the divines, who thereupon called a meeting in 

 the cabin to consider what had better be done. In 

 the discussions that followed much indignation and 

 economy were brought to light. We had chartered 

 the boat for sixty dollars per day, and the round trip 

 was to have been made in four or five days. But at 

 the present rate of speed it was found that the cost 

 of the trip for each passenger would be five or ten 

 dollars above the first estimate. Therefore, the ma- 

 jority ruled that we must return next day to Wran- 

 gell, the extra dollars outweighing the mountains and 

 missions as if they had suddenly become dust in the 

 balance. 



Soon after the close of this economical meeting, 

 we came to anchor in a beautiful bay, and as the long 

 northern day had still hours of good light to offer, I 

 gladly embraced the opportunity to go ashore to see 

 the rocks and plants. One of the Indians, employed 

 as a deck hand on the steamer, landed me at the 

 mouth of a stream. The tide was low, exposing a 

 luxuriant growth of algae, which sent up a fine, fresh 

 sea smell. The shingle was composed of slate, quartz, 

 and granite, named in the order of abundance. The 

 first land plant met was a tall grass, nine feet high, 



[60] 



