8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



from shore, and at 12:25 p. m. the lines were cast off from the wharf 

 and we proceeded to sea. Fh-es were ligiited under one boiler only, 

 which gave the vessel a speed of 9 knots per hour. Entering the Pacific 

 through Unalga Pass, a course was laid for the north end of Vancouver 

 Island. The sea being smooth and the weather unnsuall}^ clear, our 

 last view of the Aleutian Chain had little in it to remind us of our high 

 latitude except the snow-capped peaks of Akutan and Shishaldin. 



Fires were started in the second boiler on the 14th, and the revolu- 

 tions gradually increased until at noon of the 10th we were making 

 ordinary full speed. Cape St. James was sighted at 11:55 a. m. on the 

 19th; iiassed the Triangles the same evening and entered Coletas Chan- 

 nel at 2:50 a. m. on the 20th. We experienced light to moderate winds 

 from NE. to NW., with pleasant weather as a rule, altiiough it was 

 occasionally overcast and squally. Whales were seen nearly every day, 

 and the usual birds of those latitudes accompanied tlie ship from land 

 to land. 



Steaming through Goletas Channel, we soon entered the broad estu- 

 ary of Queen Charlotte Sound, passed through Broughton Straits, and 

 at 8:20 a. m. came to in Alert Bay, British Columbia. The commis- 

 sioners visited the cannery and Indian village, and the naturalists 

 busied themselves making collections of native hunting and fishing 

 implements for the Columbian ExhibitioTi. 



Continuing our course after a delay of an hour and a half, we threaded 

 tlie narrow channels of Johnstone Straits and Seymour I^arrows to the 

 Grulf of Georgia, finally anchoring in Departure Bay at 1:22 a.m., 

 August 21. Going to the wharf at 9 a. m., 91 tons of coal were taken 

 on board, and at 5:15 p. m. we steamed away again to the southward. 

 Entering Active Pass at 9:12, its narrow sinuous channel was followed 

 without difficulty or delay, notwithstanding the night was dark and the 

 atmosphere thick vfith smoke. Our course led us through Swan son 

 Channel, the Straits of Haro, and across the Straits of Fuca to Port 

 Townsend, where we arrived at 2:40 a. m. the following morning. 



We carry no pilot, and in navigating the tortuous iidand passages 

 of this region it is our usual practice to run during daylight only. The 

 departure from this custom diiriiig the trip was occasioned by the 

 anxiety of the commissioners to reach their destination as soon as 

 practi(!able. The detention at Port Townsend was for the purpose of 

 procuring mail which had accumulated during- the trip; having received 

 it, we left at 10:35 a. m. for Tacoma, arriving at 4:40 p. m., when the 

 commissioners, Prof. Mendenhall and Dr. Merriam, took their final 

 departure. 



]\Ir. Ivan Petroff, special census agent for Alaska, was found in Iliu- 

 liuk on our return from the Seal Islands, August 11, anxiously await- 

 ing transportation to the soutliward, his work in northern regions 

 having been comjdeted. As the Albatross was the first departure, he 

 requested passage, whicli was of course granted, and he iiumediately 



