54 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



A TUNDRA TRIP IN ALASKA. 



Patsy Hughes Lupo, Rockford College. 



Since the early gold rush to Alaska, the first boat of 

 the season to venture into the Northwest Seas has left 

 amid the cheers of crowds of people who thrilled at the 

 thought of her adventures and came to wish her well; 

 for something about travel in ice-laden seas appeals to 

 the romantic spirit of even the most stolid. So it is that 

 even today hundreds of people who are strangers to the 

 country and to all the passengers still come to wave 

 good-bye and good luck to the "Old Vict" when she 

 leaves the dock. And well it is that they do, for I doubt 

 if even the oldest of the old-timers go without some little 

 twinge of wonder whether thru storms and ice she will 

 reach Nome in safety. The Victoria steers a course 

 almost due west to longitude of about 162°, and then 

 turns north thru Unimak Pass into Bering Sea. This 

 is the "outside" passage, in contrast to the line of travel 

 which leads close to the coast and to the Southern part 

 of Alaska. It is the course which the Oriental boats to 

 Japan take ; and few people realize that one is halfway 

 to Japan before he turns north toward Arctic Alaska, 

 and that possessions of the United States and of Russia 

 are in one place only half a mile apart ! It is in Bering 

 Sea that the day lengthens until there is no night, and 

 the watch for ice becomes vigilant. Since the days of 

 wireless the danger from being caught in the ice is less, 

 for word comes from the Yukon when the last ice goes, 

 and from Nome as to the condition of her coast. But 

 sometimes the ice is caught in drifts and is brought back 

 again when unexpected; and so it was on our trip in 

 1922 when on June eleventh the first mate announced, 

 "Ice ahead, sir." But the floe was well broken up and 

 caused no delay, so that we landed at Nome within two 

 days. 



Nome is a city of renowned past, made famous by Rex 

 Beach's Spoilers and by Sweepstake races on which bets 

 were made around the world. She is now, tho, a city of 

 dwindled population, of unpainted houses, of plank 

 streets in need of repair, and of empty homes where the 



