8 RKrORT OF THE COMMISSIONEK OF FLSII AND FISHERIES. 



fioin sliore, and at 12:25 p. ui. the linos were east off from the wharf 

 ;iinl Ave proceeded to sea. Fires were li!i;lited under one boiler only, 

 which gave the vessel a spee<l of knots i)er honr. P^ntering the Paeihc 

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

 Island. The sea being smooth and the weather unusually 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 Shislialdin. 



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

 tions gradually increased until at noon of the ICth we were making- 

 ordinary full speed. Cape St. James was sighted at 1 1 lo;") a. m. on the 

 19th; passed the Triangles the same evening and entered Goletas Chan- 

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

 from NE. to NW., with jdeasant weather as a rule, although it was 

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

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

 to land. 



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

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

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

 sioners visited the cannery and Indian village, and the naturalists 

 busied themselves making collections of native hunting and tisliing 

 implements for the Coluinbian Exhibition. 



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

 the narrow channels of dohnstone Straits and Seymour Narrows to the 

 Gulf 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 with smoke. Our course led us through Swanson 

 Channel, the Straits of Ilaro, 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 iidaiul passages 

 of this region it is our usual practice to run during daylight oid}'. The 

 departure from this custom during the trip Avas occasioned by the 

 anxiety of the commissioners to reach their destination as soon as 

 practicable. The detention at Port Townsend was for the purpose of 

 procuring mail which had accumulated during the trip: having received 

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

 conimissioners, Prof. Mendenhall and Dr. JMerriam, took their linal 

 departure. 



Mr. lA^an Pctroff, sj)ccial census agent for Alaska, Avas found in Iliu- 

 link on our return from tlie Seal Islands, August 11, anxiously aAvait- 

 ing transportation to the soutliAvard, his A\'ork in northern regions 

 having been completed. As the Albtdross Avas the first departure, he 

 re(juested passage, which Avas of course granted, and he immediately 



