TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 17 



difficult, if not impossible, for a sailing ship, the 

 fiords are so narrow, and the current rushes through 

 the narrows at so great a pace. The west route 

 also is a particularly disagreeable one in spring and 

 autumn, as the wind blows great guns all the time. 

 Everything considered, we felt we should be doing 

 the most sensible thing to join our ship at Ko'diak. 



During the enforced stay in Victoria we found 

 the time hang rather heavily on our hands. For 

 Ralph and the Leader there was always the open hos- 

 pitality of that excellent institution the Union Club, 

 but for Cecily and myself there was little to amuse 

 us, save daily visits to the harbour in order to watch 

 what progress was being made in renovating our 

 future quarters on board the Lily. I tried to develop 

 an interest in golf, for sheer joy in the wandering over 

 the beautifully-situated links, with the glorious 

 vista across the Sound. There must be some element 

 of sport lacking in my nature, for the mysteries of 

 golf have never seized me in the fierce grip of their 

 charms, as has been the case with so many good 

 sportsmen of my acquaintance. 



We took to riding about the neighbourhood on a 

 couple of cayuse ponies hired from a livery stable. 

 Livery stables are very plentiful in Victoria, but the 

 business evidently has its vicissitudes, if we can 

 judge by the following appealing notice which we 

 saw printed on the walls of the establishment 

 patronized by us 



" To trust is to bust, to bust is hell ; 

 No trust, no bust, no hell," 



