TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 85 



traces of habitation, that the spectator is reminded of 

 a city of the dead, as it were forsaken owing to some 

 terrible visitation of pestilence. 



The island's beauty is entrancing, and a dreamer 

 is bewitched in its solitudes by the glamour of 

 Nature's graces. To appreciate the surroundings in 

 all their glory one needs to climb one of the many 

 small hills, whence the eye may revel in the charm 

 and wonder of the scenery. 



It is evening, and all the air is redolent with 

 mingled perfumes of sweet flowers and soft decidu- 

 ous grasses. The panorama is bewildering in its 

 diversity. The island lies in a sheltered bay, sur- 

 rounded by hills, lofty and majestic, of the main- 

 land, through which a narrow entrance leads out to 

 meet the ocean. 



Clothed with a verdant carpet of innumerable 

 flowers and grasses, the isle resembles a bright 

 emerald surrounded with transparent blue setting 

 formed by the bay's calm waters. The varieties of 

 flowers are multitudinous, and their beauty and 

 colouring are exquisite. Let the eye roam far out 

 across the bay, and there we have on every side 

 glimpses of lofty hills which assume all forms of 

 shapes found in mountain scenery. Conical, ser- 

 rated, concave, or convex, the sharp curves of hills 

 and valleys stand out in bold relief, each line accen- 

 tuated by the clearness of this Northern atmosphere. 

 The setting sun is sinking behind the distant peaks 

 in an effulgent glory peculiar to the Arctic regions. 

 Dying rays shining on motionless clouds are reflected 



