TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 87 



cries by day and night find responsive echoes in the 

 hoarse bellowing of walruses, or shriller barking of 

 the roving seals, all seeking here a harbour of refuge 

 in sanctums where the murderous hand of man 

 seldom leaves its mark. Weird, desolate, wind- 

 swept coasts, on which neither trees nor bushes 

 flourish, where life seems to be a continuous struggle 

 against Nature's fiercest elements, and where the call 

 of the wild speaks loudest in hearts of man and 

 beasts alike. Here we see the ravages of a higher 

 power, which defies man's labour, and bids defiance 

 to his skill. Abandoned and silent, lies a noble 

 three-masted vessel, high and dry on the sands, grim 

 relic of an ocean's wrath. Her sole occupant a bold 

 fox, which has somehow found its way in quest of 

 food on to this desert island, and made its home on 

 board the ship. What more touching sight is there 

 than this gallant craft, perfect in all respects, save 

 that her sails will never carry her again proudly over 

 those waves which she, in her pristine beauty and 

 strength, defied. Fast embedded in the sand, long 

 will she remain an object of superstitious dread to 

 the natives who know that on her brave men met 

 their death. 



Strange indeed, to the minds of civilized beings in 

 the twentieth century, is the anomaly of life amongst 

 the denizens of this chill and lonesome North. Here 

 may still be seen a race little affected by the march 

 of civilization, as regards the customs and habits 

 ruling their daily life. A people without aspirations, 

 or ambitions, with strange fancies and superstitious 



