THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 171 



invariably a round hole for a door, through which one creeps. They are particularly 

 ingenious in carving; and Jack has many an opportunity of obtaining grotesque 

 figures, cut from, wood or slate-stone, for a cast-off garment or a half-dollar. One brought 

 home represents the Russian soldier of the period, prior to the American annexation, and 

 is scarcely a burlesque of his stolid face, gigantic moustache, close fitting coat with very 

 tight sleeves, and loose, baggy trousers. Masks may be seen cut from some white stone, 

 which would not do dishonour to a European sculptor. But now, leaving Sitka, let us 

 make a rapid trip to the extreme northern end of the Pacific Station. 



Men-of-war proceeding north of Sitka which, except for purposes of science or war, 

 is not likely to be the case, although the Pacific Station extends to the northernmost parts 

 of Alaska would voyage into Bering Sea through Ounimak Pass, one of the best passages 

 between the rocky and rugged Aleutian Islands. In the pass the scenery is superb, grand 

 volcanic peaks rising in all directions. While there, many years ago, the writer well 

 remembers going on deck one morning, when mists and low clouds hung over the then 

 placid waters, and seeing what appeared to be a magnificent mountain peak, snowy and 

 scarped, right overhead the vessel, and having a wreath of white cloud surrounding it, 

 while a lower and greyer bank of mist hid its base. It seemed baseless, and as though 

 rising from nothing ; while the bright sunlight above all, and which did not reach the 

 vessel, lit up the eternal snows in brilliant contrasts of light and shadow. This was the 

 grand peak of Sheshaldinski, which rises nearly 9,000 feet above the sea level. 



The Aleutian Islands are thinly inhabited, and the Aleuts a harmless, strong, 

 half-Esquimaux kind of people often leave them. They make very good sailors. The few 

 Russian settlements, among the principal of which was Kodiak, were simply trading posts 

 and fur-sealing establishments. Since the purchase of Alaska, the United States Govern- 

 ment has leased them to a large mercantile firm, which makes profits from the sealing. 

 North of the islands, after steaming over a considerable waste of waters, the only settlements 

 on the coast of the whole country are Michaelovski and Unalachleet, both trading posts; 

 while south of the former are the many mouths of one of the grandest rivers in the 

 world, the Yukon, almost a rival to the Amazon and Mississippi. That section of the 

 country lying round the great river is tolerably rich in fur-bearing animals, including 

 sable, mink, black and silver-grey fox, beaver, and bear. The moose and deer abound; 

 while fish, more especially salmon, is very abundant. Salmon, thirty or more pounds in 

 weight, caught in the Yukon, has often been purchased for a half-ounce of tobacco or four 

 or five common sewing-needles. The coasts of Northern Alaska are rugged and uninviting, 

 and not remarkable for the grand scenery common in the southern division. 



Leaving the north, and passing the leading station already described on Vancouver 

 Island, the sailor has the whole Pacific coasts of both Americas, clear to Cape Horn, before 

 him as part of the Pacific Station. There is Mexico, with its port of Acapulco ; New 

 Granada, with the important sea-port town of Panama; Callao, Peru; and Valparaiso, in 

 Chili : at any of which H.B.M. vessels are commonly to be found. Panama is, indeed, 

 a very important central point, as officers of the Royal Navy, ordered to join vessels 

 elsewhere, usually leave their own at Panama, cross the isthmus, and take steamer to 

 England, via St. Thomas's, or by way of New York, thence crossing to Liverpool. The 



