CHAPTER V. 

 The Wonders of Nachvak. 



THE ETERNAL SNOW-CROWNED HILLS OF NACHVAK — A DESOLATE 

 HUDSON'S BAY POST — GRAND NATURAL SCENERY — SKYNNER's 

 COVE VS. rumford's COVE. 



High on the eternal rocks of the north, 

 Close by the wild and swift tidal wroth, 

 Where perpetual snows arch summit and peak, 

 And the winds beat hard on the barren and bleak 

 Mountainous range. 



^||lp| ARLY on the morning of August 1st, the Expedition, steaming 

 northward, arrived off the entrance to Nachvak Bay. There 

 was a light rain in the early morning, but by ten o'clock 

 *-%? the weather was clearing, and soon became bright and fair. 

 The prospect as we approached was one of exceeding grandeur. At 

 first the coast in the distance looked like a great rugged wall of 

 rocks, towering two thousand feet above the water, without an 

 opening of any kind; but the Neptune steamed toward it full 

 speed. Approaching nearer and nearer, the scene became one of 

 intense interest. There appeared, slowly opening, an inlet, very 

 narrow and completely hid by the mighty cliffs. On the left of 

 this the rocks rose in bold desolation high above the dark blue 

 waves, surmounted by a pinnacle which we called the Devil's 

 Table, said to have an elevation of two thousand feet. On the north, 

 the singularly-shaped and gigantic form of Mount Razor Back broke 

 upon our view gradually through the mist and fog, lifting its sharp 

 razor-like back two hundred feet above all its surroundings. 



The scene is beyond the possibility of my pen, and I shall not 

 attempt it. The rocks were entirely barren, except here and there, 

 on the lower ranges, where the slopes were gradual, and patches of 



