INLAND PASSAGES 



121 



The general trend of the coast of the mainland is north- 

 west to north-northwest, and this trend is shared by the 

 longer axes of the principal islands. There are thirty-two 

 islands exceeding twenty miles in their greater dimensions, 

 the maps show more than 400 islands above one mile in 

 extent, and the islets are uncounted. 



With minor exception, the peninsulas and islands are 

 mountainous, descending steeply to the water, and the 

 passages between them are deep. Most of the inlets of 

 the mainland 

 and many of 

 the passages 

 dividing islands 

 are of approxi- 

 mately uniform 

 width for long 

 distances, and 

 the parallel 

 shores of such 



linear water- FIG. 60. AN ALASKA FIORD ; TRACY ARM , HOLKHAM BAY. 



ways are usually steep and somewhat simple in contour. 

 Repeating thus the characteristic features of the Norwe- 

 gian coast, they fall within the physiographic class to which 

 the name fiord is applied. The northwesterly trend char- 

 acteristic of the islands affects also the passages between 

 them, and has enabled navigation to select for its use a route 

 close to the mainland, where deep waters are almost wholly 

 protected by the islands from waves and storms of the open 

 ocean. This route is commonly known as the ' inside pas- 

 sage.' Our steamer followed it on both the outward and 

 return voyages, our principal deviation from it being 

 made by a visit to Sitka, which lies on the southwest or 

 oceanic side of Baranof, one of the outer line of islands. 

 Parts of the journey were made at night, but the outward 

 and inward courses, taken together, showed us much the 



