FAR AND NEAR 



excellent. They f]^row in great abundance in the sand 

 on the beach. On the *2-ith we steamed all day oft" the 

 Fairweather Ranw, which lav there before us with- 

 out a cloud or film to dim its naked majesty. AYe 

 were two or three hours in passing the great peak 

 itself. Piled with snow and beaten upon by a cloud- 

 less sun, its reflected light shone in my stateroom 

 like that of an enormous full moon. This w^as a day 

 in blue and white, — blue of the sea and sky and 

 white of the mountains, — long to be remembered 

 but not to be described. The peak of St. Elias, 

 standing above a band of cloud, kept us in its eye 

 till we were one hundred and fifty miles down the 

 coast. 



On the 25th we w^ere at Juneau again, taking coal 

 and water. The only toad I saw in Alaska I saw this 

 day, as it was fumbling along in the weeds by the 

 roadside, just out of Juneau. Here also I gathered 

 my first salmon-berries, — a kind of raspberry an 

 inch in diameter, w'ith a slightly bitterish flavor, 

 but very good. 



The lovely weather still favored us on our return 

 trip down the inland passage. Under date of the 26th 

 I find this entry in my note-book: — 



"15 right and w^arm and still ; all day down the 

 inside passage. At one point in Tongass Narrows, 

 fishermen taking salmon: a large seine gathered in 

 between two rowboats, one of them bright red, and 

 men in each with forks picking the fish out of the net 



X2G 



