ALASKA, THE GREAT ICE LAND. 159 



province is no longer a distant or inaccessible portion 

 of the British Empire. She is now within a fort- 

 night's journey of the Mersey. 



The Pacific Coast Company's steamers now traverse 

 weekly, starting from San Francisco, that great sea- 

 river or island passage behind the barrier of islands 

 which fringe the whole coast from the south-west 

 extremity of British Columbia as far north as the 

 fifty-eighth degree of latitude. This is a charming 

 and most picturesque excursion for those who dread 

 the open sea ; but it must be admitted that, after a 

 time, scenery which consists exclusively of steep 

 mountainous islands covered with dense forests of 

 pine does become monotonous, though farther north 

 it is varied by an occasional glimpse of a snow-peak 

 or a glacier. Some of the finest scenery lies in the 

 inlets of British Columbia, which the steamers, being 

 American, pass by, and leave unvisited and unknown, 

 calling only at Olympia and Victoria, and thence pro- 

 ceeding direct to Fort Tongass, at the southern ex- 

 tremity of the British- Columbian Alaskan boundary, 

 near the mouth of the Nass Eiver. 



I will only mention that on the journey from ocean 

 to ocean by the Canadian line I remained a few days 

 at "Winnipeg to renew my acquaintance with Mr. 

 "Wrigley (of the Diplomatic Service, but now 

 Governor of the Hudson Bay Company), who made 

 arrangements for me to visit a ranche of half-breed 

 cattle near, where were to be seen the " last of the 

 buffaloes." 



