ALASKA, THE GREAT ICE LAND. 163 



between lofty ranges which have the qualities of both 

 grace and grandeur. 



When I reached Victoria on Vancouver's Island the 

 Ancon, bound for Sitka, Alaska, was already alongside 

 the wharf. After coaling we steamed direct, as be- 

 fore stated, for Fort Tongass. I had not been long 

 on board before discovering that two Americans were 

 among the passengers, and bound, like myself, on an 

 exploring expedition to Mount St. Elias and the alpine 

 regions of Alaska. The wish to have the honour of 

 being the first to explore the great peak and the 

 glaciers round it had occurred simultaneously on 

 both sides of the Atlantic, for this party, as I found, 

 had been equipped and sent out by the proprietor 

 of the New York Times (Mr. Jones), and consisted of 

 Lieutenant Fred. Schwatka, leader of the American 

 Search Expedition to King William Island, in quest 

 of relics of the Franklin Expedition, and of Professor 

 W. Libbey, of Princeton College, New Jersey. We 

 joined forces, and the result was mutually advanta- 

 geous in many respects. 



The journey resembles in some characteristics the 

 voyage along the west coast of Norway, though in 

 British Columbia and Alaska the channels are more 

 narrow and intricate, the mountains as high, and the 

 forests denser. Good mountain- goat hunting can be 

 had by ascending the Skeena Eiver, where some 

 English sportsmen (Mr. and Mrs. Turner and Mr. E. 

 Wilson) recently obtained eleven trophies in a fort- 

 night of the curious white long-haired creatures, half 



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