FEATURES OF THE RITKAN REGION. 21 



channels, cause the wind to either blow up them, or down : it liter- 

 ally funnels through with terrific velocity when the " southeasters " 

 prevail, and nothing, not even the steamer, braves the fury of such 

 a storm. 



The great growth of trees everywhere here, and the practical 

 impeneti-ability of these forests on foot, owing to brush and bushes, 

 all green and growing in tangled jungle, is caused by the compara- 

 tive immunity of this country from the scourge of forest fires : this 

 is due to a i^henomenal dampness of the climate — it rains, rains, and 

 drizzles here two-thirds of the time. The heaviest rains are local, 

 usually occurring on the western or ocean slopes of the islands 

 where the sea-winds, surcharged with moisture, first meet a barrier 

 to their flow and are thrown up into the cooler regions of the 

 atmosphere. It will be often noticed, from the steamer, that while 

 heavy rain is falling on the lofty hills and mountains of Prince of 

 Wales Island, it is clear and bright directly over the Strait of 

 Clarence to the eastward, and not far distant. June and July are 

 the most agreeable seasons of the year in which to visit the Sitkan 

 district, as a rule. 



Many thoughtful observers have questioned the truth of the 

 exuberant growth of forestry peculiar to this region, as being due 

 to that incessant rainfall mentioned above ; no doubt, it is not 

 wholly so ; but yet, if the ravages of fire ran through the islets 

 of the archipelago, as it does in the interior slightly to the east- 

 ward, the same order of vegetation here would be soon noted as we 

 note it there to-day ; everywhere that you ascend the inlets of the 

 mainland, the shores become steep and rocky, with no beach, or 

 vei-y little ; the trees become scrubby in aj^pearance, and are 

 mingled with much dead wood {bride). Scarcely any soil clothes 

 the slopes, and extensive patches of bare rock crop out frequently 

 everywhere. 



Although the forest is omnipresent up to snow-line in this 

 great land-locked Sitkan district, yet it differs much in rankness of 

 growth and consequent value; it nowhere clothes the ridges or the 

 summits, which are 1,500 to 2,000 feet above tide-level; these peaks 

 and rocky elevations are usually bare, and show a characteristically 

 green-gray tint due to the sphagnous mosses and dwarfed brier and 

 bushes peculiar to this altitude, making an agreeable and sharp con- 

 trast to that sombre and monotonous line of the conifers below. The 

 variety is limited, being substantially confined to three evergreens. 



