No. 389.] VACATION NOTES. 395 
and from them the great glaciers flow down, sometimes reach- 
ing the sea, where the great fragments broken off float off as 
icebergs. None of the ice masses seen were of very large size, 
but their fantastic shapes, and the exquisite hues of the pure 
ice, presented a beautiful spectacle. At this high latitude, at 
the end of June, the sun did not set until nearly ten o’clock, 
and it did not become really dark at all, so that we had to go to 
bed by daylight —a novel experience for most of us. 
Stops were made at Wrangell, where there were standing a 
number of the curious totem poles, which unfortunately have 
since been burned. Stops were also made at Juneau and Ska- 
guay, the latter a most unattractive collection of shabby huts, 
raised on piles to keep them out of the water. Near by was 
the rival town of Dyea, which we did not visit. 
The vegetation is everywhere luxuriant, showing the heavy 
rainfall and relatively mild climate of the coast. The variety 
of plants, however, is not very great, and as our stops were not 
of long duration, the opportunities for botanizing were some- 
what limited, and no plants were seen which were not also 
found later at Sitka. 
Sitka offers many attractions to the tourist, being most beau- 
tifully placed on Baranoff Island, one of the largest of the 
innumerable islands making up the Alaskan archipelago, Evi- 
dences of the Russian occupation are seen on all sides, nearly 
all the buildings in the little town dating back to the period 
when this was Russian territory. The massive buildings of 
hewn logs, with steep moss-covered roofs, and the Greek church 
lifting its turnip-shaped green cupolas above the other build- 
ings at the head of the main street, give the town a very for- 
eign air, which is not lessened when we find how many of the 
Russians still remain. The bulk of the population is still made 
up of the Russians and the native Indians, whose quarter, fac- 
ing the harbor, presents a picturesque medley of big dug-out 
canoes, and frames for drying fish, among which are snarling 
and fighting a rabble of wolfish dogs, which seem to be a neces- 
sary adjunct of every self-respecting family of Alaskan Indians. 
The harbor is surrounded by mountains on which the snow 
lies for most of the year, and there are numerous wooded islands 
