ALASKA. 



Gen. John Gibbon, U. S. A, 

 III. 



(Continued from page 49.) 

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WE had not gone far from the 

 glacier before we again en- 

 tered the field of ice down the bay, and 

 began to pick our way through it as be- 

 fore. As we started on our return voyage 

 we were treated to a wonderful exhibi- 

 tion, the effect of a mirage different from 

 anything of the kind I had ever seen, 

 although I am familiar with mirage and 

 its deceptions on the plains. While we 

 were in the midst of the ice-pack, 

 slowly winding our way out of the bay, 

 the attention of all on board was called 

 to what was apparently a great wall ex- 

 tending directly across our path, some 

 half a mile in front and so completely, 

 to the eye, blocking our exit from the 

 bay, that it was easy to fancy some 

 cruel ogre had, since we passed up, built 

 it to prevent our return. So real was 

 the appearance that it was difficult to 

 believe it was simply an optical delusion. 

 Our advance, however, failed to put us 

 any closer to the wall, and though it 

 varied its appearance a little, it remained 

 apparently as substantial as ever, until 

 just before we reached the edge of the 

 ice-pack it melted away and we sailed 

 into open water. 



This trip down the bay was interest- 

 ing as recalling so vividly descriptions 

 given of arctic scenery, the difference be- 

 ing, however, that we enjoyed the view 

 without being subjected to the intense 

 cold of the polar regions. 



We of course gazed back at the main 

 glacier as long as it was in sight, and 

 looked with wonder at it as it stretched 

 far back into the mountain range be- 

 hind. Other valleys could be seen, off 

 in other directions, all filled with solid 

 ice. In fact, the whole face of the 

 country, with the exception of the 

 mountain peaks, appeared to be one 

 vast ice field, and there can be but lit- 

 tle doubt that the Swiss traveler was 

 right when he wrote home from here 

 that he " was standing on the top of a 

 glacier as large as all Switzerland !" 



If I have failed to give anything like 

 an adequate description of the impres- 



sion made on my mind by the main 

 glacier, it is useless to attempt anything 

 further of the dozens of others we saw 

 at a distance, as we steamed along ; or 

 to take more than a glimpse, as we did 

 in the twilight, of the timber-fringed 

 foot of the great Davidson glacier. Our 

 steamer is one that makes a quick trip 

 by running at night as well as in the day 

 time, and the next morning at 6 we 

 reached Sitka. Going ashore between 

 rows of Indians, men, women and chil- 

 dren, we are offered all sorts of curiosi- 

 ties, in woodwork and metal, the pur- 

 chase of which makes sad inroads on 

 our purses ; for, of course, every one 

 wants some memento of Alaska, and the 

 trouble is to know when to stop. Old, 

 battered, verdigris-eaten copper kettles 

 are in demand, because forsooth they 

 may have been used by the Russians for 

 making tea, when they occupied this 

 region, and the odor which salutes one's 

 nostrils when placed in contact with the 

 kettles, but serves to increase the price 

 demanded by the owner. For a quarter 

 a head we are permitted to view the 

 inside of the Greek chapel and gaze upon 

 the rich vestments of the priests and the 

 wonderfully made pictures of the altar. 

 We walk a mile up to the Indian river, 

 a fine clear stream in which trout abound. 

 We sigh for a fly rod, but have to con- 

 tent ourselves with admiring the beau- 

 ties of the park laid out and improved 

 by General Jefferson C. Davis, when in 

 command here after the war. In the 

 evening we all attend a dance given in 

 honor of our arrival. The next morning 

 at 4 we bid adieu to Sitka, and steam 

 away for Killisnoo. Here we and land 

 inspect an establishment where millions 

 of herring, caught close by, are con- 

 verted into oil, and the remnant made 

 into a rich fertilizer, a ship load of 

 which has just been sent around the 

 Horn to England. Here occurs the 

 first break in our party ; for we are 

 called upon to bid farewell to Mrs. K.'s 

 brother, who, after supplying us with de- 

 licious herring, enough to last for a week, 



