112 



PEC RE ATI ON 



and we drank to the Adirondacks and 



forgot the rain outside. 



And now for Alaska. We sailed from 

 Seattle December 30. There are a num- 

 ber of larger, much nicer boats on the 

 route, but it was onr lot to draw the 



Now it isn't uninteresting to be seven 

 days making a trip by water of less than 

 a thousand miles, especially when it is 

 through the channels to any south 

 Alaskan port by the "inside route." But 

 when you have food that is cooked by 





MOONLIGHT ON GASTINEAUX CHANNEL 



Al-Ki. I assure you we didn't take this 

 steamer merely for the effect of the 

 thing, to make "roughing it" more 

 dramatic. It simply happened that the 

 good steamers had all sailed in a day or 

 two of one another before we arrived, 

 and only the Al-Ki was available for 

 some seven days. She is a freight 

 steamer with passenger accommoda- 

 tions ; or rather she has places for pas- 

 sengers to sleep, but no accommoda- 

 tions. There is a small place aft de- 

 signed as a saloon, but, modesty forbade 

 her owners to give it so pretentious a 

 name, and it is merely labelled "Social 

 Hall." This "hall" consists of the space 

 around the top of the stairs leading 

 from the main deck to the dining saloon. 

 I didn't measure it ; but it was so small 

 we didn't dare try to discuss but one 

 topic at a time. It was just as well. Our 

 fellow passengers were not social, liter- 

 ary, or scientific lights ; far from it. 



the "heathen Chinee" to which you are 

 not accustomed ; and apparently the sole 

 accomplishment of your fellow trav- 

 elers is the assimilation of the same, the 

 trip becomes monotonous when the fogs 

 close in, or the rain pours so hard you 

 cannot stay on deck without getting 

 soaked. 



It is a country of rains, too, by the 

 way, all of this southeast Alaska coast 

 country ; and there is no particular sea- 

 son of the year when it doesn't rain. The 

 thermometer at Funter Bay since we 

 came has been up to 40, and the rain 

 which descended that day was as unmis- 

 takably an outpouring of "settled 

 cloudiness" as anything I have ever 

 seen or felt in Pennsylvania. 



In this connection, I warn all who 

 may read this, that should they ever 

 make this wild, beautiful trip, there is 

 one story which will be told them on an 

 average of three times a day from the 



