XXVI INTRODUCTION 



treacherous fogs of Bering Sea, called at Bogoslof Vol- 

 cano, the Pribilof or Fur-Seal Islands, and the islands of 

 Hall, St. Matthew, and St. Lawrence; and finally, after 

 visiting Eskimo settlements on both the Asiatic and Am- 

 erican coasts, and peering poleward through Bering Strait 

 — the gateway to the Arctic — she put about and be- 

 gan the homeward voyage. 



On the northward voyage the Colonial Museum at 

 Victoria, Vancouver Island, was visited, and a side trip 

 was made from Skagway, at the head of Lynn Canal, to 

 the summit of White Pass, by way of the newly con- 

 structed White Pass and Yukon railroad, whose officials 

 courteously placed a special train at our disposal. 



During the two months' cruise a distance of nine thou- 

 sand miles was traversed. Frequent landings were made, 

 and, no matter how brief, were utilized by the artists, pho- 

 tographers, geologists, botanists, zoologists, and students 

 of glaciers. From time to time longer stops were made 

 and camping parties were put ashore that more thorough 

 work might be done. Thus one or more camping parties 

 operated at Glacier Bay, Yakutat Bay, Prince William 

 Sound, Kadiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Shu- 

 magin Islands. Large and important collections were 

 made, including series of the small mammals and birds of 

 the coast region, enormous numbers of marine animals and 

 seaweeds, and by far the largest collections of insects and 

 land plants ever brought from Alaska. There were also 

 small collections of fossil shells and fossil plants. In work- 

 ing up this material the services of more than fifty specialists 

 have been secured, and although the task is by no means 

 finished, thirteen genera and nearly six hundred species 

 new to science have been already discovered and described. 

 The natural history specimens have not merely enriched 

 our museums, they have increased many fold our knowl- 

 edge of the fauna and flora of Alaska. 



