48 



JOHN BURROUGHS 



a prairie newly plowed and sown and rolled. The seed 

 had been drilled in and the regular, uniform, straight lines 

 were distinctly visible. Along the western horizon, look- 

 ing down on the Pacific, the Fairweather Range of moun- 

 tains stood up clear and sharp, Fairweather itself over 

 15,000 feet high. The snow upon these mountains doubt- 

 less lay in places over 100 feet deep. 



Glaciers are formed wherever more snow falls in winter 

 than can melt in summer, and this seems to be the case on 

 all these Alaska mountains on the Pacific coast. If by a 

 change of climate or any other cause more snow should 

 fall in the Hudson River valley in winter than could 

 melt in summer, our landscapes would soon be invaded 

 by glaciers from the Catskills. Farther north in Alaska, 

 beyond the reach of the moisture-loaded Pacific air cur- 

 rents, the precipitation is less and there are no glaciers. 



SITKA. 



On the 13th of June we weighed anchor and after pick- 

 ing up our camping and exploring parties, steamed away 

 toward Sitka, where we arrived under dripping skies the 



next morning. 

 We had come 

 from air and 

 water streak- 

 ed with icy 

 currents, to 

 much warmer 

 and to much 

 moister con- 

 ditions. Sitka 

 is said to be 

 one of the 



rainiest spots on the coast, but the four days we passed 

 there were not so bad: sun and cloud and spurts of rain 



OLD RUSSIAN BARRACKS, SITKA. 



