1885 
THE RURAL HEW WORKER. 
583 
^HtscellatKOits. 
TRANSCONTINENTAL LETTERS. 
XXXVII. 
ALASKAN CRUISE, 
The arrival of a steamship at any of these 
Northern ports is an “event” to the people, and 
when the ship’s cannon boomed in Nanaimo 
Bay.a considerable part of its population-from 
two to three thousand—peopled the wharf 
when the steamer's ropes were thrown ashore. 
After seeiug the laddie snug in his berth, we 
made a hasty scamper up iuto the town. An 
invitation had been sent to the steamer for 
all the ladies on board to come to a ball, held 
in the Town Hall, aud some of them went and 
danced. We stopped in a store where drugs 
and dry goods were sold, aud bought a bottle 
of ink for 15 cents. Upon returning to the 
ship, we went into an open public building 
where were gathered a crowd of men, and 
learned that it was a police court; some busi¬ 
ness was being trfftisacted although it was 
nine p. it The lookers on spoke only in sub¬ 
dued whispers, and perfect order prevailed. 
Everything wore the British aspect and on 
the wall, back of the court, hung the eoat-of- 
arms—"the lion and the unicorn fighting for 
the crown.” 
Early the next morning the “Idaho”steamed 
northward an hour’s sail to Departure Bay, 
like Nanaimo, located on the east shore of 
Vancouver Island. Here she was to take on 
coal for the cruise, and at breakfast the cap¬ 
tain announced that the passengers could 
have an hour to spend at the Bay, after which 
he would take them off on a picnic for the 
day. The settlement at Departure Bay is 
purely a uiiniug one, the development of the 
coal mines having begun 80 or more years 
ago. We walked for an hour in a charming 
wood-road, passing on the way the attractive 
residence of the superintendent of the mines, 
Mr. Dunsumir, who came hither many years 
ago as a miner. An English phaeton and a 
large horse dressed in English harness, with 
a fashionably attired child in the vehicle, at¬ 
tended by a man servant, were in front of the 
house. During our walk we found an abund¬ 
ance of large yellow elder—Sambucus glauca 
—Claytonia, and a variety of spinca that 
grows abundantly along the shores of the 
lakes of Central New York. The best timber 
had been cut from the forest, and what was 
left on the border of the road we walked, con¬ 
sisted chiefly of inferior hemlock and spruce. 
The coal taken from the mines is lignite and 
is considered the best as yet found on this 
coast 
At 10 a. m. the ship’s whistle mustered the 
passengers. Two life boats had been lowered 
and tied to a steam launch, and away we went 
gliding over the beautiful water, moving as 
if by magic, and under a perfect sky. After 
an hour’s sail, the Captain landed us at Nan¬ 
aimo, which we had left early in the morning, 
and he announced that we could have -10 min¬ 
utes in which to see the town. We noted the 
substantial stone custom house and ware¬ 
house, and the buoys in the water, round iron 
cages placed on the top of tall poles. Two 
steamers ply between Nanaimo and Victoria, 
and at this time there was gx-eat rivalry be¬ 
tween them, and the usual rate of $4 had been 
cut down to 50 cents—the distauee being 60 
miles. We visited a block house, built years 
ago by the Hudson Bay Company—an eight¬ 
sided bastion, three stories high, the upper 
floors beixjg reached by ladders from the out¬ 
side. The Indians who were frequently en¬ 
countered, appeared rather taller than those 
of l’uget Sound. Chinese were plentiful. 
There was a fair supply of fruits on the mar¬ 
ket, aud a shopkeeper gave me these prices : 
Ripe tomatoes (California) 20 cents per pound; 
peaches, 25cents; oranges, 50 cents the dozen; 
potatoes, four eeuts per pound: onions, five 
cents; cabbage, three cents; chickens $1.50 
per pair; calico, 10 cents a yard. He said 
that apples, pears, plums, cherries and straw¬ 
berries grow aud ripen well there; but that 
for other fruits California was depended on. 
The people have the fresh, vigorous com¬ 
plexion aud development of the English. Be¬ 
ing attracted by the yellow appearance of the 
ground tu a wet ravine, I ventured down the 
bank and into the mud to gather a small, yel¬ 
low flowex*, which grew thickly aud which 
was almost like a ball in shape, much like the 
heart of ft daisy. The continuance of the morn¬ 
ing’s sail brought us to a small islaud, called 
Newcastle, where seamen, who bad accom¬ 
panied us from the "Idaho," in rubher boots 
reaching to the thigh, jumped out in the wa¬ 
ter and hauled the boats ashore—a shore of 
soft, sandy stone, very curiously perforated 
and worn by the action of the watex\ Hero 
we found an open, gxtxssy place in the woods, 
picnic tables aud xx lai’ge awing. But the men 
from the “Idaho” spi'ead the luncheon cloth 
on the grass, and from the hampers brought 
forth china, glass, napkins, silver, sandwiches, 
cheese, crackers, peaches, plums, apricots, 
many fine oranges, bottles of ale and of Oregon 
champagne cider, the latter a very pleasant, 
refreshing and non-intoxicating beverage, 
much used on this coast. How perfectly de¬ 
lightful it all was! We were all as so many 
guests of a munificent host, who guided us 
about in a floating hotel, with respectful and 
attentive servants, the best of fare, most in¬ 
teresting society, and every passenger free 
from worry and care! It was the perfection 
of travel, and from Port Townsend to Sitka, 
every one was ready to eeho the daily remark 
of a naval officer on board, who had visited 
everv place of note in the world, and had sev¬ 
eral times been to Alaska, "The trip to Alaska 
is the prettiest trip in the whole world”—and 
for "prettiest” he might fittingly have used 
"the most magnificent.” After the merry 
luncheon, the people scattered out into the 
woods, or stretched themselves out on the 
grass and "spuu yarns.” The captain, a tall, 
solid, ruddv man, looking seasoned through 
and through with sea air, and exceptionally 
well dressed, always had some jolly adventure 
to relate. An Austrian Consul from his 
country to Nicaragua, who relegated his 
duties to a deputy while he went wandering, 
was very amusing with his broken English. 
There were several teachers from California, 
both men and women, some of whom were 
very merry and witty. There was an elderly 
gentleman from Scotland, a retired engineer, 
who bad been as far North on the Norwegian 
coast as 71 degrees—where the sun was above 
the horizon for three months—who was visit¬ 
ing this country and wished to see Alaska. 
He carried in bis vest pocket an aneroid bar 
ometer, and when we climbed mountains he 
could tell us how high up we were. There 
was a gentleman from New York, a Yale 
man with a face like Bayard Taylor’s—who 
had been in Italy six weeks ago—a pei’son of 
large and varied intelligence, who was very 
severe in his criticisms upon the manners of 
American women in travel—aud with abun¬ 
dant reason—loud of speech, forward and free 
in style and lacking in simple modesty. There 
were three young girls from San Francisco, 
in the care of a lady teacher; a young balf- 
hreed Indian girl, who bad been at school at 
St. Helen’s Hall in Portland, where she bad 
learned to play the piano, and frequently per¬ 
formed on the piano in the parlor of the 
steamer; a gentleman and his sister from 
Philadelphia; two English women of pleasant 
mien; a geutleman and his eighteen-year- 
old son from San Rafael; a young woman 
from Penneylvania going to teach the public 
school at Sitka, and a young man en route 
for Alaska on a similar errand; a lai*ge party 
of speculative young men bound for the min¬ 
ing camps near Juneau, and a German, mid¬ 
dle-aged, unmanned woman, who was dubbexl 
"the duchess,” and was snubbed by most peo¬ 
ple on board. Wo had heard of her hefore, 
as she is an almost incessant traveler, “beats" 
her way, "sponges” her living from people 
en route, and came aboard the steamer with¬ 
out a ticket, and only consented to pay for 
her meals under penalty of being put ashore 
at Nanaimo, where she feigned illness, as it 
was believed. She writes books in which she 
gives accounts of her travels and besieges 
people to buy them. Captain Carroll said he 
rarely made the trip without having a 
"crank” ou board. A Doctor M-was en 
route for Sitka, to which post he had been ap¬ 
pointed by the Government, and he was furi¬ 
ous over the appointment. He would rather 
have remained where he had been—in charge 
of a yellow fever hospital in the South. Of 
the few new varieties of flowers I found on 
the island, a spotted lily, very like the “Ti¬ 
ger-’ iu flower, but unlike it in leaf, was of 
most note. 
At half past three the picnic was over, and 
the party was soon in the boats en route 
for the steamer. Upon reaching St, the 
"Idubo” whs found to be nearly coaled, and 
in a half hour’s time, the Chinese colliers had 
disappeared from the bunkers, and the steam¬ 
er was put in trim for leaving at five o’clock. 
So far, we bad been blessed with fine weatner, 
but as night came on, fog settled down, and 
during the night the steamer was to pass 
through Seymour Narrows, through which 
the water runs with great rapidity, and in 
which the United States man-of war "Sara¬ 
nac” struck on a l-ock 10 years ago, and after 
barely time enough for the crew to escape in 
boats, reeled over, sank and was never more 
seen. All through the night, the fog-horn 
tooted at intervals, followed by echoes far aud 
strange, the sounds being thi'own back by the 
mountains rising high on both sides of the 
nari'ows. The ship rode smoothly, although 
when I arose at half pust two and looked out, 
I could see below the fog a wildly rushing 
stream of angry-lookiug water. At about 
nine in the morning, the fog began to lift; at 
half past.ten, .the sun shone, and we had .no 
more fog on the upward cruise. All this day 
until nearly three o’clock, we were moving 
between isles and islets with rocky beaches, 
like sea walls, all wooded mountains, and each 
one a perfect picture. At a certain stage of 
growth, when from 40 to 50 feet high, the 
trees die from lack of sustenance, the soil of 
the islands being chiefly rock, and these dead 
trees stand in the midst of their green neigh¬ 
bors—probably spruce and hemlock—like 
ashen-gray ghosts. The islands are round, or 
long, always high, and in every direction 
rise mountains against the horizon. On one 
island called Cormorant, we saw a little 
village called Alert Bay, where there is a 
salmon fish cannery, a church, a school-house, 
a row of white-washed, Indian houses, and a 
burying ground. In the water were floating 
kelp and a few ducks. These islands abound 
in deer, which swim from island to island, 
and sometimes a swimming pair is captured 
by the "Idaho.” 
One of the diversions on deck of this day, 
was an inspection of the "big horn spoon,” a 
present from Mr. Lear to Captain Carroll. 
It is of Indian workmanship, made of the 
born of the mountain sheep which graze on all 
these islands (we never had the good fortune 
to catch a glimose of one, however), with a 
beautiful carved handle and still further orna¬ 
mented with settings of the brilliant inside 
lining of the abelone shell. The spoon is 18 
inches long, and the wide bowl was effected 
by spreading the born, as the Indian spreads 
his dug-out log, in fashioning his canoe. The 
carving on the handle represents a man with 
bears at the top, and a frog at the bottom. 
This famous spoon was* dearly held by its 
owner, and was acquired by Mr. Lear through 
some business transaction which cost him 
four hundred dollars, so he was iu the habit 
of saying that the "big horn spoon” cost that 
much money. 
At about three o’clock the water in John¬ 
son’s Strait, through which we had been sail¬ 
ing, became gradually rough, aud presently 
we emerged 'into Queen Charlotte’s Sound, 
and were in the open sea. Many of the pas¬ 
sengers suddenly became sea sick, and I dis¬ 
covered, upon looking about, that Anaximan¬ 
der and the laddie had taken to their berths. 
The lad happily soon fell asleep and did not 
awaken nntil seven o’clock, when the ship had 
again passed in the quiet waters of Fitz Hugh 
Sound. 
ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
Persons newly arrived in California ad¬ 
mire the scenery, so unlike that in the Atlan¬ 
tic States. Comparatively little of the surface 
is level; the rest is undulating, interspersed 
with picturesque ranges of mountains clothed 
with fir, live oak, laurel, red wood, and flow¬ 
ering shrubs in their season. Several sorts, 
under the general name of chapparal, blossom 
from February until June. The various colors 
succeed each other along the slopes in a pro¬ 
cession of red, white, blue and yellow, produc¬ 
ing the most pleasing effects. During the 
rainy season, and extending from October to 
June, the earth is carpeted with grass. Be¬ 
ginning iu February, wild posies of all the hues 
of the rainbow deck the plains and hill*, 
sometimes grouping their colors, and often 
growing so densely as to stain the distant 
mountain sides the hxxe of the flower prevailing 
in the locality. The most numerous are nemo 
phila (baby eyes), anemone (wind flowei-), 
malva (pale pink), primroses, buttercups and 
the gorgeous eschscholt/.la (yellow poppy). 
This has the gayest color of all, and grows 
low like the primrose, bearing numerous large 
flowers reproduced all Summer. Then the 
fields are fairly glorified with their beauty. 
During the rainy season, the arroyax are 
running streams, and sheep and cattle have 
abundance of feed, water and shelter in the 
park-like pastures without being gathered in 
sheds. The plow fe a-field, and grain is sown 
any time from October till March, when the 
soil is favorable for tillage. Vines and fruit 
trees are planted, and vineyards and orchards 
are plowed to beep down the weeds. Fences 
are built, and buildings erected oftener thau 
during the Summer. It is the busy sea¬ 
son, and alt the face of the land smiles with 
the prospect of harvest. No wonder people 
are enchanted with the soft, mild climate and 
the strange delights of a new world, so favor¬ 
ably contrasting with the chill weather and 
frozen ground of the Atlantic States. 
Haying time comes in Mnv and Jxxne, fol¬ 
lowed by the wheat harvest in July and 
August, the date depending on the time the 
seed was sown. Cutting wheat is a leisurely 
proceeding. There are no black thunder 
storms to destroy the crops. Grain may re¬ 
main unthrashed for weeks and months in the 
open fields. Indeed it is common enough to 
see great piles of it in sacks, where the 
thi*asher stood, waiting until Fall for the con¬ 
venience of the owner to haul to market. 
There is never k an Autximu when xnuch of it is 
not lost by reason of the sheer laziness of 
thriftless ranchmen. Thus far the new ar¬ 
rival enjovs the delights of farming in an 
equable climate. There has been no rain, 
perhaps, since the last sprinkle early in May. 
The reads are now deep with dust—fine, im¬ 
palpable and the sport of the winds Every 
green thing, every object, is coated with a 
gray covering. Flowers begin to droop for 
want of moisture; though the vines and trees 
and the Indian corn are growing bravely, 
rank and strong, because of the constant and 
careful tillage, which brings moisture to the 
surface. But grass was long ago dead, and 
the pastures are the color of yellow ochre. 
Bed3 of streams, which were torrents in the 
rainy season, are now mere streaks of gravel 
and sand—dry as a powder born. Wat 3 r, 
save in rare cases, must be pumped for the 
thirsty cattle. Aud then it begins to dawn on 
the minds of the Dew settlers why so many 
wind engines aDd huge water tanks dot the 
plains, making the country look like pictures 
of Holland. They see, when too late, that 
however fair to the eye, however fertile the 
soil, no natural advantage of location on this 
coast, as a rule, can compensate for the lack 
of water, flowing pure and plentiful. Or¬ 
anges and berries need irrigation. Fruit 
trees and vines, except on the interior plains, 
do very well without it, If thoroughly culti¬ 
vated. The orchards at four years from the 
nursery are exoected to be in good bearing. 
But trees planted and untilled, as in the 
States, make hut little growth. If left stand¬ 
ing in the matted grass and weeds for a few 
years, they are bored by worms and the bark 
peels off the sides exposed to the hot rays of 
the sun. It is a struggle for life, with the 
hard soil at the roots and the moss on the 
trunks, until all perish. This is a common 
sight here, and leads me to think that culti¬ 
vation should be practiced everywhere. In¬ 
deed. the superior flavor and size of California 
fruits may be owing to clean tillage quite as 
much as to the climate. It is also evident 
that insect pests are not as troublesome in an 
orchard plowed three or four times during 
the season. 
The summer landscape is a surprise to 
strangers. The parched, brown pastures, in¬ 
terspersed with green trees scattered, gener¬ 
ally, in park-like gronos. are striking evi¬ 
dences of a rainless Summer. The wonderful 
purity of the atmosphere enables the eye to 
range over long distances of valleys and foot¬ 
hills to remote mountains, whose tawnv 
flanks are covered with dead grass and 
patches of cbemisal. Fires carelessly lit by 
hunters are apt to break out now in the hills, 
where thev sweep with destructive rapidity, 
destroying improvements and hiding the low 
country in a canopy of smoke. 
J. B. ARMSTRONG. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
Agaves, large cactuses, oleanders, pome¬ 
granates, Lemon Verbenas.erythrinas, and the 
beautiful white hydrangea Thomas Hogg, 
can be easily wintered over in any moder¬ 
ately dry. frost-proof cellar. Bat after they 
are placed away,avoid watering them; as the 
object is to beep them in a dormant state, the 
soil should be kept as dry as possible, but do 
not allow the plants to shrivel or become wil¬ 
ted. The leaves of all deciduous plants should 
be removed before the plants are brought in¬ 
side: but all evergreens should be permitted 
to retain their foliage. 
Orions beep best in a cool, drv place. Tf 
they get frozen, let them stay so, or until they 
thaw of their own accord: but avoid hand¬ 
ling them when frozen. I have been very 
successful iu beeping them by spreading out 
thinly on the floor of a dry, cool room. I 
keep mv sets in the same way by mixing a 
quantity of sawdust with them. 
Do not over-water your window plants at 
this season. Callus, carnations, justicias, 
ageratums. heliotropes and all other fast- 
growing plants require plenty, and it will not 
injure them if the pots are well drained. Suc¬ 
culents. such as cacti, echeverias. agaves 
aloes, etc., require but verv little, while other 
evergreen plants, such as mvrtles. azaleas, 
orange and lemon trees, should only be kept 
moist. 
The Indian Rubber plant—Ficus elastiea_ 
is an excellent window plant, aud its bright, 
glossy green leaves are benefited h>- *u occa¬ 
sional sponging off. The Umbrella Sedge— 
Cyperus alternifolius — and its variegated 
form, are both well adapted for cultivation in 
rooms, and so are Aspidistra lurida. and A. 
lurida-variegata. while the plant commonly 
known as Wandering Jew — Saxifraga sar- 
mentoss—dues well when suspended in anv 
situation where it can get a good share of 
light One of the prettiest, house plants is the 
well knowu single Sweet Alvssum. and a plant 
or two, grown tu a small-sized pot. aud sus¬ 
pended] in a light, sunny window will, with a 
