INLAND PASSAGES 
121 
The general trend of the coast of the mainland is north¬ 
west to north-northwest, and this trend is shared by the 
longer axes of the principal islands. There are thirty-two 
islands exceeding twenty miles in their greater dimensions, 
the maps show more than 400 islands above one mile in 
extent, and the islets are uncounted. 
With minor exception, the peninsulas and islands are 
mountainous, descending steeply to the water, and the 
passages between them are deep. Most of the inlets of 
the mainland 
and many of 
the passages 
dividing islands 
are of approxi¬ 
mately uniform 
width for long 
distances, and 
the parallel 
shores of such 
linear water¬ 
ways are usually steep and somewhat simple in contour. 
Repeating thus the characteristic features of the Norwe¬ 
gian coast, they fall within the physiographic class to which 
the name fiord is applied. The northwesterly trend char¬ 
acteristic of the islands affects also the passages between 
them, and has enabled navigation to select for its use a route 
close to the mainland, where deep waters are almost wholly 
protected by the islands from waves and storms of the open 
ocean. This route is commonly known as the ‘ inside pas¬ 
sage.’ Our steamer followed it on both the outward and 
return voyages, our principal deviation from it being 
made by a visit to Sitka, which lies on the southwest or 
oceanic side of Baranof, one of the outer line of islands. 
Parts of the journey were made at night, but the outward 
and inward courses, taken together, showed us much the 
FIG. 60. AN ALASKA FIORD ; TRACY ARM, HOLKHAM BAY. 
