The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-29

Ov Miss r. r. Scidmore gives us clearer pict-
Hre OF life in that strange, wild northern land
Than has yet been presented to us. The author
mas devoted two summers to the exploration of
the coast and the volume is a republication of
the letters which appeared In the summers of
1888 and 1884 in the Globe Democrat of this city
and the New York Times.
sort of general opinion has prevailed, not
unnatural, considering the latitude and position
of the country, that Alaska is a sort of second
Iceland. country of perpetual snow, icebergs
shiverlng glaciers and dangerous ayalanches
The jokes and exaggerations that passed
purchase, in 1867, have fastened them
selves upon the public mind, and by
constant repetition have come TO be accepted
facts For this reason the uninitiated view the
country as vast ice reservation, and appear to
believe that even the summer tourist must
undergo the peris of the Franklin search to
reach any part of Alaska. As matter of fact,
says Miss Scidmore, the winters at Sitka are
milder than those at New York, and the sum
mers delightfully."- cooi and temperate.
The coast scenery is grand in its sublimity.
Yosemite walls and cascades are repeated in
mile after mile of deep saltwater channels
Mountains that tower above Pixies Peak rise in
steep incline from the still level of the sea, and
the shores are clothed with forest and under
growth, dense and impossible as the tangle OF a
Florida swamp. Further north, nearing the
limits of the Arctic Circle icebergs and glaciers
are plentiful enough, though they would
seem to have little effect i'll chilling
the balmy summer atmosphere. Sailing
into Glacier bay feet of liz little icebergs
gaily sail out to meet the traveller, and as the
ship proceeds up the bay these phenomena be-
come larger and more frequent, while the diff
Guilty and danger of cruising amongst them is no
sinecure. At the mouth the ship green
and mountainous island, which has been named
after the author, Miss Scidmore the IDAHO with
hat lady On board. being the first ship to explore
Glacier bay and sight this island. Miss Scid-
more naturally feels some pride in the tiny green
spot to which she stands sponsor, and thus de-
scribes it for the benefit of her readers:
For summer resort Scidmore island pos
sesses unusual advantages. Heated and suffer
ing humanity is invited to visit that emerald
SPOT lin latitude So 2g north and longitude
1852 90 west from Greenwich, and enjoy the
SuIy temperature of 45o, the seal and salmon
6shing the fine hunting and the sight of one of
the grandest of the many great glaciers that
break directly into the sea along the Alaska
coast"
OF the ''Muir glacier" Miss Scdmore gives a
vivid description. 1t was named after Professor
John Muir, the Pacific coast geologist, who, as
far as known, was the first white man to visit
and expio the bay. The glacier is square, be-
Ing ten miles long by ten broad. the snout, or
front, where it breaks off into the sea, being
three miles across. There are three full page
Illustrations of the glacier one smaller one and a
diagram, besides the word picture following,
which in itself is perfect.
of prismatic light were lost; but the fretted and
fantastic front showed lines and masses of the
purest white, and an infinite range of blues.
Avalanches of crumbling ice and great pieces of
the front were continually falling with the roar
and crash Of artillery; revealing new caverns
and riffs of deeper blue light. while the spray
dashed high, ard the great waves rolled along the
ley wall, and widening in their sweep, washed the
blocks of floating Ice up on the beaches at either
side. The ships cannon loaded and fred
twice, point blank at the front of the glacier.
The report was followed by a second of silence,
and thena roar came back that intensified the
first ring many times, and was followed by a long,
sharp roll, as the echo was flung from cavern to
cavern in the ices
Nearly one hundred pages are devoted to an ac-
count, descriptive and historical of Sitka the cap
ita of Alaska. As the town of Sitka however is as
other towns, save that the inhabitants chiefly
natives we leave those who wish information on
this point to peruse the volume itself. A curious
native character there is Mrs Tom, who rules
every one, including her husband. "Womans
rights, renarks authoress apropos Of this
lady aud some other similar characters, have
reached development amongst the Sitkans that
would astonish the suffrage leaders of Wyoming
and Washington Territory. They are all keen,
sharp traders. Henpecking is too small a word
to describe the way in which they bully their
lords, and many times our bargain lin native
euriosties) with the ostensible head of the family
was broken up by the woman arriving on the
scene and insisting that he should not sell, or
should charge US more"
The scenery of the Bay of Sitka surpasses the
Bay on Naples in the grandeur and beauty of its
surroundings. The comparison is instituted be-
tween these two distant places because the ex-
hnct volcano Mount Edgecombe, rears its snow
filled crater above the bay just as Vesuvius does
by the curving shores of the Mediterranean
Nothing could be finer than the outlines of this
grand old mountain, Mount Edgecombe, that
rises from the jutting corner of an island across
the bay. In the sleepy summer sun its slopes
are bluer than lapis lazuls or sapphire, and the
softest, flmiest gray clouds trail along the
ragged walls of the crater.
A hundred little islands lie in the harbor of
Sitka, within the great sweep of the Barranoff
shores, whose curve Is greater than semi circle
at this point. Each one is a tangled bit of rock
and forest, and their dense green thickets and
grassy slopes are bordered with mats of the
golden and russell sea-weeds that at low tide add
the last fine tone to landscape of the richest
coloring Every foot of the island shore off Sit
ka is sketchable, and picture in ITSELF and the
clear, soft light, the luminous, transparent
tones would be the rapture of a water color art
Gst.
Notunnaturally considerable portion of the
work has been devoted to descriptions of the ma
hves, their appearance, habits and employment
nor are the settlers forgotten The Alaskans
are keenly critical Of ali that is written about
their Territory; and they sean newspaper ac-
counts with the sharpest eyes for an inaccuracy
or discrepancy. The natives, who are probably
Of Eskimo origin, appear to be quiet, molten
sive Woodworking and rather quaint race of
people. They work beautifully in silver max
ing bangles bracelets and other female adorn-
ments out of dollars and solid metal. In these,
which she terms curios, the author seems to have
speculeted largely, and must have needed new
jewel case on her arrival home.
One amusing old character a hero known
as Charles V. Baronwich a relic of Russian days
He Slav, and gifted with all the cunning
of that race. Afte- the transfer of the country
to the United States he disturbed the serenity
of the customs officials by the steady smuggling
thatbe kept up from over the British border He
would import all kinds of stores but chiefly bales
of English blankets, by canoe, and, when the
collector or special agent would penetrate to his
fastness, they found no damaging proof in his
store, and only peppery, hotheaded old pirate,
who swore at them roundly in compound Ian
guage of Russian, Indian and English. and shook
his crippled limbs with rage
The houses of the Indian villages string along
the beach in disaor neeted xax all of them low