The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1886-10-29
ALASKA'S CAPITAL.
THE CURIOUS OLD TOWN OF SlTKA,
FORMERLY NEW ARCHANGEL.

First Impressions of the Settlement-NO
Place Like Home-The Castle and
the Cathedral-Logs in the Primeval
Forest.
We were picking our way through a per-
feet wilderness of islands, on the lookout for
the capital, of which we had read and heard
SO much Surely the Alaskan pilot must
have the eye and the instinct of a seabird or
he could never find port in that labyrinth
Moreover the air was misty; we felt that we
were approaching the sea. Lofty mountains
lowered above us; sometimes the islands
swan apart-they seemed all in motion, as if
they were swinging to and fro on the tide
and then down magnificent vista we saw
the richly wooded slopes of some glorious
height that doomed out of the vapor and
bathed its forehead in the sunshine. Some
times the mist grew denser and we could see
hardly ships length ahead of us; and the
air was SO chilly that our overcoats were
drawn snugly ai,Sut us, and we wondered
what the temperature might be "down SOUTH
in Dakota and New England.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
In the grayest of gray days we came to
Sitka, and very likely for this reason found
it a disappointment at first sight. Certainly
it looked dreary enough as we approached it
"a little cluster of tumble-down houses scat
tered along bleak and rocky shore, We
steamed slowly past it, made big turn in
deep water, got tolerable view of the city
from one end of it to the other, and then
crept up to the one little dock, made fast, and
were all granted the freedom of the capital
for couple of days. 1t is gray place, gray
with greenish tinge in 1.-THE kind of green
that looks perennial, dark, dull evergreen
There was some little show of color among
the costumes of the people on shore-bright
blankets and brighter calicoes-but there was
no suspicion Of gayety or Of a possible show
of enthusiasm among the few sedate people
who came down to see us disembark.
began to wonder if these solemn specta-
tors that were grouped along the dock were
ghosts materialized for the occasion; if the
place were literally dead-dead as the ancient
Russian cemetery on the hill, where the white
crosses with their double arms, the upper and
shorter one aslant, shone through the sad
light of the waning day. We had three little
Russian maids on our passenger list, daugh-
tiers Of Father Mitropolsl,i, the Greek priest
at Sitka. They were returning from con-
vent school at Victoria, B. c., and were bub-
bling over with delight at the prospective
joys of a summer vacation at home; but no
sooner had they received the paternal en-
braces upon the deck than the virtue of han
piness went out of them, and they became Sc
date little Stkans, whose dignity belied the
riotous spirit that had made them the life of
the ship on the way up.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
We also brought home little Russian chan
who had been working down at Fort Wrang-
ell, and having made a fortune-it was for
tune in his eyes-he was coming back to stay
in the land Of his nativity He was quiet
enough on shipboard; indeed, he had almost
escaped observation until we sighted Stka,
but then his heart could contain itself no
longer, and he made confidants of several of
us to whom he had spoken never a word until
this moment How glad he was to greet its
solemn Shores to him no doubt the dearest
spot in all the earth. A few hours later we
met him. He was swinging on the gate at the
homestead in the edge of the town-a sweet.
primitive place that caught our eye before the
youngster caught our ears with his cheerful