The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-12-23
VOYAGE TO QUA ARCTIC LAND.
or for AIaska-AmonG tho Islands of a
Northesn sea-scenes of Weird Beauty.

or for AIaska-Amonc tho Islands of
Northesn sea-Scenes of Weird Beauty
This is slow and easy saiIng-a sort OF
iog-trot over the smoOthest possible sea,
with the paddles audibly working every
foot of the way. We run down among
the San Juan islands, where the passages
are so narrow and 50 intricate they make
a kind Of watery monogram among the
fr-lined shores. \ dense smoke sun %
scures the sun-a rich haze that softenS
the distance and lends a pictureSquenesS
that is perhaps not wholly natural 70 the
locality. though the san Juan Islands are
unquestionably beautiful. The Guf OF
Georgia the Straits Of Euca and queen
Charlotte sound are the words upon the
lips Of everybody Shades Of my school
boy DAYS! How much sweeter they taste
here than in the old geography class. Be
fore US a wilderness Of wild Islands,
mostly uninhabited, stretches even into
the sunless winter and the shadOwless
summer of Behring sea.
There are delightful people on board
many Of them-and not a few others; but
bear in mind there are bevies OF girls-all
Young, all pretty and all, or nearly all,
bubbling over with hearty and wholesome
laughter Now, inasmuch as every thing
is new to us, we can easily content our
selves for hours by lounging in the easy
chairs and looking off upon the placid sea
and at the perennial veTdure that springs
out Of it and mantles a lovely but lonely
land.
ONLY think of it for a moment. Here
on The northwest coast there are islands
sown so thickly that many of the sea pass
ages, though deep enough for three
decker to swim in are 50 narrow that one
might easily skim his hat across them.
There are thousands of these islands
yea tens of thousands don't know just
now many, and perhaps no man does.
They are all shapes and sizes, and the ma
iority of them are handsomely wooded.
The sonber green of the woods stretching
between the sOmber blue-green of the
water and the Opaline sheen of the sky,
forms q picture-a momentary picture
the chief features of which change almost
as suddenly and quite as completely as
! the transformations in a kaleidoscope.
! We are forever turning corners, and no
sooner are we safely around one corner
than three others elbow us just ahead;
| now. toward which of the three are we
| bound, and will our ship run to larbOard
! or starbOard This is a turn one might
! bet on all day lOng-and lose nearly every
| time.
| What a bewildering cruise! Vastly
! finer than river sailing is this Alaskan eX-
petition. Here is a whole tangle of rivers
| full Of strange tides, mysterious currents
and sweet surprises. Moreover, we can
! get lost if we want tO-nO one can get lost
| in river We can rush in where pilots
fear to tread, strike sunken rocks, toss
among dismal eddies or plunge into whirl
pools. We can rake overhanging boughs
with our yardarms if we want to, but we
! don't want to. In 1875 the United States
steamer Saranac went down in Seymour
narrows and her fate was sudden death
The United States steamer Suwanee me-
with like misfortune at the entrance t.
Queen Charlotte sound. 1t is rather joll!
to think of these things, and to realiz'
that we are in more or less danger, though
the shores are as silent as the grave, thu
sea sleeps like a mill pond, and the SUI
sets with a great dignity and precision
nightly bathing the lonely north in sensu
ous spIendor. Warren StOddarC
Aboard an Alaska Steamer.