The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-03-28
A TRIP AROUND ALASKA.
DY EDWARD BAILEY.
(Continued.)

Grass was of very vigorous growth
md vegetation generally had Wig
,rous look. saw wild currants and
[ think it was here some of the COM
pany found real golden rod. / am
sure roofing slate cannot be far of.
Scallop, clam and muscle shells
we're abundant along the shore. and,
as all through Alaska, the inevitable
bed of bright yellow seams it was
thick and strong. By dark we were
all on board-it was dusk when we
landed, and in the morning OF Aug
ust 18th we were approaching CHA
cier Bay through the fog passing
blocks of ice more and more numer-
Gus as we proceeded. But no VERT
able icebergs like what the geogra-
phic picture were seen, either at this
or any subsequent time OF our voy-
age. Nor were any of the foes more
than a few yards across or a few
feet in height. Some bid goodbye
to all nonsense for the present. But
one thing was remarkable, viz, the
blue appearance of many OF the
blocks of ice. They seemed to have
been colored by some dye, or like
huge masses of blue vitriol.
Had the sun shone there might
have been a tinge of green in some
parts of the ice, as the painters re-
present it, but saw none. 1t became
colder as we progressed, and the fog
gradually broke away till at II A. NJ.
we came to anchor in front of the
face of the ice glaciers wall $50
feet high. We were three-quarters
of mile from the face Of the glacier.
By this time the blocks of ice about
the ship had become very numerous.
They were of all sizes, from half the
size of the ship to the size of a mans
fist. We evidently struck some of
them in sailing, causing the steamer
to tremble from stem to stern.
All that part Of the glacier near
the sea, where the pressure had been
removed by the tumbling of success
sive portions into the sea, was broken
up by cracks and assures into pin
nacles and all sorts of wild and
grotesque shapes.
Every five to twenty minutes dur
ing our whole stay portions of this
ice face tumbled into the sea with
noise like thunder and created wild
commotion which it required some
time to settle. From that portion
which was Immediately in front of
the ship and which was higher than
any part we saw, and which was
cracked from top to bottom, we did
not see any part fall; but we watched
anxiously to see it, knowing the
effect would be prodigious. But
perhaps it was as well, for the effect
on our security might not have been
favorable. This fall may have been
prevented by the concave form of
the cliff in that place consequent on
the fall of large portions previously.
In this place especially the intense
blue Of the ice was most marked. At
it's base rushed out muddy river,
evidently furnished by the melting
of the ice.
The whole course of the glacier
was more or less discolored by the
falling on it of rocks and coil From
the mountains against which it had
rubbed in its journey towards the
sea. From space several miles in
width it becomes compressed to one
mile wide where it energies on the
sea.
In the corner where we assembled
: %ho h0
body of rocks and earth that we
imagined we were climbing banks of
clay and gravel forty or fifty feet
high till, as we approached nearer
the center we became aware that onr
clay banks were of solid ice with
more or less soil upon them. But
there was a stream of considerable
size running down on one terrace
and at the base of another, which
took vast quantities of the soil away
into the sea. The rocks, also which
lay in the utmost confusion and
great abundance on the surface Of
the glacier as it descended from the
mountains, tumbled constantly down
the steep banks Of the terraces. or
down the assures formed by melting
ice.
Pools of water there were where
pools of water could be; but most of
the assures opened deep down into
the glacier, and usually you would
hear through them the distant rum
BILE and rush of water in their depths.
Sometimes a rock or a number of
rocks had melted the ice around
them till they were sunk far down
into the solid ice. Not all the thun-
ders were caused by the falling Of
ice; the immense cracks and assures
were made by the receding of ice
with an awful crash. Think of the
force which by straining causes a
mass Of ice $50 or 800 feet thick to
split from top to bottom. And as in
sailing we passed blocks of ice, big
or little each one kept up snap
ping like logs in a burning fire;
especially when the sun shined on
them. It might we'll be supposed,
the whole sea for miles was discol-
ored; clay colored like the Missis-
sippi.
Probably all the passengers landed
and took stroll longer or shorter
on the glacier. How many got
tumbles we may not know; l fear [
should had not one in returning ex-
changed pike staff for my UNI
brella just as arrived at the glacier.
There were on the surface of the
ice all manner of rocks in the shape
in which they had tumbled on it
miles above, with perfectly fresh