Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-08-20
is ALASKA WORTH VISITING.
1t Is Wilderness. but All wild, Grant!
Scenery is There.

y
This is the unvarying question which
the returned Alaskan tourist hears and
which he is put upon his conscience to
answer. immediately Il panoramic
procession of the scenic glories of
transcontinental and Alaskan pictures,
endless in variety. passes before the
imagination. and a glowing. cnthusi-
astc Yes falls unhes!tatingly from
his lips.
But what is there to seq" 1T is a
wilderness is it not?" pursues the mer-
CHESS interrogation who does not wish
to squander his precious sightseeing.
with its time. money. and fatigue. for
that which protiteth not. The tourist
from distant Alaska feels his enthusi-
asm blown upon by the cold breath of
an iceberg Judgment. and is called up
on to seriously consider the question
for his friends and to defend the posi-
ton which he takes.
1t Is q wilderness. a tangle of a
Wilderness, u God forsaken desert with
only few GASES. 1t is seldom given
to traveller who can not be II Stanley
and penetrate the dark depths OF
Africa or Nerestchagin who can
scale with his easel and his palette the
dizzy Himalayan heights, startling the
solitude and soaring the eagle. to wit
ness such isolation, such rcmotencss
from the civilized world. If you 90
to Alaska you will be surfeitcd with
scenery. scenery, scenery. Never in
your life will you be so gorged with
scenery. 1t comes upon YOU in every
variety, and you are convinced that
never more will you gaze upon new
type OF scenery. You have now the
whole gamut of wilderness scenery.
You come to tranquil reaches of water,
suggestive of lake and river with
islands covered with undulating hills.
Again The water becomes oceanic, and
you are on an ocean voyage with
shoals of porpoiscS gayly accompany
ing the ship, and huge whales and
numerous sea-monsters. disportine
themselves III the deep water. safe
from the whalcr's harpoon. since the
depths of the Pacific and st. Georges
channel are so great that they would
not be returned to the surface for their
capture till after many days. Again the
channel narrows. Prccipitous and
rocky heights close in the green
and rapid-fowlng waters. and the
trackless forests come close to
the steamers side and now and
then mountain goat or stealthy
bear looks from its haunts upon the
steamer as upon passing show.
Again the hills become scanned and
scared mountains, with scraps of gla-
ciers clinging to the sides. and pouring
down in deepened burrows are cascades
ranging in size from silver thread to
a broad. boiling torrent which has cut
its way through the evergreen forests.
And these coniferous forests are a
sight in themselves They are like
huge communities Of patriarchal fami-
lies, in which are five and six genera
lions. Light-gray and hoary is the
branchless stem of the old tree, which
Will fall before the sweeping blast of
the next tempest. and close to it the
branched and gray tree of the next
generation. which elbows the deep
gray-green tree its neighbor, which
looks down upon the generation OF
green tree, shading ever into lighter
and livlier verdure. down to the young
est sapling. Again the mountains re-
cede. and an extensive archipelago is
entered. filed with islands innumer.
able and OF every form. Then there
are the Mount St. Elias Alps. with
their snow-clad submits losing them
selves in the clouds or lifting their re-
gal heads high into the sapphire hcav-
ems. -Lippincott's Magazine.