Omaha daily bee., 1892-01-10

could SEQ with the naked eye. one of the mos
southern islands which comprise the Shama
gin group. and which was about sixty miles
away from the ships destination.
For four days we had not seen the sun and
the captains calculations were made alto
gether by dead reckoning, but they proved
u: unerring, as they were gratifying to me.
Our course lay directly towards an island
marked on the chart as castle Rock. ,
Within a couple Of hours it appeared in the
distance, aud about the middle of the after.
noon, the wind suddenly died away, leaving
US in q dead calm within three miles of O
huge pile of rocks, the summit Of which
frowned down upon US from a height of 4C
feet or more.
The hand Of a sculptor could
not cut a miniature outline of q
more ~Cerfect castle than that which the hand
of nature has chiseled here. The turrets,
and arches and lookouts stand out in bold
relief and make it just such a formidable
looking fortress as history tells us brave
knights of old sought refuge in. From be.
hind its deep recesses a handful OF men could
find safe shelter from an assault by a naval
squadron, and its mighty rocks look as il
they would withstand a shower of shot and
shell for ages.
1t was while lying here that / caught my
first Goldfish. A few weeks before, this same
schooner sailed for San Francisco with a
cargo of these fish, most Of which were
caught within a dozen miles of Castle rock.
About twenty men were employed in fishing,
receiving S25 per thousand, and from 81 to 81
per day could be made per man.
There was abundant fishing tackle aboard,
and with one line we caught more cod fish in
one honr than we could eat in a month. Two
large hooks were attached to a line about
one foot apart, with a lead sinker weighing
about one pound on the end. Fresh meat
was used for bait at first, and afterwards
Goa fish. 1t was simply a matter of throw
ing the line into the water and letting it
sink 10 the bottom, at a depth of about thirty
fathoms, and almost Immediately you can
feel the wlggling of fish, which would
weigh from six to twelve pounds each.
Those who have never eaten fresh cod,
know nothing Of the delicate flavor, which
appears to be partly at least, lost when
sailed.
There is practically no end to tho cod fish
on the Alaska coast, and a number of fine
banks are found In the immediate vicinity of
the Shumagin islands.
Some time before breakfast tho next morn.
ing, a light breeze sprung up, and by break
fast time we were sailing four knots per
hour. We had by this time, approached 30
near to the main land, that the snowy tops
OF the coast range were plainly seen, and the
foot hills lying along the snore, probably
forty miles away looked like low, dark
ridges, which, upon nearer approach,
proved TO be covered with grass to a height
OF ! 900 feet or more above salt water.
4 "a hOllGtu ubob buo Suhib lhdI uuOut
twenty miles to the west OF Castle Rock, were
a number of small islands name Haystacks.
They soon appeared ahead of us, and who
ever christened them must have lived In q
prairie country. The waters ahead and en-
tirely surrounding them, being scarcely ruff
fled by the light breeze blowing, looked all
the world like a vast stretch OF level prairie,
and the islands within six miles so closely re-
sembled haystacks as TO cause one to wonder
what sort OF condition OF things must have
existed TO have created them.
The longest OF the haystacks looked like an
extensive hay rick that had laid out all win
ter, the top OF which had partly blown of.
The captain called my attention TO the one
standing next to tho hay rick, and said there
was a hole extending entirely through IL
large enough TO admit of our vessel
passing in. l got my camera ready,
aud when we were abreast of 1t. sure enough
we could SEQ an enormous hole having an
oval arch above, and daylight appeared at
the opposite side. 1 looked In vain for this
beautiful picture to appear under my red
light, but no sort of coaxing would bring out
upon the plate a view which | would have
priced equal TO hat of many others that I
have been so fortunate to secure the present
season.
We were now within twenty miles OF Sand
Point, the ships destination. We soon turned