Rock Island Argus., 1896-12-14
ALASKAN SCENERY.
FEATURES OF THE PASSAGE FROM
WASHINGTON NORTfiwARD.


WASHINGTON NoRTfiwARD.
The Beautiful Lay Dotted With Iccberes,
Grandest of All Being Muir Glacier.
The Magnifcence of Mount st. Elias,
Giant Sentinel Of the Rockies.
In making the voyage northward
from Seattle one has scarcely left tie
waters Of Puget sound before great
patches OF snow are perceptible on the
highest peaks of the colossal range of
mountains bordering the inland pas
sage. These gradually grow larger and
larger as the steamer wends her way to
the north, and soon the loftiest peaks,
both inland and toward the sea, are
seen robed in glistening garments of
purest white. Two days travel brings
one well into Alaskan waters. and by
the aid Of q good glass and not infre-
quently with the naked eye a close OBJ
server will discern the blue ice Of gla-
ciers creeping from under the lower
edges Of the snow banks. Lower and
lower these descend as the steamer
crawls onward, until the northernmost
point on the ro1te is reached, WHARF
they come down to the ocean level.
Here, in beautiful little bay, dotted
with 1, 000 icebergs, some of them high
er than the topmost mast Of the ship,
great walls Of deep blue ice form tho
shores, long arms of this ice break from
the mother lode, as it were, and stretch
far back into the mountains, where at
the crest Of the range they reunite, and,
running northward, form into contin-
uous chain Of glaciers that line that
portion of Alaska's coast for many hum
dred miles.
This little fairyland is called Glacier
bay, and the most attractive feature is
the Muir glacier, the grandest of all the
group, named in honor of Mr.. John
Muir, who upon the last excursion Of
the Queen again visited the bay and be-
held the mountain Of ico which will
perpetuate his name while time lasts.
In matchless beauty, unparalleled
grandeur and colossal structure it sur
passes anything Of its kind on the
American continent This great mass is
constantly moving, and as it debouches
| into the sea hinge pieces break from the
| front, and, rs tkunderbolts from heaven,
| they drop into the waters, rolling up
great waves and making q noise like
the booming of heavy artillery. These
pieces float away as icebergs and are
| carried many miles to sea before they
| finally are ground and melted into their
original fluid state.
Visible to the north and west, 'front.'
ing on the sea. are among the grandest
peaks on the globe-Lituya peak. 10, 600
| feet high; Mount Crillon, $1,000 feet i;
Mount Fairweather, IA, 70S feet; thence
| farther north sublime Mount ST. Elias,
| the giant sentinel Of the Rockies, towers
nearly 20, 600 feet above the ocean that
thunders at its base. How inexpressibly
| grand is this hoary headed monster, for
every foot Of his sides is in mountain
slope! He bathes his brow in the clouds
and washes his feet in the sea. No hu-
man being has ever planted foot ON the
summit of this mountain, although va
rious attempts have been made by hardy
explorers. Lying between the sea and
| the base OF the mountain, perhaps three
/ quarters of q mile in width, is o level
and thickly timbered piece Of land.
From this beach the mountain rises
gradually to the timber line, approxi-
mately 1000 feet. Here the line of per-
petual snow begins and the slope grows
| gradually sleeper. Soon the blue ice is
seen under the STOW, and little farther
up the entire face Of the mountain is q
| glistening mass. This ice extends to
within 8, 900 feet of the summit, where
the crowning peak rises nearly perpen-
dicular and assumes the form Of lofty
watch tower upon the walls of an an
cient castle. Snow and ice do not lie On
the peak, except on the extreme top, for
the reason that the sides are too steep.
Probably only by aerial means could
the summit be reached, and, even if
that were possible, it is doubtful if any
human being could survive the terrible
cold which would be encountered in
that great altitude. This mountain is
held in great esteem and awe by the ma
tive Indian tribes. 1t is their great
weather prophet, and by certain cloud
signs they know when they can with
safety undertake the journey along the
''ironbound coast" a dangerous stretch
of water running from Cape Spencer
northward to Yakutat bay, along which
distance the mountains break sheer into
the sea.
The entire length Of the inland pas
sage, LOO miles, is heavily timbered
with spruce, hemlock, pine and both
yellow and red cedar. Great avalanches
of snow have swept down the mountains
| here and there, and in their track long
streaks Of timber have been moved
down as q sickle would SO much ripe
grain. At intervals Indian villages dot
the shores, resting most picturesquely
upon narrow shelves just at the edge of
tidewater. These nomads of the north
west spend two-thirds of their lives out
of doors in their canoes, which are their
only means Of travel, and with which
they obtain their livelihood from the
sea. Throughout the entire stretch Of
country travel by land is almost impos-
| eible, owing to the dense timber and