The advocate., 1897-09-08

Wrangel IL sinks only few degrees be-
low the horizon, SO that the rosy colOrs
OF the evening blend with those Of the
morning, leaving no gap Of darkness be-
tween. Nevertheless, the full day opens
! slowly. At midnight, from the middle
point between the cleaning and the
dawn, a low arc Of light is seen stealing
along the horizon, with gradual increase
OF height and span and intensity of tone,
accompanied usually by red clouds,
which make a striking advertisement Of
the suns progress long before he appears
above the mOuntain-tOps.
For several hours after sunrise every
thing in the landscape seems dull and
uncommunicative. The clouds fade, the
islands and the mountains, with ruffs Of
mist about them, cast ill-defned shad-
oWs, and the whole armament changes
to pale pearl-gray, with just trace OF
purple in it. But toward noon there is a
glorious awakening The cool haziness
Of the air vanishes, and the richer sun
beams, pouring from on high, make all
the bays and channels shine. Brightly
now play the round-tOpped ripples about
the edges Of the islands, and over many
a plume-shaped streak between them,
where the water is stirred by some pass
ing breeze.
"On the mountains of the mainland,
and in the high-walled fiOrds that fringe
the coast, still finer Is the work of the
sunshine. The broad white bOsOms of
the glaciers glow like silver, and their
crystal fronts, and the multitude Of ice-
bergs that linger about them, drifting,
swirling, turning their myriad angles
TO the sun, are kindled into perfect
blaze of irised light. The warm air
thIObs and wavers, and makes itself felt
as life-giving, energizing ocean en-
bracing all the earth Filled with ozone,
our pulses bound, and we are warmed
and quickened into sympathy with
everything, taken back into the heart
Of nature, whence we came. We feel the
life and motion about us, and the uni
versal beauty; the tides marching back
and forth, with weariless industry, law
ing the beautiful shores, and swaying
the purple dulse' Of the broad meadows
Of the sea where the fishes are fed; the
wild streams in rows white with water
falls, ever in bloom and ever in song,
sand mountains; the vast forests feeding
on the drenching sunbeams, every cell
in whirl of enjoyment; misty tlocks of
insects stirring all the air; the wild
sheep and goats on the grassy ridges
above the woods, bears in the berry
tangles, mink and beaver and otter far
back on many river and lake; Indians
and adventurers pursuing their lonely
ways; birds tending their young every
where, everywhere, beauty and life, and
glad, rejoicing action.
Through the afternoon all the way
down to the west the air seems to thicken
and become soft, without losing its fine
ness. The breeze dies away, and every
thing settles into deep, conscious re-
pose. Then comes the sunset with its
purple and gold-nOt narrow arch of
color, but oftentimes filling more than
half the sky. The horizontal clouds that
usually bar the horizon are fred on the
edges, and the spaces of clear sky be-
tween them are filled in with greenish
yellow and amber; while the flOcks Of
thin, overlapping cloudlets are mostly
touched with crimson, like the Outlean-
ing sprays Of a maple-gr0ve in the be-
ginning of Indian summer; and little
later a smooth, mellow purpose flushes
the sky to the zenith, and fills the air,
fairly sleeping and transfguring the
islands and mountains, and changing all
the water to wine"