The Red Cloud chief., 1897-10-01

~
MY The climate OF
wv all that portion OF
the coast that Is
bathed by the Japan current, extend
ing from the southern boundary OF the
Territory northward and westward to
the island OF Atoo. IA distance OF nearly
twenty-five hundred miles, Is remark
ably bland, and free from extremes OF
heat and cold throughout the year. 1t
is rainy. however: but the rain Is OF
good quality. gentle in It's fall, filling
the fountains OF the streams. and keep
Ing the whole land fresh and fruitful.
while anything more delightful than
the shining weather after the rain
the great. round sundays of June.
July and August-can hardly be found
elsewhere. An Alaska midsummer day
Is a day without night. In the extreme
northern portion of the territory the
sun does not set for weeks. AMI even
as far south as Sitka and Fort Wran-
gel II sinks only "a few degrees below
the horizon, so that the rOsy colors OF
the evening blend with those Of tho
morning. leaving no gap Of darkness
between. Nevertheless, the full day
opens slowly. At midnight. from the
middle point between the gloamlrg
and the dawn, a low arc OF light IL seen
stealing along the horizon, with grad
ual 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
everything In the landscape seems dull
and uncommunicative. The clouds
fade. the Islands and the mountains.
with ruffs Of mist about them, cast Ill
defined shadows. and the whole flrma-
ment changes to pale pearl-gray with
Just a trace of purple in 1t. Blu
toward Don there IL a glorious
awakening. The cool haziness Of the
air v%anishes. and the richer sunbeams,
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
passing breeze.
On the mountains of the mainland.
and in the ~high-walled tiords that
fringe the coast. still finer Is the work
Of the sunshine. The broad white
bosoms OF the glaciers glow like sill
yer. and their crystal fronts, and the
multitude OF !cebergs that linSer about
them. drifting, swirling, turning their
myriad angle to the SUM-, are kindled
into a perfect blaze of irised light.
The warm air throbs and waivers, and
makes itself felt as a life-giving, ener-
giving ocean embracing all the earth.
Filled with ozone. our pulses bound.
and we are warmed and quickened in
to sympathy with everything, taken
back into the heart of nature, whence
about Us. and the universal beauty;
the tides marching back and forth
with weariless industry, LAYING the
beautiful shores, and swaylng the pur-
pie dulse of the broad meadows of the
sea where the fishes are fed; the wild
streams In rows white with waterfalls,
ever in bloom and ever In song. spread
ing their branches over a thousand
mountains; the vast forests feeding on
the drenching sunbeams, every cell In
"A whirl OF enjoyment: misty flocks 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 a river and lake; In
dams and adventures pursuing their
lonely ways; birds tending their young
everywhere, 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 los
ing It's %fineness. The breeze dies away,
and everything settles into a deep.
conscious repose. Then ONE the sun
set with its purple and gold-not a
narrow arch Of color, but oftentimes
filing more than half the sky. The
horizontal clouds that usually bar the
horizon are fred on the edges, and
the spaces of clear sky between them
are filled In with greenish yellow and
amber; while the fiocks OF thin. over
tapping %cloudlets are mostly touched
with crimson, like the o%utleaning
sprays of a maple-grove in the begin
ming of Indian summer; and a little
later a smooth, mellow purple Pushes
the sky to the zenith, anu ....s lne air,
fairly sleeping and TRANSPORTING the
islands and mountains, and changing