. Alaska and the Klondike. r. It sticks in my recollec-tion because it afforded the first opportunity to see whatthe forests of these islands are, back from the shore line, THE INSIDE PASSAGE 15 how gigantic the timber and how dense the growth, whilethe undergrowth in its rank and tangled luxuriance sug-gests nothing so much asthe semi-tropical jungle ofthe Florida swamps, andthis on mountain slopeswhose summits are cappedwith perpetual snow. Butthe climate is out of keep-ing with the latitude. On the same meridianwith Fort York, where theNelson River flows intoHudson Bay, and withnorth centra
. Alaska and the Klondike. r. It sticks in my recollec-tion because it afforded the first opportunity to see whatthe forests of these islands are, back from the shore line, THE INSIDE PASSAGE 15 how gigantic the timber and how dense the growth, whilethe undergrowth in its rank and tangled luxuriance sug-gests nothing so much asthe semi-tropical jungle ofthe Florida swamps, andthis on mountain slopeswhose summits are cappedwith perpetual snow. Butthe climate is out of keep-ing with the latitude. On the same meridianwith Fort York, where theNelson River flows intoHudson Bay, and withnorth central Labrador,the thermometer rarelyreaches zero at Ketchikanand the mean temperatureis about that of Washing-ton, D. C. The Japan cur-rent, which sweeps alongthe south side of the Aleu-tian chain, the south shoreof the mainland and im-pinges on this archipelago,keeps all the harbours onIts course open in winteras well as in summer and produces in this jiart ol Alaska aclimate which led e\-( io\ernor Swinclord, who is a resl-. Totcm at Wran^cl 16 ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE dent of Ketchikan, to say that if he were a resident of anystate east of the mountains he would come here to spendhis winters in preference to Florida. The same evening, July i, we touched at Wrangell, atthe mouth of the Stikine River. Once a Russian post,then leased to Great Britain for the benefit of the HudsonBay Company, which lease cut a figure in the Alaskanboundary arbitration; afterwards a lively camp when theCassiar mines were discovered and active still later whenefforts were made to reach the Klondike by the Stikineroute, Wrangell occupies a picturesque location, and tour-ists will always remember it for its curious totem was established the first military post when Alaskabecame a possession of the United States in 1867. The next morning, July 2, brought us to Juneau, theprincipal city of southeastern Alaska, and the centre ofan important mining region. It is on the mainland, andback of it is
Size: 1042px × 2399px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidalaskak, booksubjectalaska
