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XTENDING along the northwestern borders of the American Continent is a chain of archipelagoes whose innumerable islands stretch out their arms to each other and enclose a portion of the Pacific. This network of land and water, a web of silver lace studded with emeralds, forms the beautiful scenic route known as the "Inland Sea." From Washington to Alaska stretches the sinuous channel lined with beautiful scenery.

Alaska, the Mecca of latter-day pilgrims, is beginning to assume an importance in some degree proportionate to its size and possibilities, but the popular idea of it seems to be that of the congressman who called it "the refrigerator of the United States." That it is a country guarded by glaciers, enwrapped in eternal snows, and approached only by Arctic seas is a mistaken opinion fast giving way to facts. It is true that much of it is closed to the general traveller. The tourist does not penetrate to the interior of the country, or trace the glaciers to their chill sources. The rugged mountains, dense forests, sylvan lakes, and tortuous rivers present strong attractions to the scientist and adventurer who deride

danger and live laborious days in pursuit of their object; but the pleasureseeker does not court hardships, and his ardor for knowledge is tempered by his love of ease. So he skirts the edges only of this vast and varied country of assorted climates, wealth, and scenery, his pleasure in the unrivalled voyage enhanced, perhaps, by the knowledge that there are barriers between him and the beauties and mysteries beyond.

During the long journey the thoughtful traveller has leisure to recall the history of the discovery and development of Alaska from the time of the first barren explorations, with their dismal tales of shipwreck and disaster, on to its real discovery in the middle of the eighteenth century. Full of tragic interest are the stories of the privations and sufferings of the early explorers, the wars with the savage natives, the mas sacres and revenges of the Indians, the final occupancy by the Russians, and the inhumanity of the directors sent to govern these wave-washed possessions of the Czar. There is a touch of romance in the story of Count Nicholas Resanoff, the Imperial Chamberlain, who founded a school and effected some reforms at Kadiak, then returned to Russia to pro

cure the Czar's consent to his marriage with the daughter of the Spanish governor at San Francisco. The ill-fated lover never reached his destination, but his betrothed refused to believe that he was dead and would never marry another, but in loving patience awaited his return until she became very old and died.

The name Alaska, which has undergone several orthographical changes, was first applied to the whole territory by Charles Sumner. It is said to signify "large country." This being true, it is well named, for it is one-sixth as large as the whole United States, and its most western point, Attu Island, is so far west that it makes San Francisco the city nearest the centre, east and west, of our country. Alaska consists of mainland and islands whose name is legion, there being over one thousand in the Alexander Archipelago alone. The shore-line of the country is about 18,500 miles, not counting minor irregularities; its topography is irregular and broken and comprises the greatest elevations known in North America. The rivers - of which the chief is the Yukon, that in its various windings stretches over two thousand miles-and the inlets of the sea are the roadways of Alaska, there being but a few miles of regular roads in the territory.

Arctic winters. The Japan Current, with effects similar to the Gulf Stream, moderates the climate of Southern Alaska.

The interior of the country is inaccessible to the tourist. Much of the country is locked in by barriers of ice and lies inert beneath the ermine robes of winter. Boreas holds close to his chill bosom his portion of Alaska, and not till his cold heart relents and his icy fingers relax, will its richnesses or poverty be known. But exploration has revealed a wealth long unsuspected

Alaska may be divided into three climatic districts: the Sitkan, which has cool, moist summers and stormy but mild winters, the temperature rarely falling below zero; the Aleutian district, that has warmer summers, less rainfall and cooler winters; and the Yukon region, with short hot summers and long

in the heart of Alaska, and tribute will be exacted.

The population of Alaska consists of Americans, Russians, and various native tribes; strictly speaking, the coast people are not Indians; their features are Asiatic and they are supposed to be of Japanese origin. Eight distinct languages and several dialects are spoken. A portion of the inhabitants are Greek Catholics and Protestants, the rest are grovelling in that intermediate stage between savagery and civilization lacking the picturesqueness of the former and the decency of the latter.

Lo, in a scarlet blanket, beaded buckskin leggings, war-paint, and feathers against a background of sombre forest is a pictorial object that can awaken interest through the artistic sense. But clothed in a motley of second-hand rags of a civilized but not fin de siècle style, his unkempt ebon locks topped with a mouldy and otherwise degenerate derby, sitting in the midst of squalor, with details of fresh pelts and decayed fish, he is not fascinating and can appeal to interest only through pity and principle.

In the wilds of Alaska may still be seen the totems of some of the clansthese are wooden pillars with rude and fantastic carvings of animals, from the spirits of which the Indians believe themselves descended. The animals represented on these family trees are reverenced by the Indians as their progenitors and protectors. They erect their totems in front of their houses and plant them beside the burial-places of their dead.

The Indian legends, with their mixture of superstition and poetry, are not uninteresting in connection with the story of this great country.

One pertaining to the origin of the native tribes is thus told: "A long time ago the earth sank beneath the water and the water rose and covered the highest places so that no man could live. It rained so hard it was as if the sea fell from the sky. All was black, and it became so dark that no man knew another. Then a few people ran here and there and made a raft of cedarlogs, but nothing could stand against the white waves, and the raft was broken in two. On one part floated the ancestors of the Thlinkits, on the other the parents of all other nations. The waters tore them apart, and they never saw each other again. Now their children are all different, and do not understand each other."

The entering wedge that opened Alaska to the United States was the scheme to construct a telegraph line to Europe via that country. The scientific corps sent out to select the route drew attention to the resources of the province, and a plan was formed to purchase the charter which, because of certain abuses, the Russian Government declined to renew to the Russian-American Fur Company.

This scheme came to the knowledge of the sagacious statesman Seward, and he, perceiving the value of such possessions to the United States, was instrumental in purchasing the whole territory in 1867, for seven million two hundred thousand dollars. This is about what was spent to carry on the late war four days during its last year. It has been computed to be less than a cent an acre for the area bought. The

wisdom of the purchase is vindicated by the figures showing the revenue from Alaskan industries during its American occupancy.

The value of our distant colony is no longer a mooted question. But while the still hunt for gold goes on, while the great rivers yield the shining salmon, and the fur-bearing animals are sought for their rich pelts, the immaterial but not less satisfying riches of the country are not likely to be slighted, for the fame of the wonderful inland sea, with its succession of charming views, has gone abroad, and the phenomenon of the glaciers, that outrival in size and grandeur the most famous of Europe, is stimulating the curiosity of pleasure-seekers, and making of the island-sheltered sea-route a well-travelled thoroughfare.

This wondrous water-way transcends description. It stretches its serpentine folds and windings in and out among the verdant islands, that dot its surface like rich jewels in a silver setting, and with its freedom from the disagreeable swells of the open sea and its unworn scenic delights, this enchanting route can scarcely be overestimated.

The voyage is not an exciting one; it is rather one of quiet pleasure, of luxrious repose. One wishing to "snatch a fearful joy" from perils and adventures should choose the broad ocean where storms may come and shipwreck menace, or indulge in mountain climbing, where hair-breadth escapes from direful death stir the heart and send the blood in rapid currents through the veins. But those desiring a restful journey that calls for nothing but the capacity to appreciate the choicest gems in nature's great picture gallery, will find this trip a pleasant one. Comfortably ensconced in a steamer-chair, one's soul may take in such a wealth of beauty

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never to feel impoverished more. Borne along over the gently undulating sea, whose waves in responsive sympathy to the moods of the sky change from silver to sapphire, from gold to emerald, the eye is charmed by a constantly varying panorama. The multitude of islands vary in size from tiny islets, clad in the sombre colors of the firs, flecked with spots of sunny green