PLACES VISITED 259

A few hours after Alert Bay the steamer leaves the
sheltered waters among the islands and passes out into
the Pacific Ocean for about forty miles. You also touch
the ocean for shorter distances at Millbank Sound and
Dixon’s entrance, but apart from these short stretches the
journey is through quiet inland waters. Prince Rupert
is reached the next morning.

Prince Rupert is a small town, and is the terminus of
the Canadian National Railway and the headquarters of
a small fishing fleet. It is a most uninteresting place at
the present time, though there may be a great future for it.

After leaving Prince Rupert and passing the mouth
of Portland Canal you arrive at the extreme south of
Alaska, In Alaska your first port of call is Ketchikan,
a thriving little town which is the centre of the fishing
and mining of this district. Your next stop is at Wrangel,
close to the mouth of the Stikine River, Here those
that are bound for Telegraph Creek leave the boat and go
aboard another steamer which conveys them 150 miles
up stream. Wrangel is a small historic town. It was
originally one of the earliest forts on the coast owned
by the Russians, but subsequently leased by them to the
Hudson’s Bay Company, together with certain fur-trading
rights,

Up to this time the scenery has been very beautiful,
but from now on it is far better. You now pass through
the famous Wrangel Narrows. This is one of the most
charming parts of the whole trip. The steamer creeps
through a channel so narrow, so crooked, and with water
so swift that it is a marvel how it can be navigated at
all. All along the shore there are strips of bright green
grass between the water and the heavy green timber ;
here and there are pretty little bays, nooks and coves,
and occasionally little streams running in, Farther
back from the water there are low, densely timbered
mountains, reaching higher and higher until at last you
get a view, if it is a fine day, of Devil’s Thumb, a huge
sharp peak rising to a height of 10,000 fect.

Not long after leaving the Wrangel Narrows you begin

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