kept in perfect trim by the
latest,--a lane that is green-arched overhead and fern-walled on either
side, and soft with the dust of dead pine boughs underfoot. There also
are streams and waterfalls and rustic bridges such as one might look for
in some stately park in England, but hardly in Alaska. Surely there is
no bit of wilderness finer than this. All is sweet and grave and silent,
save for the ripple of waters and the sighing of winds.

As for the Siwash village on the other side of Sitka, it is a Siwash
village over again. How soon one wearies of them! But one ought never to
weary of the glorious sea isles and the overshadowing mountains that lie
on every side of the quaint, half-barbarous capital. Though it is dead
to the core and beginning to show the signs of death, it is one of the
dreamiest spots on earth, and just the one for long summer solitude,--at
least so we all thought, for on the morrow we were homeward bound.

CHAPTER XIV.

From the Far North.

Sitka is the turning-point in the Alaskan summer cruise. It is the
beginning of the end; and I am more than half inclined to think that in
most cases--charming as the voyage is and unique in its way beyond any
other voyage within reach of the summer tourist--the voyager is glad of
it. One never gets over the longing for some intelligence from the outer
world; never quite becomes accustomed to the lonely, far-away feeling
that at times is a little painful and often is a bore.

During the last hours at Sitka, Mount Edgecombe loomed up gloriously,
and reminded one of Fugjyamma. It is a very handsome and a highly
ornamental mountain. So are the islands that lie between it and the
Sitkan shore handsome and ornamental, but there are far too many of
them. The picture is overcrowded, and in this respect is as unlike the
Bay of Naples as possible; though some writers have compared them, and
of course, as is usual in cases of comparison, to the disadvantage of
the latter.

Leaving Sitka, we ran out to sea. It was much easier to do this than go
a long way round among the islands; and, as the weather was fair, the
short cut was delightful. We rocked like a cradle--the _Ancon_ rocks
like a cradle on the slightest provocation. The sea sparkled, the
wavelets leaped and clapped their hands. Once in awhile a plume of spray
was blown over the bow, and the delicate stomach recoiled upon itself
suggestively; but the deliciousness of the air in the open sea and the
b