Sailing down Lynn Canal, Chatham Strait, and the narrow, winding Peril
Strait, the sapphire-watered and exquisitely islanded Bay of Sitka is
entered from the north. Six miles above the Sitka of to-day a large
wooden cross marks the site of the first settlement, the scene of the
great massacre.
On one side are the heavily and richly wooded slopes of Baranoff Island,
crested by many snow-covered peaks which float in the higher primrose
mist around the bay; on the other, water avenues--growing to paler,
silvery blue in the distance--wind in and out among the green islands to
the far sea, glimpses of which may be had; while over all, and from all
points for many miles, the round, deeply cratered dome of Edgecumbe
shines white and glistening in the sunlight. It is the superb feature of
the landscape; the crowning glory of a scene that would charm even
without it.
Mount Edgecumbe is the home of Indian myth and legend--as is Nass River
to the southeastward. In appearance, it is like no other mountain. It is
only eight thousand feet in height, but it is so round and symmetrical,
it is so white and sparkling, seen either from the ocean or from the
inner channels, and its crest is sunken so evenly into an unforgettable
crater, that it instantly impresses upon the beholder a kind of
personality among mountains.
In beauty, in majesty, in sublimity, it neither approaches nor compares
with twenty other Alaskan mountains which I have seen; but, like the
peerless Shishaldin, to the far westward, it stands alone, distinguished
by its unique features from all its sister peaks.
Not all the streams of lava that have flowed down its sides for hundreds
of years have dulled its brilliance or marred its graceful outlines.
I have searched Vancouver's chronicles, expecting to fined Edgecumbe
described as "a mountain having a very elegant hole in the top,"--to
match his "elegant fork" on Mount Olympus of Puget Sound.
Peril Strait is a dangerous reach leading in sweeping curves from
Chatham Strait to Salisbury Sound. It is the watery dividing line
between Chichagoff and Baranoff islands. It has two narrows, where the
rapids at certain stages of the tides are most dangerous.
Upon entering the strait from the east, it is found to be wide and
peaceful. It narrows gradually until it finally reaches, in its
forty-mile windings, a width of less than a hundred yards.
There are several islands in Peril Strait: Fairway and Trader's at the
entrance; Broad and Otstoi on the starboard; Pouverstoi, Elovoi, Rose,
and Kane. Between Otstoi and Pouverstoi islands is Deadman's Reach. Here
are Peril Point and Poison Cove, where Baranoff lost a hundred Aleuts by
their eating of poisonous mussels in 1799. For this reason the Russians
gave it the name, Pogibshi, which, interpreted, means "Destruction,"
instead of the "Pernicious" or "Peril" of the present time.
Deadman's Reach is as perilous for its reefs as for its mussels. Hoggatt
Reef, Dolph Rock, Ford Rock, Elovoi Island, and Krugloi Reef are all
dangerous obstacles to navigation, making this reach as interestingly
exciting as it is beautiful.
Fierce tides race through Sergius Narrows, and steamers going to and
from Sitka are guided by the careful calculation of their masters, that
they may arrive at the narrows at the favorable stage of the tides.
Bores, racing several feet high, terrific whirlpools, and boiling
geysers make it impossible for vessels to approach when the tides are at
their worst. This is one of the most dangerous reaches in Alaska.
Either Rose or Adams Channel may be used going to Sitka, but the latter
is the favorite.
Kakul Narrows leads into Salisbury Sound; but the Sitkan steamers barely
enter this sound ere they turn to the southeastward into Neva Strait. It
was named by Portlock for the Marquis of Salisbury.
Entrance Island rises between Neva Strait and St. John the Baptist Bay.
There are both coal and marble in the latter bay.
Halleck Island is completely surrounded by Nakwasina Passage and Olga
Strait, joining into one grand canal of uniform width.
All these narrow, tortuous, and perilous water-ways wind around the
small islands that lie between Baranoff Island on the east and Kruzoff
Island on the west. Baranoff is one hundred and thirty miles long and as
wide as thirty miles in places. Kruzoff Island is small, but its
southern extremity, lying directly west of Sitka, shelters that favored
place from the storms of the Pacific.
Whitestone Narrows in the southern end of Neva Strait is extremely
narrow and dangerous, owing to sunken rocks. Deep-draught vessels cannot
enter at low tide, but must await the favorable half-hour.
Sitka Sound is fourteen miles long and from five to eight wide. It is
more exquisitely islanded than any other bay in the world; and after
passing the site of Baranoff's first settlement and Old Sitka Rocks, the
steamer's course leads through a misty emerald maze. Sweeping slowly
around the green shore of one island, a dozen others dawn upon the
beholder's enraptured vision, frequently appearing like a solid wall of
green, which presently parts to let the steamer slide through,--when, at
once, another dazzling vista opens to the view.
Before entering Sitka Sound, Halleck, Partoffs-Chigoff, and Krestoff are
the more important islands; in Sitka Sound, Crow, Apple, and Japonski.
The latter island is world-famous. It is opposite, and very near, the
town; it is about a mile long, and half as wide; its name, "Japan," was
bestowed because, in 1805, a Japanese junk was wrecked near this island,
and the crew was forced to dwell upon it for weeks. It is greenly and
gracefully draped with cedar and spruce trees, and is an object of much
interest to tourists.
Around Japonski cluster more than a hundred small islands of the Harbor
group; in the whole sound there are probably a thousand, but some are
mere green or rocky dots floating upon the pale blue water.
A magnetic and meteorological observatory was established on Japonski by
the Russians and was maintained until 1867.
[Illustration: Copyright by E. A. Hegg, Juneau
Courtesy of Webster & Stevens, Seattle
AN ALASKAN ROAD HOUSE]