is as suitable for habitation as much of Lapland, Finland and the northern portion of the Scandinavian peninsula.

The Pacific-coast province of Alaska is as suitable for habitation as much of Norway. Some Finlanders with their families are now settled on the shores of Cook Inlet, and are undertaking agricultural work there. The United States Agricul

tural Bureau has established four stations at which experiments have shown that common garden vegetables may be ripened and that an oats-hay suitable for feeding cattle during the winter season may be raised. Many of the white people cultivate small garden patches even as far north as the Arctic Circle, and thus secure fresh lettuce, radishes, turnips,

cabbages and potatoes. In the Yukon basin the gardens are commonly placed on south-facing slopes so that the rays from the sun may strike the garden land at a high angle.

From the geographical standpoint, Alaska may be compared advantageously with the western portion of the United States and British Columbia. Bordering the Pacific are the magnificent Coast Ranges, with many peaks rising seven thousand and eight thousand feet, and a few to elevations from sixteen to eighteen thousand feet. This system of mountains is continued far to the westward and

thence southwestward where it forms the backbone of the Alaskan Peninsula. The western termination of this mountain belt is in a chain of volcanic islands, the westernmost of which is nearer to Japan than San Francisco. In the Alaskan Range is Mount McKinley, twenty thousand three hundred feet, the highest mountain in North America. This great peak rises conspicuously from the plains to the northwestward in the valley of the Kuskokwim, and may be seen from the upper portion of Cook Inlet or from outlook points on the mountains of the Kenai Peninsula.

tainous islands. The channel is in mountain valleys through which the ocean waters now pass. At places the channel becomes very narrow and the waters shallow. Such places were the divides or passes in that mountainous region before the land was lowered and the sea advanced into it. In all this journey there are but a few hours when there is any possibility of the vessel rocking from the motion of the sea. The travelers are, therefore, comfortable and in good spirits, usually on the hurricane deck or in favorable outlook points, viewing the

slopes where glaciers formerly existed, and from which beautiful cascades now descend over precipices from one hundred to five hundred feet in height.

In the northern portion of the inland passage there are several glaciers that reach the tidal waters and that may be approached within a few hundred yards by the steamers. The ends of these glaciers present vertical cliffs of ice of beautiful deep-blue color and sometimes as much as two hundred feet high. As the glaciers advance, the ice is pushed out into the water, and huge masses break off

and drift away as icebergs. The breaking of these "live-glaciers" is accompanied by a thundering noise not unlike that from cannonading.

The panorama in Glacier Bay includes in the background the peaks of the Fairweather Range with Mount Fairweather reaching to nearly sixteen thousand feet, and on the flank of the range a great mer de glace from which flows the Grand Pacific, the Johns Hopkins, the Carroll, the Muir and the Davidson. Thirty miles to the northwestward are half a dozen other glaciers. The former glaciers of The former glaciers of southeastern Alaska deepened and widened the great canals, inlets and fjords, and thus greatly assisted in making possible the inland passage and the present easy approach to the existing glaciers.

But if one ventures beyond the southeastern portion of Alaska through Icy Straits and into the open ocean, still greater scenic features are in store for him. There from the deck of the vessel

we watched for two days the magnificent ranges which border the Alaskan Gulf from Icy Straits to Cape Hinchinbrook. The Fairweather Range, which extends northward from Icy Straits, is now seen from the west. This great mountain mass rises promptly from the sea-level, and from the deck of the vessel the entire height of nearly sixteen thousand feet is within view.

Farther north, the St. Elias Range rises similarly from the ocean, but reaches a maximum elevation in Mount St. Elias of nearly eighteen thousand feet. Nowhere in the world can one see to such advantage such huge mountain masses. If one climbs to elevations of five thousand or six thousand feet among the mountains of our western states or of British Columbia, or even to similar elevations among the Alps, there remain but six thousand to eight thousand feet of mountains to be seen.

In the basins near the crest line of

Fairweather Range, the snows accumulate, glaciers form, and these glaciers descend nearly or quite to tidewaters. On the southern slopes of Mount St. Elias the valley glaciers descend, and at the base of the mountains blend into one great ice-sheet known as the Malespina Glacier. This, the largest Piedmont glacier in the world, borders the coast for about eighty miles. The ice-sheet at places reaches to the ocean and steep cliffs of ice border the water-front. At other places, forests clothe the glacier, and give it the appearance of land.

To the westward from Cape Hinchinbrook, the coastwise journey leads one into Prince William Sound. Again we are in the midst of mountains where beautiful fjords make it possible to advance far inland. It is the southeastern Alaskan type of country over again. The mountains bordering the great fjords rise to elevations of three thousand and four thousand feet, while in the distance the summits of the Chugach Range reach elevations of six thousand and eight thousand feet. From the catchment basins among these mountains, other glaciers descend to tidal waters. At the head of the Sound, after steaming up one of the most beautiful fjords in in Alaska, we reached the little village of Valdez. This village is situated on a plain made of material washed out from the glacier just above town, and the floods from this glacier endanger portions of the village each

season.

Still farther to the westward, the mountain chains of the coast continue to be within view from the vessel. The Chugach Range follows out the Kenai Peninsula and into Kodiak Island. On the west of Cook Inlet is the Alaskan Range, with its numerous volcanic peaks, many of which are yet active.

The Yukon Basin

The interior of Alaska presents a very different aspect from that of the coastal province. It is a plateau region which has been much dissected by running water. From elevated positions in this interior region, the hill-tops come to a conspicuously even level and represent the ancient plateau into which the great valleys of the Yukon, the Tanana, the Kuskokwim, the Koyukuk and the Porcu

pine have been cut. In the cutting of these great valleys, in the working over the material of these interior lands, the streams gathered and concentrated the gold which has drawn so many thousands of people into Alaska.

The famous Klondike region is relatively near the headwaters of the Yukon drainage system; Eagle and Circle adjoin that river; Fairbanks is located in the basin of the Tanana River, and the latest find in the Innoka region is near the headwaters of a tributary to the lower Yukon. Lesser finds of gold have been made in almost every valley associated with this interior country.

Running in an east-west direction, and north of the Yukon River, are the Rocky Mountains of Alaska. These ranges of mountains reach elevations from six thousand to eight thousand feet above sealevel, are snow-capped, and among them there are numerous small glaciers. Northward from the Rocky Mountains an extensive plain, covered by a thick moss or tundra growth, extends to the Arctic Ocean.

The four great geographic provinces of Alaska, namely, (1) the mountainous province bordering the Pacific Coast, (2) the interior plateau of the Yukon basin, (3) the Rocky Mountain belt, and (4) the Arctic slope, correspond to the great geographic provinces of British Columbia and the western half of the United States. The Pacific Coast mountains are represented in the states by the mountains of Washington, Oregon and California; the Yukon plateau by the plat eau of Utah and Nevada, and the Rocky Mountain belt of Alaska is continuous through British Columbia with the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. The Arctic slope is comparable to the plain stretching eastward from the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and in the western states.

Climatic Conditions

The great geographic provinces of Alaska define also the great climatic provinces. In the Pacific-coast province the climatic conditions are modified by the proximity of the great ocean and especially by the ocean currents which reach the Gulf of Alaska from the more southern waters of the Pacific. As the Japan