Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II FROM SEATTLE NORTHWARD A WORD AS TO STEAMER ROUTES. THE BEAUTY THAT GREETS ONE AT THE VERY START. VICTORIA AND ITS INTERESTS. ALERT BAY AND A FOTLATCH. TOTEM POLES. THEIR HISTORY AND MEANING. It would seem as if nature had especially prepared the highway leading to Alaska so that every part of a trip thither might be delightful. The Inside Passage, as the stretch of waterways leading to Alaska is called, has few if any counterparts in the world. There are but two places, it is said, that even lend themselves to comparison, one a similar passage on the southwestern coast of South America, and the other the fiords of Norway. The coast of South America is at present little known, and though Norway is famed for its beauty, those who have travelled there, and even many Norwegians themselves, admit that the coast of Alaska surpasses it for sublimity. But comparisons are not necessary. Each part of the world has its individual appeal, and the Inside Passage has a loveliness, a charm, and a grandeur sufficient to elate any lover of natural beauty. There are' various lines of steamers running from Seattle to Alaska. Some go only as far as Skagway at the head of Lynn Canal. Others go westward to Seward and Anchorage, the coast terminals of the government railroad. Still others go to Nome, farther north on Bering Sea. There are several American lines, one Canadian line, and among those running only to Skagway somesmaller boats whose fares are less than the larger steamers. So that one has wide choice. A good plan is to divide the trip between the American and Canadian boats, going by one and returning by the other. In this way one will be enabled to see all the ports along the coast, for the American boats do not stop at some of the Canadian towns nor the Canadian boat...