Excerpt from Trip to Alaska: A Narrative of What Was Seen and Heard During a Summer Cruise in Alaskan Waters In the summer of 1879 the writer Obtained permission from Hon. John Sherman, at that time Secretary Of the Treasury, to proceed in the United States revenue steamer Richard Rush, Captain Bailey, on her cruise from San Francisco to Sitka, the Fur Seal Islands, the Sea Otter Grounds, and other points in Alas kan waters. The voyage proved exceedingly interesting, and the author gave an account of What he saw and heard to certain newspapers, in a desultory way, but he has been led to believe that his Observations may be read in a more permanent form with interest, and he hopes with profit, by those who may be in search of information concerning Alaska. Going from California, or the east, to Sitka, the most practical route of travel is by steamer from San Francisco. The course is coastwise to Cape Flattery, and then up the Straits of Fuca and by inland passages to the Objective point. The interest of the voyage to the tourist begins at the mouth of the Straits, where the vessel leaves the open sea and enters a broad channel with Washington Territory upon one hand and Vancouver Island on the other. From this point to Sitka the scene is one of varied interest to the traveller, and quite free from the usual discomforts Of ocean travel. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.