C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

181~TheEven when we had left Alaska, embarking on the steamer for Seattle,there was nothing formal nor familiar about the pattern of our homewardjourney. Our experience was rich and varied and we had never a moment forlooking back, so that many weeks elapsed before we realised that we had come"out" for good and that the North, which had made so profound an impressionon us, was now far behind in time and space.During our eight days voyage to the south we went in and out of fjords thatwere beautiful beyond description; we called at settlements with great factoriesfor canning salmon, halibut and herring and we never missed a chance of goingashore; we spent hours sitting on deck gazing at the mainland scenery of glaciersand mountains and hours leaning on the ship's rail bemused by the utter calmnessof the ocean and the beauty of reflected islands; or we listened to thewidely-ranging talk of some of our fellow-passengers who, like Ulysses, hadknown many men and many cities. There was never a dull moment and we had notime to remember or regret what we had left behind.On the second morning of the cruise we woke at 7: 30 to find ourselves atanchor beside Columbia Glacier; we were somewhere between Latouche andValdez. The glacier was a marvellous creature, and must surely, we thought, bealive and semi-conscious for no inanimate thing could be so beautiful. It was amile long and its great lip was curled over into the sea and the waves were washingit all the time, forth and back, forth and back, making no diminution of itsimmensity. It rose QBo feet from the water and was full of pale and dark blue riftsand crevices, some of which emitted a soft pink light. The sky was gray and the