At last we prepare to turn our backs upon the home of the glaciers and the locality of the most remarkable gold deposits of the Northwest, surfeited with wonders, and actually longing for the sight of something intensely common, satisfied that the tourist who makes the voyage from Tacoma to Glacier Bay through the inland sea has the opportunity of beholding some of the grandest scenery and natural phenomena on the globe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXI. Sailing Southward.—Sitka, Capital of Alaska.—Transfer of the Territory from Russia to America.—Site of the City.—The Old Castle.—Russian habits.—A Haunted Chamber.—Russian Elegance and Hospitality.—The Old Greek Church.—Rainfall at Sitka.—The Japanese Current.—Abundance of Food.—Plenty of Vegetables.—A Fine Harbor. From Glacier Bay our serpentine course lies southward through the countless sounds, gulfs, and islands of various shapes and sizes to Sitka, the New Archangel of the Russians, Sitka being the aboriginal name of the bay on which the town is situated. This is the most northerly commercial port on the Pacific coast, and lies at the base of Mount Vestova on the west side of Baranoff Island. The island is eighty-five miles long by twenty broad, situated thirteen hundred miles north of San Francisco. On the 18th of October, in the year 1867, three United States men-of-war lay in the harbor, namely, the Ossipee, the Jamestown, and the Resaca. It was a memorable occasion, for on that day the Muscovite flag was formally hauled down and the Stars and Stripes were run up on the flagstaff of the castle amid a salvo of guns from the ships of both nations, thus completing the official transfer of the great Territory of Alaska from Russian to American possession. Up to this time the government of the country had been virtually under the control of the rich fur company chartered by the Tzar. Any policy at variance with its purposes was treason; immigration, except for its employees, was rigorously discouraged; the imperial governor was actually salaried by this great monopoly, while his public acts were subject to its approval or otherwise. With the date above given this condition of affairs ceased and a new régime began. Though no radical change immediately took place, still the atmosphere of our Union gradually permeated these regions, our flag freely floated everywhere, and our few officials assumed their responsibilities, administering the laws of the Republic mercifully as regarded the natives, but still with that degree of firmness which is imperative in dealing with a half-civilized race.