He lamented the lack of a suitable landing-place for boats;
and reported the aspect in general to be "as dreary and
inhospitable as the imagination can possibly suggest."

Alas for the poor chilly Englishman! He, doubtless,
expected silvery-gowned ice maidens to come sliding out
from under the glacier in pearly boats, singing and kissing
their hands, to bear him back into their deep blue grottos
and dells of ice, and refresh him with Russian tea from
old brass samovars; he expected these maidens to be
girdled and crowned with carnations and poppies, and to
pluck winy grapes--with dust clinging to their bloomy
roundness--from living vines for him to eat; and most
of all, he expected to find in some remote corner of the
clear and sparkling cavern a big fireplace, "which would
remind him pleasantly of England;" and a brilliant fire
on a well-swept hearth, with the smoke and sparks going
up through a melted hole in the glacier.

About fifteen miles up Taku River, Wright Glacier
streams down from the southeast and fronts upon the low
and marshy lands for a distance of nearly three miles.
The mountains surrounding Taku Inlet rise to a height
of four thousand feet, jutting out abruptly, in places, over
the water.

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