In fact, Alaska seems full to overflowing with offerings to seekers of fortune or pleasure.  Its coast climate is mild, with no extreme heat, because of the snow-clad peaks which temper the humid air, and never extreme cold, because of the Japan current that bathes its mossy slopes and destroys the frigid wave before it does its work.

Three thousand miles along this inland sea has revealed scenes of matchless grandeur—­majestic mountains (think of snow-crowned St. Elias, rising 19,500 feet from the ocean’s edge), the mightiest glaciers, world’s of inimitable, indescribable splendor.  It is a trip of a lifetime.  There is none other like it, and our party unanimously resolves that the tourist who fails to take it misses very much.

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Fifth Tour.—­From Portland to San Francisco by steamer is one of the most enjoyable trips offered the tourist in point of safety and comfort, and the service is exceptionally fine.

The steamers “Oregon,” “Columbia,” and “State of California” are powerful iron steamers, built expressly for tourist travel between Portland and San Francisco.  The traveler will find this fifty-hour ocean voyage thoroughly enjoyable; the sea is uniformly smooth, no greater motion than the long swell of the Pacific, and the boats are models of neatness and comfort.  It affords a grand opportunity to run down the California coast, always in sight of land, and derive the invigorating exhilaration of an ocean trip without any of its discomforts.  Among the many points of interest to be seen are the picturesque Columbia River Bar, the beautiful Ocean Beach at Clatsop, the towering heights of Cape Hancock, the lonely Mid-Ocean Lighthouse at Tillamook Rock, the historical Rogue River Reef, Cape Mendocino, Humboldt Bay, Point Arena, and last, but not least, the world-renowned Golden Gate of San Francisco.

[Illustration:  Moonlight at the old Block house, Columbia river.  On the Union Pacific Ry.]

The steamships of this company are all new, modern-designed iron vessels, supplied with steam steering apparatus, electric light and bells, and all improved nautical appliances.  The state-rooms, cabins, salons, etc., are elaborately furnished throughout, the whole presenting an unrivaled scene of luxurious ocean life.

The advantages of this charming ocean trip to the tourist are most obvious; there is the healthful air of the grand old Pacific Ocean, complete freedom from dust, heat, cinders, and all the discomforts which one meets in midsummer railway travel.

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Standard publications by the passenger department of the Union pacific railway.