INTRODUCTION
be the more comprehensive, the more finished, or the more vivid form of statement. But this method of solving the difficulty has the advantage, for the reader, of unifying in the present volume practically the whole of Muir's literary and scientific work during the cruise of the Corwin. Sometimes, as in chapters eleven and twelve, all the material is new and has been derived exclusively from the journal. The style of the latter may generally be recognized by its telegraphic conciseness.
During his studies in the Sierra Nevada Muir had acquired skill, speed, and accuracy in sketching the features of a landscape. This ability he turned to good account during the cruise of the Corwin, for one of his journals is filled with a variety of sketches which prove to be remarkably faithful pictures in cases where it has been possible to compare them with photographs. In judging the pictorial value of these sketches it should be remembered that Muir employed them chiefly as an auxiliary descriptive means of recording his observations for future use. One of the sketches, for instance, is an extensive panoramic view of the southern coast of Wrangell Land, evidently done as the Corwin cruised along the coast. Since his numerous sketches of Wrangell Land are apparently the only ones in existence,
