CLIMATE 271 



ception. It is no uncommon experience for vessels bound 

 for the Pribilofs to miss the islands in the fog, and to 

 spend days searching for them, as for needles in a hay- 

 stack. They are a small target to shoot a vessel at from 

 Unalaska, 250 miles away, and once missed, are not easily 

 found in this great foggy waste. 



The climate of the great interior region is that common 

 to the interior of all continents. The mean annual tem- 

 perature is practically the same as in the same latitude on 

 the coast of Bering Sea, but the range of temperature is 

 much greater. It is warmer in summer and colder in 

 winter, since the land heats and cools much more rapidly 

 than the sea. At the point where the international boun- 

 dary crosses the Yukon River the mean temperature of the 

 coldest month (in 1889) was 17, that of the warmest 

 month 60, a range of 77. Contrast these figures with 

 those given above for Sitka, where the corresponding 

 range was only 26. Furthermore, consider that the 

 mean temperature of the warmest month on the Yukon, 

 in latitude 64 41', was 4 higher than at Sitka, over 500 

 miles farther south. These figures are instructive in 

 pointing the conclusion that if any part of Alaska can be- 

 come of agricultural importance it is the interior rather 

 than the Pacific coast. But it is doubtful whether even 

 this region will admit of profitable farming. In connec- 

 tion with this question the experience of the Canadians is 

 instructive. On Peace River, in latitude 56, 600 miles 

 farther south, many and persistent attempts at farming 

 have been made, but without financial success, although 

 it is doubtless true that certain crops have been matured 

 there. 



The extreme range of temperature in the interior is sur- 

 prising, even to those accustomed to roast by day and 

 freeze by night in our western deserts. At this same 

 point on the Yukon, temperatures of 60 and of 87 



