settlement of a country. The great gainers by such mining regions are 

 the outside centres of supply, whose creation is not due to the discovery 

 of minerals, and whose permanence is dependent on other sources of 

 business. 



A far more valuable mineral than gold or silver, is coal. Although 

 coal has been found at several points in Alaska, yet up to the present it 

 has not been mined for commercial purposes. That country has the 

 greatest stability whose principal resources are food, hence the ultimate 

 and inevitable success of Manitoba and the North-west. 



To sum up, the mineral resources of Alaska thus far developed are 

 gold mines, and of these the Treadwell mine produces nearly the whole 

 annual yield. 



We now come to the last of the natural resources of Alaska, viz : 

 timber. The public is apt to associate with the word Alaska a cold, 

 barren, rocky country. But such is not the case, especially not in south- 

 eastern Alaska, where, on account of the mild temperature and copious 

 rains, a luxuriant vegetation is seen on the strip bordering the sea. 

 Heavy carpets and festoons of beautiful mosses, luxuriant ferns and 

 dense undergrowth, characterize the coast region. The whole area is 

 densely wooded. The timber line is fqund at an elevation of about 2,500 

 feet. Spruce and hemlock are the predominant varieties of wood . 

 red and yellow cedar are also found, but in limited quantities. Cm 

 deltas and sea level terminal moraines, the poplar and cottonwood are 

 found. The alder flourishes on old moraines and on snow slides, and 

 the crab apple is sparingly scattered through the forest. 



Although the country is densely wooded, yet the timber fit for the 

 mill is very limited, and hence no very great value attaches to it. For 

 some, not very apparent, reason, the United States government pro 

 hibits the manufacture of lumber in Alaska for export, even into the 

 United States. There are a number of small saw-mills in the country, 

 which supply the limited demand for building purposes and for the 

 shooks used by the canneries for salmon cases or boxes. The spruce 

 grows to a very respectable size. I have measured some logs over five 

 feet in diameter ; however, the average is under three feet. Soil there 

 is not much, and it is astonishing on how little the trees grow. How- 



