ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. * 35 



country Mr. Dall ventured, not having the fear of the Indian gods before his 

 eyes, and found great numbers of fossils. So abundant were they that it 

 seemed as if some commotion or convulsion had driven the animals there — the 

 mastodon, elephant, deer, musk ox — and suddenly destroyed them. So many 

 huge bones may have frightened the Indians and given rise to their supersti- 

 tions. 



GOLD AND OTHER MINERALS. 



Gold has been found at the mouth of the Porcupine or Rat River, the branch 

 which comes in from the north at Fort Youkon. It is fine scaly gold, like iron 

 filings, but there is scarcely a color to the pan. The country is accessible only 

 for three months in the year, during which time, however, the mosquitoes will 

 extend a demonstrative welcome to sweet-blooded adventurers. Stains of cop- 

 per were observed in the rocks near Cape Prince of Wales, on Behring's Straits. 

 Micaceous iron ore, magnetic oxide of iron, and hematite, are found all over 

 the country, and are made use of by the Indians for paints. Obsidian, pumice- 

 stone, and a mineral which might be lazulite, are also found. On St. George's 

 Sound, Behring's Sea, the ruby, or light-red spinel, has been found nicely crys- 

 tallized in a form similar to the diamond, which it approaches in hardness. 



ETHNOLOGY. 



The coast tribes of Indians on all of the coasts from Sitka to Mackenzie 

 River, come under the general name of Esquimaux, though they are not by any 

 means like the Esquimaux Indians of the eastern side of the continent and the 

 shores of the Hudson Bay. They are tall, fine, athletic people, very intelligent, 

 and superior to the genuine American Indians of the interior. They are inge- 

 nious in the use of the knife, and in making things. Any northwestern Esqui- 

 maux will draw from recollection a good map of the country that he may have 

 traveled over. Though they belong to the same general race as the little east- 

 ern Esquimaux, having words that are the same, they are evidently later com- 

 ers. The language and appearance of the Esquimaux Indians are almost exactly 

 the same on the American side of Behring's Straits as they are on the Asiatic 

 side. When they meet they can converse and understand each other j^erfectly. 

 In Asia they go under the name of Tchuktchis. On the American side they 

 are known under different names ; at Grantley Harbor as Kaviaks ; towards 

 the interior as Mahlemuts ; around the mouth of the Youkon and Norton 

 Sound as Unaleets ; further to the south as Aleuts. 



The Kaviaks and Mahlemuts go up annually to the north coast as far as 

 Point Hope, and Point Barrow, and beyond, fishing, etc. They are fond of 

 traveling, and seem to go with the intention of having a fine time, just as the 

 New Yorkers go to Saratoga or the White Mountains. They cannot go 

 through the country, on account of the interior Indians, and therefore go around. 



The Indians of the interior of Alaska are the true race of native American 

 Indians. They call themselves the Youkonikatana or " men of the Youkon," 

 and have the same general appearance and characteristics as other American 

 Indians. They are fine looking, and many of theni tall ; have aquiline noses, 

 whereas the coast Indians have flat noses. They are wilder and more warlike 

 than the coast Indians ; they wear great bushy heads of hair (inhabited and 



