352 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



rate, lofty, snow-capped range rises and extends nearly to the 

 mouth of the Colville River. This range has long been known 

 as the Romanzoff Mountains. For the southern volcanic range 

 Mr. Dall suggested the name of the Alaskan Mountains. On 

 account of this deflection of the main chain of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, the ftiuna of the west coast of North America is bounded 

 on the north by the Alaskan Mountains, while tiie great valley of 

 the Yukon, or the central portion of Alaska, possesses a northern 

 and eastern fauna. 



The country, except on the extreme sea-coast, is heavily tim- 

 bered with spruce, poplar, birch, willow, alder, and larch. The 

 most northern pines on the Yukon are found at Fort Selkirk, 

 2,000 miles from the sea. 



The inhabitants are of two races. Of those the Esquimaux, or 

 coast tribes, are tall, well-formed, athletic and intelligent men, 

 entirely difterent from the commonly received idea of Esquimaux. 

 Undoubtedly they are of the same stock as the Greenland tribes, 

 their languages being quite similar. The North American Indians 

 are found everywhere in the interior, and are proved by their 

 dialects to be of the original American stock. They are totally 

 distinct from the Esquimaux, have no intercourse with them except 

 by trade, and are their inferiors in many respects. 



North of the Alaskan Mountains Mr. Dall has carefully searched 

 the country for traces of glacial action. Thus far he has not ob- 

 served a single boulder, nor a case of transportation of material or 

 morainal deposit ; there is no sign of striation or polishing of the 

 rocks, which are of the most flinty character. South of the 

 Alaskan range, in the fiords and inlets for which the coast is re- 

 markable, there are many local glaciers. The mountains of the 

 territory are low, and, if we except the volcanic peaks of the 

 Alaskan Mountains, and a few in the Romanzoff range, probably 

 not volcanic, the height will not exceed 2,000 or 3,000 feet. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF ABYSSINIA. 



At the 1868 meeting of the British Association Mr. Clements 

 Markham, attached as geographer to the recent Abyssinian ex- 

 pedition, read a pai)er, " On the Physical Geography of the Portion 

 of Abyssinia traversed by the English Expeditionary Force." 

 The following are extracts from his paper: — 



" That region is far from being the least interesting in Abyssinia. 

 A series of mountains and plateaux, extending north and south 

 for upwards of 300 miles, form the watershed between the Nile 

 and the Red Sea, and contain the sources of Egypt's fertility. 

 They are divided, with reference to their western streams, into 

 three distinctly defined regions : — 



*'L The region drained by the Mareb, 

 II. " *« " Atbara, 



III. " ** " Albai (or Blue Nile.) 



•* The Abyssinian highlands, though from their elevation of 7,000 

 to 10,000 feet above the sea they enjoy a delightful climate, are 



