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KAMTSCHATKA. 

 THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND BEHRING'S STRAITS. 



The cove of Awatscha, lying between the same degrees of 

 latitude as Berlin and Hamburgh, and the haven of St. Peter 

 and St. Paul, in the interior, seem to be but little exposed to 

 the influence of sea winds. The arborescent Birch grows here ; 

 but stunted and very different from the slender elegant tree 

 which is so much admired in the north of Europe, and par- 

 ticularly at Petersburgh. Phius Cemhra^ which on our Alps 

 grows at greater heights than P. Abies, and forms the boun- 

 dary of the trees, Sorhus Aucuparia, Ahius incana, and some 

 Willows are seen, but they remain quite shrubby. Timber 

 may however be raised in the interior of the peninsula, where 

 the climate is milder than on the east coast; and the seeds of 

 the Pinus Cembra, which are eaten at the tables of Russians, 

 come from Siberia via Ocholtzk. 



Grasses and herbaceous plants thrive luxuriantly, the soil 

 being rich and the sky mild. There are but few species of 

 vegetables, and these seem about equally distributed. In 

 shady spots grow Spircea kamtschatica, Allium ursiimm, Mai- 

 anthemum canadense, Uvularia amplexifolia, Trillium obovatum, 

 8i,c. In the pastures are a Vej'atrum, Lilium kamtschaticum, 

 Iris sibirica, &c. On the hills, which are rocky, abound some 

 species of Caprifoliiim, Spircea, Rosa, the Atragene alpina, and 

 other mountain plants, as Ilhododendron kamtschaticum, Em- 

 petrum nigrum, Trientalis europcea, Linncea borealis, Cornus 

 suecica, Saxifragce, &c. Some kinds o^ Fern, from the num- 

 ber of individual plants, form a considerable part of the 

 vegetation. Urtica dioica, which was probably introduced, 

 now seems to have established itself as a prevailing inhabitant 

 of the soil. 



The peninsula of Alaska, and the adjoining island, called 

 Unimak, which is only separated from the continent by a 

 narrow strait, seem to have the same character of vegetation 

 as the main land, for trees are produced there, while Una- 

 laschka and the other islands of this range are quite bare 

 of them. A few miserable Firs, originally brought from 



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