REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 43 



the interests of science, gave him a free passage to San Francisco. 

 Thence he sailed, still free of expense, in one of the vessels of the 

 Russian Telegraph Company, but no stop being made at Kamtschatka, 

 he was obliged to proceed to Plover Bay, the telegraphic depot on 

 the Asiatic side of the straits, where he failed not to make some inter- 

 esting collections. Returning with the vessel to San Francisco in Octo- 

 ber, he was directed to proceed to Mazatlan, and there, under the direc- 

 tion of the valued correspondent of the Institution, Colonel Grayson, 

 he is now engaged in prosecuting his researches, but intends to return 

 in the spring and proceed to Kodiak, where he will probably remain 

 for a year, collecting specimens and exploring the country. It is 

 proper to mention that he was also provided with a free passage to 

 Mazatlan, through the kindness of Mr. Halliday, on the vessels of the 

 Mexican, Oregon, and California line. 



It was known that the Institution had for several years been dili- 

 gently engaged in gathering specimens and collecting information to 

 illustrate the character of the northwest portion of the American conti- 

 nent, and consequently, when the question of the acquisition of Alaska 

 by the United States came under discussion, it was to the Institution 

 that reference was chiefly made by the State Department and the Sen- 

 ate for information in regard to the country. Two of Our collaborators, 

 then on a visit to the Institution, Mr. Heni'y Bannister, who had spent 

 a year in Norton Sound, and Mr. Bischoff, who had passed the same 

 length of time at Sitka, were called upon to give evidence before the 

 Committee on Foreign Relations, and were, in effect, the only persons 

 examined who were acquainted with the region from'personol observa- 

 tion. Professor Baird also gave valuable information as to the zoology 

 of the country, from the materials which had previousl}^ been collected 

 by the Institution. 



For the purpose of obtaining additional information relative to the 

 n«w Territory of Alaska, an expedition was organized by the Treas- 

 ury Department, under the charge of Captain W. A. Howard of the 

 revenue service, and, at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 instructions for research into the physical and natural history of the 

 country were furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. The expedi- 

 tion left San Francisco on the revenue steamer Lincoln, under command 

 of Captain T. W. White, during the summer of 1SG7, and spent several 

 months in its explorations. It was accompanied by a special party 

 from the Coast Survey under charge of Mr. George B. Davidson, who 

 has since communicated a valuable memoir on the country to the 

 Superintendent of the Coast Survey, which has been printed by Con- 

 gress. Important collections in natural history and ethnology have 



