APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 31 3 



Copeiilia.Q'eii, Benie, or Berlin. It is milder even than tLat of Manlieini, 

 Stutt.<;ard, Vienna, Sebastopol in the Crimea, or Turin, It is not much 

 colder than that of Padna. According to observations at Sitka in 18.'>1, 

 it froze for only two days in December and seven days in January. In 

 February the longest frost lasted live <lays; in IMarch it did not freeze 

 during the day at all, and rarely in the night. During the next winter 

 the thermometer did not fall below 2i degrees Fahrenlieit; in January 

 J 834 it reached 11 degrees. On the other hand a temperature of 50 

 degrees has l)een noted in January. The roadstead is open throughout 

 the year, and only a few land-locked bays are frozen. 



The ])revailiiig dam])ness at Sitka makes a residence there far from 

 agreeable, although it does not a])i>ear to be injurious to health. Eng- 

 land is also dam]), but Englishmen boast that theirs is the best climate 

 of the world. At Sitka the annuiil fall of rain is 89 inches. Tlie mean 

 annual fall in all England is 40 inches, although in mountainous dis- 

 tricts of Cumberland and Westmoreland the fall amounts to 00 and even 

 140 inches. In Washington it is 41 inches. The fon^sts at Sitka are 

 so wet that they will not burn, although frefiuent attempts have been 

 made to set them on tire. The houses, which are of wood, suiter from 

 the constant moisture. In 1828 there were 20 days when it rained or 

 snowed continuously; 120 when it rained or snowed part of the day, and 

 only GO days of clear weather. Some years only 40 bright days have 

 been counted. Hinds, the naturalist, records only 37 "really clear and 

 fine days." A scientilic observer who was there last year counted (iO. 

 A visitor for 14 days found only 2 Mhen nautical observations could be 

 made; but these were as tiiu^, as he had ever known in any country. 



The whole coast fiom Sitka to the Peninsula of Alaska seems to have 

 the same continuous climate, whether as regards temperature or nu)is- 

 ture. The Island of Kodiak and the recess of Cook's Inlet are outside 

 of this climatic curve, so as to be comparativ ely dry. Langsdorf reports 

 the winters "frecpiently so mild in the lower parts of Kodiak that the 

 snow does not lie upon the grouiul for any length of time, nor is any- 

 thing like severe cold felt.'' The Aleutian Islands, further west, are 

 somewhat colder than Sitka, although the difference is not great. The 

 summer temperature is seldom above 6G degrees; the winter temperature 

 is more seldom as low as 2 degrees below zero. The snow falls about the 

 beginning of October, and is seen sometimes as late as the end of April; 

 but it does not remain long on the surface. The mean temperature of 

 Ounalaska is about 40 degrees. Chamisso found the temperature of 

 spring water at the beginning of the year to be 38 degrees 50 minutes. 

 There are some years when it rains on this island the whole winter. 

 The fog ]>revails from Ajiril till the middle of July, when they seem for 

 the time to be driven further north. The islands northward toward 

 Behring Straits are proportionately colder, but you will not forget that 



the American coast is milder than the opposite coast of Asia. 

 72 From ]\rr. Bannister I have an authentic statement with regard 



to the temperature north of the Aleutians, as observed by him- 

 self in the autumn of 18G5 and the months following. Even here the 

 winter does not seem so terrible as is sometimes imagined. During 

 most of the time work could be done with comfort in the opeai air. It 

 was only when it stormed that the men were kept within doors. 

 In transi)orting supplies from St. Michael's to Nulato, a distance of 250 

 miles, they found no hardshi]), even when obliged to bivouac in the 

 open air. 



On Norton Sound arul the Kwichpak Biver winter may be said to 

 commeuce at the end of September, although the weather is not severe 



