APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 321 



tiary Period of geology, intervening' between tlie Cretaceous Period 

 and that now in progress, but including also granite, gneiss, and ancient 

 metamorpbic rocks. It is not known if tbe true coal measures i^revail 

 in any j^art, altbougb tbere is reason to believe tbat they may exist on 

 tbe coast of tbe Arctic Ocean between Cape Lisburne and Point Barrow. 



Beginning at tbe soutb, we bave Sitka and its associate islands, com- 

 posed cbiefly of volcanic rocks, witli limestone near. Little is known 

 even of tbe coast between Sitka and Mount St. Elias, wbicb, itself a 

 volcano, is tbe beginning of a volcanic region occupying tbe Peninsula 

 of Alaska and tbe Aleutian Islands, and baving no less tban tbirty 

 volcanoes, some extinct, but otbers still active. Most of tbe rocks 

 here are volcanic, and tbe only fossiliferous beds are of tbe Tertiary 

 Period. Nortb of Alaska and near the moutb of tbe Kwicbpak, tbe 

 coast seems to be volcanic or metamorpbic, and probably tertiary, witb 

 a vein of lignite near tbe bead of i>forton's Sound. At tbe bead of 

 Kotzebue's Sound tbe cliffs abound in tbe bones of elepbants aiul 

 otber extinct mammals, together witb those of tbe musk ox and animals 

 now living in tbe same latitude. From Kotzebue's Sound northward 

 tbe coast has a volcunic character. Then at Capo Thomson it is called 

 sub-carboniferous, followed by rocks of tbe carboniferous age, being 

 lime-stones, shales, and sand-stones, wbicb extend from Cape Lisburne 

 far round to Point Barrow. At Cape Beaufort, very near tbe 70tb 

 parallel of latitude, and north of the Arctic Circle, on a high ridge a 

 quarter of a mile from the beach, is a seam of coal, which appears to 

 be of the true coal measures. 



From this general outline, which leaves much in uncertainty, I come 

 now to what is more important. 



It is not entirely certain tbat iron has been found in this region, 

 although frequently reported. The evidence points to tbe south, and 

 also to the north. Near Sitka it was reported by tbe Ilussian engineer 

 DoroRchin, although it does not appear tbat anything has been done 

 to verify his report. A visitor there as late as last year saw excellent 

 iron, reported to be from a bed in the neighbourhood, wbicb was said 

 to be inexhaustible, and witb abundant wood for its reduction. Then 

 again on Kotzebue's Sound specimens have been collected. At G6° 35' 

 Kotzebue found a false return in bis calculations, which be attributes 

 to tbe disturbing influence of •' iron." A resident on the Youkon thinks 

 that there is iron in that neighbourhood 



Silver also has been reported at Sitka by the same Eussian engineer 

 who reported iron there; and, like the iron, in "sufficient quantity to 

 i)ay for the working." 



Lead was reported by the Eussian explorer, Lieutenant Zagoyskin, 

 on the lower part of the Kwicbpak, but it is not known to what extent 

 it exists. 



Copper is found on the banks of tbe Copper Eiver, called by the 



natives Mjednaja, meaning copper, and of its affluent, the Tshitacbitna, 



in masses sometimes as large as 40 lbs. Of this there can be little 



doubt. It is mentioned by Golowin in the "Arcbiv" of Erman as late 



as 18G3. It was undoubtedly from this neighbourhood that the copper 



was obtained wbicb arrested tbe attention of the early navigators. 



Traces of copper are also found in other places on the coast, also in the 



mountains near the Youkon, where the Indians use it for arrow-heads. 



Coal seems to exist all along tbe coast, according to Golowin 



77 " everywhere in greater or less abundance." Traces of it are 



reported on tbe islands of tbe Sitkan Archipelago, and this 



is extremely probable, for it has been worked successfully on Van- 



S. Ex. 177, pt. 4 21 



