1868.] 145 [DaU. 



The inhabitants are of two races. The " Eskimo," so called, or coast 

 tribes, are a fine, athletic, intelligent race, tall and well formed, and 

 totally different from the commonly received idea of Eskimos. They 

 are, without a. shadow of doubt, of the same stock as the Greenland, 

 East and North Coast Eskimo, and with the Aleuts and coast tribes 

 of the West Coast as far as Sitka, and possibly much further south. 

 This is proved by the language, which is in all respects similar, and 

 in many identical, in the tribes above mentioned, and also in the tribes 

 of Tchukchees in Northeastern Siberia. They invariably keep near 

 the coast. 



The Nortli American Indians are found everywhere in the interior, 

 and are of the original American stock, as is proved by their dialects, 

 which have been carefully collected. They are totally distinct from 

 the Eskimo, have no intercourse with them except by trade, and are 

 in many respects the inferiors of the coast tribes. 



North of Nounivak Island, the Behring Sea in winter is ice-bound. 

 Every river freezes up about the 15th of October, and opens about 

 the 1st of June, although the ice docs not leave the sea till near the 

 end of June. 



The country north of the Alaskan Mountains has been carefully 

 explored for traces of glacial action. Thus far, not one boulder, no 

 trace of striation or polishing of the rocks, which are of the most flinty 

 character, nor a case of transportation of material or deposited mo- 

 raine, has been observed. South of the Alaskan Range, in the fiords 

 and inlets for which the coast is remarkable, there are many local 

 glaciers. These occur on the peninsula and along the coast, even as 

 far south as Vancouver's Island. North of that range none have yet 

 been observed, nor, as stated above, any traces of general glacial ac- 

 tion. The mountains are low, varying from two to three thousand 

 feet, excepting the volcanic peaks of the Alaskan Mountains, and a 

 few, probably not volcanic, in the Romanzoff Range. 



The rocks of the Youkon valley are principally quartzose, sur- 

 mounted by fossiliferous sandstones and tertiary clays, with lignite 

 and vegetable remains. 



Gold has been found near Fort Youkon, coal in many localities, 

 but neither of them in quantities of economic value. Amber exists 

 at the Youkon mouth, and spinel on the island of St. Georges. 



Mr. N. S. Shaler presented the following considerations concerning 

 the absence of distinct evidences of glacial action in the valley of the 

 Yukon River in the northern part of Alaska. 



PROCEEDINGS B. 8. N. H.— VOL. SII. 10 DECEUBI^, 1868. 



