ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 15 



celery. The exhibition of ferns at Kamminista, St. Paul, during the 

 summer of 1872, surpassed anything that I ever saw; I recall with 

 vivid detail the exceedingly fine display made by these crenulated 

 and waving fronds as they reared themselves above the rough inter- 

 stices of the rocky ridges. From the fern roots, and those of the 

 gentian, the natives here draw their entire stock of vegetable medi- 

 cines. This floral display on St. Paul is very much more extensive and 

 conspicuous than that on St. George, owing to the absence of any 

 noteworthy extent of warm sand-dune countrj'- on the latter island. 



When an unusually warm summer passes over the Pribilof group, 

 followed b}^ an open fall and a mild winter, the Elymus ripens its seed, 

 and stands like fields of uncut grain in many places along the north 

 shore of St. Paul and around the village, the snow not falling enough 

 to entirely obliterate it; but it is seldom allowed to flourish to that 

 extent. By the end of August and the first week of September of 

 normal seasons the small edible berries of Empetrivm nigrum and Ruhus 

 chammniorus are ripe. They are found in considerable quantities, 

 especially at Zapadnie, on both islands, and, as everywhere else 

 throughout the circumpolar latitudes, the former is small, watery, and 

 dark, about the size of the English or black currant; the other resem- 

 bles an unripe and j^artially decayed raspberry. They are, however, 

 keenly relished by the natives and even by the American residents, 

 being the only fruit growing upon the islands. 



Agriculture and its possibilities. — A great many attempts have 

 been made, both here and at St. George, to raise a few of the hardy 

 vegetables. With the exception of growing lettuce, turnips, and 

 radishes on the island of St. Paul, nothing has been or can be done. 

 On St. George, on the south shore, and at the foot of a mural bluff, is 

 a little patch of ground, of less than one-sixteenth of an acre, that 

 appears to be so drained and so warmed by the rarely reflected sun- 

 light from this cliff, every ray of which seems to be gathered and 

 radiated from the rocks, as to allow the production of fair turnips, 

 and at one season there were actually raised potatoes as large as Aval- 

 nuts. Gardening, however, on either island involves so much labor 

 and so much care, with so poor a return, that it has been discontinued. 

 It is a great deal better and a great deal easier to have the "truck" 

 come up once a year from San Francisco on the steamer. 



Insects. — There is one comfort which nature has vouchsafed to civ- 

 ilized man on these islands. There are very few indigenous insects. 

 A large flesh fly, Bomhylius major, appears during the summer and 

 settles in a striking manner upon the backs of the loafing natives, or 

 strings itself in rows of millions upon the long grass blades which flour- 

 ish over the killing grounds, especially on the leafstalks of the elymus, 

 causing this vegetation on the whole slaughtering fleld and vicinity to 

 fairly droop to earth as if beaten down by a tornado of wind and rain. 

 It makes the landscape look as though it had molded in the night, and 

 the fungoid spores were blue and gray. Our common house fly is not 

 present. I never saw one while I was up there. The flesh flies which 

 I have just mentioned never came into the dwellings unless by acci- 

 dent; the natives say they do not annoy them, and I did not notice 

 any disturbance among the few animals which the resident company 

 had imported for beef and for service. 



Then, again, this is perhaps the only place in all Alaska where man, 

 primitive and civilized, is not cursed by mosquitoes. There are none 

 here. A gnat, that is disagreeably suggestive of the real enemy just 

 referred to, flits about in large swarms, but it is inoffensive and seeks 



