ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 285 



uudoubtedly thrown over by some wlialer in these waters, not many hundred miles 

 away at the farthest, I should liave indulged in a pretty reverie over its path in 

 drifting from the^south seas to this lonely islet. I presume, however, that the tim- 

 ber Avhich the sea brings to the Pribilof Islands is that borne down upon the annual 

 floods of the Kuskokwim and Nushagak rivers, on the mainland and to the east- 

 northeastward, a little more than 225 miles. It comes, however, in very scant suppl v. 

 I saw very little driftwood on St. Matthew Island, but on the eastern shore of St. 

 Lawrence there was an immense aggregate, which unquestionablv came from the 

 Yukon mouth. 



Spot of Pkibilof's landing.— One of the natives, ''stareek," Zachar Oostio-ov 

 (" the president"), told me that the " Russians, when they lirst landed, came ashore 

 in a thick fog" at Tolstoi Mees, near the present sea-lion rookery site. As the 

 water is deep and bold there, Pribilof s sloop, the St. George, must have fairly 

 jammed her bowsprit against those lofty clifls ere the patient crew had intimation 

 of their position. The old Aleut then showed me the steep gully there, up which 

 the ardent discoverers climbed to the plateau above; and to demonstrate that he 

 was not chilled or weakened by agr, he nimbly scrambled down to the surf Ixdow 

 some 350 vertical feet, and I followed, half stepping and half sliding over PriV)ilof'8 

 path of glad discovery and proud possession, trodden by him one June day nearly 

 a hundred years ago. 



Suggestions for better loading and discharging a cargo.— With regard to 

 the loading and unloading of the vessels at St. George, I believe that it would be 

 wise and economical to grade a wagon road over from the village to Garden Cove. I 

 think so because weeks and weeks consecutively have passed to my personal knowl- 

 edge between the unloading and the loading of the steamer, when, during all that 

 season of weary, anxious waiting for the surf to quiet down at the villao-e landino- 

 there was not a single day in which the ship could not have discharged or receivi^d 

 her cargo easily and expeditiously on the sand beach at Garden Cove. AVhen the 

 St. Paul has 75,000 seal skins in her hold, taken on at the larger island, she then has 

 to pound "off and on" here in fog and tem|)est for a week or two, or even lono-er 

 waiting for a chance to g(4 the 20,000 or 25,000 St. George skins (ready for her^ ill 

 turn. Her cargo is too costly to risk in this manner, inasmuch as the difficulty can be 

 readily obviated by the cart road I have indicated. The natives could anil would 

 hitch themselves into large handcarts, and thus draw the skins across and supplies 

 back, with the aid of a mule or two on the stiff grade. This would occur in ascend- 

 iiig Ahluckeyak ridge from the village, and also up a short one again risiu"- from 

 Garden Cove to the mesa tops. The distance is oulv 2f to 3i miles, and 2 miles of 

 that 18 nearly tit for wheels as it lies to-day. I tliink, seriously, this should bo 

 done; it may save or prevent in the future the loss of a valuable ship and her price- 

 less cargo of human life and all its belongings. Thick fogs and howling gales of 

 wind are dangerous and chronic here. 



What the sketch map shows.— The sketch map of Alaska which I have inserted 

 in the lower corner of this chart of St. George is to show, better tiian anv lan"-ua"-e 

 can, the relative position of these celebrated seal islands; and also to <rive a%lear 

 idea of their isolation and great distance from Sitka, where most of onr people think 

 all Alaska is centered. In fact, Sitka, as far as trade and resources and population 

 are concerned, is one of the most insignilicant spots known to that country. Kadiak 

 Unga, Belcovskie, and Unalaska each have a greater civilized population than has 

 Sitka to-day and each has a hundredfold mor.> importance as a trade center \s 

 *".® ^ ,1' T^^r^^*^'*' Pribilof Islands are: 2,2.50 miles WNW. from San Francisco; 1,500 

 miles WNW from Yanepuv.'r Island, Straits of Fuca; 1,400 miles WNW. from Sitka; 

 550 miles SUNW. from Kadiak; 192 mil..sNNW. from Unalaska: and 700 miles ENE. 

 irom Commander Islands, Russian territory. All these distances are via Unalaska 

 save the last one. 



