ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 305 



sious, consisting of sleds, suowshoes, boat frames, paddles, fish spears, 

 and larger ones for killing tlie walrus and wliale; household utensils, 

 walrus tusks, strung together with pieces of hide, and various toys evi- 

 dently made for the amusement of the children. The sleds were made 

 of wood, with short, solid runners shod with bone, and all their parts 

 were lashed together with strips of walrus hide. The snowshoes con- 

 sist of an oval form of wood about 2 feet by 8 inches, with strips of hide 

 stretched across. Near the winter house were caches of oil and walrus 

 meat, doubtless intended for a supply of food for the coming winter. 

 Their boats are from 20 to 30 feet long, sharp at both ends, and from 3 

 to 4 feet wide across the gunwale. The frames are made of wood, with- 

 out nail or pin, but neatly and firmly fastened with lashings of whale- 

 bone; over them walrus skins, cut to the proper shape and sewed 

 together with a water-tight seam, are stretched smoothly and lashed to 

 the gunwale with strips of hide. They are propelled both by paddles 

 and oars, and a small sail is hoisted when running before the wind. 



The people were anxious to trade for tobacco, needles, guns, and 

 ammunition, offering in exchange walrus ivory, hair seal skins, articles 

 of their clothing, oil, and whalebone; they all begged for tobacco, but 

 did not seem to know or care about spirits. Their principal trade is 

 with the natives of the neighboring Asiatic coast, distant only GO miles 

 from the western end of St. Lawrence, who supply them with reindeer, 

 marmot, and other skins, in return for boats, frames, and other wooden 

 articles. There is no wood growing upon the island, but an abundance 

 of driftwood from the river Yukon is deposited along its eastern and 

 southern shores. The only animals seen by us upon the island, besides 

 the dogs belonging to the natives, were walruses, blue foxes, and lem- 

 mings, though polar bears must sometimes come from the Arctic on the 

 ice, as we saw several of their skulls up near a village. Hair seals are 

 found about the island, but neither fur seals nor sea lions were seen, or 

 anything indicating that they ever come there. Waterfowl of many 

 different species and in great numbers frequent it in summer, and are 

 caught by tlie natives in large nets made of strips of walrus hide. 

 These are stretched on poles at points most favorable for catching 

 the birds, which, in flying about, strike against the nets and become 

 entangled in their meshes. 



Trout are found in the streams and a species of whitefish in the 

 ponds. 



At best it is a most barren and most unx^rofitable piece of land. It 

 is i^robably never entirely free from snow, for though the winter of 1873- 

 74 was unusually mild and the spring an early one, yet there was much 

 snow upon the hills in August, and a northerly wind reduced the tem- 

 perature to 34° 4- F. It is surrounded by ice from October till June, 

 and in the summer months the dense fogs which prevail most of the 

 time render it difficult to approach. There is a group of three small 

 islands called Poonook, lying about 6 miles southeast from the south- 

 eastern point of the eastern end of !St. Lawrence, \\^hich are easily 

 distinguished by two small cone shaped hills upon the largest. There 

 was a winter house upon that island not occupied at the time, though 

 tlie effects of the natives were in it, and there were several caches of 

 oil near by. 



The Itussian chart of the island is incorrect, both in the shore line 

 and i)osition of reefs. I respectfully submit with this report a chart in 

 which su<ih errors are corrected as far as was possible, and giving 

 some additional surroundings and hydrographic information, 



H. Doc. 92, pt. 3 — -20 



