306 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



ST. MATTHEW ISLAND. 



About 200 miles south-southwest from St. Lawrence is the island of 

 St. Matthew, Avhich is much smaller, and uninhabited. Bering discov- 

 ered it in his voyage to the American coast, 1741, and thirty-seven 

 years later it was rediscovered by Cook, who gave it the name of Gores 

 Island, but the name it now bears, given by Bering, has been retained. 

 Its northern shore is nearly straight, except at the northwestern end, 

 which curves to the northward, but the southern is indented by numer- 

 ous small bays and coves. Nearly two-thirds of its shore line consists 

 of rocky cliffs, which rise almost perpendicularly from the sea in heights 

 varying from 50 to 1,600 feet, and the remainder of low gravel beach. 

 The surface of the island is divided in about the same proportion into 

 broken and hilly sections, connected by low, level plains. The south- 

 eastern end terminates in three converging ridges which, on the land 

 side, slope gradually to the plains, but to seaward rise abruptly from 

 the water, forming a continuous wall of solid rock from 300 to 1,500 

 feet high, to which Cook gave the name of Cape Upright. At a dis- 

 tance it appears to be separated from the rest of the island, but is joined 

 to it by a neck of low land from one half to three-quarters of a mile in 

 width and about 3 miles long. On the south shore, about 9 miles north- 

 west from Cape Upright, there is a steep conical hill 1,520 feet in height, 

 and on the north shore, near the northwestern end, is a bluft 1,G70 feet 

 high. These three elevations are visible from nearly every part of the 

 island, and are excellent landmarks. The action of moving ice in chang- 

 ing the surface of the land is beautifully shown in many i)arts of the 

 island. Its vegetation comprises several species of grass, flowering 

 plants and moss, wild wheat, and the creeping willow. The rocks in 

 many j)laces are covered with a black luster of a leathery texture and 

 insipid. There are several large lagoons and a great number of small 

 ponds of fresh water. Springs of clear, cold water burst out among the 

 hills, and small streams, which either flow into the ponds or fall over 

 the clifts into the sea. These streams are filled with brooli trout from 6 

 to 18 inches long, beautifully colored and spotted, but no fish were 

 caught in the pond. 



The only animals found were the white or polar bear, the walrus, the 

 hair seal, blue fox, and lemming. These bears were probably brought 

 there on ice, but whether they go and come during the winter and remain 

 upon the island avfc all times we had no means of determining. Whalers 

 and others who have been upon or passed near it at different times say 

 that they have always seen bears. They were quite numerous, 16 hav- 

 ing been counted at one time from the deck of our vessel, and tracks 

 made by them lead to shallow holes or beds, upon the tops of the high- 

 est hills, where it is probable they breed, as there are neither caves nor 

 holes of any kind upon the island. The females were accompanied by 

 their cubs, from one to three in number, which were (in August) about 

 one-third grown. They feed upon grass and roots, grazing along the 

 banks of the stream like cattle ; also upon the flesh of the walrus and 

 hair seal, and birds and their eggs. They were not at all fierce, and 

 showed no disposition to attack, even though wounded, but in every 

 instance ran at the approach of man. We shot a number of them, and 

 found their flesh very good eating. The largest one, a full-grown male, 

 measured 8 feet from the end of the nose to the tail, and 24 inches 

 around to fore leg, after being vskinned. We had no means of weighing 

 him, but his weight could not have been much less than 1,500 pounds. 



