ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 691 



a skin canoe here and there, it was an inspiring sight in this far off, 

 uninhabited bay, almost Avithin the Arctic Circle. The whaling fleet 

 usually leaves San Francisco in January, and it is their custom to 

 gather at this point about the 1st of July before entering the Arctic 

 Ocean to meet the steamer sent from San Francisco with a fresh supply 

 of provisions and coal. Soon after anchoring, the captains of the 

 whalers began arriving, in order to get their mail ; for among other good 

 offices the Bear brings up the annual mail for the whalers, traders, 

 teachers, and others in the Arctic regions of the United States, Great 

 bundles of letters and papers were piled on the captain's table, which 

 were carefully scanned, each man j)icking out those that belonged to 

 himself or his crew. Among the visitors were Mr. Kjelbnanu and Mr. 

 Brevig, from the reindeer station 10 miles away, who brought the news 

 of the successful wintering of the herds. I silent July 3 inspecting 

 the station. As the affairs of the station are treated in detail elsewhere 

 in this report, I shall not dwell on them. 



On the morning of the Fourth of July all vessels dressed ship in honor 

 of the day. A baseball game on shore, a salute of tweutj^^-one guns at 

 noon, and a dinner on the Bear to the whaling captains comprised the 

 public celebration of the day. 



At 2 a. m. July 5 we were under way and turned southward toward 

 St. Michael. Norton Sound, through which we cruised, is tinged with 

 the flood of fresh water which the Yukon empties into the sea 60 miles 

 south of St. Michael, and on its surface float masses of driftwood brought 

 down from the interior. As we approached the settlement we met the 

 Alaska Commercial Company's steamer Bertha coming out to search for 

 an overdue brig, which was bringing supplies for the company's post at 

 St. Michael and also for its stations farther up the river. At 2.30 the 

 Bear anchored in the stream about 3 miles from shore, being unable to 

 approach nearer on account of the shoals. 



St. Michael is located on the first good site for a trading post north 

 of the delta of the Yukon, and is the outlet of the Yukon trade, and 

 also the base of supplies for the country bordering on the river and its 

 many gold-bearing tributaries. The village consists of the offices and 

 warehouses of the Alaska Commercial Company, the houses of their 

 white employees, and a small native settlement. The trading post was 

 established by the Russians in 1835. A blockhouse and several of the 

 original buildings are still standing. During our visit the population 

 was considerably augmented by the presence of a party of missionaries 

 who were waiting here for the arrival of the small, light-draft, stern- 

 wheel steamer which would convey them to their destinations up the 

 river. It is said that one of the missionaries who is stationed 2,000 

 miles, more or less, up the river, when ho saw his freight bill of -$125 

 per ton for transportation from St. Michael to his station, added a very 

 earnest petition in his prayer that freight might be reduced. At St. 

 Michael I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with the Eev. 



