CRUISE OP STEAMER GORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 97 



the high tides and south winds of spring or early summer that the inhabitants of Saint Michael's 

 are iudebted for the driftwood, whieh, floating from the Yukon, is cast upon the beaches, and 

 furnishes their only fuel and building material. 



VEGETATION. 



The whole coast in this part of the country is bare of any kind of timber, and a few patches 

 of scraggy alders on the sheltered southern hill-slopes, with the arctic willows creeping over the 

 mossy ground, are almost the only bushes to be found. The ground is covered with a soft layer 

 of decaying vegetable matter and mosses which hold water like a sponge. In addition a varied 

 and hardy subarctic flora manages to thrive everywhere, except on the northern slopes of the hill- 

 tops, where lichens or total sterility hold possession. As soon as the warm days begin the 

 hardier plants start up, and a week of warm weather shades the country with green in sunny spots 

 by the first of June, making pleasant contrast to the gray ami russet elsewhere. A few days later 

 aud the southern hill-slopes, are thickly dotted with flowers. Repeated attempts to raise vegeta- 

 bles have been made, but with poor success, as turnips, radishes, and lettuce appear to be the 

 only vegetables from which any adequate return may be expected, aud in these cases the trouble 

 far exceeds the reward, could fresh vegetables be obtained otherwise. 



MIGBATIOX OF BIRDS. 



The earliest arrival in spring is generally a solitary goose. The last few days of April, and 

 from then to the 1st of June, birds continue to arrive, with the general migration from May 15 to 

 2.">. The barn swallow comes about May 20. The water-fowl, geese aud ducks, begin nesting 

 the last of May. In the autumn migration the birds begin passing back to the south the last of 

 July, and only a few of the hardier water-fowl remain at the end of September. 



MIGRATION OF FISH I US. 



The arrival of fishes depends largely upon the time of open water along shore. Herring 

 generally arrive from the 5th to the 20th of June, the delicious king salmon following from the 

 15th to the 25th of the month, and the inferior species of salmon during July and in August. 



TEMPERA TUBE. 



The thermometer shows a range during the past seven years of from +76° to —55°, or 131°, 

 though for the past four years the average yearly variation has beeu from +71°. 5 to — 44°.7, or 

 116°.2. The maximum variation of the past four years was in both 1877 and 1878, when the yearly 

 extremes were respectively 75° to —50° aud 73° to —52°, amounting to 125° range. The least 

 range in 1879 was 100°, from +68° to —32°. The averages of the mean monthly temperatures 

 (made up from the daily average of the 7 a. in., 2 p. m., and 9 p. in. observations) for the years 

 1877, 1878, 1879, and 1880 are as follows: January —.5; February, —6.5; March, 9.5; April, 

 22.1; May, 32.8; June, 45.2; July, 53.1; August, 52.1; September, 43.3; October, 28; November, 

 18.3; December, 8.9. 



The minimum averages for any single month are — 23°.7 for February, 1877, aud — 19°.8 for 

 January, 1880. The highest monthly meaus are 54°.50 aud 53°.4 in July and August, 1877. The 

 mean annual temperature for the four years is 25°.5. The highest mean for one year is 26°.8 in 

 1879, and the lowest 23°.9 in 1880. January and February rank as the two coldest months, as July 

 and August are the warmest. 



One of the most remarkable phenomena in connection with the temperature is the rise which 

 appears to occur regularly so as to be appreciable between the 5.24 aud 9 p. m. observations during 

 about the last twenty days of November and first twenty days of December. When the sky is 

 cloudy or the wind changes during the evening the conditions are, of course, unfavorable for 

 satisfactory results, so only clear eveuings are counted in which the wind is calm or retains the 

 same character it has had all the day. As near as has been ascertained the thermometer shows 

 a depression from 4 to 6 p. m., then a rise from to 8 p. m.. followed by another depression 

 S. Ex. 204 13 



