AI.IA>KA, OR ALASKA. 



iratli- in peltry, tin- principal being Fort 

 n ('o.>k'- Inlet, aii-l Fort St. Michael 

 ml. Tin- Hudson's May Com- 

 a!-o allowed to maintain a trading- 

 it tin- junction of tin- Porcupine and 

 Yukon liners, call 'd Fort Yukon. 



tew liiindlvd persons \vlio \vero in tlio 

 employ of the Russian-American Company, and 

 the small garrison at New Archangel, comprised 

 nearly nil the population of European origin. 

 Tin- ma<s of the inhal'ifants is made up of the 

 F..x<|iiimaiix in the north, and the Tchongatchi 

 and Oagalaghmiout tribes of forest Indians in 

 nth, the whole numbering about 60,000. 

 Moth of these classes of the aboriginal inhabi- 

 tants preserve the characteristics to some de- 

 nt' the kindred tribes in other localities, 

 luit are considerably tinctured, both in appear- 

 ind in their habits, with the peculiarities 

 of the Asiatics of the opposite continent and 

 its adjacent islands. 



The investigations which have attended and 

 followed the change in the. political relations 

 of the country have developed some new facts 

 with regard to it. The great extent of the ter- 

 ritory gives it a corresponding variety of cli- 

 maK', but the mean temperature is but little 

 colder than that of Maine and New Brunswick, 

 owing to the thermal current from the shores 

 of Asia ; the atmosphere is very humid, and a 

 quantity of rain falls in winter. The 

 interior has been but little explored, and is 

 an almost unknown wilderness, the haunt of 

 the Indians and of the fur-bearing animals. 

 Along many of the streams there is an abun- 

 dance of timber, mostly of pine. The agricul- 

 tural resources of the country form a very in- 

 t on-iderable item in an account of its value as 

 an acquisition to the United States, yet the dis- 

 tricts bordering upon the coast are capable of 

 yielding, in moderate quantities, the cereal 

 grains and the more valuable vegetables of the 

 temperate zone. The precious metals are 

 known to exist there, but it is a fact of more 

 importance that iron and coal are. found in 

 considerable abundance, and can be obtained 

 at no very great expense. Two mines have for 

 some time been t successfully worked on the 

 Aleutian Islands', and, with the iron-works 

 which they supply, are of great importance 

 to vessels needing repair and in want of fuel. 



The principal value of the Territory of Ali- 

 for the present, will depend on its 

 tisheries and its fur-productions. The supply 

 of furs is on the decrease, owing to the active 

 traffic which had been carried on in that com- 

 modity, but the fisheries are inexhaustible. 

 Salmon abound in the rivers, and cod and hali- 

 but on the coasts. Whales and walrus are 

 plentiful in seas to the south of Behring's 

 Strait. 



The contour of the Aliaska coast affords un- 

 limited facilities for liarhors and naval stations. 

 There are already excellent harbors at Sitka 

 and Kodi ; ;k. Among the islands, of which 

 Sitka is one, at the southern extremity of the 



ALISON, ARCHIBALD. 



37 



country, the passages are open and uafe. t he- 

 region is comparatively free from viol nt 

 storms. Cook's Inlet is unobstructed and nav- 

 igable for the largest vessels. Prince William's 

 Sound and the passage between the Prince of 

 Wales Island and the mainland afford fine op- 

 portunities for the construction of excellent 

 harbors. 



Behring's Strait is easily crossed upon the 

 ice in winter and by vessels in summer ; even 

 the canoes of the natives are paddled between 

 the New World and the Old over this narrow 

 passage with comparative safety. 



No steps have as yet been taken (January, 

 1868) to develop the hitherto untried re- 

 sources of the country, and the value which its 

 near position to Asia may give it in the com- 

 mercial and political world is thus far only 

 matter for conjecture. It remains under the 

 government of General Rousseau, who has 

 taken possession of the stockade fort at New 

 Archangel, formerly occupied by the Russian 

 garrison, and there awaits the action of the 

 Government for the disposal of the newly-ac- 

 quired territory. 



ALISON, Sir ARCHIBALD, Baronet, D. C. L., 

 a British historian and author, born at Kenley, 

 Salop, December 29, 1792 ; died at Possel House, 

 near Glasgow, May 23, 1867. He was the son of 

 Rev. Archibald Alison, a Scottish clergyman of 

 the Church of England, the author of " Essays 

 on the Nature and Principles of Taste," a work 

 which has been generally accepted as a standard 

 authority on the subjects of which it treats. 

 Young Alison received his early training from 

 his father, who held livings successively in Dur- 

 ham and Edinburgh, and about his sixteenth 

 year commenced his studies at the University 

 of Edinburgh. He had chosen the legal profes- 

 sion, and in 1814 was admitted to the Scottish 

 bar. Soon after, he visited the Continent, and 

 spending some time in Paris, he resolved to be- 

 come the historian of the revolutionary era then 

 just closing with the downfall of Napoleon 

 Bonaparte. He spent a considerable period on 

 the Continent in obtaining a personal familiarity 

 with the countries and localities where the 

 events of the twenty-six years whose history 

 he proposed to write had occurred, and col- 

 lected with great and scrupulous care all the 

 materials attainable for his work. In this col- 

 lection of facts and local knowledge, ten years 

 were passed. Meantime be did not forsake his 

 profession, being appointed Deputy Advocate 

 in 1822, and in 1834 Sheriff of Lanarkshire, a 

 highly responsible judicial position, which he 

 continued to hold and administer until his death. 

 But his thoughts and his time were very much 

 employed by his history, and twenty-five years 

 passed ere he had completed it. The undertak- 

 ing, as he had planned it, was a vast one. It 

 was his aim to bring into one view all the influ- 

 ences which conspired to bring about through- 

 out Europe the mighty revolution which had 

 in those twenty-six years overturned thrones, 

 wept away the oldest empires, kingdoms, and 



