290 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1869. 



familv, including the different genera and spe- 

 cies of what the whalemen call the "right 

 whale," the black fish, the white fish, the 

 humpback, and the various dolphins and por- 

 poises ; seven were pinnipedes or members of 

 the seal family, including the walrus and the 

 great seal or sea-lion; two (the musk-ox and 

 the reindeer) were ruminants ; two (the lem- 

 ming and the Arctic hare) were rodents, and 

 three (the Polar bear, the Arctic fox, and the 

 Esquimaux dog) were carnuora. The birds are 

 numerous, though the aquatic birds, dovekies, 

 wild geese, ducks, and occasionally swans, 

 predominate. Mr. Brown's notes on the other 

 classes of animals have not yet been published. 



2. There has been very little geographical ex- 

 ploration in BRITISH AMERICA within the past 

 year or two. The proposed confederation 

 seems to be distasteful to the remoter prov- 

 inces, Newfoundland, Prince Edward's Isl- 

 and, British Columbia, and the newly-con- 

 structed Province of Winnipeg, purchased 

 from the Hudson's Bay Company. In this last, 

 toward the close of the year, an insurrection 

 broke out, with a demand for independence, 

 or, in default of that, equality of representation 

 in the Dominion Parliament, and the right to 

 manage their local affairs by a local govern- 

 ment. The insurrection, so far from being 

 readily quelled, was assuming enlarged pro- 

 portions in the spring of 1870. 



British Columbia, though not disposed to 

 revolt, has" protested to the British Government 

 against being united with Canada, and has 

 asked with great unanimity to be permitted 

 to annex itself to the United States. In the 

 Dominion of Canada there is a large and con- 

 stantly-increasing party in favor of indepen- 

 dence. 



In 1866, Mr. Robert Brown, the zoologist 

 of whom we have already spoken, explored 

 the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of 

 British Columbia; and in 1869 reported the 

 results of his explorations to the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society. The group of islands lie 

 from 30 to 100 miles from the coast, and the 

 archipelago is about 170 miles in length and 

 100 in breadth. The soil is poor, though there 

 are supposed to be veins of gold-bearing quartz, 

 and some lead and copper on several of the 

 islands. The climate is mild, but very moist, 

 89 inches of rain having fallen in a single year. 

 The inhabitants are a tribe of Indians, called 

 Hydahs, very peculiar in their character, and, 

 judging from their physique, their language, 

 and their customs, seem to be of a dif- 

 ferent race from the other Indians of the 

 Northern Pacific coast. They are hated by 

 all the other Indian tribes, and never come 

 to any part of the main-land where there are 

 other tribes, without a conflict following. They 

 are, physically, the finest aboriginal race on 

 the North American Continent, tall, muscular, 

 and straight, of a much lighter complexion 

 than the other Indians, and their women are 

 remarkably good-looking. They are, however 



very dissolute and depraved in morals, the wom- 

 en as much so as the men, cruel, vindictive, 

 and bloodthirsty. Their chiefs have coats-of- 

 arms engraved on copper, which they value 

 very highly. They possess remarkable artistic 

 skill, and with the poorest tools will execute 

 engravings, and sculpture (in petto), and orna- 

 ments, which would do no discredit to our 

 most skilful artists. Their language is entirely 

 distinct from that of any other Indian tribe of 

 North America, in construction and sounds. 

 The following are their numerals: Squansen, 

 one; Sting, two; Squnun, three; Stunsick, 

 four; Klathel, five; Klunuthl, six; 'Cesqua, 

 seven; Sting-suna, eight; Klathen-swansego, 

 nine; Klath, ten; Klath-en-squansen, eleven; 

 Klath-e-sting, twenty ; Klath-e-klath, one hun- 

 dred ; Lugwa-klath, a- thousand. An analysis 

 of these numerals shows that they practise 

 multiplication and division of numbers, an 

 achievement in mathematics to which no other 

 Indian tribe in their aboriginal condition have 

 ever attained. The Hydahs are rapidly dimin- 

 ishing in numbers. In 1840 they had on all 

 the islands a population of about 10,000. They 

 do not now exceed 5,000. War, disease, de- 

 bauchery, drunkenness, and general decay, have 

 greatly diminished their numbers. That 

 their immorality has greatly increased since 

 their contact with the whites, is the testimony 

 of the old traders as well as of the Hydahs 

 themselves; but they are naturally a more 

 licentious race than the other Indians. 



During the past year Mr. Brown has also 

 furnished to Illustrated Travels a popular ac- 

 count of his exploration of Vancouver's Isl- 

 and in 1866, but, as he adds no new geograph- 

 ical facts to those already given, we do not 

 deem it necessary to repeat any portion of it. 



3. UNITED STATES. The Territory of Alaska, 

 notwithstanding the efforts made to give it ' a 

 good reputation, seems but a sorry tract of 

 country. Its revenue the past year was $21,000, 

 and the expenditure necessary to collect it 

 $396,000. It may possess some value, eventu- 

 ally, for its furs and fisheries, but it is so 

 thoroughly dreary and desolate a region that it 

 can hardly ever support any very considerable 

 population, and probably never raise enough 

 vegetable food to supply the few who do make 

 it a home. 



Proceeding down the Pacific coast, we find 

 that a new gold-district has been discovered in 

 the vicinity of San Diego, California. Las- 

 sen's Peak, one of the newly-discovered vol- 

 canoes of the Sierra Nevada, within the limits 

 of California, has a maximum height of 10,577" 

 feet, and three summits, only one of wnich, the 

 southwestern, has been active within any very 

 recent period. The completion of the Pacific 

 Railroad and the junction of the Union and 

 Central Pacific roads at Promontory, and after- 

 ward at Ogden, in May, 1869, were important 

 geographical events, bringing, as it must, the 

 commerce of China and Japan with Europe 

 and America across the American Continent, 



