ALASKA. 



19 



of tho United States and foreigners, not Rus- 

 sians '11 civ are not moro than 1,600 com- 

 pK-U'ly civili/.ed inhabitants. Sitka, or New 

 Aivhaiurel. i-* the capital, and only consider- 

 to \vn of the Territory ; it is situated on a 

 small but commodious harbor on Baranov 

 Nlniid, in latitude 67 8' north and longitude 

 185 17' west. It was long the headquarters 

 of the Russian-American Fur Company, though 

 the natural centre of the fur-trade is the island 

 of Kodiak, south of the Aliaska peninsula. At 

 tlu- tinio of the transfer of the Territory to the 

 United States in 1867, Sitka, although founded 

 in the last century, was little better than a col- 

 lection of log-huts, about one hundred in num- 

 ber, with a few superior buildings occupied 

 by government officers. St. Paul, the princi- 

 pal settlement on Kodiak Island, is the main 

 depot of the seal-fisheries, and is surrounded by 

 the best farming-land in the Territory. Next 

 in importance as a settlement is Captain's Har- 

 bor, on the island of Unalashka, where is found 

 tin.- best anchorage in the Aleutian group. The 

 remaining civilized places in Alaska consist for 

 the most part of small trading-posts scattered 

 throughout the country, the principal of them 

 being Fort Yukon, near latitude 66 north, the 

 most northerly station of the Hudson Bay 

 Company. The interior of Alaska has been but 

 little explored, and our knowledge of the coun- 

 try is confined mainly to the islands,. the coasts, 

 and a few of the larger rivers. The entire 

 coast line of the Territory, without including 

 the smaller indentations, measures 4,000 miles 

 in length, and is bounded by three seas, the 

 Arctic Ocean on the north, Behring Sea on 

 the west, and the North Pacific on the south. 

 The climate is by no means as severe as that 

 of corresponding latitudes on the eastern coast 

 of North America. In regard both to climate 

 and agriculture, the Territory is naturally di- 

 visible into three regions : the Yukon district, 

 comprising all the country north of tho Alas- 

 kan Mountains; the Aleutian district, com- 

 prising the islands of that name and the penin- 

 sula ; and ^the Sitka district, comprising the 

 remainder of the Territory. In the, Yukon dis- 

 trict the mean annual temperature is about 25 

 Fahr., and the ground remains frozen to within 



two or three feet of the surface throughout the 

 summer. The amount of rainfall is not accu- 

 rately known. In winter the ice on the Yukon, 

 which is the chief river of Alaska, averages 

 five feet in thickness, and, where there is suffi- 

 cient water, it has been known to freeze to a 

 depth of nine feet. The summer is shorty dry, 

 and hot. May, June, and July constitute the 

 I'lfjisant season; then the rainy weather be- 

 gins and lasts till October. The lowest tem- 

 perature ever recorded in this region was 70 

 Falir. The climate of the Aleutian district is 

 warmer, the mean annual temperature being 

 from 36 to 40 Fahr. The average annual 

 rainfall is about 40 inches, distributed among 

 150 rainy days in each year. January, Feb- 

 ruary, aud June, are the pleasantest months. 



A still wanner and moister climate is charac- 

 teristic of the Sitka district. The town of 

 Sitka is said to be the rainiest place in the 

 world outside of the tropics. From 60 to 90 

 inches of rain fall annually, and the number 

 of rainy days in each year varies from a min- 

 imum of 190 to a maximum of 285. The 

 mean annual temperature is 44 ; but the aver- 

 age temperature in winter is proportionately 

 much higher than in summer, being only a lit- 

 tle below the freezing-point ; while the exces- 

 sive rains in summer make that season unduly 

 cold. Ice fit for consumption scarcely ever 

 forms at Sitka. 



Tho agricultural resources of Alaska are 

 practically confined to the Aleutian and Sitka 

 districts. The abundant growth of rich peren- 

 nial grasses in the valley of the Yukon affords 

 excellent fodder for cattle, but no grain has 

 ever been raised there, and the only vegetables 

 which have succeeded are radishes, turnips, 

 and lettuce. The most fertile land is found at 

 Cook's Inlet on Kodiak Island, and among the 

 Aleutians, where good oats, barley, and root- 

 crops, can be raised without much difficulty. 

 "Whether the potato can ever be successfully 

 cultivated in Alaska, is doubtful. In the most 

 favored farming districts the agricultural pro- 

 duction can scarcely ever exceed the local de- 

 mand. 



The leading industries of Alaska are the fish- 

 eries and the fur-trade. In 1870, the product 

 of the fisheries, in salted codfish alone, was 10,- 

 612,000 pounds. The great source of wealth 

 of the Territory, and its commercial importance, 

 is the production of fur-seal skins. The total 

 annual catch of fur-seals throughout the world 

 has been estimated, by high authority, at 160,- 

 000, of which 100,000 are taken from the wa- 

 ters of Alaska. The value of the entire fur- 

 products of Alaska has been stated- at upward 

 of $1,200,000 per annum. Prior to 1867, the 

 large fur-products of this country were col- 

 lected by the Russian - American Fur Com- 

 pany of St. Petersburg, through its agents in 

 Alaska, and, being concentrated annually at 

 Sitka, were forwarded by ship to London and 

 St. Petersburg. The furs are mainly those of 

 the fur-seal taken in two small islands in Beh- 

 ring's Sea ; the sea-otter skins taken mostly 

 along the shores of the Aleutian or Fox Isl- 

 ands; and, general furs, such as beaver, fox, 

 marten, bear, etc., found in the forests of the 

 main-land. These are nearly all collected by 

 the natives of the Territory, and by them traded 

 off for the necessities of their mode of life. 

 The fur-sealing on the two islands of St. Paul 

 and St. George, situated three hundred miles 

 from any other land, is a special branch of the 

 trade. These islands are the summer home of 

 these peculiar animals, to which they resort 

 from May to November in each year, for the 

 purposes of reproduction, rearing of their 

 young, and shedding their coats of hair. As 

 winter approaches they all migrate, and are 

 not seen again until the following spring. Dur- 



