ALASKA 



137 



ALASKA 



turns at right angles. It extends westward and 

 southwestward in two parallel chains called the 

 Endicott Range. As they approach the ocean 



COMPARATIVE AREAS 



Maps drawn to the same scale show the sur- 

 prising extent of Alaska's domain. 



on the west these two chains separate, the 

 northern being known as the De Long Moun- 

 tains, and the southern as the Baird Moun- 

 tains. 



4. The Arctic Slope. North of the Endicott 

 Range is the only true Arctic section of Alaska. 

 Its southern part, a belt about eighty miles 

 wide, is a plateau, with a maximum altitude of 

 2,500 feet near the foothills of the mountains. 

 In the north the plateau ends abruptly, and 

 beyond lies an uninteresting coastal plain which 

 extends to the Arctic Ocean. Neither the 

 plateau nor the coastal plain has yet been 

 fully explored. 



Climate. The great differences in the char- 

 acter of the surface have an important influ- 

 ence on the climate, and consequently on the 

 plant and animal life. Only in the northern 

 fourth or possibly third is the climate dis- 

 tinctly At me. Except for about two months 

 in midsummer, the Arctic Ocean is closed l>y 

 ice, and the average annual temperature is 24 

 F. below freezing, or 8 above zero. On the 

 Arctic coast rainfall is only eight to ten inches 

 a year, but along Bering Sea it is from twenty 

 iiirty inches. 



The interior has leas rainfall and great ex- 



los of temperature. At Eagle, near 

 Canadian boundary, temperature of 00 F. in 

 summer and 76 F. in winter are not rare. 

 Throughout the basin of the Yukon, the 

 of October marks approximately the beginning 

 of winter. The snowfall is heavy, and from 

 December to March the average temper 

 is 20 F. In May the rivers thaw, and sum- 

 mer comes quickly in June. The Alaska sum- 

 is a season of almost unbroken daylight. 

 The sun shines brilliantly for eighteen to 



twenty hours a day, and in the remaining hours 

 there is twilight. Clouds are practically un- 

 known. Even in summer, however, the nights 

 are cool, and frosts in July are not uncom- 

 mon. 



The climate in the coast regions is far differ- 

 ent. Southeast Alaska has a temperate cli- 

 mate, like that of the coast of Northwestern 

 United States, and the thermometer seldom 

 registers higher than 75 or lower than zero. 

 The moist winds from the southwest bring 

 abundant rains along the coast and heavy 

 snows on the south slopes of the mountains. 

 The rainfall averages more than ninety inches 

 a year, and even when there is no rain there 

 are heavy fogs. At the western end of the Aleu- 

 tian Islands it rains or snows most of the time 

 according to one observer at least on five days 

 in each week. The southern part of Bering 

 Sea is always foggy, but to the north the 

 moisture in the air rapidly decreases. 



Animal and Plant Life. The animal life of 

 Alaska includes an astonishing variety of mam- 

 mals, birds, insects and other classes. In the 

 interior swarms of flies, mosquitoes and gnats 

 make life miserable during the summer months. 

 Moose are still seen occasionally in the forests, 

 and deer are found in the southeast. Caribou 

 were formerly plentiful, and before the coming 

 of the white man constituted almost the sole 

 support of the natives. Their meat was food; 

 their skins were made into clothing, and their 

 bones into needles and other simple tools. The 

 destruction of the caribou herds by the white 

 man finally threatened starvation for the In- 



TMI: i:i-:iNDEER 

 Alaaka'0 moat valuable animal. 



dians. To prevent this disaster the United 

 States government imported large numbers of 

 domestic reindeer from Siberia. These seem to 



