ALASKA, THE GREAT ICE LAND. 167 



international boundary line, which was declared by 

 treaty to be the 141st meridian of longitude. 



Vancouver, the eminent navigator and surveyor, in 

 his travels, states that the length of time he had 

 remained within sight of these two very remarkable 

 mountains meaning Mount Fairweather and Mount 

 St. Elias had afforded him many opportunities of 

 estimating their height and for observations for ascer- 

 taining their situation. That of the latter he gave as 

 lat. 60 22|', and E. long. 219 21'. Not only does 

 Vancouver give this position for the great peak, but 

 his observations are very closely confirmed by the 

 other navigators. 



As a first step towards appropriating the highest 

 mountain on the continent I don't say it was not 

 done in good faith or on strict scientific principles 

 the present head of the U.S. Coast Survey at San 

 Francisco (namely, Professor G. Davidson, who is a 

 most respected friend of mine) was lucky enough to 

 discover that the best place on the map for Mount 

 St. Elias was exactly in lat. 60 22' 6", and W. long. 

 140 54' (or dreadfully close to the frontier), which 

 is, as stated above, on long. 140, this being farther 

 west than Vancouver's position by fifteen minutes of 

 arc and farther south by twenty-four minutes. This 

 southing as well as this westing helped to make 

 Mount St. Elias more American than before, because 

 the frontier by the treaty was to run from the 141st 

 meridian parallel to the coast at a distance from it of 

 ten leagues, except when the summit of the water- 



