^6 ALASKA. 



A poplar, resembling our cottonwood, attaining great size under 

 favorable circumstances, is also found in nearly all the timbered 

 sections of Alaska south of the Arctic Circle. To the westward 

 of the one hundred and forty-first meridian, no timber grows at an 

 altitude higher than 1,000 feet above the sea level. A slightly 

 curved line, beginning at the intersection of the coast hills of the 

 east shore of Norton Sound with the Unalaklik River, pass- 

 ing across the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, the mouth of the 

 Nushagak, across the Alaska Peninsula, and impinging upon the 

 North Pacific in the vicinity of Orlova Bay, on Kadiak Island, 

 vvill serve as the western limit of spruce forest in Alaska. 



With reference to quality, continues Mr. Petroff, the trees may 

 be divided as follows: 



1. Yellow Cedar [Ciipressus nutkanensis). — This is one of the most valua- 

 ble woods on the Pacific Coast, combining a fine, close texture, with great 

 hardness, durability, and a peculiar but pleasant odor. The Russians named it 

 "dushnik" (scented wood) on account of the last-named quality. In the 

 immediate vicinity of Sitka, on Baranof and adjoining islands, this tree was 

 nearly exterminated by the Russians, but on the Kehk Archipelago (Koo 

 Island), and on Prince of Wales Island and a few others of the Alexander 

 Archipelago, near the British Columbian frontier, considerable bodies of it can 

 still be found, and beyond the line, in the Nass and Skeena River valleys, it is 

 also abundant. 



2. Sitka spruce [Abies sitkensis). — This is the universal forest tree of Alaska, 

 and is found of gigantic size on the islands of the Alexander Archipelago and on 

 the shores of Prince William Sound. Its medium growth it appears to attain 

 in the valleys of the Yukon and the Kuskokwim, while on the east side of Cook 

 Inlet and on the more northern uplands, it is quite stunted and dwarfed. The 

 Sitka spruce is most closely connected with the various requirements of all 

 Alaskan natives in their domestic economy, as its timber is used in the construc- 

 tion of nearly every dwelling throughout the country, and even those tribes which 

 inhabit barren coasts far removed from the limits of coniferous trees are sup- 

 plied with it through means of freshets and ocean currents. The sappy outer 

 portion of the wood furnishes splinters and torches that light up during the long 

 months of winter the dark dwellings of interior tribes of Tinneh stock, who 

 know not the oil lamp of their Innuit neighbors. The same material is also 

 used for sledge runners on loose but crisp-frozen snow, over which iron or steel 

 would drag with difficulty, as over deep, coarse sand. The Thlinket and the 



