DOMESTICATED REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 81 



There are considerably more furs brought into circulation among the 

 natives above mentioned, but they are bought from the interior natives 

 in exchange for seal and reindeer skins. Among the natives in the 

 village adjoining the station I do not think there were a dozen fur- 

 bearing animals caught altogether, and the past year seems to be a fair 

 sample of the other seasons. 



Among the animals which abound here are the gray and Arctic rab- 

 bit. The gray rabbits are caught in large numbers south of the sta- 

 tion, and are used by the natives for stockings and blankets. The 

 Arctic rabbit is about the size of the jack rabbit, and is as white as 

 snow. It is a beautiful thing to look at, but has little value, as the fur 

 comes out with the slightest use. 



The prices paid for furs are not fixed. A native gets for one just as 

 much as the person wanting it will pay, and that depends upon how 

 badly he wants it. When the ships are here in the summer furs bring 

 a better price than at any other time, and after they leave for the 

 Arctic most of the fur falls into the hands of a few men in each village, 

 who are known as traders. 



The keeping of an accurate account of the goods traded for articles 

 at the station has been almost impossible. Most of it has been in 

 little driblets, such as a few crackers for a lew fresh fish, a little flour 

 for a piece of seal meat, a few biscuit and a little tea for some work 

 done, and it can only be returned in a sort of lump. There has been 

 little or no waste, however, and in the matter of food, if any was left 

 after a meal, and was left in the pantry until it became a little stale, 

 there was always an empty stomach near by that was ready to eat it. 



Whether gold or silver exists in this section of country or not is yet 

 to be determined. The former has been found north of us in small 

 quantities on streams flowing into Kotzebue Sound, and rich silver 

 deposits had been found about 200 miles south. No prospecting appears 

 to have ever been done in this region. 



The natives have brought some very fine specimens of pure graphite 

 to the station and some samples of white mica, which were found in the 

 mountains east and in sight of the station. 



Samples of stone from which a red and also white paint are made 

 have been brought in, and we are told both exist in large quantities. 

 Whether they would have any value* I do not know, but both seem to 

 make colors that stand exposure to weather very well. 



I have stated before that Port Clarence is the name of the harbor on 

 the north side of which is located the station, and that it is the ren- 

 dezvous of vessels on their way to the Arctic. They arrive here about 

 the last of June and remain until towards the 10th or loth of July. 

 The bay affords the ships a secure harbor, and sometimes as many as 

 twenty lie here at one time, waiting for the ice to clear in the Arctic so 

 as to permit them to sail into its waters in search of whale. 



Puring their stay they lay in a supply of fur clothing for their men 

 S. Ex. 70 6 



