34 OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



there, find everywhere, rotting on their foundations, and scarcely 

 more than half of them even occupied, while the combined popula- 

 tion of some three hundred souls in number peers at you from every 

 corner. The great majority of these people are the half-breeds, or 

 "Creoles," or the descendants of Indians and Russians; some of 

 them are tall and well-formed, and a few of them good-looking, but 

 they are nearly all short-statured, abject, and apathetic. Yet in 

 one respect Sitka has vastly improved under American supremacy 

 — she has become clean ; for although the Russian officers kept the 

 immediate surroundings of their residences in good order, still 

 they never looked after the conduct of the rest of the town. There 

 were, in their time, no defined streets or sidewalks, and mud and 

 filth were knee-deep and most noisome. Our military authorities, 

 however, who first took charge immediately after the transfer, and 

 who are proverbial for cleanliness and neatness in garrison life, 

 made the sanitary reformation of Sitka an instant and imperative 

 duty ; the slimy walks were soon planked, the muddy streets were 

 gravelled and curbed, the main street especially widened, the oldest 

 houses were repainted, and where dilajiidated, repaired, and things 

 put into shape most thoroughly ; they also graded and sauntered 

 over the first wagon-road ever opened in Alaska, which they con- 

 structed, from the steamers' landing under the castle, back border- 

 ing the l)ay to Indian River, over a mile in length. 



But the pomp and circumstance of the old castle — still the 

 most striking artificial feature now in all Alaska — will never wake 

 to the echoes of that proud and lavish hospitality which once 

 reigned within its walls, and when the flashing light in its lofty 

 cupola carried joy out over the dark waters of the sound to the 

 hearts of inbound mariners, who came safely into anchor by its 

 gleaming — the elegant breakfasts and farewell dinners given to 

 favored guests, where the glass, the plate, viands, wines and ap- 

 pointments were fit for regal entertainment itself — all these have 

 vanished, and naught but the uneven, slowly settling floors, warped 

 doors, and general mouldiuess of the present hour greets the in- 

 quiring eye. So heavy are its timbers, and so faithfully Avere they 

 keyed together, that in spite of neglect, the ravages of decay and 

 frequent vandalism, yet, in all likelihood, an age will elapse ere the 

 structure is removed by these destroying agencies now so actively 

 at work upon it. Moved by the desire to preserve the salient 

 features of this historical structure, the author made, during one 



