396 OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



largest fresh-water lake known to Alaska — that inland sea of Ily- 

 aiuna, over ninety miles in its greatest length, varying in width 

 from fifteen to thirty. Those gusts and gales that sweep over its blue 

 waters raise a heavy surf which beats sonorously tipon its pebbly 

 shores and under its cliffs, while the loud wailing cry of a great 

 northern loon* echoes fi'om one lonely shoi-e to the other when dis- 

 turbed by the unwonted passage of a native's canoe. Against the 

 eastern horizon there springs from its bosom an abrupt and mighty 

 wall of Alpine peaks, which stand as an eternal barrier between 

 its pure sweet waters and the salt surges of the Pacific. 



The ruins of an old Russian trading-post stand in the midst of 

 a small native village at the outlet of, and on the slope of, a lovely 

 grassy upland which rises fi'om the lake. Its people are all living 

 in log houses like those we noticed in Cook's Inlet ; but nevertheless 

 they are true Innuits. The two other small hamlets on these Ily- 

 annia shores are all that exist. Their inhabitants live in the great- 

 est peace and solitary comfort that savages can understand. Two 

 trails over the divide are travelled by these natives, who trade with 

 the Cook's Inlet peoj)le, and who range over the mountain sides in 

 pursuit of reindeer and of bears. A most noteworthy family of 

 Russian Creoles lived here on the first portage. The father was a 

 man of gigantic stature, and he reared four Anak-like sons, who 

 are, as he was, mighty hunters, and of great physical power. This 

 family lives all to itself in that beautiful wilderness of Ilyamna, a 

 little way back from the lake on a hillside, where they command 

 passes over to Cook's Inlet. They control the trade of this entire 

 region and rule without a shadow of disputation. 



A tragedy occurred in one of these small villages of Ilyamna, 

 which has been fitly memorized by the Russian Church. In 1796 

 a priest of the Greek faith came over from Kadiak, and, enchanted 

 by the scenery and pleased by a warm, kindly welcome received 

 from the natives, he determined to tarry here with them and save 

 their souls. He f was a man of the most handsome presence and 

 the sweetest address, and for a moment prevailed. Then, as the 



* Colymhus arcticus. 



f The Archimandrite Jeromonakh Juvenal. The second of the priestly 

 Russian service was Arch. Joassaf. He was drowned at sea in 1797. He was 

 succeeded by Arch. Afanassy, who remained Bishop of Alaska until 1825, and 

 he has been followed by many successors since. 



