FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 379 



and one ou Priuce Willitiui'.s Soniid. The latter is calleti Nnchek, and i.s tbe " estab- 

 blisbment " referred to by Goveiuor Swineford as beiug " oOii miles to tbe westward 

 of Sitka," and tbe nearest station to it. At tbis place tbis couipauy bas one wbite 

 man as a subageut and a few Aleuts as employes. Tbe population is all Indian, and 

 tbe only people witb vvbom tbe company trades are Indians. Tbe Indians are the 

 only bunters and tbey bring- to tbe company chiefly tbe skins of tbe marten and mink, 

 with a few others. Tbe company bas a small store of supplies for tbe Indian traders, 

 and its boats go there generally twice a year. Tbe entire business is only between 

 $8,000 and $4,000 a year. Tbis station is not at all remunerative, and its abandonment 

 has been contemplated for some time. There is no mining in the neighborhood, no 

 lisb industry, no canneries, and no wbite poj)ulation. 



Of tbis station Mr. Petroff says: 



"The number of sea-otters sold at the Nucbek stores every year does not exceed 

 one hundred and bfty, and are all killed between the islands Nusbagak and Kaiak. 

 The whole Eskimo population of tbis secluded district is only about 500, and, as tbey 

 are jioor, tbey will probably remain in tbis seclusion, which is broken but once or 

 twice a year by tbe arrival of tbe trading schooner." (Petrolf's Report, p. 28.) 



The two stations of tbe company on Cook's Inlet are Toyonok and Kenai; that on 

 English Bay is Alexandrovsk, and that ou the peninsula is Katmai. At Toyonok, 

 tbe company bas one subageut, who is a white man, and also bas a small store. 

 There are no wbite or Aleutian hunters there, only Indiaus and but few of them. 

 They briug in mink, marten, bear, and deer skins ouly. Tbe trade is very small. 

 There is no town there, and but very little surrounding population. An occasional 

 ship comes in and the Indiaus freely avail themselves of tbe best otter for their 

 peltries. 



Kenai was once a station of the old Russian-American Commercial Company. It 

 now has only one subageut and a small store. Tbe hunters are likewise Indians, 

 there being uo white bunters or Aleutians there. Tbe trade witb this company is 

 very small. At tbis place tbe Arctic Fishing Company does considerable business 

 iu salmon — to the extent, probably, of upwards ot i|6,000 per annum, and has its 

 own vessels and imports its own supplies for its employes and those with whom it 

 trades. The Indians also do the tisbing. 



Alexandrovsk, situated on Euglisb Bay, contains about eighty-eight people. Of 

 these, one is a wbite man, twelve are Creoles or half-breeds, and tbe remaiuder are 

 Aleutians. Tbe white man is the agent of tbe Alaska Commercial Company, who 

 alone aud without any employes mauages tbe business, including one small store of 

 supplies. Tbe trade is quite small and is principally confined to tlie sea otter, hunted 

 exclusively by the Aleuts and Creoles. Occasionally vessels of others visit tbis point 

 and compete for pelts, which are readily obtained by the oti^er of contraband articles 

 by way of barter. 



Katmai, on tbe peninsula of Aliaska, is a substation of very small importance, and 

 one man only with a small store is kept there at occasional intervals. It is prac- 

 tically abandoned. The trade is insignificant. 



We have now presented the entire operations of the company on the main-land in 

 the Kodiak division. Tbis division contains 70,&J84 square miles, and bow much of 

 that large territory is aflected by tbe Alaska Commercial Company's operations can 

 thus be seen at a glance. If so little business, at such few insignificant points, on the 

 mere margin of the country, has such a " pernicious influence " on that main-land 

 and is such a blight to its general prosperity, its whole vitality aud inherent strength 

 must be very susceptible indeed. 



The greater portion of tbis division lies between Prince Williams's Sound and 

 Mount St. Elias. Those who have visited it describe it as an "Alpine region," 

 the whole coast "deeply indented with coves aud fiords, and towering peaks 

 rise abruptly from tbe sea. Nearly every valley and ravine has its glacier, some of 

 the latter being among tbe most extensive in the world. In Port Valdez, at the 

 northern extremity of tbe sound, a glacier exists witb a face 15 miles in length at 

 tbe seashore, while its downward track can be traced almost to tbe summit of the 

 Alps." (Vol. VIII, Tenth Census, 1880, ]>. 27, Petroft's Report.) 



i?he same author gives the entire population of the Kodiak division in 1882 at 4,352, 

 of which 34 are whites, 917 creole or half-breeds, and tbe rest Indians. It is doubt- 

 ful if there has been any increase by immigration since. 



Whether tbe prospects in the Kodiak division on the main line are very inviting 

 for immigration, or its prospects have been marred by this company, can he judged 

 of by the facts submitted. 



Third. The Arctic divmon. 



This is described by Mr. Petroff as follows : 



"Tbe Arctic division, containing 125,245 square miles, aud composing all that poi-- 

 tioa of the North American continent between tbe oue hundred and forty-first merid- 

 ian iu the east, and Cape Prince of Wales, or Bering Strait, in the west, the Arctic 



