FUK SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 381 



" Tlio wliolc valley of the Yukou lies withiu a few degrees of the Arctic Circle ; the 

 soil, where it is level, is always swampy, and eveu the slopes of the hills aud inonnt- 

 ains are never drained of their superabxmdant moisture. The heat of summer has 

 no effect beyond an astonisliingly rapid growth of native grasses and weeds, and the 

 bringing into life of dense clouds of mosquitoes all over the country. » * * For 

 hundreds of miles from the sea the Yukon River flows through low, level tundras, or 

 mossy morasses, resting upon a foundation of clay. 



The shifting current of the river eats away the shores on either side with aston- 

 ishing rapidity; the dull thud of the caving banks is constantly heard by the trav- 

 eler, and whole reaches change their aspect entirely within a single season. Step- 

 ping upon the shore the explorer must jump from hummock to hummock or wade 

 around from knee to waist deep. In many places the ice never disappears within a 

 few inches of the surface, being protected from the rays of the sun by a non-conduct- 

 ive carpet of sphagnum. * * * The temperature, as exhibited in the above table 

 (tables of mean temperature at St. Michael, Greek Church Mission, Nulato, and Fort 

 Yukon), would not seem to afford much encouragement to the agricultural immigrant, 

 even without reference to the existence of frozen soil tbroughont the year within a 

 short distance of the surfiice as mentioned above. (Vol. VllI, Tenth Census, 1880, 

 Petrolfs Report, pp. 6 and 9.) 



These statements are corroborated by Mr. E. W. Nelson, chief signal oiBcer, in his 

 report on the meteorology of St. Michaels and vicinity, and by Mr. W. H. Dall in his 

 report upon the agricultural resources of Alaska. (See same volume, pp. 7 and 9.) 



From the foregoing facts it will be readily seen that no " pernicious influence" of 

 this company has kept that portion of Alaska from being " to-day largely populated 

 with an industrious, enterprising, prosperous people," or prevented "millions where 

 there are now hundreds " from being invested in its " natural resources." Such lan- 

 guage applied to this part of Alaska clearly affords a striking instance of remarkable 

 exaggeration or want of accurate information. 



Fifth. Koskolvim dwision. 



This lies directly south of the Yukon division ; northwest of the Kodiak division ; 

 extends to Bering Sea, and includes theKoskokvim Bay, River, and Valley, and Bristol 

 Bay, with the Nushagak River and Valley. It contains 114,975 square miles, and is 

 larger than the whole Territory of Arizona. 



The Alaska Commercial Company has not a single station in this division. It had 

 one formerly at Kalmakovski, but it was abandoned about ten years ago. We send a 

 vessel once a year to the Koskokvim River, to a point 15 or 20 miles above the mouth, 

 to meet and trade with a single trader, Mr. Sipary, who accumulates during the j^ear 

 in the interior aud neighborhood the pelts of mink, marten, bear, and other cheaper 

 skins, and gets his supplies from our company. The trade amounts to about $10,000 

 per annum. Mr. Sipary is a principal in the lausiness, aud does his own trading with 

 the hunters. We also send a vessel once, and sometimes twice, a year to Nushagak, 

 on the river of that name, where we trade with a single trader, Mr. John W. Clark, 

 from whom we buy peltries, and to whom we furnish supplies. The business covers 

 about $10,000 per annum. Mr. Clark has about eight employes, and has established 

 stoies of his own at Nushagak, Togiak, and Illamna. The Alaska Commercial Com- 

 pany does not come in contact with the hunters or any other trader than Mr. Clark. At 

 this point, Nushagak, there are several companies doing a large business in salmon 

 canneries. These are the Arctic Packing Company, Bristol Bay Canning Company, 

 and the Alaska Packing Company. This is one of the finest salmon fisheries on the 

 coast, the salmon being found in immense numbers on the Nushagak and other streams 

 emptying into Bristol Bay. The American fisherman have been established here for 

 many years and do a very large business. 



Two of these fishing companies are of California and one of Oregon. The Alaska 

 Commercial Comi)any has nothing whatever to do with this business. 



The total population of the Koskokvim division by the last census was 8,911, 

 mostly Eskimos. The number of whites and Creoles together only amounted to 114. 

 There has been no obstruction to immigration except such as the natural condition 

 of the country presents. Between the Koskokvim and the Nushagak Rivers the vil- 

 lages of the Indians are so very numerous, and they are so very poor, that they could 

 not exist were it not for the abundant supply of salmon in the summer, when they 

 lay in a sui)ply for themselves and dogs. They absorb the whole or nearly all the 

 salmon of the Koskokvim River, in connection with the other natives, who also go 

 there from the delta of the Yukon River. This leaves nothing in the salmon line for 

 traders. This dense Indian ]>o])nlnti(>n extends from Koskokvim Bay far up the river. 



The headwaters of the Koskokvim is an unknown and unexploied region. 



The country between Koskokvim Bay and Bristol Bay, on the River Togiak, some- 

 times called the Togiak division, is so jtoor in natural juoducts sought by white men, 

 that it is not visited by whites, and has no trade. The natives there are poor in the 

 extreme. They live in a state of nature of the most primitive character. 



