634 report— 1878. 



by great precipitation and mild and equable temperature ; the Aleutian region, by 

 the prevalence of fog, a somewhat colder climate and a diminished rainfall and 

 the Yukon region by a truly Arctic climate with a small precipitation. 



The ethnological divisions comprise those areas inhabited by tribes of Innuit 

 stock, by the Tinneh or Athabascan tribes, and by the T'linkits or Kaloshians. 

 The latter inhabit the Sitkan region ; the Eskimo or Innuit the shores of the 

 Yukon and Aleutian regions eastward to Mount St. Elias ; and the Tinneh tribes 

 the interior, reaching the sea coast only at Cook's Inlet. The native population is 

 believed to number between 20,000 and 25,000, and the present white population 

 is very small. 



The commercial products of the different regions are also characteristic. The 

 Sitkan region, beside a small trade in continental furs, offers salmon, timber, 

 and minerals, the value of which has not yet been fully tested. The Aleutian 

 region is at present of most commercial importance, affording the sea-otter, fur- 

 seal, and cod-fish. From the Yukon region, come the ordinary continental furs, 

 while the adjacent seas support the whale and walrus fisheries. 



The Sitkan and Aleutian regions reproduce very nearly the conditions of the 

 coast of Norway, while the Yukon region may be compared to the Archangel 

 district of Russia. 



The tribes of Innuit stock (including the Aleuts) are generally of a peaceable 

 and tractable nature: those of Tinneh stock more independent, but still easily con- 

 trolled ; while the T'linkits are, of all American natives, the most intractable and 

 difficult to deal with. 



The T'linkits, while rejecting all attempts to subdue or improve them, have a well- 

 advanced semi-civilisation of their own, particularly shown in then - carvings, 

 advanced totemic system, mythology, and permanent dwellings. The Innuit, 

 though of shorter average stature than the whites, are a very different race physically 

 from their stunted cousins of Greenland, and are intelligent, athletic, and ingenious. 

 The Aleuts have already adopted many features of civilisation from the Russians. 



The Tinneh are nearly all in a condition similar to those of the Hudson Bay 

 Territory, but are much more amenable to improvement than the T'linkits. Al- 

 ready several missions have been established, with a tolerable prospect of success. 



The results obtained by the explorations of the Coast Survey are in process of 

 preparation for publication in detail, and will eventually be printed and issued 

 under the direction of the Superintendent of the Survey by the United States 

 Government. 



5. On the Acquisition by England of Cyprus, and some Observations on the 

 Islands in the Levant. By J. S. Phen)5, LL.D., F.S.A. 



Dr. Phene described the physical features of the islands of Chios, Mytilene, 

 Lemnos, Imbros, Thasos, and Samothrace ; the relation of the Cyclades to the great 

 range of Pindus in lateral offsets, of which the Cyclades appeared to be the sum- 

 mits of former ranges, now (except as to these summits) submerged. Reference 

 was made to the great aqueous stratification in Asia Minor and Southern Thrace, 

 which, being undisturbed, could not (geologically speaking) be remote ; and to a 

 remarkable tradition given by Diodorus Siculus, that the Euxine had at a far 

 distant period burst its bounds, and rushed westward to the Mediterranean Sea, 

 that in this convulsion some of the islands had become submerged, and that the 

 champaign country of the island of Samothrace was permanently so, and that even 

 indications of cities by the recovery of parts of buildings from the sea were some- 

 times found. It was possible that this convulsion represented the sinking down of 

 the mountain ridges, of which the summits were now represented by the various 

 islands stretching south from the several headlands of the Peloponnesus. Dr. Phene 

 ascended Samothrace, and was, so far as he could learn on the island, the only per- 

 son not being a native who had made the ascent, which was very difficult. The 

 height was slightly over 5200 feet, but it was the whole climb of this from the sea 



