The General Geography of Alaska 



19 



lent direction, but blow whithersoever 

 they list. For the same reason the 

 rainfall is light, and though the air 

 over the sea is saturated with moisture, 

 little of it drifts over the land to sup- 

 ply rain. 



If there is a region more infested with 

 fogs than the Pacific coast of Alaska it 

 is Bering Sea. Here fog is the normal 

 condition, and clear, bright weather the 

 rare exception. It is no uncommon ex- 

 perience for vessels bound for the Pribi- 

 lofs to miss the islands in the fog, and 

 to spend daj^s searching for them, as for 

 needles in a haystack. They are a small 

 target to shoot a vessel at from Unalaska, 

 250 miles away, and once missed, are 

 easily lost in this great fogg}' waste. 



The climate of the great interior re- 

 gion is that common to the interior of 

 all continents. The mean annual tem- 

 perature is practically the same as in the 

 same latitude on the coast of Bering Sea, 

 but the range of temperature is much 

 greater. It is warmer in summer and 

 colder in winter, since the land heats 

 and cools much more rapidly than the 

 sea. At the point where the interna- 

 tional boundary crosses the Yukon River 

 the mean temperature of the coldest 



month (in 1889) was — 17°, that of the 

 warmest month 60°, a range of 77°. 

 Contrast these figures with those given 

 above for Sitka, where the correspond- 

 ing range was only 26°. Furthermore, 

 consider that the mean temperature of 

 the warmest month on the Yukon, in 

 latitude 64° 41', was 4° higher than at 

 Sitka, over 500 miles farther south. 

 These figures are instructive in pointing 

 the conclusion that if any part of Alaska 

 can become of agricultural importance 

 it is the interior rather than the Pacific 

 coast. But it is doubtful whether even 

 this region will admit of profitable farm- 

 ing. In connection with this question 

 the experience of the Canadians is in- 

 structive. On Peace River, in latitude 

 56°, 600 miles farther south, many and 

 persistent attempts at farming have been 

 made, but without financial success, al- 

 though it is doubtless true that certain 

 crops have been matured there. 



The extreme range of temperature in 

 the interior is surprising, even to those 

 accustomed to roast by day and freeze 

 by night in our western deserts. At 

 this same point on the Yukon, temper- 

 tures of — 60° and of 87° have been 

 recorded — a range of 147°. Again con- 



Eskimo at Plover Baj'-, Siberia 



