66 ALASKA. 



The climate of these islands has received careful attention, 

 as will be seen by reference to the report of Mr. Charles P. Fish, 

 of the United States Signal-Service, to which reference may be 

 made for more detailed information upon the subject. I sim- 

 ply remark here that the winter of 1872-'73 was one of great 

 severity, and, according to the natives, such as is very seldom 

 experienced ; but cold as it was, however, the lowest marking 

 by thermometer was but 12° Fahrenheit below zero, and that 

 for a few hours only during a day in February, while the mean 

 of the month was 18° above. The coldest month, March, gave 

 a mean of 12° above, while .the mean of a usual winter is no 

 lower than 22° or 20°; but the high north winds which I ex- 

 perienced during that winter were blowing more than three- 

 fourths of the time, and made all outdoor exercise impractica- 

 ble. On a day in March, for example, its velocity was at the 

 rate of eighty-eight miles per hour, with as low a temperature 

 as —4°! With a wind blowing but twenty or twenty-five miles 

 an hour, at a much higher temperature, as at 15° or .16° above 

 zero, it is necessary to be most thoroughly wrapped up to 

 guard against freezing, if any journey is to be made on foot. 



There are here, virtually, but twoseasons, winter and summer. 

 To the former belong November and the following mouths up to 

 the end of April, with a mean of 20° to 28°, while the transition 

 to summer is but a slight elevation in temperature, only 15° to 

 20°; of the summer months July is perhaps the wj:rmest, usually 

 with a mean of 46° to 50° in ordinary seasons. 



It is astonishing how rapidly snow melts here at a single 

 degree above freezing, and after several consecutive days in 

 April or May at 34° and 30°, grass begins to grow, even if it be 

 under melting drifts and the frost is many feet in depth under 

 it. In the appendix I have placed a table, compiled from the 

 report of Mr. Fish, above referred to, as interesting in show- 

 ing the character of a very severe winter on the Seal Islands.^ 



Theformation of these islands was recent, geologically speak- 

 ing, and due to direct volcanic agency, which lifted them abruptly 

 though gradually from the sea-bed, building upon them below 

 the water's-level as they rose, and subsequently above, by spout- 

 holes or craters, from which water-puddled breccia and vol- 

 canic ashes and tufa were thrown. Soon after the elevation 

 and deposition of the igneous matter, all volcanic action must 

 have ceased, tlrough the clearly blown-out throat and smooth, 

 sharp-cut, funnel-like wails of a crater on Otter Island (one of 



