72 ALASKA. 



tiou of their kiud would not follow. There are, however, ten 

 or twelve species of grasses growing in every variety, from 

 close, curly, compact tufts on the seal-grounds, to tall stalks, 

 standing in favorahle seasons waist-high ; the "wheat" of the 

 north, {Elymus,) together with over a hundred varieties of an- 

 nuals, perennials, sphagnum, cryptogamic plants, &c., all flour- 

 ishing in their respective positions, and covering nearly every 

 Ijoint upon which plants can grow with a living coat of the 

 greenest of all greens, as there is not sunlight enough to ripen 

 any deep tinge of yellow into it — so greeu that it gi\;gs a deep- 

 blue tint to gray noonday shadows, contrasting pleasantly with 

 the varied russets, reds, yellows, and grays of the licheu-cov- 

 ered rocks and.the bronzed purple of the wild wheat on the 

 sand-dune tracts in autumn, and the innumer.able blue, yellow, 

 pink, and white blossoms everywhere interspersed. Occasion- 

 ally by looking closely into the thickest masses of verdure our 

 common wild violet will be found. The floral display predomi- 

 nates greatly on Saint Paul, owing to the absence of the same 

 extent of warm sand-dune country on the other islands. 



By the end of August and first week in September of normal 

 seasons, the small edible berries [Empetrwn nigrum and Eubus 

 cJiamwmorus) are ripe, which are found in considerable quanti- 

 ties, the former being small, watery, and black, about the size 

 of an English or black currant, and the other resembling an 

 unripe and partly- decayed raspberry. They are the only fruit 

 afforded by the islands, and are of course keenly relished by 

 the natives. 



There are very few insects on the Seal Islands. A large 

 flesh-fly appears during the summer in a striking manner, and 

 settles upon the long grass-blades which flourish on the killing- 

 grounds especially, settling by tens of millions, causing the 

 vegetation over the whole slaughtering-field and vicinity to 

 fairly droop to the earth as though beaten down by a tornado 

 of wind and rain. Our common house-fly is not present, and 

 those just mentioned never come into the dwellings unless by 

 accident. It does not annoy man or beast. . There are no mos- 

 quitoes. A small gnat flits about, inoffensive, taking shelter iu 

 the grass. 



Aside from the seal-life on the Prybilov Islands, there are no 

 indigenous mammalia with the exception of blue and white 

 foxes, and the lemming, {Myodes ohensis,) which latter is re- 

 stricted, singularly enough, to the island of Saint Georgo,where 



