I ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, INDUSTRIES, ETC. 3 



as they were, they were no match for the Russians, who 

 annexed their furs and women at their pleasure, although 

 on one occasion the natives did inflict a terrible defeat, with 

 much slaughter, on the Russians near Sitka. 



The four principal industries of Alaska are mining, 

 salmon-canning, fur-trading, and sea-fishing ; and the different 

 classes of people encountered on a trip through the country 

 are chiefly occupied in these pursuits. Unless a visit be 

 paid to some of the great mining centres, such as the Yukon 

 or Nome, it is true that no great number of successful miners 

 will be met with ; but there are undoubtedly many other 

 spots, as rich as those already worked, remaining to be 

 discovered and opened up in the near future. There is, 

 however, a class of men encountered all along the Alaskan 

 coast which is distinct in its peculiar way from all others. 

 I refer to the so-called prospectors, who are to be found at 

 all local stopping -places of the coasting steamers, in the 

 vicinity of most up-country stores, and occasionally in isolated 

 little camps of their own. They form a free-and-easy, 

 " happy-go-lucky," and proverbially hospitable class of men. 

 Many of them come from far-distant countries, and doubtless 

 have a history on the other side of the water; but little is 

 thought of that in a land where no questions are asked, and 

 where all men are equal and are hailed as strangers well 

 met. Hope springs eternal in the prospector's breast, and 

 it is wonderful to see how each of them in turn is elated by 

 the discovery of traces of good quartz, or signs of oil, and at 

 once stakes thousands of acres in claims, and adjourns to the 

 nearest store to affirm positively to all comers that he has 

 got the whole world at last. Nevertheless, the fact remains 

 that, on arrival at any of the coast settlements, a visit to the 

 store will present the spectacle of a number of men lounging 



