xiii ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL 267 



After leaving Saldovia the Bertha sailed for Kodiak, and 

 arrived there on the afternoon of the next day. Here we 

 landed a few passengers who intended to winter on the 

 island, and we were welcomed by a number of old friends 

 standing on the wharf to watch the steamer's arrival. On 

 going ashore we went to the house of our friend Mr. Goss, 

 who soon regaled us with all the items of local news, in spite 

 of the fact that he himself had only just arrived with us on 

 board of the Bertha, after making a trip to the head of Cook's 

 Inlet. We found that some enterprising American had 

 turned down a large number of cattle on the island since 

 we last visited Kodiak, with a view to supplying the meat 

 market along the coast. Such of the beasts as we saw 

 looked in good condition, and during the summer months 

 they can roam for miles in good grass which grows higher 

 than their backs. There appears no reason why the cattle- 

 farming industry should not be a success at Kodiak, if enough 

 hay is made in summer to last them through the winter. 

 It would hardly be possible for cattle to remain self-supported 

 throughout the winter, although a large number of sheep 

 have done so, since they were turned out on the island some 

 two years before. The mortality was, however, considerable 

 amongst them in severe weather, but this might have been 

 avoided if shelters had been erected and good hay provided 

 for them during the winter months. The severity of winter 

 on Kodiak Island does not approach that which is experi- 

 enced on many farms in Norway, where both cattle and sheep 

 thrive under the careful attention of the thrifty Scandinavian 

 farmers. Moreover, the quantity of grass which springs up 

 in Alaska when once the snow has melted far exceeds any- 

 thing of the kind that I have ever seen in Norway. 



There is no doubt that if cattle and sheep farming can 



