COAL. Ill 



lignites, includes under the name of "Cape Beaufort coal measures" all the coal from 

 near Cape Lisburne to Cape Beaufort, inclusive, covering a stretch of more than 40 

 miles in extent. As the coal throughout this region may possibly, on further inves- 

 tigation, all be found to be of the same geologic age, it may for the present fittingly 

 be referred to under the one name. It should be remarked, however, that the vein 

 at Cape Beaufort, which is the extreme northern limit of the field, is relatively little 

 known,- while that which is most familiar as the source of supply for the whalers is 

 in the extreme southwestern part of the field. Doctor Dall's basis for thus including 

 the coal of this entire region under one head is probably the description and extent 

 of the occurrence of the coal given by Mr. Henry D. Woolfe, whose report, as con- 

 densed by Doctor Dall, is here quoted: 8 



1 ' Along the beach and coast line from Cape Lisburne for at least 40 miles an 

 extensive and well-defined coal field exists. I was engaged for two seasons in 

 exploiting these deposits. Besearch developed the existence of a body of coal 

 extending over an area of 25 square miles. There axe along the coast line for the 

 distance mentioned numerous veins of coal from which the whalemen obtain supplies 

 of fuel. The coal is of the type of semibituminous lignite. It makes steam quickly, 

 but there is a very large percentage of ash and clinker, and its constant use causes an 

 early burning out of the furnace bars. * * * At present the whalemen dig out 

 their supplies fi'om the surface veins, climbing the cliffs to obtain it. * * * With 

 any wind, except from the coast or southeast, there is no protection on the coast 

 mentioned, and the work of boating the coal off to a vessel lying at some distance 

 from the shore is difficult, and in windy weather dangerous. With the ice pack 

 offshore a lee is obtained which makes smooth water and facilitates coaling. The 

 limit of the important coal-bearing area to the north is at Cape Beaufort, though 

 small seams are seen farther on. Between the seams bands of clear ice intervene, 

 and I have noticed on the shelving banks of a small creek that runs through the 

 coal land an oily exudation resembling petroleum." 



Until the past few years Mr. Woolfe had seen more of this coal field than any 

 other man, and we are fortunate in having the benefit of his observations, though the 

 field may not prove so large or rich as he inferred. 



Thetis and Gorwin mines. — Turning our attention to the southwestern and appar- 

 ently most important part of the field, we find here the Thetis and Corwin coal 

 mines, old supply points of the whalers and United States revenue vessels. These 

 names, Thetis and Corwin, which have appeared on the charts for many years, are 

 taken from vessels of the revenue service which replenished their coal bunkers at 

 these mines on their annual cruises in the Ai*ctic. 



The Thetis mine is situated near the mouth of Thetis Creek and east of Cape 

 Sabine, a low and unimportant promontory, shown in Pis. V and X, C. The coal 

 here is said to occur in sandstone and shale. 



" Dall, \V. H., P.eport on coal and lignite of Alaska: Seventeenth Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 1, 1S96, p. 820. 

 b Ibid. 



