CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OP ALASKA. 75 



islands of the Aleutian chain use this heather for fuel. The women gather great bunches by 

 pulling it from the ground and carrying it to their houses, where it is immediately used. In rare 

 instances it is kept for a few days (but only because there is a sufficiency of other fuel to be used 

 in its stead), until it is dried out. It is used in the following manner: The pot or kettle contain- 

 ing water or food to be boiled is placed on a small stick stuck in the side of the sod chimney of 

 the hut; a few shreds of the plant are lighted, it burns rapidly, and has a quick, darting .flame, like 

 the branches of pine trees. The bunch of lighted fuel is held under the vessel, and, as fast as it 

 is consumed by flame another wisp is lighted, until the boiling is finished. This work is usually 

 performed by the smaller boys or girls. This kind of fuel is not used by the Attu people, the 

 Atkan people being the farthest to the west who employ it for that purpose. The Attu people 

 have never used it, and only those of Attu who have been to the eastward know how to use it, as 

 it requires considerable skill to keep the heat properly applied to the vessel containing the water 

 or food. 



At Atkha Island I saw several large patches, which had a deeper green and seemed to be 

 of more vigorous growth. On inquiry I found that the people had in few years past taken the 

 heather off from those areas, and that it was being renewed with a heavier growth. T.) 



(Bryanthus aleutieus, Gray. Common on the high hill-tops of the Aleutian Islands. Flowers 

 white. T.) 



SALICACEiB. 



Salix myrtilloides, L., Kotzebue Sound. 



8. lapponicum, L., Kotzebue Sound. 



8. glauca, L., Cape Espenberg and Chamisso Island. 



8. arctica, Pall., Unalashka, Kotzebue Sound. 



8. myrsinites, L., Saint Lawrence Island fide Ledebour. 



8. ovalifolia, Trautvelt.; 8. uva-ursi, Seemann, Bot. Herald (fide Anderson). Kotzebue 

 Sound, Cape Espenberg, Unalashka. 



8. rhamnifolia (Pall. ?). Unalashka. 



8. glacialis, Anders., Between Cape Barrow and Mackenzie River, " Captain Pullen." 



8. reticulata, L., Unalashka, Kotzebue Sound, Cape Lisburne, Arctic coast. 



S. phlebophylla, Anders., Unalashka, Saint Lawrence, Kotzebue Sound. 



S. polaris, Wahl., Wainwright Inlet. 



8. speeiosa, Hook, et Arnott, in Bot. Beechey. Kotzebue Sound. 



8. richardsoni, Hook., Kotzebue Sound to Cape Lisburne. 



(8. rotundifolia, Trautvelt, var. retusa ("I). This species of willow was collected at Atkha 

 Island, where it is common, growing among the heather (Empetrum nigrum), with its heads of 

 cottony catkins peering just above the surface of the other vegetation. I did not observe this 

 species on any other island, though it doubtless occurs. T.) 



8. barclayi, Anders., Kadiak. 



8. phyllicoides, Anders., Western Arctic America (Avatscha Bay, Seemann). 



8. cordata, Mtjhl., var. maclcenziana. Point Barrow and along Arctic coast. This form 

 Anderson regards as a hybrid between 8. cordata and 8. vagants. 



(Salix pallasii, Anders., var. obcordata, Anders.. This species of willow attains the greatest 

 size of any among the Aleutian Islands. The growth is exceedingly crooked, rarely straight for 

 more than a foot, attaining a diameter of 2 to 3 inches, but often decayed within. In all the valleys 

 and wider ravines this species is found in abundance. The roots form an intricate mass, often much 

 exposed, and, with the crooked branches and trunks, form an impenetrable thicket of considerable 

 area. When drift-wood is scarce the Aleuts grub up these shrubs (for they are not fit to be termed 

 even an approach to trees), to be used as firewood. When the wood is well seasoned it produces a 

 bright hot fire, making a much better heat than any of the drift- wood which is cast upon the beach. 

 Vemaminof states that in former years the willows grew to such size in one of the ravines opening 

 on the west side of Captain's Harbor at Unalashka Island that the Russians and Aleuts procured 

 sufficient of these trunks to be used advantageously in making bidaras (open skin boats), and 

 bidarlcas (skin-covered canoes). I visited the locality to find traces of such former growth and found 



