16 THE BED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
of game. There is no place in the world where bears, 
black, brown, grizzly, and cinnamon, with two or three 
other varieties, are found in such abundance. Moose have 
not learned to fear the rifle, and wild goats clamber over 
the rocks in full sight. The inland districts of Alaska 
are almost absolutely uninhabited. The whole interior 
population of Indians is probably less than three thousand, 
while no white man ever passes beyond the protection of 
the trading-posts and forts. 
" By this time, my dear John, you are beginning to 
wonder why I have launched forth into this lecture on 
the resources of our National Purchase. Ah, you have 
noticed, have you, that I have omitted an important item ? 
Vegetation, game, iiihabitants, scenery — but nothing said 
about wealth ! 
" Yes, icealtli. Reports must have reached you of the 
startling discoveries of Haley and others. Little did the 
Hudson's Bay fur-hunters dream that they were camping 
each night on a gold mine ; or that the very rivers down 
which they paddled, in pursuit of some paltry, frightened, 
furred creature, were full of gleaming particles of the 
precious metal ! 
"Without doubt, the coasts of Alaska are veined 
throughout their length and breadth with gold and 
silver. Shafts are being sunk in all directions, and 
mines located. Haley found it paid him to dig out 
lumps of rock, a small bit at a time, and simply crush 
them in a mortar. 
