ALASKA AS IT WAS AND IS. 
129 
for the people in the compam^’s employ, or to insure sub¬ 
sistence for the natives whose time was devoted to hunting 
the sea otter or preparing skins for the authorities. The fur 
trade of southeastern Alaska was not very productive. The 
natives were disposed to trade with the Hudson Bay Com¬ 
pany or illicit traders rather than with the Russians, partly 
because they obtained better prices for their skins and partly 
because the Russians refused to trade intoxicating liquors, 
while the outsiders were not troubled with any scruples in 
such matters. The furs were divided by the Russians into 
two classes—the precious furs, such as the fox, sea otter, and 
sable, which were strictly reserved for the company, a certain 
proportion being imperial perquisites of the Russian court, 
and the cheaper sorts, which might be used by the com¬ 
pany’s employes for winter clothing, and were sold at a fixed 
price to them for this purpose. This included the muskrat, 
mink, Parry’s marmot or ivrashka, the fur seal, and some 
others. Dry skins of the fur seal were sold at the company’s 
warehouse for 12J cents apiece, the modern plucking and 
dyeing of the fur, invented by an American, Raymond, of 
Albany, not having reached a perfection sufficient to attract 
the fashionable world. 
The European trading goods and supplies were mainly 
brought by ship from Hamburg, the same vessel taking the 
annual load of skins to China, where an exchange was made 
for tea and silk, which were carried back to Europe. Flour 
was imported latterly from California and some goods were 
brought from Aian and other ports on the Okhotsk sea in 
the early days of the business, but in 1865 this trade had 
come to a standstill or nearly so. In mineral resources al¬ 
most nothing was done ; a little coal was taken out at Cook’s 
inlet for local uses, and the exportation of ice from Kadiak 
to California was carried on under a lease by an American 
company. The presence of gold, iron, and graphite was 
known to the authorities, but prospecting was not encour¬ 
aged, as it was supposed the development of mineral re¬ 
sources might react unfavorably on the fur trade. 
