3 2 
ALASKA. 
large brickyard, the only establishment of the kind in the colony, from which all 
stations and settlements were supplied with the material for the old-fashioned 
Russian ovens or heaters. 
About 30 miles down the coast from Kenai, there is another settlement deserv¬ 
ing at least a passing notice. A number of “ colonial citizens,” or superan¬ 
nuated employees of the old Russian company, were ordered to settle some fifty 
or sixty years ago at Ninilchik, and their descendants live there still. Each 
family has quite a large garden patch of turnips and potatoes, yielding enough to 
allow the owners to dispose of a large surplus to traders and fishermen. They 
have quite a herd of cattle, and the women actually make butter; but they are 
not sufficiently advanced in farming lore to construct or use a churn, and the 
butter is made in a very laborious manner by shaking the cream in bottles. 
They also raise pigs and keep poultry, but on account of the hogs running on 
the seashore, digging clams and feeding upon kelp, and the chickens scratching 
among fish bones and other offal, both their poultry and their pork are fishy to 
such an extent as to be made unpalatable. 
In the vicinity of Anchor Point, on Kuchekmak Gulf, and on Graham’s or 
English Harbor, extensive coal veins appear along the bluffs and come to the 
surface. The Russian-American Company, jointly with a San Francisco firm, 
worked here for years to develop the mines and obtain a product good enough 
for the use of steamers and engines, but after sinking a large capital the enter¬ 
prise was abandoned before the transfer of the Territory took place. A few 
remnants of the extensive buildings erected in connection with these mining 
operations still remain on the north shore of English Bay. 
St. Paul, on the northern part of Kadiak Island, does a large 
fur trade. There are a number of salmon canneries on the is¬ 
land, employing in 1890, according to Longman’s Gazetteer (p. 
764), 1,100 hands. Karluk (population, 1,123) sa ^ to have 
the largest cannery in the world. Kadiak (495), Alitak (420), 
and Afognak (409) are other villages on the island. 
On the Aleutian Islands, there are many settlements. The one 
on Ounga Island has a population of about 200, according to Mr. 
Petroff. Belkowsky, on the southern end of the Aliaska Penin¬ 
sula, has 300 inhabitants. Near Protassof (100 inhabitants) there 
are warm sulphur springs and ponds. Iliuliuk, on Unalaska 
Island, is a point of considerable commercial importance, having 
a church, custom-house, trading establishments, wharves, etc. Ni- 
