29 
stranded, salmon. , , , Seeman says that salmon, so fre- 
quent in Norton Sound, lat 64°, are not found to the northward 
of the river Buckland, emptying into Kotzebue Sound, in lat. 
66° 05; they appear however to be superceded by the mullet, 
which attains considerable size. He obtained, for a blue bead, 
a mullet thirty-three inches long, weighing twenty-one pounds.” 
— Davidson. 
Herring abound in these waters ; they vary in size in different 
localities ; those taken in the waters adjacent to Sitka are small 
and poor; those found in Behring sea are large, plump and fat. 
“ In September, when drawing the seine for salmon at Ilionlionk 
harbor, several herring were obtained of large size, fatter, and 
of much finer flavor than the herring caught on the California 
coast. No information was obtained of the season when they 
visit the coast. They are found in the vicinity of Sitka, and 
doubtless visit the whole sea-board. Portlock mentions that 
when hauling the seine, he caught large quantities of herring 
and some salmon. The herring, though small, were very good, 
and two hogsheads of them were salted for sea stores. Lisian- 
sky says, herring swarm in Sitka Sound every spring. Seeman 
says that herring and whiting are caught in Hotham Inlet, in 
Kotzebue Sound, lat. 67°, in great quantities. . . . The 
herring, besides its own intrinsic value, has an important bear¬ 
ing on the question of the cod-fisheries, in supplying bait, which 
is now carried from San Francisco for that purpose at large pri¬ 
ces.” —- Davidson. 
Fur-bearing animals have, from time immemorial, resorted to 
the shores of Alaska. Cook and other early explorers describe 
those animals in detail; they still bask on that coast in millions, 
and yield rich oil, ivory and peltry, and the fur of the sea otter 
is held in high estimation. The otter has been hunted with 
much ardor by the skilful Aleuts ; the extermination of this ani¬ 
mal in those waters is a mere question of time. “ Of the num¬ 
ber and different varieties of skins obtained from the Indians by 
the Russian-American Company, it is impossible to form an 
opinion, as the Very existence of their trade depended upon the 
secrecy with which it was conducted. That the company has 
been able to maintain a large establishment in persons and ma¬ 
terial is strong circumstantial proof of the value of the trade. 
. . . The immediate traffic of the company has given trade 
to not less than 10,000 Russians, Aleuts and Esquimaux, be- 
