40 
them to an employee of the Russian-American Company sta¬ 
tioned at the store-house in Mollier’s Bay, at the mouth of a 
small stream in lat. 55° 55, long. 160° 41; thence the stock is 
carried on the shoulders of the natives, or on dog sledges, across 
the peninsula to the head of Portage Bay, twelve miles deep by 
four miles wide, lying N.N.W. and S.S.E. by compass, and di¬ 
rectly north of Unga island. In Portage Bay they are met by 
another body of natives in their bydarkas or skin canoes from 
Coal harbor, whither the tusks are transported. In some seasons 
ten tons of these tusks are secured by the Indians, and are 
valued at seventy cents, gold, per pound at Sitka. Large quan¬ 
tities of tusks are obtained by trade and capture by the Arctic 
whalers, who also try out the oil. The skin of the walrus is 
used by the Aleuts and Esquimaux for constructing their large 
traveling boats, called biadars, capable of carrying ten tons of 
freight. At the saw-mill on Woody island, opposite St. Paul, 
the walrus hide is successfully used for heavy belting. The 
systematic hunting of the walrus, prompted by the better prices 
than have been paid by the barely life sustaining tariff of the 
Russian-American Company, will develope this valuable branch 
of industry. Arctic whalers just from those waters, assure us 
that the number of these animals is incalculable. Near Point 
Mulgrave, in the Arctic, Cook found them in great numbers ; 
one weighed 854 pounds, and they are generally about the size 
of an ox. Near Cape Lisburn the number of walrus is almost 
incredible; his crew liked their flesh and called it ‘ marine 
beef.’ ” — Davidson. 
Whales are regular visitors to the coast of Alaska; the 
abundance of small fish and other whale feed in those waters 
attracts the huge monsters to those shores. The Gulf of Alaska, 
Bristol Bay and the Arctic Ocean are familiar cruising grounds 
to the whalers. The great bow-head, rich in oil and bone, preys 
constantly on the finny tribe. This branch of fishing has been 
carried on for years in those regions with good results, and may 
be carried on profitably from Puget Sound, which offers eveiy 
facility for “ plum pudding,” or short season whaling. “ The 
waters surrounding the territory of Alaska have always been 
celebrated for their whale fisheries, and the Russian-American 
Company formerly paid some attention to this branch of industry 
and profit, and had surveys made in Cook’s Inlet for ascertaining 
the proper anchorages and harbors for their whalers in winter. 
