Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/266

 242 ALASKA thickness of from 18 inches to 7 feet. Gold and silver are found in Alaska in small quanti- ties ; and copper is frequently brought to the settlements by Indians dwelling on the Copper river, who sedulously conceal the locality of its origin. Cinnabar and iron have been found in very limited quantities. Of sulphur the vol- canic districts of the territory afford an abun- dant supply. The fossils found in Alaska show that it was once the home of the elephant, the buffalo, and the horse. Bears are now the largest animals native to the country. Of these, the polar or white bear (ursus maritimus) is met with on the Arctic coast; the black bear (U. Americanus) in the woody districts of the Yukon; and the barren-ground bear (U. Richardsonii) in the far northeast. The grisly bear ( U. horribilis) is also occasionally encountered. Of the other non-marine fur- bearing animals the principal are the fox, the beaver, the marten, the otter, the mink, the lynx, and the wolverene. On the coasts are found the fur seal, the main source of revenue in the territory ; the sea lion, closely allied to the former ; the sea otter, an animal of solitary habits living almost exclusively in the water ; and the walrus, from which the natives obtain their ivory and oil. In the adjacent seas whales are abundant, and cod, herring, and hal- ibut are found in prodigious numbers, at the proper seasons. A small fish called the ulikon, upward of a foot in length and of a silvery hue, is also very abundant along some parts of the coast, and is remarkable as being the fat- test of all known fish. The various species of salmon which throng the Alaskan rivers occur in numbers so great as almost to exceed belief. The weak and injured fish which die after spawning time are sometimes thrown up along the river banks by the waves, to the depth of three or four feet. Immense quantities of salmon and other river fish are caught and dried. In summer, Alaska is the nesting place of myriads of migratory birds. Geese and ducks, swans, ospreys, eagles, and gulls arrive about the first of May from southern latitudes, and remain till early autumn, when they leave the country to the ptarmigan, the white hawk, and the arctic owl. The rich berries of the interior afford them excellent food. Here the nests of the canvas-back duck, so long sought for in vain in other regions, were first discovered. Mosquitoes abound during the summer months along the Yukon valley. Beetles and several varieties of butterfly are known to occur. The natives of Alaska may properly be classed into two divisions: the Esquimaux and kindred tribes, and the Indians. To the first belong the inhabitants of the Aleutian islands, and the Innuits, who are settled on the islands along the coast from Behring strait to Mt. St. Elias. Their intercourse with the Russians has deprived the Aleuts of all their national characteristics ; but they are as yet by no means civilized, though many of them profess the Christianity of the Greek church. Hunt- ing the fur seal and sea otter is their principal occupation. Of the Indians, the Co- Yukon is the largest tribe on the Yukon river. They dwell during the winter in underground huts, and are greatly feared by the surrounding na- tives of other tribes, on account of their fiercer nature and superior prowess. The fisheries and the fur trade are the leading industries of the territory. In 1870 the product of the fish- ery, in salted codfish alone, was 10,612,000 Ibs. The taking of fur seals, which is for the most part restricted to the Pribyloff islands, is now regulated by act of congress, the privilege being under rental to a corporation at $55,000 per annum. The yield has been much dimin- ished by the unwise and indiscriminate slaugh- ter permitted in past years, but under the present regulations a steady production of 100,000 skins per annum can probably be se- cured. In 1869, 85,901 seals were taken on St. George's and St. Paul's. The average an- nual yield of the sea-otter skins is 1,300, and they are worth $100 each. In 1867-'8 furs to the amount of $100,000 were produced by the Yukon district, and the average product is not less than $75,000 worth per annum. The total annual yield of furs from the rest of the conti- nental portion of Alaska does not exceed $10,000 in value. There is a small trade in ice with California, and timber is exported in limited quantities. A large proportion of the whale oil and bone taken by the Behring sea whaling fleets is derived from Alaskan waters. Russia acquired her American possessions by virtue of the right of discovery. On July 18, 1741, Vitus Behring, the celebrated Rus- sian explorer, discovered the rocky range of mountains, the crowning peak of which is Mt. St. Elias. Subsequently, and during the same voyage, he visited many of the Aleutian islands, until finally he was overtaken by death at that which bears his name. In 1778 Captain Cook, the English navigator, explored the Alaskan coast, and sailed far up into the bay now known as Cook's inlet, in hopes that it would prove the northern passage homeward to Great Britain. Numerous Russian commercial expeditions visited the new region, and in 1783 a trading establishment was opened on the island of Kadiak. Similar enterprises fol- lowed in other localities; and in 1799 the Rus- sian-American fur company was organized under sanction of the emperor Paul, by a con- solidation of all the companies then existing in the territory. This corporation was granted the exclusive right of hunting and fishing in the American dominion of the czar. It estab- lished a line of forts and trading posts along the coast from Norton sound southward, with occasional stations further inland, and after Sitka was founded the headquarters were re- moved from Kadiak to that place. The country was ruled by the company, the chief director of which exercised absolute sway throughout the colony till 1862, when, the charter having expired, the government declined to renew it,