Page:The cruise of the Corwin.djvu/53

 thick, and of several species of woody-stemmed heathworts; this the native Aleuts gather for fuel, together with small quantities of drift wood cast on the shores by the winds and currents. Grass of good quality for stock is abundant on all the larger islands, and cattle thrive and grow fat during the summer wherever they have been tried. But the wetness of the summer months will always prevent hay from being made in any considerable quantity and make stock-raising on anything like a large scale impossible. The agricultural possibilities of the islands are also very limited. Oats and barley head out but never fully mature, and if they did, it would be very difficult to get them dry enough for the granary. Potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, turnips, beets, etc., do well in spots that are well drained and have a southern exposure. According to the census taken last year, the inhabitants of these islands number 2451. Of this population 82 are whites, 479 Creoles, and 1890 Aleuts. The Aleuts are far more civilized and Christianized than any other tribe of Alaska Indians. From a third to one half of the men and women read and write. Their occupation is the hunting of the sea-otter for the Alaska Commercial Company.