Our Arctic province - Henry Wood Elliott

As we complete our review of St. Matthew and its ursine occupation, the circuit of Alaska has been made—its impression we have recorded, and the path from here home again is a bee-line to the Golden Gate over

“Nothing, nothing but the sea—

Vast in its immensity?”

FOOTNOTES:

[163] Captain F. W. Beechey H. M. S. Blossom, voyage 1825-28, inclusive. The seasons of 1826 and 1827 were passed in these waters. Murdoch, who passed the winters of 1881-83, inclusive, here, has given an interesting résumé of the natural history, etc., of the spot. Beechey’s account of the people and country are confirmed by him.

[164] These favored basaltic tables are also commented upon in similar connection by an old writer in 1775, Shuldham, who calls them “echouries;” he is describing the Atlantic walrus as it appears at the Magdalen Islands: “The echouries are formed principally by nature, being a gradual slope of soft rock, with which the Magdalen Islands abound, about eighty to one hundred yards wide at the water-side, and spreading so as to contain, near the summit, a very considerable number.” The tables at Walrus Island and those at Southwest Point are very much less in area than those described by Shuldham, and are a small series of low, saw-tooth jetties of the harder basalt, washed in relief, from a tufa matrix; there is no room to the landward of them for many walruses to lie upon. The Odobœnus does not like to haul up on loose or shingly shores, because it has the greatest difficulty in getting a solid hold for its fore flippers with which to pry up and move ahead its huge, clumsy body. When it hauls on a sand-beach, it never attempts to crawl out to the dry region back of the surf, but lies just awash, at high water. In this fashion they used to rest all along the sand-reaches of St. Paul prior to the Russian advent in 1786-87; and when Shuldham was inditing his letters on the habits of Rosmarus, Odobœnus was then lying out in full force and great physical peace on the Pribylov Islands.

[165] It is, and always will be, a source of sincere regret to me and my friends that I did not bodily preserve this huge paunch and its contents. It would have filled a half-barrel very snugly, and then its mass of freshly swallowed clams (Mya truncata), filmy streaks of macerated kelp, and fragments of crustaceans, could have been carefully examined during a week of leisure at the Smithsonian Institution. It was, however, ripped open so quickly by one of the Aleutes, who kicked the contents out, that I hardly knew what had been done ere the strong-smelling subject was directly under my nose. The natives then were anxious that I should hurry through with my sketches, measurements, etc., so that they might the sooner push off their egg-laden bidarrah and cross back to the main island before the fogs would settle over our homeward track, or the rapidly rising wind shift to the northward and imperil our passage. Weighty reasons these, which so fully impressed me, that this unique stomach of a carnivora was overlooked and left behind; hence, with the exception of curiously turning over the clams (especially those uncrushed specimens), which formed the great bulk of its contents, I have no memoranda or even distinct recollection of the other materials that were incorporated.

INDEX.

A
Adahk, island of, [183]
Aggatoo, island of, [179]
Agricultural features in Sitkan region, [18], [22], [24], [25], [35]
in Kadiak region, [103], [106], [107]
in Cook’s Inlet region, [83], [84], [85], [86]
in Aleutian region, [184], [185]
in Seal Islands, [204]
in Yukon Valley and the North, [421], [443]
Agents of the United States Government, [251], [252]
Akootan, island of, [151], [153]
volcano of, [153]
Akoon, island of, [150], [154]
wolves on, [156]
Alaska, its area and population, [13], [14]
its discovery, [1], [2], [3], [5]
its purchase by United States Government, [11], [12]
Alaska Commercial Company, its history, [224], [245], [247], [248], [249]
Albinos and monstrosities, few among fur-seals, [306]
Alexander Archipelago, its land and scenery, [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [26], [271]
its earliest white occupation, [28], [29], [30]
all visitors necessarily go there, [14], [15]
Alexandrovsk, established by Kolmakov (1834), [375], [376]
Aleutes, traits, characteristics of, [163], [164], [165], [166], [167], [168], [169], [170], [171], [172], [173], [174]
Algæ, or sea-weeds, those of Sitkan waters, [20]
those of Aleutian waters, [182]
those of Pribylov waters, [214], [215]
American traders, business relations of Baranov with, [28]
business methods in Sitkan region, [36], [37], [38], [39]
business methods in Aleutian region, [129], [191]
business methods in Yukon and Kuskokvim regions, [384], [414], [418], [424]
business methods in Arctic Ocean, [425]
Amchitka, island of, [181], [184]
Amlia, island of, [182]
Animals, fur-bearing and food, in the Sitkan region, [55], [61], [62]
in the Cook’s Inlet region, [91]
in the Aleutian region, [151], [156], [163], [178]
in the Nooshagak region, [381], [382], [399]
in the Kuskokvim region, [381], [382], [399]
in the Yukon and Arctic region, [418], [425], [426], [440]
Area and extent of Alaska, [13], [14]
Arrie egg-shells, their toughness, [222]
Atkha, island and natives of, [144], [180], [181], [182], [183]
Attitudes and land postures of fur-seals, [280]
Attoo, extreme western land of North American continent, [143], [179], [180]
Auroral and nephelogical phenomena, [158], [198], [420]
Autocratic powers of the old Russian American Company, [9]
Avatanak, island of, [154]
B
Bachelor, or “holluschiokie” fur-seals, [294], [295], [296], [297]
Baird, Professor S. F., [190]
Banks, codfishing, [122], [123], [124]
Baranov, Alexander, character of, [6], [28]
Barrabkie, a, how it is made, [135], [166], [167]
Basking sharks and killer-whales, [325], [327]
Bath, Innuit, vile methods, [387]
Barrow, Point, [440]
Battles of the fur-seals, [265], [266]
Bays indenting coast of Kadiak, [115], [116]
of Oonalashka, [159]
Bear “Roads,” [89]
Beaver Bay, Oonalashka Island, [176]
Bering’s expedition of Alaskan discovery, [1], [2], [3]
the discovery of Alaska, [2], [3]
the ill-fated homeward voyage, [3], [4], [124]
the shipwreck and escape of survivors, [4], [191]
Bering Straits, [428], [429], [430], [431], [441]
Belcovsky, village of, [119], [120]
Bidarrah, use of, how it is made, [346], [347], [453], [454]
Bidarka, use of, how it is made, [133]
Birth of fur-seals, [282]
Bishop Innocent Veniaminov, his labors, [309]
Blubber of fur-seal, sea-lion, mahklok, and beluga, [292], [345], [405]
Bogaslov Islet, volcanic eruption of, recently, [186], [167]
Borka, village of, [176], [177]
Bristol Bay, [118], [398]
Breeding grounds, number of fur-seals on, [310], [311], [312], [313], [314], [315], [316], [317], [319], [320], [321]
of sea-lions, [187], [310], [354], [356], [357], [358], [361]
of hair-seals, [256]
of sea-otters, [132]
of water-fowl, [210], [211]
Burials and funerals of the Sitkans or Thlinkets, [50]
of the Innuits or Eskimo, [389], [410]
of the Aleutes, [178]
Burnt or Brulé districts, [408], [409]
C
Camps, Innuit summer, [381], [426]
Kenaitze hunting, [91]
Canoes, Sitkan, [62], [63]
Ingaleek, [417]
Carousals, Aleutian beer orgies, [137], [174], [175]
Carving bone and ivory, skill of Innuits, [384]
wood, skill of Haidahs, [49]
Cape Prince of Wales, [428], [429], [431]
Capture of sea-otters, [128], [191], [133]
of sea-lions, [364], [365]
Carcasses of slaughtered fur-seals, [350], [351], [352], [353]
Cassiar Gold-diggings, [17], [18], [25]
Cattle in Alaska, [86], [106], [107], [178], [184]
Cereals, total failure in Alaska, [107]
Chernaboor islets, [138], [141]
Christianity among the Aleutes and Kadiakers, [115], [116], [171], [172], [241], [246]
among the Innuits, [410]
among the Thlinkets, [40], [41], [42]
Church, Greek, [40], [41], [120], [121], [137], [164], [174], [178], [241], [388]
Clans, the several Sitkan tribes, [43]
Climate of the Sitkan region, [24]
of the Mount St. Elias region, [72], [77]
of the Cook’s Inlet region, [93]
of the Kadiak region (see Cook’s Inlet)
of the Aleutian Islands, [158], [185]
of the Pribylov Islands, [194], [195], [196], [197]
of the Nooshagak region, [382], [404]
of the Kuskokvim region, [382], [404], [407]
of Michaelovsky and the Yukon, [421], [422], [424]
of Arctic coast of Alaska, [427]
Coal in Cook’s Inlet, [125]
in the Arctic, [125], [438]
in Shoomagin Group, [125]
in Sitkan region, [70], [71]
Coins, Russian names and values of, [8]
Codfish, industry of, at Oonga, [122], [123], [124]
Companies, rival trading, [191]
Consumption, chief cause of death-rate among natives, [110]
Cook’s Inlet, characteristics of, [82], [83], [84], [85], [86], [87]
country north of, [87]
Copper River, its character, [76], [77]
Cossacks, Russian and Siberian, [128], [159]
Courage of fur-seals, [279]
Creoles, what they are, [108]
Crillon, Mount, [72]
Cruelties inflicted by Russian traders upon natives, [6], [128], [147], [159]
Curing and dressing fur-seal skins, [345], [346], [347], [348], [349]
D
Dangers of Alaskan coast navigation, [76], [83], [117], [123], [218], [219], [374], [375], [395], [440], [442]
to which young fur-seals are exposed, [283], [329], [330]
Death, natural, of fur-seals, [307]
Decay of the Russian American Company after Baranov’s removal, [11]
Deer, Sitkan, [55], [62]
Rein, [121], [122], [397], [418]
Definition of technical terms on Seal Islands, [320], [321]
Delta of the Copper River, [75], [77]
of the Yukon River, [414], [415]
Deschnev, Simeon, his remarkable voyage (1648), [429]
Diet of natives of the Sitkan region, [58]
of the Cook’s Inlet region, [95]
of the Kadiak region, [136], [137]
of the Aleutian region, [168]
of the Seal Islands, [241], [242], [243]
of the Innuits, [382], [383], [454], [455], [456]
Diomedes, islands of, Bering Straits, [430], [431], [432], [441]
Diseases, natives most afflicted with, [110], [111], [112], [113], [114], [238]
Docility of fur-seals when driven, and being killed, [335]
Dogs, Eskimo, [388]
Sitkan, [61]
none on the Aleutian Chain, [158]
Dressing fur-seal skins, [348], [349]
Driving fur-seals, [333], [334], [336]
sea-lions, [366], [367], [368]
Dwellings of the Aleutes, [133], [166], [167]
of the Innuits, [378], [379], [380], [381], [426]
of the Cook’s Inlet Kenaitze, [91], [92], [93]
of the Sitkans or Thlinkets, [46], [47], [48], [49], [51], [60], [64]
of the Seal Islanders, [232], [233]
of the white fur-traders, [36], [175]
E
Earthquakes, [146], [147], [148], [161], [186], [189]
Eggs, water-fowl, gastronomic value of, [211]
Epidemic among seals, [324]
Employés, superannuated “old colonial settlers,” [85], [86]
Eskimo of Alaska (see Innuits)
Experiments with fur-seals, [263], [264]
Extermination of fur-seals, [231], [307], [308], [309], [324]
of sea-otters, [129]
of walrus, [458], [459]
Extent and area of Alaska, [13], [14]
Eyes of fur-seals, beauty of, [291]
of fur-seals, lurid lights in, [341]
of sea-lion, ferocity of, [355]
of walrus, grotesqueness of, [449]
F
Fairweather, Mount, [71], [72]
Familiar flowering plants on the Seal Islands, [200], [201], [202], [203]
on the Arctic coast of Alaska, [440]
Fasting, long-protracted, of male fur-seals, [272], [273]
Festivals, native Innuit, [390], [391], [392], [393], [423]
First school in Alaska, [102]
First mission in Alaska, [102]
Fishing industries of the Sitkans, [59]
of the Aleutes, [168]
of the Shoomagin Islands, [122], [123], [124]
of the Kuskokvim and Yukon, [404]
of the Arctic, [434], [435]
of Americans at Cook’s Inlet, [93]
of Americans at Kadiak Island, [115], [116]
Flowers, wild, great abundance of, [177], [420]
Forest trees of Alaska, [21], [22], [79], [85], [103], [104], [105], [157], [408], [409], [416], [424]
Forests of Alaska, [21], [71], [408], [409]
Foxes, blue (Vulpes lagopus), [180], [205], [206]
red, [180], [206]
Four Peaks, or “Cheetiery Sopochnie,” [186]
Fruits indigenous to Sitkan district, [22], [23]
indigenous to Aleutian district, [168]
indigenous to Kuskokvim district, [411]
indigenous to Seal Islands, [201]
Fur-seal, arrival of at breeding grounds, [292], [293-297]
boldness of, [129], [331]
description of adult male, [258], [259], [260], [261]
description of adult female, [273], [274], [275], [276]
description of “pups,” [282], [283], [284], [285], [286], [287], [288], [289]
odor and noise of, [265], [270], [281]
erroneous ideas of its skin, [347], [348]
effect of warm weather on, [306]
first arrival at the islands, [262]
food of, [328], [329]
healthiness of, [324]
high order of instinct of, [258], [301]
numbers of, [310-313], [324], [326]
increase or diminution or, [317], [318], [328], [333]
in the waters around the islands, [286], [299], [300], [302], [331], [361]
manner of killing and skinning, [337], [338], [339], [340], [341], [342]
manner of salting, dressing, and shipping skins of, [345-349]
meat of, [344]
method of land travel, [260]
natural enemies of, [325], [327], [330]
noise on the breeding rookeries, [270], [271]
movements on land and in water, [286], [289], [298], [362]
pelagic range of, in search of food, [329], [330]
“podding” of its “pups,” [289]
polygamous and angry males, [275], [276], [277], [278]
position and selection of hauling-grounds, [295], [296]
power of land locomotion, [267]
pre-emption of rookeries, [265], [276]
prostration of, by heat or driving, [271], [272]
range of vision of, [291]
relative growth and weight of, [304], [305]
sanguinary combats of, [265], [266]
shedding of hair and fur, [285], [290], [302], [303]
sleep of, [280], [281]
sleep on land of, [280], [281]
skill in selecting rookeries, [277]
strength and courage of the male, [265], [267]
tabulated result of surveys, [312]
vitality of, [283], [323]
voice of, [268], [269], [270]
G
Games, festivals, etc., of the Aleutes, [239], [240], [241]
of the Innuits, [393], [423]
of the Thlinkets or Sitkans, [65]
Glaciers of the Aleutian Islands, [183]
of Cook’s Inlet, [84]
of Prince William Sound, [78]
of the Sitkan Archipelago and Cross Sound, [19], [20]
of Mount St. Elias region, [75]
of Copper River region, [76]
easy approach to Grand, Icy Bay, [19], [20]
Gold-bearing quartz, Sitkan Archipelago, [69], [70]
Cook’s Inlet, [96], [97]
Golovin Bay, Norton’s Sound, mines in, [424]
Goreloi, island of, [183], [184]
Government, civil laws, etc., for Alaska, [42]
Greek Church, in Alaska, [40], [41], [120], [121], [137], [164], [174], [178], [388]
Guano, accumulation prevented, [221]
H
Haidah Indians, best savages of the Sitkan region, [44]
house, or “rancherie,” [46], [47], [48], [49], [51]
Hair-seal, description of, [255], [256], [257], [332]
picture of Phoca-fœtida, [441]
picture of E. barbatus, [383]
Halibut, Sitkan natives fishing for, [55], [63]
Aleutes fishing for, [212], [213]
Hauling grounds, selection of, by fur-seals, [294], [295], [296]
Hogs, [108], [208]
Hot springs, near Sitka, [68]
Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, [122], [183], [184]
Homeward voyage and shipwreck of Bering, [3], [4]
Human protection of fur-seals, [373]
Hunting sea-otter, [127], [128], [129], [133], [134], [135], [136], [137], [138], [139], [140], [141], [142], [143], [144]
Hutchinson, H.M., his labors, [247], [248]
I
Ice Company, San Francisco, [105]
Icy Bay, grand glacier in, [19], [20]
Ilyamna, volcano of, [87]
lake, [396]
Implements, agricultural, manufacture of, at Sitka, [33]
Indians of the Sitkan region, [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [51], [52], [53], [54], [59], [60], [64], [65]
Ingaleek, or Interior Indians of Alaska, [408], [417], [418]
Innuits, or Eskimo, characteristics of, [376], [377], [378], [379], [380], [381], [382], [383], [384], [385], [386], [387], [388], [389], [390], [391], [392], [393], [394], [411], [426], [431], [432], [437], [456], [457], [458]
Intoxication among Alaskan natives, [66], [137], [174], [175], [235]
J
Japanese and Aleutian facial resemblance, [163]
Jumping out of water by fur-seals, [300], [301]
Juneau, gold mining at, [69]
Juvenal, tragic death of Father, [396], [397]
K
Kadiak, the island of, [98], [99], [103]
sheep raising, [107]
old colonial citizens of, [104]
sea-otter hunting by natives of, [116]
old ship-building industry, [105], [106]
Ice Company of San Francisco, [105]
timber line drawn upon, [103]
wars of early Russian traders, [102], [103]
visit, and establishment of Shellikov, [99], [100], [101], [102]
Kanaga, island of, [181], [183]
Kaniags, natives of Kadiak, [109], [110]
Kamlayka, the water-proof, [371]
Kashga, the Innuit, [385], [386], [387]
Kenai Peninsula, [84], [85], [86]
Kenaitze Indians, habits and appearance of, [87], [88], [89], [90], [91], [92], [93]
queer architecture of, [92]
Killer whales, their ferocity, [325], [327], [330]
Killing grounds, Seal Islands, [337], [338], [339], [340], [341]
Killing sea-lions, method of natives, [368], [369]
Kings Island, or Ookivok, [425], [426]
Kotzebue Sound, characteristics of, [432], [433], [434]
Kolmakovsky, trading-post of, [406]
Krenitzin Group of Islands, [148]
Kuskokvim region, characteristics of, [402], [403], [404], [405]
density of population of, [403], [404]
commercial poverty of it, [407], [408]
prevalence of mosquitoes in it, [405], [406]
L
Land and scenery of the Sitkan region, [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [26], [27]
of the Mount St. Elias region, [71], [72], [73], [74], [75]
of the Cook’s Inlet, [82], [83], [84], [85], [86]
of the Kadiak district, [98], [99], [100], [103], [104], [105], [106], [117]
of the Aleutian district, [148], [149], [150], [152], [153], [154], [155], [156], [157], [162], [163]
of the Pribylov Islands, [215], [226], [227]
of the Nooshagak region, [374], [375], [376], [395]
of the Kuskokvim region, [395], [403], [404], [405], [406], [407]
of the Yukon region, [395]
of the Bering Sea Islands, [425], [426], [427], [430], [442], [443], [461], [462]
of the Alaskan Arctic region, [424], [425], [434], [436], [437], [438], [439], [440]
Law, natural, obeyed among the fur-seals, [310]
protecting the seal islands, [250]
Lead, ore of, miner’s prospecting for, [424]
Lease of the Seal Islands, [250]
M
Mackerel, Atkhan, or “yellow-fish,” [181], [182]
Mahklok, big hair-seal (Erignathus), [382], [383]
Makooshin, volcano of, [160], [161]
Mammoth and mastodon, fossil remains of, [424], [434]
Massacre of Baranov’s Sitkan garrison (1801), [28]
of Drooshinnin’s party, [159]
of Seribniekov’s party, [76]
by Glottov, of Oonalaskhan natives, [160]
by Glottov, of Four Mountain natives, [186]
Measles and typhoid-pneumonia in, [64], [112], [113]
Medicines and pathology of Alaskan savages, [112]
Michaelovsky, trading-post of, [413], [419]
Mirage, the Arctic, [421]
Missionaries, Russian, labors of, [99], [106], [121], [388]
Moose, hunting of, [407]
Morgan, Captain E., labors of, [247], [248]
Morserovia, village of, [121]
Morse (see Walrus)
Mosses, Alaskan, [22], [38], [149], [155], [163], [200], [318], [398], [403], [420], [442], [462]
Mosquitoes, curse of Alaska, [405], [406]
none on Seal Islands, [204]
Mummies, Aleutian, [186]
Mushrooms, on the Seal Island, [203], [204]
Musk-ox not found in Alaska, [418]
Mutilation of female fur-seals, [276]
N
Nephelogical and auroral phenomena, [158], [198], [420]
Niebaum, Captain G., labors of, [247]
Nikolsky, village of, [184]
Nooshagak region and village of, [374], [375], [376], [398]
Nomenclature of fur-seal rookeries, [320]
Norton Sound, [424]
O
Occupation of Alaska by Americans (1867), [12]
of Alaska by Russians (1745-63), [128]
of the Seal Islands by Russians (1786), [192], [193]
of the Seal Islands by Americans (1868), [247], [248]
Odor from the killing grounds, [350], [351]
from the fur-seal blubber, [292], [372]
Oil, fur-seal and sea-lion, [372]
oolachan grease, [57]
herring, [57]
beluga and mahklok, [405]
coal, use of by Aleutes, [167]
“Old colonial settlers,” [85], [86]
Ommaney, Cape, [27]
Oomnak, island of, [184], [185]
Oonalashka, village and island of, [139], [156], [157], [158]
Oonimak, island of, [145], [146], [147]
Oonga, village and fisheries, [122], [123], [124]
Ookamok, island and penal settlement on, [116], [117]
Ookivok, island and village of, [425], [426]
Oogashik, village of, [119]
Oonalga, island of, [155]
Oogalgan, island of, [155]
Oogamok, island of, [148]
Otter Island, or “Bobrovia,” [219]
Otter, sea, hunting, [120], [179]
a description of it, [130], [131], [132]
P
Parka, the Innuit garment, [377], [378], [410], [411]
Pelagic fur sealing, [452], [453]
Peninsula of Alaska, [82], [117], [118]
Penal settlement, R. A. Co. on Ookamok, [116], [117]
Pneumonia, typhoid, scourge of, recently, [112], [113]
Pogromnia Sopka, volcano of, [146]
Polar bears, on the Seal Islands, [194], [464]
on St. Matthew’s Island, [463], [464]
Poonook, islets and village of, [444]
Population of Alaska, [13], [14]
Poultry kept in Alaska, [107], [185]
Port Clarence, description of, [427], [428]
Potatoes, how cultivated, and where, [60], [61], [106], [421]
Powers and privileges of old Russian Company, [9], [10], [11]
Pribylov, Gerassim, the discoverer of the Seal Islands, [191], [192], [323]
Pribylov Islands, agriculture on, [204]
algæ of the, [214], [215]
animals and birds, [208], [209], [210], [211], [213], [214], [223], [224]
churches and schools, [241], [246]
climate and winds, [194], [195], [196], [197]
colonization, [193], [230], [231]
creature-comforts of natives now, [232], [233]
description of natives of, [235], [236], [237], [238], [239]
dimensions and contour of, [215], [226], [227]
disappearance of seals and birds in winter, [305], [306], [327]
discussion of seal life, [255], [258], [292], [293], [294]
eligibility of, [229], [230]
flowering plants, etc., of, [200], [201], [202], [203]
fogs and mists of, [194], [195], [306]
gastronomic value of water-fowl eggs, [211]
general business methods of sealing, [234], [237], [245], [246], [252]
geographical position of, [194]
geological structure of, [199], [215], [216], [217], [224], [225], [227], [228]
grand total of fur-seals on, [312]
isolation of rookeries on, [191], [193], [194]
insects of, [204]
lack of harbors in the, [217], [218]
land animals of the, [205], [206], [207]
peculiar advantages of, to fur-seals, [194], [195], [230]
Pribylov Islands, peculiar cats on the, [207]
polar bears on the, [194], [464]
poultry kept on the, [208]
remarks on walrus of the, [255], [332]
Russian slaughter on, [316]
scarcity of fish around the, [212]
status of early colonists, [231], [232]
sheep, on the rookeries, [270]
stock-raising on the, [207], [208]
vast numbers of water-fowl on the, [220], [221], [222]
Veniaminov’s account of the, [194], [200]
vigilance of the natives, [253]
weight, growth, etc., of fur-seals on the 278, [279], [304], [305]
Prince Frederick Sound, its awful scenic grandeur, [23]
Prince William Sound, its gloomy scenic character, [78]
Prince of Wales Island, [15], [99]
Prostration of natives in sunshine, [197]
of fur-seals, when driven, [336]
Protection of fur-seals, [326], [327], [332], [373]
Pups, fur-seal, description of, [282], [283], [284], [285], [286], [287]
learning to swim, [287], [288], [289]
Q
Quartz mines near Sitka, [69], [70]
on Douglas Island, [70]
R
Reindeer, [121], [122], [397], [418]
marked difference from that of Siberia, [397], [398]
Rocks of St. Matthew’s Island, beauty of, [463]
Rookeries, Pribylov Islands, [292], [293], [294], [310], [311], [312]
Resurrection Bay, first Alaskan shipyard there, [79]
Russian-American Company, its history, [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [103]
Russian coins, their names and value, [8]
exploration and traders, bad record of, [4], [5], [6]
rival companies (1745-1786), [191]
seal islands, Bering and Copper, [327], [373]
Governors living at Sitka, [34]
Russians, as they lived at Sitka, [32], [33]
S
Saanak, great sea-otter camp of, [138], [141], [142]
Saint Elias, Mount, [73]
George Village, Pribylov Group, [352]
Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, [442], [443]
Matthew’s Island, Bering Sea, [461], [462], [463]
Michaels, post of, [413], [419]
Saint Nicholas, redoubt, Kenai, [84]
Paul Village, Pribylov Group, [352]
Salmon in the Sitkan region, [56]
in Cook’s Inlet, Sitkan region, [87], [94], [95], [96]
in the Kadiak district, [115], [116]
in the Aleutian district, [168], [185]
in the Nooshagak district, [398], [399], [400]
in the Kuskokvim district, [404]
in the Yukon district, [417], [418]
in the Alaskan Arctic, [434], [435]
Salt House, work in, at Saint Paul, [345], [346]
Semeisopochnoi, islands of, [181]
Schools, [120], [173]
Scrofula, virulence of, among Alaskan natives, [111]
Sea-cow, Rhytina stelleri, [4]
Seal (see Fur-seal, Hair-seal)
Seal Islands (see Pribylov Islands)
Seal and walrus hunting, Innuit, [400], [426], [440], [441], [460], [461]
Sea-otter, a description of it, [130], [131], [132]
early Russian hunt for, [128], [191]
native hunters of, [133], [134], [135], [136], [137], [138], [139], [179], [181]
Sea-lions, arrival at breeding grounds, [357]
Eumetopias stelleri, adult males, [354], [355], [356], [357]
Eumetopias stelleri, adult females, [357]
description of a fight between rivals, [355], [356]
general uses of, to natives, [363], [369]
natives driving the, [364], [365], [366], [367]
manner of capture of, [364], [365]
manner of penning or coralling, [365]
manner of killing them on St. Paul, [368], [369]
meat, good quality of, [372]
sites of their abandoned rookeries, [321], [322]
St. George, the last resort for, [362], [363]
shedding hair, [360]
shyness and relative cowardice, [332], [356]
Shamans, their services, [50], [112]
Sheep, trial, and failure to raise in Alaska, [107]
Shellikov, Grigoria, his labors, [99], [100], [101], [102]
Shipbuilding in Alaska, [79], [80], [105], [106]
Shipyard at Sitka, [32]
Shishaldin, beautiful volcano of, [146]
Shoomagin Islands, [122], [123], [124], [125], [126]
Siberian coast, Bering Straits’ shore, [429]
Sitka, its history, [27], [29], [30], [31], [32]
as it is to-day, [33], [34], [35]
Small-pox, epidemic of, [64], [113], [421]
Soil and climate, not favorable to agriculture (see Agriculture)
Special Agents of the Treasury Department, [251], [252]
Sports and pastimes of the natives, [65], [175]
of the young fur-seals, [298], [299], [300]
Steamers, trading, on the Yukon, [414]
Steller, George W., his labors, [189]
Stench arising from fur-seal carcasses, [350], [351]
from decaying salmon and its roe, [57], [399]
Superstitions of the natives, [80], [81], [90]
Surveys of the fur-seal breeding grounds, [310], [311], [312]
Swans, capture of, [399]
Swimming feats of fur-seals, [300], [301], [302]
T
Tanaga, island of, [181], [183]
Telegraph, Collins Overland, [427], [428]
Thlinkets, or Sitkan Archipelago Indians, [43], [44], [45], [52], [53], [54], [59], [60]
Tidal phenomena of Cook’s Inlet, [83], [87]
of Bristol Bay, [374], [375]
of Kuskokvim River, [400]
uncertainties in Bering Sea, [197], [198]
Tigalda, island of, [154], [155]
Timber of Alexander Archipelago, [21], [22], [71]
of Mount St. Elias region, [72], [77]
of Cook’s Inlet region, [85]
of Kadiak District region, [103], [104], [105]
of Aleutian District region, [157]
of Alaskan Interior region, [395], [408], [409], [416]
of Alaskan Arctic region, [425], [439], [443]
Tinneh, or Ingaleeks of Alaska, [408]
Timidity and shyness of pinnipeds at sea, [331]
Togiaks, Quaker-like Innuits, [401], [402]
Treasury Department, its control of Seal Islands, [250], [251], [252]
Totem and totemic posts, [49]
Transfer of Alaska, cause why so done, [11], [12]
Traffic by traders in the Sitkan region, [36], [37], [38], [39]
in the Kadiak region, [119], [120], [129]
in the Aleutian region, [129], [191]
in the Yukon, Nooshagak, and Kuskokvim region, [384], [414], [418]
in the Bering Sea and the Arctic, [425]
Treadwell Gold-mining Stamp Mill, [69], [71]
Tusks of the Walrus, [450], [451]
U
Ugiak, Eskimo sea-god, [393], [423]
Uses of sea-lion skins in making boats, [370], [371]
of walrus-skins in making boats, [454]
of walrus-teeth, [404]
V
Veniaminov, the distinguished Russian priest, [37], [309]
Volcanic region of Cook’s Inlet, [87]
region of Oonimak, [146], [147], [148]
region of Atkha, [183]
region of Oomnak, [161]
Volcanic elevation of Bogaslov Islet recently, [186], [187]
Voyage of Captain Cook (1778), [83], [176], [430]
of Veit Bering (1741), [1], [2], [3], [4], [73], [74]
of Tscherikov (1741), [1], [73], [74]
of Shellikov (1782-84), [99], [100], [102]
of Simeon Deschnev (1648), [429]
W
Walker, Lake, [399], [400]
Walrus, a description of, [444], [445], [446], [447], [449]
in Bristol Bay, [399]
alarm when approached in boats, [332]
in Arctic, [425], [444]
Walrus Islet, a description of, [220], [444], [445]
visit to, gathering eggs, [210], [220], [221], [222], [223]
Walrus and seal-hunting and hunters, [400], [426], [440], [441], [460], [461]
Wars of the Thlinkets, [44]
of the Innuits, [417]
of the Russian traders, [6], [29], [30], [101]
Water-craft of the Sitkans, [62], [63]
of the Aleutes, [33]
of the Ingaleeks, [417]
of the Innuits, [411], [427], [453], [454]
Weaving, grass baskets, hats, etc., by Aleutians, [181]
grass and bark, by Sitkans, [52]
Whaling, Aleutian, [151], [152], [153]
Americans, [71], [72], [440], [441]
Innuit, [439]
Wolves, none on the Aleutian Chain now, [156]
Wrangel, Mount, the highest North American peak, [77]
town of, [17], [18], [25]
Y
Yukon, the river, its characteristics, [413], [413], [414], [415], [416], [419]
contiguous country to, [415], [416]
its people, [417], [418], [419]
Z
Zagoskin, Lieutenant, his labors (1841-1845), [422]
Zarenbo, island of, [27]
Lieutenant, [25]
Zalophus and Eumetopias, differences between, [362]