All the islands in Alaskan waters are mountainous, some of the elevations rising from four thousand to eight thousand feet; but the entire division is devoid of trees. The soil is a mixture of loam, clay, and volcanic detritus; and grasses of all kinds grow in great abundance. Coal has been discovered in the island of Ounga; but this is the only mineral riches yet disclosed, although ‘prospecting’ has been carried on for years. The coal is of very poor quality. The climate of this division is more temperate than that of the other districts, and at one time it was thought that the rich grasses might allow of cattle-breeding on a considerable scale. The long winters, however, have shown this to be impracticable; and it has been found that hay, even, can be imported from San Francisco cheaper than it can be grown and cured on the spot. The only part where cattle are kept by the priests and white traders is at Oonalashka, and the fact is interesting as indicating the danger of trusting to poetic descriptions of places. Thomas Campbell, it may be remembered, speaks of ‘the pilot’ guiding his bark where
Cold on his midnight watch the breezes blow
From wastes that slumber in eternal snow;
And waft across the wave’s tumultuous roar,
The wolf’s long howl from Oonalashka’s shore.
As a matter of fact, the country here is neither ‘wastes,’ nor does it ‘slumber in eternal snow.’ The summer is warm; the vegetation, as we have said, is rich; and it may be doubted if the ‘wolf’s long howl’ has ever been heard by the oldest inhabitant. At anyrate, we can find no mention of wolves there now, although foxes are abundant enough. The Aleutian islands are well peopled; and the people are semi-civilised, the Russians having had relations with them and settlements and missions among them for more than a century. There are now schools at which both English and Russian are taught, and ‘stores’ at which the natives can provide themselves with the clothing of civilisation. The Aleutian ladies, indeed, whose lords have grown rich with their seal-fishing, can even sport silks on great occasions, and at all times display a fondness for ribbons and ‘trade’ jewellery. Only the exceptionally rich, however, can afford bonnets or hats; and the Russian-peasant fashion of tying a handkerchief over the head is the prevailing one. The men are especially fond of the broad-crowned, red-banded caps of the Russian uniforms, which were the first examples of civilised clothing ever seen on their shores. While the men devote themselves to the fishing, the women make mats, baskets, cigar-cases, and other articles of grass-cloth; and they turn out some very delicate and beautiful work. The waters are rich in fish of all kinds; but the most important industry is the seal-fishing that is now conducted under leases from the United States government, which retains the monopoly.
The south coast of the eastern half of the Alaska peninsula, with the adjacent islands and a portion of the mainland, forms another geographical division called the Kadiak section. It comprises altogether some seventy thousand eight hundred and eighty-four square miles, and has a population of four thousand three hundred and fifty-two, of which thirty-four are whites, and nine hundred and seventeen creoles. This district is mountainous, well watered, abounds in fur-clad animals, and the men, when not hunters, are fishers. Several settlements and missions were founded by the Russians in various parts of this district; and at one time there was even a ship-building establishment in Resurrection Bay. The forests are dense, and some of the timber is of immense size, especially the spruce.
A narrow strip of coast running from Mount St Elias to the boundary-line of British Columbia, forms the last or south-eastern division of Alaska. It covers twenty-eight thousand nine hundred and eighty square miles, and it forms a wedge of some five hundred miles in length between Canada and the western sea. In character, this section of Alaska differs from all the rest, and is essentially similar to that of the British possessions. It is mountainous and densely wooded; the forests come quite down to the sea-line, and are very valuable; the coast is indented by countless bays and fiords, and is sheltered the greater portion of its length by a chain of islands, forming the Alexander Archipelago. The spruce and the yellow cedar are the most valuable of the forest-trees, and the timber of these is annually exported in considerable quantity. Coal exists on several of the islands, and at some places on the mainland, but has not been worked yet to any great extent. Both copper and gold are known to exist, and have been and are to some extent being mined. Other minerals are supposed to exist, and the Americans expect that this division of Alaska will in time become a great mining field. Already the mining industry has thrown the fur-trade into the second place, and yet the yield of fox, marten, otter, bear, and beaver skins is annually very considerable. The hunting is carried on by the natives, who are of the Thlinket Indian race; the rest of the population of seven thousand seven hundred and forty-eight being made up of two hundred and ninety-three whites and two hundred and thirty creoles. Salmon, halibut, and herring fishing are carried on along the coast; and there are two or three salting and canning establishments. There are also factories for the production of oil from the herring, the dog-fish, and the shark; and on the islands there is some seal-fishing.
The climate of this division is not very cold, the average mean temperature being forty-three degrees twenty-eight minutes; but the rainfall is heavy, ranging from eighty to one hundred inches per annum. The principal settlement of this district is Sitka. Here are the headquarters of the United States naval station for Alaska, and here also resides the collector of customs, who is the civil representative of the government of Washington in the territory. In the time of the Russians, there were several schools and churches at Sitka, but now there is only one church, and the teaching is left practically to the missionaries of the Presbyterian and Roman Catholic bodies.
The total population of the whole of the enormous country called Alaska is computed at only 33,426, and of this number, only four hundred and thirty are whites; creoles number 1756; Eskimos, 17,617; Aleuts, 2145; Athabaskans, 3927; Thlinkets, 6763; and Hydas, 788. Of the habits, customs, and beliefs of these curious peoples, we may tell something on another occasion.