CHAP. XXI.]

PLOVER BAY.

241

that prompted some of them at Unalachleet, Norton Sound, on hearing of the withdrawal of our forces, to hang black cloth on the telegraph-poles, and put them into mourning!

Some few of the workmen had suffered from frost-bite and scurvy. À propos of the latter terrible scourge, it is to be remarked, that our men at Port Clarence, the worst fed of all our parties, who had lived for a long time on a native diet of walrus and seal blubber, had not suffered from it at all, while those in Norton Sound, who got a fair amount of flour, &c., from the Russian posts, suffered severely from the disease.

. On the 18th August, after many a false alarm of a "ship outside," the Clara Bell' arrived, and on the 29th of the same month we were all gathered once more in Plover Bay on the opposite Asiatic shore, awaiting the arrival of our largest vessel, the 'Nightingale.'

In Plover Bay were now encamped 120 men who had wintered at places as widely apart as the Anadyr, Plover Bay itself, and Russian America; and Major Wright and Captain Norton, of the 'Clara Bell,' deserved great credit for the energy with which they had accomplished the task of collecting them. To most of the stations they had paid two visits; the first, of course, to give notice to the employés in the interior. Of the men who wintered in these almost Arctic spots, but one had died, while a second, smitten by the charms of some lovely squaw, had determined to remain

-a voluntary exile in Eastern Siberia! Captain Kelsey, who had charge of the Plover Bay station, did all in his power to make the parties comfortable in their temporary camps. Rude erections of canvas, sails, poles, and planks,

R

lined the shores of the little harbour, and our stay at "Kelsey-ville" (as it has been already inserted on a map issued by the Department of State at Washington) will not soon be forgotten by us. During our stay, Captain Redfield, of the Manuella,' arrived; and, after he had got through his trade with the natives, gave them a display of fireworks and blue lights—a thing frequently done by the whalers. The exhibition took place on a lovely evening, and the calm water of the bay gave double effect to the scene.

Whilst stopping in Plover Bay, some of our men found a keg of specimens preserved in alcohol, belonging to one of our Smithsonian collectors. Having had a long abstinence from exhilarating drinks, the temptation was too much for them, and they proceeded to broach the contents. After they had imbibed to their hearts' content, and become "visibly affected thereby," they thought it a pity to waste the remaining contents of the barrel, and, feeling hungry, went on to eat the lizards, snakes, and fish which had been put up for a rather different purpose! Science was avenged in the result, nor do I think they will ever repeat the experiment.

I was informed by my friends, Bush, MacCrea, and Farnham, that at the Anadyr River blinding snow-storms had been prevalent during winter, and between log houses no more than a hundred yards apart, it had been found necessary to stretch a guiding rope for the men. One of our barques, the Golden Gate,' had been wrecked in Anadyr Bay the previous autumn, in the following manner. She had grounded on a sand-bar, and the ice had formed round her before she could be got off. At a later period, a gale of wind raised a bad sea, and the ice, smashing up round

CHAP. XXI.]

RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO.

243

her, stove in an immense leak, and she was eventually much broken up in the hull. All her stores, rigging, and sails were stripped from her, but fortunately no one was lost or injured by her wreck. They had obtained supplies of meat in quantities. On one occasion they purchased 150 head of reindeer, and preserved the venison frozen for several months. The herds belonging to the Tchuktchis of that part of Siberia were numbered by the thousand.

On the 6th September, Colonel Bulkley arrived in the 'Nightingale,' and, as soon as everything and everybody was on board, we set sail for San Francisco, and made an excellent run there in twenty-two days.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE VALUE OF ALASKA. THE ORIGIN OF THE ESQUIMAUX

OF NORTHERN ALASKA AND GREENLAND.

The value of Alaska-The furs and fisheries-The purchase, an act of justice to Russia - The Aleutian Islands — Volcanoes - Bogoslov Island – The Asiatic origin of the Esquimaux — The Tchuktchis― Sea-going - The voyages of two Japanese junks-The connecting links between the Tchuktchis and the Esquimaux-Language-Degeneration of the Esquimaux-Community of goods - The "Schaman" and the "Angekok."

canoes

THAT Russian America is likely to prove a bad bargain to the United States Government, I cannot believe. The extreme northern division of the country may, indeed, be nearly valueless; but the foregoing pages will have shown, that, in the more central portions of the territory, furs are abundant, and that the trade in them, which may probably be further developed, must fall into American hands. The southern parts of the country are identical in character with the neighbouring British territory, and will probably be found to be as rich in mineral wealth; whilst the timber, though of an inferior growth, owing to the higher latitude, will yet prove by no means worthless.

The fisheries may become of great value. There are extensive cod-banks off the Aleutian Isles, and on many other parts of the coast. Salmon is the commonest of common fish in all the rivers of the North Pacific, and is rated accord

CHAP. XXII.]

FISHERIES.

245

ingly as food only fit for those who cannot get better. In Alaska, as in British Columbia, the fish can be obtained in vast quantities, simply at the expense of native labour. To this add the value of salt (or vinegar), barrels and freight, and one sees the slight total cost which would be incurred in exporting to benighted Europe that which would there be considered a luxury.*

There is a further reason why the United States have done well to purchase this territory. It is an act of justice to the Russian Government. For the past twenty years the whalers in Bering Sea and the Arctic-who are mainly Americans had traded at certain parts of the coast, and had thereby considerably reduced the profits of the Russian American Fur Company. Although nominally whalers, they were nearly all traders also. The Russians, albeit always hospitable, were naturally very averse to these vessels putting into their ports, and may-be trading under their very noses. A large part of the whaling captains had consequently never visited many of the larger Russian settlements, such as Sitka, Ounalaska, St. Paul's, or St. Michael's. Now, all these and many other ports are perfectly open to them, whilst the

* In Petropaulovski a merchant told me that he had made in this way 6000 dollars in one season, at no more trouble to himself than that incurred in a little superintendence of the natives employed. The enterprising American is the last man to neglect this source of profit.

A recent newspaper "Correspondent" expresses surprise at the latest news from Sitka, which states that the carcass of a deer may still be purchased there for three or four dollars (12s. to 16s.); a grouse or a salmon for 25 cents (1s.). But they are worth no more at this day in Victoria (V. I.), in the towns of the Columbia or Fraser rivers, and, at the date of my visit to Sitka, were to be obtained for a castaway coat, a string of beads, or a few charges of powder.