make the same report. The forests testify also. According to physical geography it could not be otherwise. The warm air from the ocean encountering the snow-capped mountains would naturally produce this result. Rain is nothing but atmosphere condensed and falling in drops to the earth. Fog is atmosphere still held in solution, but so far condensed as to become visible. This condensation occurs when the air is chilled by contact with a colder atmosphere. Now these very conditions occur on the north-west coast. The ocean air, as it comes in contact with the elevated range, is chilled until its moisture is set free. Any Add to these influences, especially as regards Sitka, the presence of mountain masses and of dense forests, all tending to make this coast warmer in winter and colder in summer than it would otherwise be. Practical observation has verified these conclusions of science. isothermal map is enough for our purpose; but there are others which show the relative conditions generally of different portions of the globe. I ask attention to those of Keith Johnston, in his admirable Atlas. But I am glad to present a climatic table of the Pacific coast in comparison with the Atlantic coast, which has been recently compiled, at my request, from the archives of the Smithsonian Institution with permission of its learned Secretary, by a collaborator of the Institution, who visited Russian America under the auspices of the Telegraph Company. In studying this table we shall be able to comprehend the relative position of this region in the physical geography of the world: Canada East St. Michael's, Russian Fort Yonkon, Russian San Francisco, California Nain, Labrador (lat. 57° 10') Montreal, (lat. 45° 30'). Portland, Maine (lat. 43° 39') 19. 62 49.32 36.05 0.95 24.57 18.32 15.75 32.10 23.77 89.94 7.52 3.68 15.13 20.65 46.98 16.43 4.85 21.77 44.15 87.20 6.65 0.09 2.69 13.49 22.92 Fort Hamilton, New York Washington, District of 11.69 11.64 9.88 10.31 43.22 54. 19 73.07 53.91 33.57 53.69 10.48 10.53 10 16 10.06 41.24 It will be seen from this table that the winters of Sitka are relatively warm, not differing much from those of Washington, and several degrees warmer than those of New York; but the summers are colder. The mean temperature of winter is 32° 30', while that of summer is 53° 37'. The Washington winter is 38° 57'; the Washington summer is 73° 7'. These points exhibit the peculiarities of this coast-warm winters and cool summers. The winter of Sitka is milder than that of many European capitals. It is much milder than that of St. Petersburgh, Moscow, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berne, or Berlin. It is milder even than that of Manheim, Stuttgard, Vienna, Sebastopol in the Crimea, or Turin. It is not much colder than that of Padua. According to observations at Sitka in 1831, it froze for only two days in December and seven days in January. In February the longest frost lasted five days; in March it did not freeze during the day at all, and rarely in the night. During the next winter the thermometer did not fall below 21 degrees Fahrenheit; in January 1834 it reached 11 degrees. On the other hand a temperature of 50 degrees has been noted in January. The roadstead is open throughout the year, and only a few land-locked bays are frozen. The prevailing dampness at Sitka makes a residence there far from agreeable, although it does not appear to be injurious to health. England is also damp, but Englishmen boast that theirs is the best climate of the world. At Sitka the annual fall of rain is 89 inches. The mean annual fall in all England is 40 inches, although in mountainous districts of Cumberland and Westmoreland the fall amounts to 90 and even 140 inches. In Washington it is 41 inches. The forests at Sitka are so wet that they will not burn, although frequent attempts have been made to set them on fire. The houses, which are of wood, suffer from the constant moisture. In 1828 there were 20 days when it rained or snowed continuously; 120 when it rained or snowed part of the day, and only 66 days of clear weather. Some years only 40 bright days have been counted. Hinds, the naturalist, records only 37 "really clear and fine days." A scientific observer who was there last year counted 60. A visitor for 14 days found only 2 when nautical observations could be made; but these were as fine as he had ever known in any country. The whole coast from Sitka to the Peninsula of Alaska seems to have the same continuous climate, whether as regards temperature or moisture. The Island of Kodiak and the recess of Cook's Inlet are outside of this climatic curve, so as to be comparatively dry. Langsdorf reports the winters "frequently so mild in the lower parts of Kodiak that the snow does not lie upon the ground for any length of time, nor is anything like severe cold felt." The Aleutian Islands, further west, are somewhat colder than Sitka, although the difference is not great. The summer temperature is seldom above 66 degrees; the winter temperature is more seldom as low as 2 degrees below zero. The snow falls about the beginning of October, and is seen sometimes as late as the end of April; but it does not remain long on the surface. The mean temperature of Ounalaska is about 40 degrees. Chamisso found the temperature of spring water at the beginning of the year to be 38 degrees 50 minutes. There are some years when it rains on this island the whole winter. The fog prevails from April till the middle of July, when they seem for the time to be driven further north. The islands northward toward Behring Straits are proportionately colder, but you will not forget that the American coast is milder than the opposite coast of Asia. 72 From Mr. Bannister I have an authentic statement with regard to the temperature north of the Aleutians, as observed by himself in the autumn of 1865 and the months following. Even here the winter does not seem so terrible as is sometimes imagined. During most of the time work could be done with comfort in the open air. It was only when it stormed that the men were kept within doors. In transporting supplies from St. Michael's to Nulato, a distance of 250 miles, they found no hardship, even when obliged to bivouac in the open air. On Norton Sound and the Kwichpak River winter may be said to commence at the end of September, although the weather is not severe till the end of October. The first snow falls about the 20th or 25th September. All the small ponds and lakes were frozen early in October. The Kwichpak was frozen solid about the 20th or 25th of this month. On the 1st November the harbour at St. Michael's was still open, but on the morning of the 4th it was frozen solid enough for sledges to cross on the ice. In December there were two thaws, one of them accompanied by rain for a day. The snow was about 2 feet deep at the end of the month. January was uniformly cold, and it was said that at one place 65 miles, north-east of St. Michael's the thermometer descended to 58 degrees below zero. February was unusually mild all over the country. In the middle of the month there was an extensive thaw, with showers of rain. About half of the snow disappeared, leaving much of the ground bare. March was pleasant, without very cold weather. Its mean temperature was 20 degrees; its minimum was 3 degrees below zero. Spring commences on the Kwichpak on the 1st May, or a few days later, when the birds return and vegetation begins to appear. The ice did not entirely disappear from the river till after the 20th May. The sea ice continued in the Bay of St. Michael's as late as the 1st June. The summer temperature is much higher in the interior of the country than on the coast. Parties travelling on the Kwichpak in June complained sometimes from the heat. The River Youkon, which, flowing into the Kwichpak, helps to swell that stream, is navigable for at least four, if not five, months in the year. The thermometer at Fort Youkon is sometimes at 65 degrees below zero of Fahrenheit, and for three months of a recent winter it stood at 50 degrees below zero without variation. In summer it rises above 80 degrees in the shade; but a hard frost occurs at times in August. The south-west wind brings warmth; the north-east wind brings cold. Some years there is no rain for months, and then again showers alternate with sunshine. The snow packs hard at an average of 24 feet deep. The ice is 4 or 5 feet thick; in a severe winter it is 6 feet thick. Life at Fort Youkon under these rigours of Nature, although not inviting, is not intolerable. Such is the climate of this extensive region, so far as is known, along its coast, among its islands, and on its great rivers, from its southern limits to its most northern ice, with contrasts and varieties such as Milton describes: For hot, cold, moist and dry, four champions fierce VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. IV. Vegetable Products depend upon climate. They are determined by its laws. Therefore what has been already said upon the one prepares the way for the consideration of the other; and here we have the reports of navigators and the suggestions of science. From the time this coast was first visited navigators reported the aspects which Nature assumed. But their opportunities were casual, and they were obliged to confine themselves to what was most obvious. As civilization did not exist, the only vegetable products were indigenous to the soil. These were trees, berries, and plants. At the first landing, on the discovery of the coast by Behring, Steller found among the provisions in one of the Indian cabins "a sweet herb dressed for food in the same manner as in Kamtchatka." That "sweet herb" is the first vegetable production of which we have any record on this coast. At the same time, although ashore only six hours, this naturalist "gathered herbs and brought such a quantity to the ship that the describing of them took him a considerable time." This description it is said was adopted afterwards in the Flora Siberica. Trees were noticed even before landing. They enter into descriptions, and are often introduced to increase the savage wildness of the scene. La Pérouse doubts "if the deep valleys of the Alps and the Pyrenees present a picture so frightful and at the same time so picturesque, which would deserve to be visited by the curious if it were not at one of the extremities of the earth." (Tom. 2, p. 191.) Lisiansky, as he approached the coast of Sitka, records that "nothing presented itself to the view but impenetrable woods reaching from the waterside to the very tops. of the highest mountains, so wild and gloomy that they appeared more adapted for the residence of wild beasts than of men" (p. 145). Lütke portrays the "savage and picturesque aspect" of the whole north-west coast. (Tom. 1, p. 101.) 73 As navigators landed they saw Nature in detail; and here they were impressed by the size of the trees. Cook finds at Prince William Sound "Canada and spruce pine, some of them tolerably large." La Pérouse alludes to trees more than once. He describes pines measuring 6 feet in diameter and 140 feet in height, and then again introduces us to "those superb pines fit for the masts of our largest vessels." Portlock notices in Cook's Inlet "wood of different kinds in great abundance, such as pine, black birch, witch hazel, and poplar; many of the pines large enough for lower masts to a ship of 400 tons burden;" and then again at Port Etches he noticed "trees of the pine kind, some very large, a good quantity of alder, a kind of hazel, but not larger than will do for making handspikes." Meares reports "woods thick," also "the black pine in great plenty, capable of making excellent spars." Vancouver reports in latitude 60° 17" a woodland country." Sauer, who was there a little later, in the expedition of Billings, saw trees 6 feet in diameter, and 150 feet in height, "excellent wood for shipbuilding." In Prince William Sound the ship "took in a variety of fine spars," and he proceeds to say, "the timber comprised a variety of pines of immense thickness and height, some entirely tough and fibrous, and of these we made our best oars." Lisiausky says that at Kodiak, "for want of fir he made a new bowsprit of one of the pine trees, which answered admirably." Lütke testifies to the "magnificent pine and fir" at Sitka, adding what seems an inconsistent judgment with regard to its durability. Belcher notices Garden Island, in latitude 60° 21', as "covered with pine trees;" and then again at Sitka speaks of a "very fine-grained bright yellow cypress as the most valuable wood, which, besides being used in boats, was exported to the Sandwich Islands in return especially for Chinese goods." Turning westward from Cook's Inlet the forests on the sea-line are rarer until they entirely disappear. The first Settlement on the Island of Kodiak was on the south-western coast, but the want of timber there caused its transfer to the north eastern coast, where there are "considerable forests of fine tall trees." But where trees are wanting grass seems to abound. This is the case with Kodiak, the Peninsula of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands generally. Of these, Ounalaska, libelled by the immortal verse of Campbell, has been the most described. This well-known island is without trees; but it seems singularly adapted to the growth of grass, which is often so high as to impede the traveller, and to over-top even the willows. The mountains themselves are for a considerable distance clothed with rich turf. One of these scenes is represented in a print which you will find among the views of the vegetation of the Pacific in the London reproduction of the work of Kittlitz. This peculiarity was first noticed by Cook, who says, with a sailor sententiousness, that he did not see there "a single stick of wood of any size," but "plenty of grass very thick and to a great length." Lütke records that after leaving Brazil he met nothing so agreeable as the grass of this island. North of Alaska, on Behring Sea, the forests do not approach the coast, except at the heads of bays and sounds, although they abound in the interior, and extend even to within a short distance of the Frozen Ocean. Such is the personal testimony of a scientific observer who has recently returned from this region. In Norton's Sound, Cook, who was the first to visit it, reports "a coast covered with wood, an agreeable sight," and, on walking in the country, "small spruce trees, none more than 6 or 8 inches in diameter." The next day he sent men ashore "to cut brooms, which he needed, and the branches of spruce trees for brewing beer." On the Kwichpak and its affluent, the Youkon, trees are sometimes as high as 100 feet. The supply of timber at St. Michael's is from the drift wood of the river. Near Fort Youkon, at the junction of the Porcupine and the Youkon, are forests of pine, poplar, willow, and birch. The pine is the most plentiful; but the small islands in the great river are covered with poplar and willow. Immense trunks rolling under the fort show that there must be large trees nearer the head-waters. But even in northern latitudes the American coast is not without vegetation. Grass here takes the place of trees. At Fort Youkon, in latitude 67°, there is "a thin, wiry grass." Navigators notice the contrast between the opposite coasts of the two continents. Kotzebue, while in Behring Straits, where the two approach each other, was struck by black, mossy rocks frowning with snow and icicles on the Asiatic side, while on the American side "even the summits of the highest mountains were free from snow, and the coast was covered with a green carpet." ("Voyage," vol. i, p. 249.) But the contrast with the Atlantic coast of the continent is hardly less. The northern limit of trees is full seven degrees higher in Russian America than in Labrador. In point of fact, on the Atlantic coast, in latitude 57° 58', which is that of Sitka, there are no trees. All this is most suggestive. Next after trees early navigators speak oftenest of berries, which they found in profusion. Not a sailor lands who does not find them. Cook reports "berries" on Norton Sound, and "a great variety" at Ounalaska. Portlock finds at Port Etches "fruit bushes in great abundance, such as bilberry, raspberry, strawberry, and currant, red and black." At Prince William Sound "any quantity might be gathered for a winter stock." Meares saw there "a few black currant bushes." Billings finds at Kodiak "several species of berries, with currants and raspberries in abundance, the latter white, but extremely large, being bigger than a mulberry." Langsdorf finds all these at Ounalaska, with whortleberries and cranberries besides. Belcher reports at Garden Island "strawberries, pigeon-berries, whortleberries, and a small cranberry in tolerable profusion, without going in search of them." All these I quote precisely, and in the order of time. Next to berries were plants for food; and these were in constant abundance. Behring, on landing at the Shumagin Islands, observed the natives "to eat roots which they dug out of the ground, and scarce shaked off the earth before they ate them." Cook reports at Ounalaska "a great variety of plants, such as are found in Europe and other |