The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-18 00:00:00

Russian Territory in America.

From the vague and conflicting descriptions which
have appeared in the press in relation to the terri-
tory on the North American continent recently ceded
by the Russian Government to the United States
for a pecuniary consideration, it is quite obvious
that few persons in England have any distinct know-
ledge of the extent and value of that immense re-
gion. The people of America, however, we do not
doubt, are better informed on the subject, and have
not concluded their bargain with the Russian Go-
vernment merely from an ambitious desire to enlarge
their territories, but with a view of turning to pro-

citable account, in a variety of ways, their new

acquisition. Just as in the early part of the century
they coveted and at length obtained possession of
Louisiana and the Floridas, and with those countries

an outlet by way of the Mississippi for the vast and
increasing produce of the Western States, and in
more recent times wrested from Mexico the valu-

able gold fields of California ; so we believe at the
present time the Americans, in purchasing at almost
a nominal price the region hitherto known as Rus-
sian America, have been actuated principally•by the
desire to open out a new source of wealth to the
great Republic. We have as yet had nothing like
an accurate description of Russian America, or of
its varied resources. With a coast upon the Pacific
of some 1,500 miles in length, indented by nume-
rous sounds and capacious harbours, and studded
with many large islands of considerable resources, it

extends back; f9r about 1,000 miles of that coast, to
a distance of 900 miles, and for the remaining 500
miles of coast to 30 miles, the latter being the por-
tion in front of British Columbia, which it cuts off
from the Pacific; while the peninsula of Alaska,
about 59 miles in breadth, stretches out into the
Pacific for upwards of 300 miles ; the whole terri-
tory comprising an area of—not between 300 and
400, as stated in recent descriptions—but 900,000
miles. It is thus about 16 times the size of England.
It contains many mountain ranges of
great height,
and fine valleys, magnificently watered and fer-
tilised by lakes and rivers ; the mountain ranges
in the upper and broader portion of the territory
having a transverse direction, and therefore shelter-
' ing the valleys from northerly winds, which in that
quarter are cold winds in summer, while in winter
they invariably cause a rise in the thermometer. A
great portion of this vast region is covered with
forests of the largest and most valuable trees. In
speaking of the resources .of Rus-ian America, Sir
John Richardson, in his work upon " The Arctic
Searching Expedition,"quotes Bongard, with regard
to one portion of it, who says that " the bill of
Westerwoi," near Norfolk Sound, in lat. 58 deg.,
which is 3,000 ft., French measure, in height, is
clothed to its summit by a dense forest of spruce and
pines, some of which acquire a circumference of
2lft., and a length of 160 ft. Sir John Richardson
adds--" The climate of Sitka," the name of the bay
as well as of the island upon which is situated New
Archangel, the chief post of the Russian company,
lying in 57 deg: N. latitude, " is very much milder
than that of Europe on the same parallel, the cold
of winter being neither severe nor of long continu-
ance: The harbour at Sitka, and several other fine
harbours in the neighbourhood, are open during the
whOle winter ; tints; flowing an extraordinary con-
trast to the' opposite -coasts of Asia, which are • ice-
bound for three 'parts. of the year." Sir George
Simpson, in his "Travels Bound the World," re-

marks:— •
"Although at some
points Bebengis Straits are only 45
miles wide, in the general appearance at the two coasts
there is a marked difference, the western side being low,
flat, and sterile, while the eastern is well wooded, and in
every respect better adapted than the other for the suste-
nance both of man and beast. Moreover, the soil and
climate improve rapidly on the American shore, as one de-
scends, and at Cook's Inlet (in GO deg. N. lat.) potatoes may
be raised with ease, though they hardly ripen in any part
of Kamtschatka, which extends nearly 10 deg. farther
south. As, in addition to the advantages of cultivation,
deer, fish, game, and hay are abundant, the Russian Fur
Compaoy contemplates the formation of a settlement there
for the reception of its own servants."
Of the many large rivers which flow through
Russian America none of them have been ex-
plored to their sources; but the Colville, the
Stikine., the Youkon or Kwichpack, and the
Kuskokwin, are supposed to run a course of up-
wards of 1,000 miles, and to be navigable for con-
siderable distances. The Colville is two miles wide
at its mouth in the Arctic Sea. The Stikine enters
the Pacific in 56 deg. 50 sec. N. latitude, where it
'is three miles wide, and at a distance of 30 miles
from the sea has a width of one mile ; but its source
is in the British territory. The Youkon or Kwich-
pack rises to the west of the Rocky. MountainS, not
far from the union of the Francis and Lewis, which
form the Pelly ; flows first to the north, and, after
receiving a large tributary named the Porcupine, to
the westward, falls into Behring's Sea. In 66 deg.
N. latitude, and 1471 deg. W. longitude, which is
about 1,000 miles from its mouth, it is, according
to Sir John RiOartlson, one mile and a quarter
wide.
somaidisieof the value of the fur trade of the
region inaj.'be formed from the fact that the Rus-
sian Fur Company mrintain about 60 establish-
ments among the islands along the coast, upon
the mainland itself, and in the Fox, Aleutian, and
Kurile Islands, which stretch across to the coast
of Japan, and that the Tchukche of Siberia cross
Behring's Straits to trade with the Esquimaux,
and with the Russian posts receutly planted in
that quarter, for furs and fossil ivory. Of Sitka, or
New .Alkhangel, the capital of Russian America,
Sir Edward Belcher says :
" The establishment of Sitka is situated on a flat, broad"
delta, on the outer rocky peninsula, of which the fortress
stands. It is about 60 feet above the sea level, and obiu-
pletely commands all the anchorages in the immediate,
neighbourhood, as well as the peninsula. The inner line,
which traverses the longest basa of this delta, is protected
by a heavy line of picketed lugts 25 feet in height, ear-
, mounted ekvaux die flise, and basked at tho anglds

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