The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-13

The Climate. then. of Russian America is
rather that of Norway and Sweden than that |
of Greenland. But we want to know some
thing more of this new purchase. What sort
of new country is it, and what are It's pro
ducts and resources It's seaoOast swarms
with walruses sea lions, and various other
species of the seal family its inlets, bays, ana
rivers abound with Goldfish and salmon, ana
the neighboring ocean is famous Whallng
ground. The products OF this new country
are the hardy timber trees OF the frozen horeI, t,
fur bearing animals, white, blue, ana pi9ch 1Sl
foxes, white bears, musk oxen, reindeer, hs-
quimaux, and Indians. Furthermore, ~ mas
been recently discovered that on the kvichpak
Russian America is watered by one OF the
largest rivers of North America, only exceeded
in length by the Mississippi, including the
Missouri, and by the Mackenzie, Win the
sources of which those OF the hVlChpak are
interlocked among the Rocky Mountains.
This Kvichpak, they say, can be navigated by
steamers for at least a thousand miles, winch
indicates a champaign country to That extent.
Vancouver's Island (Britsh) is rich in coal,
and so are said to be our new batch OF Islands
lying above Vancouver along the coast up to
Mount St. Elias; and why should they not beY
This is all we can tell of this new empire, In
area more than twice the size of France. 1t is
a scanty exhibit, the merest thread OF skele-
ton outline but il is all that we have. what,
then, is first wanted and demanded concerning
this purchase A grand exploring expedition
by land and water, and right away. me
Kvichpak breaks up about the middle OF May,
and is sealed again with ice early in NOyem-
! Der. Between May and September in that
region, they have sunshine nearly all the
! time, and then comes a corresponding interval
! of prevailing night and aurora borealis. There
| is no time to be lost if the Administration de-
sires to have Congress thoroughly informed in
! December Of the real chararteT and resources
A ,1,,ys.,, ra.yVN NffNNN
| should be organized to start from San Fran
cisco early in May, with flight draught steamer
or two and an efficient body of scientific men
and intelligent newspaper correspondents.
! Such men as Professor Agassiz to look after
the fossil elephants and glaciers of our Arctic
coast DR.. Hayes, the Arctic explorer; Gene
raj Fremont, ''the Pathfinder and compe-
tent botanist, mineralogist, and astronomer or
two, ought to be mustered at once and
! equipped for this expedition. As an astrono-
mer we cannot recommend Professor LoOmis,
but he would doubtless learn much of the
mysteries of meteors and electric lights on
such cruise. Du Chaillu, the great African
explorer, is here, and ought to go, If for no
other purpose to describe the difference be-
tween the gorilla of the equator and the gorilla
of the Arctic Circle for we dare say that some
sort of gorillas can be found on the Kvich-
pax, or
-Anthropophagi,
| Whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders.
Seriously, however, President Johnson, on
the contingent fund of the State Department,
should at once instruct the Secretary of State
to organize, equip, and despatch the expedi-
tion suggested. The enterprise would be
acceptable to the country and would be thank
fully approved by Congress. We can do
nothing for or with this new country until
we know what it is and if this summer is
lost Congress must remain in ignorance for
nearly two years to come We would ear
nestly, therefore, invoke the immediate atten-
tion of the Administration to this important
subject.