New-York tribune., 1868-05-19

"furs, whose fisheries, are OF untold value, and
"whose fields will produce many grams, even
"wheatn-Mr. Davidson, with scientific ac-
crracy, reports that neither wheat nor any
other cereals grow in Alaska, and that it is
very doubtful whether they would succeed;
that not q mine, even of coal, much less OF
iron. gold or silver is worked there, and that all
the attempts of his geologist to find coal and
iron were failures; that the "ports" are full OF
insecurity and danger, and that the much-laud-
ed harbor of New-Archangel (Sitka) should be
abandoned for better one in a wholly unset
tied region; and that the furs, Of whose rich
ness and abundance we have heard 80 much,
are rapidly disappearing, and the fur bearing
animals are already extremely scarce. In snort,
of all the untold and undeveloped wealth OF
this vast acquisition, whereof SO much has been
suns and said. there remain only "the waters"
of Mr.. Claws cumulative eulOgy to he sustained
by the sober facts. These, indeed, are vast
and illimitable beyond the power OF human
speech to amplfy. Not satisfied with ALIEN
bracing ocean, they usurp the domain OF the
air. and inundate the land. In August last IL
raned every day but onej in September thore
were but seven days of fair weather. In
three months spent by our explorers in Allas-
kan waters-frOm August to NOvember-they
saw the sun less than one day in seven. Eighty
/ five inches of rain fall annually-just twice
the average of the Island OF Great Britain,
whose weeping skies arc said to be so provo
cative of suicide Our naturaists, as Capt.
Howard tells us. L" for many days and nights
watched in vain for sun, moon, or stars which
90 led us almost to believe that neither ever had
6 Loo ha Mr. DayidaOn records
that "at our different stations we attempted
d" to obtain the temperature of the earth three
" feet below the surface, but never penetrated
"a foot before the hole WAS filed with water"
So immense disproportion of moisture pro-
duces vegetation almost peculiar to Alaska
Nearly the whole extent of the country, as
seen by our naturalists, is covered with sphag-
mum from one to two feet in depth. This
"sphagnum is thick moss forming a
soft cushion into which the traveller sinks
at least to his bOot-tOp at every step.
even on the steepest hill-sides," says Mr..
Davidson, "this carpet is saturated with water,
"and renders progress through it very slow
"and difficult At Fort Simpson, the Stakeen,
"Chilkahl, Kodiak, Unalaska, and the islands
westward this morass exists to the submits
able surface indication portends a geological
character not wholly reassuring to those whose
eyes have been prematurely dazzled with
visions of mineral wealth. What if our dear
bought Alaska should turn out to be one
"demd damp, moist, unpleasant" swamp after
allf Sphagnum!
We think Mr. Seward has done well to pre-
face this long report with the still longer
documentary Endorsements of the purchase,
which he has taken pains to collate from
the widest sources; for the reader, left
TO himself, with only the reports OF
actual observers before him, would assur-
edly reacli the conclusion that, while valu
able information is undoubtedly conveyed, the
information is more valuable than the territory
TO which il relates. II is likely that most
readers (if there are any readers OF public doc
umens left, which we sometimes doubt would
stop with the exhaustive olOquence OF the pre-
lude, and leave the sequel uninterrupted. 1t is
very fine 10 be assured by ex-Gov. Dennison,
who rather slops over in his congratulations
on the lucky purchase that he hopes Mr. Sew
ard will afford him an Opportunity to renew
them by securing tle British Pacific territory
during his admipistration of the State De-
"partmept1 1t might appear unkind we're we
TO blt that this brilliant consummatiOn should
be hurried up within period of-say sixty
days. Gen. Meigs's impulsive gushings upon
the value OF the purchase arc worthy only to
be compared with Admiral Portel's airy and
accurate estimates of the value of volcanic naval
stations in the West India Islands. And even the
learned Prof. Henry of the Smithsonian
Institution, in a letter to Mr.. Seward, "begs
"to state" with an easy indifference to gram
mar Suggestive of an over-much diffusion of
knowledge which might better be kept at
home, that he "begs to transmit" n series Of
translations from Russian and German looks
in the library of that Institution relating TO
Russian America. lie hints, however, that Mr..
Sumner has already sucked the bigger part of
this orange in examining for his speech of
last Summer, aud that the nferences to be |
"deduced from the documents in question will |
probably not differ materially from those ar
rived at by that gentleman" But one |
point Prof. Henry develops. This is cod fish. He |
says that the dried fish brought from the |
" coast of Alaska in 1867 amounted to 9O3 |
tuns, and in One-Quarter of 1867 to 7SS tuns.
Hence lie generazes the conclusion that,
" carrying out the same proportion, the yield
" for 1867 may be estimated at over 5000 tuns."
In the name of the prophet-fish! As we
caught all these Goldfish without any Alaska
annexation, and without any $7,2OO,OOO in gold,
it is not very clear how this little bit of psca
tory statistics helps the treaty.
A speaker at the annual meeting of the Wo-
mans Temperance Association in Brooklyn last
IL, tbok ;4oI |