Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-01-24
ABOUT ALASKA.

n the resources Of our Pacific coast at
least. Gold, copper, lead, iron, coal
and other minerals have been discov-
cred, but the Of the country
in that respect appear limited or at any
rate are undeveloped as yet. The main
products of the country at present,
comprises walrus tusks, w%halcbone, oil,
beaver, martcn, mink, fox, otter, seal,
and other skins. The quantity Of good
fur is small, and theuumber Of valuable
fur-bearing animals is rapidly dccreas-
ing, year by year. The sea otter, the
mos. valuable of Thorn all, furnishing
a rich dark colored fur-a princely ma
terial for ladies cloaks and capcs-is
rapidly disappearing, the number taken
yearly now being only about one-eiShth
as many as formerly. Some of these
skins have been sold at Sitka for 5000;
the average price is SEQ. Marten skins
bring from 81 to S25 each, and mink
from So to Sc. Black bear, lynx, wolf
and wild goat skins vary in market price
from 80 cents to So.
The inhabitants about Sitka and
other settled points are Of course large
" composed Of Russians, and further
to the northward, emigrants from the
Siberian shores, what would be perhaps
termed Esquimaux, though tall, active,
well made, brave and industrious, and
quite different from tho typical Esqui-
maux. The inland tribes are Of the
North American Indian type. The in
habitants generally seem contentcd and
healthy and do not consider theirs the
most rigorous climate in the world, by
any means; indeed, owing to the warm
current of air which sweeps from the
broad Pacific, along the coast, extend
ing its a~meliorating influences far
away to the northward, the climate Of
Alaska is never so severe rs is generally
supposed.
About Sitka is where weather and
climate especially abounds, and in very
eligible variety. Storms, mists, mud,
and none too much of fair weather are
the general characteristics Of that re-
gion. The dry months are January,
February, May and June; the rest arc
stormy, particularly March, August,
October and December. Twenty-Five
inches of rain fell last August, three in
ches in one day. The average annual
rain fall is s5s inches. The highest
temperature at Sitka is coo, the lowest
lso. A hundred and fifty miles inland
the mercury falls to 800 below zero
every Winter. At Sitka the heaviest
snow fall within FIVE years was W feet,
The snow rarely lasts moro than q week
and is usually of the consistence OF
slush. In the interior the snow falls
are all depths. There it is hard enough,
and 100 miles from the coast it some
times remains until May. The Sum-
mcrs are short and hot, and only those
vegetables which are Of quick growth,
such as lettuce, radishes, turnips, etc.,
are grown to any extent.
The country is generally well wooded
and watered, containing some fine riv-
ers, but very few if any really good
harbors. Previous to the acquisition
| and annexation Of Alaska there was not
q single living volcano in the United
States, but now, included in this new
accession to our d%ominions, we have no
less than nineteen, the highest two OF
which - Mount Feriamna and Mount
| Kcdu., at Cooks fnlet-are about ten
thousand feet in hight above the level
Of the sea.
The most important of the resources
Of that region, to us, are its immense,
exhaustless fisheries Of cod, halibut,
salmon, etc. They will BIO needed not
only for the supply Of our own coast,
but also Of eastern Asia, thus opening
out new and profitable fields for ener-
getic industry and enterprise: shell-hsh
also abound, prominent among which
we must not fail to make special men,
| ton of the mammoth crab described by
the Sitka correspondent of the Alta.
| He Y "a iusus nature of tho Alaska
| coast is the mammoth crab, foundin the
| waters of Cooks Inlet and Prince Will
liam's Sound. Were it not authenti-
Gated one would hardly credit its size.
It measures full six feet from tip to tip
OF its claws. Captain Damashelski, OF
Alexandra, caught eight Of them, and
found that he could put the bodies OF
only three in q barrel. The legs are
about the size of a mans wrist, and are
| filed with palatable meat. They are
not numerous. Having the structure OF
the common crab, their size fits them
for a deeper and safer home in the
ocean" There now is n crab worth
speaking Of; a colossus compared with
our little San Francisco crabs, which
are only about the size of your hat.
| One of the Alaskan crabs would pro-
vision a good sized Washoe family for
a week, or furnish a hungry giant with
a big feed Of crab salad. Alaska is a
good country to own.
ISQurRlSG.-A correspondent of the