Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-01
The Scientific Expedition TO ALASKA

termlneu armies.
The Scientific Expedition TO ALASKA.
PROFESSOR DAvIsoN's ACCOUNT OF HIS OBS
sERvATIoNs.
The San Francisco Bulletin SAYS:
A special meeting of the Academy of
Sciences was held in this city on Wednes-
day evening, for the purpose of listening
to a lecture by Professor Dawson, chief of
the coast surveying expedition to Alaska,
on the geological, climatic, and geographic
cal Ieculiarities of that newly-acqulred
territory He said that in the latitude of
the Aleutians and of the Sitka, this warm
water current encounters and is underrun
by the cold current from the Arctic seas,
causing the great condensation and rainfall
noticeable at Sitka and at other points in
the new territory. During observations at
Sitka for fourteen years the average fall
of rain each year was eighty -four inches.
There are to be found but few valleys in
the country, and they are all covered by
mossy carpet one to two feet thick. There
is heavy timber in the vicinity of Sitka :;
trees one hundred and fifty feet high, and
four to five feet in diameter. He describes
yellow cedar which grows there and said
he was taking home piece obtained from
the hull o vessel built in the country
thirty-two years ago; but the wood is still
as sound IL it was when first cut. There
Is no wool on the coast equal to it, the
rest being of little note. There are no
signs of hard wood in the country
Little patches OF ground IN the iute-
rior are cultivated by the Indians, but not
a valley Of ore hundred acres can be found
on the whole coast To show how humid
the atmosphere of the country always re-
mains, he mentioned the fact that at no
place except Chillicote could they find
where fire had ranged in the woods. The
best island on the coast is kodiack. There
are hills and wales with green herbage
thousands of acres covered by green grass
two and three feet high, affording abun-
dant pasturage, and excellent hay for use
in winter. There is sufficient clear wealth
er to admit Of the curing of hay for stock.
The waters ,f the archipelago abound in
cod, halibui and salmon, the latter being
particularly abundant. In some of the
small streams inland the progress of boats
is frequently impeded by them, and mil.
lions are thrown on lee shores in banks two
or three fee; deep, where they die. Many
of the best fishing banks between Onalaska
and kodia6 are kept secret by the fishers
as 4 legitimate advantage in their husi.
ness.
q He had heard some persons say the
cod caught on the banks of Alaska were
not the true cod but he could not detect the
difference, except that those caught there
are usually larger and have better flavor
than those taken on the banks of New.
foundland. He said the aggregate Of ter.
ritory where the cod are found constitutes
a reservoir of fifty thousand square miles
in extent, With from twenty-five to fifty
fathoms of water, and he entertained nc
doubt of the fact that the fisheries will in
the course Of a few years prove much bet.
ter and more lucrative than those on the
eastern side of the continent. Already the
Importation Of cod into British Columbia
has been quite stopped, and there is nc
good reason Why the same result should
not follow in this state. The principal
difficulty i'll the way of our fishermen has
been that they were obliged to dry theil
fish from April to September; but in q
country where hay can be cured, fish car
be dried. DR.. Kellogg remarked that he
had seen men drying salmon in the oper
air on Spruce island, DIR. Davidson said
in the lower part of Newfoundland it i:
impossible to dry hay. He described a
specific breed of cattle found on Kodiack
and Alto Islands, which were imported
from Siberia about fifty years ago, They
are small, hardy, round-limbed, and theil
flesh has fine flavor. They are pastured
in summer and kept in adobe stables du
ring the winter
tanning to the country still remain, to &
great extent, a mystery. The expedition
could not make any extensive surveys. HI
believed. however, that they succeeded il
finding the locality of extensive deposits o
bituminous coal, and he thought if govern
ment would fit out an expedition to explore
it thoroughly, the yield of coal alone woult
more than pay for the territory. Much o
the territory is Ignite, but all of it i.
easily obtained from places contiguous t.
good harbors. Copper exists there in ma
tive form. He had seen plates of tha
metal kept by the Indians as heirlooms, in
scribed with certain records and traditions
The copper comes from point on Copper
river. about twenty-five miles from it
mouth. He had no hesitation, however, il
saying that the deposits of gold and cop
per sink into insignificance when compared
with the coal measures and fishing banks
on which latter the whole value of the
country depends"