The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-02-13
ALASKA.
AN ENGLISH TRAVELLERS REPORT.

Mr.. Frederick Whymper, young
and energetic English traveller, has
published Gin England) a book of Travel
and Adventure in the Territory of
Alaska, of which the Saturday Review
has published review, speaking in
favorable terms ofthe character of the
work, and the industry and persever-
ance of the author From this paper
we extract few passages, which are
of the more interest to US owing to the
fact that any disinterested information
concerning our new possession from
American sources can hardly be ex-
pected for the present:
"Bv the cession of Alaska, Russia
has not only enriched her exchequer to
the extent of seven million dollars, but
has rid herself of an isolated possession
of dubious value On the other hand,
upward of four hundred thousand square
miles of territory have been added to
the already vast domain of Uncle Sam.
Much hostile criticism was spent at
first upon this bold and Independent
speculation of Mr. Seward Our new
possession of Walrussia' figured in
many smart epigram and mock adj
vertisement. Already, however, the
tide of popular opinion has turned, now
that American enterprise has fairly be-
gun to develop the resources of the
country. Coal has been discovered at
Cooks Inlet, and an important find OF
gold on the Tagus river has set the
current Of adventure violently in that
direction. Many there are who see in
this purchase but the first move toward
an American occupation of the whole
continent Canada and all British
North America will, they think, sooner
OF later, be merged in the United
States. Some, like our author, hold
that such a transference would be for
the advantage of those dependencies
However that may be, there can be no
doubt of Walrussia being destined to
cut figure in the history of the New
World. Already has the capital, Sitka,
sprung from the proportions Of fish
ing-village to those of a thriving city of
two thousand souls, where the 1oca-
TONS or plots of ground, command
Californian prices. For small log
house ten thousand dollars have been
asked This city, we are told, enjoys
the unenviable position of being about
the rainiest place in the world. It
does not, however rain quite all the
year round, or, like another country
with which we have become familiar
nearer home, whites it snaws'"
"The climate is by no means severe,
the thermometer seldom falling below
twenty degrees of Fahrenheit The
pufs of the United States press con-
corning the agricultural resources of
their new acquisition, Mr. Whymper
declares, are all moonshine A few
potatoes ond beans and such like veg.
etables may be grown there, but there
is not an acre of grain in the country.
Next to furs and mineral wealth, the
fisheries bid fair to be the most pro.
ductivc branch of commerce Salmon
so abound in the rivers az during
spring-time to impede the passage Of
boats They are driven to shore by
the wind in heaps. They often run in
size to the length Of five feet. From
one hundred thousand to one hundred
and fifty thousand of these fish are ex
ported annually to the Sandwich Is.
lands and elsewhere Deer and game
of many kinds may be had for the ask.
ing, and the bears are innumerable.-
Owing to this abundance of food, the
natives are the LATEST of savages. The
Kalosh Indians, who inhabit the coast
between the Stekine and Chilcat riv.
ers, have a bad reputation, and are by
no means prepossessing people
They are fond of painting themselves
in red, black, or blue stripes and patch.
es Their huts or shanties are of the
common Esquimaux type, with pas
sage underground from the main cham
Der to the sleeping room. The smoke
hole being most commonly closed by a
deerskin, while men, women, children,
dogs, dried skins, fish, and offal are
hcaped together in indiscriminate mas
ses, the atmosphere is hardly to be i'm
agined. Their canoes, of birch-bark
and their skin 'baidarkes' (kyacks,) are
not equal to those of Norton Sound
and the northern coast Their burials
are peculiar. Graves being hard te
dig in the frozen ground, most of the
tribes burn their dead. The ashes are
preserved in grave-boxes, or portable
tombs of singular and often artistic de
vice. Specimens of these are drawn by
the writer. On one of them q number
of faces were painted, with long tresses
of human hair hanging therefrom, each
representing some victim ofthe deceased