The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-02-19
ALASKA.
VVhnr Mr.. Sewn rd thinks of IL.

] Eth OF last ImOnrn ne was DuDllcly Tccelfeu Dy
the people Of Sitka and made them n speech, in
which he gave his impressions of Alaska in Ian
guage which, coming from a younger man, might
be suspected of being rather too highly wrought
for the truth. He has, however, undoubtedly
spoken n good deal of truth in regard to our ter
ritory; and the years TO come may prove 1T to be
much more valuable than even the friends of the
purchase supposed. In reading MIR. Stewards
speech it is proper to make some allowance for
the fact that he is undoubtedly anxious to put
the very best side of the country forward to the
end that his own wisdom may be vindicated.
We shall not print the speech but extract some
Of it's more important passages. He makes the
statement that the coast line of Alaska, including
the islands adjacent. is 90 900 miles in extent.
more than double that Of all the rest of the United
States. 1t will do to take this statement with
some grains of allowance.
Abiding to the reports of the sterility of the
climate he says
sit must be a fastidious person who complains
of climates in which. while the eagle delights to
soar, the h%umming bird docs not dlsdaln to
hutter." lie adds:
81 shall speak only of the particular climate
here which i know. My visit here happens to
fall within the month of August. Not only have
the skies been sufficiently bright and serene to
give me n perfect view, under the sixtieth paral-
lei, of the total eclipse of the sun and of the
evening star at the time of the suns obscuration,
but | have also enjoyed more clear than there
have been cloudy days, and in the early mornings
] and IN the late evenings pcculldT u tIe stdSOn, 1
have lost myself in admiration of skies adorned
with sapphire and gold as richly as those which
are reflected by the Mediterranean. Of all the
moonIights in the world, commend me to those
which light up the Archipelago of the North
Pacific Ocean. Fogs have sometimes detained me
longer on the Hudson and on Long Island Sound
than now or the waters of the North Pacific. In
saying this | do not mean to say that rain and fog
are unfrequent here.
% The thermometer tells the whole case when
. n,,,t @loE tlo o,u,p,o &c oDoJo. onl H. ,,In
ter is warmer in Alaska than in New York and
Washington. 1t results from the nature of such
4 climate that the earth prefers to support the fir,
the spruce. the pine the hemlOck, and other ever
green's, rather than deciduous trees, and to furnish
grasses and esculent roots, rather than the cereals
of drier and hotter climates"
Having mingled freely with the multifarious
population, natives and settlers, Mr.. Seward OBJ
serves that he has seen only persons enjoying
robust and excellent health. Manhood of
every race and condition everywhere exhibits ac-
tivity and energy, while infancy seems exempt
from disease and age relieved from pain
OF the rivers, seas and fisheries of Alaska he
says:
1.-THE rivers are broad, shallow and rapid,
while the seas are deep and tranquil. Mr.. Sum-
ner. in his elaborate and magnificent Grafton,
although he spoke only from historical accounts,
has not exaggerated--no man can eXaggerate-
the marine treasures of the territory. Besides
the whale, which everywhere and at all times is
seen enjoying ms ROBUST exercise. ana the sea
otter, the fur seal. hair seal and the walrus, found
in the waters which embosom the western islands
those waters, as well as'the Eastern Archipelago,
are found tecming with salmon, cod and other
fishes adapted to the support of human and ami
NAL life. Indeed, what | have seen here has al
most made me a convert to the theory of some
naturalists that the waters of The globe are filed
with stores for the sustenance of animal life sur
passing the available productions of the land"
He describes the boundless forests and mex
--zA.l1 $1,000 ~c SI4 5000. = IL.
ing terms of surprise and admiration. The pine,
the cedar. the cypress, the spruce, the fir, the
larch, and the hemlock, growing to their grand
est dimensions, are depicted as covering the plains
and the sides of the mountains almost to their
SUBMITS, beginning nearly at the waters edge and
rising with regular graduation to a height of 1000
feet.
9Th cedar, sometimes called the yellow cedar,
sometimes the fragrant cedar, was long ago
imported into China as an ornamental wood, and
it now furnishes the majestic beams and pillars
with which the richer and more ambitious native
delights to construct his rude but spacious hall
and palatial residence, and upon which he carves
in rude symbolical imagery the heraldry of his
tribe and achievements of his nation. No beam,
or pillar, or spar, or mast, or plank is ever re-
quired in either the land or the naval architecture
of any civilized State, greater in length and width
than the trees which can be hewn down on the
of the islands and rivers here, and conveyed
directly thence by navigation"
Later in his speech, recurring to the subject.
Mr.. Seward remarks that the entire region of
Washington Territory, British Columbia
md Alaska, seems destined to become a ship yard
Tor the supply Of all nations. (
Relative to the vast unexplorcd interior of y
Alaska, Mr.. Seward repeats a conversation
which he had with Il very intelligent head chief F
IF the Chilcat tribe of Indians, who informed him
hat
- Beyond the mountain range which intervenes
the Chilcat and the Yukon rivers, you ,
.nEn n ,1,t, ,,nLr,I.o, L., LII -. $500 |
aims, very fertile, in a genial climate, and, as far
Is he could learn, of boundless extent. We have ,
imilar information from those who have trayersed Ii
he interior, from the shore of the Portland canal ca
the upper branches of tie Yukon. We have III
eason, therefore. to believe that beyond the coast
ange of mountains in Alaska we shall find an ex- A
ension of the rich and habitable valley lands Of =
Washington Territory and British CO.
Concerning the mineral resources of Alaska, 4
lr. Seward has much to tell that is important =
nd interesting. He says:
81 Alaska has been as yet but imperfectly ex-
lOred. But enough is known to assure us that 4
possesses treasures of what are called the baser =
res equal to those of any other region of the con-
.nent. We have Copper Island and Copper
liver, so named as the place where the natives, 4
efore the period of the Russian discovery, had
REQUIRED the metal from which they fabricated
of war and legendary shields. In Yo
gard to iron, the question seems to he not
mere IL can DC IOuilu. out whether tnere is any
where it does not exist. DIR. Davidson, Of
lie Coast Survey, invited me to go up to him at r.
lie station he had taken up the Chilcat river, to II
axe his observations of the eclipse, writing me -
lat he had discovered an iron mountain there.
hen | came there | found that very properly he 4
I'd been studying the heavens so busily that he Z
1T cursorily examined the earth under his feet
lat it was not n single iron mountain that he has
but a range of hills, the very dust of nd
hich adheres to the magnet, while the range it &
II. 1000 feet high, extends along the river 80
lies. Limestone and marble crop out on the To-
of the anne river, and in MANY other places. -
>al beds, accessible to navigation, are found on
oOtznoo. 1t is said, however, that the conccn-
lte1 rosin which the mineral contains renders it
infammable to be used by steamers. In any e
Sc it would seem calculated to supply fuel
Quisite for the manufacture of iron. What !
to be excellent canal coal is also found in -
Prince of Wales Archipelago. There are also
at Cooks Inlet. Placer and gold Quartz q