The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-09-09
ALASKA AND I1s PEOPLE


The announcement: that His Grace, tin
Archbishop, WIS to lecture on Lat unknown
land. Alaska, caused Owsley Hall to be fairIl
filed last Sunday evening with an aud,enc,
ranking, in point OF intelligence, considerable,
above the average audience of The public ell
tertainmeni. Avoiding the vexat.oms deia,
always to be looked for iii engagements of liz
professional lecturer the Archbishop Appeared
before his audience promptly a, the hour ALI
Bo,incrd. introduced by Mr.. W. 4. Clark
Chairman OF the evening, The lecturer q: ono,
took up the thread Of his narrative and eurete.
upon a discourse OF which We regret our in.
ability 10 present more than a Inea-re outline.
10 hesiE, with the old his hearers that tl.e
address instead of icing a lecture proper,
would rather be a recital Of his experiences
and observations during a winter spent in
Alaska At a point about twenty-five miles
south 1f the Arctic Circle. As Bishop al
van Couves, Alaska formed a portion of his
diocese and lie visifed ii to learn as !nnc., as
possible Of lis people >o that subseqi,e ,.tiy he
could have the guide furnished by this infn--
NATION in establishing missions IN tia. far
of land. 1t was in the early summer Of 1876
that lie set out from Victoria on the steamer
81. Paul. bm,iid for ilie Al.u,ian Islands, and
thence 10 the interior If Alaska BY az sf
the I ukon river. Arriving at 81. Paul Island,
one Of til" AieutIan group. he was panied 10
md that the small steamer plying between
the islands ana the tttstt, furId mad tHft OT.Iy a
few Gays previously, and that consequently
he would have tn rely for his further progress
On a coast voyage and trip across The country
to the hanks OF the Yukon. The delay oc-
casion.d he turned to profitable account by
learning something about the islands and the
industry Of their Inhabitants. On the isles.
aIftOl11h The winters arc mt yur- eovorn H.,
snow falls very deep. about twenty-four or
five feet every winter. This depth is Of
parked o through which the people of
the villages cut passages from one house to
the other. The principal occupation of the
Inhabitants is seal fishing in the employ If
the Northwestern Fur Company Seals
abound in enormous numbers. On st. Paul
island their estimated lumber is eleven
millions, on St. Michael island, five or six
millions; an enumeration Of their number
being an easv matter since they are not at all
shy. From 81. Pau the Bishop set sail
Lorthward or the Behring Sea. taking passage
on a small sailin: vessel and skirting the
coast. At N0rtOn,s Sound he and his
attendants diSeuibarked and started across
the country, due east. to the Yukon. The
trip occupied four days, across a country
which Is one continuous marsh, save only the
low hills now aud then encountered. Mos
quitoes in billions Literally blackened the
sky" Indeed, from His Grace's lecture it is
evident tina. the original place Of nativity OF
that we'll known bird is the far, far north.
Grouse were found in abundance on this trip
across the country, and it was chiefly upon
their flesh that the party subsisted. On the
fourth day the Yukon was reached, on the
21st of June, when the sun dipped below
the northern horizon for something less
than three hours, a bright twilight snpplan.-
ing the usual darkness of night. The Y.-
kon, as he speaker Described it, is a n,agnifi-
cent stream. Taking the Amazon as the first
and the Mississippi as the second of American
rivers. the Yukon is the third in size. At
the point where the Bishops party reached it,
some hundreds Of miles from its mouth, the
Yukon is three miles in width, and studded
with islands as far as the eye can
reach. An idea of its volume of water can
be gathered from the fact that out in the
open sea, six miles from the mouth of the
river, the water taken from its stream is still
fresh enough to drink. The length Of the
Yukon Is over 5000 miles. and it is navisable
for Gamer Of considerable size for over
$500 miles Of its course. Further up, where
the Yuko receives a large tributary, the
POrcupine, the basin formed at the confluence
of the two rivers. is twenty-four miles in
width. At the point where the party reached
the river they expected to find a birch-bark
canoe in which, to make their way up stream
to Nulato, a trading post, but were disap-
pointed. Finally, after several days. waiting !
a feet Of sail was discovered making rapid
healway against the current, aud in one of
these. II bida,a. the travellers were welcomely !
received by the Yankee captain. The bidara |
is a sailing vessel consisting Of a light frame
work Of wood covered by skins of the hair seal.
The vOyagers arrived at NulatO about the end
of July, when the Bishop immediately applied
himself to the task of learning the language |
of the people. The language is a corrubtion
Of some Russian dialect, and consists of only
"a few hundred words. 1t is so simple, s, I'M
developed that the same word, ACCOMPANIED
though BY a different gesture of the hand in
each Instance, is made to do service for the
past, present and future lenses OF the verb.
The first Ice made lis appearance in the he
ginning of September. On the 10th Of Octo-
Der the river froze over, or rather blocked
great cakes and fields of ice drifting down
stream with the rapid current foruinga gorge
ar some ,arrow mint ,ha, I.o,;,