The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-30
Unexplored Alaska.

had realized tho distance we had tray-
eled to the nOrthward by the increasing
length OF the days, we were astonishei
enough when we reached Sitka to find
all or our time-pieces forty-iive minutes
ahead of the local time. For the tirts
time we became aware Of the fact that
our course had verged west ward, and
we puzzled not u little over tho great
difference i'll time between Astoria and
Sltka. Although Sitka and Alaska arc
almost synonymous with the north pole
To average minds in the temperate zone,
comparison of maps shows that
Sltka and st. Petersburg, Russia, are
in the same latitude, aid tho mouth of
Chilaat river, the most northerly point
that we visited, is Oh q line with the
south coast Of Greenland. The extent
OF this northwest territory and the vast
distances between points are more than
bewildering. Alaska itself is equal i'm
area to all of the United States east of
the Mississippi river. Counting the
Aleutian chain, the Pribylolf grollp
ana the l 100 islands of the Alexander
archipelago, tho total area of tho Alas
k;t islands is 81 ,2O5 square miles. The
Island OF Attu, the last of the Aleutian
chain, is as far west of San Francisco
as Bangor, Me-, is east Of it, and the
indenteu coast line of Alaska, meas
uring over 25 900 miles, is even greater
than the whole coast line of the Allan
tic and Pacific shores of the United
States put together. Southern Alaska,
rs 1T is called, comprises the narrow
strip of territory that extends south
ward from Mount st. ELIAS to Dixon
channel, the boundry line between
Alaska and British Columbia This
IhlrCy-mile strip OF land, with il out
lying islands, is the best known part of
the territory, and with the execution of
Onalaska and the Seal islands, is the
seat OF the only white settlements of
any consequence or promise. Dense
forests clothe the islands and mainland
o1 Southern Alaska and "darken Il re-
glon half as large AZ Europe" Although
the rocky foundations are only covered
with Il thin, sandy soil. vegetation
liourishes with a r;mkness that cannot
be surpassed III the tropics. The close
forests OF yellow cedar, Stka and
Douglass spruce, Jefrreys pine and
DalSam liz have never been devastated
by fires, and for unnumberrd ages only
glaciers or aValanches have interfercd
with the steady process Of nature. The
RuSSlanS cleared a little ground about
their settlements, but later inhabitants
have made no efforts in that way,
since crops cannot be raised with sue
cess and there are not enough horses or
cattle for amy one to direct Their atten-
tlon to grasses that cannot be dried in
the constant. downpodt. The stumps
OF trees will never rot in tile ground.
and the fallen trunks in the forest form
Il network like tile corners of rail fem
ces. with each log covered with thick
lnoSSes and grasses, and bearing il dense
growth OF rank ferns, bushes and small
trees. 1t is wholly impossible to penc-
tlate the forests without Il path first,
being hewn through the thickly ranged
tree trunks, and in the wood paths
about Sitka one frequently sees trees
TWO ana three feet in diameter, growing
over the prOstrate forms of pines OF
even greater dimensions. If you step
aside from the path to force your way
through the underbrush TO reach clls-
CcIS Vi CIiiiiSoi aid orange stiiiii0ii-iu;r-
res you may suddenly be engulfed and
SINK Two or ten feet into Il pitfall of
mossy logs. Only the certainty that
tlere are no snakes or creeping things
III Alaska encourages one to venture
aside from the narrow and graveled
paths that bcnelicent Russian rulers
caused to he made about Sitka. AL
though there arc Il few natural clear
ings ut the mouths of the streams. and
grassy fields cleared by the toll of the
old SerfS, no attempt il made to raise
or Keep cattle, and the milk uf the
,hrec COWS OF Sitka is sold 1T eighty
cents Il quart. Without beef or NUT
ton, the people live on IL routine of
fish, venison and bear meat, and no
quall-eater grows wcarier OF his daily
luXurles than these Alaska citiZens do
or their regular venSion, salmon and
llallDut III steaks, rUasls and currieS.
Even the Indians know nothing Of
The interior of Southern Alaska.
and on account Of the impene.
traDle forests not one island has been
wholly explored. All travel is done by
boats and canoes, and the two sections
or the territory are tls far apart for Il
traveller rs if on different continents.
From Sltka to San Francisco it is some
500 miles by direct line and commu-
ncation is kept up by the monthly
mail steamer Idaho. From SiLlil across
to OnalaSka there is IL voyage on the
open sea Of 8OO miles, and the Seal
Islands lie hundreds of miles further
west Of that point. Onalaslia and the
scaling stations have communicated
with San Francisco by the steamer be-
longing to the Alaska COmmercIal
Company, but no direct communication
with SiLia or the rest OF the territory.
The collector Of customs at Stka gets
the report from his Onalaska deputy
via San Francisco, unless IL rare
schooner or whaler comes that way,
and sailing vessels, as Il rule, give tie
tOrtuOus channels and unknown reefs
OF the archipelago IL wide berth at all
J times.
Northern Alaska, or the territory
proper, comprises vast areas of uneX-
plored land, where even the advemtu-
rOus russian and Hudson Bay Conn
pany's traders have never set foot. NJ
surveys OF these great steppes, mOors
| and prairies have been made, with the
| exception Of the explorations OF the
! scientific corps sent out by the West
crn Union Telegraph Company in 1868
to report upon the feasibility of Il cable
across Behring's Straits, More than for
geological surveys and explorations do
the people cry for some form of govern
ment and the establishment of some
definite law and order; for in It's pres
ent neglected condition Alaska is q