The state herald., 1891-10-16
FRESH NEWS OF ALASKA.
THE LATEST EXPLORATIONS IN
THE UNKNOWN.
An Immense valley Thiekly Covered
With Luxurlous 0rassss, stretch.
lag fer Miiss Ia Every
Direction,

The expedition Of Messrs. Glave
and Walton into the interior Of Alaska
bids fair to extend the range Of geo.
graphical knowledge says the San
Francisco Call. MIR. Glave served an
apprenticeship as an explorer under
Stanley, and Walton is an old mining
prospector who has spent some years
In Alaska Last spring the pair
started into the interior Of tho terri
tory with number Of horses intend
ing TO prospect for silver; but wheth-
er they succeeded or not In their i'm.
mediate object they seem TO have
found . pretty good country, much
better than was supposed to exist In
that ice-bound region. Our present
knowledge OF Alaska is very limited.
We have some United States officials
at Sitka which is q village OF some
1000 inhabitants, on IN island ncar
tho southeastern corner Of the terri-
tory. A hundred and fifty miles north
east OF Sitka is a military post In an
old Russian fort ut Wrangle. Another
inhabited point In the archipelago Is
Juneau, where the mines arc being
worked. and there Is population OF
some 2, 800 whites and Indians Far
out towards the western extremity Of
the Aleutian chain II u village named
Unalaskl where some fishermen and
hunters rendezvous North OF this In
tho heart OF Behrlng sea- are the
Pribiloff islands. which are tho pra-
serve Of the fur seal Finally, within
ton years, the Yukon, the great river
OF Alaska has been navigated from lis
mouth, In 62 degrees north. for din.
tance OF over 1000 miles into tho
British possessions and nearly to It's
source In the Canadian Rocky noun
tains. On the banks Of the Yukon
salmon canneries have been estab-
lished and some little trading In furs
is done-though the lease OF tho tor
ritory calls such work poaching. This
is about all we know OF the territory.
An impression has prevailed until
lately that the interior OF Alaska ro-
sembled the interior OF Northern ST.
beria; that ut IA depth OF two or three
feet below the surface tho ground wns
pcrpetually frozen. tho warmth Of the
brief summer being unable TO melt it.
In Siberia vast stretch Of land inter-
venes between the forest region and
the chores Of the Arctic. II was prob.
ably once the bed OF sea, which grad
ually receded leaving swamp behind.
This moist land froze solid, and has
never thawed. It Is known rs the
tundra" and 1t comes so near the
surface that cultivation OF tho soil
above II Is impossible. It has often
been stated that much OF Alaska Is
similarly covered with tundra, and that
may be the case for anything that we
know.
But Sitka in 81 degrees north. Gu
joys temperate climate In consc-
qucnce OF the warm Japanese current
which bnthes Its shores. And tho Yu-
kon. five or six degrees nearer tho
pole, Is open for many months OF the
year II freezes over OF course, us
winter approaches but in summer II Is
free from ice. These new travellers
now state that in the heart OF Alaska,
quite at distance from the Yukon.
but still probably about the same
meridian. they found in juno an i'm
mense valley thickly clothed with lux.
urious grasses. stretching for miles In
every direction. When Capt Glave
wrote his horses were reveling In wild
Timothy, bluetop and bunch grass.
II Is hardly to be expected that con-
tincntal Alaska will ever export cereal
food. But 1t will be gain II Il Is dis
covered that II Gun feed population
which can exploit its fisheries. It's
hunting grounds and its mines. The
numbers Of the fish which inhabit It's
lakes md It's rivers arc abundant And
like all the rest Of the northern por-
tion Of this continent the country Is
intersected with -ivcrs flowing out OF
lnkes which are past counting. Such
region must abound in animal life.
Wherever rivers run wild animals will
be found.