manner the voyage was made in spite of the many rapids which greatly increased the dangers of the descent. After suffering much from hunger and weakness, the party reached the Yukon, into which the Tanana empties fifteen hundred miles from its source. They then explored the Koyukuk, another tributary of the Yukon, for some distance, after which they made their way down

the latter river as rapidly as the means at their disposal would permit, reaching St. Michael's on August 29, and thus concluding a most successful exploration, though made at the cost of much privation and suffering. Most of the people they met on the upper Copper and Tanana Rivers had never seen white men before, and much interesting information was obtained concerning them.

The principal industries of Alaska at present are the fur trade, mining, and the curing and canning of fish. The value of the Seal Islands was not appreciated at the time of their transfer to this country. In 1870, the Alaska Commer cial Company of San Francisco obtained a twenty years' lease of the islands of St. Paul and St. George, and are believed to have divided from $900,000 to $1,000,000 profits annually between twelve original stockholders. In 1890 another twenty years' lease was awarded the North American Commercial Company of San Francisco for an annual rental of $100,000.

At the rookeries the seal families herd in little groups on the rocks, the patriarch staying at home with the cubs, while the mother seal swims sometimes as far as two hundred miles daily in search of their food. These,

cubs are very timid, and rush into the water on hearing any strange noise. The toughness of the cubs is somewhat amusing. If anything happens to frighten them a patriarch weighing several hundred pounds will often flop and tumble over a whole mass of them apparently without injuring one. Only the male seals from two to four years of age are killed. These "bachelors" herd alone, and the aleuts, running between them and the water in the early morning, drive them slowly to the killing grounds, where they dispatch them by a blow on the head.

Salmon is the most important fish, but halibut and herring are cured in great quantities. At Loring a fine opportunity is presented of watching the canning of salmon, which continues from June to September. The outdoor work is done by a few white men, with sometimes a few Indians employed under them. Although naturally industrious the Tlingit cannot be depended on, as he is very apt to leave without warning to attend to some business of his own right in the height of the salmon season. But neither the white man nor the Indian can compete with the Chinese in the skillful manipulation of the machines. As he works by the piece, the Chinaman takes no note of time but will keep the machinery going as long as there are any fish left. The canneries are of no actual benefit to the country, as they drain it of its natural wealth and in return result in no improvements or permanent settlements.

The inhabitants of this country are classed as Oranians and Indians, the Esquimaux belonging to the former, but there are besides numerous and complicated subdivisions. The Greek church was early established in Alaska, and there are now also many important mission stations belonging to the Protestant church. Public schools have been in operation since 1886 and the attendance of children living within a certain limit is compulsory.

Who can foretell the future of this country when the similarity between its people and the ancient Britons, according to the descriptions handed down to us is remembered? In fact, the similarity in construction of their boats and of those described by the companions of Cæsar is remarkable. Their waters are filled with an abundance of fish, the brain-producing food. In the works of their construction-their implements, their means of transportation, and their most interesting carving in wood, copper and slatethey have given us evidence not only of their enterprise, but of their industry and great ingenuity. Should the country be occupied by civilized races who have the advantages of all the wonderful modern inventions and implements, Alaska may yet play an important part in the great future,

and the development of the resources of its mines, waters and forests may one day contribute largely to the welfare of the human family.

Coming down from that far remote region we passed through the great zone of British territory which that government has so tenaciously held, and the ownership of which was for so long a time the subject of dispute between Great Britain and the United States. If we had maintained our position, our territory would be now increased by a domain of great value not only in material wealth but in political importance, and our Pacific Coast line would have been uninterrupted from California to Alaska. But the British statesmen have with consummate diplomacy, astute management, tact and sagacity utilized this territory to their own advantage. Their possessions stretching across the continent, divide our territory into two widely separated parts. The country is not thickly populated, and will not be, probably, for many generations. It is very sparsely settled indeed, yet the vast wealth comprised in its magnificent forests, rich agricultural country and great mineral resources, makes it a valuable and important territory.

The British have subsidized and constructed a great avenue of commerce between eastern Canada and the Pacific Coast, known as the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The energy, enterprise and skill of their engineers, contractors and managers in that great work are most commendable to the men concerned. They claim with reason, to have the short route to the Asiatic trade. It is estimated that the distance between Hongkong and Liverpool by that route is nineteen hundred miles shorter than it would be by way of San Francisco and New York.

Esquimault is one of the best and most sheltered harbors in the world. The British have there established a great naval station and have constructed a navy yard, with extensive dry docks, costing many millions of dollars. They have laid out their lines of fortifications so as to make it one of the strongholds of the British empire. It is the headquarters of the British Pacific squadron, usually under the command of a British admiral. It is not unusual to see there a fleet of British war ships that are equal to, if not larger than any of our beautiful white squadron, of which we are so proud, and so confident when we speak of its prowess; and it is far from uncommon to see a stronger fleet of more formidable battle ships under the flag of the cross of St. George at anchor in this harbor near Victoria than we now possess.

The morning and the evening gun fired at the navy yard near Victoria is heard distinctly at Port Townsend and along Puget Sound and the

Straits of Fuca, yet the United States has not a single battery of modern guns in position to protect the interests and commercial wealth of that great northwest territory. The question of suitable navy yards, dry docks, depots of construction, coast defences, and other matters in which the United States should be interested, has been to a great extent overlooked, and should be a matter of serious consideration in the near future.

Before bidding adieu to that great empire of the Northwest I can only consider further the changes that occurred under my observation between the years 1881 and 1885. Four years is certainly a brief period, yet in that

short time the Northwest passed through a complete transformation. As I have said in the early chapters on this subject, we came up the coast from San Francisco. During the four years, I saw the Northern Pacific,that great avenue of commercial communication, constructed from the East to the West with all its various branches and connecting systems. Next to that was constructed what was known as the Oregon Short Line, a branch of the Union Pacific, diverging to the northwest from Ogden, Utah, and developing a great territory through Idaho to Oregon and the Columbia River. Then was constructed the Coast Line south from Portland, Oregon, along the old stage route to San Francisco by which the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific were connected with that great northern country. Next in importance was the great international line, the Canadian Pacific, built under the auspices of the Canadian government and supported by the British empire, with its branch line down to Puget Sound and the Columbia, thus giving us an additional line of communication to the east. Then with marvelous enterprise, commencing in a small bankrupt line of road out from St. Paul, that enterprising railroad builder, Mr. Hill, continued on and on, constructing his roads at little expense until he crossed the Rocky Mountains, and finally found a terminus on the Pacific Coast, thus giving us that vast system now known as the Great Northern.

ALASKAN TOTEM.

These five great systems of railway communication that were constructed principally, though not entirely, within this period of four years,

opened to the world the vast resources of a country capable of contributing so largely to the welfare of the people of the United States; for in that country are natural resources capable of producing all that is required by mankind. There are its immense forests of gigantic trees affording wealth and employment to thousands; its soil of unsurpassed fertility, capable of producing a wonderful variety of products, and making possible unbounded fields of waving grain and prolific orchards of delicious fruits; its mines of gold and silver, and its rich deposits of coal and iron so essential to any country desirous of excelling in manufactures; its great commercial advantages; its wondrous scenery, varying from picturesque and rugged mountain peaks to smiling, fertile valleys; and to crown all other blessings, its delightful climate, mild in winter, free from tempests in summer, and so amazingly invigorating to both mind and body. With all these, and countless other natural advantages there seems almost no limit to the future possibilities of this extraordinary country.