160 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

 

schist. Valuable deposits of clay occur, from
which excellent bricks are made.

—— 0.0595 00-——_

CHAPTER V.
Alaska.

423. Extent of Territory—The Territory of
Alaska, now a part of the domain of the United
States, embraces the north-western part of the
North American Continent, and extends south
from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to about 54°
of N. lat. The main part of the Territory lies west
of the 141° E. long. from Greenwich. South of
Mt. St. Elias, however, it embraces a narrow
strip extending south-eastwardly along the coast
of British Columbia.

The Territory of Alaska embraces an area of
about. 530,000 miles, or, approximately, about
one-sixth of the whole area of the remainder of
the domain of the United States. This country
was purchased from Russia by the United States
in 1867, at a cost of $7,200,000.

Indentations of the Coast.—The coast-line of

Alaska is exceedingly irregular, its entire length |

amounting to as much as 8000 miles. The shores
of the Arctic are the least indented. The western
and southern coasts are deeply indented.

Bering Sea and Straits separate Alaska from
Asia. The Pacific Ocean enters the wide curve
of the southern coast as the Gulf of Alaska.
Smaller indentations on the western coasts are
found in Norton Sound, Kuskovitch Bay, Bristol
Bay, and in the numerous bays and inlets on the
southern coasts, in which true fiords occur.

424, Islands.— Numerous islands lie off the
western and southern coasts. The principal of
these are St. Lawrence Island and Nunivak, on
the western coast; the Aleutian Islands, which ex-
tend in a curve from the Alaskan Peninsula
nearly to Kamtchatka; Afognak and Kadiak
islands, off the southern shores of the peninsula;
and Baranoff, Chichagof and Prince of Wales
islands off the south-eastern shores.

425. Surface Structure.——The northern Portions
of Alaska are low and flat, and the plains, drained

by a few small, sluggish streams, are, for the most »

part, frozen moor-lands, similar to the tundras of
Northern Siberia. They form a dreary, desolate
country, for the greater part unexplored, covered

 

during the brief summer by a comparatively
dense growth of grasses.

The rest of Alaska is generally mountain-
ous, being traversed by prolongations of the
Pacific Mountain-System.
tions are those of the south-eastern coast, Mt. St
Eis being 99508 feet above the level of the
sea. Mts. Crillon and Fairweather are scarcely
inferior in height. ‘These mountains contain nu-
merous glaciers which descend nearly to the level
of the sea. The chain of the Aleutian Islands
is mountainous, and, like the mountains of the
south-western coast, contains many. volcanic
peaks.

426. Drainage System.—The principal river
of Alaska is the Yukon, which, so far as known,
has a length of at least 2000 miles. It is one of
the largest rivers in North America, so far as
the volume of its discharge is concerned, which
appears to be as great as that of the Missis-
sippi.- In some portions of its lower course it
is, in places, 20 miles wide. An extensive delta
formation occurs at the mouth of the river. The
Lewis and the White, its principal tributaries, are
situated near the head-waters of the Yukon, in
the Dominion of Canada.

The Kuskovim is the only other important
river. Unlike the delta-mouth of the Yukon,
the Kuskovim discharges its waters into Bering
Sea through a wide estuary. The spring tides
sometimes rise in this estuary to the height of over
50 feet.

The glaciers of the south-eastern coast feed a
number of lakes, so near together as to permit
the establishment of portage-routes of travel.

427. Climate—The climate of Alaska is, gen-
erally, cold and wet, although the influence of
the Japan Current, and the westerly winds and
rain, render the mean annual temperature much
warmer than corresponding latitudes in the inte-
rior, or even on the eastern coasts of the North
American Continent. Fogs and rains are fre-
quent. The annual rainfall at Sitka, on Baranoff
Island, is about 85 inches.

428. Vegetation—Dense grasses cover por-
tions of the tundras, river valleys, and hillsides
during the brief summer. The wet climate, how-
ever, renders the curing of hay a difficult matter,
and, consequently, the rearing of cattle is attended
with difficulty.

Portions of the lower mountainous slopes and
river valleys are covered with forests of yellow
cedar and spruce. In the greater part of the

The highest eleva-