Since the publication of the report on Alaska prepared for the Tenth Census great progress has been made in ascertaining the geographic outlines and topographic features of the vast extent of country lying within the boundaries of Alaska.

The United States coast and geodetic survey has been for many years engaged in a careful and systematic survey of the islands, coasts, and waters of the Alexander archipelago, publishing from time to time revised maps of all Alaska whenever additional information is obtained by the office from reliable sources.

The glacier region situated to the northward of Cross sound and Icy strait, unknown in its contours 10 years ago, is now a place of call and one of the greatest attractions for the thousands of tourists who visit southeastern Alaska every summer.

The Alpine coast region, rising abruptly from the shores of the north Pacific between Cape Spencer on the east and Mount St. Elias on the west, has been the objective point of several exploring expeditions. Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, formerly of the United States army, Professor Libbey, and Lieutenant Seton-Karr, of the British army, were among the first to attempt the exploration and partial ascent of Mount St. Elias, the giant among the mountain peaks of North America. They were followed later by well organized parties, under the auspices of the National Geographic Society and the United States geological survey. Under the leadership of Prof. I. C. Russell these parties have obtained in two successive seasons a large amount of the most valuable information concerning this mountain, which is claimed by Americans and English alike as lying within their boundaries.

In the course of his second exploration, Professor Russell, after reaching a height of 14,000 feet, succeeded in making measurements of Mount St. Elias from a base line on the seashore, from which the height of the mountain was computed at 18,100 feet. On the return journey the low coast region lying at the foot of the Malaspina glacial plateau was explored, and finally a series of observations was made in Disenchantment bay, at the head of Yakutat bay, furnishing material for the compilation of a reliable map of that estuary, exhibiting a remarkable deviation from the outlines heretofore accepted on the authority of Tebenkof and others, who did not personally explore the innermost recesses of this great bay.

Another important exploration, resulting in the collection of much information concerning the interior geography and topography of Alaska and adjoining territory in the British possessions, was made by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, accompanied by Dr. Hayes, of the United States geological survey. This expedition first set out in an easterly direction from Taku inlet along Taku river; then crossing the coast range they emerged upon the banks of Lake Aklene, which is probably the true head of the Yukon river. Following the northern outlet of this lake, the party passed the mouth of the tributary heretofore accepted as the Yukon's head, a few miles above Lake Labarge. Thence to Fort Selkirk their way was over a well known course, but on leaving that point an entirely new route was followed, leading toward the mountains forming the divide between the Yukon basin, the upper course of White river, and the easternmost tributary of Copper river. After discovering a pass but little over 5,000 feet in height, the party struck the Chityna river about midway between its headwaters and its junction with the Copper.   The latter river was then followed to the coast.

Valuable additions have also been made to our knowledge of Alaskan geography by the members of an exploring expedition organized in 1890 under the auspices of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly. The leaders of the party, Messrs. A. J. Wells, E. J. Glave, and A. B. Schanz, entered the interior by way of the Chilkat river, and after crossing the coast range came upon a large lake, the head of the Tahkina tributary of the Yukon, which was named Lake Arkell. It is probable that this is the same lake which the German explorer Krause visited in 1879 and named Western Kussoa in contradistinction from the Eastern Kussoa which he found beyond the Ohilkoot pass. Here Mr. Glave left the party, and, striking across the coast range southward, discovered the headwaters of the Alsekh river, following down its channel to the coast at Dry bay. Messrs. Wells and Schanz proceeded to the Upper Yukon by the usual route. At Forty Mile creek Mr. Wells and another white man turned off, and, with the assistance of a miner who was engaged as guide, crossed over into the basin of the Tanana river and explored an unknown tributary of that stream.   Mr. Schanz traveled down the Yukon to St. Michael and thence back to the Kuskokwim portage and down that river to the seacoast, reaching Bristol bay in October. Here he was joined a month later by Mr. Wells and his party, who had followed the same route from the mouth of the Tanana river. During the months of January and February Mr. Schanz, in company with Mr. J. W. Clark, accomplished a dog-sledge journey of discovery, resulting in the definite location and exploration of a large lake to the northward of Lake Hiamna, the existence of which, though long known by reports of natives and mentioned in the Alaskan report of the Tenth Census, and vaguely indicated as Lake Kichik on the accompanying map, had never been verified. This has now been done and its outlines laid down from astronomical observations. This important sheet of water, some 75 miles long, was named Lake Clark. The Koghelin river, broken about midway by a magnificent fall, connects it with Lake Iliamna, of which it is the principal feeder.

The heretofore unknown course of the Copper river has been explored and mapped by Lieutenants Abercrombie and Allen, of the United States army, and the misleading feature of the former maps, giving this river a wide, open mouth, most inviting to the navigator, has been duly corrected.

The intricate waters and coast line of Prince William sound had been carefully surveyed and charted a century ago by Vancouver and his assistants, and but little that is new was added by the exploration of Mr. Samuel Applegate 5 or 6 years ago.

The long line of Alaskan coast and islands, extending from Prince William sound to the westernmost island of the Aleutian chain, has received but little attention in the way of scientific exploration during the last 10 years. A few corrected charts have been published by the coast survey of the region immediately adjoining the western extremity of this Alaskan peninsula and the Shumagin islands, and in addition a series of soundings has been made by the United States fish commission steamer Albatross, developing vast and heretofore unknown fishing banks.

On the waters and coast of Bering sea the only work of exploring, sounding, and surveying accomplished since 1880 has been done at odd times by the vessels of the United States revenue marine, and in 1890 by the Albatross, commanded by Captain Z. L. Tanner.

The great interior lying back of the Bering seacoast of Alaska, with its great rivers, low ranges of hills, and swampy plains, including the curious deltoid tundra land enclosed between the Sea and the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers, has been traversed, explored, and described by missionaries, traders, and prospectors in a cursory way, but the only discovery made and authenticated with astronomical observations in all this region is Lake Clark.

The great highway of northern Alaska, the Yukon river, has been so constantly traveled over by traders, miners, missionaries, and even the ubiquitous newspaper correspondent, as to leave but little room for new information concerning it. Its principal tributaries, the Tanana in the south and the Koyukuk in the north, have been explored and roughly mapped by Lieutenant Allen, but they are still comparatively unknown as to their real course and topographical details of their respective valleys.

Much geographical work has also been accomplished on the Upper Yukon and Porcupine rivers, under the auspices of the United States coast and geodetic survey, by the boundary survey parties of Messrs. McGrath and Turner, who spent two winters in that desolate region. The boundary was definitely located at its points of intersection with the principal streams, and one party succeeded in penetrating from the Porcupine river to the Arctic shore in the vicinity of Demarcation point.

To the northward of the Yukon basin, beyond the Arctic circle, much information has been obtained within the last 10 years, enabling our map makers to place new rivers hundreds of miles in length upon our charts, with much topographic detail of the surrounding country, which heretofore had been represented on our maps as a suggestive blank.

The explorations of Lieutenant J. C. Cantwell, of the United States revenue marine, and Lieutenant George M. Stoney, of the United States navy, have made known to us the basins of the great rivers Kowak and Noatak debouching into Kotzebue sound, and confirmed the existence of water routes connecting the headwaters of these rivers with the Colville and other streams in the vicinity of Point Barrow. Concerning the latter point and adjoining region, Lieutenant Ray, United States army, collected much valuable geographical data while in charge of the United States polar meteorological station.

Concerning the Arctic coast line of Alaska from Cape Prince of Wales to Demarcation point, valuable information is added annually by the work of the vessels of the revenue marine during their cruises. The United States steamer Thetis a few years ago succeeded in coasting the Arctic shore as far as Herschel island, near the mouth of the Mackenzie river.'

This comprises the sum and substance of geographical work accomplished since our last report.

The coast of Alaska washed by the Pacific ocean begins at Dixon entrance, in latitude 54° 40'; thence it sweeps northward and westward in a mighty curve, measuring over 1,200 miles, to the western extremity of the Alaska peninsula, and from here again the Aleutian chain of islands stretches far toward the coast of Asia in another long curve measuring nearly 1,000 miles, with its convexity to the south. The remaining coast of Alaska follows the lines of Bering sea, Bering strait, and Kotzebue sound, finally turning in a northeasterly direction from Cape Lisburue to Point Barrow, and thence eastward to the British boundary.

The highest latitude of that great bend of the coast to the eastward of Sitka, sometimes called the Gulf of Alaska, is 60° 30', while the end of the curve at Issanak or Morzhovoi strait lies in latitude 55°. From this strait, which separates the peninsula from Unimak island, with its towering volcanic peaks robed in the bridal splendor of eternal snow, the island chain curves to the southward until the lowest latitude is reached near the meridian of Greenwich in 51° 30', and thence westward and northward again to the island of Attu, the western extremity of the United States, in latitude 53° and longitude 173° east of Greenwich.

The westernmost point of the mainland of Alaska is found at Cape Prince of Wales, latitude 65° 30' and longitude 168° west, while its northern extremity is at Point Barrow, latitude 71° 20' and longitude 166° 10'.

From east to west, between our boundary on Portland canal and the island of Attu, Alaska covers 58 degrees of longitude. The distance between the southernmost of the Aleutian islands and the latitude of Point Barrow measures 20 degrees of latitude. The area of land within these lines has not been measured by actual survey, but estimated at 531,000 square miles, one-sixth of the total area of the United States.

From Dixon sound and Portland canal, in latitude 54° 40', the mainland is shielded from the sea by a vast archipelago of islands, large and small, most of them being mountainous throughout, and all covered with a dense growth of spruce, hemlock, and cedar. The dimensions of this great accumulation of islands average about 75 miles east and west and 260 miles northwest and southeast, divided by hundreds of navigable passages. The number of these islands is given as 1,100, divided as follows: Prince of Wales island and those closely surrounding it, 135; from Portland canal to Caamano, 134; from Cape Caamano to the middle of Stikine straits, 77; between Chatham, Frederick, and Stikine straits, 350; Admiralty island and those surrounding it, 118; Baranof and adjacent islands, 138; Chatham strait north of Admiralty island, 29, and Chichagof and islands adjacent to Cross sound, 109. The fiords of Norway and the " scheres" of Finland sink into insignificance before the great dimensions of these straits and sounds. Among the larger passages dividing this archipelago, Chatham strait, named by Vancouver, is the most important, stretching in a straight line 195 miles in a northerly direction from Cape Ommaney, in latitude 56° 10', to the mouth of Chilkat inlet, in latitude 59° 40', with an average width of 7 or 8 miles and a great depth of water. Several large passages connect this waterway with other straits to the eastward and also with the sea north of Sitka. Of the latter, one called Peril or Destruction strait leads directly to Sitka, while the other consists of Cross sound or Icy strait, about 75 miles north of Sitka. The Alexander archipelago embraces a shore line of nearly 8,000 statute miles.

The outline of this section of Alaska is naturally a very irregular one on account of the numerous straits, bays, and islands. The south coast, facing upon Dixon sound and Portland canal and extending 80 miles from the latter westward to Cape Kaigan, exhibits numerous headlands and broken shores, steep hills, and mountains covered with dense forest to their summits. The mountains attain an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, with scarcely a valley between them.

The extensive eastern arm of Dixon sound, called Portland canal by Vancouver, forms the southeastern dividing line between British Columbia and Alaska. It begins in latitude 54° 41', and its northern head is in latitude 55° 45' and longitude 149° 54'.   The inlet is but a little over a mile in width.

On the island of Tongass, situated a little to the westward of the mouth of Portland canal, a military post was established soon after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, but it has since been abandoned; a few of the buildings, however, still remain, surrounded by the easternmost native villages of all Alaska. Cape Fox, the southerly extremity of the mainland within the American territory, is situated in latitude 54° 45' 30". From the north side of Dixon sound several large passages extend to the northward: the Eevilla Gigedo channel, or Tongass narrows, between Cape Fox and Cape Northumberland; Clarence strait, between Cape Northumberland and Cape Kaigan; and Cordova bay or strait, between Cape Chacon and Cape Kaigan, having connection with Bucarelli sound. The largest of these passages, Clarence strait, runs in a northwesterly direction for 120 miles, with an average width of from 15 to 20 miles, and finally mingles its waters with those of Chatham strait, its western shore being formed by Prince of Wales island. Strange to say, this large island, which has been known to the maritime nations of the globe for over 100 years, still remains unsurveyed, and has been variously named an island and an archipelago, and accounts of natives report numerous navigable passages cutting through it here and there. From the eastern side of Clarence strait great arms penetrate in a general northeasterly direction until they reach the base of the coast mountains; their waters are navigable, the shores bold and covered with timber, and the whole forms an intricacy of inland navigation difficult to describe in detail, and a chart affords but a faint idea of its perplexing grandeur. There seems to be no harbor on the mainland in this vicinity. The port of Wrangell is located on an island of the same name a short distance from the mouth of the Stikine river, in latitude 56° 31' and longitude 132° 23'. The Russians had a small stockaded station here called Redoute St. Dionys, which was subsequently leased to the Hudson Bay Company. After the acquisition of the country by the United States a military post was established here, but was finally abandoned in 1877.

The Stikine is the largest river of southeastern Alaska, but lies within our boundaries for a distance of only 30 miles in an air line from its mouth. The Dominion government claims a boundary even nearer to the seacoast, including the spot where British ocean steamers land cargoes and passengers, and the advent of the British here has destroyed the once large transit trade of Wrangell.   The interior of the country adjoining this river is broken into a succession of sharply defined mountain ranges, separated by narrow, deep valleys similar to those between the islands of the coast.

The topography of the Alexander archipelago is the type of that of the interior of the mainland back of it within our boundaries. Beyond, on the upper rivers, within the British possessions, there is a large rolling plateau stretching between the coast range in the west and the prolongation of the Rocky mountains in the east. Like other Alaskan rivers, the Stikine takes its head from a succession of great lakes. A number of glaciers descend from the snow-covered peaks on both sides of the river down to its banks. The largest of these is situated on the right or west bank, with its face on the river 4 or 5 miles in width, and its length is said to be over 60 miles. The Indians relate that in ancient times this glacier extended across the river, forming an icy arch over the stream, but in course of time the spring freshets washed away the obstruction. Some officers of the Russian navy attempted to explore this huge glacier to its head, but they probably fell into one of the numerous chasms, as they were never heard of again.

One wide passage from the mouth of the Stikine to the ocean, called Sumner strait, runs westward between Prince of Wales island on the south and the Kehk archipelago on the north, reaching the sea between Cape Ommaney, on Baranof island, and Coronation island on the south. Another passage, Prince Frederick sound, runs from the mouth of the Stikine northward along the coast of the mainland and then westward between Admiralty island and the Kehk archipelago until it empties into Chatham strait. A branch of this channel, Stephens passage, runs northward between the mainland and Admiralty island until it mingles its waters with those of Chilkat inlet. At about the middle of its course Taku inlet opens on the east, and a little beyond this Douglas island divides the strait into two channels. Juneau city and Douglas city are situated on opposite sides of Gastineaux channel. From the junction of Stephens passage, Chilkat inlet, and Chatham strait, a wide channel, called Cross sound or Icy strait by the Russians, opens between the mainland on the north and Chichagof or Huna island on the south. Glacier bay extends in a northwesterly direction from the north shore of Cross sound, between Lynn canal, or Chilkat inlet, and the Pacific, for a distance of about 40 miles. About 20 miles from its mouth there is an island 5 or 6 miles in length named Willoughby island, and around the shores of the bay are 5 immense glaciers. The first, in the vicinity of Willoughby island, is about half a mile wide and 150 feet high; the next is about three-fourths of a mile wide and 200 feet high; the third, known among the Indians as the "great glacier ", is situated at the head of the bay, and is about half a mile wide and from 200 to 300 feet high; the fourth, on the northern shore of the bay, is about half a mile wide and 150 feet high, and the fifth and smallest is about half a mile wide and 50 feet high. Nearly all the ice floating in this bay and Cross sound comes from these glaciers. The sea washes under them, honeycombs the ice by its incessant lapping, and pieces are broken off constantly. Prof. John Muir, an eminent geologist of the Pacific coast, describes another huge glacier located here, as follows:

On the northern shore of Glacier bay, north of Willoughby island, there is a large inlet, from 3 to 4 miles wide at its mouth. It runs to the northward and westward 5 miles, and at its head there is an immense glacier, which extends across the head of the inlet for a distance of 3 miles; 10 miles back from its face it is 10 miles wide, and near,this, its greatest width, 16 branches of the first class unite to form one immense glacier; 4 of the 16 branches are each over 2 miles wide, while nearly all have tributaries; the distance from the face of the glacier to its farthest removed fountain is about 40 miles.

The port of Sitka is situated on the west coast of Baranof island, in latitude 57° 2' 52", and longitude 135° 17' 45".

West of Cross sound the coast mountain range attains an elevation of 14,000 to 18,000 feet, covered far down with perpetual snow, the highest peaks (Mount St. Elias, Fairweather, and Orillon) looming up in silent grandeur above them, visible in clear weather a distance of 150 miles at sea. From Lituya or Port Des Francais westward the immediate seacoast is comparatively low, wooded ground, but closely backed by icy declivities that come down from the high mountain ranges, and at the head of Yakutat bay reach the coast land. This narrow strip of low coast, interrupted only in the vicinity of Icy bay by a succession of precipitous glaciers fronting the sea for 15 or 20 miles, extends to the mouth of the Copper river. Here the sediment carried down from the mountains has been deposited for thousands of years, until a vast, low delta has been formed, through which the waters of the river find their way to the sea in numerous channels. In many places the swift current has scooped large basins and lagoons out of this soft material, the whole presenting the spectacle of a perfect labyrinth of lakes and streams. The mountains rise up abruptly from the northern edge of this flat to a height of 8,000 or 9,000 feet.

Vistas of the far interior are afforded here and there by the gradually sloping masses of glacier ice. West of the Copper river the foot of the Chugatch alps is bathed by the sea without any intervening lowland, with only two or three exceptions, and these have been utilized for the location of settlements. The mountains on the northern side of Prince William sound must reach a height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet, all densely wooded up to about a height of 1,000 feet, and covered with eternal snow from their summits to within 3,000 or 4,000 feet of the sea level. The interior of Prince William sound or the Gulf of Chugatch forms a basin almost entirely landlocked, being sheltered on the south by the islands of Nuchek and Montague; but, although thus surrounded on all sides by land, it is by no means a calm and pleasant sheet of water to navigate, as furious gales and " woollies ", or mountain squalls, sweep down the mountain sides without a moment's warning, compelling the luckless traveler in a small craft or canoe to seek the lee of one of the hundreds of islands and capes studding the coast. Immense glaciers on the northern shore are constantly descending into the sea and shedding fragments of ice, both large and small, that are carried off by the tide in compact fields or loose masses, still more endangering navigation. The western shore of the sound, the northeast coast of the Kenai peninsula, is very much cut up into deep bays and fiords, and everywhere mountains can be seen looming up in the background with snowy peaks and ridges. The deepest indentation in this section of the coast of the peninsula is Resurrection bay, which was long years ago utilized by the Russians as a shipyard. This bay affords the only harbor in the vicinity, though its entrance is beset with islands and the approach made difficult to sailing vessels. From Resurrection bay in a southwesterly direction the coast is one succession of deep fiords, but, exposed as it is to the fierce easterly gales prevailing here at nearly all times of the year, it is shunned by navigators, especially because even the deepest and most extensive bays do not afford a single anchorage, so that vessels entering them to find refuge from storms would still be at the mercy of the tides.

The entrance to Cook inlet, or the Gulf of Kenai of the Russians, lies between Cape Elizabeth on the southwestern extremity of the Kenai peninsula and Cape Douglas, a bold promontory jutting out from the Alaskan peninsula. Nearly half way between the two is a group of bleak, naked rocks, called the Barren islands, which, placed as they are in mid channel of the tide rushing into Cook inlet from the ocean, cause violent and irregular tidal currents, very dangerous and perplexing to the navigator. During calm weather the so-called u tide-rip " will toss a craft about more violently than any sea stirred up by wind, and a sailing vessel caught within a few miles of the Barren islands in the " tide-rip " without wind is irresistibly drawn to destruction upon the rocks.

Just above its mouth the waters of Cook inlet widen out into the Gulfs of Kamishak on the west and Kachemak (also called Kachekmak and Chugachik) on the east. On the east shore the mountains are not high, and contain extensive coal veins of an inferior quality, but on the west the main Alaskan chain of mountains rears up several volcanic peaks to a considerable height, rising abruptly from the seacoast, with a narrow belt of shelving woodland intervening. North of the indentations mentioned the shores of Cook inlet again approach each other to a distance of not over 30 miles between Anchor point on the east and Mount Isaac on the west. From this point northward and eastward the eastern shore is low and flat, with an elevation of from 50 to 100 feet above the sea. High ridges of mountains traverse the interior and eastern side of the Kenai peninsula, but between them and the coast there is a strip of marshy tundra, wooded along the river courses, and varying from 40 to 60 miles in width. The Kassilof and Kenai rivers, both important salmon streams, form the outlets of a system of lakes that bathe the foot of the snow-capped mountain chain, the backbone of the Kenai peninsula. As the inlet contracts still farther, especially between the promontories of Bast and West Foreland, the tides increase in velocity and violence of action until they attain a speed of 8 or 9 knots, with an average vertical rise and fall of 24 to 26 feet. The northeastern extremity of this vast inlet or gulf, which Cook entered with the expectation of finding a northwest passage, and, being disappointed, applied to it the name of "Turnagain", equals in tidal phenomena the Bay of Fundy. The flood comes in in a huge "bore", with thundering noise and astonishing rapidity, and a traveler advancing with it in a canoe experiences the peculiar sensation of seeing one high bank of clay and gravel after another apparently sinking before him as he is lifted up and carried over by the inpouring tide. From the mountains surrounding this branch of the inlet innumerable avalanches sweep down the rocky and wooded slopes, demolishing large sections of forest and piling up rocky debris to such an extent as to cause frequent and total changes in the aspect of the country, while the outlines of the coast undergo equally perceptible modifications from the action of the tides.

What the country north of Cook inlet is like no civilized man can tell, as in all the years of occupation of the coast by the Caucasian race it has remained a sealed book. The Indians tell us that the rivers lead into lakes, and that the lakes are connected by rivers with other lakes again, until finally the waters flow into the basins of the Tanana and the Yukon; but conflicting with this intermingling of the waters are stories of mountains of immense altitude visible for hundreds of miles. The natives living north of this terra incognita give, however, similar descriptions, which may be accepted until reliable explorers are enabled to penetrate this region.

On the western side of Cook inlet the main Alaskan chain of mountains, called by Dall the Chigmit range, rises abruptly from the sea in steep ridges and peaks, the highest two being the Redoute and the Iliamna mountains, both volcanic and emitting smoke. Only at two points along this coast within the inlet does low land intervene between the mountains and the shores, at Toyonok and Kustatan, both of which localities have been utilized by the natives for establishing settlements. Up to the height of about 1,000 feet all these mountains are densely wooded. From Kamishak gulf, situated between Mount Isaac and Cape Douglas, a portage is made, over a slight depression in the ridge to the basin, to the great Lake Iliamna, but on the southwestern shore of the bay the mountains rise again to a considerable height, culminating in the 4 peaks to the westward of Cape Douglas. The last named cape is one of the most prominent and boldest in shape of the many Alaskan promontories, jutting out as it does at a right angle for a distance of several miles into the sea, with a sudden descent of over 1,000 feet into the waves of Cook inlet.
   
    The same chain of mountains extends down the south coast of the peninsula, varying in height between 5,000 and 8,000 feet with peaks much eroded by glacial and meteorological action. The numerous glaciers existing throughout the upper regions of this mountain chain do not anywhere approach the seacoast, as is the case with Mount St. Elias and the Chugatch alps, these formations being found only at high altitudes, generally facing westward and southward.

Two distinct and continuous lines of " water mark" can be observed along the whole of this chain, one at an altitude of 1,000 feet, the other perhaps 500 or 600 feet higher. Both of these lines show the effects of the wash of the ocean for ages, together with many petrifactions of mollusks and other marine life. The natural conclusion forced upon the observer is that the whole peninsula of Alaska has undergone two successive periods of elevation from volcanic action, and that this region would afford a highly interesting field of research to geologists. It is a significant fact that no glacial action is observable below the upper sea level. The immediate seacoast here is cut up into innumerable fiords and coves and lined with rocky islets.

The term "mountain chain" applied above to the elevated portion of the peninsula does not, perhaps, quite describe a very peculiar formation. The mountains or mountain groups are interrupted from time to time by depressions, but these do not at all bear the character of mountain passes, as they consist of low, marshy plains, extending entirely across the peninsula, varying very much in width. A similar formation can be found on the coast of Prince William sound, where outlying spurs of the main chain are frequently divided in the same way. The impression created in the mind of the beholder is not that of a continuous alpine chain, but rather of a series of islands, such as the Aleutians, raised by successive volcanic action until the straits between them are left dry. These depressions serve as the portage routes across the peninsula. A careful observer could easily recognize distinct islands in the mountain groups of Morzhovoi and Belkovsky, connected with each other and with the Pavlovsk volcanic group only by low, swampy isthmuses. Again the mountain groups opposite the Shumagin islands containing the Veniaminof and other volcanoes, loom up, entirely isolated by similar depressions, north and south. Between Moller and Portage bays the portage is made in an hour from the waters of the North Pacific ocean to those of Bering sea.

Other swampy passages lead through from the Ohignik and Kishulik bays to the north coast of the peninsula. Nearly all these isolated mountain sections bear a peculiar resemblance to the outward shape of the island of Unimak, the first of the Aleutian chain that is actually separated from the peninsula, though only by a strait too shallow to be navigable. That an elevation of this region has taken place is confirmed by abundant evidence, and altogether it does not seem at all improbable that what now resembles from a distance a long mountain range was once a chain of islands.

At Cape Atushagwik the coast of the peninsula approaches nearest to that of Kadiak island, the width of the strait here being only a little over 18 miles.

In the vicinity of Katmai both coal and petroleum have been found, but not in abundant quantity or excelling in quality.

The volcanic group of the Pavlovsk mountains stands, as already mentioned, entirely isolated with its two craters, of which one is still active, while the other is reported to have been extinct since 1786. From this region also samples of coal of inferior quality have been procured. South of Pavlof bay another volcano rears its jagged crown, separated both north and south from the other mountains.

In the neighborhood of Belkovsky and Morzhovoi several volcanic peaks can be observed, but they have not been active within historic times.

On rounding the southern extremity of the peninsula and turning northward and eastward, a total change in the aspect of the coast can be observed. Low, sandy reaches and slightly elevated moorlands cover the wide interval between the mountains and the shores of Bering sea, interrupted here and there by lake-fed streams and rivers. In the vicinity of Ugashik the volcanic character of the country disappears entirely, the rock formation being altogether of granite and quartz, and pumice stone and chalk are only washed up by the sea. All along the coast from here we encounter gray granite, hornblende, serpentine, porphyry, and sandstone, but at an altitude of about 300 feet above sea level parallel strata containing fossil bivalves appear on the faces of bluffs. As we advance northward the interval between mountains and seacoast widens, until in the vicinity of Lakes Naknek and Bocharof swampy plateaus nearly 100 miles in width are found, dotted with many lakes.

Proceeding northward along the coast of the mainland the first deep indentation of the shore line is Bristol bay, into which the waters of Lake Iliamna flow through the Kvichak river. From the southern extremity of the Alaskan peninsula to this point Port Moller affords the only harbor for shipping through three rivers, the Sulina, the Igagik, and the Naknek, flowing into Bering sea from the mountains in the east. In the vicinity of the mouths of the last two streams the shore is high and rocky, but only few traces of volcanic action can be discovered. North of Lakes Iliamna and Clark high mountains of the main Alaskan range protrude between that sheet of water and the Nushagak river, its spurs approaching nearest the coast immediately behind the Nushagak post and settlement. Other spurs of the same range of mountains and isolated groups of hills appear at long distances from each other on the coast of Bering sea, the intervals being filled up apparently with alluvial, swampy soil, not altogether level, but gently rolling.   The earliest intelligent observer of this region, the Russian missionary Veniaminof, described the conformation of this section of the country as follows:

Slight elevations can be found along the whole extent of the American coast of Bering sea; they are in nearly all cases connected with the mountains in the interior. If the observer ascends to a height the country appears to him like a heaving ocean suddenly become stationary, with its waves transformed into sand and mud; these waves are now covered with vegetation, but their outlines are still very striking.   In the midst of this dry sea we find occasionally high, rocky islands entirely separated from the neighboring hills.

To the westward of Nushagak the mountains first reach the coast on both sides of the Bay of Kulluk. The summits of this range as seen from the lakes forming the portage between the Bays of Kulluk and Nushagak are very jagged in outline, rising abruptly in almost perpendicular blocks and peaks too steep to afford lodgment for snow. The capes and headlands jutting out from this range into the sea are frequently composed of sandstone worn into fantastic shapes by the action of the tides and changes of temperature. The next great elevated headland is Cape Newenham, which forms the terminal point of a rather low range of hills running parallel with the left bank of the Kuskokwim west of the Tuluksak river. At Cape Kewenham these hills culminate in two towering peaks between 2,000 and 3,000 feet in height. Between this point and Cape Vancouver in the north the country on both sides of the wide estuary of the Kuskokwim is evidently of an alluvial formation, low and swampy. Both at Cape Vancouver and on the island of Nunivak lava is found, in addition to many other evidences of volcanic origin, and the same is true of the islands further off the coast, St. Matthews and St. Lawrence. At Cape Eumiantzof, in latitude 61° 47', is another aggregation of volcanic hills rising like mountainous islands from the tundra.

The delta of the great Yukon is of course entirely alluvial, with the exception, perhaps, of the isolated hills of Kusilvak, which give indications of volcanic origin. From the northern mouth of the Yukon eastward the south coast of Norton sound consists of low, rocky hills of lava and basalt. Between the small streams of Pastolik and Pastoliak are high bluffs of basalt, and the sandstone cape of Vsachaghik looms up between 400 and 500 feet from the sea level. The islands of St. Michael and Stuart are comparatively recent lava formations, and contain several extinct craters. The traditions of the natives here speak of the island of St. Michael as having risen from the ocean, and old people living in Tebenkofs time related to him that twice within their recollection the whole island was covered by the sea. Prom St. Michael northward the chain of low hills, composed of lava and basalt, runs parallel with the coast, averaging in height from 200 to 300 feet, but at a distance of about 30 miles inland a few peaks attain a height of between 1,000 and 1,500 feet At Cape Denbigh a granite formation appears, jutting out into the sea at a right angle with the volcanic range of hills. The shores of Norton bay are low, and all the alluvial deposits contain bones, tusks, and skeletons of the mammoth and mastodon. On the north coast of Norton sound we find the deep indentation of Golovin bay between two high points, Cape Derby and Stony cape. The interior at the head of Golovin bay is low, and a portage route extends thence by means of lakes and rivers to Grantley harbor. From Stony cape to Cape Bodney the shore is low and level, but in the interior a few high mountains covered with snow are visible.

To the northward of Cape Rodney is situated the best harbor in the northern waters, Port Clarence, with an interior basin named Grantley harbor. The harbor is utilized by the whaling fleet for refitting and meeting their tenders bringing supplies of stores and coal. From here the low, rocky coast trends westward, culminating in the prominent headland of Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost extremity of the North American continent.

A low, sandy shore extends in a northeasterly direction from Cape Prince of Wales to Cape Espenburg, broken only by the shallow waters of Shishmaref inlet. Cape Espenburg is the western headland of the broad but shallow gulf known as Kotzebue sound, the waters of which are freshened by the outpouring flood of several great rivers, the Buckland, the Kowak, the Noatak, and the outlet of Selawik lake.

Beyond Cape Krusenstern, which forms the northern headland of Kotzebue sound, the coast line runs northeasterly to Cape Lisburne, a steep eminence rising abruptly from the sea, but about halfway between the two points a remarkable low, sandy tongue of land, backed by steep cliffs at its landward end, forms Point Hope? known also as a point of rendezvous for whalers and traders.

From Cape Lisburne to Point Barrow the general direction of the coast is northeasterly. Its conformation is generally low and rocky, with many outlying shoals and sandy islets. The few headlands between the two capes are named Point Lay, Icy cape, and Point Belcher. Beyond Point Barrow the coast continues in an easterly direction to Demarcation point, at the point of intersection of the 141st meridian with the arctic coast.

The length of coast line of Alaska's mainland and islands is nearly four times that of all other parts of the United States combined, as exemplified in the subjoined statement furnished by the United States coast and geodetic survey:

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