Agricultural statistics of the Highlands of Scotland, &c.—Continued. It will be noted from these statistics that the quantity of potatoes and. also the quantity of wheat is small, when compared with the other root crops or cereals. The small Highland cattle are well known, and, like the small Siberian stock, admirably suited to such a climate and country. They produce tender, well-flavored beef, and extremely rich cream and butter. The climate of Scotland furnishes a very complete parallel with that of the Aleutian district of Alaska. The eastern coast, defended from the vapors of the Atlantic currents by its sheltering mountains, is much drier, and the extremes of temperature are greater than on the western coast and the islands, resembling the eastern part of Cook's Inlet in this respect, and the interior of Alaska generally. Veniaminof states that in Unalaska the greatest number of perfectly clear days are in January, February, and June, and usually follow a northerly wind. The barometer ranges from 27.415 inches to 29.437 inches, aud, on the average, is highest in December and lowest in July; rising with a north and falling with a south wind. Inhabitants. The inhabitants of these islands are the Aleuts; true Esquimaux by descent, but altered by an insular life, isolated from other tribes, and changed by long contact with the Russians. They all nominally belong to the Greek Catholic faith, and practice the rites of that religion. Many can read and write the ecclesiastical or old Slavonie characters, which they have been taught by the priests. They are faithful, docile, enduring, hardy, but lazy, phlegmatic, and great drunkards. They make good sailors but poor farmers, and chiefly occupy themselves in hunting and fishing. There are, perhaps, in all, fifteen hundred of them, male and female; and it can be said, to their credit, that for honesty they far surpass the majority of civilized communities. Vegetation. There is no timber of any kind larger than a shrub on these islands, but there does not appear to be any good reason why trees, if properly planted and drained, should not flourish. A few spruces were, in 1805, transplanted from Sitka, or Kadiak, to Unalaska. They lived, but were not cared for, or the situation was unfavorable, as they have increased very little in size since that time, according to Chamisso. The grasses in this climate, warmer than that of the Youkon territory and drier than the Sitkan district, attain an unwonted luxuriance. For example, Unalaska,* in the vicinity of Captains' Harbor, abounds in grasses, with a climate better adapted for haying than that of the coast of Oregon. The cattle were remarkably fat, and the beef very tender and delicate; rarely surpassed by any well-fed stock. Milk was abundant. The good and available arable land lies chiefly near the coast, formed by the meeting and mingling of the detritus from mountain and valley with the sea-sand, which formed a remarkably rich and genial soil, well suited for garden and root crop culture. It occurs to us that many choice sunny hillsides here would produce good crops under the thrifty hand of enterprise. They are already cleared for the plow. Where grain-like grasses grow and mature well, it seems fair to infer that oats and barley would thrive, provided they were fall-sown, like the native grasses. This is abundantly verified by reference to the collections. Several of these grasses had already (September) matured and cast their seed before we arrived, showing sufficient length of season. Indeed no grain will yield more than half a crop of poor quality, (on the Pacific slope,) when spring-sown, whether north or south. The Russians affirm, with confirmation by later visitors, that potatoes are cultivated in almost every Aleutian village; and Veniaminof states that at the village in Isanotsky Strait, they have raised them and preserved the seed for planting, since the beginning of this century; the inhabitants of this village by so doing having escaped the effects of several severe famines, which visited their less provident and industri- ons neighbors. Wild peas grow in great luxuriance near Unalaska Bay, and, according to Mr. Davidson, might be advantageously cultivated. This species, the Lathyrus maritimus of botanists, grows and flourishes as far north as latitude 64°. The productions of all the islands to the westward resemble those of Unalaska. In September, says Dr. Kellogg, the turnips here were large and of excellent quality; carrots, parsnips, and cabbages lacked careful atten *Seo report of Dr. A. Kellogg on the Botany of Alaska, H. Ex. Doc. 177, 40th Congress, second session, page 218. tion, but were good. Wild parsnips are abundant and edible through all these islands. At the height of two thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the sea most vegetation ceases. From the reports of Dr. Kellogg and others, there appears to be no doubt that cattle can be advantageously kept in the Aleutian district, provided competent farmers will take the matter in hand. The winter climate is as mild as that of the highlands of Scotland or the Orkneys, where stock has been successfully kept from time immemorial. Golovin states that, at one time, the company proposed to furnish the Alents with stock, gratis, in order to promote agriculture, and prevent the famines caused by taking them off to hunt sea otter during the fishing season. The Aleuts, totally ignorant of the management of cattle, did not succeed very well. The cows, which they confined at night in the low buildings where their dry fish is hung up, knocked it down and trampled on it; they did not know how to milk them; the hogs rooted up their garden patches; and the goats had a fancy for jumping over the tents in which they slept in summer, and knocking them down, to the great discomfort of the family, so they were very glad to get rid of them. In Cook's Inlet the natives were more intelligent, or had more experience, and their catttle did much better. Hogs were placed on the island near the Churnobour reef in 1825, and multiplied exceedingly, living on the wild parsnips and other native plants, but were destroyed during the eruption of the volcano on the neighboring island of Ounimak in 1827, by the tidal waves accompanying that phenomenon. THE SITKAN DISTRICT. This district extends from the southern boundary to the peninsula of Aliaska, including the island of Kadiak. The surface of this portion of the Territory is rugged and mountainous in the extreme, the northern part only affording any appreciable amount of level and arable lands suitable for cultivation. Small patches occur here and there where small farms might be located, but, as a rule, the mountains descend precipitously into the sea, with their flanks covered with dense and almost impenetrable forests. These rise to the level of about fifteen hundred feet above the sea. Here and there a bare streak shows where an avalanche has cut its way from the mountain top to the waterside; and occasionally the shining front of a glacier occupies some deep ravine, contrasting curiously with the dense foliage on either side. The canals and channels of the Alexander Archipelago form the highways of the country, and so intricate and tortuous are they, that they afford access to almost every part of it, without setting foot on shore. Soil. The soil is principally decayed vegetable mold, with substrata of gravel or dark-colored clay. The soil of Kadiak and Cook's Inlet is of a similar character, but from an admixture of volcanic sand thrown up by the waves, and abundant sandstone strata, it is lighter, drier, and better adapted for cultivation. Climate. The climate of the southern portion of this district is intol erably rainy. The annual rain-fall at Sitka varies from sixty to ninetyfive inches, and the annual number of more or less rainy days varies from one hundred and ninety to two hundred and eighty-five. In Unalaska the annual number of rainy days is about one hundred and fifty, and the annual fall of rain (and melted snow) is about forty-four inches. This last estimate is probably not too low for the island of Kadiak and |