confined to the rivers and the country immediately bordering them.
He made no discoveries of agricultural or mineral wealth. Fish and
deer-meat, with berries, formed the food of the natives, while furs
were their only articles of trade.

[Illustration: VIEW OF SITKA]

Russian America is of great extent, superficially. It is agreeably
diversified with mountains, hills, rolling country, and table land,
with a liberal amount of _pereval_ or undulating swamp. In the
northern portion there is timber scattered along the rivers and on the
mountain slopes; but the trees and their quantity are alike small. In
the southern parts there are forests of large trees, that will be
valuable when Oregon and Washington are exhausted. Along the coast
there are many bays and harbors, easy of access and well sheltered.
Sitka has a magnificent harbor, never frozen or obstructed with ice.

Gold is known to exist in several localities. A few placer mines have
been opened on the Stikeen river, but no one knows the extent of the
auriferous beds, in the absence of all 'prospecting' data. I do not
believe gold mining will ever be found profitable in Russian America.
The winters are long and cold, and the snows are deep. The working
season is very short, and in many localities on the mainland 'ground
ice' is permanent at slight depths. Veins of copper have been found
near the Yukon, but so far none that would pay for developing.

Building stone is abundant, and so is ice. Neither is of much value in
commerce.

The fur trade was the chief source of the Company's revenue. The