formed with a view to surveying routes for the construction of railways.

It will probably not be long before channels of regular and reasonably rapid communication. with the Yukon region will be opened up. The Canadian government already has made a proposition to the United States looking to the construction of a telegraph line into the center of the Klondike district. The proposals have been approved by the British Secretary of State for foreign affairs and have been forwarded by the Governor General of Canada through the British. embassy in Washington to the State Department, and thence referred to the Interior Department.

The proposals, while reserving the rights of either country pending the settlement of the international boundary line between the United States and Canada south of Mount St. Elias, urge the expediency of establishing a permanent route. giving access to the interior at all seasons of the year. The most feasible route, in the judgment of the Canadian authorities, would be to start from the head of Winter navigation, on Lynn Canal, cross the mountains by White Pass, or by any other pass which may seem more acces

sible, and proceed northward to Fort Selkirk, and thence to Klondike.

The Canadian government asserts its readiness to undertake to open communication by constructing a telegraph line from the head of Winter navigation, traversing a distance of eighty miles across the summit of the mountain range, to a convenient point northeast of the mountain range, from which a trail can be followed to Fort Selkirk and to Klondike. That government also signifies its intention, in case the propositions are adopted, to erect suitable places for shelter at periods of from forty to fifty miles along the line and keep up dog trains during the Winter months for the conveyance of the mails to and from the interior.

Those who were interested in the construction of the proposed Russian American telegraph line in the early sixties have questioned whether that line could ever have been operated successfully on account of the heavy snows, but there will now doubtless be an opportunity for a practical experiment.

An arrangement has been made by the United States and Canadian authorities by which it is hoped Circle City and Dawson City will have

mails once every fortnight. This will be effected by permitting the postal departments of the two countries to work together in harmony. Hitherto the cost of a round trip for the United States mail carriers has been $600 and the mails have been delivered once a month when possible. The Chilkoot Pass was crossed with the mail by means of Indian carriers. In the winter transportation has been carried on by means of dog sleds, and there have been occasions when the mail was lost on the way. It is hoped that under the new contracts there will be no stoppage, no matter how low the temperature may go. The contractor has reported that he was sending a boat, in sections, by way of St. Michael. up the Yukon River, to be used on the waterway of the route, and it is thought much time will be saved by this, as in former times it was necessary for carriers to stop and build boats or rafts to pass the lakes.

In addition to this, for the summer season, contracts have been made with two steamboat companies for two trips from there to Seattle. When the steamers reach St. Michael the mail will be transferred from the steamers to the flat-bot

tomed boats runing up the Yukon as far as Circle City, and perhaps farther.

Postmaster General Gary, on September 2 issued a formal order establishing an exchange of mails once a month between the postoffices at Dyea and Dawson City, the service to consist of one round trip each month, the mails to contain only letters and post cards to the exclusion of all other articles. The contract for performing the service will be let by the Canadian Government, the United States paying the latter for its share of the expense based on the stretch of our territory that the route traverses.

The United States Government has taken an important step toward furthering the development of the Yukon country, by the establishment of an army post at St. Michael for the protection of life and property. This was decided upon at a meeting of the Cabinet in Washington, September 17, 1897.

CHAPTER XVI.

TRAITS OF THE NATIVE POPULATION.

According to the census of 1890 the population of Alaska consisted of 4,298 whites, 23,531 Indians, 2,288 Mongolians and 1,935 of mixed blood. These figures will have to be revised, for another year will see the white population at least quadrupled. The designation "Indian," as applied to natives of the Territory, is misleading. Ethnologically the natives of Alaska may be classed in four divisions or families. The southeastern coast and the islands of Alexander archipelago, from Dixon entrance as far north as Mt. St. Elias, are occupied by the Kolosch or Tlingit family of Indians. The Indians of the interior belong to another family, known among ethnologists as Athapascans or Tinnéhs. They occupy the country from Hudson Bay to the mountains. skirting the coast, and they touch the sea only in