seven degrees east of Irkútsk. Wheat matures here, though the summer is very short, and the earth at the depth of a foot is always frozen. YUKON. The English corruption of the Indian word Yukonna. This word, which is common to all the Tínneh who reside on its banks, is not exactly represented in English by the phrase "great river." Kakhat means "river" in the same dialect, and Kétakakhat means "small river." The sense in which Yukónna is used is more like that in which we use the word "sea" when referring to the whole body of oceanic water. We have no words in the English which exactly express the whole idea. We may approach it by saying that it means "the river, par excellence." It has been frequently spelled Youkon, and also Yúcon and Youcan; but Yukon represents the phonetic value according to the rules which are followed in this volume. ZAPÓR. A word used by the Russians to denote the fish-traps, or weirs, built by the natives on the Yukon, as elsewhere described. The Yakúts, I am informed, catch fish in a similar manner, but the Kutchin tribes do not understand the art. POPULATION OF ALASKA. Corrected from Russian estimates, and, if anything, above rather than below the actual number. 27,792 51,622 2,016 234,040 879 2,447 NOTE. These estimates are unquestionably below the truth. The Company systematically underrated their profits and the amount of the annual production, from motives of policy. This will be evident to any one who will compare the production of furs as stated in the Reports published in St. Petersburg with the amount as given in the Reports published at Sitka. The number of musk-rat skins is not to be found in the Reports, but is given on the authority of officers of the Russian American Company. The above does not include the number of skins obtained by the English, American, and Sandwich Island trader, which, in the continental furs, has averaged one third annually since 1850, in addition to the figures given in the table. APPENDIX METEOROLOGY. 539 Ꭰ . Meteorological Observations at St. Michael's Redoubt, Norton Sound, 1842-43, by Lieutenant Zagóskin, I. R. N. July 25th to 31st, 1842. No clear days. One cloudy day. Five rainy days. No aurora. General average of temperature +57°.06 Fahrenheit. January 1st to 12th, 1843. Four clear days. Seven cloudy days. One rainy day. No aurora. General average -50.14 Fahrenheit. January 12, 1843, observations at St. Michael's discontinued. Observations taken at Nuláto, 1843, by Lieutenant Zagóskin, I. R. N. Lat 64° 42′ 11′′ N. and Lon. 157° 56' 18" W. G. Jan. 28th to 31st, 1843. Two clear days. Two cloudy days. No rain, snow, or aurora. Average -25°.10 Fahrenheit. Feb. 1st to 28th, 1843. Fifteen clear days. Six cloudy days. Seven snowy days. Aurora in the N.W. and E N.E. (Mag.) from the 6th to 12th inclusive, every night. General average —2°.59 Fahrenheit. March 1st to 31st, 1843. Three clear days. Seventeen cloudy days. Eleven snowy days. Aurora on the 7th from 8 P. M. to 1 o'clock. General average +220.96 Fahrenheit. April 1st to 30th, 1843. Three clear days. Cloudy sixteen days. Eleven snowy days. Aurora on the 6th. General average +220.10 Fahrenheit. June 1st to 20th, 1843. One clear day. Sixteen cloudy days. Three rainy days. No aurora. General average +65°.41 Fahrenheit. |