Our New Territory—Description of the Russian-American Possessions.
As there will naturally be felt a desire on the part of the public to know something of the extent and value of the possessions which our Government has been treating with Russia for, we subjoin the following description of them, taken from the revised edition of Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World, published in 1866: Russian America, according to the treaties of the United States and Great Britain, in 1824-5, comprehends all the American coast of the Pacific and the adjacent islands north of the parallel of fifty degrees forty minutes north latitude, and the whole of the main land west of the meridian of one hundred and forty-one degrees west longitude, which passes through Mount St. Elias. It is bounded north by the Arctic ocean, east by British America, south by the Pacific, and west by the Pacific and Arctic oceans and Behring's Straits, which separates it from the Russian possessions in Asia, the distance across from Cape Prince of Wales to East Cape being only thirty-six miles. With the exception of the narrow strip extending in a south east direction along the coast nearly 400 miles, and the remarkable peninsula of Alaska, it forms a tolerably compact mass, with an average length and breadth of about 600 miles each. Its greatest length north and south, from the southern extremity of Alaska to Point Barrow, is about 1,100 miles; greatest breadth measured on the Arctic Circle, which passes through Cape Prince of Wales, is about 800 miles; the249longest line that can be drawn across the country is from Cape Prince of Wales to its southern extremity, latitude fifty-four degrees forty minutes, a distance of about 1,600 miles. Estimated area, 394,000 square miles. The part of the mainland south of Mount St. Elias consists of a narrow belt, which is continued along a mountain ridge parallel to the coast, and has nowhere a greater width than about thirty-three miles. The interior of the country is very little known; but from several expeditions, it appears that throughout its west part it is elevated and uneven, while the part extending along the Arctic Ocean is invariably flat, with the exception of a small portion lying between 141 degrees and 152 degrees west longitude. The coasts of the mainland and the islands have almost all been carefully explored. The north coast was discovered in the course of the present century. The climate of Russian America is not so cold as either the east parts of the same continent, or the east part of the continent of Asia, under the same latitude. It is, however, far too rigorous to admit of agricultural operations; and the whole value of the territory is derived from the products of its fisheries or of the chase. The latter have been placed under the rigid monopoly by the Russian government, which has conferred the sole privilege of trafficking in them on the Russian American Company. This has led to remonstrances on the part both of the United States and Great Britain which have been so far successful that a lease has been granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, granting them the exclusive possession of the mainland of Russian America, from fifty degrees forty minutes north, to Cape Spencer, in latitude fifty-eight degrees thirteen minutes north, and the exclusive privilege of supplying the Russians with agricultural produce and provisions. The principal settlement is New Archangel, a small town with 1,000 inhabitants on the Island of Sitka, the largest of the group George III., which is called Baranov by the Russians, and was named George III. by Vancouver. It is the seat of the Governor of all the establishments of Russian America, and has fortifications, magazines, and a Governor's residence, all built of wood. The ordinary squadron stationed on its coasts consists of two frigates and two corvettes. The Russian-American Company, incorporated 1799, for fishing and hunting fur-bearing animals, whose chief establishments are here, have fifty ships of all sizes engaged in the collection and conveyance of peltry. Besides these possessions, Russia had formerly a small colony, called Bodega, in California, north of San Francisco. It now belongs to the United States. Its port is small, but was once important for the Russian fur trade. The population of Russian America is estimated at 61,000, of whom perhaps 6,000 are Russians, Creoles, Kodiaks and Aleoots. The remainder, above 50,000 in number, enjoy a greater or less degree of independence, and consist almost entirely of Esquimaux.