446 CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.
age rainfall is about thirty inches, while in Bute, on the west coast, an average of seven years gave over forty-six and a half inches.
Let us now examine the productions of this country, which agrees so nearly in temperature and rainfall with what we know of the Aleutian District. It may reasonably prove an approximate index to what time may bring to pass in our new territory.
On the opposite page will be found statistics of the agricultural productions of the Highlands and adjacent islands of Scotland. These formed the principal support of over two millions of stock beside the farming and other population.
These figures show notably, 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, as I can testify from personal observation.
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 by its sheltering mountains, is much drier, and the extremes of heat and cold are more marked, than in the western portion or the islands. This eastern coast resembles the eastern part of Cook's Inlet in this respect, and the interior of Alaska generally.
The inhabitants of this district, principally Aleuts, are faithful and docile, but indolent and improvident. They make good sail-ors but poor farmers ; and their attempts at farming have been principally under the direction of Russian masters.
There is no timber of any kind, larger than a shrub, on these islands ; but there is no prima facie reason why some trees, if properly planted and drained, should not flourish. A few spruce were transplanted from Sitka in 1805 to Unalashka. Most of them lived, but were not cared for, and the situation was unfavorable, so at the time of Kotzebue's visit they had not increased in size, and were looking very poorly, according to Chamisso.
The grasses in this climate, warmer than that of the Yukon Territory, and drier than the Sitkan District, attain an unwonted luxuriance.