The First Landing on Wrangel Island | Page 4

? Armeria macrocarpa, Pursh. vulgaris, Willd. Stellaria longipes,
Goldie, var. Edwardsii, T. & G. Cerastium alpinum, L. Gymnandra
Stelleri, Cham. & Schlecht. Salix polaris, Wahl. Luzulu hyperborea, R.
Br. Poa arctica, R. Br. Aira cæspitosa, L. var. Arctica. Alopecurus
alpinus, Smith.
I made a collection of several spiders and of some larvæ. The spider, it
appears, is an "undescribed species of Erigone," and the larvæ are
probably lepidopterous. A small shrike was also secured as a specimen.
We saw several species of gulls, a snowy owl--which by the way was
very shy--a few lemmings, and the tracks of foxes and of bears.
Microscopic examination of mud obtained from the bottom, in the

vicinity of our anchorage, revealed some shells of foraminifera. The
density of the sea water, and the dip of the magnetic needle were
ascertained here, as well as at other points in the Arctic; and as the
observations are entirely new, I give the results in the accompanying
tables. The water densities are from observations of Mr. F.E. Owen,
Assistant Engineer of the Corwin.
The instruments used in obtaining the results were a thermometer and a
hydrometer. Water was drawn at about six feet below the surface and
heated to a temperature of 200° F., and the saturation, or specific
gravity is shown by the depth to which the hydrometer sank in the
water. As sea water commonly contains one part of saline matter to
thirty-two parts of water, the instrument is marked in thirty-seconds, as
1/32, 2/32, etc., and the densities are fractional parts of one
thirty-second:
--------------------------------------------------------------------- POINTS OF
OBSERVATION. Temperature. Density.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
At Saint Michael's, Bering sea 50 1/4
Off Plover bay, Asia 34 3/4
Arctic ocean, near Bering straits 32 3/4
Arctic ocean, near ice on Siberian coast 32 5/8
Bering sea, off Saint Lawrence island 34 3/4
Golovine bay, Bering sea, July 10 42 1/2
Bering sea between King's island and Cape Prince of Wales, July 12 44
3/4
Entrance to Kotzebue sound, July 13 47 3/4
Cape Thompson, Arctic ocean, July 17 36 3/4

Icy cape, July 24 36 3/4
Herald island, in the ice, July 30 31 3/8
Cape Wankarem, Siberia, August 5 33 3/4
Wrangel island (surface, in ice), August 12 31 1/2
Wrangel island (below surface 6 feet), August 12 31 5/8
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following table, showing the dip of the magnetic needle, was
prepared from observations made by Lieut. O.D. Myrick:
---------------------+------------+------------+----------- | LATITUDE, |
LONGITUDE, | | North. | West. | DIP. LOCALITY. | Deg. Min. | Deg.
Min. | Deg. Min. ---------------------+------------+------------+-----------
ALASKA-- | | | Ounalaska | 53 56 | 166 13 | 66 53.5 St. Michael's | 63
27 | 161 37 | 75 00.6 Kotzebue sound | 66 03 | 161 47 | 77 05.0 Cape
Sabine | 68 50 | 165 10 | 78 47.8 Icy cape | 70 08 | 161 58 | 79 56.3
Point Barrow | 71 23 | 156 15 | 81 18.6 | | | ASIA-- | | | Plover bay | 64
21 | 173 11 | 73 34.7 Cape Wankarem | 67 48 | 175 11 | 77 09.7
Wrangel island | 71 04 | 177 40 | 79 52.5
---------------------+------------+------------+-----------
To commemorate our visit, a flag, placed on a pole of driftwood, was
erected on a cliff, and to the staff was secured a wide-mouthed bottle
and a tin cylinder, in which I enclosed information of our landing, etc.
On raising the flag three cheers were given, and a salute was fired from
the cutter in honor of our newly acquired territory.
These evidences of our short visit, which was soon afterward
supplemented by the more extended exploration of the Rodgers, having
now become matters of history, it may be remarked with pardonable
pride that the acquisition of this remote island, though of no political or
commercial value, will serve the higher and nobler purpose of a
perpetual reminder of American enterprise, courage and maritime skill.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE NORTHERN INHABITANTS.
From an anthropological point of view the Eskimo coming under
observation proved most interesting. The term Eskimo may be held to
include all the Innuit population living on the Aleutian islands, the
islands of Bering sea, and the shores both of Asia and America north of
about latitude 64°. In this latitude on the American coast the ethnical
points that difference the North American from the Eskimo are
distinctly marked. It cannot, however, be said that the designating
marks of distinction are so plain between the American Eskimo and the
so-called Tchuktschi of the Asiatic coast. I have been unable to see
anything more in the way of distinction than exists between
Englishmen and Danes, for instance, or between Norwegians and
Swedes. Indeed, it may be said that much of the confusion and
absurdity of