CHAPTER IX.

Cook’s Inlet.—Manufacture of Quass.—Native Piety.—Mummies.— The North Coast.—Geographical Position.—Shallowness of Behring Sea.—Alaskan Peninsula.—Size of Alaska.—A “Terra Incognita.”—Reasons why Russia sold it to our Government.— The Price comparatively Nothing.—Rental of the Seal Islands.—Mr. Seward’s Purchase turns out to be a Bonanza 127