Belmont Ave., lelphia. Pa. l.^^ (^n^^.S-) ofc. Elliot Me^m^vml Presented by MRS. M. SCHUYLER ELLIOT. :^^ FORTHE PEOPLE | FOR EDVCATION ' FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THEAMERIC\N MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY j^ rtEPoriT UPON TIIK CONDITION OF AFFiUES ■J JN THE TEKPJTOPiY OF ALASKA. BY HENRY W. ELLIOTT, SPECIAL AGENT TREASUr.Y DZPAKTMCNT. WASniXGTOX: GOVERNMENT PKINTING OFFICE. 1875. LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASLRY. Washington, D. C, yovcMhcr 10, 18T4. Sir: III compliance with tlie provisions of the act of Congress api)roved April 1*2, LS74, I have the honor to submit the fol- lowing report upon the condition and importance of the far- trade in the Territory of Alaska ; ''the present condition of the seal-fisheries of Alaska ; the haunts and habits of the seal ; the preservation and extension of the fisheries as a source of reve- nue to the United States, -with like information respecting the fur-bearing animals of Alaska generally^ the statistics of the fur-trade ; and the coudition of the people or natives, especially those upon "whom the successful prosecution of the fisheries and fur-trade is dependent :" The first measure suggested by my investigations this season 'is one of reform in the present government of the Territory. It is supposed that a useless outlay- of mone}' and labor is not intended to be persisted in, when the same annual expend- iture will give prompt and effective supervision over interests in that region which seem now to be sadly neglected. The present mismanagement of affairs in Alaska is not attributable to any other cause than that of the universal ignorance prevail- ing in the United States, at the time of the transfer, in regard to the form of government needed, and since then no one«seems to have taken any intelligent or active interest in the matter. In the following report, herewith submitted, I desire to draw your attention to the statements and suggestions contained in the chapter devoted to this subject, and I trust that you may be pleased to give them your approval. The pecuniary value of the fur-seal interests of the Govern-, ment renders it highly important that the Treasury Department, now intrusted with its care and supervis-ion, should possess definite and authoritative information as to its proper maimge- ment — for its perpetuation in its original integrity, at least. I, therefore, take great pleasure in calling your attention especially to the accompanying report upon the subject, which embodies the results of three seasons' (1872, 1873, and 1874) close per- 4 ALASKA. sonal observatiou aucl research on the groaml, with maps and ilUistratioiis. lu couuectiou with the coiulitiuu of the natives of the Terri- tory, on whom the successful prosecution of the fur-trade is dependent, I have been led into a very careful study of the history and habits of the sea-otter in this country, to the suc- cessful hunting of which between four and five thousand Chris- tian Aleutians and Kodiakers look for a means of livelihood. Since the transfer, fire-arms, formerly proscribed, have been introduced among the sea-otter hunters. This, in combination, with the keenest rivalry of opposition traders, makes it only a question of a very short time ere these valuable and interesting animals are exterminated, on the existence of which so many christianized natives are totally dependent for all of the com- forts, and many even of the necessities, of a semi-civilized life. The remedy for this is a very simple and effective one, and I beg leave to refer to my discussion of the subject in this report under the head of the sea-otter and its hunters. In my report it will be seen that I have given the Yukon, Aleutian, and Sitkan sections close attention, having yet to more fully examine the Kodiak, Cook's Inlet, and Copper Eiver districts ; that I have, in connection with Lieut. Washburn Maynard, United States Xavy, my associate during the past season, carefully resurveyed the area and position of the breed- ing-grounds of the fur-seal on the Prybilov Islands. We sur- veyed Saint Matthew's Island, which is contiguous and was entirely unknown and uninhabited, in order to settle the ques- tion, so frequently asked, and to which no definite reply could be given, as to whether or not it was suitable ground for fur- seals to land upon and breed, should these animals ever become dissatisfied with their present locality ; and that 1 have com- piled, from llussian and other authorities, facts and statistics as to the extent of the fur-trade in the early days of the Terri- tory, so as to compaa^e with the condition of this business at the present, as I get it from traders and agents in the country gen- erally. Of necessity, I have been obliged to use my judgment in selecting and taking tbese figures, both from the written as well as the verbal authorities. These I submit as being very nearly correct, to the best of my knowledge and belief. The remarkable increase in the catch of fur-bearing animals since the change of ownership of the country is most striking, but in perfect harmony with the strong contrast between the indo- ALASKA. 5 lent, iniikc' sliit't inana<;(Mucnt of the Itussian-Aiiiciicaii ]"ur C'Oinpaiiy in later times and that of onr energetic, economical traders. Tile extrava^jant statements wliidi liave been made in r«';;ard to tlie resources of this Teiritory, ^\ hich, on the one Iiand, were they true, would lit it for the future reception of a highly-civil- ized population, while, on the other, it would be made a land of utter desolation, worthlessness, and an entire loss of seveu millions of i)urchase-money, besides being a burden to the General Government, these anuouucenieuts, so often made and reiterated throughout our country, have caused me to pay great attention to the subject, and in this report 1 Lave endeav- ored to give a concise description of the agricultural character of the Territory as I have seen it, wliicli thus far might be truth- fully suuimed up in saying that there are more acres of better laud lying DOW as wildernessandjuugle in sighton the mountain- tops of the Alleghaniesfrom the car-windowsof the Pennsylvania road than can be found in all Alaska j and whe:i it is remem- bered that this hind, wild, in the heart of one of our oldest and most thickly-populated States, will remain as it now is, cheap, and undistnrbed for an ind(?finite time to come, notwithstand- ing its close proximity to the homes of millions of ener.^etic and enterprising men, it is not difficult to estimate the value of the Alaskan acres, remote as they are, and barred out by a most disagreeable sea-coast climate, leaving out altogether the great West and vast agricultural regions of British America ; but then, directly to the contrary, it would be wrong to hint by this statement, true as it is, that the country is worthless, for on the Seal Islands alone the Government possesses property which would not remain in the market many days nnsold were it offered for seven millions, and from which the annual revenue is doubly sufficient to meet all expenditures for the proper government of the whole Territory, if the matter was correctly adjusted. Again, it should be understood that, be- yond a few outcrops of Tertiary coal and small leads near Sitka of gold and silver, with reports of native copper ui situ, nothing is known whatever of the mineral wealth of the Territory at the present writing, as far as I can learn, but which I have reason to think will develop into some value. My opinion with refc-fence to the fishing interests in the Ter- ritory has been almost entirely formed by the accounts of old, experienced fishermen whom I have met in the country person- 6 ALASKA. ally engaged iu fishing in these waters. The value and proba- ble yield of the cod-banks of Alaska have been greatly overrated, but it may be reasonably anticipated that the success attending the canning of salmon on the Columbia lUverwill stimulate the prosecution of this industry at the mouths of all the large streams and rivers of the Territory. In connection with my survey of affairs iu the Territory, the Seal Islands in especial, I have been most fortunate iu being associated with a gentleman so efficient and conscientious as Lieut. Washburn Maynard, the officer selected by the Secre- tary of the Navy, in compliance with the act of Congress, to accom]iany me ou this tour of investigation, and to report in- dependently. It is also fitting that I should speak in flattering terms of the high character of tlie service rendered us this season by C^pt. J. G. Baker, commanding the United States revenue-cutter Eeliauce, who carried us with all care and expedition to such poiuts as we saw fit to designate, and which it was possible to visit in a sailing-vessel, with the time allotted. The several subjects within the scope of my report I have arranged, and herewith respectfully present in the following order, viz : CHAPTER I. The chaeacter of the country. II. The natives or people of Alaska ; their CONDITION, &C. III. The duty of the Govern3Ient in the Ter- ritory OF Alaska. IV. Trade in the Territory and the traders, STATIONS, &C. Y. The sea-otter and its hunting. YI. The condition of affairs on the Seal Islands ; Prybilov group. YII. The habits of the fur seal. YIII. Fish and fisheries. IX. Oknithology OF THE Prybilov Islands. APPENDIX. I have endeavored in the preparation of this report to be as concise as possible, perliaps so to a fault, but the enumer- ation of the thousand and one little things that have combined to form opinion, and indirectly influence one's judgment, can interest no one but the writer. ALASKA. On the subject of Alaska, it is safe to assert that no other unexplored section of the world was ever brought into notice suddenly, about which so much has been emphatically and positively written, based entirely upon the whims and caprices of the writers, and, therefore, it will not be at all surprising if the truth in regard to the Territory does frequently come into conflict with many erroneous popular opinions respecting it. AVith the hope that the results of my labor as presented in the following report will meet with your approval and support, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, HEXItY W. ELLIOTT, Sjycclal Agent Treasury DepartmenU Hon. B. H. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury, CHAPTER I. THE CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA. So much has been said j^ro and con as to tiie natnral wealth and advantages of our new acquisition, the Territory of Alaska, that the widest possible divergence of opinion has arisen upon this subject ', on the one hand, we hear that here is a country no more rugged or uninviting than is Sweden or Xorway, where a high civilization exists, with just as much natural adaptation for the home of advancing humanity, with vast forests of the finest ship-timber, with iron, copper, coal, and possibly rich gold and silver mines, with valleys and plains upon which sheep and cattle can be bred and raised without more than ordinary care, so abun- dant is the grass and other vegetation ; that the climate is ex- tremely mild on the seaboard, no more damp and foggy than on the coast of Oregon, &c. ; while, on the other hand, we are as gravely told that it is an area of total desolation ; that it is locked up in the grasp of winter's frosts for eight or nine months in the year ; that icebergs and snow fill the sea and drift in fathomless rifts; that it is bare and barren, only moss and swale grass j that even the inhabitants there drag out a miser- able existence on seal-meat, oil, and like food ; and that it will never become the home of white men, because there is no object in the land that will draw them there save the small fur- trading interests. "There is truth in both declarations, but no such thing as a happy medium can be struck between the two views; a fair, dispassionate statement in regard to this matter, however, at the time of the transfer of the Territory, could hardly have been made, no citizen of the United States having the means ov the opportunity to form a proper judgment. The Russians did not live here as a people, but as a company of fur-traders only, with a single eye to the getting of skins ; and the matter of their subsistence while so doing was comparatively of little importance; but it should be said that at all of their posts throughout the Territory they fully tested the capabilities of soil and climate for garden-products, and at many of them 10 ALASKA. gave bogs aud cattle a trial, with a deep interest in the success of their experiments. The Kussian Ame^an Company in re- tiring from the countrj' gave us a generally correct map of the Territory, accurate figures as to the numbers and distribution of the natives ; but upon other points the most vague or else conflicting data, and in this condition of knowledge we took possession of the country. Its true status, therefore, and real importance were simply unknown to our people. Since that time, however, quite a number of adventurers, traders, miners, fishermen, and the like have had their atten- tion and interest centered here, and the resources of the country in small sections have been keenly scrutinized with a view to what the country could or could not yield in supply of human wants. THE DIVERSIFIED CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. Everybody is famiUar with the geographical position of Alaska, with its extended area of coast-line, stretching from a trifle south of the 55th parallel of north latitude, above Fort Simpson, on the British Columbian Territory, far to the north- ward and westward away into the Arctic Ocean and above the arctic circle; and, in describing the character of this vast trend of land, it should be divided into several natural districts, by reason of the local difference between them. T;ie>Si^AY(>u/isfricf.—Startiugfrom Portland Canal andrunning north to Cross Sound and the headof Lynn Canal, the eye glances over a range of country made up of hundreds of islands, large and small, and a bold, mountainous coast, all everj-where rugged and abrupt in contour, aud, with exception of highest sum- mits, the hills, mountains, and valleys, the last always narrow and winding, are covered with a dense jungle of spruce and fir, cedar and shrubbery, so thick, dark, and damp, that it is traversed only by the expenditure of great pliysical energy, and a clear spot, either on islands or mainland, where an acre of grass might grow by itself, as it does in the little "parks" far in the interior, cannot be found. In these forest-jungles, especially on the lowUinds and always by the water-courses, will be found a fair proportion of ordinary timber of the char- acter above designated. The spruce and fir, however, are so heavily charged with resin, that they can be used for nothing but the roughest work ; the cedar is, however, an excellent ar- ticle. But back froui the Coast Range here, on which our bound- ALASKA. 11 ary-line is dotted, springs up quite a differeut country again, higher evervwliere from the sea-level by thousands ot* feet, dry, with not one-tenth part of the rain-fall, vast rolling plains or ta- ble-lands and rounded mountain-tops, over which fire has swept not many years ago, for the last time, as it has frequently done before, utterly destroying the pine-forests, leaving nothing but the blackened and bleached trunks piled upon and across one another at the sport of tierce gales j and springing up from be- neath this desolation and shutting over it is a new forest of young pine and poplars, with a large number of service-berry and salal bushes iutersi>ersed. The valleys here widen out, and contain large tracts of excellent ground for cultivation, with the significant objection, however, of being subject to frosts so late in the spring as June 10, and so early in the summer as the 20th of August. This, of course, excludes the question of agricultural utility ; and although the grass grows everywhere here in the valleys in the most luxuriant nianuer, yet cattle cannot run out through the winters, which are here bitterly cold; widely different from those a hundred miles only to the westward across the Coast Kange. Here, under the pow- erful influence of the great Pacific, winter is never anything but wet and chilly, seldom ever giving the people a week's skating on the small lake back of Sitka. Day after day there are high winds and drizzling rains, with breaks in the leaden sky showing gleams of clear blue and sunlight ; and here the agriculturist or gardener has like cause for discouragement, for nothing will ripen ; whatever he plants grows and enters on its stages of decay without i^erfecting. It must, moreover, be remarked that there is but very little land fit even for this un- satisfactory and most unprofitable agriculture, i. e., properly- drained and warm soil enough for the very hardiest cereals. There is not one acre of such tillable land to every ten thou- sand of the objectionable character throughout the larger por- tion of this area, and certainly not more than one acre to a thousand in the best regions. Grass grows in small localities or areas, wherever it is not smothered by forests and thickets, in the valleys over this whole Sitkan district : its presence, however, is not the rule, but the exception, so vigorous is the growth of shrubbery and timber; and even did it grow in large amount, the curing of hay is simply impracticable. Although the winters are mild, still there is not enough ranging-ground 12 ALASKA. to supi)ort herds of cattle tlirougbont the year and have them witbiii coutrol. Mount Saint Elias district.— Re2iQ\img from Cross Sound to Priuce William's Sound is a second and clearly-defined region, exhibiting a bald, bare sea-front, with scarcely an island or a rock in its long stretch of over three hundred miles ; little belts of spruce timber skirt the lowlands by the sea, while that which is hilly and mountainous is almost bare ; grass and berries grow, however, in great abundance. It is the most cheerless, but at the same time the most interesting, portion of the Territory, not from any other point of view, however, than that of the tourist or geologist, who will find Mount Saint Elias the highest peak in North America, and the superb mountains of Fairweather and Cillon, and the country about them, covered, for miles and miles, with mighty glaciers, a field of most instructive interest. An immense mass of ice comes down into the head of Lynn Canal, which, the Indians say, originates and travels from Mount Fair- weather over fifty miles away. This glacier is some eight miles wide where it faces the sea in the channel, and many hundred feet in thickness, perfectly magnificent, and should be visited, for, as yet, this region, like the most of our new Territory, has not been trodden by the foot of white man, and seldom even by the savage. Its exceptional presentation of timber, its long reaches of rounded, low, barren hills, and relative scarcity of both birds and animals, make this section about as uninviting, on economic grounds, as any in the Territory, and the paucity of Indian life within its limits speaks definitely for its poverty as to game and fish. Coolers Inlet district.— 1 refrain from giving the reports which I received from this section, inasmuch as they are very contra- dictory in many leading features ; thongh, in a general way, the ideas given me are undoubtedly correct. They represent the country similar to Kodiak, with more timber. TheFeninsidarandKodiakIsUnid.—Th\9>YQg\ou^\fmghQt'^^^n Uiamna Lake and the False Pass, between the head of the Pen- insula of Alaska and contiguous islands, is the most valuable section of the entire Territory, possessing the most equable cli- mate, especially so at Kodiak, growing the best garden -sup- plies of potatoes, turnips, »S:c., the only place where hay can be made, enough for a few head of stock, with any thing likea certain- ty, from season to season ; but the country comprised in this dis- trict, which forms the southern and western half of the Peninsula, ALASKA. 13 does not possess auy ot'tlie abover-mentioned qualifications in the same degree by any means. Tlie island of Kodiak and the wliole district is, however, rugged and niountainous, with numerous small lakes and tiny rivers or streams, up which a considerable number of salmon run every year. Timber, of spruce and fir, grows in fair (juantity in the northern and eastern end of Ko- diak, all the islands to the eastward, and down the Peninsula as far as Chignik Bay ; it is not large, but in size for fuel, rough building, &c. Grass grows most luxuriantly, especially on Ko- diak, but the area suitable for its support is limited, there be- ing no plains or dry and accessible valleys in which to cut and cure it. There are many winters here in which cattle might be kept in small numbers without exceptional care and expense, i. e.j enough to aftbrd milk and beef for a small settlement, and also sheep and hogs. Little patches of land can be found where a small garden will thrive consisting of potatoes, turnips, &c. ; but reaching down to the Aleutian Islands, and over them, is a region bare entirely of ti-mber and nearly so of shrubbery, rugged, abrupt, and extremely mountainous, the surface broken into patches set, as it were, on end^ this is no country adapted for agriculture, for the prevalence of foggy, dark weather would render even the limited area that could be ntilized with sun- light nnserviceable for the production of fruits and vegetables. Soil there is sufficiently rich and deep, but it is too cold to ma- ture or ripen garden-products, except in very favored locali- ties where, as at Ounalashka, a few potatoes of inferior quality, good turnips, and lettuce, are in the favorable seasons raised. The Western Islands are all essentially volcanic, with scarcely a trace of sedimentary rock to be found ; consisting of high, steep ridges and peaks of porphyries and volcanic tufa, with here and there syenitic granites. The vegetation, such as it is, principally Empetrum nigrum, grows most rank and luxuriant on the flanks and even the summits of many of these high places, and the light, frail stems of this plant, which are of about the size of strawberry-vines, the natives gather and bring down from the hills in large bundles lor fire-wood. The only shrub that lifts its head above the earth, of value as wood, is a willow, {iSalix reticulata,) which grows in scattered clumps along the little water- courses, twisted and contorted, yet of sufficient size to furnish in early days strong and serviceable frames for native skin- boats or <' baidars." Scattered over the Aleutian Islands and on the Peninsula are many' small lakes, some of them quite 14 ALASKA. large. The PeniDSular country is more rolling and level, on the nortb shore especially so ; for from Port MoUer on np to the head of P>ristol Bay extensive flats make out from the high- lands and stretch between them and the sea in width varying from ten to sixty miles. There are a number of volcanoes in this district, such as that of Makooshin, on Oanalashka Island, Akootan and Sliishaldiu, on Oonimak, which, however, do not eject lava, but emit smoke, steam, and ashes, although in times past and within the memory of man large stones have been thrown out by many of them, and still earlier lava has been poured out on Oonimak in immense streams. The seared, rugged courses of the once liquid rock make traveling on that island excessively fatiguing. Akootan, on Akootan Island, and Makooshin are, perhaps, the most active, or as lively as. any in the Territory to-day. There has been no disturbance on their account in the country for the last thirty years to mention, but previous to that time many severe earth- quake shocks have been recorded, and the growth of a new island, Bogaslov, twenty miles north of Oomnak, in Bering Sea, has been witnessed by the present generation, and I think that the phenomena attending the appearance of this island far out at sea and alone must have been coincident with the whole history of the formation of the Aleutian Chain, and therefore I may be excused for giving the substance of the story as told by several of the Eussian writers. In the fall of 179G the residents of Oonimak and Ounalashka were surprised by a series of loud reports and tremblings of the earth, followed by the appearance of a dense dark cloud, full of gas and ashes, which came down upon them from the sea to the northward, and, after a week or ten days, during which time the cloud hung steadily over them, accompanied with earthquakes and subterranean thunder, it cleared away somewhat, so that they saw distinctly to the northward a bright light burning above the sea, and, upon closer inspection in their boats, the people found that a snjall island, elevated about 100 feet above sea-level, had been forced up and was still in the pro- cess of elevation and enlargement, formed of lava and scoriae. The volcanic action did not cease on this island until 1825, when it left above the water an oval peak, almost inaccessible, 400 to 500 feet high, and four or hve miles in circumference. It was soon after this occupied by sea-lions and resorted to by sea fowl. ALASKA. 15 wbicli were found here in 1825, Avlien the Kussian.s landed flisbe(l in Alaska and its Resources, W. H. Dull : Lee &, Sbepartl, 1870. ALASKA. 23 room is not large, seldom over ten Tcct scuiaic, and often not more than seven or ei^lit, with a hard eartlicn or wooden lloor; the walls are neatly boarded npand sonuitimes papered and em- bellished with pietures of chureh saints. In this room the Aleut spends most of his time when not hnntinj^; shuts himself u^) in it with his family, builds a, hot lire, lasting oidy a few minutes, in the little stove or Russian oven, and either drinks eup after cup of tea, or stupefies himself with "(/Mas.s" or native beer, and lies for hours, and days even, in dull, stui)id enjoyment on his pallet. 1 have looked into a barrabkie where there were twenty men, women, and children packed into a living-room not more than ten feet square, all drinking tea, with the perspiration rolling down in beady streams from every face. Many of these huts are damp and exceedingly filthy, while others are dry and cleanly; but the temi)er and disposition of the Aleuts is that of improvidence and shiftless- ness, and all exist, with a few exceptions, as a matter of course, in a state of ignorance, though a great many read and write, in consequence of their relationship to the church, the services of which are recited in the Ilussian tongue, and as most of the subpriests, deacons, &c., are recruited from the ranks of the people themselves, (the boys only being educated for this ])ur- pose.) a large proportion of them speak and read Ilussian well enough for all ordinary use. The manners and customs of these people, to-day, possess in themselves nothing of a barbarous or remarkable character, aside from that which belongs to a state of advanced semi- civilization. They are exceedingly polite and civil, not only to their trading agents, but among themselves, and visit one with another freely and pleasantly, the women being great gossips; but, on the whole, their intercourse is very quiet indeed, for the topics of conversation are few, and, judging from their silent but unconstrained meetings, they seem to have a mutual knowl- edge, as if by sympathy, as to what may be occupying each other's minds, rendering speech superfluous. It is only when under the influence of beer or liipior that they lose their uiitu- rally quiet and amiable disposition and fall into drunken orgies. Having been so long under the control and influence of the Eussians, they have adopted many of the customs of the latter, in giving birth-day dinners, naming their children, *S:c. They are great tea-drinkers, but seldom use coflVe. On account 24 ALASKA. of scarcity of fuel, they use a ^reat amount of hard bread, soda aud sweet crackers, instead of buying flour and baking it. They are remarkably attached to their church, which is w^ell adapted to them, and no other form of religion could be better or have a firmer hold upon the sensibilities of the people. Their chastity and sobriet^^ cannot be commended. As parents, they are very indulgent while their children are infants or under the age of eight or nine years, but when this age is attained by their offspring they become harsh disciplinarians and task-masters, putting burdens upon young shoulders that are heavy enough for adults, always exacting implicit obedience. Though many children are born, the mothers are not successful in rearing them, for they are extremely negligent in regard to air and diet, irregular in their meals and slumbers, shiftless and un- clean, and they frequently indulge in intoxication while nurs- ing their infants. These vices cause an excessive mortality among the children. The Aleuts are dependent entirely upon themselves, except at the Seal Islands, for relief aud aid in case of illness, yielding themselves to such treatment as they can get with the utmost patience and resignation. They believe generally in a mild form of Shamanism, or in the laying on of hands, which is practiced usually by old women. The average Aleut is a bold, hardy trapper, as he must be to be successful as a sea-otter hunter, and this is the only profes- sion or calling that his country can offer him. He is a patient, steady workman, and supplies as good manual labor as could be desired, and such as is required in the country-. The Kussians made sailors, navigators, carpenters, blacksmiths, store-keepers, cS:c., of this race ; but since the transfer of the Territory there are too many of our own people of that class idle for the Aleuts to compete with, and who come directly into the country in re- sponse to any demand for such labor, so that he falls back upon the sea-otter as his sole support agiiinst a relapse into barbar- ism. Competition in this business he has no occasion to ll-ar from the white man, who would never consent to spend the same amount of skill and energy for the returns which satisfy the Aleutian hunter. It will therefore be evident that the good condition of the na- tive hunters of this Territory is a matter of great importance to the traders who have any deei) interest in the fur-trade ; and it is not remarkable, in view of the clearness of the case, as above stated, that the Aleuts to-day are existing in greater comfort, ALASKA. 25 in better bouses, witli greater facibties for bunting, ond receive better pay tban they ever reabzed before for their skins. Of this I am confident, by personal observation of the present, and from a knowledge of the past derived from the archives of the llussian company, and the history, meager but true, of the early traders in the country. The enlightened and true business policy adopted by the agents of the Alaska Commercial Com- pany with regard to the improvement of the condition of the banters of the Aleutian Islands has already begun to bear its golden fruit in an immensely-increased yield of sea-otters every year. This statement is fully corroborated by a person of all men in the whole country best qualified to pass an independent and correct opinion, Father Innocent Sbiesnekov, an intelli- gent and pious Greek Catholic priest, in charge of the Aleu- tians, who was born and raised on the ground, and with whom I have bad several interviews bearing upon the subject of this chapter. Tiiere is one general evil, not confined to this section of the Territory, but more injurious to the people here than elsewhere, and that is the curse of beer drinking and the disorders which arise constantly from its eflects. These people have an inordi- nate fondness for spirituous liquors, and as this is not permitted to be made, vended, or brought into the Territory, the traders among these natives keep such a sharp lookout for whisky- schooners, that the traffic is thoroughly suppressed among the Aleutians; and the people, therefore, determined to have some means of ministering to their craving appetites for strong drink, brew a thick, sour, alcoholic beer, by fermenting sugar, hops, flour, dried apples, &c., together, in certain proportions, with water, and many of them manage to keep intoxicated and stu- pefied for weeks, and even months, at a time ; beating their wives and children, destroying their houses, and recently, on several occasions, committing murder. This practice inakes every one of the settlements at frequent intervals, and always after the return of a successful hunting-party, a scene of la- mentable debauchery, which can only be stopped either by pro- hibiting the sale or importation of sugar into the Territory, or by empowering Government agents to indict summary punish- ment for the least criminal oft'enses growing out of intoxication. No great severity in the punishment w^ould be required, for it must be said, to their credit, that they are naturally a law-abiding 26 ALASKA. people, and the mere presence of an officer is, with few excep- tions, enough to secure obedience. For the present demoralization among the natives of the Ter- ritory in this respect (and it is a vital one) tlie Government alone is responsible. The people, during the last four or live years, have indulged in all manner of excesses while under the influence of beer, and have observed that, do what they will, from beating their wives up to cold-blooded murder, there is no authority in the land to punish them ; and this knowledge tends to continue this unhappy state of affairs. This laxity is an injustice toward the orderly and more soberly-inclined por- tion of the communities, subjecting them to the control of the leaders of drunken revels and to an immense amount of unneces- sary suffering. The sea-otter traders would gladly pay, in the form of a slight tax on the skins of that animal, more than enough to afford a liberal salary twice over for the services of some man armed with authority to suppress this demoralization and attend to other urgent matters neglected on the part of the Government. From the Aleuts we pass to the consideration of the rest of the people (Indians) of the Territory, who, by far the most numerous, are living now as they were when first discovered, over a hundred years ago; those of the north, belonging to the Eskimo race and immediate derivatives, are quite amiable in their barbarism when compared with the Koloshes and other tribes of Indians proper in their neighborhood. Any steps that may be taken for the elevation and improvement of the condi- tion of these Indians in the Territory of Alaska, however well intended, would be entirely abortive. If they work, and they frequently do, on the coasters as seamen, and about the sound and Victoria as laborers, wood-cutters, «S:c., the money neces- sary for a debauch or a gambling game is the incentive. The condition of any savage people is one that arouses the sympathy of benevolent minds, and for its amelioration has absorbed the best energies and resources of hundreds of brave, devoted men who have labored in our country, but the result of such labor can only be successful under certain conditions of life and mental constitution of a savage race not found in Alaska. The Ivussian priests energetically struggled with these Indians of Alaska, from Bering's Straits down to Queen Charlotte's Island, backed up and cordially aided by the Russian- American Company, which hoped to gain more control over the natives, ALASKA. 27 (and would linve done so bad the missionaries siUM-ccdcil,) l)ut the result was most unsatisfactory. A thin varnish ol' decen(;y, honesty, morality, tS^e., was i)ut on, but the subject bad to l)e revarnisbed every (biy or bis e\il nature would conlinui? to sbine out. From what we are led to plainly understand by the history of well directed and persistent efforts in the past, we can only consider the present condition of the Indians of Alaska as that of savages, and beyond the power of the Government or of the eburcli to chaufj^e for the better. If they wer(^ a people living' in a country favorable to exertion and were merely lazy and ignorant, then there would be hope with some assurance of success in ejecting a change for the better, but the case is worse, for the obstacles are insuperable. They are living in the manner customary with all Indians who have an abundance of fish and game, and when they suffer in any section of the Territory, as they frequently do, for want of food, it is on account of the indolence and improvidence during the seasons of plenty, for all of these people on the main- land who, at regular periods of the year, have access to a most lavish profusion of fish and the flesh of deer, are never caught by a severe winter with a full supply of provisions on hand, and exist through the long, cold spring-months most miserably, often living upon their skin-garments, offal, &c. As an instance of this improvidence. Captain Ilennig, an okl trader, cites the following case: At the mouth of the Koishak liiver, which empties into Bristol Bay between the Peninsula and the main- land, the reindeer pass by swimming in large herds across in September as they go in feeding to and from the peninsula j the natives at this season run along the bank as the deer rise from the water and spear them with great ease and in any number that fancy or want may dictate. At one time Captain Ilennig counted here seven hundred deer carcasses as they lay rotting and untouched save by the removal of the hides j not a pound of meat of the thousands putrefying had been saved by the natives, who would be living perhaps in less than live months in a state of starvation. These Indians are not steady, persistent hunters like the Aleuts ; they are lickle, and have far less to gain by trade in their estimation than the Aleutians, who, on the contrary, are not satisfied with a small amount of tobacco and a few beads, which are the staple commodities with the Indians, together 28 ALASKA. with a little i)owder and ball. The Aleuts want good clothes ; they desire to dvess their women and children well ; they crave tea, sugar, flour, &c., all of which are simply despised by the savage, and, consequently, a little hunting will obtain all he wants in return from the trader, and exertion beyond this, on his part, appears to him simply absurd or ridiculous. While the sea-otter trade in Alaska, therefore, is well devel- oped, the fur-trade on the mainland is by no means of the importance it might be made to assume were the hunting as energetically followed up as is that prosecuted by the people of Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands ; the industry and energy, however, of our traders will undoubtedly add largely every suc- ceeding year to the yield, in creating desire among the Indians, and thus stinudating exertion on their part in hunting so as to insure its gratification. I shall not enter into a description of these Indians. Their treacherous, indolent lives have been most accurately and fully described by a score of writers ; one of the earliest, that of Portlock and Dixon, in 178G, 1787, and 1788, reads as if it had been written from my own notes taken this season, so little have they changed in the main of habit and disposition. Of course, when the Russians were obliged, in 1832,* to commence the liquor-trade with them in self-defense against American adventurers and the Hudson Bay Company, and the small-pox in 1835 swept like wild-tire through all the villages on the north- west coast, destroying nearly one-third of them, the combination of two such terrible evils, whisky and the plague, demoralized and diminished them to such an extent that they never have recovered their former strength, nor is it now probable that they will recover it. The number of Indians now living in the Territory is, accord- ing to best authority and my judgment, between eighteen and twenty thousand. Of this number, between ten and twelve thousand belong to that district bounded on the north by Cook's Inlet and south by Fort Simpson ; the remainder inhabit that stretch of country reaching from Bristol Bay to Kotzebue Sound, and back into the fiir interior, where there are several tribes, supposed to be quite numerous, about which very little is known even by the traders. On this coast-line of Alaska, between Bering's Straits and *Tbis was stopped in 1842. A treaty was made between tliem aud the Hudson Bay Company. ALASKA. 29 Fort Simpson, are fonnil six distinct ton«;ues tlnoii^li which tlieir relations of aflinity may be traced, vi/: the Alculian ; the Kodiak ; i\\Q Kenai^ or Coolis liiUt ; thi^. Yahlootat, ov Mount Saint Ellas country ; the SitJcan ; aud the iw(%«M, or Prince (tf Wales Island. The Aleutian tongue is the language of the iidiabitants of the Aleutian Islands and part of the Peninsula ; it is divided into two dialects, one spoken by the Aleuts of Atka, and the other by those of Ounalashka. The Kodiak tongue is the root of all the dialects spokeu on the shores of Bering Sea, and still farther north and to the east; it is the tongue spoken by the ChoochJcie of the Asiatic side, and is divided into six distinct dialects, and these agaiu subdivided, so that the Kodiak root is the language of the fol- lowing tribes : The MalemuteSj of Kotzebue Sound, Norton Sound, Port Clar- ence, the Diomedes, King, Sledge, and Saint Lawrence Islands. The Aziagnmtes^ of Saint xMichael's, part of the Pastol Bay and as far north as Norton's Sound. The Afjoolmntes^ of the mouth of the Yukon Kiver. The Magmutes, between CapeKomanzov and Cape Avinov. The KosJtoquimSj of Koskoquim Bay and liiver. The Aglahmutes, of the Nushagak country, and part of the Peninsula. The Kiiniva'ks, of Nunivak Island, who use a dialect almost like the pure Kodiak, which is spoken on that island. The Kcyoulions^ of the Middle Yukon Kiver. The Ingaleelcs, of the Lower Yukon Iliver. The Choogalcs, between Cape Elizabeth and the mouth of Copper Kiver, (taking all the south shore of the Keuai Penin- sula and Prince William's Sound.) The Kenai tongue can hardly be called of Kodiak deriva- tion ; it is divided into four dialects: The Kenai, of the Gulf of Kenai, or Cook's Inlet. The Maidnorskie, or people on Copper Kiver. The Kolchans, or people of the Upper Koskoquim Kiver — quite a large tribe, estimated at six or seven thousand. The KahvichpalxS, a people on the Upper Yukon. In this dia- lect are many words of Kodiak and Yahkiitat. The Kenai language is the most ditiicult of all the ludiau tongues, so abounding in a profusion of harsh, guttural sounds that their own savage neighbors frequently try iu vain to ac- quire them when it is for their interest to do so. 30 ALASKA. The Yaiikutat tongue is spoken only by the people of Yah- kiitat, or that belt of coast between Lituya Bay and Copper Eiver; it is divided into two dialects, viz : The Yahl'utats, from Icy Bay to Cross Sound. The Oo(j((lenslic, from mouth of Copper lliver to Icy Bay. The Sitka, or KoLOsn tongue, is spoken by all the Indians from Lituya Bay to Prince of Wales Island, the Stickeeu, and without auy dialects, although there are eight or ten tribes, and they are relatively numerous. The Kauegan, or Prince of Wales, is spoken on that island and Queen Charlotte's, aud completes the list of lan- guages in the Territory, as far as I can intelligently compile and arrauge them. From the tables wbicli I give at the close of this chapter, the relative population of these diiferent tribes can be recognized, aud by them it will be seen that, save where the Aleutians and Kodiakers are living, together with a number of Eussian half- breeds or Creoles, there are no organized or fixed settlements in the Territory; the Indians roaming at will in the mountains and over the plains during the summer, fishing and berrying l^rincipally, until the severity of approaching winter drives them back to underground houses iu the north, and wooden huts and large barracoons by the sea at the south, T\'here, reeking in filth, four and five months are passed in perfect comfort to them, pro- vided that they have food — passed in sloth and sleep, with the exception of a small proportion of them who are marten, mink, and fox trappers. These men frequently perform an astonishing amount of labor, enduring incredible hardships, should they happen to be ambitious, but this is a very rare quality. The two leading stations in the Territory, (excepting the Pry- bilov Islands,) both with regard to trade and population, are the villages of Ounalashka and Kodiak, each with an Aleut and Creole i)oi)ulation of four hundred, more than double the num- ber occupying any other settlement, save that of Belcovskie, which has two hundred and forty-eight, with a seaotter trade fully equal or superior to either Ounalashka or Kodiak. Then following in order of trade and population, we have the villages of Unga, of one hundred and sixty-two souls; Atka, of one hundred and thirty-one souls ; Oomnak, of one hundred and nineteen souls; then comes Sitka, with a population to-day, principally Russian half-breeds, of one hundred and eighty-six,* * Not couutiug tbo troops, Govurniuent eiiiploy(5s, or Iiuliaus. ALASKA. 31 and no tiado wluitevcr to ineiition, aiul coimnciciiilly of less iiiiportaiKHi tlian any oniMjf the? lollowiu^- points, in addition to ^;lie list above, viz: Jvoslcoiinini, Nnslia^ak, and ^Saint MicliacPs. Even should trade ever be re-establisbed in Sitka, it would con- sist i)iin(*i[)ally of the fur of marten, ndnk, and beaver, with air-dried deer-skins; but as matters now stand in the Territory, there is no future for Sitk«i; a change only in the supervision of the interest of the Government in that district can benefit it, or make it worth the attention of a small trader to live there. On this point I speak at length in my chapter on the duty of the Government in this respect. The sum and substance of my investigations with reference to the condition of the people of Alaska during tlie past season maybe given briefly as follows: That the Indians are living as usual, in nearly the same number and in the same condition as when under Eussian rule, with the marked and significant exception that they have been under no restraint whatever by government for the past five years, such as they were ac- customed to have imposed uj^on them by the old regime^ and that this is rapidly making it troublesome and dangerous for small traders to go in among them on the northwest coast. Those in the vicinity of Sitka have become familiar with the pro- cess of distillation of whisky from molasses, and make a large amount of it openly, in addition to what they get by illicit trading. The Christian Aleuts and Kodiakers are in, if anything, a better condition than at the time of the transfer; some sec- tions, as at Ounalashka, in a greatly improved state, which is, by the way, promised to all the rest in the course of a few years, if proper, prompt steps are taken by Government. But the condition of the small population of Creoles, chiefly at Sitka, is changed very much for the worse; they were store- keepers, clerks, sailors, traders, artisans, &c., of the old com- pany, and there is no longer any great demand for that labor in the country, and not likely to be during their lives, at least; they are unfortunate in not having the training or the energy to make good hunters, lor this is the only industry the Terri- tory holds out for them. To say that they are now in spirit and purse poor, is true, but still they are not in any physical misery, the abundance of fish and game preventing such a re- sult. From my observation and knowledge of them, I can truly state that they are now in a better condition in the Territory, 32 ALASKA. living as they do, than chey would be anywhere else in our country, with an exceptional case, of course, here and there, for they are not distinguished bj' either energy or industry, as a class. I have been assured bj' the Russian bishop having the spirit- ual direction of affairs in the Greek Catholic Church, now es- tablished in the Territory, that there is no intention on the part of the home church to neglect its interest there; that he is at the present time busily engaged in fitting a class of young Russians for the work of priests and teachers in Alaska, by giving them a thorough knowledge of the English language in addition to the regular course of discipline usually necessary for his church. If ice, on the part of the Government, attempt to teach them, we shall soon have to feed some eight or ten thousand paupers. All they need is to be sustained and protected in their hunting industries, as is indicated in the following chapter, and they will take care of themselves. CHAPTER III. THE DUTY OF TOE GOVERNMENT WITH IlEGARD TO TUE TEIIKITOJIY AND ITS PEOPLE. The measures which are now in force for the support of law and order in the Territory are entirely inadequate and costing much more than a correct and efficient system would. The case is a plain one, and the facts in regard to it are as follows: The Territory of Alaska was received from the hands of a powerful fur-trading organization which held absolute sway over the entire domain, even to the life and death of the peo- ple, and which had governed the land despotically for more than sixty years. It was fully prepared at any moment to carry out its orders, and was supported by a small fleet of sail and steam vessels, and a regularly-organized troop of employes and retainers, over two thousand in number, placed here and there throughout the country, the headquarters being at Sitka, for political reasons. War and revenue-marine vessels, with duly-authorized ofiicers and agents, were sent to the principal stations, villages, and ports, where they ran up our flag and lou ily proclaimed the iact to the people, or natives, that they were now free and independ- ent ; that no person or parties had the power to control or di- rect their trade in furs, or any other matter to which they might turn their attention ; that crime of all description, theft, mur- der, &c., would be promptly dealt with, and that the agents of the American Government would visit them at irregular though frequent intervals, or upon call, with these vessels fully prepared to enforce and execute the law. This was done in ISGS and 18G9. This is all that has been done, and to-day, as matters are con- ducted, the country is as far from control by our Government as though it were a foreign land, the agents of the Government, both military and civil, being unable to exercise any eflectual supervision over the affairs of the Territory, or to enforce the laws. The propriety of quartering troops in this Territory may be seriously questioned ; for where any considerable body of na- tives exist they will be found upon the seaboard and estuaries, 3 AL 34 ALASKA. ami the only way by which their villages can be reached is by water. Traveling by laud is sinii>ly impossible, so that to-day the two companies of artillery at Sitka are entirely unable to correct the most wauton outrage which the Indians might see fit to perpetrate but a mile from their sentry-lines. The practical result of quartering troops among people like these in Alaska is bad. The communities thus visited were net remarkable for sobriety, morality, or industry before the coming of our troops, but after their arrival the change for the -worse, wherever the natives were brought m contact with them, was very marked. Honorable officers find it sufficiently diffi- cult to restrain their subordinates in camps and posts remote from demoralizing temptation, but when their men are sur- rounded by simple natives who will sell themselves for rum and tobacco, the inevitable result follows of debauchery and intem- I)erance. The history of the militar^^ occu])ation of this Terri- tory by our Government, although brief, reflects no honor upon the troops, and is a most unfortunate one for the natives with whom they came in contact, so much so that all the posts throughout the Territory have been discontinued except that of Sitka, of which the law, I believe, comj^els a conlinuance, and which, I trust, will be soon repealed for the relief of the troops, the credit of the Government, and also a saving of un- necessary expense to the public Treasury in moving the sol- diers to and from the Territory and of subsidizing a mail- steamer to carry their letters, &c. The present statute, which provides ostensibly for the gov- ernment of the Territory, authorizes the ap])ointment of a col- lector of customs and four or five deputies there, the former lo- cated at Sitka, the others at Oanalashka, Kodiak, and Wran- gel, where they are able only to conjecture as to the condition of revenue details in their respective districts, for they are un- able to leave their posts. The collector of customs can exer- cise no adequate vigilance against the illicit manufacture and trade in whisky, smuggling, &c., with the sailing-cutter which is allotted to this district. A small ste:im- vessel alone can fol- low these traders and smugglers through the innumerable nar- row and intiicftte channels and fjiords of the Aleutian and Alexander xlrchipelagoes. With the present sailing cutter, no calculation can be made with reference to her movements ; she is at the mercy of wind and tide ; how long will be her trip to a given place, and wben ALASKA 35 slio will return, no satisfactory conjecture can be made ; slie may be absent but a lew days, and tlie absence may be protracted a month. If the natives were to vseize a trader's schooner a hundred, or even fifty, miles away from Sitka, and were the (!ol- k'ctor to get instant word of it, weeks mi.i;ht elai)se before the sailing-cutter coukl get upon the ground of the outrage, and would even then be utterly unable to follow the outlaws. There is no trading done at Sitka; the eight or ten thousand Indians between Cross Sound and Fort Simpson trade entirely in the inshore passages and channels witli all sorts of men and craft; what is going on no one knows, and, as matters now stand, the collector and his deputies are certainly not to blame if they never know. As matters now stand, the town-site of Sitka is the only i)lace in the Q^erritory where the merest shadow of ability exists on the part of the Government to sustain law and order, protect property, &c. The troops there stationed are utterly helpless to do anything outside of their station, and what is more, the Indi- ans know it and laugh at them when they are reproached and warned for misdemeanors. The collector of customs has a sail- ing-cutter, which is of uo earthly use, for she cannot be used in the intricate inside passages, where the principal body of natives live, and can at the best make a wide, shy visit to Ko- diak or Ouualashka, or some such outside sea port, and then is at the mercy of the most fickle and uncertain weather for sailing, so that no calculation can be made upon her going or coming. Tht^ natives of the Territory have been living since the trans- fer under no effectual government restraint — a sudden and per- nicious change from the strict Eussian regime ; for now every- where in the Aleutian Islands and at Kodiak the natives are in the habit of drinking " quass,'' or home-brewed beer, to such an extent that it bids fair to ruin them unless checked. The leaders in drunken orgies are getting perfectly reckless, for they have noted the fact that during the past five years there has been no punishment or notice taken by i)roper authority of crime, including theft, wife-beating, and murder ; that there is no such thing as the shadow, even, of suspicion or power on the part of the Government, of which they liave only heard and know nothing. That these people have not behaved w^orse during the last two or three years in their present life of unchecked license is 36 ALASKA. a strong evidence of their naturally amiable and law-abiding disposition, and it is manifestly wrong on the part of tbe Gov- ernment to allow tbe disorderly element in tbe Aleiitiiin aLd Indian communities to gatbei* sucb strengtb by continued inat- tention 'y for it is leading to tbe rapid demoralization of tbe x\leutians, and is making it unsafe for white traders to venture singly among tbe Indians. I therefore most earnestly call attention to a plan for reform in tbe Territory, whicb will not annually draw from tbe Treasury more than half of what is received every year from tbe tax netted from the Seal Islands alone. Tbe annual revenue derived by the Government from the Ter- ritory, about 8300,000 net, is sufficient to support tbe proposed system of government, and afford an unexpended balance, every year, of from 8100,000 to 8150,000; and it would also result, in a very few years, in adding greatly to the receipts. Tbe following is tbe plan, after much deliberation, whicb I venture to propose : * 1. Withdrawal of tbe troops from the Territory. 2. Tbe placing of tbe collector of customs at Kodiak Avhere he can live without tbe sligbtest danger of injury from savages, although if left alone at Sitka he would be subjected to no ac- tual risk. There is no reason wby the central point for the action of the revenue-officers should be at Sitka in preference to either Kodiak or Ounalasbka ; both of the latter being better situated, with ten times the amount of trade, and double the law-abiding population ; but the deputy, now at Kodiak, might be transferred to Sitka. 3. A small revenue-steamer should be provided, with a single gun, and having compound engines, so that she will use but three or four tons of coal per diem, and steam seven to eight knots per hour, and fitted with spars to take advantage of favoring winds. Such a vessel could move to any point on brief notice. She should cruise steadily throughout the year, for she would move in good, sheltered channels. The appearance of this vessel, nt frequent intervals, would be all that is necessary to guarantee security of life and property to traders throughout tbe entire district. Her cruising-trips would estab- lish a promi)t means of communication between posts ; and she could visit Tongass or Fort Simpson every two or three *Al\vays excepting the Prybilov Group of Seal Islands, which are well pro vided for by special acts of Congress, approved July 1, 1870, and March 5, l&7'i ALASKA. 37 mouths and obtain tlie nuiil for the Territory, \vln(;]i the reve- iiae-ciitter JstatioiUMl on l'u<;('t Sound slionld be detailed to bring' at preeoneerted intervals oC two or three months, and, by SO doing, give the Territory a mail-system. 4. The abolition of the present subsidized mail-steamer whieh runs between Tortlandand Sitka. The handful of white citizens there, only two of them citizens of the United States, have no more right to claim the privilege of a mail-steamer, which now runs for their benefit cxclmiveUj^ than have the in- habitants of Kodiak, Oumdashka, or Saint Michael's, or half a dozen other villages of greater population or of more impor- tance in this Territory. o. The appointment of an agent, a man of character and edu- cation, who will have an opportunity to keep the Government ^vell informed of the exact condition of the people in the Terri- tory and its resources, by reason of the facilities for travel aflbrded by the revenue- steamer. G. The extension of the jurisdiction of the courts of Oregon or Washington Territory over this Territory, so that when per- sons belonging to the Territory, guilty of murder, arson, &c., are arrested and sent down for trial, they can be punished, and not permitted to escape, as they have been in more than one case already, for want of this jurisdiction. 7. The laws relating to our mining-lands might be so ex- tended as to include the Territory of Alaska. Gold and silvta-, copper, iron, and coal exist here, and there is no predicting what the future may bring forth, for prospectors are constantly at work. By placing matters in the Territory on such a footing as I have described, at least some delinite approach to a system of law and order would be initiated. There would be a steady and prompt means of communication between all the stations where life and property exist. No whisky-smuggling or op- pression of the natives could be carried on without its si)eedy apprehension and suppression, and the petty crimes which are so aggravating and demoralizing at present throughout the Territory would quickly cease. The annual revenue now derived from the Territory is more than sutlicient to support the whole system recommended. Beyond the adoption of this plan, in my judgment, on the part of the Government, nothing more is required by the Territory and its people. Any sL*heme of est-ablishiug Indian 38 ALASKA. reservations or agencies iu this country, with an idle and mis- chievous retinue of superintendents, chaplains, and school- teachers, seems to me entirely uncalled for. The people hero are keen hunters and quick-witted traders, and need no help or care beyond that I have indicated. Such of them as are christianized have long ago embraced the Greek Catholic faith, and adhere to it with devotion. The rest, or Indians, as they are called, are just as far from being in a Christian state of mind as they were when first apijroached by the Eussiau priests, over a hundred years ago. With regard to the education of the children of the better class of the natives, that is, the Christian Aleuts, there appears to be one invincible obstacle. The children, speaking a strange tongue, will not attend school, and their parents, as a body, will either i)revent or discourage them by positive command, or by utter indifference. If they are to be educated, their church alone can do it. It now controls them perfectly in this matter of education. That the children will not attend school has been most thoroughly tested already, not only by the Eussians, but by ourselves during the past four years on the Seal Islands. In 1835 a school was opened at Ounalashka, and presided over by one of the most indomitable and excellent of men, Yeniaminov, who tells us that in this settlement of over 275 souls then, only *' twelve boys could be brought together." When more than this is wanted by Alaska in the way of legislation by Govern- ment, it will suggest itself in due time, and in reason. CHAPTER IV. TEADE IN THE TEUIMTORY, AXI) TUE TKADERS, STATIONS, STATISTICS, ETC. Trade is devoted cliielly to furs, with occasioiuil dealings in oil and ivory ; it is divided among a lew i)arties, the Alaska Commercial Company Laving a large preponderance, by virtue of greater resources and greater energy, than any or all of its competitors combined; the sagacity of its traders, and the kind- ness with which they treat the natives, have resulted in even more than quadrupling tbe yield of furs in the Yukon and Ounalashka districts, as reported by the Eussiun American Fur Company at the time, of tbe transfer. The operation of this company is confined to the country west from Kodiak, embracing the Aleutian Islands, where they at the present time have but little competition ; on tiie Yukon, Koskoquim, and Ounalash- ka they are opposed by Charles Jansen, and by David Shirpser at Belcovskie and Kodiak, an*.! a number of small traders and whalers in Kotzebue Sound. The trade east of Kodiak, up Cook^s Inlet, dovrn tbe coast back of Sitka, to Fort Simpson, is, so far as is known — for I was unable to examine this dis- trict— given up to small traders who ply in and out in light schooners, canoes, &c., and, doubtless, is quite extensive and largely illicit, for the natives will not trade at Sitka for money ; so the inference plainly is that they dispose of their furs for whisky, &c., in the inshore passages, where smuggling can be carried on. When the Eussian traders first opened up the country the natives were everywhere found engaged in fierce intestine wars, and not i)rosecuting the chase of fur-bearing animals more than enough to supply themselves with skins for manufac- ture into garments ; depending on the sea for their principal means of subsistence. They used the skin of the sea-otter and beaver geuerall}" for cloaks, employing usually three sea-otters for one cloak ; one of these skins was cut into two pieces and afterward sewed to- gether, so as to form a square, and were loosely tied about the shoulders with small leather strings, fastened on each side; it 40 ALASKA. was the sight of these sea-otter cloalvs that excited the greed and enpidiry, aud stiuiuhited the adxenturous trips made by the first RussiaD traders in the Aleutian Ishmds, aud the ^Yeari- some voyages of the English and Frencli to the coast of Van- couver's Island^ and to the northward as far as Cook's Inlet, so early as 1785-'86. The beauty and value of the skin of tlie sea- otter alone drew men, who, in spite of all danger, visited every mile of the rugged coast of this Territory, nearly a liuudred years ago, in rude, clumsy ships and shallops, and depended upon ruder nautical instruments, without charts, &c. The hardships endured and perils encountered by these hardy, indomitable adventurers can be appreciated only by the seaman of to-day, who may sail in their tracks, provided with a gener- ally correct chart of a coast then absolutely unknown, in the best sailing-vessels, fully equipped with perfect nautical instru- ments, and yet this modern sailor cannot sleep day or night with safety while he is on the coast or among the islands, so severe is the trial. The first great demand by the natives in the Territory, as an equivalent for their furs, was iron ; the English traders used to make it up into thick wrought bands, about eighteen inches to two feet in length, with a breadth of two inches, called " toes ; " for one of these, at first, they readily procured a fine sea-otter or two, and a hatchet would obtain two or three ; tobacco, the present great staple of trade, was then scarcely in demand, but soon became so ; flour, when given by the Russians to some Aleuts atOunalashka, in 1788, was taken by them u]) to a hill- top and thrown by handfuls to the wind, the natives enjoying the sight of the mock snow-storm spectacle much more than the use of the material for food j over on the mainland, when crackers and sugar were given to some natives, at Nushagak, they spit it from their mouths with disgust, wearing an expres- sion of exceeding dislike for the strange food j lead pleased the Aleutians at first very much, it could be cut and iashioned so readily, but the most determined trials on their part failed, of course, to make it retain a cutting-edge, and they finally gave it up. By degrees, however, and quite rapidly, iron with form of spear heads, axes, knives, kettles, &c., became a drug among the people generally, and a taste for the wearing of cotton and woolen goods, the use of tea and tobacco, caused the natives of the Aleutian Islands to strain every nerve in hunting the sea- ALASKA. 41 ' otter, and so effectually did tbey do so that tlie animals dimin- ished in a very short time to but a fraction of their former niiinber; but tlie natives of the mainland, a very different class of i)eople, and incapable of living in as advanced a civilization as the Aleutians, were never aroused, aud never will be, to any such activity by any legitimate effort to trade ; they oidy covet tobacco and rum, and a little of either, used as <\n Indian uses them, fToes a long way. Therefore, while we may say that the fur-trade of the Aleu- tian Islands and the Peninsula, as far as Kodiak, has been and is to-day developed to its full importance, it is very evident that, with regard to the rest of the Territory, the annual yield can be and will be greatly augmented by the exertions of our energetic and industrious traders who are now scattered iu keen rivalry over the ground. By the very nature of the business, character of country, aud climate of Alaska, white men will never themselves do any sea-otter hunting or mainland trapping; it rests solely with the natives, and the annual yield depends entirely upon the exertions which these people may be inclined to make as a means of procuring coveted articles in the hands of the traders. The hardship and privation to which the fox and marten trap- pers, and especially the sea-otter hunters, are subjected while in pursuit of their quarry are very great, yet not so great but that white men could endure and would endure them did it pay well enough ; but it will be seen by reference to the tables giving the fur yield of the Territory that in proportion to the number of hunters, all of whom are more or less skillful, the return is a small one, and would not equal the earnings of the ordinary mechanic or day-laborer in our country, with the marked exception of the wages of the inhabitants of the Seal Islands, who live better and receive more i>ay than a majority of our people who are dependent upon manual labor for support. The life and labor of the trader on the mainland and islands is one of much discomfort, and at certain seasons of the year of incessant activity. A chief trader, though burdened with much responsibility, lives quietly and comfortably at the re- doubt or station where he is posted, the headquarters usually of a very large district; but the trading is all done by deputy traders, who are under the control of this head otUcer. These men start out from the post alone, perhaps accompanied by an Indian, with a dog-team and sled, which is loaded with several 42 ALASKA. hand red- wci^^'bt of goods, such as are likely to be most prized by tbe tribes tbey intend to visit for tbe purposes of trade, usually tobacco, calico, beads, and powder and ball, caps, &c. ; but tbe great bulk is generally tobacco. Tbese men start in tbe dead of winter, provided witli notbing but a blanket, a tent, a few pounds of dried meat or fisb, and tea, and go in tbis way from tribe to tribe, from settlement to settlement, until tbe intended circuit is made or tbe goods disposed of. Wbeu tbe trader reacbes a settlement be intjuires if tbe Indians tbere bave any furs ; if so, be pitches bis tent and unpacks bis goods under it, seats bimself in tbe middle, near an aperture in tbe tent, so that tbe natives may approach and look in upon bis assortment. Their skins are then passed through the opening with an intimation of what is desired from the trader's stock in exchange. The trader examines the skins, tosses them over into a common heap, and tears off the cloth or passes out the tobacco as the Indians require j and this continues till the business is concluded. If the trader finds at the close of his trading at any one or more settlements that the bulk or weight of his furs is too great for removal on bis sled, he gives the surplus into the care of some one of the people, counting over to him in the presence of the whole village all the skins. This man takes charge and honestl}' guards them until the trader comes in person or sends for them, and the whole community seems to feel as if their reputation were at stake, for they will neither molest the trader's cache nor permit others to do so. This is certainly a strange and most noteworthy characteristic of the Indians of the great interior of Alaska, designated in tbis report as the Yukon district. The trading on the northwest coast, however, from Paget Sound up to Prince AYilliam's Sound, was and is conducted in a very different manner from that of the Yukon district. Here the traders, large and small, employed vessels varying from steamers of considerable size to sloops. Since, however, the withdrawal of the Eussian American Company from the Terri- tory, and the steamer Labouchere of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, but one trading-steamer remains upon this coast, viz, th^e old Otter, the property of the last-named corporation. Sailing- vessels, small schooners principally, monopolize the trade, and of these there are eight or ten at least. The practice of these trading vessels is to cruise along tbe ALASKA. 43 coast, running- into the numerous canals, clianiiels, and liaibors so cliarac'teiistic of the re*^ion, wliere they comk^ to an anchor, within easy reach of the shore, and wait lor the natives to come off to them in their canoes laden witli whatever they may possess fit for barter. The trading itself is tedious be- yond all measure. The natives will sit in their canoes around the vessel for hours before showing the least atten- tion or desire for business; then when it does begin the haggling baffles description ; each Indian after the other try- ing to get, a little more than bis predecessor, no matter how slight or insignificant it may be. The traders of course dare not, even to gain precious time, deviate lioin an invariable rule or tariff in barter, and so the slow exchange goes on. The Indians throughout this whole section are shrewd and artful traders, and do not scruple to adopt any means by which they can outwit or deceive the white trader, so that it is unfortu- nately a case of diamond cut diamond wherever traders meet the natives of the northwest coast to-day. With the Indians of the Territory trade is carried on with- out the use of coin, but on the Aleutian Islands, among the Christian Aleuts, the people take cash for their furs and pay over the counters of the different stores for their goods ; and this necessitates the keeping of accounts, since the traders often tind it to their advantage to give credit to a penniless hunter. These accounts the Aleuts keep in very good shape, and they are seldom in error over their reckoning. The Ilussiaus pursued a different course from our people in conducting their trade in this region, where they were free Irom the competition of rival traders. Baranov, the real founder and maker of the Russian American Company, was a man of indomitable energy and foresight, and gave the affairs of the company his vigilant personal supervision everywhere and at all times, but his successors were unlike him, and made no exertion to pay dividends to the stockholders, or to pay debts. All of these gentlemen, with one exception. General Vivia- tovskie, were ofticers of the imperial tleet, and lived in ollicial rotation at Sitka, which was selected in preference to Kodiak as a better position in which to menace and repel the advances of the Hudson's Bay people along the coast belonging to Alaska. They were surrounded by a troop of subordinates, living without regard to cost or expenditure of time or labor ; a fleet of fourteen or fifteen vessels, steam and sail. Indeed, 44 ALASKA. DO better commentary on the management can be made than ti reference to their archives, where in almost any one year, look, for instance, January, 18G3, (Techmainov, vol. ii, p. 22tt,) at this table showing the number and distribution of the em- ployes and dependents : Districts. Enssians, Fins, and foreigners. Russian Creoles. Alente.s and rp, .^i Kuriles. ^"t^^' District of Sitka District of Kodiak... District of Ouualasbka 2Ien. 418 129 4 2 32 1 Women. 50 1 Men. 210 480 131 94 25 4 TFomeu. 300 489 125 lOG 21 5 Men. 36 1,010 743 307 14 126 Womeii. 31 . 983 &i5 342 11 108 Men. 6(54 1,619 £84 463 71 Women. 381 1,473 960 448 32 113 District of Atka Distiictof Vukon District of Kurilcs . Total . . . 56() 51 944 1,046 2, 302 2 310 '' ^'^'^ 2, 406 ' Or a grand total of 0,977 dependents of all classes, and of this number over 1,200 were paid regular salaries, from the governor down to the serf. And yet, with this small army of servants and dependents, the Russians, for the last forty years of their possession, did not get one-half of the furs annually- that our traders now secure every year since their establishment in the Territory, while there are not over two hundred men engaged in the whole busi- ness at present. Take the sea-otter trade for instance. The Rnssians called it a fair season when they secured in the course of the year, throughout tlie whole Territory, 350 to 400 sea-otters ; many years occurred in which less than 200 were taken ; but during the last two years 2,500 to 3,000 have been captured each sea- son in the Aleutian and Kodiak districts alone; and I estimate that not less than 500 have been taken from Cook^s Inlet down to Fort Simpson. This great increase in the development of the business is simply due to the active personal supervision of* the present agents and traders. In connection with tliis view of tlie trade and traders in the Territory, it is proper to mention the operations of the Ahiska Commercial Company, as it has been the subject of comment by the press. The whole matter ap[)ears to amount to tliis, that tlie fur-trade of Alaska, (always excepting the iSeal Islands,) placed, as it is, in a fair field for competition, will sooner or later be controlled by those who invest the most money in the undertaking and send the best men for the work, who make their stations more attractive to the natives, and ALASKA. 45 render communication between tlieir wide-scattered posts more frequent and regular. It will be more dinicult every year lor spall or inexperienced traders to do anything at the fur-trade in this Territory, and the trade does not appear extensive enough to support the operations of two companies, eacli with as mucli capital invested as the one in question. The result would be that one would have to withdraw. As far, however, as the Government is concerned, the field for trade in Alaska is free and open to all ; a practical illustration of w hich is shown in the following statement of affairs existing at Ouua- lashka: Ounalashka is an Aleutian village of some four hundred souls, men, women, and children; of these sixty are first-class sea-otter hunters, and this is their profession. The Alaska Commercial Company have erected three large warehouses fronting a wharf, where their vessels unload and load; a large store-house, tilled with a most extensive selection of goods ; a very large dwelling-house for tbeir traders; with office, court- yard, stables for cattle and sheep, a blacksmith- sbop, &c., all finished in first-class style, and furnished thoroughly through- out. The company have also erected and are building snug cottages for their best hunters to live in ; and there is a school- house, where the native children are invited to attend, which some do. In o])position to this, a young man is placed in a small, weather- w^orn, rickety shanty, which is made to serve as warehouse, store, and living-room lor the agent; a most meager stock of goods, no assortment whatever; and yet this young man, who has not got one dollar to back him, came to me and complained of the almost total loss of his trade, and said in explanation that it was due to the fact that though the natives wanted to trade with him, yet they were living under the influence of fear to such an extent that they dared not do it, and hence transferred their trade. I told him, after looking about the place and talking with the natives and their priest for three or four days, that the only fear that these i)eople of Ounalashka had in the matter was a most wholesome one ; it was the fear, coupled with an absolute certainty, that, as ho was situated for trade, they would not do as well at his estab- lishment as they could at his opponent's, and the dullest of them could readily appreciate it ; therefore, if any successful opposition to the Alaska Commercial Company is to be made in the Territory where it is estabbshed, money must, be freely 46 ALASKA. expended in buildings and upon the people, who will go with wonderful promptness and unanimit^^ wherever they can make the most in trade and are best treated, for they are keen and shrewd. I now pass to the consideration of the several tradhig dis- tricts, and the character and quality of the furs obtained from them respectively. THE YUKON DISTKICT. KoTZEBUE Sound : The trade at this place with the natives is principally by whaling- vessels, which are supplied with liquors; they tit out and clear from the Sandwich Islands for the arctic, and take advantage of the impunity with which they can visit this port and j)rotit by this illicit occupation ; for the natives here, as everywhere else, are passionately fond of liquor, and a large proportion of the best furs from the Lower Yukon, the region south of Saint ^Michael's, is picked out by Indian traders and car- ried to this place, where they can be exchanged for whisky. The trade, however, that belongs to the sound itself is not ex- tensive ; only a small number of Eskimo live here, in scattered settlements along the coast, at the mouths of debouching creeks, &c. The catch of fur-bearing animals is not large ; the people themselves live more by trading than by hunting, i. e., trading between the people living far to the southward and eastward on the one hand, and the whalers and others, making prohts as middlemen. Norton's Sound : A. few Eskimo traders live here ; the catch and yield of fur- bearing animals unimportant. These people assist the Kotzebue traders in getting their furs carried up and over to that place, and many of them go over to Port Clarence with an assortment of furs, beaver principally, where they meet the ])eople from the Asiatic side, who cross Bering's Straits in the winter on the ice by way of the Diomede Islands, with dog-sleds, loaded with tame reindeer-skins, tanned, which are in great demand by the natives of this district for manufacture into cloaks, coats, par- lies, &c., while the Asiatics are equally desirous of getting any and all kinds of fur, such as mink, marten, land-otter, beaver, &C.J but desire beaver especially. ALASKA. 47 The Diomedes, King's Island, Sledge Island, and Saint Laavkenck — Arc iuliabitcd by a few Eskimo, but there is no trade ^vitli tliein worth iiieiitioiiiii''- ; tiiey have a little walrus-oil and ivory, and a tew red ibxes, and oeeasionally get some whalebone. Salnt Michael's: This is a shipping-point only for the accumulated furs gath- ered by the traders from the Lower and Upper Yukon, at Nu- lato, Fort Yukon, and the Tannanah. The present annual yield from these points is the largest and most valuable from the mainhind of Ahiska. A vessel coming to Saint Michael's in the summer will find from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Indians 5 they have come in from long distances to the north- west, eastward, and southward ; but the fur-trading on the Y^ukon Itiver and its many tributaries is very irregular as to time and pUice year after year, the traders constantly moving from settlement to settlement. This year they may only get a thousand skins where they got five thousand last season, and vice versa. It is impossible to say where the best place for trade will be, the catch in different sections varying every winter with the depth of snow, the severity of climate, &c. NUNIVAK : Trade here is small and unimportant, principally walrus-oil, some ivory, and a few red foxes. Cape Ro3ianzov : Traders come up from the Koskoquim and down from the Y^ukon to this point, where they get some very good furs, mink, marten, ajid foxes.- At Cape Aviuova, the district there is quite celebrated for its marten catch, both in quantity and quality; a large number of brown bear range here, where they subsist upon berries, roots, reindeer, &c. The Indians live in small huts and settlements scattered all along the coast down from Saint Michael's. K0SK0QUI3I : The trade is extensive, and done principally at Kolmakov Eedoubt, about one hundred and litty miles up the river from its mouth, and at a station some sixty miles below it. The traders come down the river in June with their cargoes and meet the ships. The principal trade is beaver, red foxes, mink, 48 ALASKA. (plenty,) marten, land-otter, (abundant,) bears, brown and black. The people of this district keep traveling all the year round. NUSHAGAK : About the same as at Koskoquim, but the quality of sable or marten deteriorates very much and rapidly as the trader goes sonth from this region. Thepeople are also great travelers, always on the move. This section closes the Yukon district, which forms the western boundary of that of the Peninsula and Kodiak. In this country, between Kotzebue and its smith- ern boundary back into the interior as far as a thousand miles, furs are gathered as follows : Beaver are taken of the very best quality and in the greatest quantity, and an immense number of musk-rat skins, for the trader must buy everything, (these musk-rat skins are princi- pally shipped to France and Germany, for poor people wear them;) of red foxes, quite a large number are taken. Black foxes are seldom obtained, perhaps three or four on an average during the year. Silver-gray foxes, a small number annually. Mink and marten of very fine quality from Koskoquim to the northward, but from this point to the southward this fur deteri- orates rapidly. Land-otter, quite a large number of the best quality. Black and hro7.cn bear, a few ; a small trade in swans^- doicn. Eifler-doicn, with profit, cannot be sold in San Francisco, but it is valuable in Eussia. (German goose-down is used by our upholster rs in preference, as it is much cheaper and just as good.) Beindeer-skins ave dried 5 quite a large number of these which go east are tanned, and make a very superior leather. Figures to show the number of skins taken out of the coun^ try might easily be obtained were it under the control of a sin- gle corporation, as it was under the Eussian rule, but as it is now, witii ten or a dozen independent traders, large and small, all studionsly concealing or purposely exaggerating their trans- actions in order to draw or divert trade, the figures, were they furnished, wonld be quite unreliable. The following table, how- ever, showing the yield of this district during a period of twenty years, between 184l> and 18G1, as given by Russian au- thority, nmy be deemed correct; and I was assured by Father Shiesneekov, of Ounalashka, a Eussian priest, born and raised in this country, that the present yield of furs is at least four ALASKA. 49 Mmos as % 3 3 1 1 Musk-rat. 1 1 3 1 i E t Koskoquiin . . . SaiiitMirhaers •11), 3'Jd 1,105 4, 1)34 2,098 3,590 10,210 320 "52 327 1,007 93 330 4, CG8 lai Total... 81, 194 0, HI) 10,931 330 4,008 13, 800 320 52 1,334 270 Guided by this exhibit, if I could rely on what has been affirmed by the traders w^hom 1 have met in the Territory, the catch in the Yukon district during the last three years has averaged six times as much as the Russian annual average. THE PENINSULAR AND KODIAK. Oagashik : This is the only trading-station on the north shore of the Peninsula, and it is in itself inconsiderable ; the people have a few red foxes, a few beaver, but quite a fair number of reindeer- skins, the country being fairly alive v.?ith these animals; they also are adjacent to the large walrus hauling-grounds in Bris- tol Bay, and some ivory is secured by them ; they have a few brown bears, an occasional wolf-skin, and a little swans'-down. Belcovskie : A sea-otter post: the natives bring in the skins of these animals, which they obtain at Saauach and the Chernobour Rocks; the trade otherwise is unimportant — a few red foxes and brown bears. iSaauach. A sea-otter post recently established : nearly two- thirds of the sea-otters captured in the whole Alaskan district are taken around this island. U)iga. A sea-otter post, with small trade in red foxes, black and brown bears, «&c. KodiaJc, or Saint PmiVs. — Once the headquarters of the old Russian American Company, but since 1825 it has been a mere trading post; a large number of sea-otter hunters make it their home, and bring in their quarry for trade there; all the trade of Kenai and Cook's Inlet came in here under the old 4 AL 50 ALASKA. regime, but it is now confiued principally- to the sea-otter trade ; the Cook's Inlet and Katuiai trade is mostly engrossed by trading-schooners plying between these places aud Paget Sound ; the yield of this district uuder the Eiissian control is given for twenty years, 184^^-1801, inclusive, as follows: Sea-otters, 5,809 j beaver, 85,381 ; marten, 14,295 ; niiuks, 1,175 ; musk-rats, 14,313; wolverines, 1,27G; marmots, 712; wolves, oS. In the Cook's Inlet distuict, the Mount Saint Eli as and SiTKAN districts, there are no well-established trading-posts, the business being conducted on shipboard everywhere, the natives coming off to the trading-schooners in their canoes. At the time of the Kussian occupation there was considerable trading done at Sitka, but now it has fallen off entirely, the natives of that place and vicinity going back into the inside passages, where they can trade with Avhisky-schooners in per- fect security, as affairs are now conducted in the Territory. A large variety of furs are brought in from the dense forests and high mountains of this region — such as red, black, and sil- ver foxes, brown and black bears, mink, marten, i)orcupines, beaver, land and sea otter, fur seal, hair-seal, deer, rabbits, squirrels, mountain-goats, ermines, aud the hoary marmot or Avhistler. TnE OUNALASHKA DISTRICT: This embraces the whole of the Aleutian Archipelago, and is given entirely to the sea-otters; there is nothing else in this section fit for trade save a few red and black foxes, and in it are established six stations, viz : Ounalasl-ciy the largest and principal one, Akootan^ GhemovsJcic, Oomnalc, Atla^ and Attou, ^Yhich are the homes of the sea-otter hunters, and where they trade. The stations enumerated in the foregoing districts comprise all that are established in the Alaskan Territory. THE VALUE or THE FUR-TRADE. With the exception of the Sitkan and Cook's Tnlet districts, the gross value of the annual fur-i)roduction of Alaska can be closely ascertained. I aijpend to this head several tables Irom Russian authorities in reierenee to the subject, and call atten- tion to the fact that for the last ninety years or more, up to the present date, the [)ricesof the leading furs in our market to-day are very much what they were then, with the exception of the ALASKA. 51 fnr-sojil, wliich lias been greatly cMiliaiiocd i?i value by reason of iinprovonuMit in dressin*;, but tlie marten and tlio sea-otter stand to-day at ahnost the same fi^nires at wliicli tliey W(iro bon<;ht and sold a hundred years ago in Oliina, wliere the value of money has remained the same; the native hunters, how- ever, receive now three, four, and five times as much as tliey were paid by the Russian American Company for their skins. The following list may be taken as very nearly correct, and shows the gross value of the fur-trade of the Territory to the traders for the year 1873 : 100,000 fur-seal skins, at an averago of A7 $700, 000 3,000 sea-otter skins, at au avcrago of $75 22.'), 000 50,000 skins from tlio Yukon district, assorted, at an average of $2. 100, 000 30,000 skins from all the rest of the Territory, (this is a very un- satisfactory estimate,) at an average of §2 GO, 000 A grand total of 1, 085, 000 Which is more than double the annual receipts of any one of the best of the last twenty years of the llussian American Company, so far as can be judged by reference to their state- ments, as is shown in the table at the close of this article. It seems that the Seal Islands represent two-thirds of the whole value of the fur-trade of Alaska, and that with the sea- otter interest combined there is scarcely anything left. Matters are now so arranged on the Seal Islands that the Gov- ernment nets a revenue of $300,000 per annum, with the pres- ervation of its interest there in all of its original integrity. With reference to the sea-otter trade, I think I clearly show the necessity for protection from the Government in my dis- cussion of the subject in this report, and, in regard to the remaining interests, the country itself protects them. 52 ALASKA. TaNe showhig ihc yield of the different statious in i-he Territory of Alaslia, from the archives of the Ilussian American Fur Company, for a period of iicenty years, between 1842 and 18G1. 1 M 'i S 1 < < -2 1 o ;:4 1 49, 398 4,954 32, 396 1, 165 85, 381 329 5,686 979 3,611 2,242 1, 188 5,809 I'ur-seal 309, 701 10, 216 3,590 320 19, 671 5,731 34, 794 2,503 1,C85 8,853 330 52 1,007 2,098 14, 295 1,175 1,276 327 Wolves 58 "Beirs 183 93 4,668 14,313 712 Walrus-teeth 4,16"o'ibs 116 lbs. 3,315 prs. 1,040 lbs. (j 836 prs 21,640 lbs 51,840 lbs Table showing the exportation of furs by the Russian- American Company. Variety of fur. Period of 1797-1821, (24 years.) Period of 1821-1842, (21 years.) Period of 1812-1861, (19 years.) Sea-otter, adult and 1-year old skins Sea-otter tails Ijand-otters 72, 894 34, 546 14, 969 1, 232, 374 34, 546 13, 702 21, 890 30, 950 36, 362 4,234 17, 289 4,802 1,151 1,389 121 1, 602 27 25.416 23, 506 29, 442 458, 502 162, 034 17,913 26, 4G-> 45, 947 55,714 13, 638 15, 666 15,481 1,564 4, 253 201 5, 35j ■ 25, 899 25, 797 70, 473 372, 894 157 484 i 77, 847 Foxe.s red .. ............. I^oxcs blue 1 54. 134 Foxes wbito i^Iartens . . . 12, 782 Minks 872 "Wolverines . . . . 10 6, 927 24 Bear.s ... 1,893 Sea-lions voun"' 4,491 6, 570 200, 040 lbs. ^\ alru s-leetb 64 640 lbs. 20 lbs. •1,960 Ib.s. Wlmlr-.hdiie 47 040 lbs 138, 200 lbs. ' I The following shows the amount of food-supplies required, iudepeudeiit of tea, tobacco, and liquor, for the annual subsist- ence of the enii)loyes of the Ilussian-American Company, (18G3 ;) % year's supply or more was always kept in advance in case of an emergency, (from Techmainov:) ALASKA. 53 Wheat, 14,000 jxhxIs, at .'i rul)les and 20 kopecks a pood, (or 30 pounds.) Flour, 198 poods, at (J rubles and .SI koixM.'ks a pood. Peas, 404 poods, at 4 rubles and 90 kopecks a pood. Split wlieat, 104 i)oods, at 4 rubles and 90 kojx'cks a pood. Salt, 9lili poods, at 3 rubles and 78 kopecks a pood. Butter, 498 poods, at 20 rubles and 20 kopecks a pood. Hams, 92 poods, at 59 kopecks a pound. The rubles are papcr^ equal to 20 cents each. A pood is 30 pounds English, or 40 liussian pounds. CHAPTER V. THE SEA OTTER AND ITS HUNTING. The sea-otter, like the fur-seal, is another illustration of an animal long known and highly prized in the commercial world, yet respecting the habits and life of which nothing definite has been ascertained or published. The reason for this is obvi- ous, for, save the natives who hunt them, no one properly quali- fied has ever had an opportunity of seeing the sea-otter so as to study it in a state of nature, for, of all the shy, sensitive beasts, upon the capture of which man sets any value, this creature is the most keenly on the alert and difficult to obtain ; and, like the fur-seal in this Territory, it possesses the enhanc- ing value of being princii)ally confined to our country. A truth- ful account of the strange, vigilant life of the sea- otter, and of the hardships and perils encountered by its hunters, would sur- pass in novelty and interest the most attractive work of fiction. AYhen the Russian traders opened up the Aleutian Islands they found the natives commonly wearing sea-otter cloaks, which they parted with at first for a trifie, not placing any es- pecial value on the animal, as they did the hair-seal and the sea-lion, the flesh and skins of which were vastly more palata- ble and serviceable to them; but the offers of the greedy traders soon set the natives after them. During the first few years the numbers of these animals talvcn all along the Aleu- tian Chain, and down the whole northwest coast as far as Ore- gon, were very great, and compared with what are now captured seem perfectly fabulous ; for instance, when the Prybilov Isl- ands were first discovered, two sailors, Lukannon and Kaiekov, killed at Saint Paul's Island, in the first year of occupation, Jive thonmnd ; the next year they got less than a thousand, and in six years after not a single sea-otter appeared, and none have appeared since. When Shellikov's party first visited (3ook's Inlet, they secured three thousand ; during the second year, two thousand; in the third, only eight hundred; the season following they obtained six hundred; and finally, in 1812, less than a hundred, and since then not a tenth of that number. The first visit made bv the Kussians to the Gulf of Yahkutat, ALASKA. 55 ill 1704, two thousand sea-otters were taken, l)ut the}- dimin- islicd so rai)idly that in 1700 less than throe hundred were taken. In 1708 a lar«;-e party of Russians and Aleuts captured in Sitka Sound and nei«;lil)()rhood twelve hundred skins, besides those for which they traded with the natives there, fully as many more; and in the spriuf; of 1800 a few American and En«,dish vessels came into Sitka Sound, anchored off the small Russian settlement there, and traded with the natives for over two thousand skins, getting; the trade of the Indians by giving fire- arms and powder, ball, «S:c., which the Russians did not dare to do, living then, as they were, in the country. In one of the early years of the Kussian American Company, 1801, Baranov went to the Okotsk from Alaska with fifteen thousand sea-otter skins, that were worth as much then as they are now, viz, fully $1,000,000. The result of this warfare upon the sea-otters, with ten hunt- ers then where there is one to-day, was not long delayed. Eve- rywhere throughout the whole coast-line frequented by them the diminution set in, and it became difficult to get to places where a thousand had once been as easily obtained as twenty-five or thirty. A llussian chronicler says: "The numbers of several kinds of animals are growing very much less in the present as compared with past times ; for instance, the company here (Ounalashka) reguhirly killed more than a thousand sea-otters annually ; now^ (1835) from seventy to a hundred and fifty are taken; and there was a time, in 182G, when the returns from the whole Ounalashkau district (the Aleutian Islands) were ou]y fif- teen skins." It is also a fact coincident with this diminution of the sea- otters, that the population of the Aleutian Islands fell off almost in the same proportion. The Eussians regarded the lives of these people as they did those of dogs, and treated them ac- cordingly ; they took, under Baranov and his subordinates, hunt- ing-parties of five hundred to a thousand picked Aleuts, eleven or twelve hundred miles to the eastward of their homes, in skin- baidars and bidarkies, or kyacks, traversing one of the wildest and roughest of coasts, and used them not only for the severe drudgery of otter-hunting, but to fight the Koloshians and other savages all the way up and down the coast; this soon destroyed them, and few ever got back alive. When the Territory came into our possession the Bussians were taking between four and five hundred sea-otters from the 56 ALASKA. Aleutian Lslantls and soutli of the peninsula of Ahisk^, with perhaps a hundred and tifty more from Kenai, Yalikutat, and the Sitkau district; the Hudson's Bay Company and other traders getting about two hundred more from tlie coast of Queen Charlotte's and Vancouver's Islands, and ofl' Gray's Ilarbor, Washington Territory. Xow, during the last season, 187o, instead of less than seven hundred skins, as obtained by ihe'Ilussians, our traders secured not much less than four thousand skins. This immense dill'er- euce is not due to the fact of there being a proportionate in- crease of sea-otters, but to the organization of hunting-parties in the same spirit and fashion as in the early days above men- tioned. The keen competition of our traders will ruin the busi- ness in a comparatively' short time if some action is not taken by the Government ; and to the credit of these traders let it be said, that while they cannot desist, for if they do others will step in and profit at their expense, yet thej' are anxious that some prohibition should be laid upon the business. This can be easily done, and in such a manner as to i^erpetuate the sea- otter, not only for themselves, but for the natives, who are de- pendent upon its hunting for a living which makes them supe- rior to savages. Over two-thirds of all the sea otters taken in Alaska are secured in two small areas of water, little rocky islets and reefs around the island of Saanach and the Cheruobours, which proves that these animals, in spite of the incessant hunting all the year round on this ground, seem to have some i)articular preference for it to the practical exclusion of nearly all the rest of the coast in the Territory. This may be due to its better adaptation as a breeding-ground. It is also noteworthy that all the sea-otters taken below the Straits of Fuczi are shot by the Indinns and white hunters off the beach in the surf at Gray's Harbor, a stretch of less than twenty miles ; here some lifty to a hundred are taken every year, while not half that number can be obtained from all the rest of the Oregon and Washington coast-line; there is nothing in the external ajjpear- ance of this reach to cause its selection b^' the sea-otters, ex- cept perhaps that it may be a little less rock^ . As matters are now conducted by the hunting parties, the sea-otters at Saanach and the Cheruobours do not have a day's rest during the whole year. Parties relieve each other in suc- cession, and a continual warfare is maintained. This persistence ALASKA. 57 is stiir.r.latcd by tlio traders, and is rendered still more deadly to the sea-otter by the use of riHes of the best make, which, in tlie hands of the youiif; and and)itioLis natives, in spite of the warnings of the oUl men, must result in the extermination of these animals, as no authority exists in the land to prevent it. These same old men, in order to successfully compete with their rivals, have to drop their bone spears and arrows and take ui) fire-arms in self-defense. So the bad work j^oes on rapidly, thoug^h a majority of the natives and the traders deprecate it. With a view to check this evil and to i)erpetuate the life of the sea-otter in the Territory, I offer the following suggestions to the Department : 1st. Prohibit the use of fire-arms of any description in the hunting of the sea-otter in the Territory of Alaska. 2d. Make it unlawful for any party or parties to hunt this animal during the months of June, July, and August, fixing a suitable penalty, fine, or punishment. The first proposition gives the seaotter a chance to live ; and, with the second, may possibly promote an increase in the num- ber of this valuable animal. Theenforcement by theGovernmentof this prohibition will not be difiicult, as it is desired by a great majority of the natives and all the traders having any real interest in the perpetuation of the business. A good deputy attached to the customs, whose salary and expenses might be more than paid by a trilling tax upon each otter-skin, say 81, could, if provided with a sound whale-boat, make his headquarters at Saanach and Celcovski and carry the law into effect. The trade of the Kodiak dis- trict centers at the village of that name, and the presence of the collector or his deputy will exert authority, and (;ause the old native hunters and many of the younger who have rellec- tion to comply with his demands. The collector then being provided with the small revenue-steamer spoken of in my chapter upon the duty of the Government toward the Territory, can insure compliance with the instructions given him, and punish violations. This proposed action on the part of the Government is urgent and humane, for upon the successful hunting of the sea-otter some five thousand Christianized nativ'es are entirely dependent for the means to live in a condition superior to barbarism. 58 ALASKA. THii HABITS OF THE SEA-OTTEi?., {Enliyclra marina.) I have bad a number of iuterestiug interviews with several very intelligent traders, and an English hunter who had spent an entire winter on Saanach Island, shooting sea-otters, and enduring, while there, bitter privation and hardship ; and chielly from their accounts, aided by my own observation, I submit the following: Saanach Island, Islets, and Reefs, is the great sea-otter ground of this country. The island itself is small, with a coast-line circuit of about eighteen miles. Spots of sand- beach are found here and there, but the major portion of it is composed of enor- mous water-worn bowlders piled up by the surf. The interior is low and rolling, with a ridge rising into three hills, the mid- dle one some 800 feet in height. There is no timber on it, but abundant grass, moss, &c., with a score of little fresh-water lakes, in which multitudes of ducks and geese are found every spring and fall. The natives do not live upon the island, because the making of fires and scattering of food-refuse alarms the otters, driving them off" to sea ; so that it is only camped upon, and fires are never built unless the wind is from the southward, for no sea-otters are ever found to the north of the island. The sufferings to which the native hunters subject themselves every winter on this island, going for many weeks without fires, even for cooking, with the thermometer down to zero, in a northerly gale of wind, is better imagined than de- scribed. To the southward and westward, and stretching directly out to sea, some five to eight miles from Saanach Island, is a suc- cession of small islets, bare, most of them, at low water, but with numerous reefs and rocky shoals, beds of kelj), «S:c. This is the great sea-otter ground of Alaska, together with the Chcrrobour Islets, to the eastward ibout thirty miles, which are similar to it. The sea-otter rarely lands upon the main island, but it is found just out of water on the reef rocks and islets above men- tioned, in certain seasons, and at a little distance at sea during calm and pleasant weather. Tlie adult sea-otter is an animril that will measure from three and a half to four feet at most, from nose to tip of tail, which is short and stumpy. The general contour of the body is closely like tliat of the beaver, with the skin lying in loose folds, so that when taken hold of in lifting the boLly out from the water, ALASKA. 59 I it is as slack and draws u[) like tlie hide on llic* nape of a yomii;- dog. This skin, which is taken Iroiii the body with but one cut made in it at tlie posteriors, is turned inside out, and air- dried, and stretched, so that it then gives the erroneous impres- sion of an animal at least six feet in length, with girth and shape of a weasel or mink. There is no sexual dissimilarity in color or size, and both manilest the same intense shyness and aversion to man, coupled with the greatest solicitude for their young, which they bring into existence at all seasons of the year, for the natives get young pups every month in the year. As the natives have never caught the mothers bringing forth their oft'si)ring on the rocks, they are disposed to believe that the birth takes place on kelp-beds, in i^leasant or not over-rough weather. The fe- male has a single pup, born about 15 inches in length, and pro- vided during the first month or two with a coat of coarse, brown- ish, grizzled fur, head and nape grizzled, grayish, rufous white, with the roots of the hair growing darker toward the skin. The feet, as in the adult, are very short, webbed, with nails like a dog, fore-paws exceedingly feeble and small, ail covered with a short, fine, dark, bister-brown hair or fur. From this poor condition of fur they improve as they grow older, shading darker, finer, thicker, and softer, and by the time they are two years of age they are '^ prime," though the animal is not full- grown until its fourth or fifth year. The white nose and mus- tache of the pup are not changed in the adult. The whiskers are white, short, and fine. The female has two teats, resembling those of a cat, placed between the hind limbs on the abdomen, and no signs of more ; the pup sucks a j^ear at least, and longer if its mother has no other ; the mother lies upon her back in the water or upon the rocks, as the case may be, and when she is surprised she protects her young by clasping it in her fore-paws and turning her back to the danger ; they shed their fur just as the hair of man grows and falls out ; the reason is evident, for they must be ready for the water at all times. The sea-otter mother sleeps in the water on her back, with her young clasped between her fore-paws. The pup cannot live without its mother, though frequent attempts have been made by the natives to raise them, as they often capture them alive, but, like some other species of wild animals, it seems to 60 ALASKA. be so deeply imbued with fear of man that it invariably dies from self-iQi posed starvation. Their food, as might be inferred from the flat molars of denti- tion, is almost entirely- composed of clams, muscles, and sea- urchins, of which they are very fond, and which they break by striking the shells together, held in each fore paw, sucking out the contents as they are fractured by these eftbrts 5 they also undoubtedly eat crabs, and the juicy, tender fronds of kelp or sea-weed, and fish. Tbey are not polygamous, and more than an individual is seldom seen at a time when out at sea. The flesh is very un- l^alatable, highly charged with a rank smell and flavor. They are playful, it would seem, for I am assured by several old hunters that they have watched the sea-otter for a half an hour as it lay upon its back in the water and tossed a piece of sea-weed up in the air from paw to paw, apparently taking great delight in catching it before it could fall into the water. It will also play with its young for hours. The quick hearing and acute smell possessed by the sea-otter are not equaled by any other creatures in the Territory. They will take alarm and leave from the eftects of a small tire, four or five miles to the windward of them ; and the footstep of man must be washed by many tides before its trace ceases to alarm the animal and drive it from landing there should it approach for that purpose. There are four principal methods of capturing the sea-otter, viz, by surf -shooting, by siKaring-surrounds, by cluhbing, and by nets. The surf-shooting is the common method, but has only been in vogue among the natives a short time. The young men have nearly all been supplied with rifles, with which they patrol the shores of the island and inlets, and whenever a sea-otter's head is seen in the surf, a thousand yards out even, they fire, the great distance and the noise of the surf preventing tlie sea- otter from taking alarm until it is hit; and, in nine times out of ten, when it is hit, in the head, which is all that is ex- posed, the shot is fatal, and the hunter waits until the surf brings his quarry in, if it is too rough for him to venture out in his " bidarkie." This shooting is kept up now the whole year round. The speariug-surround is the orthodox native system of cap- ture, and reflects the highest credit upon them as bold, hardy ALASKA. 61 t watermen. A party of fil'teiMi or twenty bidarkies, with two men in each, as a rule, all under the control of a chief elected by common consent, start out in pleasant weather, or when it is not too rou<;li, and spread themselves out in a long line, slowly paddling over the waters where sea-otters are most usually found. When auy one of them discovers an otter, asleep, most likely, in the water, he makes a quiet signal, and there is not a word spoken or a i)addle splashed while they are on the huut. He darts toward the animal, but generally the alarm is taken by the sensitive object, which instantly dives before the Aleut can get near enough to throw his spear. The hunter, however, keeps right on, and stops his canoe directly over the spot where the otter disappeared. The others, taking note of the position, all deploy and scatter in a circle of half a mile wide around the mark of departure thus nuule, and pa- tiently wait for the re-appearance of the otter, which must take place within fifteen or thirty minutes tor breath ; and as soon as this happens the nearest one to it darts forward in the same manner as his predecessor, when all hands shout and throw their spears, to make the animal dive again as quickly as pos- sible, thus giving it scarcely an instant to recover itself. xV sentry is placed over its second diving-wake as before, and the circle is drawn anew; and the surprise is often repeated, some- times for two or three hours, until the sea-otter, from inter- rupted respiration, becomes so filled with air or gases that he cannot sink, and becomes at once an easy victim. The coolness with which these Aleuts will go far out to sea in their cockle-shell kyacks, and risk the approach of gales that are as apt to be against them as not, with a mere handful of food and less water, is remarkable. They are certainly as hardy a set of hunters, patient and energetic, as can be found in the world. The clubbing is only done in the winter-season, and then at infrequent intervals, which occur when tremendous gales of wind from the northward, sweeping down over Saanach, have about blown themselves out. The natives, the very boldest of them, set out from Saanach, and scud down on the tail of the gale to the far outlying rocks, just sticking out above surf-wash, Avhere they creep up from the leeward to the sea-otters found there at such times, with their heads stuck into the beds of kelp to avoid the wind. The noise of the gale is greater than that made by the stealthy movements of the hunters, who, armed 62 ALASKA. each with a short, heavy, wooden club, dispatch the animals, one after another, without alarming the whole body, and in this way two Aleuts, brothers, were known to have slain seventy- eight in less than an hour and a half. There is no driving these animals out upon land. They are fierce and courageous, and, when surprised by a man between themselves and the water, they will make for the sea, straight without any regard for the hunter, their progress, by a succes- sion of short leaps, being very rapid for a small distance. The greatest care is taken by the sea-otter hunters on Saanach. They have lived in the dead of a severe winter six weeks at a time without kindling a fire, and with certain winds they never light one. They do not smoke, nor do they scatter or empty food-refuse on the beaches. Of all this I am assured by one who is perhaps the first white eye-witness of this winter-hunt- ing, as he lived on the island through that of 1872-'73, and could not be induced to repeat it. The hunting by use of nets calls up the strange dissimilarity existing now, as it has in all time past, between the practice of the Atka and Attou Aleuts and that of those of Ounalashka and the eastward, as given above. These people capture the sea- otter in nets, from 16 to 18 feet long and 6 to 10 feet wide, with coarse meshes, made nowadays of twine, but formerly of sinew. On the kelp-beds these nets are spread out, and the natives withdraw and watch. The otters come to sleep or rest on these places, and get entangled in the meshes of the nets, seeming to make little or no effort to escape, paralyzed as it were by fear, and fall in this way easily into the hands of the trappers, who tell me that they have caught as many as six at one time in one of these small nets, and frequently get three. They also watch for surf -holes or caves in the bluffs, and, when one is found to which a sea-otter is in the habit of resorting, they set this net by spreading it over the entrance, and usually capture the an- imal. No injury whatever is done to these frail nets by the sea- otters, strong animals as they are ; only stray sea-lions destroy them. The Atka people have never been known to hunt sea- otters without nets, while the people of Ounalashka and the eastward have never been known to use them. The salt-water and kelp seem to act as a disinfectant to the net, so that the smell of it does not repel or alarm the shy animal. CHAPTER VI. THE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS ON THE SEAL ISLANDS, rilYBILOV GllOUP. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ISLANDS. When the Russians first came into tlie country, in 17(J(i-"G.j, the abundance of sea-otter skins and their immensely-greater vahie tlian that of any others found, caused very litth^ atten- tion to be paid to the skins of fur-seals or those of other ani- mals; but the great diminution of otter-skins toward the end of 1777-'78 raised anew the question, often asked the natives but in vain, as to where the fur-seal bred, such numbers of them were seen every year in the spring passing nortli and in the autumn going south through the narrow channels, straits, &c., between the Aleutian Islands. This regular routine of travel followed by these animals every year pointed to some unknown breeding-ground in Bering Sea, and search was made for it, resulting in the discovery of the group under discussion, in 178G-'87, by Gehrman Prybilov, commanding a small schoon- er, and serving one of the twenty-eight different trading-com- panies and traders then about the Alentian Archipelago. The islands were without population, or the traces even of human habitation. The island of Saint George was first discovered and named after the little vessel commanded by Prybilov,* and in the follow- ing year, July, 1787, the island of Saint Paul was noticed by the men stationed at Saint George looming on the northwest horizon, twenty-seven miles distant. Prybilov endeavored to keep the discovery to himself, but in less than a month after his return to Ounalashka it was well known. The competition there was so lively, that as many as six companies established themselves at once on the Seal Islands, and a number of irregular visitors now and then appeared. The rapacity and shiftlessness of their management is well described by a Russian historian, from whom I have translated extracts bearing upon this subject, and which will be found in its proper * Prybilov died at Sitka while ia comuiaud of the ship "Three Saiuts," March, 1798. 64 ALASKA. place. lu 1790 the Russian Ameiican Company received the monopoly of all Alaska, and it at once organized a colony of " one hundred and thirty-seven souls" at Sitka and Ounalashka, princii)ctlly natives of the latter place, and planted the settle- ments \vlii(;h still exist on the islands, and after many years of most ftiulty management of the sealing business they came to regard it with so good an eye to its preservation and perpetua- tion, that their rules and regulations in regard to these points are still in force, no subsequent observation having suggested an improvement on them until the date of the writer's arrival on the islands, April, 1872. Too much credit cannot be given to certain agents of the old Russian company, and a countryman of ours, in 1SG8-'G9,* who have by their attention and action saved this most interesting and valuable exhibition of animal life from the wanton, improv- ident destruction which has been visited upon the great fur-seal rookeries ot the Southern Ocean. The fact that the fur-seals frequent these islands, and those of Bering and Copper, on the Russian side, to the exclusion of all other land, is at first a little singular; but when we come to examine the subject we find that these animals, when they come out to lie two or three months on the land, as they must do by their habit during the breeding-season, require a cool, moist atmosphere; also, firm and dry land, or dr}^ rock, upon which to take their positions and remain for the season; if the rookery-ground is hard and flat, puddles are formed, making a slime, which very quickly takes the hair ofl'the animals; hence they carefully avoid any such landing. If they occupy a sandy shore, the rain beats the sand into their large, sensitive eyes, and into their fur, so that they are obliged from irritation to leave. The Seal Islands now under discussion oft'er very remarkable advantages for landing, especially Saint Paul, where the ground of basaltic rock and of volcanic tufa or cement slopes up grad- ually from the sea, making a suitable resting-place lor millions of these intelligent animals, which lie out here tvvo and three months every year in perfect peace and contentment. There is no ground of this character offered elsewhere in the country, on the Aleutians, on the mainland, or on Saint Mat- thew's, or Saint Lawrence; the latter islands were surveyed during the past season to settle this question, and the notes will be found in the appendix. * H. M. Hutchiusou. ALASKA G5 I. DESCRIPTION OF '1 UK ISLANDS. Tlie Pr.vbilov ^roiipof fur seal islands occupy the most iso- lated portion of any land in I>eiin<; 8ca, the tliicc nearest land- l)oints to tlieni luMn.i;' nearly Cipiidistant ; 8aint ^lattliew's and Nunivok Islands, Cape Kewenhain, on tlic niairdand, and Ounalashka Island, all about one hundred and eighty miles oil"; and in this location ocean-currents from the great Tacific, to the southward, warmer than the normal temperature of their latitude, ebb and How around them on their way to the Arctic and elsewhere, and .i^ive rise in this way during the summer months and early autumn to constant thick, humid fogs and drizzling niists which hang in heavy banks over the islands and sea, seldom breaking away to indicate a pleasant day. * By the middle or end of October, high, cold winds carry oil" the moisture and clear up the air, and by the end of January or early in February, usually bring down from the north and northwest great fields of broken ice, not very heavy or thick, but still covering the whole surface of the sea, shutting in the laud completely, and hushing the wonted roar of the surf for a month or six weeks at a time. In exceptionally cold seasons, for three and even four months the coast will be ice-bound; and winters, on the other hand, occur, like the last one, (1873-'74,) in which not even the sight of an ice-lloe was recorded, and there was very little skating on the little lakes, but this is not often the case. The breaking up of winter-weather usually commences about the first week in April, the ice beginning to leave or dissolve at that time or a little later, so that by the 1st or the 5th of May generally, the beaches and rocky sea- margins are clear and free from ice and snow ; although snow occasionally lies in gullies and leeward hill-slopes, where it has drifted during the winter, until the end of July and middle of August. Fog, damp, thick, and heavy, closes in about the end of May, and this, the usual sign of summer, holds on steadily until the middle or end of October. The periods of change are exceedingly irregular in autumn and spring, but in summer the uniformity of the weather, with cool, moist, shady, gray fbg, is constant, and to this certainty of favorable climate, coupled with the i)erfect isolation and ex- ceeding fitness of tlie ground, is due, without doubt, the prefer- ence for it manifested by the warm-blooded animals which come here every year, to the practical exchision of all other ground, in thousands and hundreds of thousands, to breed. O AL 66 ALASKA. Tbe climate of tbese islauds lias received careful attention, as will be seen by reference to tlie report of Mr. Charles P. Fish, of the United States Signal-Service, to which reference may be made for more detailed information upon the subject. I sim- ply remark here that the winter of 1872-'73 was one of ^reat severity, and, according to the natives, such as is very seldom experienced ; but cold as it was, however, the lowest marking by thermometer was but 12° Fahrenheit below zero, and that for a few hours only during a day in February, while the mean of the month was 18^ above. The coldest month, March, gave a mean of 12^ above, while the mean of a usual winter is no lower than 22° or 20^5 but the high north winds which I ex- perienced during that winter were blowing more than three- fourths of the time, and made all outdoor exercise impractica- ble. On a day in March, for example, its velocity was at the rate of eighty-eight miles per hour, with as low a temperature as — 4°! With a wind blowing but twenty or twenty-five miles an hour, at a much higher temperature, as at 15o or IGo above zero, it is necessary to be most thoroughly wrapped up to guard against freezing, if any journey is to be made on foot. There are here, virtually, but two seasons, winter and summer. To the former belong November and the following months up to the end of April, with a mean of 20° to 28^, while the transition to summer is but a slight elevation in temperature, only 15=^ to 20O; of the summer months July is perhaps the w.=.rmest, usually with a mean of 40° to 50^ in ordinary seasons. It is astonishing how rapidly snow melts here at a single degree above freezing, and after several consecutive days in April or May at 34° and 3Go, grass begins to grow, even if it be under melting drifts and the frost is many feet in depth under it. In the appendix I have placed a table, compiled from the report of Mr. Fish, above referred to, as interesting in show- ing the character of a very severe winter on the Seal Islands.^ Theformation of these islunds was recent, geologically speak- ing, and due to direct volcanic agency, which lifted them abruptly though gradually from the sea-bed, building upon them below the watei's-level as they rose, and subsequently above, by spout- holes or craters, from which water-i)U(l(lle(l breccia and vol- canic ashes and tufa were thrown. Soon after the elevation and deposition of the igneous matter, all volcanic action must have ceased, though the clearly blown-out throat and smooth, sharp-cat, funnel-like wails of a crater on Otter Island (one of ALASKA. 67 the .i^ronp, six miles south of Saint Paiirs) would seem to indicate (juite recent ii(;t:on, and this is th(^ oidy i)lace on the rryl)ilov Islands where anything has been discharged from a crater at so late a date. Since the period of the upheaval of the group under discus- sion the sea has done nuu^h to modify and enlarge the most important island, Saint Paul's, while the others, Saint George and Otter, being lilted abruptly above the power of water and ice to carry and deposit sand, soil, and bowlders, are but little changed. Saint Paul's Island is the largest and far the most import- ant and valuable of the whole group. Upon my first arrival there in April, 187-}, I was surprised to find that no steps had been taken to obtain an accurate or even approximately correct idea of the size and shape of it. I at once set lo work upon it, and give herewith as the result of this labor the first definite figures as to its dimension and area, together with a map showing the outline and topography, with special sketches of the area and position of each fur-seal "rookery" or breeding-ground. The Reef Point of the island stands in latitude 57^ 8' north, and w^est longitude 170^ 12', being the most southerly land. The island is in its greatest length, between northeast and southwest points, 13 miles air-line, and in greatest width a little less than six. It has a superficial area of about 33 square miles, or 21,120 acres, of diversified, rough, and rocky uplands, small, rounded hills, which either set down boldly to the sea, or fade into wet, mossy flats and dry drifting sand-dune tracts. It has 42 miles of shore-line, IGJ of which are used by the fur-seals en masse. At the time of its first upheaval above the sea it must have presented the appearance of ten or twelve little rocky- bluff islets or points, upon some of which were craters, vomit- ing breccia and cinders, but with little or no lava overflowing ; the plutonic power after this ceased to act, and the sea com- menced the work of building on to the skeleton thus created, and to-day so thorough and successful has it been in its labor of sand-shifting, together with the aid of ice-floes, in their ac- tion of grinding, lifting, and shoving, that nearly all of the scattered islets, within the present area of the island, are com- pletely bound together by bars of sand and bowlders, which are raised above the highest tides by winds that whirl the sand up 68 ALASKA. as it drives out from the wash of aiirf, and rocks lifted and l)ushed np by ice-fiekls. The saud which plays so important a part in the formation of Saint Paul's Island, and which is almost entirely wanting on and around the others in this group, i.s largely composed of J^o- raminifera, together with Biatomacca nuxed in with the volcanic base. It changes color like a chamelet)n as it passes from wet to dry, being a rich steely-black at the snrC-margin, then dry- ing out to a soft purplish brown and gray, succeeding to tints n)ost delicate, of reddish and pale gray when warmed by the sun and drifting with the wind. The sand-dune tracts on this island are really attractive in the summer at certain times when the weather is pleasant; the most luxuriant grass and a variety of beautiful flowers exist in profusion on them. As these sand and bowlder bars were forming on Saint Paul's Island, in making across from inlet to inlet, they inclosed small collections of sea-water, thus giving rise to a number of lakes, which nearly all become fresh ; in them are no reptiles or fish, but a great number of minute Ixotifera sport about in all of them whenever the water is examined 5 several water-plants and algai flourish, especially so in the large lake, which is very shallow. The total absence of a harbor in the group is much to be re- gretted. The village of Saint Paul, as will be seen by reference to the map, is located so as to command the best landings that can be made from vessels during the prevalence of any wiutls other than southerly ; from these there is no shelter for vessels, unless they run around to the north side, where they are unable to hold communication or to discharge. At Saint George mat- ters are still worse, for all northerly, westerly, and easterly winds drive the shipping away from the village roadstead, and weeks often pass at either island before a cargo is landed at its destination. The approach to Saint Paul during thick weather is ver^' hazardous, for the land is mostly low, and does not loom uj) like Saint George through the fog; there are, besides, nu- merous reefs making out, which are not found around the other island. Captain Baker carefully sounded out these localities last summer, while waiting for us, and I have placed the result of this valuable work on my chart, so that the next captain of a revenue-vessel coming here will be able to feel his way in with some degree of security. Saint Geokge's Islan'd is next in order of importance and ALASKA. GO size, and in rc^-arart by the end of 0(;tober and early in November, and when winter fairly closes in upon the islands, the loud roaring, incessant seal-din, togetluu' with the screams aud darkening llight of innumerable water-fowl, are replaced by absolute silence, ma>'king out, as it were, in lines of sharp aud vivid coutrast, summer's lile aud winter's death. I have beeu unable to discover a single representative of the rei)tiles on the islands, aud a small list only of the fishes and mol- luscans rewarded the most careful search. The presence of such great numbers of seals in the water about the islands during five and six months of every year renders all fishing abortive, unless expeditions are made seven or eight miles, at least, from the land, with the exception of halibut, which the natives cap- ture within two or three miles of the reef-point and south shore during July and August; but the weather is usually, after this season, too stormy and cold for the fishermen to venture in their bidarkies during the fall or spring. 11. THE NUMBERS OF PUR-SEALS WHICH ANjNUALLY VISIT THE ISLANDS. Until my arrival on the Seal Islands, xipril, 1872, no steps had been taken toward ascertaining the extent or the impor- tance of these interests ofthe Government by either theTreasury agent in charge, or the agent of the company leasing the islands. This was a matter of no especial concern to the latter, but was of the tirst importance to the Government. It had, however, failed to obtain a definite knowledge upon the subject, on account ofthe inaccurate mode of ascertaining the number of the seals which had been adopted by its agent, who relied upon an assumption of the area of the breeding *' rookeries," but who never took the trouble to ascertain the area and position of these great seal-grounds intrusted to his care. After a careful study of the subject during two whole seasons, and a thorough review of it during this season of 1871, iu com- pany with my associate. Lieutenant Maynard, I propose to show plainly and in sequence the steps which have led me to a solu- tion of th3 question as to the number of fur-seals on the Prybi- lov Islands, together with the determination of means by which the agent of the Gove»rnment will bo able to correctly report upon the condition of the seal-life from year to year. 76 ALASKA. At tbe close of my investigation for the season of 1872, the fact became evident that the breeding-seals obeyed implicitly a fine, instinctive laic of distribution, so that the breeding-ground occupied by them was always covered by seals in an exact ratio, greater or less, to the area to be held j that they always covered the ground evenly, never crowding in at one place and scatter- ing at another ; that the seals lay just as thickly together where the rookery was a small one of only a few thousand, as at Naspeel, near the village, as they did where a million of them came together, as at Northeast Point. This fact being determined, itis at once plain that just as the hrecfJinggrounds of the fur-seal on these islands expand or contract in area from their present dimensions, so the seals tcill have in- creased or diminished. Impressed, therefore, with the necessity and the importance of obtaining the exactarea and position of these breeding-grounds, I surveyed them in 1872-7 3 for that purpose, *and resurveyed them this season of 1871 ; the result has been carefully drawn and plotted out, as presented in the accompanying maps. The time for taking these boundaries of the rookeries is during the week of their gr atest expansion, or when they are as full as they are to be for the season, and before the regular system of compact^ even organization brealcs up, the seals then scattering out in pods or clusters, straying far back, the same number covering then twice as much ground in places as they did before, when marshaled on the rookery-ground proper; the breeding-seals remain on the rookery perfectly quiet and en masse for a week or ten days during the period of greatest expansion, which is between the 10th and 20th of July, giving ample time for the agent to correctly note the exact boundaries of the area covered by them ; this step on the part of the Gov- ernment officer puts him in i)ossession every ye.ir of exact data upon which to base a report as to the condition of the seal-life, as compared with the year or years previous. In this way my record of the precise area and position of the fur-seal breeding- grounds on Saint Paul's Ishind in the season of 1872, and that of Saint George in the season of 1873, correctly serves as a definite basis for all time to comeu[)on whicli to found author- itative reports from }ear to year as to any change, increase, or dnninution of the ji;eal-life. It is, therefore, very important that the Government should have an agent in charge of these novel and valuable interests who is capable, by virtue of education ALASKA. 77 and energy, to correctly observe and report tbe area and posi- tion of the rookeries year by year. With a knowledge of the superficial area of these breeding- grounds, the way is opened to a very interesting calculation as to the number of the lur-seals upon iheni. For an estimate based apparently upon good foundations, the following is the phm by which I have been guided : When tbe adult males and females (fifteen of tbe latter to every one of tbe former) all arrive upon tbe rookery, I think a space a little less than two feet square to each female is a large one for that required by each animal, in obedience to its habit, and may safely be said to be under tbe mark ; now, every female or '•'•cow'^' on its two feet square doubles herself that is, brings forth her young, and in a few days, or about a week after its birth, she visits tbe water, and is not one-quarter of the time on land again during the season. In this way it is clear that the female seals almost double their number on tbe rookery- grounds without causing the expansion of the same beyond the limits that would be required by tbe adults alo.ue ; for every 100,000 breeding-seals will be found to consist of more than 85,000 females and less than 15,000 males, and in a few weeks after the landing of the females, they will sbow about 180,000 males, I'emales, and young, on the same area of ground occu- pied previous to tbe birtb of the " pups." Xow the males, being treble and quadruple tbe size of the females, require about four feet square for tbeir use on this same ground, but as they are less than one-fifteenth tbe number of the lemales, they tberefore occupy only one-eigbtb of tbe breeding-ground of the 100,000 supposed, and this surplus area of the males is more than balanced by tbe 15,000 to 20,000 virgin females which come on to this breeding-ground for tbe first time to meet the males ; tbey come, rest a few days or a week, and retire, leaving no young to sbow their i)resence on the island. Taking all these points into consideration, I quite safely calcu- late upon two square feet to every aniuial, big and little, on the breeding-grounds. Without following this system of computa- tion, a person may look over these swarming myriads of seals, guessing vaguely and wildly at any nuuiber, from one million up to six or seven. Below are the figures made from my survey of the area and position of tbe breeding-grounds of the fur-seal on Saint Paul's 78 ALASKA. Islatul, July 10-18, 1872. It is the first survey ever made or tbe islaud : Seals— ^ 9 o *' Xovastoshnab," or Northeast Point, has 15,810 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 1, 200, 000 "Polavina" Rookery has 4,000 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 300, 000 '• Lukannon '' Rookery has 2,270 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for. 170, 000 **Keetavie" Rookery has 2,200 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 1G5, 000 " Reef" Rookery has 4,016 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 301, 000 «^ Garbutch " Rookery has 3,CC0 feet of sea-margin, with 100 feet of average depth, making ground for . 183^ 000 *' Nahspeel" or Village Rookery has 400 feet of sea- margin, with 40 feet average depth, making ground for 8, 000 " Lagoon " Rookery has 750 feet of sea-margin, with 100 feet of average depth, making ground for 37,000 ^' Tolstoi " Rookery has 3, 000 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 225, 000 "Zapadnie" Rookery has 5,880 feet of sea-margin, with 150 feet of average depth, making ground for 441, 000 A grand total for Saint Paul's Island of males, females, and young, of 3, 030, 250 The breeding-grounds on Saint George's Island, surveyed July 12-15, 1873, gave the following figures j also the first survey ever made here : " Eastern " Rookery has 900 feet of sea-margin, with CO feet of average depth, making ground for 25, 000 ''Little Eastern" Rookery has 750 feet of sea-mar- gin, with 40 feet of average depth, making ground for 13, 000 " North" Rookery has 2,000 feet of sea-margin, with 25 feet of average depth, making ground for 25, 000 ALASKA. 79 "North" Kookery bas 750 foet of sea-mar^qn, witli 150 feet of average depth, making;' ground for 52, 000 " Starry Ateel" Itookery has 500 feet of sea-margin, with 125 feet of average de])tli, making ground for ;j(), 420 ^'Zai)adnie" Kookery has GOO feet of sea-margin, with 00 feet of average depth, making ground for. IS, 000 A grand total for Saint George's Island of males, females, and young, of 103, 420 These figures show a grand total of 3,103,070 breeding-seals and their young, and this aggregate is entirely exclusive of the great numbers of the non-breeding seals, whieh are never permit- ted to come upon the same ground with the females by the males in charge. This class of seals, to which the killing is con- fined, come up on the land and sea-beach between the rookeries, going to and from the sea at irregular intervals during the sea- son. It has no systematic, definite method, like the breeding- class, of filling up to certain bounds and keeping so for several weeks at a time, and is, therefore, beyond reach for ground npon which to found calculation, and I can only give an esti- mate based upon my close observation with especial reference to this subject, and this is my conclusion : The non-breeding seals, consisting of all the yearlings and all the males under six or seven years, seem nearly equal in number to the breeding-seals, and I put them down at 1,500,000 as a fair estimate, and make the sum of the seal-life on the Prybilov IsUmds over four million seven hundred thousand. The seals after leaving these islands in the autumn and early winter do not visit land again until the time of return, next April, May, and June, to the grounds here, or those of the Rus- sian " Copper" and " Bering" Islands. They spread themselves out over the vast North Pacific, following schools offish, or fre- quenting shoals and banks Avhere an abundance of fishy food is found. They can sleep with the greatest comfort and sound- ness on the surface of the water, and in this state they are often surprised by the natives of the northwest coast, all the way up and down, from the Columbia River to Bering Sea. On the killing-grounds at Saint George, June, 1873, the natives would frequently call my attention to seals that they Avere skinning, in which buck-shot were imbedded and encysted just under the 80 ALASKA. hide in tbe blubber. From one animal fifteen sliot were taken, and the holes which they must have made in the skin wer«j entirely healed so as not to leave a scar. These bullets were undoubtedly received from the natives of the northwest coast, anywhere between the Straits of Fuca and the Aleutian Islands, used by them in attempting the capture of the animals some season or seasons previously. A small number of seals, not definitely known, however, are taken by the Indians every year along' the coasts above mentioned, who surprise them while soundly asleep in the water, either by shooting or si)ear- Ing. The number taken in this way every year will not average 5,000; some seasons more, some seasons less. That these animals are preyed upon extensively by killer- whales, {Orca gladiator,) sharks, and other foes now unknown, is at once evident ; for were they not held in check by some such cause, they would quickly multifdy to so great an extent that Bering Sea itself could not contain them, and the present annual killing of one hundred thousand out of a yearly surplus of over a million males does not, in an appreciable degree, dimin- ish the seal-life, or interfere in the slightest with its regular perpetuation on the breeding-grounds every year. We may properly look upon this number of four and five millions of fur- seals, as we see them here every year on these islands, as the maximum limit of increase assigned by natural laws. I think I make this clear in my chapter upon the habits of these valua- ble and interesting animals, without a knowledge of which it is not possible for any one to fully appreciate the truth of these generalizations. Before, however, the subject of the possible increase or diminution of the seal-life is taken up for discussion, it is best to consider the — III. MANNER IN WHICH THE SEALS ARE ANNUALLY TAKEN. Talcing the seals.— By reference to the habits of the fur- seal, it is plain that two-thirds of all the males that are born (and they are equal in number to the females born) are never permitted by the remaining third, strongest by natural selec- tion, to land upon the same ground with the females, which always herd together en masse. Therefore, this great band of bachelor seals, or " holluschickie," is compelled, when it visits land, to live apart entirely, miles away frequently, from the breeding-grounds, and in this admirably perfect manner of na- ture are those seals which can be properly killed without injury ALASKA. 81 'to the rookeries selected {iiul held aside, so that the natives can visit and take them as they would so many hogs, without dis- turbing in the slightest degree the peace and (juiet of the breed- ing-grounds where the stock is perpetuated. The manner in which the natives capture and drive the hol- lus(*hickie up from the liauling-grounds to the slaughtering- liclds near the villages and elsewhere, cannot be improved upon, and is most satisfactory. In the early part of the season large bodies of the young bachelor seals do not haul up on land very far from the water, a few rods at the most, and the men are obliged to approach slyly and run quickly between the dozing seals and the surf, before they take aliirm and boU into the sea, and in this way a dozen Aleuts, running down the long sand-beach of English Bay, some driving-morning early in June, will turn back from the water thousands of seals, just as the mold-board of a plow kys over and back a furrov/ of earth. As the sleeping seals are first startled they arise, and seeing men between them and the water, immediately turn, lope and scramble rapidly back over the land ; the natives then leisurely walk on the flanks and in the rear of the drove thus secured, and direct and drive them over to the killing-grounds. A drove of seals on hard or firm grassy ground, in cool and moist weather, may with safety be driven at the rate of half a mile an hour ; they can be urged along with the expenditure of a great many lives in the drove, at the speed of a mile or a mile and a quarter even per hour, but this is highly injudicious and is seldom ever done. A bull-ssal, fat and unwieldy, cannot travel with the younger ones, but it can lope or gallop as it w^ere over the ground as fast as an ordinary man can run for a hundred yards, but then it fulls to the earth supine, utterly ex- hausted, hot and gasping for breath. The seals, when driven thus to the killing-grounds, require but little urging; they are permitted to frequently halt and cool off, as heating them injures their fur; they never show fight any more than a llock of sheep would do, unless a few old seals are mixed in, which usually get so weary that they prefer to come to a stand-still and fight rather than to move; this action on their part is of great advantage to all parties con- cerned, and the old I'eliows are always permitted to drop behind and remain, for the fur on them is of little or no value, the pelnge very much shorter, coarser, and more scant than in the G AL 82 ALASKA. younger, especially so on the parts posteriori^'. This cliauf^e in the condition of tbe far seems to set iu at tbe time of their shedding, in the fifth year as a rule. As the drove progresses the seals all move in about the same way, a kind of a walkiug-step and a sliding, shambling gallop, and the progression of the whole body is a succession of starts, made every few minutes, spasmodic and irregular. Every now and then a seal will get weak in the lumbar region, and drag his posterior after it for a short distance, but finally drops breathless and exhausted, not to revive for hours, days per- haps, and often never. Quite a large number of the weaker ones, on the driest driving-days, are thus laid out and left on the road; if one is not too much heated at the time, the native driver usually taps the beast over the head and removes its skin. This will happen, no matter how carefully they are driven, and the death-loss is quite large, as much as 3 or -4 per cent, on the longer drives, such as three and four miles, from Zapadnie or Polaviua to the village on Saint Paul's, and I feel satisfied that a considerable number of those rejected from the drove and permitted to return to the water die sub- sequently from internal injuries sustained on the drive from overexertion. I therefore think it improper to extend drives of seals over any distance exceeding a mile or a mile and a half. It is better for all parties concerned to erect salt-houses and establish killing-grounds adjacent to all of the great haul- ing-grounds on Saint Paul's Island should the business ever be developed above the present limit. As matters now are, the ninety thousand seals belonging to the quota of Saint Paul last summer were taken and skinned in less than forty days within one mile from either the village, or salt-house on North- east Point. Killing the seals. — The seals when brought up to the kill- ing grounds are herded there until cool and rested; then squads or ''pods" of fifty to two hundred are driven out from the body of the drove, surrounded and huddled up one against and over the other, by the natives, who carry each a long, heavy club of hard wood, with which they strike the scijls down by blows upon the head ; a single stroke of a hea\ y oak bludgeon, well and fairly delivered, will crush in at once the slight, thin bones of a seal's skull, laying the creature out life- less; these strokes are usually repeated several times with each animal, but are very quickly done. ALASKA. 83 The killiiig-ganff, consisting usually of fifteen or twenty men iit a time, are under the supervision of a chief of their own selection, and have, before going into action, a coniniou understanding as to what grades to kill, sparing the others ^vhich are unlit, underage, &c., permitting them to escape and return to the water as soon as the marked ones arc knocked down ; the natives then drag the slain out from the heaj) in which they have fallen, and spread the bodies out over the ground just free from touching one another so that they will not be hastened in "heating"' or blasting, finishing the work of death by thrusting into the chest of each stunned and sense- less seal a long, sharp knife, which touches the vitals and bleeds it thoroughly ; and if a cool day, another "pod" is started out and disposed of in the same way, and so on until a thou- sand or two are laid out, or the drove is finished ; then they turn to and skin; but if it is a warm day, every "pod" is skinned as soon as it is knocked down. This work of killing as well as skinning is performed very rai)idly; for example, forty-five men or natives on Saint Paul's during June and July, 1872, in less than four working-weeks drove, killed, skinned, and salted the pelts of 72,000 seals. The labor of skinning is exceedingly severe, and is trying to an expert, requiring long practice before the muscles of the back and thighs are so developed as to permit a man to bend down to and finish well a lair day's work. The bcdy of the seal, preparatory to skinning, is rolled over or put upon its back, and the native makes a single swift cut through the skin down along the neck, chest, and belly, from the lower jaw to the root of the tail, using for this purpose a large, sharp knife. The fore and hind flippers are then succes- sively lifted, and a sweeping circular incision is made through the skin on them just at the point where the body-fur ends ; then, seizing a flap of the hide on either one side or the other of the abdomen, the man proceeds to rapidly cut the skin clean and free from the body and blubber, which he rolls over and out from the skin by hauling up on it as he advances with his work, standing all the time stooping over the carcass so that his hands are but slightly above it or the ground. This opera- tion of skinning a fair-sized seal takes the best men only a min- ute and a half, but the average time on the ground is about four minutes. Nothing is left of the skin upon the carcass save a small 84 ALASKA. patch of each upper lip, ou which the coarse mustache grows, the skiu ou the tip of the lower jaw, the iusigiiiucant tail, to- gether with the hare hide of the flippers. The blubber of the fur-seal is of a faiut yellowish white, and lies entirely between the skin and the llesh, none being d^'pos- ited in between the muscles. Around the small aud large intes- tines a moderate quantity of hard, iirm fat is found. The b.ub- ber possesses an extremely ofieusivc, sickening odor, difficult to wash from the hands. It makes, however, a very fair oil for lubricating, burning, &c. The flesh of the fur-seal, when carefully cleaned from fat or blubber, cau be cooked, and by most people eaten, who, did they uot know what it was, might consider it some poor, tough, dry beef, rather dark in color and overdone. That of the pup, however, while on the land and milk-fed, is tender and juicy but insipid. The skins are taken from the field to the salt-house, where they are laid out open, one upon another, " hair to fat,'' like so many sheets of paper, with salt profusely spread upon the fleshy sides, in " kenches *' or bins. After lying a week or two salted in this style they are ready for bundling and shipping, two skins to the bundle, the fur outside, tightly rolled up and strongly corded, having an average weight of twelve, fifteen, and twenty-two pounds when made up of two, three, and four year old skins respectively. The company leasing the islands are permitted by law to take one hundred thousand, and no more, annually : this they do in June and July ; after that season the skins rapidly grow worthless by shedding, and do not pay for transportation and tax. The natives are paid forty cents a skin for the catch, and keep a close account of the progress of the work every day, as it is all done by them, aud they know within fifty skins, one way or the other, when the whole number have been secured each season. This is the only occupation of some three hun- dred and fifty people here, and they naturally look well alter it. The interest aud close attention paid by these Aleuts on both islands to this business was both gratifying and instruct- ive to me while stationed there. The common or poi)ular notion regarding seal-skins is that they are worn by those animals just as they appear when offered for sale. This is a very great mistake; few skins are less at- tractive than the sealskin as it is taken from the creature. The fur is not visible, concealed entirely by a coat of stiff over- ALASKA. 85 hair, dull graj', brown, and p^rizzlod. The host of tliese raw sK'ins are wortli only §5 to $10, but after dressing they bring Ironi $25 to $40 ; and it takes three of them to make a lady\s sack and boa. In order that it may be apparent that there is reason for this great advance in price over the raw quota- tion, I take great pleasure in submitting a description ol* tlic^ process, kindly furnished me by a leading furrier i)racrically and skillfully conversant with the subject, probably the only person in the couutry long familiar with it. His connnunicati(jn is as follows : "Albany, October 22, 1S74. " Sir : The Alaska Commercial Company sold in London, De- cember, 1873, about sixty thousand skins taken from the islands leased by our Government of the catch of LS73. The remain- der of the catch, about forty thousand, were sold in March. This company have made the collection of seal from these islands much more valuable than they were before their lease, by the care used by them in curing the skins, and taking them only when in season. We have worked this class of seal for several years — when they were owned by the Eussian Ameri- can Fur Company, and during the first year they were owned by our Government. " When the skins are received by i>3 in the salt, we wash off the salt, placing them upon a beam somewhat like a tanner's beam, removing the fat from the llesh-side with a beaming- knife, care being required that no cuts or uneven places are made in the pelt. The skins are next washed in water and placed upon the beam with the fur up, and the grease and water removed by the knife. The skins are then dried by mod- erate heat, being tacked out on frames to keep them smooth. After being fully dried, they are soaked in water and thoroughly cleansed with soap and water. In some cases they can be un- haired without this drying-process, and cleansed before drying. After the cleansing-process the^^ pass to the picker, who dries the fur by stove-heat, the pelt being kept moist. When the fur is dry he places the skin on a beam, and while it is warm he removes the main coat of hair with a dull shoe-knife, grasp- ing the hair with his thumb and knife, the thnmb being pro- tected by a rubber cob. The hair must be pulled out, not broken. After a portion is removed the skin must be again warmed at the stove, the pelt being kept moist. When the outer hairs have been mostly renu^ved, he uses a beaming- knife to work out the finer hairs, (which are shorter,) and the 8G ALASKA. remaining coarser hairs. It will be seen that great care must be used, as the skin is in that soft state that too much pressure of the knife would take the fur also ; indeed, bare spots are made ; carelessly-cured skins are sometimes worthless on this account. The skins are next dried, afterward dampened on the l)elt side, and shaved to a fine, even surface. They are then stretched, worked, and dried ; afterward softened in a fulling- mill, or by treading them with the bare feet in a hogshead, one head being removed and the cask placed nearly upright, into which the workman gets with a few skins and some line, hard- wood sawdust, to absorb the grease while he dances upon them to break them into leather. If the skins have been shaved thin, as required when finished, any defective spots or holes must now be mended, the skin smoothed and pasted with paper on the pelt-side, or two pasted together to protect the pelt in dyeing. The usual process in the United States is to leave the pelt sufiQciently thick to protect them without pasting. " In dyeing, the liquid dye is put on with a brush, carefully covering the points of the standing fur. After lying folded, with the points touching each other, for some little time, the skins are hung up and dried. The dry dye is then removed, another coat ap])lied, dried, and removed, and so on until the required shade is obtained. One or two of these coats of dye are put on much heavier and pressed down to the roots of the fur, making what is called the ground. From eight to twelve coats are required to produce a good color. The skins are then washed clean, the fur dried, the pelt moist. They are shaved down to the required thickness, dried, working them some while drying, then softened in a hogshead, and sometimes run in a revolving cylinder with fine sawdust to clean them. The English process does not have the washing after dyeing. ^' I should perhaps say that, with all the care used, many skins are greatly injured in the working. Quite a quantity of En- glish dyed seal were sold last season for $17, damaged in the dye. " The above is a general process, but we are obliged to vary for diflerent skins; those from various parts of the world requiie different treatment, and there is quite a difl'erence in the skins from the Seal Islands of our country — I sometimes think about as much as in the human race. " Yours, with respect, '^GEO. C. TREAD WELL & CO. " U. W. Elliott, Esq." ALASKA. 87 From this subject of tlio manner in which the sealin^-busi- ness is conducted on the ishinds and elsewhere, we naturally turn to the — IV . PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEAL-LIFE AND ITS VALUE. A question frequently asked in regard to these islands is this : "At the present rate of killing the seals, it will not be long before they are exterminated; how much longer will they lastf The answer is, that as long as matters are conducted on the Seal Islands as they now are, one hundred thousand male seals, under the age of five years and over one, may be safely taken every year without the slightest injury to the regu- lar birth-rate or natural increase, provided the animals are not visited by any plague or pestilence, or any such abnormal cause for their destruction, beyond the control of man, and to which, like any other great body of animal life, they must ever be sub- ject. From my calculations already given it will be seen that a million "pups," oryoungseals,are born upon these islands every year. Of this million, one-half are males. These 500,000 young males leave the islands for sea, when they are between live, and six months old, very fat and hearty, having suffered but a tri- lling loss in number (about 1 per cent.) while on and about the islands, about which there are no enemies whatever; but after Ihey get well down into the Pacilic in quest of food, they form the most helpless of their kind to resist or elude sharks, killers, &c., and they are so diminished in number by these natural enemies, that when they return to the Prybilov Islands in the following 3'ear, July, they will not present more than one- half of the number with which they left the ground of their birth the previous season ; that is, 250,000. By this time these survivors of last year's birth have become strong, active swimmers, and when they leave again, as before, in the fall, they are as able as any others of their older classes to take care of themselves, and at least 225,000 of them safely return in the second season after birth, and are very slightly diminished after that during their natural lives of lilteen to twenty years each ; and the same will hold good with the females. Now, the number of bulls required for the annual stock of 225,000 virgin cows, to be saverevious number, he could give an order which in- creased the number to be annually slain to 40,000, and this last order or course directed for these islands demanded as many seals as could be got, but with all possible exertion hardly 28,000 were obtained. After this, when it was most plainly seen that the seals were. on account of this wicked killing, steadily growing less and less * The italics are mine, ami the trauslatioii is ueaily literal, as might he inferred by the idioui here aud there. — H. W. E. 108 ALASKA. in Dumber, the directioDS were observed for greater caution in killing the grown seals and young females which, came in with tlie droves of killing-seals, and to endeavor to separate, it pos- sible, these from those which should be slain. But. all this hardly served to do more than keep the seals at one figure or number, and hence did not cause an increase. Finally, in 1834, the governor of the company, upon the clear (or *' handsome") argument of Baron Wrangel, which was placed before him, resolved to make new regulations respecting them, to take effect in the same year, (1834,) and, following this, on the island of Saint Paul only 4,000 were killed instead of 12,000. On the island of Saint George the seals were allowed to rest in 1826 and 1827, and since that time greater caution and care have been observed, and head-men or foremen have kept a care- ful count of the killing. From this it will be seen that no anxiety or care as to the pres- ervation of the seal-life began until 1805, {L c, with the united companies.) It is further evident that all half-measures, seen or not seen, were useful no longer, as they only served to preserve a small portion of the seal-life, and only the last step (1834) with the l^jresent people or inhabitants has proved of benefit. And if such regulations of the company continue for fifteen years, (?. e., until 1849,) it may be truly said that then Kie seal-life will be attracted quite rapidly under the careful direction of head-men, so that in quite a short time a handsome yield may be taken every year. In connection with this subject, if the company are moderate and these regulations are carried out, the seal- life will serve them and be depended upon as shown in this volume, Table No. 2. Nearly all the old men think and assert that the seals which are spared every year, ("zapooskat kotov,") i. c, those which have not been killed for several years, are truly of little use for breeding, lying about as if they were outcasts or disfranchised always. About these seals, they show that after the seals were spared, they were always less than they should be, as, for instance, on the island of Saint George, after two years of sav- ing or sparing of 5,500 seals, in the first year they got, instead of 10,000 or 8,000, as expected, only 4,778. But this diminution, whic^h is shown in the most Cvonvincing manner, (1,) is due to wrong and injustice, because it would not ALASKA. 109 have been otherwise with any kind of animals — even cattle would have been exterminated j because ii ^reat many here think and count that the seal-mother brings forth her young in her third year, /. c, the next two years after her own birth. As it is well shown here, the s[)ared seals (''zapooskie") were not more than three years old, and therefore it was not possible to dis- cern the correct or true numbers as they really were. Ttddng the females killed by the i)eoi)le, together with all the seals wiiich were purposely spared, it was seen that the seal-mothers did not begin to bear earlier than the fifth year of their lives. Illus- trative of this is the following : (a) On the island of Saint George, after the first " zapooska," in 182S, the killing of five-year-old seals was continued gradu- ally up to five times as many as at first; with those of five years old, the killing stopj)ed ) then next year twelve times as many six-year-olds were observed on the islands as compared with their number of the last years, and with or in the seventh year came seven times as man}'. This shows that females boru in 1828 did not begin to bear young until their fifth year, and become with young accordingly ; that the large ones did not appear or come in six years, (from 1828,) as is evident, for in the fifth year all the females did not bring forth. 1). It is kuo w n that the male seals cannot become " seecatchies " (adult bulls) earlier than their fifth or sixth year; following this, it may be said that the female bears earlier than the fourth year. c. If the male seal cannot become a bull ('^seecatchie") earlier than the fifth year, then, as Buffon remarks, " animals can live seven times the length of the period required for their maturity;" therefore a seecatch cannot live less than thirty years, and a female not less than twenty-eight.* Taking the opinion of Bufibu for ground in saying that animals do not come to their full maturity until one-seventh * "This remark is sustained by the observatiou of old me u, aud especially by one of the best Creoles, Shicsueekov, who was on the island of Saint Paul in 1817, and who knows of one " seecatch," (known by a bald head,) which in that time had already a largo herd of cows or females, surrounded and hunted by a like number of females and strong, savage old bulls ; therefore it may be safely thought that this bull did not get his growth until his fifth year, and at this time ho could not have been les3 than ten years old ; and this same bull came every j-ear to the island aud the same i^lace for lifteen years in succession, up to 18o2, and it was only in the later years that his liarem crew smaller aud smaller in number." 110 ALASKA. of their lives bas passed, it ftoes also to prove that tlie female seal cannot bear young before ber fourth year. It is v/ithout doubt a fact that female seals do not begin to bear young before their fifth year, i. e., the next four years after the one of their birth, and not in the third or fourth. Certainly we can allow that some females bear in their fourth year; that, however, is not the rule, but the exception. To make it more apparent that females cannot bear young in their third year, consider the two-year-old females, and compare them with "see- catchie" (adult bulls) and cows, (adult females,) and it will be evident to all that this is impossible. Do the females bear young every year; and how often in their lives do they bring forth ? To settle this question is very difficult, for it is impossible to make any observations upon their movements ; but I think that the females in their younger years (or prime) bring forth every year, and as they get older, every other year ; thus (according to people accustomed to them) they may each bring forth in their whole lives from ten to fifteen young, and even more. This opinion is founded on the fact that never (except in one year, 1832) have an excessive number of females been seen without young ; that cows not pregnant hardly ever come to the Prybilov Islands ; that such females cannot be seen every year. As to how large a number of females do not bear, according to the opinions and personal observations of the old people, the following may be depended upou with confidence : not more than one-fifth of the mature or '^ effective" females are without young; but to avoid erroneous impressions or conflicting state- ments between others and myself, I have had but one season, (" trayt") in which to personally observe and consider the multi- plication of seals. There is one more very important question in the considera- tion of the breeding or the increase of seals, and that is, of the number ofyouiig seals horn in one year, Iwio many are males; and is the number of males always the same in proportion to the females f Judging from the hoUuschickie accumulated from the "za- pooska" in 1822-24 on the island of Saint Paul, and in 182G-'27 on the island of Saint George, the number of young males was very variable ; for example, on the island of Saint Paul, in three years 11,000 seals were spared, and in the following three years there were killed 7,000, i. c, about two-thirds of the number ALA8KA. Ill saved ; opposed to this, on the ishuid of Saint Geor;:,^e, from 8,500 apared seals in two years, less than 3,000 were talcen, hardly one-third. Why this irregularity ? Why should more youn;:;' males be born at one time, and at another less ''i Or why siiould there be years in which many cows do not bear younj;? Aeeordin<;- to the belief of the peoi)le here, I think that of the number of seals born e\xny year, half are males, and as many females. To demonstrate the above-mentioned conditions of seal-life, the table, Xo. 1, has been formed of the number of seals annu- ally killed on the Prybilov Islands from 1817 to 1838, (when this work was ended.) From this it will be seen that — 1. J^o single successive year presents a good, number of seals killed as compared with the previous year; the number is always less. 2. The annual number of seals killed was not in a constant ratio. 3. And, therefore, in the regular hunting-season there is less need or occasion during the next fifteen years to demand the whole seal kind. 4. Fewer seals were killed in those years generally following a previous year in which there were larger numbers of the "hoUuschickie;*' that is, when the young males were not com- l^letely destroyed, and more were killed when the number of " hoUuschickie " was less. 5. The number of "hoUuschickie" is a true register or show- ing of the numbers of seals; i. e., if the "hoUuschickie" increase and exist like the young females, and conversely. G. IJolluschickie break from the (common) herd and gather by themselves no earlier than the third year, as seen in the case of the spared seals on the islands of Saint George and Saint Paul, the latter from 1822-'24, 1835-'37, inclusive; tlie former Irom 1820-^27. 7. The number of seals killed on the island of Saint George after two years ("zapooska") was resumed and gradually in- creased to five times as many. 8. In the fifth year from the first "zapooskie" (or saving) it became possible to count or reckon on the nnmber remaining, and six-year-olds began to appear twelve times as numerous, and seven-year-olds came in numbers sevenfold greater than 112 ALASKA. their previous small number 5 and, therefore^ the number of three-year-old seals was quite constant. 9. If on the ishiud of Saint George, in 182G-'27, the seals had not had this rest, ("zapooska,") and the killing had been continued, even at the diminished ratio of one-eighth, in 1840 or 1842 there would not have been a single seal left, as appears by the following table : Seals. 1S25 5,500 182G 4,400 1827 8,520 1828 2,816 1829 2,468 1830 2,160 1831 1,890 1832 1,554 Seals. 1833 1,360 1834 1,190 1835 1,040 1836 850 1837 700 1838 580 1839 500 1840 400 10. Following two years of '^zapooska," (saving,) the seal-life is enhanced for more than ten years, and the loss sustained by the company in the time of *'zapooskov" (about 8,500) is made good in the long run. The case may be thus stated: If the company had not spared the seals in 1826-'27, they would have received, from 1820 to 1838, (twelve years,) no more than 24,000, but by making this znpooska regulation for two years they got in ten years 31,570, and, beyond this, they can yet take 15,000 without another, or any, zapooska. 11. And in this case, where such an insignificant number of seals was spared on Saint George, (about 8,500,) and in such a short time, (two years,) the result was at once significant every year; that is, three times more appeared than the number spared. The result, therefore, must be large annually on the island of Saint Paul, wiiere, in consequence of the last orders or directions of the governor, already four years of saving have been in force, in which time over 30,000 seals have been left for breeding. On this account, and in conformity with the above, I here present a table, a prophesy of the seals that are to come in the next fifteen years from 7,000 seals saved on the island of Saint Paul in 1835. On the island of Saint Paul, at the direction of the governor, a " zapoosk " or saving was made of 12,700 seals; that is, before the year 1834 there were killed 12,700 seals, and on the following year, if this saving had not been made, according to the testi- mony of the inhabitants, no more than 12,200 seals would or ALASKA. 113 could liave been taken from the islands, it bein.!:,' tliou^ht that this niunber (lli,'J()0) was only one twenty-tilth of the whole j but instead of killing 12,200, only 4,052 were taken, leaving in 1835, for breeding, 8,148 fresh young seals, males and females, together. In making this hypothetical table of seals that are to come, I take the average killing, that is, one-eighth part, and ])r()oeed on the supposition that the number of saved seals will not be less than 7,0G0. In the number of 7,000 seals we can calculate upon 3,000 females; that is, a slight majority of males. With the new females born under this" zapooska" I place half of those born the first year, and so on. Females, in the twelve or eighteen years next after their birth, must become less in number from natural causes, and by the twenty-second year of their lives they must be quite useless for breeding. Of the number of seals which may be born during the next four years of " zapooska." or longer, we may take half for females. This number is inckided in the table, and the males, or "holluschickie," make up the total. From the II Table, observe that — 1. Old females, that is, those which in 1835 were capable of bearing young, in 1850 must be canceled, (minus.) They prob- ably die in i)roportion of one-eighth of the whole number every year. 2. For the first four years of zapooska, until the new females begin to bear, their number will be generally less. 3. A constant number of seals wid continue during the first six years of their zapooska ; in twelve years these seals will double, in fourteen years they will have increased threefold ; and after fil'teen years of this zapooska or saving of 7,000, in the first year 24,000 may be taken from them, in the second 28,000, in the third 32,000, in the fourth 30,000, in the fifth 41,000; thus in five years more that 100,000 can be taken. Then, under the supervision of persons who will see that one-fifth of the seals be steadily spared, 32,000 may be taken every year for a long time. 4. ^loreover, from the production of fifteen years " zapooska" there can be taken from 00,000 to 70,000 hoUuschickie, which, together with 100,000 seals,jnakes 230,000. 5. If this "zapooska" for the next fifteeu years is not made 8 AL 114 ALASKA. for the seal-life, diminiitiou ^vill certainly ensue, and all this time, with all possible effort, no more than 50,000 seals ^Yiil be taken. Here it slionld be said that this hypothetical table of the probable increase of seals is made on the supposition of the decrease of females, and an average is taken accordingly. Furthermore, on the island of Saint Paul, in 1830-37, instead of 7,900 seals being killed, but 4,800 were taken. Hence it follows that these 1,500 females thus saved in tvro years, and which are omitted from the table, will also make a very significant addition to the incoming seals.* * I frivc this chapter of Veniamiuov's without abridgment, although it is full of errors, to show that while the Russians gave this matter evidently much thought at headquarters, yet they failed to send some one on to the ground, who, by first making himself acquainted with the habits of the seals from close observation of th^ir lives, should then be fitted to prepare rules and regulations founded upon this knowledge. These suggestions of Veuiamiuov Avere, however, a vast improvement on the work as it was con- ducted, and they were adopted at once, but it was not until 1845 that the great importance of never disturbing the breeding-seals was recognized. H. W. E. ALASKA. 115 S 2?> iiiSlis4ig^il=*Si3|Jiss =iS5Sggjj|s^^ ^ -^ CJ" 2 S o S '■'' S Ul 7' "T S « '^-' o := -I . - o -•• n o n /j .-, - c» fj = 1.-5 T» — S; 'O X/ o o — < >J 1^ O <=> O — ' O 5» (- i.O O «~ TU Ci J? •^ ^ o o X o o rt o ir: CI — C5 -o 'Xi o o — < i~ ►^ <= OC!CS00l--O!Mir5O- I CO rM ~5 -V _ CI 2 9 * '2 => '■'' O '•'5 "M — Ci O 'Xl 1.-5 O o I-: — o o — < o -N j^ 1.-5 & ii -J^ -I =f ciooaot-ttcjoo'r§co«cNo : S f? * s 2 £? 2 ;rT 2'. - s? * o "3 T? ® o " ^ "71 <~ i-i o 1-5 ao t . . ^ O O TO l--- 2 O O l.T CI l.O O • O i-O — O O — O d t- c» o . CI O C5 00 I- O CIO O M tb . Z2 2?i; § o"o" ro c« 2 ~' ci o i-'x O O .X ll O iCl O L-5 C O 1.-5 ~ O O 1-1 O —. CJ cioc5aoi--ociM-«r o o 00 1-; o o ■ O L-5 — i O C5 L-5 1 CI O Ci OO t- ■V 1 ; =0 ; ^ : 5 : o ■ ^ -En L-5 0 en- t-Cl CI o C3 X Tji , a oooa o O 1-5 — . O CI o o o a.a p o ' —"ci" »oo5 . & : « - - . o • o L-? O ■ • . ■ — ooc5 . ^ .-ti . 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. ; 9. 10. 1835. 11. ia36. 12. 1837. Grand 1826. 1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. 1834. total. 2,200 Breeding Li-Ut ... 450 700 3C0 700 700 700 700 COO 250 700 coo 100 700 600 2 1827!!!!!!.. 3 \lB-28 •■'OSO 600 600 550 400 ..... 1,700 1,500 i.2061,000 1.200 1,4,10 l,-:00 1,450 »1 Females HoUnschickio . 2, 200 12,030 1,700 2,200 2,050^ 1,6C0 1,500 1,500 3,000 l,7G0'l;850 1.700 1,550 1,4001, 350; 1,700 1,600 1,700 1,500 1.500 1,400 Total 4,400 4,100'3,300 i 2,400 2,900 3,520 3,6.50 3,400 3,050 2,900 2,750 30; 870 The actual taking' of seals was as follows : Seals. In 1828 ^... 4,778 In 1829 3,661 In 1830 2,834 In 1831 3, 084 In 1832 3,296 In 1833 3,212 . 3,051 In 1834 In 1835 In 1836 In 1837 2, 528 2, 550 2, 582 Total 31, 476 From this table it will be seen that up to 1838 my cal- Seals. culation makes a yield of ... • 30, 870 While the actual result was 31, 476 Difference of 006 The difference determines that the hypothesis upon which the table is based is correct. ALASKA. 117 A CONFERENCE WITH THE NATIVES OF THE SEAL ISLANDS, JULY 2r)-2(3, 1874. For tlio ])iiri)oso ofleainiii^^ what tliese pi'Oplc^ inijrlit liavo to say in ivj;ai(l to tlie seal hiisiiioss as it is now condncteil, Lieu- tenant iNLi.vnanl and myself asked the cliiefs to select those men ani()nt>- themselves who knew most in rep^ard to the matter, especially tliose wlio had been most in the habit of noting the rookeries, and have them meet us piivately to hear what they mi^ht feel disposed to do if they had anything to say in the matter; and accordingly some fifteen of them, oldest and wisest, including all the chiefs of Saint Paul and one that belongs to Saint (leorge, met us. We had a smart Russian crcole for in- terpreter, a sailor from our own vessel, and sat for two long evenings with them in conlerence. The result may be summed up as follows : In regard to the condition of the seal-life, the natives are both watchful and solicitous, but do not present any argument against the annual killing of 100,000 young males over one year and under five, as is now conducted; that is, 90,000 on Saint Paul and 10,000 on Saint George; but the Saint Paul people have a very natural and strong feeling that they should alone reap the benefit that arises from the increase in the number killed on their island ; that the $0,000, which is represented by the ad- ditional 15,000 killed last summer on this island, should be shared among themselves, and feel a little sore about having the Saint George people come over here to do this work and take the proceeds, which they did on their own island (Saint George) last year. They do not think 90,000 any too many on Saint Paul, if they alone shall kill the animals and take the reward; but suddenly, when it is found that they are to be paid only for the original erroneous i^^'o rata, 75,000, they become very fearful of the result of killing 90,000, with as many five-year-old bulls as have been killed this summer. As this solicitude is due to no other reason than this very perceptible anxiety, its expres- sion must be taken with some reservation. But this constant anticipation of injurious results, even if there exist no grounds for apprehension, is of great advantage to both the agents of Government and the company; for tlie public may rest assured that the first evidence of any decrease of seal-life on these rook- eries of Saint Paul will be at once observed by the jealous eyes of their many native keepers, even were there no agents of 118 ALASKA. either party now in control capable of discerning it, wbicli is not likely, however, to be the case. We explained to them, in return, that the law which limited the killinr»- on Saint George to 23,000, and on Saint Paul to 75,000, was based upon the imperfect information furnished by the agents of the Government sent to the islands, and that kill- ing 25,000 out of 100,000 on an island where there was not one-twentieth of the number of seals that were on the ground where the remaining 75,000 were taken, was entirely wrong, and must be corrected, for the best interests of all parties concerned ; and that thej^ had no right to profit at the expense of their brethren on Saint George, who were expected, at the time the law was made, to share equally with them the proceeds of this labor, and in this spirit the defective law was framed. This exi)lanation appeared to relieve their minds. They spoke to us with great satisfaction of the bettered con- dition in which they are living as compared with the state in which they lived but a short time since. A very perceptible shade of gloom settled on the countenances of all when we as- sured them that the Government could not permit any more "quass"or beer drunkenness among them. We set forth the propriety of this course on the part of the Secretary of the Treas- ury as justitied by the following reasons: 1. They are at present living without the restraint of police- men and prisons, fines, &c., which we employ for the suppression of such disorder in our own land, and it was best for them to live sober and avoid the necessity of having such institutions. 2. That they were, by the great generosity of the Govern- ment and the company, allowed to enjoy the sole privilege of jiarticipation in the sealing-labor and its good reward, by which they were enabled to live in such comfort and ease j that if they indulged in drinking they would drop out from the sKinning- gangs, and be unable in a few years to attend properly to their duty on the killing-grounds; that then the company would have the power and would be justified in procuring others to do this work, and that then but a short time would elapse before the labor of persons not addicted to drink would crowd them and their children out of their comfortable possession. In the course of our conversation with them in regard to the eyents of early days on the island, they gave the following as facts, relying on the ^' vivid imaginations and faithful memories" ALASKA. 119 witli which they nre credited l>y the man who, of all men, best knew them, Veniaminov: " In 18;)5, (3n the * Laffoon ' r(M)kery, there were only two hnlls ; the cows were, however, in nnmber excessive ; ahont as Fiiany as are on 'Na Speel' to-day, (L>,()()().) On 'Zapadnie' abont one thousand cows, bulls, and pups ; at Southwest Point there was iiothin*;-; two small rookeries were on the north shore of Saint Paul, near a place called » xMaroonitch ; ' they have been de- serted, however, by the seals for a lonvere about five hundred cows, bulls, pups, and ' holluschickie;' on 'Lukannon' and ' Ketavie/ about three hundred; only ten balls on 'Ketavie,'so few young males lying in all together that they took no note of them on these rookeries; on the 'Keef and 'Gorbotch,' about one thousand only; of these some eight hundred, ' holluschickie' included, lying in with the breeding- seals ; there were about twenty old bulls only on Gorbotch, and but ten on the Reef; on 'Xau Speel' there were about a hun- dred. The village was here then as now. "In 1845 we took the young males alone, respecting the sexes for the first time ; took only about twenty a day on North- east Point ; on the Eeef, all the way from one hundred and fifty to two hundred a day. " In 1857 the breeding-rookeries were nearly as large as they are now ; but have heoi rather graduaUy Increas'uifj ever since. Prior to 1835 the village was up at the little fresh-water lake, and the seals are reported, previous to this date, many years, to have run all over the present village ground, very much as they do at Zapadnie to-day." In regard to the numbers of the fur-seal when the Russians first took possession of the ground, in 1787, the present genera- tion, descendants of these pioneers, have only a general vague impression that the seals were somewhat more numerous in the first days of Russian occupation than they are now. With regard to the probable truth of the foregoing statement of the natives to us, I can only call attention to the fact that 120 ALASKA. the entire sum of seal-life, as given bj tbera, is 4,100 of all classes ; now, Bishop Yeniaminov publishes an authentic record of the killing on these islands from 1817 to 1837, (tJie time in which he finished his work,) by which it will be seen that in this year of 1835, 4,052 seals were killed and taken ; and if the account of the natives was true, that would leave on the island only 50 for 183G, in which year, however, 4,040 were killed, and in 1837 4,220, and there was a steady increase in the killing by the llussians up to 1850, when they governed their catch by the market alone. TUis great diminution of the seal-life, setting in at 1817 and running on steadily in decline until 1834, when it began to mend, is well accounted for by Yeniaminov's account. From this it will be seen that after greedy Eussian companies on these islands had killed seals for over fifteen years iu unknown numbers ^Yithout causing any great change in the ratio of num- bers, a diminution began gradually to set in, which became obvious in 1817, and attained its maximum in 1834-'35, when hardly a tithe of the former numbers appeared on the ground ; but from that year change in the management, &c., promoted an increase, and they steadily augmented up to their former great numbers, by 1855-'57 reaching a maximum at which they have remained, as far as my investigations throw light on the subject ; a few years more of proper observation on the ground here will settle the matter to the satisfaction of all concerned. A variety of reasons have been given for this diminution, but the case is clear that as the animals to be slain were selected at random on the breeding-grounds from males and females, they gradually, in consequence of this incessant mo- lestation, began to shun the islands, seeking some other land, and there breeiiing, in spite of many natural difficulties j but as soon, however, as the Kussians began to respect the princi- ple of never driving or killing the females, the seals gradually regained their confidence, and finally returned to these islands, the most convenient and best adapted for their occupation in the northern hemisphere. This was the reason for their dis- appearance at that time, or they were suffering from the rav- ages of some unknown distemper. CHAPTER VII. THE HABITS OF THE FUR-SEAL, ETC. TuE Seal-life on the Prybilov Islands may be classed under four heads, as follows, viz : The Fuk-Seal, {Callorhlnus nrsuius,) Kautiekie of the Rus- sians. The Sea-Lion, (Eumetopias stellcrii,) See vitchie of che Rus- sians. The Hair Seal, (PhocavituUna,) Nearhpab of the Russians. The Walrus, {Rosmariis arcticus^) Morsjeeof the Russians. Of the above, tbe hair-seal is the animal upon wbieh pop- ular and, indeed, scientific opinion is founded as to what a seal appears like, and bas in this way given to the people a false idea of its relatives, above enumerated, and bas made it exceed- ingly difficult for the naturalist to correctly discriminate be- tween them J for, although it belongs to the same family, it does not even have a generic affinity to those seals- with whicb it has been persistently confounded, viz, tbe fur seal and sea- lion, no more so than has the raccoon to tbe black or grizzly bear, both being as nearly related to eacb other. A detailed description of this seal, Phoca vituUna, is quite unnecessary, as species of the genus are common pets all over the world where zoological gardens are established, and its grotesquely stuffed skin is still more frequently to be met with. It ditfers, bowever, so completely in shape and babit from its congeners on these islands, that it may be well, so as to pre- serve a sharp line of distinction, to state that it seldom comes up from the water more than a few rods, at the most, generally resting at the margin of the surf- wash; it takes up no position on land to bold and protect a barem, preferring the detached water-worn rocks which occasionally project out a little above the sea-level and are only wet entirely over by heavy storms ; and the animal when it is disturbed immediately goes to sea. Upon these small spots of rock^^, wet isolation from the main island, and some secluded places on the north shore, the " nearh- pah," as the natives call it, brings forth its young, which is a 122 ALASKA. single pup, perfectly wbite, weigbiug about three or four pounds. This pup grows rapidly, and weighs, in three to four mouths, forty or fifty pouuds, and at that time has a coat of soft, steel- gray hair on the head, limbs, and abdomen, with the back mOvSt richly mottled and barred lengthwise with dark-brown and browu-black. AYhen they appear in the spring, following, this gray tone to their color has become a dingy ocher, and the mot- tling appears well over the head and on the upper side or back of the flippers, or feet, correspondingly dim. There is no appreciable difference as to color or size between the sexes. They are not polygamous, as far as I have observed. They are exceedingly timid and wary at all times, and iu this way they are diametrically opposed, not by shape alone, but by habit and disposition, to the far-seal and sealion. Their skin is of little value compared with that of the fur- seal, and their chief merit is the relative greater juiciness and sweetness of their flesh to those who are iu any way partial to seal-meat. I desire also to correct a common error, made in comparing Fhocidce with Otaridce, where it is stated that, in consequence of the peculiar structure of their limbs, their progression on land is ^'-mainly accomplished by a wriggling, serpentine motion of the body, slightly assisted by the extremities." This is not so; for, when excited to run or exert themselves to reach the water suddenly, they strike out quickly with both fore feet., simultaneously lift and drag the Avhole body, without any wrig- gling whatever, from G inches to a foot ahead and slightlj^ from the earth, according to the violence of the effort and the char- acter of the ground; the body then falls flat, and the fore-flip- pers are free for another similar action, and this is done so earnestly and rapidly that in attempting to head oif a young uearhpah from the water I was obliged to leave a brisk walk and take to a dog-trot to do it. The hind feet are not used when exerted in rapid movement at all, and are dragged along in the wake of the body, perfectly limp. They do use their posterior parts, however, when leisurely climbing up and over rocks, or playing one with another, but it is always a weak effort, and clumsy. These remarks of mine, it should be borne in mind, apply only to the Phoca vitulina, that is iound around these islands at all seasons of the year, but in very small num- bers. I have never seen more than twenty five or thirty at any ALASKA. 123 one time, but I think its princi[)le of locomotion will be round to apply on land to all the rest of its genera. Tlie scarcity of this species and of all its generic allies is notable in the waters of the North Pacific as compared with those of the circnmpolar Atlantic, wliere the bair-seals are found in immense numbers, giving employment every year to a fleet of sailing and steam vessels which go forth from 8t. John's, Halifax, and elsewhere, fitted for seal-fishing, taking over three hundred thousand of these animals each season, the I>rin('ii)al object being the oil rendered from them, the skins having but small commercial value.* THE FUR-SEAL, ((^ALLOKHINUS URSirs^US,) Which repairs to these islands to breed, &c., in numbers that seem almost fabulous, is by far the highest organized of all the Pinni- pedia, and, indeed, for that matter, when land and water are fully taken into account, there is no other animal superior to it from a purely physical point of view ; and few creatures that can be said to exhibit a higher order of instinct, approaching even intelligence, belonging to the animal kingdom. Eegarding a male six to seven years old, and full grown, when he comes up from the sea in the spring on to his station for the breeding-season, we have an animal that will measure GJ to 7^ feet in length, from tip of nose to end of tail, and weighing at least 400 pounds; and sometimes as much, perhaps, as GOO. (?) The head, which in comparison with the immense thick neck and shoulders, seems to be disproportionately small j but as we come to examine it we will find that it is mostly all occupied by the brain j the light frame- work of the skull su[)- ports an expressive pair of large bluish-hazel eyes, and a muz- zle and jaws of nearly the same size and form observed in any full-blooded Newfoundland dog, with the difference of having no flabby, hanging lips ; the upper lips support a white and yellowish-gray mustache, long, and, when not torn in combat, luxuriant, composed of heavy stiff bristles. Observe it as it comes leisurely swimming on toward the land ; how high above the water it carries its head, and how deliberately it surveys the beach, after having stepped up on it ; * An excellent aud, I have every reason to believe, correct descrip- tion of this seal-fishery in the North Atlantic has been published by Michael Carroll, who writes in a manner indicative of great familiarity with the business. 124 ALASKA. it may be truly said to step with its fore flippers, for tliey regu- larly alternate as it moves up, carrying the bead well above them, at least three feet from the ground, with a perfectly erect neck. The fore feet, or hands, are a pair of dark bluish-black flip- pers, about 8 or 10 inches broad at their junction with the body, running out to an ovate point some 15 to 18 inches from this union, which is at the carpal joint, corresponding to our wrist; all the rest of the fore-arm, the ulna, radius, and humerus, being concealed under the skin and thick blubber folds of the main body and neck, concealed entirely at this season when it is so ftit ; but later, when flesh or fat has been consumed by absorption, they come quite plainly into view. On the upper side of these flippers, the hair straggles down finer and fainter, as it comes down to a point close to and slightly beyond where the phalanges and the metacarpal bones are jointed, similar to the spot where our knuckles are placed, and there ends, leaving the skin bare and wrinkled in places at the margin of the inner side, showing five small pits containing abortive nails, which are situated immediately over the union of the phalanges with their cartilaginous continuations to the end of the flipi^er. On the under side of the flipper the skin is entirely bare from the end up to the body connection, deeply and regularly wrin- kled with seams and furrows, which cross one another, so as to leave a kind of sharp diamond-pattern. But we observe as the seal moves along that, though it han- dles its fore limbs in a most creditable manner, it brings up its rear in quite a different style ; for after every second step ahead with the fore feet it arches its spine, and with it drags and lifts together the hinder limbs to a fit position under its body for another movement forward, by which the spine is again straight- ened out so as to take a fresh hitch up on the posteriors. This is the leisurely and natural movement on land when not dis- turbed, the body being carried clear of the ground. The radical difl'erence in the form and action of the hinder feet cannot fail to strike the eye at once. They are one-seventh longer and very much lighter and more slender; they, too, are merged in the body like those anterior; nothing can be seen of the leg above the tarsal joint. The shape of this hind flipper is strikingly like a human foot, provided the latter were drawn out to a length of 20 or 22 ALASKA. 125 inelics, tlic instep flattened down and the toes ran out into tbin, membraneous, oval-tipped points, only skin-thick, leav- ing three strong cylindrieal grayish horn-colored nails, half an inch long, ba(;k six inches from these skinny toe-ends, without any nails to mention on the big and little toes. On the upper side of this foot tlie hair comes down to the point where the metatarsus and phalangeal bones joint and lades out; from this junction the phalanges, about six inches down to the nails, are entirely bare and stand ribbed up in bold relief on the membrane which unites them as a web ; the nails nuirk the ends of the phalangeal bones and their union in turn Avith the cartilaginous processes, which run rapidly tapering and flattening, out to the ends of the thin toe-flaps. Now, as we look at this fur-seal's progression, that which seems most odd is the gingerly manner (if I may be allowed to use the expression) in which it carries these hind-flippers; they are held out at right angles from the body directly oppo- site the pelvis, the toe-ends and flaps slightly waving and curl- ing or drooi:)ing over, supported daintily, as it were, above the earth, only suffering its weight behind to fall upon the heels, which are opposed to each other scarcely five inches apart. We shall, as we see him again later iu the season, have to notice a different mode of progression, both when lording it over his harem or when he grows shy and restless at the end of the breeding-season, and now proceed to notice him in the order of his arrival and that of his family, his behavior during the long i)eriod of fasting and unceasing activity and vigilance and other cares which devolve upon him, as the most eminent of all polygamists iu the brute world; and to fully comprehend this exceedingly interesting animal, it will be necessary to refer to my drawings and paintings made from it and its haunts. The adult males are first to arrive in the spring on the ground deserted by all classes the preceding year. Between the 1st and 5th of May, usually, a few bulls will be found scattered over the rookeries pretty close to the water. They are at this time quite shy and sensitive, not yet being satisfied with the land, and a great many spend day after day before coming ashore idl^- swimming out among the breakers Ji little distance from the land, to which they seem somewhat re- luctant at first to repair. The first arrivals are not always the oldest bulls, but may be said to be the finest and most ambi- tious of their class; they are full-grown and able to hold their 126 ALASKA. Stations on tbe rocks, wliicli tliej' immediately take up after coming ashore. I am not able to say authoritatively that these animals come back and take up the same position on tbe breeding-grounds occupied by them during the preceding season; from my knowledge of their action and habit, and from what I have learned of the natives, I should say that very few, if any of them, make such a selection and keep these places year after year. One old bull was pointed out to me on the lieef Gar- butch llookery as being known to the natives as a regular vis- itor at, close by, or on the same rock every season during the past three years, but he failed to re-appear on the fourth 5 but if these animals came each to a certain place and occupied it regularly, season after season, 1 think the natives here would know it definitely ; as it is, they do not. I think it very likely, however, that the older bulls come back to the same rookery- ground wiiere they spent the previous season, but take up their l)Ositions on it just as the circumstances attending their arrival will permit, such as fighting other seals which have arrived be- fore them, &c. With the object of testing this matter, the Russians, during the early part of their possession, cut off the ears from a given number of young male seals driven up for that piupose from one of the rookeries, and the result was that cropped seals were found on nearly all the different rookeries or " hauling-grounds'^ on the islands after. The same experiment was made by agents two years ago, who had the left ears taken off from a hundred young males which were found on Lukannon Rookery, Saint Paul's Island ; of these the natives last year found two on No- vashtosh-nah Rookery, ten miles north of Lukannon, and two or three from English Bay and Tolstoi Rookery, six miles west by water; one or two were taken on Saint George's Island, thir- ty-six miles to the southeast, and not one from Lukannon was found among those that were driven from there; and, proba- bly, had all the young males on the two ishmds been driven up and examined, the rest would have been found distributed quite equally all around, although the natives say that they think the cutting off of the animal's ear gives the water such access to its head as to cause its death; this, however, I think re- quires confirmation. These experiments would tend to prove that when the seals approach the islands in the spring, they have nothing but a general instinctive appreciation of the fit- ALASKA. 127 noss of the land as a icholcj and no especial fondness for any pariicidar ftpot. The landinfjj of the seals ui)()n tlie respective rookciifs is in- Ihienccd o and 48° on land, during the summer, they show signs of distress from lieat whenever they make any exertion, imnt, raise their hind flippers, and use them incessantly as fans. With the thermom- eter at 550-GO0, they seem to suffer even when at rest, and at such times the eye is struck by the kaleidoscopic appearance of a rookery, on which a million seals are spread out in every imaginable position their bodies cau assume, all industriously fanning themselves, using sometimes the fore flippers as veu- tilatois, as it were, by holding them aloft motionless, at the same moment fanning briskly with the hind flipper, or flippers, according as they sit or lie. This wavy motion of flapping and fanning gives a peculiar shade of hazy indistinctness to the whole scene, which is difiQcult to express in language; but one of the most prominent characteristics of the fur-seal is this fan- ning manner in which they use their flippers, when seen on the breeding-grounds in season. They also, when idling, as it were, offshore at sea, lie on their sides, with oii]y a partial ex- posure of the body, the head submerged, and hoist up a fore or hind flipper clear of the water, while scratching themselves or enjoying a nap ; but in this position there is no fanning. I say "scratching," because the seal, in common with all aniuials, is preyed upon by vermin, a species of louse and a tick, peculiar to itself. All the bulls, from the very first, that have been able to hold their positions, have not left them for an instant, night or day, nor do they do so until the end of the rutting-season, which 132 ALASKA. subsides entirely between tlie 1st and lOtb of August, begin- ning shortly after the coming of the cows in June. Of necessity, therefore, this causes them to fast, to abstain entirely from food of any kind, or water, for three months, at least, and a few of them stay four months before going into the w^ater for the first time after hauling up in May. This alone is remarkable enough, but it is simply wonderful when we come to associate the condition with the unceasing activity, restlessness, and duty devolved upon the bulls as heads and fathers of large families. They do not stagnate, like bears in caves; it is evidently accomplished or due to the ab- sorption of their own fat, ^vith which they are so liberally sup- l^lied when they take their positions on the breeding-ground, and which gradually diminishes wliile they remain on it. But still some most remarkable provision must be made for the en- tire torpidity of the stomach and bowels, consequent upon their being empty and unsupplied during this long period, which, however, in spite of the violation of a supposed physiological law, does not seem to affect them, for they come back just as sleek, fat, and ambitious as ever in the following season. I have examined the stomachs of a number which were driven up and killed immediately after their arrival in the spring, and natives here have seen hundreds, even thousands, of them during the killing-season in June and July, but in no case has anything been found other than the bile and ordinary secre- tions of healthy organs of this class, with the exception only of finding in erery one a snarl or cluster of worms,* from the size of a walnut to that of one's fist, the fast apparently having no effect on them, for when thret; or four hundred old bulls were slaugh- tered late in the fall, to supply the natives with '' bidarkee" or canoe skins, I found these worms in a lively condition in every l^aunch cut open, and their presence, I think, gives some reason for the habit which these old bulls have of swallowing small bowlders, the stones in some of the stomachs weighing half a pound or so, and in one paunch 1 found about five pounds in the aggregate of larger pebbles, which in grinding against one another must destroy, in a great measure, these intestinal pests. The sea-lion is also troubled in the same way by a similar species of worm, and I have preserved a stomach of one of these animals in which are more than ten pounds of bowlders, some of them alone quite large. The greater size of this animal enables *Nematoda. ALASKA. 133 it to swallow stonos wliich w('i<;li two and throe i)()uii(ls. I can ascribe no otlier cause lor this habit ainon<,^ these animals than that given, as they are of the highest type oC tlie caniivora, eating iish as a, reguhir means of subsistence; varying the mo- notony of this diet with occasional juicy fronds of sea-weed, or kelp, and perhaps a crab, or such, once in a while, provided it is small and tender, or soft-shelled. Between the 12th and 14th of June the first of the cow-seals come up from the sea, and the bulls signalize it by a universal, spasmodic, desperate fighting among themselves. The strong contrast between the males and females in size and shape is heightened by the air of exceeding peace and amiability which the latter class exhibit. The cows are from 4 to 4 J feet in length from head to tail, and much more shapely in their proportions than the bulls, the neck and shoulders being not near so fat and heavy in propor- tion to the posteriors. When they come up, wet and dripping, they are of a dull, dirty-gray color, darker on the back and upper parts, but in a few hours the transformation made by drying is wonderful; you would hardly believe they could be the same animals, for they now fairly glisten with a rich steel and maltese-gray luster on the back of the head, neck, and spine, which blends into an almost pure white on the chest and abdomen. But this beauti- - ful coloring in turn is altered by exposure to the weather, for in two or three days it will gradually change to a dull, rufous ocher below, and a cinereous-brown and gray-mixed above ; this color they retain throughout the breeding-season up to the time of shedding the coat in August. The head and eye of the female are really attractive; the ex- pression is exceedingly gentle and intelligent; the large, lus- trous eyes, in the small, well-formed head, apparently gleam with benignity and satisfaction when she is perched up on some convenient rock and has an opportunity to quietly fan herself. The cows appear to be driven on to the rookeries by an accu- rate ipstinctive appreciation of the time in which their period of gestation ends ; for in all cases marked by myself, the pups are born soon after landing, some in a few hours after, but most usually a day or two elapses befqre delivery. They are noticed and received by the bulls on the water-line stations with much attention; they are alternately coaxed and urged up on to the rocks, and are immediately under the most 134 ALASKA. jealous supervision; but owing to the covetous and ambitious nature of tlie bulls, wbicli occupy' the stations reaching wa^* back from the water-line, the little cows have a rough-and-tum- ble time of it when they begin to arrive in small numbers at first ; for no sooner is the pretty animal fairly established on the station of bull number one, who hjis installed her there, he perhaps sees another one of her style down in the water from which she has just come, and in obedience to his polygamous feeling, he devotes himself anew to coaxing the later arrival in the same winning manner so successful iu her case, when bull number two, seeing bull number one off his guard, reaches out with his long strong neck and picks the unhappy but passive creature up by the scruff' of hers, just as a cat does a kitten, and deposits her on his seraglio-ground; then bulls number three, four, and so on, in the vicinity, seeing this high-handed operation, all assail one another, and especially bull number two, and have a tremendous fight, perhaps for half a minute or so, and during this commotion the cow generally is moved or moves farther back from the water, two or three stations more, where, when all gets quiet, she usually remains in i^eace. Her last lord and master, not having the exposure to such diverting temptatioxi as had her first, he gives her such care that she not only is unable to leave did she. wish, but no other bull can seize upon her. This is only one instance of the many different trials and tribulations which both parties on the rookery subject" themselves to before the harems are filled. Far back, fifteen or twenty stations deep from the water-line sometimes, but gen- erally not more on an average than ten or fifteen, the cows crowd in at the close of the season for arriving, July 10 to 14, and then they are able to go about pretty much as they please, for the bulls have become greatly enfeebled by this constant fighting and excitement during the past two months, and are quite content with even only one or two partners. The cows seem to haul in compact bodies from the water up to the rear of the rookeries, never scattering about over the ground ; and they will not lie quiet in any position outside of the great mass of their kind. This is due to their intensely gregarious nature, and for the sake of protection. They also select land with special reference to the drainage, having a great dislike to water-puddled ground. This is w ell shown on Saint Paul. I have found it difficult to ascertain the averaiie nuuiber of ALASKA. 135 cows to one bull on tlio rookery, but I tliink it will be nearly correct to assign to eaeli male from twelve to fifteen leniales, oecup^iiig- the stations nearest the water, and those back in the rear from live to nine. 1 have counted forty-live cows all under the ehari;e of one bull, which had them penned up on ii Hat table- rock, near Kcctavie Point; the bull was enabled to do this quite easily, as there was but one way to f;o to or come from this seraglio, and ou this path the old Turk took his stand and guarded it well. At the rear of all these rookeries there. is always a large num- ber of able-bodied bulls, ^vho wait patiently, but in vain, for families, most of them having had to fight as desperately for the iniviJege of being there as any of their more fortunately- located neighbors, who are nearer the water than themselves; but the cows do not like to be in any outside position, where they are not in close company, lying most quiet and content in the largest harems, and these large families pack the surfa(!e of the ground so thickly, that there is hardly moving or turning room until the females cease to come np from the sea; but the inaction on the part of the bulls in the rear during the rutting- seasou only serves to qualify them to move into the places vacated by those males who are obliged to leave from exhaus- tion, and to take the positions of jealous and fearless protectors for the young pups in the fall. The courage with which the fur-seal hohls his position, as the head and guardian of a family, is of the very highest order, compared with that of other animals. I have repeatedly tried to drive them when they have fairly established themselves, and have almost always failed, using every stone at my com- mand, making all the noise I could, and, tinally, to put their courage to the full test, 1 w^alked up to within 20 feet of a bull at the rear and extreme end of Tolstoi Eookery, who had four cows in charge, and commenced with my double-barreled breech-loading shot-guu to pepper him all over with mustard- seed or dust shot. Ilis bearing, in spite of the noise, smell of l)Owder, and pain, did not change in the least from the usual attitude of determined defense which nearly all the bulls as- sume when attacked with showers of stones and noise; he ^vould dart out right and left and catch the cows, which tim- idly attempted to run after each report, and lling and drag them back to their places; then, stretching up to his full height, look me directly and defiantly in the face, roaring and spitting 136 ALASKA. Kiost relieraently. The cows, however, soon got away from him 5 bat he still stood his grouiicl, making little charges on me of 10 or 15 feet in a succession of gallops or lunges, spitting furiously, and then retreating to the old position, back of which he would not go, fully resolved to hold his own or die in the attempt. This courage is all the more note\Yorthy from the fact that, in regard to man, it is invariably of a defensive character. The seal, if it makes you turn when you attack it, never fol- lows you much farther than the boundary of its station, and no aggravation will compel it to become offensive, as far as I have been able to observe. The cows, during the whole season, do great credit to their amiable expression by their manner and behavior on the rook- ery : never fight or quarrel one with another, and never or sel- dom utter a cry of pain or rage when they are roughly handled by the bulls, who frequently get a cow between them and tear the skin from her back, cutting deep gashes into it, as they snatch her from mouth to mouth. These wounds, however, heal rapidly, and exhibit no traces the next year. The cov>s, like the bulls, vary much in weight. Two were taken from the rookery nearest Saint Paul's Village, after they had been delivered of their young, and the respective weights were 5G and 101 pounds, the former being about three or four years old, and the latter over six. They both were fat and in excellent condition. It is quite out of the question to give a fair idea of the posi- tions in which the seals rest when on land. They may be said to assume every possible attitude which a flexible body can be put into. One favorite position, especially with the cows, is to perch upon a point or top of some rock and throw their heads back upon their shoulders, with the nose held aloft, then, closing their eyes, take short naps without changinjr, now and then gently fanning with one or the other of the long, slender hind flippers; another, and the most common, is to curl them- selves up, just as a dog does on a hearth rug, bringing the tail and the nose close together. They also stretch out, laying the head straight with the body, and sleep for an hour or two with- out moving, holding one of the hinder flippers up all the time, now and then gently waving it, the eyes being tightly closed. The sleep of the fur-seal, from the old bull to the young pup, is always accompanied by a nervous, muscular twitching and ALASKA. 137 slight sliiftinij^ of tlio flippers; fpiivciiii^ and nnoasy rDlliii;,^ of tlie body, accoiiipanied by a quick foIdiii<;' anew of the fore flippers, wliicli are sif^ns, as it were, of tlieir liaviii^- iii^lit- inares, or sportiii<^', i)erliai>s, in a visionary way, far otf in some dream-land sea; or disturbed, perhaps more probably, by tijeir intestinal parasites. I have studied hundreds of all classes, stealiuf]^ softly up so closely that I could lay my hand on them, and have always found the sleep to be of this nervous descri|)- tioD. The respiration is short and rapid, but with no breath- ing (unless your ear is brought very close) or snoring sound ; the heaving of the flanks only indicates the action. I have frequently thought that I had succeeded in finding a snoring seal, esi)ecially among the pups, but a close examination always gave some abnormal reason for it, generally a slight distemper, by which the nostrils were stopped up to a greater or less degree. As 1 have said before, the cows, soon after landing, are de- livered of their young. Immediately after the birth of the pup, (twins are rare, if ever,) it finds its voice, a weak, husky hlaat^ and begins to pad- dle about, with eyes wide open, in a confused sort ut way for a few minutes until the mother is ready to give it attention, and, still later, suckle it; and for this purpose she is provided with four small, brown nipples, placed about eight inches apart, lengthwise with the body, on the abdomen, between the fore and hinder flippers, with some four inches of space between them transversely. The nipples are not usually visible ; only seen through the hair and fur. The milk is abundant, rich, and creamy. The pups nurse very heartily, gorging them- selves. The pup at birth, and for the next three months, is of a jet- black color, hair, eyes, and flippers, save a tiny white patch just back of each fore foot, and weighs from 3 to -4 i^ouuds, and 12 to 14: inches long ; it does not seem to nurse more than once every two or three days, but in this I am most likely mistaken, for they may have received attention from the mother in the night or other times in the day when I was unable to watch them. The apathy with which the young are treated by the old on the breeding-grounds is somewhat strange. I have never seea a cow caress or fondle her ofl'spring, and should it stray but a short distance from the harem, it can be picked up aLd killed 138 ALASKA. before the mother's eyes Tritbout causing Ler to show the slightest concern. The same indifference is exhibited by the bull to all that takes place outside of the boundary of his se- raglio. While the pups are, however, within the limits of his harem-ground, he is a jealous and fearless protector ; but if the little animals pass beyond this boundary, then they may be carried oft* without the slightest attention in their behalf from their guardian. It is surprising to me how few of the pups get crushed to death while the ponderous bulls are floundering over them when engaged in fighting. I have seen two bulls dash at each other with all the energy of furious rage, meeting right in the midst of a small " pod" of forty or fifty pups, trampling over them with their crushing weights, and bowling them out right and left in every direction, without injuring a single one. I do not think more than 1 per cent, of the pups born each season are lost in this manner on the rookeries. To test the vitality of these little animals, I kept one in the house to ascertain how long it could live without nursing, having taken it immediately after birth and before it could get any taste of its mother's milk j it lived nine days, and in the whole time half of every day was spent in floundering about over the floor, accompanying the movement with a persistent hoarse blaating. This experiment certainly shows wonderful vitality, and is worthy of an animal that can live four months without food or water and preserve enough of its latent strength and vigor at the end of that time to go far oft' to sea, and return as fat and hearty as ever during the next season. In the pup, the head is the only disproportionate feature when it is compared with the proportion of the adult form, the neck being also relatively shorter and thicker. I shall have to speak again of it, as it grows and changes, when J finish with the breeding-season now under consideration. The cows appear to go to and come from the water quite fre- quently, and usually return to the spot, or its neighborhood, where they leave their pups, crying out for them, and recogniz- ing the iudividual replies, though ten thousand around, all to- gether, should blaat at once. They quickly single out their own and attend them. It would be a very unfortunate matter if the mothers could not identify their young by sound, since their pups get together like a great swarm of bees, spread out upon the ground in "pods" or groups, while they are young. ALASKA. 139 and not very lar«4'0, but by the niiddlii Jind end of Sei)tcrnber, until they leiive in Is'oveinber, tlicy chister to^^ether, sleeping and liobckiug by tens of thousands. A mother comes u}) from the water, where she lias been to wash, and i)erhai)s to feed, for the hist day or two, to about where she thinks her pup shouhl be, but misses it, and linds instead a swarm of pups iu Avhieh it has been incor[)orated, owin«>- to its ^reat fondness for society. The mother, without at lirst enterin*'' into the crowd of thousands, calls out, just as a sheep does for her lamb, lis- tens, and out of all the din she — if not at first, at the end of a few trials — reco<»nizes the voice of her oft'spring, and then ad- vances, striking out right and left, and over the crowd, toward the position from which it replies; but if the pup at this time happens to be asleep she hears nothing from it, even though it were close by, and iu this case the cow, after calling for a time ^Yithout being answered, curls herself up and takes a nap, or lazily basks, and is most likely more successful when she calls again. The pups themselves do not know their mothers, but they are so constituted that they incessantly^ cry out at short inter- vals during the whole time they are awake, and in this way a mother can pick, out of the monotonous blaating of thousands of pups, her own, and she will not permit any other to suckle. Between the end of July and the 5th or Sth of xVugust the rookeries are completely changed in appearance ; the systematic and regular disposition of the families, or harems, over the whole extent of ground has disappeared ; all order heretofore existing seems to be broken up. The rutting-season over, those bulls which held positions now leave, most of them very thin in flesh and weak, and I think a large proportion of them do not come out again on the land during the season ; and such as do come, appear, not fat, but in good flesh, and in a new coat of rich dark and gray-brown hair and fur, with gray and gray- ish-ocher "wigs" or over-hair on the shoulders, forming a strong contrast to the dull, rusty-brown and umber dress in which they appeared during the summer, and which they had begun to shed about the 15th of August, in common with the cows and bachelor seals. After these bulls leave, at the close of their season's work, those of them that do return to the laud do not come back until the end of September, and do not haul up on the rookery-grounds as a rule, preferring to herd together, as do the young males, on the sand-beaches and other rocky 140 ALASKA. points close to the water. The cows, pnps, aud those bulls which have been in retirementj now take possession, in a very disordeil}^ manner, of the rookeries,- also, come a large number of young, three, four, and five year old males, who have not been permitted tQ land among the cows, during the rutting- season, by the older, stronger bulls, who have savagely fought them off whenever they made (as they constantly do) an attempt to land. Three-fourths, at least, of the cows are now off in the water, only coming ashore to nurse and look after their pups a short time. They lie idly out in the rollers, ever and anon turning over and over, scratching their backs and sides with their fore and hind flippers. Kothing is more suggestive of immense comfort and enjoyment than is this action of these animals. They appear to get very lousy on the breeding-ground, and the frequent winds and showers drive and spatter sand into their fur and eyes, making the latter quite sore in many cases. They also pack the soil under foot so hard and solid that it holds water in the surface depressions, just like so many rock basins, on the rookery; out and into these puddles they flounder and patter incessantly, until evaporation slowly abates the nuisance. The pups sometimes get so thoroughly plastered in these muddy, slimy puddles, that their hair falls off in patches, giving them the appearance of being troubled with scrofula or some other plague, at first sight, but they are not, from my observa- tion, permanently injured. Early in August (8th) the pups that are nearest the water on the rookeries essay swimming, but make slow and clumsy prog- ress, floundering about, when over head in depth, in the most awkward manner, thrashing the water with their fore flippers, not using the hinder ones. In a few seconds, or a minute at the most, the youngster is so weary that he crawls out upon the rocks or beach, and immediately takes a recuperative nap, repeating the lesson as quick as he awakes and is rested. They soon get familiar with the water, and delight in it, swimming in endless evolutions, twisting, turning, diving, and when ex- hausted, they draw u[) on the beach again, shakd themselves as young dogs do, either going to sleep on the spot, or having a lazy frolic among themselves. In this matter of learning to swim, I have not seen any " driving" of the young pups into the water by the old in order ALASKA. 141 to teacli tliom this process, as lias been aflirinecl by wiilers on the subject of seal-Hl'e. The pups are constantlj' shifting, at the close of the rutting- season, back and fortli over the rookery \n large squads, some- tiuR'S numbering thousands. In the course of these changes of position they all come sooner or later in contact with the sea ; the pup blunders into the water for the first time in a most awkward nuinner, and gets out again as quick as it can, but so far from showing any fear or dislike of this, its most natural element, as soon as it rests from its exertion, is immediately ready for a new trial, and keeps at it, if the sea is not too stormy or rough at the time, until it becomes quite familiar with the water, and during all this period of self-tuition it seems to thorouglily enjoy the exercise. By the 15th of September all the pups have become familiar with the water, have nearly all deserted the background of the rookeries and are down by the water's edge, and skirt the rocks and beaches for long distances on ground previously un- occupied by seals of any class. They are now about five or six times their original weight, and are beginning to shed their black hair and take on their second coat, which does not vary at this age between the sexes. They do this very slowly, and cannot be called out of molting or shedding until the middle of October, as a rule. The pup's second coat, or sea-going jacket, is a uniform, dense, light pelage, or under-fur, grayish in some, light-brown in others, the fine, close, soft, and elastic hairs which comi)ose it being about one-half of an inch in length, and over-hair, two- thirds of an inch long, quite coarse, giving the color by which you recognize the condition. This over-hair, on the back, neck, and head, is a dark chinchilla-gray, blending into a white, just tinged with a grayish tone on the abdomen and chest. The upper lip, where the whiskers or mustache takes root, is of a lighter-gray tone than that which surrounds. This mustache consists of fifteen or twenty longer or shorter whitish-gray bristles (one-half to three inches) on each side and back of the nostrils, which are, as I have before said, similar to that of a dog. The most attractive feature about the fur-seal pup, and up- ward as it grows, is the eye, which is exceedingly large, dark, and liquid, with which, for beauty and amiability, together with 142 ALASKA. iutelligGDce of expression, those of no other animal can be com- pared. The lids are well supplied with eyelashes. I do not think that their range of vision on land, or out of the water, is very great. I have had them (the adults) catch sight of my person, so as to distinguish it as a foreign character, three and four hundred paces off, with the wind blowing strongly from them toward myself, but generally they will allow you to approach very close indeed, before recognizing your strangeness, and the pups will scarcely notice the form of a human being until it is fairly on them, whereupon they make a lively noise, a medley of coughing, spitting, snorting, blaating, and get away from its immediate vicinity, but instantly resume, how- ever, their previous occupation of either sleeping or playing, as though nothing had happened. But the power of scent is (together with their hearing, before mentioned) exceedingly keen, for I have found that I would most invariably awake them from soundest sleep if 1 got to the windward, even when standing a considerable distance off. To recapitulate and sum up the system of reproduction on the rookeries as the seals seem to have arranged it, I would say, that- First. The earliest bulls appear to land in a negligent, indo- lent way, shortly after the rocks at the water's edge are free from ice, frozen snow, &c. This is generally about the 1st to the 5th of May. They land first and last in perfect confidence and without fear, very fat, and of an average weight of five hundred pounds ; some staying at the water's edge, some going away back, in fact all over the rookery. Second. That by the 10th or 12th of June, all the stations on the rookeries have been mapped out, fought for, and held in waiting for the cows by the strongest and most enduring bulls, who are, as a rule, never under six years of age, and sometimes three, and even occasionally four times as old. Third. That the cows make their first appearance, as a class, by the 12th or 15th of June, in rather small numbers, but by the 2:3d and 25th of this month they begin to flock up so as to fill the harems very perceptibly, and by the Sth or 10th of July they have most all come, stragglers excepted ; average weight eighty pounds. Fourth. That the rntting season is at its height from the 10th to the 15th of July, and that it subsides entirely at the end of ALASKA. 143 this month and early in An<;nst, and tliat it is confined en- tirely to the land. Filth. That theeows bear their first yoiinj^' when three years of age. Sixth. That the cows arc limited to a single pnp eaeh, as a rule, in bearing, and this is born soon after landing; no excep- tion has thus far been witnessed. Seventh. That the bulls who have held the harems leave for the water in a straggling manner at the close of the rutting- season, greatly emaciated, not returning, if at all, until six or seven weeks have. elapsed, and that the regular systematic dis- tribution of families over the rookeries isat an end for the season, a general medley of young bulls now^ free to come up from the water, old males who have not been on seraglio duty, cow s, and an immense majority of pups, since only about 25 per cent, of their mothers are out of the water at a time. The rookeries lose their compactness and definite boundaries by the 25th to 28th July, when the pups begin to haul back and to the right and left in small squads at first, but as the season goes on, by the 18th August, they swarm over three and four times the area occupied by them when born on the rookeries. The system of family arrangement and definite compactness of the breeding-classes begins at this date to break up. Eighth. That by the 8th or 10th of August the pups born nearest the water begin to learn to swim, and by the 15th or 20th of September they are all familiar more or less Avith it. ]^inth. That by the middle of September the rookeries are entirely broken up, only confused, straggling bands of cows, young bachelors, pups, and small squads of old bulls, crossing and recrossing the ground in an aimless, listless manner; the season is over, but many of these seals do not leave these grounds until driven off by snow and ice, as late as the end of December and 12tli of January. This recapitulation is the sum and substance of my observa- tions on the rookeries, and I will now turn to the consideration of the HAULINGGROUNDS, upon which the yearlings and almost all the males under six years come out from the sea in squads from a hundred to a thousand, and, later in the season, by hundreds of thousands, 144 ALASKA. to sleep and frolic, ffoiiig from a quarter to half a mile back from the sea, as at English Bay. This class of seals are termed ^'holluschukie'' (or "bachelor seals ") by the natives. It is with the seals of this division that these people are most familiar, since tbey are, together with a few thousand pups and some old bulls, the only ones driven up to the killing-grounds for their skins, for reasons which are ex- cellent, and which shall be given further on. Since the " holluschukie" are not permitted by their own kind to hmd on the rookeries and rest there, they have the choice of two methods of landing and locating. One of these opportunities, and least used, is to pass up from and down to the water, through a rookery on a pathway left by common consent between the harems. On these lines of pas- sage they are unmolested by the old and jealous bulls, who guard the seraglios on either side as they go and come; gener- ally there is a continual file of them on the way, traveling up or down. As the two and three year old holluschukie come up in small squads with the first bulls in the spring, or a few days later, these common highways between the rear of the rookery-ground and the sea get well defined and traveled over before the arrival of the cows ; for just as the bulls crowd up for their stations, so do the bachelors, young and old, increase. These roadways may be termed the lines of least resistance in a big rookery ; they are not constant ; they are splendidly shown on the large rookeries of Saint Paul's, one of them (Tolstoi) exhibiting this feature finely, for the hauling-ground lies up back of the rook- ery, on a flat and rolling summit, 100 to 120 feet above the sea- level. The young males and yearlings of both sexes come through the rookery on these narrow pathways, and, before reaching the resting-ground above, are obliged to climb up an almost abrupt bluff, by following and struggling in the little water-runs and washes which are worn in its face. As this is a large hauling-ground, on which fifteen or twenty thousand commonly lie every day during the season, the sight always, at all times, to be seen, in the way of seal climbing and crawling, was exceedingly novel and interesting. They climb over and up to places here where a clumsy man might at first sight say he would be unable to ascend. The other method by which the "holluschukie" enjoy them- selves on land is the one most followed and favored. They, in ALASKA. 145 tins case, repair to the hcaclies unocoiipied l)ctwoen the rook- eries, and there extend tlieniselves out all the way back from the water as far, in some cases, as a quarter of a mile, and even farther. I have had under njy eye, in one strai^^ht forward sweep, from Zapad-nie to Tolstoi, (three miles,) a million and a half of seals, at least, (ahout the middle of July.) Of these I estimated fully one-half were pui)s, yearlin«»s, and "holluschu- kie.'' The great majority of the two latter classes were hauled out and packed thickly over the two miles of sand-beach and Hat which lay between the rookeries 5 many large herds were back as far from the water as a quarter of a mile. A small flock of the younger ones, from one to three years old, will frequently stray away back from the hauling-ground lines, out and up onto the fresh moss and grass, and there sport and plaj-, one with another, just as puppy-dogs do; and when weary of this gamboling, a general disposition to sleep is suddenly manifested, and they stretch themselves out and curl np iu all the positions and all the postures that their flexible spines and ball-and-socket joints will permit. One will lie upon his back, holding up his hind flippers, lazily waving them in the air, while he scratches or rather rubs his ribs with the fore hands alternately, the eyes being tightly closed; and the breath, indicated by the heaving of his flanks, drawn quickly but regularly, as though in heavy sleep ; another will be flat upon his stomach, his hind flippers drawn under and concealed, ^vhile he tightly folds his fore feet back against his sides, just as a fish will sometimes hold its i)ectoral fins ; and so on, with- out end of variety, according to the ground and disposition of the animals. While the young seals undoubtedly have the power of going without food, they certainly do not sustain any long fasting periods on land, for their coming and going is frequent and irregular; for instance, three or four thick, foggy days will sometimes call them out by hundreds of thousands, a million or two, on the difterent hauling-grounds, where, in some cases, they lie so closely together that scarcely a foot of ground, over acres in extent, is bare ; then a clearer and warmer day will ensue, and the ground, before so thickly packed with animal- life, will be almost deserted, comparatively, to be filled again immediately on the recurrence of favorable weather. They are in just as good condition of flesh at the end of the season as at the first of it. 10 AL 146 ALASKA. These bacbelor-seals are, I am sure, v.itliout exceptiou, tbe most restless animals in tbe wbole brute creation ; tbey frolic and lope about over tbe grounds for bours, Avitbout a moment's cessation, and tbeir sleep after tbis is sbort, and is accompanied with nervous twitchings and uneasy movements j they seem to be fairly brimful and overrunning with warm life. I have never observed anything like ill-humor grow out of tbeir play- ing together; invariably well pleased one with another in all their frolicsome struggles. Tbe pups and yearlings have an especial fondness for sport- ing on the rocks which are just at the water's level, so as to be alternately covered and uncovered by tbe sea-rollers. On the bare summit of these water-worn spots they struggle and clamber, a dozen or two at a time, occasionally, for a single rock; the strongest or luckiest one pushing the others all off, which, however, simply redouble tbeir efforts and try to dis- lodge him, who thus has, for a few moments only, the advan- tage; for with the next roller and the other pressure, he gen- erally is ousted, and the game is repeated. Sometimes, as well as 1 could see, the same squad of " holluschukie'' played around a rock thus situated, off " Kah Speel"' rookery, during tbe whole of one day; but, of course, they cannot be told apart. The " holluscbukie,*' too, are tbe champion swimniers; at least they do about all the fancy tumbling and turning that is done by the fur-seals when in tbe water around tbe islands. Tbe grave old bulls and tbeir matronly companions seldom indulge in any extravagant display, such as jumping out of the water like so many dolphins, describing, as these youngsters do, beautiful elliptic curves, rising three and even four feet from tbe sea, with the back slightly arched, tbe fore tiippers folded back against the sides, and the hinder ones extended and pressed together straight out behind, plumping in head first, re-appearing in the same manner after an interval of a few seconds. All classes will invariably make these dol[)bin-jumps when tbey are suddenly surprised or are driven into tbe water, turn- ing tbeir beads, while sailing in the air, between the "rises" and '' plumps," to take a look at tbe cause of tbeir disturbance. They all swim with great rapidity, and may be fairly said to dart with the velocity of a bird on the wing along under the water; and in all tbeir swimming I have not been able yet to satisfy myself how tbey use tbeir long, llexible, bind feet, other ALASKA. 147 than as steering inedimns. The propelling motion, if they have any, is so rapid, that my eye is not quick enough to catch it; the lore leet, however, can be very distinctly seen to work, feathering forward and sweeping back flatly, opposed to the water, with great rapidity and energy, and are evidently the sole i)ropulsive i)ower. All their movements in the water, when in traveling or sport, are quick and joyous, and nothing is more suggestive of intense satisfaction and great comfort than is the spectacle of a few thousand old bulls and cows, off and from a rookery in August, idly rolling over, side by side, rubbing and scratching with the fore and hind flippers, which are here and there stuck up out of the water like lateen-sails, or ''cato'-nine tails,'' in either case, as it may be. When the '' hoUuschukie" are up on land they can be readily separated into two classes by the color of their coats and size, viz, the yearlings, and the two, three, four, and live year old bulls. The first class is dressed just as they were after they shed their pup-coats and took on the second the previous year, in September and October, and now, as they come out in the spring and summer, the males and females cannot be distin- guished apart, either by color or size; both yearling sexes having the same gray backs and white bellies, and are the same in behavior, action, weight, and shape. About the 15th and 20th of August they begin to grow *' stagey," or shed, in common with all the other classes, the pups excepted. The over-hair requires about six weeks from the commencement of the dropping or falling out of the old to its full renewal. The pelage, or fur, which is concealed externally by the hair, is also shed, and renewed slowly in the same manner; but, being so much finer than the hair, it is not so api)arent. It was to me a great surprise to " learn," from a man who has been heading a seal-killing party on these islands during the past three years, and the Government agent in charge of these in- terests, that the seal never shed its fur; that the over-hair only was cast off and replaced. To prove that it does, however, is a very simple matter, and does not require the aid of a micro- scope. For example, take up a i)rime spring or fall skin, after every single over-hair on it has been plucked out, and you will have difficulty, either to so blow upon the thick, fine lur, or 148 ALASKA. to part it with the fingers, as to show the hide from which it has grown; then take a "stagey'' skin, by the end of August and early iu September, wheu all the over-hair is present^ about one-third to one-half (/rown, and the first puff you expend upon it easily shows the hide below, sometimes quite a broad welt. This under-fur, or pelage, is so fine aud delicate, and so much concealed and shaded by the course over-hair, that a careless^ eye may be pardoned for any such blunder, but only a very casual observer could make it. Tbe yearling cows retain the colors of the old coat in the new,, and from this time on shed, year after year, just so, for the young and the old cows look alike, as far as color goes, when they haul up on the rookeries in the summer. The yearling males, however, make a radical change, coming^ out from their " staginess*' in a uniform dark-gray and gray- black mixed and lighter, aud dark ocher, on the under and up- per parts, respectively. This coat, next year, when they come up on the hauliug-grounds, is very dark, and is so for the thirds fourth, and fifth years, when, after this, they begin to grow more gray and brown, year by year, with rufous-ocher and whitish-gray tipped over-hair on the shoulders. Some of the very old bulls become changed to uniform dull grayish-ocher all over. The female does not get her full growth and weight until the end of her fourth year, so far as I have observed, but does the most of her growing in the first two. The male does not get his full growth and weight until the close of his seventh year, but realizes most of it by the end of the fifth, osteologically, and from this it may be, i^erhaps, truly inferred that tbe bulls live to an average age of eighteen or twenty years, if undisturbed in a normal condition, and that the cows attain ten or twelve under tbe same circumstances. Their respective weights, when fully mature and fat in the spring, will, I think, strike an average of four to five hundred pounds for the male and from seventy to eighty for the female. From the fact tbat all the young seals do not change much in weight, from the time of their first coming out in the spring till that of their leaving in the fall and early winter, I feel safe in saying, since they, too, are constantly changing from land to water and from water to land, that they feed at irregular but not long intervals during the time they are here under observa- tion. I do not think tbe young males fast longer than a week or ten davs at a tiuu', as a class. ALASKA. 149 The leave evideiues of tlu'ir being on these great repro- ortion of the breeding-ground at Northeast Point, in common with the CaUorhhiua, always close to the water, and taking to it at the slightest disturbance or alarm. The sea-lion rookery on Saint George's Island is the best place ui)on the Seal Islands for close observation of these ani- mals, and the following note was made upon the occasion of one of my visits, (June 1."), 1873:) •'At the base of cliffs, over 400 feet in height, on the east shore of the island, on a beach 50 or GO feet in width at low water, and not over 30 or 40 at flood-tide, lies the only sea-lion 154 ALASKA. rookery on Saint George's Island — some three or four thousand cows and bulls. The entire circuit of this rookery- belt was passed over by us, the big, timorous bulls rushing off into the water as quickly as the cows, all leaving their young. Many of the females, perhaps half of them, had only just given birth to their young. These pups will weigh at least twenty to twen- ty-five pounds on an aAcrage when born, are of a dark, choca- late-brown, with the eye as large as the adult, only being a suf- fused, watery, gray-blue, where the sclerotic coat is well and sharply defined in its maturity. They are about 2 feet in lengthy some longer and some smaller. As all the pups seen to-day were very young, some at this instant only born, they were dull and apathetic, not seeming to notice ns much. There are, I should say, about one-sixth of the sea-lions in number on this island, when compared with Saint Paul's. As these animals lie here under the clift's, they cannot be approached and driven ; but should they haul a few hundred rods up to the south, then they can be easily captured. They have hauled in this manner always until disturbed in 1SG8, and will undoubtedly do so again if not molested. " These sea-lions, when they took to the water, swam out to a distance of fifty yards or so, and huddled all up together in two or three i)acks or squads of about five hundred each, hold- ing their heads and necks up high out of water, all roaring in concert and incessantly, making such a deafening noise that we could scarcely hear ourselves in conversation at a distance from them of over a hundred yards. This roaring of sea-lions, thus disturbed, can only be compared to the hoarse sound of a tempest as it howls through the rigging of a ship, or the play- ing of a living gale upon the bare branches, limbs, and trunks of a forest-grove."' They commenced to return as soon as .we left the ground. The voice of the sea-lion is a deep, grand roar, and does not have the flexibility of the CaUorhhius, being confined to a low, muttering growl or this bass roar. The pups are very playful, but are almost always silent. When they do utter sound, it is a sharp, short, querulous growling. THE Dr.IVE OF THE SEA-LIONS 0^^ SAINT PAUL'S ISLAND. The natives have a very high appreciation of the sea-lion, or see-vitchiey as they call it, and base this regard upon the supe- rior quality of the flesh, fat, and hide, (for making covers for ALASKA. 155 their skin boats, hidarllcs and hidarrahs,) sinews, intestines &c. As I have before said, the sea-lion seldom lianls baek lar from the water, generally very close to the surf-margin, and in this position it becomes quite a ditlicult task for the natives to approach ajid get in between it and the sea unobserved, for, unless this silent approach is made, the beast will at onee take the alarm and bolt into the water. By reference to my maj) of Saint Paul's, a small i)oint, near the head of the northeast neck of the island, will be seen, upon which quite a large number of sea-lions are always to be found, as it is never disturbed except on the occasion of this an- nual driving. The natives step down on to the beach, in the little bight just above it, and begin to crawl on all fonrs Hat on the sand down to the end of the neck and in between the dozing sea- lion herd and the water, always selecting a semi-bright moonlight night. Jf the wind is favorable, and none of the men meet with an accident, the natives will almost always succeed in reach- ing the point nnobserved, when, at a given signal, they all jump up on their feet at once, yell, brandish their arms, and give a sudden start, or alarm, to the herd above them, for, just as the sea-lions move, upon the first impulse of surprise, so they keep on. For instance, if the animals on starting up are sleeping with their heads pointed in the direction of the water, they keep straight on toward it; but if they jump up looking over the land, they follow that course just as desperately, and noth- ing turns them, at first, either one way or the other. Those that go for the water are, of course, lost, but the natives follow the land-leadets and keep urging them on, and soon have them in their control, driving them back into a small pen, which they extemporize by means of little stakes, with liags, set around a circuit of a few hundred square feet, and where they keep them until three or four hundred, at least, are captured, before they commence their drive of ten miles overland down south to the village. The natives, latterly, in getting this annual herd of sea-lions, have postponed it until late in the fall, and when the animahs are scant in number and the old bulls poor. This they were obliged to do, on account of the pressure of their sealing-busi- ness in the spring, and the warmth of the season in August and September, which makes the driving very tedious. In this way I have not been permitted to behold the best-conditioned drives, i. e., those in which a majority of tbe herd is made up 156^ ALASKA. of fiue, enormously fat, and heavy bulls, some four or five buu- dred in number. The natives are compelled to go to tbe nortlieast point of the island for these animals, inasmuch as it is the only place ^yith natural advantages where they can be ai)proached for the pur- pose of capturing' alive. Here they congregate in greatest number, although they can be found, two or three thousand of them, on the southwest point, and as many more on " See- vitchie Cammin" and Otter Island. Capturing the sea-lion drive is really the only serious busi- ness these people ou the islands have, and when they set out for the task the picked men only leave the village. At Northeast Point they have a barrabkie, in which they sleep and eat while gathering the drove, the time of getting which depends upon the weather, wind, ithout fur, the skin has little or no com- mercial value; the hair is short, and longest- over the nape of the neck', straight, and somewhat coarse, varying in color greatly as the seasons come and go. For instance, when the Eumetopias makes his Urst appearance iu the spring, and dries out upon the land, he has n light-brownish, rufous tint, darker shades back and under the fore flippers and on the abdomen ; by the expiration of a month or six week, 15th June, he will be a bright golden-rufous or ocher, and this is just before shedding, which sets in by the middle of August, or a little earlier. After the new coat has fairly grown, and just before he leaves the island for the se.ison, in November, it will be a light sepia, or vaudyke- brow^n, with deeper shades, almost dark upon the belly; the cows, after shedding, do not color up so dark as the bulls, but when they come back to the land next year they are identically the same iu color, so that the eye iu glancing over a sea-lion rookery iu June and July cannot discern any noted dissimilar- ity of coloring between the bulls and the cows; and also the young males and yearlings appear iu the same golden-brown and ocher, with here and there an animal spotted somewhat like a leopard, the yellow, rufous ground predominating, with patches of dark-brown irregularly interspersed. I have never seen any of the old bulls or cows thus mottled, and think very likely it is due to some irregularity in the younger animals during the season of shedding, for I have not noticed it early in the season, and failed to observe it at the close. Many of the old bulls have a grizzled or slightly brindled look during the shedding-period, or, that is, from the lOtli August up to the 10th or 20th of November; the pups, when born, are of a rich, dark chestnut- brown ; this coat they shed in October, and take one much lighter, but still darker than their parents', but not a great deal. 158 ALASKA. Altbougb, as I liave already iiulicatccl, the sea-lion, iu its liabit and disposition, approximates the far-seal, yet iu no respect does it maintain and enforce the system and rejiu- larity found on the breeding-grounds of the CoUorhinus. The time of arrival at, stay on, and departure from the island is about tbe samej but if the winter is an open, mild one, the sea- lion will be seen frequently all tbrougli it, and tbe natives occasionally sboot tbem around tbe island long after tbe fur- seals bave entirely disap]ieared for tbe year. It also does not confine its landing to tbese Trybilov Islands alone, as tbe fur- seal unquestionably does, witb reference to our continent ; for it bas been and is often sbot upon tbe Aleutian Islands and many rocky islets of tbe nortbwest coast. Tbe sea-lion in no respect wbatever manifests tbe intelligence and sagacity exbibited by tbe fur-seal, and must be rated far below, altbougb next, in natarfJ order. I bave no besitation in putting tbis Eumetopias of tbe Prybilov Islands, apart from tbe sea-lion common at San Francisco and Santa Barbara, as a distinct animal ; and I call attention to tbe excellent descrip- tion of tbe California sea-lion, made public iu tbe April num- ber for 1872 of tbe Overland Montbly, by Capt. C. M. Scammon, iu wbicb tbe distinguisbing cbaracters, externally , of tbis animal are well defined, and by wbicb tbe difference between tbe Eumetopias of Bering Sea and tbat of tbe coast of California can at once be seen ) and also I notice one more point in wbicb tbe dissimilarity is marked— tbe nortbern sea-lion never barks or bowls like tbe animal at tbe Farralones or Santa Barbara. Young and old, botb sexes, from one year and upward, bave onlij a deep hass groicJ, ^ud irroJonged, steady roar ; wbile at San Francisco sea-lions break out incessantly witb a '' bonking" bark or bowl, and never roar. I am not to be understood as saying tbat all tbe sea-lions met witb on tbe Californian coast are different from E. stellerl of Bering Sea. I am well satisfied tbat stragglers from tbe uortb are down on tbe Farralones, but tbey are not migrating back and fortb every season ; and I am furtbermore certain tbat not a single animal of tbe species most common at San Francisco was present among tbose breeding on tbe Prybilov Islands in 1872-'73. According to tbe natives of Saint George, some fifty or sixty years ago tbe Eumetopias beld almost exclusive possession of tbe island, being tbere in great numbers, some two or tbree ALASKA. 159 luiiidied thousand ; and that, as the fur-seals were barely* per- mitted to hind by these animals, and in no great number, the Kussians directed them (the natives) to hunt and worrj' the sea-lions ofi' from the island, and the result was that as the sea- lions left, the fur-seals came, so that to-day they occupy nearly the same ground covered by the Eumctoplaa alone sixty years ago. This statement is, or seems to be, corroborated by Clioris, in his description of the lies S.-George's et S.-PauFs, visited by him lifty years ago ;* but the account given by Bishop Yeniaminov,t and placed in the Appendix, ditfers entirely from the above, for by it almost as many fur-seals were taken on Saint George, during the first years of occupation, as on Saint Paul, and never have been less than one-sixth of the number ou the larger island. For this the natives claim to have, on the one band, proof as to the truth of their statement, and Father Yeniaminov, on the other, publishes upon the credit of reliable lists and manuscripts in his possession at the time of writing. 1 am strongly inclined to believe that the island of Saint George never was resorted to in any great numbers by the fur-seal, and that the sea-lion was the dominant animal there until disturbed and driven from its breeding-grounds by the people, who sought to encourage the coming of its more valuable relative by so doing, and making room in this way for it. The sea-lion has but little value save to the natives, and is more prized on account of its flesh and skin, by the people liv- ing upon the islands and similar positions, than it would be elsewhere. The matter of its preservation and perpetuation should be left entirely to them, and it will be well looked after. It is singular that the fat of the sea-lion should be so different in characters of taste and smell from that of the fur-seal, be- ing free from any taint of disagreeable flavor or odor, while the blubber of the latter, although so closely related, is most repugnant. The flesh of the sea-lion cub is tender, juicy, light- colored, and slightly' like veal; in my oi)inion, quite good. As the animal grows older, the meat is dry, tough, and without flavor. * Voyage Pittorcsque autour du Monde. tZapeeskic ob O.strovah Oonablashkeaskabo Otdayla,. Sr. Petersburg. 1840. 160 ALASKA. THE WALKUS OF EEI^1^'G SEA, (ROS^JAEUS AKCTICUS.) I ^Yrite " the walrus of Bering Sca,'^ because this animal is quite distiuct from the walrus of the North Atlantic and Greenland, differing from it specifically iu a very striking man- ner, by its greater size and semi-hairless skin. These clumsy beasts are, at the present time, only to be seeu on Walrus Island, being so shy and timid that they have de- serted the other islands as they were populated by man. In early days, or when the Eussians first took possession, a great many walruses were found at Xortheast Point and along the south shore of Saiut PauPs Island, but with the landing of the traders and sea-hunters the walrus abruptly took its departure, and ^Yalrus Island alone is now frequented by it, being isolated and seldom visited during the year by the natives. It is of small commercial importance; the ivory is of poor quality, mostly porous, pithy, and yellow, while the oil is of a low grade, and the hide is quite valueless. But it is the main support of the Esquimaux far to the north, where it breeds upon the ice, the females never coming down to the Prybiiov Gi^ou]) ;— only males are to be seen on AYalrus Island. On this little island I have enjoyed a fine opportunity of studying and painting these uncouth animals from life, being able to easily approach to within a slight distance from the flanks of a herd of over five hundred walrus-bulls, which lay closely packed upon a low series of basaltic tables, elevated but little from the surf-wash. I sat upon a small rocky ledge only a few feet above and from four or five heavy bulls, being, how- ever, on the leeward side. I was surprised to observe the raw, naked appearance of the hide, a skin covered with a multitude of pustular-looking warts and pimples, without hair or fur, deeply wrinkled with dark red venous lines, showing out in bold contrast through the thick, yellowish-brown cuticle, which seemed to be scaling oil' in places, as if with leprosy. They struck my eye at first in a most unpleasant manner, for they looked like bloated, mortify- ing, shapeless masses of llesh ; the clusters of swollen, warty pimples, of a yellow parboiled flesh-color, over the shoulders and around the neck suggested unwholesomeness forcibly. This walrus is sluggish and clumsy in the water, and is almost ALASKA. IGI . helpless oh the rocks out of it, and can no more move on land, like even the lowest of the seals, i'Aom, than can the hii)popot- amus run witli the antelope; the immense bulk and weight compared ^vith the size and stren;:;th of its limi)s renders it quite impotent for terrestrial movement. Like the seal, it swims entirely under water when iravelino-, not rising, how- ever, quite so frequently to breathe; then it "blows"' not unlike a whale. On a cool, quiet morning in .May, I watched a herd otf the east coast of the island, tracing its progress by the tiny jets of vapor thrown off as tiie animals rose to respire. The adult male is about 12 feet in length from nostrils to tip of tail and has 10 or 12 feet of girth, and one bull, shot by the natives on Walrus Island, July 5, 1872, was nearly 13 feet long, with the enormous girth of 14 feet. The immense mass of blubber on the shoulders and around the neck makes the head and posteriors look small in proportion and attenuated. The strange flattened appearance of the head will be better understood by reference to the plate, where the nostrils, eyes, and ear-spots seem to be nearly placed on top of the head, the nasal apertures especially so, opening directly over the muzzle, oval, and about an inch in their greatest diameter. The tusks, or canines, are set firmly under the nostril-aper- tures, in a deep, massive, bony pocket, giving a broad, square- cut front to the muzzle. They grow down, varying in size and weight from 8 or 10 inches in length to over 2 feet, and from five pounds to fifteen, usually bowed out somewhat in the middle, the ends approaching quite closely. The larger tushes have a diameter at the heel of a little more than 2.^ inches, tapering down to less than half an inch at the tip. The upper lips are thick and gristly, full of short, stubbed, gray-white bristles, from one-half to three inches long. There are a few bristles set, also, on the chin of the lower jaw. The eyes are small, but prominent, placed nearly on top of the head, protruding from their sockets like those of the lob- ster. They are rolled about iu every direction when the ani- mal is startled. The iris and pupil is less than one-fourth of the exposed surface; the sclerotic coat bulges out from the lids, and is of a dirty, mottled coffee-yellow and brown, with an occasional admixture of white; the iris, light-brown, with dark-brown rays and spots. The animal has the power to roll the eyes when aroused, seldom moving the head more than to elevate it; but the range of sight out of water is not well 11 AL 102 ALASKA. developeil, at least, for, after throwing small chips of rock down upon the walrus-bulls near me, causiug only a stupid stare and low grunts of astonishment, I rose gently and silently to my feet, and stood boldly up before them, not more than ten feet away, but I was not noticed ; had I, however, given them a little noise, or had 1 been standing huudreds of yards away from them, to the windward, they would have taken the alarm instantly, and tumbled oft^ into the sea like so many hustled wool-sacks, for their sense of smell is keen. The ears of the walrus are on the same line at the top of the head with the nostrds and eyes, the latter being midway between. The lyaviUon is a slight fleshy wrinkle, or fold, not at all raised or developed, and from what I could see of the meatus externus^ it was very narrow and small, but they are quick and sensitive in hearing. The head of the walrus male, full grown, is, on an average, 18 inches long between the nostrils and the post-occipital region, and weighs from sixty to eighty pounds. I can only estimate the gross-weight of a mature, well-conditioned bull at two thousand pounds. The skin alone weighs from two hun- dred and tifty to four hundred pounds. It is two and three inches thick on the shoulders and around the neck, and nowhere less than half an inch deep. It feeds exclusively upon shell-fish (LamelUhrancluata, or clams, principally) and the bulbous roots of certain marine grasses and plants, which grow in great abundance in the many broad, shallow lagoons and bays of the mainland coast. I have taken from the paunch of a walrus over a bushel of crushed clams, shells and all, which the animal had but re- cently swallowed, since digestion had scarcely commenced. Many of the clams in the stomach were not even broken ; and it is in digging these shell-fish that the service rendered by the enormous tushes becomes evident. In landing and climbing over the low, rocky shelves at '' Mor- serovia," this animal is almost as clumsy and indolent as the sloth ; they crowd up from the water, one after the other, in the most ungainly manner, accompanying their movemojits with low grunts and bellowiugs; the first one up from the sea no sooner gets composed upon the rocks for sleep than the second one comes prodding and poking with its blunted tusks, demand- ing room also, and causing the first to change its position to another still farther off from the water j and the second is in ALASKA. 1G3 turn treated in tlie snnie way by the third, and so on, until hundreds will be packed together on the shore as thickly as they can lie, frequently pillowin*' their heads or posteriors upon the bodies of one another, and not at all (piarrelsoine ; as they i)ass all the time when on land in sluggish basking or deep sleep, they seem to resoit to a very singular method of keeping guard, if I may so term it, for in this herd of three or four hun- dred bulls under my eye, though all were sleeping, yet the movement of one would disturb the other, which would raise its head in a stupid manner, grunt once or twice, and before lying down to sleep again, in a few moments, it would strike the slumbering form of its nearest companion with its tusks, caus- ing that animal to rouse up for a few minutes also, grunt and pass the blow on to the next in the same manner, and so on, through the whole herd; this disturbance among themselves always kept some one or two aroused, and consequently more alert than the rest. In moving on land they have no power in the hind limbs, which are dragged and twitched up behind ; progression is slowly and tediously made by a succession of short steps forward on the fore feet. How long they remain out from the water at any one time I am unable to say. Unlike the seals, they breathe heavily and snore. The natives told me that the walrus of Bering Sea is monogamous, and that the difference between the sexes in size, color, and shape is inconsiderable ; that the female brings forth her young, a single calf, in June, usually on the ice-floes in the Arctic Ocean, above Bering Straits; that the calf closely resembles the parent in general proportio«ns and color, but that the tusks which give it its most distinguishing expression arc not visible until the end of the second year of its life; that the walrus mother is strongly attached to her offspring, and nurses it later in the season in the sea ; that the walrus sleeps profoundly in the water, floating almost vertically, w ith barely more than the nostrils above water, and can be easily ap- proached, if care is taken, to within easy spearing-distance ; that the bulls do not flglit as savagely as the lur-seal or sea- lion, the blunted tushes of the combatants seldom penetrate the thick hide ; that they can remain under water nearly an hour, or about twice as long as the seals, and that they sink like so many stones immediately after being shot. These animals are seldom molested on Walrus Island, the 164 ALASKA. natives not making any use of their flesb, fat, or bides ; aud i;vhen they are shot, it is usually but a wanton undertaking by the people while visiting the island in June and July. For the purpose of getting eggs, the natives come from the village ou Saint Paul's twice or thrice every year, and only at this season. As the females never come down to the Prybilov Islands, I have not had an opportunity of observing them, and have in this way not been able to see this animal as well as I could wish. The reason why this baud of males, many of them old ones, should be here by themselves all through the year is not plain to me ; the natives assure me that the females, or their young, never have been seen around the shores of these islands. Over iu Bristol Bay great numbers of walrus congregate on the sandy bars and flats, where they are hunted to a consider- able extent for their ivory.* From descriptions of undoubted authority, the walrus of the North x\tlantic is a much smaller animal than his relative in the Pacific, and not nearly so timid. It is also covered with a coat of short brownish-gray and black hair, while the male adult of Bering Sea is almost entirely naked. The skins and skele- tons of the two animals are now in the Smithsonian collection. * 'No walrus are now found SQutb of the Aleutian Islands, but not more than tliirty or tlilrty-five years ago small numbers of tbese animals were killed now and tbeu on islands between Kodiak and Oonemak Pass. Tbe greatest number of tbem soutb of tbe arctic circle will now be found in Bristol Bay and on tbe north sbore of tbe peninsula. Tbe finest baidars that I bave seen in tbis country were tbe skin-boats of tbe Saint Lawrence natives, wbicb were made out of dressed walrus- bides sewed witb sinews. Tbe flesb is exceedingly rank in taste and smell wben fresb,and, iu fact, quite as offensive to tbe civilized palate tben as wben putrid. Tbe natives clean tbe small intestine and dry it, wbicb gives tbem a piece of ligbt, transparent gut-parcbment, over a bundred ftot iu lengtb and five to six incbes broad, tbat serves admirably as material for water-proof coats and trousers ; tbe flipper-skin makes tbe tougbest soles for tbeir bair-seal boots, wbile tbe bido itself answers for all styles of cord- CHAPTER VIII. FISri AND F18IIEKIES. THE FISIIEKIES OF ALASKA. The value of the interests in the Territory elassed under this Lead has been greatly overrated by writers, who have ereated an impression that there are extensive banks upon whieh cod may be taken, of the same quality and with the same sueeess that, attends the labors of fishermen on the Newfoundland Banks. This is untrue 5 but salmon, herring, and halibut*are abundant, the salmon being the most valuable fishing interest, and only one of real commercial importance on the whole northwest coast. There are not on this coast the variety and excellence of fish that is common to the Atlantic seaboard, and the shad and scup runs of the East are without a parallel in these waters. There are but few species here that have an economic value in regard to the subsistence of the natives, from Bering Straits to Dixon's Sound, viz: the salmon, cod-fish, sculpius or rock- cod, {Sehastes^) and halibut. Of the first, there is, both in quality and quantity, enough to warrant commercial activity und importance; of the second, the quantity and quality are insufticient, in a business point of view, provided even the demand was always equal to the supply. Halibut might be cured in a small way; but the rock-cod and sculpius are worth- less, except to the Indians, when unable to procure either salmon or cod ; the famous " oolichan-' is confined to the Xasse Eiver. These fish are distributed throughout the Territory as fol- lows ; and first in the order of importance is — 1. Salmon. — Almost every stream, big or little, that empties into the sea or its bays, throughout the whole Territory, islands, and mainland, is visited at regular periods by one or more spe- cies of this genus, in greater or less numbers, with the widest range of variation in quality ; the runs of this fish in 3Iay and June up the large rivers in this Territory being enormous. During the last ten or twelve years»steps have been taken by competent men on the Frazer lliver and the Columbia to util- ize and turn to profit these great runs of the finest fish; but the industry of salting them for exportation failed, and a new 166 ALASKA. business — that of canning the fish— is being engaged in exten- sively on the Columbia Eiver ; and, it would seem, with a fair profit, capital might be advantageously employed in the prose- cution of salmon-canning at the months of all the principal streams in this country, as there is enough of the raw material to employ a large number of men several months in the year in its preservation and profitable disposition ; and I see no reason why this industry should not become one of great importance in the Territory. The demand for canned salmon will grow in proportion as it becomes known, for it is a superior article of food, either plain as it comes in»the can, or pickled quickly after opening. 2. Cod. — This fish is the most widely distributed of any belong- ing to the waters of Alaska or the ]^sorth Pacific and Bering Sea. It will be found on soundings, wherever a hook may be dropped in Bering Sea, south of the latitude of Saint Lawrence Island, all around the Aleutian Islands, the Alaskan Peninsular, Ko- diak, and becomes scarce and fails to the eastward as far as Kenai and Copper Eiver, and then from Sitka and Prince of Wales Island to Fort Simpson, where it is only caught for a few weeks in the year, when runniug in schools, passing usually up toward the north. The immense area frequented by this fish will be at once appreciated by glancing at the map and noting the soundings, which show that nearly the whole of Bering Sea bounded or staked out by our islands is a single great bank, aud that large areas south of the Aleutian Islands, the Peninsular, aud Kodiak, are shoaled off in a similar manner. ^Nevertheless, the catch and quality of Alaskan cod is much inferior to our east- ern fisheries. There is cod enough, however, of fair quality, to supply the immediate home-consumption of a large population, should there ever be such in the history of the Territory, but the fish- ing-grounds are not valuable enough to induce capitalists to engage in taking and curing fish for exportation. This matter has been honestly tested by experienced fishermen, who have been trained on the eastern banks, and is therefore beyond doubt. At present, however, in securing the small supply re- quired by local demand, the characteristic impatience of the people of this coast is strikingly shown; for, even could they sell their fish caught in the north at as good a rate as that of the imported stock, they, as a class, would be dissatisfied with the small profits. ALASKA. 1G7 The coast-cod avenj^^e in this Territory, "from the knife," about three to live iiouiids, and the dee[) or outer water cod, of the same species, average about eight or ten, but they are not as plentiful as the smaller. The best baidcs in the Territory are those south of Uuga Island, about the Shumagins and south of Kodiak. The catch is best off Unga. 3. UalibKt. — 1^'ound throughout the Territory on soundings south of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude. Halibut are quite abundant and of excellent quality, but the climate is such that the lishermen cannot properly dry or cure them for exporta- tion, even in small cargoes. They are, however, not abun- dant enough for exportation, and must therefore be regarded as only of local importance. The other hsh — rocl'-cod, sciilpiu, icliitc-fifih — peculiar to the rivers, &c., which are found along the coast and in the bays and estuaries, possess no special merit, and have no commer- cial importance, but they are valuable factors to the natives' existence. It will be observed that the waters of the Territory of Alaska are well stocked with fish for home use ; in the salmon inter- ests, the natural wealth is great, and will doubtless be utilized sooner or later by canning, but that the experiment of salting cod and salting salmon has not been profitable for sale in the Australian, South American, and even in our own market. There are twelve to thirteen small cod-fishing vessels that supply the San Francisco trade, but it is a significant fact that out of this number nine or ten deserted the xVlaskan banks last season, and went on nearly two thousand miles farther into the Ochotsk for their catch, where the fish are superior in quality and more plentiful. It will not be untrue to assert, from what is now known in regard to the fishing-interests of Alaska, that there is nothing there that can be considered parallel or at all equal to the runs of cod, scup, shad, and mackerel of the Xew England coast, save the periodic visit of salmon, which come in truly magnifi- cent number and condition. In the small harbor of Woods's Hole, Mass., Professor Baird caught in his nets, during one summer, over scventi/ sjyecies of food-Jishes. That cannot be done in the Xorth Pacific, no matter when or where the naturalist or fisherman may choose to try. The variety and number of piscatorial life in this region is poor indeed when compared with that of the North Atlantic. CHAPTER IX. OPt^^lTHOLOGY or THE PKYBILOV ISLANDS. By Dh. Elliott Coues, U. 8. A. (Bosed on Mr. II. W. ElUoV's manuscripts and coUcctions.*) Mr. Elliott's manuscripts and specimens Laving been sub- mitted to me for elaboration in the present connection, an account of the birds of the islands is herewith rendered. His collections furnish the data for most of the technical portions of the memoir^ while the biographical notices are, in substance, his own 5 these are placed between quotation-marks. The nomenclature and sequence of the species are adapted to the present paper from the latest systematic work upon American ornithology, the author's " Key to Xorth American Birds,'' in which may be found a diagnosis of each species and variety not herewith described. The numeral prefix of each species is that which it bears in the author's "Check-List of Xorth Amer- ican Birds." With the scientific names are given the English, and, in gen- eral, the Eussiau equivalents— the latter between quotation- marks. In most cases the synonyms and references of special pertinence are added. GENEKAL EEMAKKS OX THE BIRDS OF THE ISLA^fDS. "While a few species of water-fowl come to these islands in innumerable numbers for the purpose of breeding, yet tbe list of birds to be met with here is a small one. It is, however, of exceeding interest to tbe naturalist, comprising many desiderata scarcely obtainable elsewhere. "Over fifteen miles of the bold, high, basaltic, bluft' shore- line of Saint George's Island is ftiirly covered with hundreds of thousands of nesting gulls (Rlssa) and arries, {Uria^) while *The scientilic readers of this report will, I am sure, approve of the refer- ence of rny MSS. to Dr. Coues for elaboration, as tbe revision of synouomy has become a serious matter iu regard to the uomeuclature of uatural scieuce, and, already, too many writers have added to existing confusion in this respect by attempting to do that which others thfin themselves ore much better qualified for. — H. W. E. ALASKA. IGO down in the countless cliinks and IkjIcs over tlic entire surface of the north side of this ishmd millions of ' choochkies' {Simo- rhynchus microccros) breed, fillin;^' the air and darkening the light of di»y with their cries and tlutteriug forms. On Walrus Island the nests of the great white gull of the north {Larus glaucus) can be visited and inspected, as well also as those of tho sea-parrot or puffin, {Fratcrcida^) shags or cormorants, {GracuJuSj) and the red-legged kittiw^ake, [Larus hrevirostrin.) These are all accessible on every side, affording the observer an unequaled opportunity of noticing these birds through the breeding-season, from its beginning in May until the end in September. *' Not one of the water-birds found on and around the islands is exempted from a place in the native's larder; even the delectable shags, ^ oreelie,' are unhesitatingly eaten by the peo- ple, and indeed furnish, during the winter-season especially, an almost certain source. of supply for fresh meat. The large, gaily-colored eggs of the ' arrie' {Lomvia arra) are gathered in June and July, without stint, for use, and might be packed away in lime-water by the barrel, so as to keep through the year, if any provident or thoughtful action was taken in the matter. Walrus Island would alone supply the whole demand from year to year. On the occasion of my visit there, July 5, 1872, six men loaded a bidarrah, capable of carrying four tons, exclusive of crew, down to the waters edge with eggs, in less than three working-hours. "During the winter-months the birds are almost wholly absent. They begin to make their first appearance, in any number, for the season, early in May, and by the middle or end of September the great body of the millions that have bred during this time go to sea, and are not again noted, save a few stragglers now and then, until they re-assemble next May, for the repetition of their reproductive processes. The stress of severe weather in the winter- months, driving snow-storms, and lloating ice-floes brought down from the north, which shut the islands in, still, cold, and quiet, are cause enough for the dis- appearance of the water-fowl. "The position of the islands is such as to lie somewhat ou> side of the migratory path pursued by the birds on the mainland, and, owing to this reason, they are only visited by a few strag- glers from that quarter, and also from the Asiatic side. One 170 ALASKA. species, {SfyejysUas interpyes,) however, comes here every slim- mer, for three or four weeks' stay, in great number, and gets so fat in feeding upon the hirva} found on the killing-grounds that it often bursts open when it fidls, after being shot on the Aving. Our robin (T. mif/yatorlns) was seen by myself, near Saint Paul's Village, one cool morning in October, (the 15th,) and the natives told me that it had been noticed before in this way, never staying more than a few days or a week, and being brought there, undoubtedly, by some storm or gale of wind taking it up and off from its path over the mainland. In the same manner hawks, owls, and numerous strange water-fowl visit the islands, but never remain there long. " The Itussians tried the experiment of bringing up from Sitka and Ounalashka a number of ravens, with the view of stimu- lating them to live and breed upon these islands, where they would be almost invaluable as scavengers ; but the birds inva- riably, sooner or later, and within a short time, took flight for the mainland or the Aleutian Islands. At the time of present writing the Alaska Commercial Company have sent up to the village of Saint Paul's a number of domestic pigeons, and the experiment will be tried with them. '* The natives have always, and still do, keep a small number of chickens; and, where poultry is taken into the winter living- rooms of these people, they get return in eggs. But the main- tenance of a hennery, owing to the long season of cold, stormy weather, compelling the chickens to hunt shelter for weeks at a time, is impracticable, regarded with a view of profitable recompense for time and care. "Walrus Island is the most favorable spot, in this whole Alaskan country, to observe the nesting and breeding birds of Bering Sea. It is a low, lava rock, seven miles to the east- ward of Xortheast Point, with an area of less than five acres, rugged and bare of all vegetation, save a species of close-grow- ing curly grass. Here the Lomvia arra and many gulls, cor- morants, sea-parrots, and auks come to lay their eggs in count- less numbers. The face and brow of the low, cliif-like sea-front are occupied almost exclusively by the ' arries,' {Lomvia arra,) which lay a single Qgi; each, on the surface of the bare rock, and stand straddling over it while hatching, only leaviug at irregular and short intervals to feed. Hundreds of thousands of these birds alone are thus engaged about the 20th of June ALASKA. 171 on this little ishiiid, stiiiuling stacked np to^etber like so iiianj- bottles, as tliiekly as they can be stowed, making all the time a deep, low, hoarse, grunting- noise. They quarrel among themselves incessantly, and in this way roll thousands of eggs otl into the sea, or into crevices and fissures, where they are lost and broken. "The 'arrie' lays but one o^g. If this is removed or broken, she will soon lay another; but, if undisturbed after depositing the first, she undertakes the hatching at once. The size, shape, and coloration of this Qg:g are exceedingly variable. A large proportion of the eggs become so dirt}', by rolling bere and there in the excrement while the birds tread and quarrel over them, as to be almost unrecognizable. The shell is very tough, and the natives, when gathering them, fill tubs, baskets, «S:c., on the cliffs, carry them down to the general heap collected near the boats' landing, and pour them out upon the rocks with a single Hip of the hand, just as a basket of apples would be emptied ; and, after this, they are again quite as carelessly handled when loaded into the 'bidarrah,' sustaining through it all very little injury. ''The small grassy interior of the island, which is sharply margined by the surrounding breeding-belt of'arries'on the shore-line, is the only place, I believe, in this sea where the great white gull {Lams gJaucus) breeds. Among the little grassy tussocks here, it builds a nest of dry grass, sea-ferns, &c., very nicely laid up and rounded, and in which it lays usu- ally three eggs, sometimes only a couple ; in exceptional instances I have seen four. These big gulls could not breed on either of the other islands in this manner, for the foxes there would have the upper hand instantly,- and the bird is too large to settle on the narrow shelf-ledges of the cliffs, like the smaller gulls and other water-fowls. '* The red-legged kittiwake, [Larus hyevirosfris.) and its cousin, Larus trUJactylusj build in the most amicable manner together on the faces of the cliffs, associated with cormorants, sea-par- rots, and auks, all together, and, with the exception of the latter, the nests are easy of access. "As we land, the ' arries' Hy from their eggs off' and around for a short distance, and then settle down into the sea in platoons or files, swaying hither and thither with the movement of swell and tide, trailed out over the water like iireat whii)-lashes. 172 ALASKA. Watcli a boat as it approaches one of these swimming pha- lanxes and alarms it ; out the birds sprawl, half swimming and half flying, making a noise like a shower of hail-stones falling upon a roof, as the scare spreads from bird to bird, until the whole vast flock is beating the water with a hundred thousand wings in almost vain endeavor to rise from the calm surface, for these birds in still weather have great difficulty in taking flight. They, however, succeed well and quickly when heavy sweHs or little wavelets lift them. A gull, on the contrary, rises gracefully and easily from the water, and, indeed, is the most attractive bird on the wing of all water-fowl." " I have time after time been struck by the wonderful temer- ity of the foxes, (on Saint George's Island especially,) while secretly watching them as they were climbing up and down the faces of almost inaccessible cliffs, seeking eggs. They go on a full run or a stealthy tread over the brows of clifls that fairly overhang the sea six and nine hundred feet below. They always bring the eggs up in their mouths, and carry them back from the brink of the precipice, where they leisurely suck them, usually biting the shell out at the large end. The ' arrie ' suffers the most from these enemies, which are the only natural foes that the bird-kind has to contend with on these solitary isl- ands.*' 1. Turcltas masTaforiMS, Li^s.—nohh). ^'Rap-o-loof." Casual, and rarely seen; never resident. (Spec, October, 1872.) '< I was most agreeably surprised, one cool morning early in October, while walking up on the Village Hill, Saint Paul's Island, to see a robin, a red-breasted robin, silent and gloomy, hopping and fluttering before me. It had evidently been brought to the island by the gale which blew two days pre- viously, and was even now casting about for a good chance to leave. In order that I might observe the length of time this old friend of mine would stay with us, I did not shoot him, but strolled out to the locality every morning and evening until the end of the third day, when I missed him. The natives recognized it as a chance visitor, though seen almost every year in this manner. Two weeks later I observed a small flock of JEfjioidi^ (red polls.) which were passing over the island, alighting here and there to feed. They are regularly seen migrating to the southward everv fall." ALASKA. 173 50rt. Aiioi'tliiiia fro;;l<»1. Troglodytes hyemalis var. aloscensis, Dall. Troc. Cala. Acad. Sci., (Feb. (r-, 187:5.) This iiiterostiii.i;' local loiin ()[' Anorthura differs from the ordi- nary North American bird in its superior size and darker brown colors, an»l in the much ;^reater length and caliber of the bilL lu 3'oang birds the difference is less strongly marked. The dimensions of an adult in ]\Ir. Elliott's collection are as fol- lows: bill, along- culmen, .38 ; wing, 1.90 5 tail, 1.30 j tarsus, .02; middle toe and claw, .04. The corresponding dimensions of an average specimen of var. InjemaUs are : .30, 1.80, 1.20, .02, .58. " This brave little bird was first brought into notice by Mr. Dall, who collected a single specimen while on the island in 1808, and sent it to the Smithsonian Institution. In his brief note accompanying it he speaks of its being abundant there, ^vhile I, in 1873, shot almost every one that I saw, and yet at the end of the season, August 4, I had but seven specimens. It was seldom seen, but then again in 1874 they were quite numerous. '' It is not a migratory bird, but remains permanently upon the island. Its nest is built in small, deep holes and crevices in the cliffs. I have not myself seen it, but the natives say that it lays from eight to ten eggs, in a nest made of soft, dry grass and feathers, roofed over, with an entrance at the side to the nest-chamber, thus being of elaborate construction. " The male is very gay during the period of mating and incu- bation, llying incessantly from plant to plant or rock to rock, singing a rather shrill and very loud song, and making, for a small bird, a great noise. ^'I shot the young, fully fledged, on the 28th of July, differ- ing only from the parent in having a much shorter bill, and in a general darker and more diffuse coloration. ''Although Saint Paul's Island is but twenty-seven miles to the northwest from Saint George's, not a single specimen of this little wren has been seen there. I made, during the whole sea- son of 1872, unavailing search for it. " The native name, ' limmer-shin,' signifies a • chew of tobacco,' 174 ALASKA. and is given on account of the resemblance of this wee bird in size and color to a tobacco-quid." Mr. ^y. H. Dall found this species to be resident and abun- dant on tlie rocky cliffs of Amaknak Island, Ounalasbka, where, he says, " it is quite familiar and bold. It builds in the crevices of the rocks, but I was not able to find the nest. It has a cheerful and melodious note, and is, to some extent, gregarious, three or four being usually seen together. It was not seen in the Shumagins, though it may occur there." 144«. L,eucosticte tephrocotis var. g^riseiniielia, (Brdt.) CoUES. — Gray-eared Finch. *' Pabtosbkie." Linaria griseinncha, Brandt. "Oru. Eoss., (1842.)" Leucosticte griseituicha, Bp. Consp. Av., i, 537, (1850.)— Bp. et SCHLEGEL. Mouog. Loxiens 5, pi. xli, (young,) (1850.)— Bd. B. N. Amer., 430, (1858.)— Dall et Banx. Trans. Cbicago Acad, i, 282, (1869.)— Coop, B. Cal. i, 161, (1870.)— Dall, Pr. Cala. Acad., (Feb., 1873.) Leucosticte te2)hrocotis var. griscinucha, Coues. Key, 130, fig. 77, (1872.) Leucosticte griseogenys, Gould. P. Z. S., 104, (184.3,) and Toy. Sulpbur, i, 42, pi. xxii, (1844.) Leucosticte Uttoralis, Bd. Trans. Cbicago Acad., i, 317, pi. xxviii, fig. 1, (1869.)— Coop. B. Cala. i, 163, (1869.)— Ball. Proc. Cala. Acad., (Feb., 1873.) Leucosticte tephrocotis var. Uttoralis, Coues. Key, 130, (1872.) (C/., ihicl, 352.) Numerous beautiful specimens of the adults of both sexes in high breeding attire, and others illustrating the earliest plu- mage of the young, are in the collection. There are no appre- ciable outward distinctions of sex. The bill at this season is black, the ash and black of the head are pure and well defined, the chocolate brown is rich, and the rosy tends to crimson. The very young birds are dark, sooty gray, overlaid with brown ; a lighter and more rusty shade of the same edges the wing- feathers, and the bill is in part light colored. Although this form is much larger than typical icphrocoih^ and otherwise different in the imtura of the head, we do not find ourselves enabled to separate it specifically, since numer- ous intermediate specimens attest its iutergradation with the Ibrmer. Xor do we find it necessary to distinguish the slight variety, UttoraUs., by name ; we refer it to var. (jrheinuclia^ con- sidering both forms as the single arctic representative of tephro- cotis proper. "This agreeable little bird, always cheerful and self-pos- ALASKA. 175 ei'ssed, is are<4ulai' and i)(Minan(*iit settler on tlw islands, wliich it never leaves. In tlie dei)tli of dismal winter, as well as on a snniiner's day, the pabtosbkie greets you with the same pleasant ehirrup, wearing the same neat dress, as it' determined to make the best of everythin*;. It is particnlarly abnndant on Saint George's, where its habits may be studied to best advantage. "The pahtoshkie nests in a chink or crevice of the cliti's, building a warm, snug home for its little ones of dried grasses and moss, very neatly put together, and lined with a few feathers. The eggs vary in number from three to six, heing generally four. They are pure white, with a delicate rosy blush when fresh ; and measure .1)7 by .07 inch. The young breok the shell at the expiration of twenty or twenty-two days' incubaiion, the labor of which is not shared by the male, who, however, brings food to his mate, singing the while, as if highly elated by his prospects of paternity. The chicks, at first, are sparsely cov- ered with a sprinkling of dark-gray down, and in two or three weeks gain their feathers, fitting them for flight, although tliey do not acquire the bright rosy hues and rich brown of the l)arents the first year. Between the old birds there is no out- ward dissimilarity according to sex, the male and female being exacth' alike in size, shape, and coloration. " They feed upon various seeds and insects, as well as the larvje which swarm on the killing-grounds. They are fearless and confiding, fluttering in the most familiar manner around the village huts. In the summer of 1873, a i^air built their nest and reared a brood under the eaves of the old Greek church at Saint George's. " The nests, of which I collected fifteen or twenty, are very neatly made up of dry grass and moss, thick, and compactly interwoven, placed on the faces of the basaltic and breccia cliffs which rise from the shore-line of the islands. These disinte- grating tufa and breccia bluffs afford a thousand and one little pockets and crannies in which the pahtoshkie builds, secure from molestation by prowling foxes. It has no song, but utters a low, mellow chirp, alike either when flying or sitting. It is most abundant on Saint George's, where hundreds may be seen at any time during a short walk along tLe north shore. It con- sorts in pairs throughout the year, never going in flocks, and seldom flying or feeding alone." Mr. ^Y. II. Dall remarks upon the abundance of the bird on the Aleutians as well as on the Prybilov Islands. In August, 176 ALASKA. lie says, it bas uo soug, " except a clear cbirp, sounding like 'weet-a-w^et-a-wee-weet.^ It was on the wing a great part of the time, avoiding alighting on the ground, but darting rapidly iu a series of ascendiug and descending curves, now swinging on the broad top of an umbelliferous plant, now alighting on some ledge of the perpendicular cliff, jumping from point ta point, seemingly delighted in testing its own agility." He found it particularly numerous in Ounalashka, where it is resi- dent. A nest, which he discovered May 24, contained tive white eggs, fresh ; it was placed in a crevice of a rocky bank, about twelve feet above the beach, and was neatly built of grasses, lined with a few leathers. 1.V2. PlectroplisiBies nivalis, (L.) Meyer.— *S?/o?y Bunting. " Sna- guiskit*."' Among Mr. Elliott's many specimens in pure black and white attire are a few, in the earliest plumage of the young, probably never seen in the United States. The general color is gray, overlaid slightly with a light-brown cast, the inter- scapular feathers having a dusky center. The gray fades on the breast into dull whitish, which occupies the rest of the under parts. Most of the secondary quills are white, with a dusky touch on the outer webs ; the three inner ones, however, are black, with broad, chestnut-brown edging. Three lateral tail-feathers are mpstly w^hite. " The snow-bird is another permanent resident of these islands, but one which, unlike the Lcucostwfe, is rather shy and retiring, nesting high on the rocky, broken uidands, and only entering the village during unusually severe or protracted cold weather. *' The snaguiskie builds an elegant and elaborate nest of soft, dry grass, and lines it warmly with a thick bed of feathers. It is placed on the ground, beneath some lava-slate, or at the foot of a bowlder. Five eggs are usually laid, about the 1st of June; they are an inch long by two-thirds broad, of a grayish or greenish white, spotted sometimes all over, sometimes at or around the larger end oidy, with various shades of rich, dark- brown, purplish-brown, and paler neutral tints. Sometimes the whole surface is quite closely clouded with diffuse reddish- brown markings. "The female assumes the entire labor of the three weeks' incubation required for the maturing of the embryos. During ALASKA. 177 this ix'iiod the iii;ilo is assiduous iu l)iiii^iii<( food, and, at fic- (jueut intervals, sin<;s his simple but sweet son^% risin^^, as he be'^ins it, hi.nh u[) in the air, as the skylark does when caroling, and, with the end of the stave, dropping suddenly to the ground again. The young are early provided with a gray downy coating, which is speedily replaced by a i)luniage resem- bling that of the adult female, and, in less tlian four weeks from the day of hatching, the little snaguiskie is as l>ig as its parents, and weighs more. " The food of this species consists of the various seeds and insects peculiar to the rough, higher grounds it frequents. It never tlies about iu tiocks, and at this season cannot be called gregarious, like the Lapland longspur, wit*li which it is asso- ciated ou these islands." 153. Fleet I'opliaiios lappoiiieiis, (L.) Selby.— Lflj>/a»d Loncjf0«i liyperbol'CtIS, (L.,) Cuv.—Xorthcm PhaJaropc. The e*^g of this species, not yet generally well known, pre- sents the following characters, taken from the unparalleled ALASKA. 181 fserics in the Siiiitlisoniaii InstitiitiMii. collected at various points in the Yukon and Audersou lliver region : The ^aound varies from dark greenish olive, or brownish olive, through various lighter drab tints, nearly to a bnffy brown, occasionally to a light gray. Tlie markings are usually heavy and bold, consist- ing of large spots, and still larger blotches or splashes result- ing from their confluence, mingled with dots and scratches in interminable confusion. Jn general pretty evenly distril)uted, they often tend to aggregate about the larger end, in rarer in- stances forming a perfect wreath. In a few ijistances all the markings are mere dots. As a rule, the size and heaviness of the markings bear some proportion to intensity of the ground color ; the markings are dark bister-brown, chocolate, and some- times still lighter brown. The longest and narrowest egg of several dozen measures 1.30 by only .73 ; a short, thick egg gives only 1.10 by .82 ; the average is about 1.20 by .SO. The eggs are three or four in number, oftenest the latter, and are generally laid in June, oftenest in the latter half of the month. They are deposited in a slight depression of the ground, vari- ously lined with a little withered vegetation. "A few stray couples breed upon the islands, nesting around the margins of the lakelets. The egg I was unable to find, but I secured several newly-hatched young ones which were very pretty and interesting. They are only two or three inches long, with a bill about a third of an inch in length, and no thicker than an ordinary dressing-pin. The down of the head, neck, and upper parts is rich brownish yellow, variegated with brownish black, the crown being of this color mixed with yel- low, and a long stripe extends down the back, llanked with one over each hip, another across the rump, and a shoulder-spot on .— Wh\ie-rnmimJ(iochdt. Limom iiropiKiiaHs, iUniM.— hu. Trans. CliicMj^o Acad., i,320, pi. :V2, (IHC.D.)— Dall ami Banx. Jbkl, 29:3.— Coles. Key X. A., Birds ^58, (1H72.) This well-known Old World species, lately added to our fauna, as above, is readily distinguished by the black and white barrin^i^' of the up[)er tail-coverts. In winter the upper parts are pale gray, with dusky shaft-lines, and the under parts are nearly ^vhite — a condition never shown by our other species. In full plumage, the white of the rump and ui)per tail-coverts is more or less tinged with rusty, and the upi)er parts are brown- ish black, everywhere variegated with rust^^ Bills of different specimens before us range in length from 3i to 4i inches; those of the adults are mostly uark, but in the young fully the basal half is light-colored — dull whitish in the dried state. Mr. Elliott did not take the eggs of this species, but two examples were secured by Mr. Dall, June 18, 1868, at Kutlik, Alaska. These differ as much from each other as eggs of this species do from those of other species. The ground of one is quite greenish olive ; of the other, pale olive-gray. In the former, the markings are all subdued neutral tints, apparently- in the shell ; in the latter, the markings are nearly- all on the surface, and quite bright chocolate-brown. In both cases the markings are numerous and of indeterminate shape, mostly small, and generally distributed, though tending to aggregate at the butt, where alone they lose their distinctness in coalesc- ing to form a splashed area. Size, 2.20 x 1.45; 2.2o x 1.50. '' Migratory only, never breeding here. Comes in a strag- glifig manner early in May, passing northward with little de- lay, and re-appears toward the end of August in docks of a dozen to fifty.'' 440. Ileteroscelus iescaiiiis (G.m.) Coues.— [r«»r/m»ry Tattler. ^colopax incana, Gmel. Syst. Nat,, i, 658, (1768.)— Lath. Ind. Oni., ii, 724, (1790.) Totanus bicanus, Vieill. Diet. Deterv., vi, 400. (1816.) Heieroscdns hicauns, Coues. Key N. A. Birds, '261, (1872.) Triuya glanola, Pall. Zoo*;. Rosso- As., ii, 194, pi. 60, (1811.) Totanus hrevipes, Vieill. Diet. Deterv., vi, 400, (1816.)— Cass. Pr. A. N. S., viii, 40, (1856.) Hcteroscehis bnvipcs, Baiud. B. X. A., 734, pi. 88, (1858.)— Dall. Tr. Cbic. Acad., i, 293, (1869.) Totauus fuligiuosus, Gould. Voy. Beagle; Birds, 130, (1841.) — Ghav. G. of B., iii, pi. 154. Scolopax iiudnJata, FoiiST. Descr. Auiin., ed. Licbt., 173, (1844.) 188 ALASKA. Totanus ])uh'enile)ttiis, Mull. YerbaiuL, 153, (1844.) — Sciilegel, Fauna Japan, pi. Co. Totanus oceanicus, Less. Comp. Buff., 244, (1847.) Totanus pohjnesicE, Peale. ^'oy. Vine, and Peac. ; Birds, 237, (1848.) Totanus griseojyygius, Gould. B. Anst., vi, pi. 38. Gamhetia Ireripts, fidiguwsa, j;«?("f?-«?c«/a, oceanica, gnseoi)ijy'ia, Bonaparte. Two specimens are contained in Mr. Elliott's collections. jVIigratory regularly, but does not breed here. It comes every year early in June, and subsequently re-appears toward the end of July, when it may be obtained on the rocky beaches. It never visits the uplands, and is a very shy and quiet bird. 443. Niinienitis borealis, (Forst.) 'La.tii.— Esquimaux Curlew. This curlew only visits the Prybilov Islands in the same man- ner as the Limosa. It breeds, apparently' iu great numbers, in the Anderson Elver region, to judge from the numerous sets of eggs in the Smithsonian forwarded by Mr. K. Macfarlane. The usual nest-complement is four, made up usually the third week in June. The nest is i^laced on a barren plain, and made of decayed leaves phiced under the eggs in a depression of the ground. The eggs vary to the great extent usual among waders. The ground is olive-drab, either tending more ,to green, to gray, or to brown in different instances. The mark- ings are always numerous and bold, of the dark chocolate, bister, and sepia browns of different depths, together with the usual stone-gray shell-markings. These always tend to aggre- gation at the larger end, or, at least, are more inimerous on the major half of the egg, though the distribution is sometimes nearly uniform, and iu no instance is the small end entirely free from spots. In one set the large end is almost completely occu- pied by a denseconfluenceof very dark markings. The smallest, and at the same time shortest, egg measures only 1.90 x 1.40 • the longest and narrowest, 2.12 x 1.33; an average egg is 2.00 X 1.45. We may refer, in this connection, to a species of curlew lately ascertained to inhabit Alaska, as one which may be expected to occur also on the Prybilov Islands. This interesting addi- tion to our fauna is the Xumenius femoralis of Peale — a species about as large as X. huflsoniciis, and somewhat resembling it, but readily distinguished by the curious long bristly filaments which tip the abdominal leathers, and otber characters. A ALASKA. 1 89 luale specimen was taken by F. Bischoff at Fort Kenai, Alaska, May 18, 18G1>, and is now in the Smithsonian. (See Vigors, Zool. Jouru., iv, 356 ; and Zool. Voy. Blossom, 28.) A single specimen only of the Esquimaux curlew was taken by Mr. Elliott on Saint Paul's Island, June, 1872. iS'one other than this one was seen by him. 4&2. PliilJicte oaiiaSBC^? (Sevast.) Bxsy;. —Empcroi' Goose. Fainted Goonc. Anas canayica, Skvast. Nov. Act. Acad. St. Peters., xiii, 340, pi. 10, (leou.) Jnser canafjicus, Brandt. Ball. Sc. St. Peters., i, 37, (1836.) Brandt. Descr. et Ic. Ad. Eosso-As., 7, pi. 1, (183G.) ChIocpha(ja canaffka, Bonap. Comptes Rendns, (185G.)— Baird. B. X. A., 768, (1858.)— Dall and Bann. Trans. Chic. Acad., i, 296, (1869.)— Dall. Proc. Cala. Acad., (Feb., 1873.) riiilacte canagica, Bann. Proc. Pbila. Acad., 131, (1870.)— CouES. Key, 283, (1872.) A set of five eggs, taken by Mr. Dall in Kuselvak Slough, June 20, 1868 are much elongated and nearly equal at either end. The color is white, but with fine pale-brown dotting, giv- ing a general light dirty-brown aspect. Specimens measure 3.33 X 3.10 ; 3.40 x 2.90, &c. ] " Visits the islands only as a straggler, sometimes landing so exhausted that the natives capture a whole flock in open chase over the grass, the birds being unable to use their wings for flight. I found the flesh of this bird, contrary to report, free from any unpleasant flavor, and, in fact, very good. The objec- tionable quality is only skin-deep, and may be got rid of by due care in the preparation of the bird for the table.-' Mr. Dall's interesting note may be appended, iu further illus- tration of the history of this species : " This magnificent bird abounds in profusion in the Kuselvak Slough, or mouth of the Yukon, to the exclusion of all other species. My endeavors to reach that point being unavailing, I was obliged to do my best to obtain specimens elsewhere. It is quite scarce around the Kwichpak Slough and on the sea- coast. By offering a large reward, I obtained four fine speci- mens from the marshes around Kutlik. It is the largest of the geese of the country, and the delicate colors of the body, with the head and nape snow-white, tipped with rich amber-yellow^ are a beautiful sight. The eye is dark-brown ; feet, flesh-color. The eggs are larger and longer than those of A. [/ambcJl, and rather brown fulvous, the color being in minute dots. It lajs- 190 ALASKxV. on tbe ground, like tlie other geese. The Eskimo name is JS^achoicthlulx. Tbe raw flesh and skin have an intolerable odor of garlic, which renders it a very disagreeable task to skin them, but when cooked this entirely passes away, and the flesh is tender and good eating. *'This goose arrives about June 1, or earlier, according to the season. As soon as the eggs are hatched the birds begin to inolt. I saw half-molted specimens at Pastolik, July 29, 1867. It remains longer than any other goose, lingering until the whole sea-coast is fringed with ice, feeding on 3Iytiliis edu- Us and other shell-fish, and has been seen as late as ^^ovember 1 by the Eussians. It usually goes in pairs, or four or five together, rather than in large flocks. Its note is shriller and clearer than that of A, (jamheU or B. hutchinsi, and it is shyer than the other geese, except the black brant." ' According to Mr. Dall, the emperor-goose does not occur in the Aleutian Islands from Ounalashka eastward. 485a. Bi aiita cawadeiisis, var. leiicopareia, (Brdt.) Coues — White-coUared goose. " Choruie Goose." Anser canadensis, Pallas, »jec a«c/. Zoog. Eosso-As.,ii, 230, (1811.) Anser Icucopareius, Brandt. Bull. Ac. Acad. St. Petersb., i, 37, (I83G.) Brandt. Descr. et Ic. Auim. Rosso-As., 13, pi. 2, (1836.) Bernicla lencoparela, Cassix. 111. 272^ pi. 45, (1855.)— Bd. B. K. A., 764, (1858.)— Dall. Traus. Cliic. Acau., i, 295, (1869.) / Branta leucojjareia, Gray. Hand-list, iii, 76, No. 10580, (1871.) . Branta canadensis var. Jeucojpareia, Coues. Key 284, Fig. 185 b, (1872.) T There is no reasonable question that this is anything more than a race of the common B. canadensis. The supposed specific char- acters, not very tangible at best, are not entirely constant. • According to Mr. Dall, this goose is abundant on the coast about the mouth of the Yukon, where it breeds, but it is rare at Nulato or farther inland. The eggs were obtained at Pasto- lik. ^' Occasionally straggles to the islands in small squads of ten to thirty, evidently driven by high winds from their customary line of migration along the mainland. Though not breeding here, it spends, occasionally, weeks at a time on the lakelets and uplands, before taking flight either, north or south, as the season may be." 488. Anas bOSChas, {L.)—Mal}ard. ''A pair bred during the season of 1872, on Polavina Lakelet, Saint PauFs Island, and several were observed later in the ALASKA. 191 fall. The iMalljud was also notcMl on Saint George's Island, hut it is certainly not ii regular visitor of either island." 492. Msirccsi peiaelopc, (L.) liv.— Jfiihjcoti. It is an interesting fact that the widgeon which visits the Prybilov Islands is not ^f. americaud, which would have been iinticipated, but the true 21. pt'udope^ as Mr. Elliott's specimens attest. "It is seldom seen, never in pair^^ does not breed on the islands, and apparently the few individuals noted during two years' observation were wind-bound or astray. 508. Ilarelda g:laciali8, (L.) hKxcn.—Lonfj-taihd Duck. '' Saafka." *' Common and resident. It breeds on the lakelets and sloughs of Saint Paul's, in limited numbers. "This is a very noisy bird, particularly in the spring, when, with the breaking up of the ice, it comes into the open reaches of water with its peculiar, sonorous, and reiterated cry of ah- naaJi-ncuXh yahy which rings cheerfully upon the ear after the silence and desolation of an ice-bound arctic winter." The eggs of this species, according to the sets before me, are six or seven in number, of the usual shape and smooth texture of shell; one set is more decidedly pale greenish than the other, which is lighter, and rather gray, slightly inclining to creami- ness. They measure 2.20x1.50, down to 1.90x1.40. One set was taken June 22, the other July 5. 510. Histrionicus toi'qiiatiis (L.) Bp.— Harlequin Duck. "Common on and around the island shores, idly floating amid the surf in flocks of fifty or sixty, or basking and preen- ing on the beaches and outlying rocks. It may be seen all the year round, excepting only when forced away by the ice-floes. Its neat, however, eluded my search ; and, although I am quite confident that it breeds on either the rocky beaches or the high ridges inland, the natives themselves were equally ignorant of its eggs. "My experience of this bird, it will be observed, differs from Mr. Ball's, who states that it 'is an essentially solitary species, found, alone or in pairs, only in the most retired spots, on the small rivers flowing into the Yukon, where it breeds.' {Trans. Chlcafjo Acad., i, 298.) I did not find it particularly wild or shy, and numbers are killed by the natives every fall or spring. It is a remarkablv silent bird : I heard from it no cry what- 192 ALASKA. ever during the whole year. It is a most gregarious duck ; sol- itary pairs uever stiay away from the flock. The females seem to outnumber the males, two to one." 511. Soiiiatei'ia stelleri, (Pall.) Newt.— 5feZ/ers Eider. Anas stelleri, Pall. Spic. Zool., vi. 35, pi. 5, (1769.) Clangula stelleri, Boie. Isis, 564, (1822.) Fuligula stelleri, Bp. Syn. B. U. S. 394, (1828.) Macropus stelleri, Nutt. Mau., ii, 451^ (1834.) Fohjsticta stelleri, Eyton. Hist. Brit. B., 79, (1836.)— Bd. .B. N. A., 801, (1858.) Eniconetta stelleri. Gray. List Gen. of B., 95, (1840.) Harelda stelleri, Keys, et Bias. Wirb. Europ., 230, (1840.) Heniconetta stelleri, Agass. lud. Univ., 178, (1846.) Somateria stelleri, Newt. P. Z. S., 400, (1861.)— Coues. Key, 291, (1872.) Anas dispar, Sparrm. Mus. Carls., pi. vii, viii, (1786.) Fuligula dispar, Steph. Sbaw's Gen. Zool., xii, 206, (1824.) Stelleria dispar, Bp. Comp. List B. Eur. and N. A., 57, (1838.) Anas occidua, Bonn, et Vieill. Ency. Met., i, 130, (1823.) ''A few of these ducks were observed, but not secured, on Saint PauPs, in tne spring of 1872. Two were shot at the East Point, Saint George's, the same year. It is only a straggler." As several experienced ornithologists have stated, Steller's duck is a true eider in all essential respects. Various views of its systematic position which have been entertained are indi- cated by the foregoing synonymy. An egg of Steller's duck, in the Smithsonian, from the Peters- burg Museum, through H. E. Dresser, esq., collected in Kamtschatka, measures 2.20 x 1.60, and is like that of the com- mon eider in shape, color, and texture of shell. 534. Oraciiliis bicristatus, (Pall.) Gray. Fied-faced Cormorant. '' Oreel." ? Red-faced Cormorcmt or Shag, Pennant & Latham. (Arct. Zool., 11, 584 ; Gen. Syn. vi, 601. Kamtschatka.) f Felecanus urile, G^r. Syst. Nat., 1, 575, (1788.)— Lath. lud. Orn. ii, 888, (1790.) Phalacrocorax bicristatus. Pall. Zoog. Rosso-As., ii, 301, pi. 75, f. 2, (1811.) Graculus bicristatus, Gray. Gen. of Birds. Hand-list, iii, 128, No. 11129.— Bd. Tr. Chic. Acad., 1, 321, pi. '3'S, (1869.)— Dall. & Bann. Ibid., 302.— Coues. Key, 304, (1872.) Urile bicristatus, Bp , partim. Comp. A\\, 11, 175, (1851.) " Fhalacrocorax pelagicus, Pall." Zoog. Rcsso-As., ii, 303, pi. 76, (1811.) The cormorant, which .swarms on the Prybilov Islands, ap- pears to be unquestionably the bird of Pallas, which is most ALASKA. 193 probably the rod-faced cormorant, P. urile^ of earlier authors. In adiUt phiina-e it is readily recognized by the naked red skin which entirely surrounds the base of the bill, somewhat caruncuhite, and the blue base of the under mandible, as well as by the other points noticed in the later treatises above quoted. h\ the gieat confusion subsisting among authors re- spectiug the North Tacihc cormorants, we do not venture to cite several names more or less probably synonymous. Several eggs of this cormorant, brought in by Mr. Elliott, are covered with the white, chalky incrustation, in a maximum amount of depth and irregularity, the shell being very pale bluish beneath. They measure about 2 J inches long by 1 J wide, being thus narrowly elongate, though little njore pointed at one end than at the other. They are all much soiled with the filth of the nest. "This cormorant, the only one of its tribe visiting the Seal Islands, is a common bird, and is found the whole year round. The terrible storms in February and Marcjh are unable to drive the "shag" away from the sheltered clifts of the island, while all other species, even the big northern gull, depart for the open water south. " It comes on to the cliffs to make its nest and lay, the earliest of the birds in this sea. Two eggs were taken from a nest on the reef. Saint Paul's Island, June 1, 1872, which is over three weeks in advance of the other water-fowl, almost without ex- ception. The nest is large, carefully rounded up, and built upon some jutting point or narrow shelf along the face of a cliff or bluff; in its constrnctiou sea-ferns, {Scrtularidcv,) grass, &o., are used, together with a cement made largely of their excre- ment. " The eggs are usually three in number, sometimes four, and, compared with the size of the bird, are very small. They are oval, of a dirty, whitish gray, green, and blue color, but soon become soiled ; for although the bird's plumage is sleek and bright, yet it is exceedingly slovenly and filthy about the nest. The young come from the shell at the expiration of three weeks' incubation, without feathers, and almost bare even of down. They grow rapidly, being fed by the old birds, who eject the contents of their stomachs, such as small fish, crabs, and shrimps all over and around the nest. In about six weelis the young cormorant can take to its wings, being then fully as large and heavy as the parents; but it is not until the beginning of its second year that it has the bright plumage and metallic 13 AL 194 ALASKA. gloss of the adult, weariug, during- the first year, a dull drab- browo coat, with the brilliant colors of the base of the bill and gular sac subdued. ^' This shag is a bold and very inquisitive bird, and utters no sound whatever except when flying over and around a boat or 8bip, which apparently has a magnetic power of attraction for them. When they are hovering and circling around in this way, I have heard alow, droning croak come from them. " The cormorant cannot be called a bird of graceful action at any place, either on the wiug or en shore. Its flight is a quick beating of the wings, (which are usually more or less ragged,) with the neck and head stretched out horizontally to the full length. It is exceedingly inquisitive, flying around again and again to satisfy its curiosity, but never alighting on a boat or ship, though coming close enough sometimes to be almost touched by hand. It is very dirty on the rocks, and does not keep its nest in tidy trim like the gulls; but in regard to its plumage, it cannot be surpassed, or even equaled, by any bird of Bering Sea for brilliant gloss and glittering sheen. It fairly shimmers, when in the sunlight, with deep bronze and purjfle reflections, as though clothed in steel armor. " In their stomachs I have found almost invariably the re- mains of small fish and a coil of worms, {Xematoda.) " As this bird is found during the whole winter, in spite of severe weather, perched on the sheltered bluffs, the natives re- gard it with a species of aflection, for it furnishes the only sup- ply that they can draw upon for fresh meat, soups, and stews, always wanted by the sick ; and were the shags sought after throughout the year, as they are during the short spell of intensely-bitter weather that occurs in severe winters, driving the other waterfowl away, they would certainly be speedily ex- terminated. They are seldom shot, however, when anything else can be obtained.'' I>ioBiiedCM brachyura, TE^m.—Short-falhd Albatross. *' Twenty or thirty years ago, wiien whaling-vessels were reaping their rich harvests in Bering and the Arctic Seas, the albatross was often seen about the islands, feeding upon the whale-carrion which might drift on shore. But with the decrease of the whale-fishery the birds have almost disappeared. Only a single individual was noted during my two years' residence.' This was taken by Dr. Mean}', on the north shore of Saint George's. ALASKA. 105 "It is coiiimou Mroiiud Oiinaljislika Island, where I saw a large number, on my way to San Franei.sco, in August, 1873." bc2a. FcaBBsaan'tis l^lncsaEi!^ var. ro<1g:crsfl, (Cass.) CaiT.s.—Iiodfjcrii's J-'iiliiKir, '• J.iipiis." F((lmanis roclfjcrnii, C.vss. Proc. Pbila. Acad., 290, ( IsG^.)— Coues. oi>. df., 29,(18GC.)— Baikd. Tr. Chicago Acad., i, 323, pi. 34, fig. 1, (1809.)— Dall et I3AXN. Ibid, 303. FalmarKS gJacialis var. rodgcrsi, Col'ks. — Key X. A. Birds, 327, (1872.) . Distinguished from the ordinary fulmar by the restriction of the darker slate-gray mantle, mostof the wing-coverts and some of the secondaries being white. An egg of this fuhnar, procured by Mr. Elliott, is much more elongate than the only specimen of F. glaciaUs before me, and the shell is even rougher than in the latter, with innumerable raised points and minute fossae. It measures 2.00 in length by 1.90 in breadth, and is scarcely more pointed at one end than at the other. The color is white, much soiled, in this instance, with adventitious yellow discoloration. The description applies to the whole of a large series examined. " This is the only representative of the ProceUarhuv I have seen on or abont the Prybilov Islands. It repairs to the cliffs, especially on the south and east shores of Saint George's, comes very early in the season, and selecting some rocky shelf, secure from all enemies save man, where, making no nest whatever, it lays a single large, white, oblong-oval egg, and immediately commences the duty of incubating. It is one of the most devoted of all water-fowl to its charge, for it will not be scared from the egg by any demonstration that may be made in the way of throwing rocks or yelling, and will even die as it sets rather than take to flight, as I have frequently witnessed. ^'The fulmar lays by 1st to oth of June. The egg is very palatable, fully equal to that of our domestic duck — even better. The natives lower themselves over the cliffs, and gather a large number of eggs every season on Saint George's Island.* * But it is hazardous work, and these iieople on St. George seldom gather more tban they want at the time of taking. The sensation experienced by the writer, who has dangled over these precipices on a slight thong of raw-hide, with the surf boiling three or four hundred feet below, and loose rocks rattling down from above, anyone of which was liable to destroy life, is one not to be expressed by language, and which, I think, quite sufficient excuse for the natives to be content with just as few eggs as possible. — H. W.E. 196 ALASKA. ^' The Lupus uever flies iu flocks ; it pairs early, aiul is theo exceedingly quiet. I bave never heard it utter a sound save a low, droning croak, when disgorging food for its young. " The chick comes out a perfect puff-ball of white dowu,^ gaining its first plumage in about six weeks. It is a dull gray^ black at first, but by the end of the season it becomes like the parents in coloration, only much darker on the back and scap- ularies. j " They are the least edible of all the birds about the islands. Like others of the family, they vomit up the putrid contents of their stomachs upon the slightest provocation." 540. Stercorariiis poiiiatoiiiinus, YiEiLi^.—Pomarine Jciger. "Raz- boi-nik." Larus parasiticus, Mey. et Wolf. Tascb. Deutscb., 11, 490, (1810.) Lanis creindatus, Gm. L. N., i, G02, ( 1788. ) (Qu. tes Sterc. striatus Briss.) Les'tris striatus, Eyton. Br. Birds, 53. Stercorarius iwmarinns, Yieill. Nonv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., xxxii,. 158, (1819.)— COUES. Proc. Pbil. Acad., 129, (18G3.) Stercorarius jyomatorhinus, Coues. Key, 309, (1872.) Cataractes pomarinus, Steph. Gen. Zool., xiii, 21C, pi. 24, (1825.) Cojirotlieres pomarinus, Reich, Syst. At., 52, (1580.) Cataractes parasita var. camtschaiica, Pallas. Zoog. Rosso-As.., ii, 312,(1811.) ^'A rare visitor. The specimen secured was the only one seen on the islands. It was found on the high, mossy uplands, perched in a listless attitude on a tussock of grass." 541. Stercorarius parasiticus, (Bruxx.) Q-r ax. —Parasitic Jdgcr. Catharacta parasitica, Bruxx. Orn. Bor., 37, (1764.) Larus parasiticus, Lixx. Syst. Nat., i, 226, (176 j.) Cataractes parasita, Pall. Zoog. R. A., ii, 310, (1811.) Lestris parasita, Illiger. Prod., 273, (1811.) Lestris parasitica, Keys et Blas. Wirb. Eur., 1, 240, (1840.) Stercorarius parasiticus, GUay. Gen. of B., 10, 652, (1849.) — Lawr. B. N. A., 839, (1858.)— Coues. Pr. Pbila. Acad., 133, (1863.)— Dall et Baxn. Tr. Cbicago Acad., i, 303, (1869.) Lestris richardsoni, Sw. F. B. A., 11, 43.3, pi. 73, (1831.) Stercorarius richardsoni, Coues. Proc. Pbila. Acad., 135, (1863.) Cataractes richardsoni, Macgillivray. Man. Orn., ii, 257, (1842.) Catharacta coprothcres, Bruxn, Orn. Bor., 38, (1764.) Lestris coprotheres, DesMurs. Traits Ool., 551, (1860.) Stercorarius crcpidatus, Vieill. Nouv, Diet., xxxii, 155, (1819.) (Not ofGmeliu.) Lestris crepidata, Deglaxd. Mem. Soc. Roy. Lille, 108, (1838.) Stercorarius cepphus, Sw. F. B. A., ii, 432, (1831.) Lestris hardyi et spinicauda, Bp. Consp. Av., ii, 210, (1856.) ALASKA. 197 '^I bave seen but four or five examples of tbis species, wbieb imxy be rated as an infrequent visitor. It may be found upon the grassy upbmds, where it will alight and stand dozing in an indolent attitude for liours. >:o one of the three species of Stercorarius was observed to breed here." Numerous eggs of this species from the l)arren grounds of the Anderson Kiver region, and the arctic coast to the east- ward, otfer the following characters: The ground color is as various, and of tUe same shades, as that already mentioned under head of ynmcuius horeaJlH, and in fact tbe whole aspect of the egg, markings included, is quite similar. But although pointed, they have not the peculiar pyriform shape usual among Limicohv. 1 lind no specimens heavily marked at the butt, though the tendency is to a wreath by confluence around the larger end. In some specimens the markings are all small and scratchy, and distributed with "uniform irregularity "over the whole surface. A certain proportion of stone-gray shell- markings always appears to accompany the various chocolate and other browns of the surface. Specimens range from 2.40 X 1.70 to 2.00 X 1.50, averaging nearer the former dimension. . The eggs of the next species cannot be distinguished from those of the present with certainty, since, though they average less in size, the larger specimens overlap the measurements of -even average ])amsiticus. A fair specimen is 2.10 x l-")l) ; the smallest examined measured only 1.90 x lAO. .542. Stercorarius buffoni, (Boie.) Coues.— Xo»i;-^a/7eJ Jujer. f Catharada cepphns, Brunx. Oin. Bor., 36, (1764.) Lestris cepplius, Keys et .Blas. Wirb. Eur., i, "240, (1840.) Stercorarius cepplms, Gkay. Gen. of B., iii, 65*2, (1849.)— Lawu. B.N. A., 840, (1858.)— CoUES. Proc. Pbil-a. Acad.,"243, (1861.) f Harm parasiticm, Lath. lud. Om., ii, 819, (1790.) Lestris parasiticus, Tem.m. Mau. Orn., iv, 501, (1840.)— Sw. & Rich. F. B. A., ii, 430, (1831.) Stercorarius longicandatus, Biussox.— Vieill. Xouv. Diet.. xxxii, 157, (1819.) Lestris Jomjicaudatus, Tiiomp. Xat. Hist. Ireland, iii, 399, (1851.) Cataractis longicaudatus, Macojill. Mau. Orn., ii, 258, (1842.) Lestris huffoui, Boie. Isis, 562-570, (1822.) Stercorarius huffoni, Coves. Proc. Pliila. Acad., 136, (1863.)— DALLetBAXX. Trans. Chic. xVcad., i, 304, (1869.)— Coles. Key N. A. Birds, 310, 1872. Lestris lessoni, Deglaxd. Mem. Soc. Roy. Lille, ('1838.) Lestris crepidata, Bheiim. Xaturg. Eur. Yo^^., 747, (1823.) "Seldom seen. The specimen in my collection is one of 198 ALASKA. the only two I ever observed on the islands. When I came upon them, July 29, 1872, they were apparently feeding upon insects, and upon a small black berry which ripens on the highlands,*' (the fruit of the Empetnun nigrum.) 543. Icarus g:lai1C CIS, BRt^^.—GJaueous Gull. Burcjomasicr. "Cbikie." " This large, handsome bird is restricted by reason to Walrus Island alone, although it comes sailing over and around all the islands, in easy, graceful flight, every hour of the day, and fre- quently, late in the fall, will settle down by hundreds upon the carcasses on the killing-grounds. But upon Walrus Island this bird is at home, and there lays its eggs in neat nests, built of sea-ferns and dry grass, placed among the grassy tussocks on the center of the island : — there are no foxes here. ^' It remains by the islands during the whole season. Though it is sometimes driven by the ice to the open Avater fifty to a hundred miles south, it returns immediately after the floe dis- appears. ''The 'chikie' lays as early as the 1st to 4th of June, depos- iting three eggs usually within a week or ten days. These eggs are large, spherically oval, having a dark grayish-brown ground, with irregular patches of darker brown-black. They vary somewhat in size, but the shape and pattern of coloring is quite constant. " The young htirgomastcr comes from the shell at the expira- tion of three weeks* incubation, in a pure-white, thick coat of down, which is speedily supplanted by a brownish-black and gray plumage, with which the bird takes flight, having nearly the size of the parent. This dark coat changes within the next three months to one nearly white, with the lavender-gray back of the adult; the legs change from a pale-grayish tone to the rich yellow of the mature condition, and the bill also passes from a dull-brown color to a bright yellow with a red spot on the lower mandible. ^^It has a loud, shrill cry, becoming soon very monotonous. by its constant repetition, and also utters a low, chattering croak while coasting. "It is a very neat bird about its i^est, and keeps its plum- age in a condition of snowy purity. It is not very numerous^ I do not think that there were more than five or six hundred nests on W^alrus Island at the time of mv visit, in 1872.'' \ ALASKA. 199 55'J. Larias tridactyloos var. kof-tf^obtii, (lir.) Coves.— Pacific Kltti- ivakr. " t'lioniit'-iiiiu.slikic, govcrooskii.'." liissa ho(^(bni, Jip. Coiisp. Av., 11, '220, (IWoO.)— Coues. Pr. Pbila. Acad., m'j, (ldG2. )— Cocks. Pr. Pbila. Acad., '^07, (18(]y.) Luni8 tridactylus, Dall &, Bann. Tr. Cbic. Ac;vl., 1, 305, (18C9.) Larm tridactijlus var. kotzchui, Coues, Key, 314, (1^;72.) Wo have called attention, in our publications above quote*], to the fact that the North Paciiic kittiwake has the hind toe better formed than that of the Atlantic l)iid ; and this is the sole basis of the supposed species. Although thus so similar to the true LaruH tridactijlus that it cannot be specifically distin<]fuished, and also totally distinct from the next species, there has been a strange confusion regard- ing it. I do not venture now to add to the foregoing synon- ymy several names more or less doubtfully here applicable. Bo- naparte quotes as synonymous, Iiissa nivca of Bruch, J.f. O.^ 1855, 285; and also quQvies R. byachi/rJnjncha of Bruch, ?^u7., 1853, 103. Xo one of the four species of Elssa described by Mr. Lawrence, in 1858, in Baird's work, pp. 85^, 855, belongs here. " This kittiwake breeds here by tens of thousands, in com- pany with E. hrevirostriSj coming at the same time, but laying a week or ten days earlier ; in all other respects it corresponds in habit, and is in just about the same number. It is a remark- ably constant bird in coloration, when adult, for I have failed to observe the slightest variation in plumage among the great numbers here under my notice. '^ In building its nest it uses more grass and less mud-cement than the brevirostris does. The eggs are more pointed at the small end and lighter in the ground-color, with numerous spots and blotches of dark brown. The chick is difficult to distin- guish with certainty from the brevirostris^ and it is not until two or three weeks have passed that any difference can be noted in the length of bill and color of feet. ^'' Like Bissa brevirostris, the male treads the femnle on the nest, and nowhere else, making a loud, shrill, screaming sound during the ceremony.*' 553. Larus brcvii*osti*i§, (Jln\SDT.)—Short-'b'dJc(l or Bcd-Uggcd Kitti- irakc. '* Goverooskie/"' Hissa hrevirostris, Brandt.— Lawr. B.N. A., 655, (1858.)— Dall & Banx. Tr. Chicago Acad., i, 305, (1809.) Lants hrevirostris, Couks. Key N. A. Birds, 315, (167*2.) 200 ALASKA. Larus orcuhijrliynclins, Gould. P. Z. S., (July 2'), 1 ^-18.)— Guild. Voy. Sulphur, 50, pi. 34, ( .) Not of KiciLvHLsf^x. liissa brathi/rliyncha, Bp. Consp. Av., ii, 223, (18."G.)— Cours. Proc. Pbila. Acad., 306, (18o2.) Bissa nivea, Lawh. B. N. A., 855, (1858.) (Exci. Syu. Not Larus niveus, Pall.) This excellent species will instantly be distinguished from tlie preceding by its short bill, and especially by its rich coral, ver- milion, or lake-red legs, (drying straw-yellow.) There is no possibility of confounding the two, although their synonymy has become involved to such an extent that the task of disen- tangling it is almost hopeless. The names above quoted are of unquestionable pertinence here ; several others that might be quoted are preferably left untouched. "This beautiful gull, one of the most elegant of birds on the wing, seems to favor these islands with its presence to the ex- clusion of other land, coming here by tens of thousands to bieed. It is especially abundant on Saint George's Island. It is cer- tainly by far the most attractive of all the gulls ; its short, sym- metrical bill, large hazel eye, with crimson lids, and bright-red feet, contrasting richly with the snowy-white plumage of the head, neck, and under parts. "Like Larus gJmicits, this bird remains about the islands during the whole season, coming on the clift's for the purpose of nest-building, breeding by the Dth of May, and deserting the bluffs when the young are fully fledged and ready for flight, early in October. "It is much more cautious and prudent than the 'arrie,' for its nests are placed on almost inaccessible shelves and points, so that seldom can a nest be reached unless a person is lowered down to it by a rope passed over the cliff. "]S'est-building is commenced by this bird early in May, and completed, usually, not much before the first of July. It uses dry grass and moss, cemented with mud, which it gathers at the margin of the small fresh- water sloughs and ponds scattered over the islands. The nest is solidly and neatly put up, the parent birds working in the most diligent and amiable nKinner. "Two eggs are the usual number, although occasionally three will be found in the nest. If these eggs are removed, the female will renew them, like the 'arrie,' in the course of another week or ten days. They are of the size and shape of the common lien's egg, but colored with a dark-gray ground, spotted and blotched with sepia-brown patches and dots. Once in a while ALASKA. 201 ail egg will liavo on its siniiller end a large nuiiiber of suft'used blood-red 8i)ots. "Both parents assist in the labor of incnbation, whieh lasts from tweuty-four to twenty-six days. The chiek eonies out ^vith a pnre-white downy coat, and pale whitish-gray bill and feet, resting helplessly in the nest while its feathers grow. During this period it is a comical-looking object. The natives capture them now and pet them, having a number every year scattered through the village, where they become very tame, and it is not until fall, when cold weather sets in and makes them restless, that they leave their captors and fly away to sea. " This bird is very constant in its specific characters. Among thousands of them I have never observed any variation in the coloration of the bills, feet, or plumage of the mature birds, with one exception. There is a variety, seldom ^een, in which the feet are nearly yellow, or rather yellow than red, and the edge of the eyelid is black instead of scarlet ; there is also a dark patch back of each eye. The color of the feet is probably an accidental individual peculiarity; the dark eye-patch and absence of bright color from, the eyelids may depend upon season." 600. Colymbws an'Clycus, (h.)— Black-throated Diver. It is interesting to observe that this bird is the true C. arcticus^ and not var. pacificus, which might have been expected to occur. This is sufficiently attested by the measurements of a line adult specimen. No. 408 of Mr. Elliott's collection. Length, about 31 inches; wing, 12; bill, along culmen, 2f ; along gape, 4; its depth at base, .80; tarsus, SJ; middle toe and claw, 4. The bill is quite stout, with the culmen convex throughout, showing nothing of the slender, straight, or almost recurved shape char- acteristic of var. pacijicus. We find nothing respecting this species in ]Mr. Elliott's ]MSS. It was the only one seen by him. It was found dead, cast upon the sand-beach at Zapadnie, Saint George's Island, and brought to Mr. E. by the natives, who differed among themselves as to whether they had ever noticed it before about the islands. At all events, it is seldom seen there. 610. Podiccps griseigcna, {J}oi)D.)—ned-necked Grebe. As in the case of the last species, the present is of the typical form rather than of the Xorth American variety. The difference, as stated in our synopsis, (Pr. Phila. Acad., 18G2, 232,) lies in 202 ALASKA. tbe size and coloratioD of the bill. In true (jriseUjena the bill is little, if any, over 1.50 inches along the culmeii, or 2.00 along the gape, and the yellow is either entirely restricted to the base, or only extends thence a little on the edge of the under man- dible. In var. hoIbolU the above-mentioned measurements of the bill are respectively 1.90 and 2.10, and much or most of the under mandible, with the cutting-edges of the upper, are yellow. In the present specimen, the culmen measures 1.60; the gape, 2.15, and there is little yellow, excepting at the base of the bill. £ggs of the American red-necked grebe, from the Yukon and other interior arctic localities, are rough, white, either inclining to pale-greenish or with buffy discoloration, and of the usual narrowly-elongate shape common in the family. They measure from 2.10 to 2.35 in length by 1.25 to 1.45 in breadth, the longer eggs not always being jiroportionally wide. "It is the only specimen seen during my residence upon the islands. It has been observed before by the natives, who, how- ever, affirm that it is uncommon.*' C17. Fraterciila coriticulata, (Xaum.) Brandt.— Homed Puffin. "Epatka.'' (l)AIca arciica, var. B., Lath. lud. Orii., ii, 792, (1790.) Lunda cn-ctica, Pau.. partim., Zoog. R. A., ii, 865, (1811.) Mormon corniculatum, Xaum. Isis, 782, pi. 7, f. 3, 4, (1821.) — KiTTL. Kupf. Xaturg. Vog. pi. i, fig. 1. — Dall &, Bann. Trans. Chic. Acad., i, 308, (1869.) Mormon (Fratercula) cornicidata, Bp. Comptes Reudiis, 774, (1856.)-Cass., in Bd. B. X. A., 902, (1858.) Fraterciila {Ceratohlepharum) cornicidata, Bp.axdt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 348, (1837.) • Fratcrcula corniculata, Geay. Geu. B., iii, 637, pi. 174, (1849.)— CouES. Pr. Pbila. Acad., 1868.— Coces. Key, 340, (1872.) Lunda cornicidata, Schlegel. M. P. B., ix, Kerin., 28, (1867.) Lunda {Ceratohlepliarum) cornicidata, Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad., St. Petersb,, vii,242, (1869.) ]^ormon glacialis, Gould, nee. Leach. B. Eur., v, pi. 404, (1837.)— AUD. Oru. Biog., iii, 54'J, pi. 29?, (1835.)— Id. B. Auier., vii, 236, pi. 463. An eg^ before me is noticeably more elongate than that of F. arctica or of F. cirrhata^ though not more pointed. Tbe shell is rather rough, and dead-white. We may anticipate that in some in.stances a few obscure obsolete spots may appear, as they occasionally do in the eggs of F. arctica^ and, doubtless, also show the usual discolorations in many cases. The pres- ent .«^pecimen measures 2.75 by 1.75. ALASKA. 203 ^' The eye never tails to be arrested by this otld-lookiii^- bird, with its <;reat shovel-like, lemon-yellow and red bill, as it sits squatted in glnui silence on the rocky cliff-perches, regarding approaeh with an air of stolid wonder. It seems to have been fashioned with especial regard to the fantastic and comical. " This mormon, in common with one other species, .1/. cirrhata, comes np from the sea, from the south, to the cliffs of the islands about the 10th of May, always in pairs, never coming or going in Hocks. It makes a nest of dried sea-ferns, grass, moss, &c., iar back or down in some deep, rocky crevice, where the Q^g when laid is generally inaccessible—nothing but blast- ing-powder would reach it. '' It lays but a single ^g^^, large, oblong-oval, pure white, and, contrary to the custom of the gulls, arries, choochkies, &c., when the ^gg is removed the sea-parrot does not renew it, but deserts the nest, perhaps locating elsewhere. The young chick I have not been able to get— not until it comes out fledged and ready for fliglit in August, when it does not differ materially from its parent. The species leaves the islands about the lOtU September. " This bird is very quiet and unobtrusive f it does not come in large numbers to the islands, for it breeds everywhere else in Bering Sea. Its flight is performed with quick and rapid wing-beats, in a straight and steady course. There is no ditt'er- ence' between the sexes as to size, shape, or plumage.*' 619. Fcaterciila cirrliata, (Pall.) STErii.— J(//^«7 P»^«. "Tawpa^- kie." Alca cirrhaia, Pall. Spic. Zool., 7, pi. 1, ii, fig. 1, 2, 3, (17G9.) ' Ltniila cirrhata, Pall. Zoog. R. A., ii. 363, p. 82, (1811.)— SCHLEG. Mus. Pays-Bas, rnH.27, (1807.)— CouES. Pr. Phila. Aca(L,(1868.) Lnnda {Gymnohleplianim) cirrhata, Bijandt. Bull. Sc. St. Petersb.,. vii., 244,(1867.) Fratcrcula cirrhata, Stepit. Shaw's Gen. Zool., xiii, 40, (1825.) Fratcrcida {G!im)whle2)harHm) cirrhata, Biiandt. Bull. Sc. St. Peteisb., ii, 349, (1837.) Morr.ion cirrhata, Xaum. Isis, 781, pi. 7, f. 1, (1821.)— Cass. B. N. A., 902, (1858.)— Dall Sc Banx. Trans. Chicago Acad., i, 308, (1969.) Fratcrcula carinata, Vigors. Zool. Journ., iv, 358. Sagmatorhina lathami, Bp. P. Z. S., 202, pi. 44, (1851.)-Coues. Pr. Phila. Acad., (1868.) Sagmatorhina labradoria, Cass. B. N. A., 904, (1858.)— Dall it Bann. Trans. Chic. Acad., i, 309, (1869.) 204 ALASKA. As Professor Brandt showed, shortly after the publication of our Monograph, the Sagmatorhina lathami of Bonaparte {— S. labmdoria, Cass.) is merely the young- of this species, at an age before the bill has attained its final shape and coloring. Of this fact we became ourselves aware about the same time, from examination of various specimens in the Smithsonian. The genus, of course, falls, as well as the species. In our Monograph we were so far wrong as to assign to it a second supposed species, the Cerorhina sucldeyi of Cassin, which is the young of Ceratorliinamonocerata. "Comes to the islands at the same time as F. coyniculata, and resembles the Epatlcie in its habits generally. It lays a single large white G,gg^ of a rounded-oval shape. I was never able to see a newly-hatched chick, owing to the retired and in- accessible nature of the breeding-places. Could Walrus Island be visited frequently during the season, interesting observations might be made there, for the nests are more easy of access. The young tawpawkie, six weeks old, resembles the parents exactly, only the bill is lighter colored, and the plumes on the head are incipient. This is the only place where the birds can be daily seen and watched with satisfactory results. I took eggs from over thirty nests in July. The natives say it is very quarrelsome when mating, its cries sounding like the growling of a be»r as they issue from far down under the rocks that cover its nest." The Qgg is much thicker and more capacious than that of F. corniculata, though no longer. The shell is rough, dead- white, and, besides the frequent discolorations, shows in several specimens very pale, obsolete shell-markings of purplish gray. Several specimens measure as follows: 2.8j x I.Oj; 2.80 x 1.92; 2.75 x 2.00; 2.G3 x 1.05. C21. Pliafioris psjttacula, (Escii.) TE^^iM.—Parroquet Aitl: "Baillio Brushkie." AIca psittacula, Pall. Spic. Zool., fuse, v, l:^, pi. 2, pi. 5, f. 4, 5, C, (17C0.) Lunda jmttacida, Pall. Zoog. Eosso-As., ii, 3GG, pi. 84, (1811.) Fhaleris jisittaciiht, TKyisi. Mau. Oiu., i, 112, (1820.)— Cuues. Key N. A. Birds, .342, fijr. 222, ( 1872.) Oinhria imttacnla, Escilsch. Zool. Atlas, iv, 3, pi. 17, (1831.)— Brandt. Bull. .Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 348, (1837.)— Id. Ibid., vii, 237, (18G9.)— Cass. B. X. A., 410, (l5'58.)-Ei.Lior. B. N. A., pt. i, pi. 70. Simorhijnchns jyslttaciihts, Sciileg. Mns. Pays-Bas, ix. 24, (18G7.) — CouES. Proc. Pbila. Acad.. (ls(;>\) ALASKA. 205 Xot only on acconnt of the form of the bill, which, thou^di singnlar lunong Aklda., is not more dilTerent from that of some others than these are among themselves, bnt also in conse- qnence of a ditfereut mode of life, to which the shape of the bill fits it, as attested by various observers, we now place the bird in a separate genus from Simorlnjnchm, under which we formerly included it. The species is said to live chielly upon bivalve mollusks, such as Miftllus, &c., for opening which its bill is adapted; and Professor Brandt notes the curious aiuilogy attbrded, in this respect, with Ua'matojms, as compared with allied Charadriue genera. :\lr. Gray adduces a reference to the unexpected occurrence of this species in Sweden. "This quaintly-beaked bird is quite common on the Prybilov Group, and can be obtained at Saint George's in considerable numbers. It comes here early in Mny, and locates in a deep chink or crevice of some inaccessible cliff, where it lays a single egg and rears its young. It is very quiet and undemonstrative during the pairing-season, its only note being a low, sonorous, vibrating whistle. Like SlmorliyncUus cristatellus, it will breed in company with the ' choochkie,' but will not follow that lively relative back upon the uplands, the'baillie brushkie' being always found on the shore-line, and there only. " The eggj which is laid upon the bare earth or rock, is pure white, oblong-ovate, measuring 2J by 1^ inches. It is exceed- ingly difficult to obtain, owing to the birds' great caution in hiding, and care in selecting some deep and winding crevice in the face of the cliff. At the entrance to this nesting-cavern the parents will sometimes squat down and sit silently for hours at a time, if undisturbed. " It does not fly about the islands in flocks, and seems to lead a quiet, independent life by itself, caring nothing for the society of its kind. The young,* when first hatched, I have not seen, but by the 10th to the 15th of August they may be observed coming out for the first time from their secure retreats, and taking to wing as fully fledged and as large as their parents. *' They take their departure from the 20th of August to the 1st of September, and go out upon the ^orth Pacific for the winter, where they find their food, which consists of ampldpoda and fish-fry. I have never seen one among the thousands that were around me when on the islands 'opening 'the bivalve- shells, such as mussels, ike, as stated by Professor Brandt. It 206 ALASKA. feeds at sea, flying' out every Daoriiing, returning in the after- noon to its nest and mate." The egg of Plialeris psittacula is about as large as a small hen's egg, which it resembles, although averaging more elon- gate. The shape, however, is extremely variable; thus, one measures 2.25 by I.jO, and another 2.35 by only 1.45, the latter being remarkably narrow, elongate, and pointed. The shell is minutely granular, and rough to the touch. It is white, un- marked, but often found variously soiled and discolored, some- times by mechanical eftect, and sometimes by fluids of the oviduct or cloaca. Mr. Elliott says, " So effectually do these birds secrete their eggs in the deep recesses of cliff crevices and chinks that I was unable to obtain more than four perfect speci- mens, although several hundred ' baillie brushkies' were breed- ing on the cliffs, each pair marked by myself, (in daily observa- tion,) close by the village, at Saint George's Island, during the summer of 1873. Nothing, save blasting-powder, or similar agency, can open the basaltic crevices in which the bird hides, and, of course, resort to this action would also destroy tlie egg^ 622. Saznorliyaicliiis crestatelUis, (Pall.) 'Merr.— Crested Aitk. " Cauooskie." Aica cristateUa, Pall. Spic. Zool. fasc. v, 00, pi. 3, pi. 5, figs. 7, 8,9,(1769.) Uria cristateUa, Pall. Zoog. Eosso.-As., ii, 370, (1611.) (Excl. syu. Alca comtsc7irt//cft, Lepech.) Simorliynchust crisateUus, Merrem. — Schl. M. P. B., ix, 25, (1S87.)— CouES. Proc. Pliila. Acad., (1868.)— Coues. Key N. A. Birds, 342, figs. 223, 224, (1872.) Simorhynchus {Tylorliamphus) cristatellus, Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., vii, 223, (1869.) Tylorhamplius cristatellus, Brandt. Oj). cit., ii, 348, (18.37.) Phaleris cristatellus, Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool., xiii, 47, pi. 5, (1825.) (Nee Temm.) — Schrengk. Eeise Amur-Laud, i, vt. ii, 500, pi. 16, figs. 4, 5. Phaleris {Simorhynchus) cristatellus, Cass. B. X. A., 903, (1858.) Uria duhia, Pall. Zoog. 11. A., ii, 371, (1811.)— (^fis ptil. hijem. vestita, sec. Brandt.) Phaleris duhia, Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 347, (1837.) Tylorhamphus duhius, Bonap. Comptes Reudus, xlii, 774, (1856.) Simorhynchus duhius, Coues. Proc. Pliila. Acad., (1868.) Alca tetracul a, Vaj^i.. Spic. Zool. fasc, v, 23, pi. 4, (1769,) (Junior.) Uria tctracula, Pall. Zoog. E. A., ii, 371, (1811.) Phaleris tetracula, Step. GeuH. Zool., xiii, 46, (1825.)— Brandt. Bull. Sc. Acad. St. Petersb., ii, 347, (1837.) ALASKA. 207 Tylorhamphus ictracidii>i, iJoXAi-. Coniptes Kendus, xlii, 774, (18.%.) ritakris {Ti/Iorhamphii>i) teiracula, Cass. li. N. A., 907, (IS.'ir-.) ^imorlninciin tttraadus, CoUKS. Proc. Tbilu. Acad., (l-iC-^.)— CouKS. Key N. A. 13., 342, ( 1872. ) rimlcna jmtlaciihi, Tkmm. Man. «r