CHAPTER III. 



THE HOME OF THE FUR SEALS. 



A. THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 

 THEIR GEOGRAPHY. 



The little group of rocky islets known as the Pribilof Islands, from the name of 

 their discoverer, is situated in the Bering Sea, in latitude 57 north and longitude 

 170 west. They are isolated from other land, the nearest point to the south being 

 Unalaska Island, at a distance of 214 miles. Cape Xewenham, on the mainland of 

 Alaska, at a distance of 309 miles, is the nearest point to the eastward, while St. 

 Matthew Island, 220 miles away, is the first land to the northward. 



The islands are of volcanic origin, and are five in number St. Paul, St. George, 

 Otter, Walrus, and Sivutch Rock. The first two only are of importance. The last 

 three are small islets lying about St. Paul Island and within about 7 miles of its 

 shores. The main islands are separated by about 40 statute miles of water. 



ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



St. Paul, the largest island, lies in latitude 57 07' north and longitude 170 17' 

 west.* It has an extreme length from northeast to southwest of 13i miles. Its 

 maximum width is 7| miles. It has a shore line of about 45J miles and an area 

 of 43 square miles. The surface of the island is in the main low. Rocky plateaus 

 alternate with low valleys, some of which contain ponds of fresh water. One of 

 these covers a space upward of 2 miles in length by half a mile in width, but is very 

 shallow. It is shut in by sand dunes, and lies along the narrow neck which joins 

 the rocky headland called Northeast Point with the main body of the island. In the 

 southeast end of the island is a salt-water lagoon, covering some 169 acres in extent, 

 and connected with the sea by a narrow channel some 75 to 100 feet in width. The 

 average elevation of the upland areas is not more than 150 feet, but a number of cinder 

 cones and volcanic craters rise to varying heights in the interior portion of the island. 

 Bogoslof attains* an elevation of 590 feet, but Rush Hill on the west shore is the 

 highest, 665 feet. A number of shallow bays indent the coast line, bordered by long 

 stretches of sandy beach, behind which are areas of shifting sand dunes; but for the 

 most part the shores are bo wider- strewn and rugged, rising in sheer cliffs at the 

 headlands. 



ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 



St. George lies to the southeast of St. Paul at a distance of about 40 miles, in 

 latitude 56 36' north and longitude 169 32' west.* It has a total length of 12 miles 

 and a width of 4 miles. The area is about 35.9 square miles, and it has a coast line 

 of 30 miles. The central portion of the island is composed of an elevated ridge 

 containing one peak over 900 feet in height. The general altitude of the island 



* Latitude and longitude of the village. 



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