288 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



were awarded to the merchants Orekhof , Kulkof; Shapkin, Panof , 

 and Nikoforof." He says, "Ocheredin's share of the proceeds was 

 600 sea otters, 756 black foxes, 1230 red foxes; and with this 

 rich cargo he arrived at Okhotsk on the 24th of July 1770." 

 These skins were obtained from Akutan, Unalaska, or adjacent 

 islands. 



There are other passages worthy of record. On page 123, Ban- 

 croft states that the ships Gavril and Vladimir combined forces 

 in 1760 and hunted Umnak, Sitkin, Atka, and Seguam, where 

 they obtained about 900 sea otters, 400 foxes of various kinds, and 

 432 pounds of walrus tusks. 



On page 153 of Bancroft's account, we find reference to a 1766 

 expedition by Solovief, during which he obtained 500 black foxes. 



Bancroft (p. 169) further states that — 



Shiloff, Orekhof, and Lapin, in July of the same year (1770), fitted out 

 once more the old ship Sv Pavel at Okhotsk, and dispatched her to the 

 islands under command of the notorious Solovief. By this time the Aleuts 

 were evidently thoroughly subjugated, as the man who had slaughtered 

 their brethren by hundreds during his former visit passed four additional 

 years in safety among them, and then returned with an exceedingly 

 valuable cargo of 1,900 sea otters, 1,493 black, 2,115 cross, and 1,275 red 

 foxes. He claims to have reached the Alaskan Peninsula, and describes 

 Unimak and adjoining islands. 



The wording of this passage would lead us to believe that 

 Solovief did not go far east of Unimak. If that is true, he un- 

 doubtedly obtained his foxes among the eastern islands, the 

 group designated as the Fox Islands, from Unimak to Umnak 

 inclusive. In all of these early cargoes of fox furs, there is an 

 amazingly high percentage of black and cross color phases — these 

 two phases greatly outnumbering the normal red color phase. 

 There had not been time for artificial development of such strains 

 on so great a scale, and there is no record of such breeding activi- 

 ties at that time. Therefore, it is evident that in the eastern 

 Aleutian district a natural concentration of the melanistic type 

 of the red fox had taken place, comparable to a similar develop- 

 ment of the Arctic fox in the western Aleutians, Commanders, 

 and Pribilofs. This may prove to be a significant biological phe- 

 nomenon, when the active factors become understood. 



It is probable that the dark color phases occurred also on 

 Alaska Peninsula, and it is almost certain that excessive killing 

 of these darker kinds, on a selective basis because of their greater 

 value, has served to bring the population back to a practically 

 ype, the red phase. The silver fox persists on Amlia 

 Island, but this island has been leased and the foxes are con- 



