164 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



and to a lesser degree in South and East Africa. 

 Perhaps Jakovlev was not altogether disinterested 

 in his efforts to save the sea-cow : for we read that 

 he had himself found it impossible to winter in the 

 Commander Islands owing to lack of this food. On 

 Behring Island the rhytina lasted for some time 

 longer: it is recorded that in 1762 Korovin called 

 there for sea-cow hides and flesh, while Baron 

 Nordenskiold has shown that in 1779-80 these 

 animals were still being killed as they fed on the 

 sea-weed and their skins used for baydars ( = skiffs). 

 Pallas' writings (N. Nord. Beitr. I.S., 295) seem to 

 indicate that the rhytina formerly inhabited three 

 small islands — Attak, Schemija, and Semitschi — 

 between lat. 54° and 55°. Elias Vosnessenski actually 

 obtained sea-cow bones from Attu ( = Attak) Island; 

 but although he spent nearly eight years in the North 

 Pacific and was a thoroughly competent naturalist, 

 he neither saw nor heard of any living rhytina. 

 It has been stated by Sauer that in 1768 the 

 last sea-cow was killed on Behring Island;^ but 

 Nordenskiold has demonstrated that the rhytina 

 lasted to] a much later date than that generally 

 assigned to it. Two Creoles (Russo- Aleutians) 

 informed him that about 1854 they saw at Tolstoj- 

 mys on the eastern shore of Behring Island a very 

 lean beast/thick before and small behind, with small 



1 Sauer's statement seems to have lieen widely accepted, unfortunately,, 

 by naturalists who ought to know better. 



