XV.] 



IN SEARCH OF RHYTINA BONES. 



609 



now began to search for bones very eagerly, and in this way I 

 collected such a quantity that twenty-one casks, large boxes, or 

 barrels were filled with Rhytina bones ; among which were three 

 very fine, complete skulls, and others more or less damaged, several 

 considerable collections of bones from the same skeleton, &c. 



The Rhytina bones do not lie at the level of the sea, but upon 

 a strand-bank thickly overgrown with luxuriant grass, at a height 

 of two or three metres above it. They are commonly covered 

 with a layer of earth and gravel from thirty to fifty centimetres 

 in thickness. In order to find them, as it would be too trouble- 

 some to dig the whole of the grassy bank, one must examine 

 the ground with a pointed iron rod, a bayonet, or some such 

 tool. One soon learns to distinguish, by the resistance and 

 nature of the sound, whether the rod stuck into the ground 

 has come into contact with a stone, a piece of wood, or a 

 fragment of bone. The ribs are used by the natives, on account 

 of their hard ivory-like structure, for shoeing the runners of 

 the sledges or for carvings. They have accordingly been 



RECONSTRUCTED FORM OF THE SEA-COW. 



After J. Fr. Braudt {Symholce Sirtnologicce, Fasc. iii. p. 282). 



already used up on a large scale, and are more uncommon than 

 other bones. The finger-bone, which perhaps originally was 

 cartilaginous, appears in most cases to be quite destroyed, as 

 well as the outermost vertebrae of the tail. I could not obtain 

 any such bones, though I specially urged the natives to get 

 me the smaller bones too and promised to pay a high price 

 for them. 



The only large animal which is still found on Behring Island 

 in perhaps as large numbers as in Steller's time is the sea-hcar} 



1 The number of these animals killed on Behring Island is shown by the 

 following statement given nie by Mr. Henry W. Elliot : 



During the eighteen years from 1862 to 1880 there have thus been shipped 

 from Behring Island 389,462 skins. The catch on the Pribylov Islands 



R K 



