146 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



Early disposition of sea lions on St. George. — According to 

 the natives of St. George, some fifty or sixtj' years ago the Euineto2)ias 

 hekl ahnost exclusive possession of tlie ishxud, being there in great 

 nninbers, some two or three hundred thousand strong; and they aver, 

 also, that the fur seals then were barely permitted to land by these ani- 

 mals, and in no great number; therefore, they say, that they were 

 directed by the Russians (that is, their ancestry) to hunt and worry 

 the sea lions off from the island, the result being that, as the sea lions 

 left, the fur seals came, so that to-day they occupy nearly the same 

 ground which the Eiimetopias alone covered sixty years ago. I call 

 attention to this statement of the people because it is, or seems to be, 

 corroborated in the notes of a French naturalist and traveler, who, in 

 his description of the island of St. George, which he visited fifty years 

 ago, makes substantially the same representation ;^ but directly to the 

 contrary, and showing how difficult it is to trace these faint records of 

 the facts, I give the account as rendered by Bishop Veniaminov, which 

 I translate and place in my appendix. The reader will notice that the 

 Russian author differs entirely from the natives and the Frenchman; 

 for, by his tabulation, almost as many fur seals were taken on St. 

 George during the first years of occupation as were taken from St. 

 Paul; and according to these figures, again continued, the catch never 

 has been less than one-sixth of the number of the quota on the 

 larger island. Thus the two authors seem to stand each other oft", 

 and I am thrown back to the ground itself for an answer, which I am 

 inclined to believe will be correct, when I say that the island of St. 

 George never was resorted to in any great numbers by the fur seal, 

 and that the sda lion was the dominant animal there until disturbed 

 and driven from its breeding grounds by the people, who naturally 

 sought to encourage its more valuable relative by so doing, and made 

 room, in this way, for it. 



capture of the sea lion. 



The driving on St. Paul. — The great intrinsic value to the domes- 

 tic service of the Aleuts rendered by the flesh, fat, and sinews of this 

 animal, together with its skin, arouses the natives of St. Paul and St. 

 George, who annually make a drive of "seevitchie," by which they 

 capture, on the former island, two or three hundred, as the case nip^y 

 be. On St. George driving is so much more dilhcult, owing to the 

 character of the land itself, that very few are secured there; but at 

 St. Paul unexceptional advantages are found on Northeast Point for 

 the capture of these shy and wary brutes. The natives of St. Paul, 

 therefore, are depended upon to secure the necessary number of skins 

 required by both islands for their boats and other i)urposes. This 

 capture of the sea lion is the only serious business wliich the people 

 have on St. Paul. It is a labor of great care, industiy, and some 

 physical risk for the Aleutian hunters.^ 



' Choris: Voyage Pittoi-esque autour dn Monde. 



"-'A curious, though doiibtless aiitlientic, story was told me in this connection, 

 illustrative of the strength and energy of the sea-lion bull when at bay. Many 

 years ago (1847), on St. Paul Island, a drive of September sea lions was brought 

 down to the village in the usual style: but when the natives assembled to kill 

 them, on account of the great scarcity at that time of powder on the island, it was 

 voted best to lance the old males also, as well as the females, rather than shoot 

 them in the customary style. The people had hardly set to work at the ttisk when 

 one of their number a small, elderly, though tough, able-bodied Aleut, while 

 thrusting his lance into the "life " of a large bull, was suddenly seen to fall on his 



