ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 183 



almost 500 hundredweiglit. The head was large, neck short, hardly 

 distinguishal^le, fore part of body very thick, but siiddenly narrow- 

 ing backward. It had two short fore legs, which terminated abruptly 

 without any fingers or nails, but with close-gathered bristle hair. 

 Hind legs were missing altogether and replaced by a tail fin, some- 

 thing like the whale. Teats, which were very rich in milk with the 

 females, had their places between the fore legs. The flesh and milk 

 resembled very much that of neat cattle; it was even better than the 

 latter, according to Steller. 



The sea cows were almost constantly occupied in feeding on those 

 seaweeds found in abundance along the coast, in doing which they 

 moved neck and head as an ox. They showed great gluttony, and 

 were not disturbed in the least by the presence of people. It was pos- 

 sible to go up to and even to touch them without their being scared 

 or seeming to mind it. Toward each other they showed great affec- 

 tion, and when one was harpooned the others made unusual efforts to 

 save it. 



When Steller was there these animals collected in great herds as 

 neat cattle, grazing everywhere along the shores. A great number 

 were killed by Steller and his companions. Later the hunt for these 

 animals was an important food item for those Russians who sailed 

 from Kamchatka to the Aleutian Islands. Hundreds were killed 

 yearly, and it was soon exterminated, as it existed, if we except a few 

 animals gone astray, at that time only on Bering Island. According 

 to what Middendorf quotes from the verj^ careful researches which the 

 celebrated academicians v. Baer and v. Brandt had made, the sea cow 

 had not been seen before Steller's time, 1741, and the last was said to 

 have been killed in 1768. During the many investigations I made 

 among the natives, I obtained reliable information that the sea cow 

 had been killed much later. A " Creole" (i. e., a mixture of Russian 

 and Aleut), who is now 67 years old, of clever appearance and perfect 

 mental condition, said that his father died in 1847, aged 88. The 

 father was from Wolhynien, and came to Bering Island when 18 years 

 of age, that is, in 1777. The first two or three years (that is, 1779 or 

 1780) after his arrival they used to kill sea cows as they grazed at low- 

 water mark. Only the heart was eaten; the hide was used for bidar- 

 rahs. In consequence of its thickness it was split in two parts. Two 

 such split hides were sufficient to cover a bidarrah of 20 feet length, 

 7^ feet width, and 3 feet depth. After that time none of these animals 

 had been killed. 



Last sight of sea cow here. — It is surmised that a sea cow had 

 shown itself much later around the island. Two Creoles, Teodor Mer- 

 chenin and Stepnoff , saw, about twenty-five years ago, at Tolstoi Mees, 

 on the east of the island, an animal which they did not know; it was 

 very thick forward and tapered backward, had small forefeet, and 

 showed itself about 15 feet above the water, rising and again sinking. 

 It blew, not through a blowhole, but through its mouth, which was 

 somewhat elongated. Its color was brown, with large light spots. It 

 had no fin on the back, but when it raised itself it was possible to see 

 the vertebrae lumps, in consequence of its very lean condition. I made 

 a very thorough examination of the two talesmen. Their story agreed 

 fully and appeared as if entitled to be given credence. 



One of the Alaska Company's hide examiners, Mr. Ohsche, a native 

 of Lifland and for the present living on Copper Island, told me that 

 bones of the sea cow could be found on the west side of Copper Island, 

 in the center. Again, it is said that no bones exist on the little islet 



