ALASKA INDUSTEIES. 241 



they might be called the "Golden Islands," without estimating thb 

 125,000 blue foxes and 50,000 sea otters shipjied from there during the 

 first thirty years {after their discovery). 



The villages as they were in 1838. — The first and most important 

 settlement was situated at the southwestern extremity of the island 

 [Zapadnie). The second, which is the present site, on the southeastern 

 point ( ViUcu/e Hill). In the village of to-day (1838) there is a wooden 

 chapel in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul, erected in 1821, and 

 nicely ornamented iu the interior, at the expense of the resident Aleuts ; 

 a dwelling for the manager; a store, and a magazine, all built like the 

 church, of neatly-dressed drift logs. In addition to this, there is a 

 " kozarmie" (fear/-«<:'oo« ) built after the fashion of Aleutian " oolaghamuh " 

 {or large, communistic, mideruromid habitations) houses, a few private 

 dwellings, and 13 native barrabaras. A small windmill has been added 

 of late. 



The inhabitants subsist principally upon the flesh of fur seals and 

 sea lions, with the addition of roots and a little flour. In the summer 

 time, between June and September, halibut and some cod are caught 

 around the shore, and altogether the living of these Aleuts is excellent 

 and even luxurious, compared with that of their neighbors. The sta- 

 tion is supplied with provisions and trading goods from Sitka, the ship 

 arriving annually in June and Jtily. As there is no safe harbor these 

 vessels must receive and discharge their cargoes under sail. 



In former years, up to 1820 or 1821, those islands were under the con- 

 trol of the Unalaska office. The manager of St. Paul was, until the 

 year 1834, also in charge of St. George, visiting the latter island every 

 spring in a bidarkie; and though these navigators can not see from one 

 island to the other their journeys have been usually successful, with 

 the exception of three occasions — twice the small craft missed the 

 island of St. George {goimj from St. Paul), and pushed on to the coast 

 of the Alaskan peninsula, where they finally secured a lauding, and 

 in the third instance, the bidarrah was lost altogether. 



On the island of St, George there was no bay or entrance, with the 

 exception of a shallow bight near the village {Zapadnie). This settle- 

 ment contains a wooden chapel erected in honor of St. George, log 

 buildings occupied by the agent of the company and his servants, and 

 a number of barrabaras. * * * The inhabitants are, however, iu less 

 comfortable circumstances than those of St. Paul. Of provisions, they 

 have a great abnndance of sea lion meat and sea birds and their eggs. 

 The eggs are obtained by lowering a person over the precipitous cliffs, 

 by means of seal-skin ropes. Many perish in this attempt from the 

 friction of the strands against the sharp edges of the rocks; and occa- 

 sionally the foxes have been known to gnaw off' the ropes on which the 

 hunters were suspended. 



Occasionally shocks of earthquakes^ still remind us of the volcanic 

 origin of the Pribilof Islands. Very heavy ones occurred repeatedly 

 in April on both islands, when many overhanging cliffs were thrown 

 into the sea. The inhabitants of the Pribilof Islands belong to the parish 

 of Unalaska, the priest of which is obliged to visit them once every 

 two years {to marry, baptize, etc.). These islands were not known 



'These shocks probably occiuTed iu 1796-97, when Boga Slov Island was raised, iu 

 April or May of that year, from the l)ed of Bering Sea, 170 miles directly south of 

 St. George. Sneh earthquakes were also characteristic of those subtropical fur-seal 

 islands, Juan Fernandez and Masafuera. — H. W. E. 



H. Doc. 02, pt. 3 IG 



