ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 365 



LITTLE EASTERN ROOKERY (1890). 

 [Its condition and appearance July, 1S90.'] 



This was not much of a rookery iii 1873-74, and although it has fallen 

 away m accord with the general diminution of the seal life on these 

 islands, yet it has held its own proportionately much better than many 

 others. The most striking evidence of desolation is the grassing solidly 

 ovcT, rank and luxuriant, of the hauling grounds in its rear and to the 

 eastward, which were so well polished off by the restless flippers of 

 young male seals in 1873-74. Then these hauling grounds were not 

 driven from much; the seals were practically undisturbed, and when a 

 arive was made the seals were always merged into the larger drive from 

 the Great Eastern. 



Detailed analysis of the survey of Little Eastern rookery July 20, 1890. 

 [Sea margin beginning at A and ending at B, 800 feet.] 



OAA J- i . „ Square feet. 

 800 feet sea margm, from A to B, with 12 feet average depth, massed 9, 600 



of'T3,oSf if 1873^^^^^^ ^'^^^ seals-bulls, cows, and pups-against a total 



THE GREAT EASTERN (1873-74). 

 llts condition and appearance July, 1S74.'] 



This is the fifth, and last rookery that we find on St. Georjre It is 

 an imitation, in miniature, of Tolstoi on St. Paul, with the exception ot 

 there being no parade ground in the rear of any character whatever 

 It IS from the summit of the cliffs, overlooking the narrow ribbon of 

 breeding seals right under them, that I have been able to study the 

 movements of the fur seal in the water to my heart's content: for, out 

 and under the water the rocks to a considerable distance are covered 

 with a whitish algoid growth that renders the dark bodies of the swim- 

 ming seals and sea lions as conspicuous as is the image thrown by a 

 magic lantern of a silhouette on a screen prepared fo? its reception.^ 

 The low, rocky flats around the pool to the westward and northwest 

 ?iL « Tf ^ T^^'^ \^^ ^^^''^ ^^1^ ^'^^ ^ "^"^fly alliivial wash that 

 about them"" " '' ^'"'' ^^*^^"^ ^''^ bolluscfhickie range round 



"The algoid vegetation of the marine shores of these islands is one that add^. 5, 

 peculiar charm and heauty to their treeless, sunless coasts Lerykeln bed tha? 

 tioats raft-like in Bering Sea, or is anchored to its rocky reefs is llirlvali^e with 

 minute «ea shrimps, tiny crabs, and little shells, which cling To iSles of i^ter 



Smrfi ni bSieT;Mtn>\S?^r" ""/^"^ ^T"-^' '''' ^it^^^VS.ZZlt'Jt"ll 



n^?t^ri;a';£^i?t*^;^r^^^^ 



toral forms are simply abundant beyond all estimation within bounds Sfre-xsonTh; 

 S^til aTyS'ttf ? n'^^' of Bering Sea surpnsses in contiired hrimrt'llumi! 



under the water here on St. Georo^ Lid beTenth the BlonV nii^ff V TH swimming 



ccHirselike comets in thesky. and^;"^,?^ tfre^Seir darrheSs^'^^^^^^^^^^ 



face of the sea they were marked by a blaze of scintillant light? ^' 



