﻿30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 74 



EXPEDITION TO EXAMINE THE NORTH PACIFIC FUR SEAL 



ISLANDS 



The Department of Commerce wishing to ohtain exact informa- 

 tion as to the status of the fur seal herd on the Russian seal islands, 

 situated off the coast of Kamchatka and known as the Komandorski 

 or Commander Islands, with special reference to the eft'ect of the 

 treaty of 191 1 entered into by the United States, Russia, Japan and 

 Great Britain for the protection of the fur seals in the North Pacific 

 Ocean, requested the detail of the head curator of biology of the 

 Museum. Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, to accompany an expedition to 

 Alaska and adjacent regions during the summer of 1922. The expedi- 

 tion, under the immediate leadership of Assistant Secretary of Com- 

 merce C. H. Houston, was primarily organized for the purpose of 

 studying the conditions of the fisheries of Alaska as well as the other 

 economic and commercial problems of that territory in so far as they 

 are included in the activities of the Department of Commerce. Among 

 others it included Mr. W. T. Bower, Bureau of Fisheries, Assistant 

 in charge of Alaska, and Dr. Alfred H. Brooks. U. S. Geological 

 Survey, in charge of Alaskan Geology. Capt. C. E. Lindquist was 

 engaged as special assistant to Dr. Stejneger. 



The expedition left Seattle, Washington, in the U. S. Coast Guard 

 Cutter Mojave, Lieut. Comm. H. G. Hamlet commanding, on June 

 20, 1922, and proceeded by the inside passage to southern Alaska, 

 making short stops at various places for inspection of canneries, 

 hatcheries, factories, mines, etc. At Juneau, an excursion to Menden- 

 hall glacier was undertaken. On June 27, Cape St. Elias, the " land- 

 fall " of Bering in 1741, was rounded, and the Mojave stopped at 

 Cordova, the principal town in Prince William Sound. From here 

 Mr. Huston and a small party went overland to Fairbanks, returning 

 by the recently opened Central Alaska Railroad to Seward, where 

 they again boarded the Mojave on July 4. The stay of the cutter at 

 Cordova was taken advantage of by Stejneger and Lindquist to 

 arrange a visit to Kayak Island. The Russian commander, Vitus 

 Bering, in May, 1741, left Petropaulski, Kamchatka, on board the 

 St. Peter under orders to sail eastward until discovering America. 

 After a stormy voyage a cape with high land beyond was clearly made 

 out on July 16, old style, and on July 20 the St. Peter came to anchor 

 ofif an island which is now known as Kayak Island. Steller, who 

 accompanied the expedition as a naturalist, was only allowed to go 

 with the crew sent ashore in a boat to fill the empty water casks at 

 a small creek on the western shore of the island. Accompanied by 



