﻿36 SMITHSONIAN ^MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 74 



It consists of the two islands, Bering and Copper, situated about lOO 

 miles east of Kamchatka. Thev belong to Russia and at the time 

 of the visit were controlled by the Vladivostock government under 

 ]\Iiliukof. The conditions of the inhabitants were found to be better 

 than expected. Perfect order was maintained, no foreign traders or 

 disturbers were present, and the people, though reduced both in 

 number and resources, were not starving thanks to the abundance 

 of fish and the cargo of necessities which had been sent them in 

 exchange for the furs of the past season. They were lacking, how- 

 ever, in clothing, shoes and fuel. The party on the Algonquin was 

 received with open arms, especially as the officers and crew of the 



Fjg. 40. — Grove of Sitka spruce, Dutch Harbor, Alaska. (Photograph by 



L. Stejneger.) 



cutter supplemented the scanty stores of the communities with gen- 

 erous donations of necessities and a few luxuries. Immediately after 

 landing the baggage and outfit of the expedition, the Algonquin left 

 for Unalaska. 



The first important business was the examination of the only re- 

 maining fur seal rookery on Bering Island. The South Rookery had 

 long since ceased to exist, and the great North Rookery, one of the 

 most important on the islands had been greatly reduced. The actual 

 state of affairs was found to be much worse than anticipated. At his 

 last visit to this rookery which he had studied and mapped in 18S2, 

 1883, 1895, 1896 and 1897, Stejneger had estimated the number of 

 breeding seals located there to be about 30,000. On July 28, 1022, 



