THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 145 



From this table it will be seen that up to 1S38 my calculation makes a yield of 29,270 seals; while the actual 

 result was 31,570 ; making a difference of 2,300. 



The difference determines that the hypothesis upon whicli the table is based is correct. 



31. VENIAMINOV'S ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE PRIBYLOV ISLANDS.* 



Location and discovery. — Under the name of the Pribylov islands are known two small islands lying in 

 Bering sea, between 50° and 57° north latitude, and 1GS° and 170° west longitude. 



Stoorman G. Pribylov, who had been on the American co ast for some time and observed the indications of 

 islands in Bering sea, became convinced of their existence; and the embarassed circumstances of his company 

 finally induced him to attempt their discovery. * * * He was considered one of the best navigators of that 

 region. * * * For a long time he was in close vicinity to one of the islands subsequently named after liim, but 

 three weeks elapsed before he could get a sight of the same through the surrounding fog. At last fate or good 

 fortune, coming to the assistance of an enterprising man, raised the curtain of the fog, and the eastern headland 

 of the island (Tolstoi Mecs) nearest to the Aleutian archipelago rose up before the navigators, tilling them with 

 inexpressible joy. This island was named by them, after their ship, "St. George". The "predovcbik" (or leader) 

 of the expedition, Yeafeem Popov, with all the hunters on the vessel, lauded and remained on the newly-discovered 

 island; but the vessel, failing to find any harbor, returned to winter at the Aleutian islands, carrying away a few 

 fur-seals and sea otters. The hunters who remained on the island of St. George sighted, on the 29th of June 

 (Justinian calendar) of the following year (the day of the apostles Peter and Paul), an island to the northward, 

 which they at once named ''Peter and Paul", but the name of Peter was subsequently dropped from common usage. 

 These islands have borne, since their discovery, a variety of names. At first they were called simply "Novie" 

 (new); the Pribylov; and the " predovcbik " named them Laibdevskie (the principal shareholder of the company 

 was Laibedev). Shellikov named them "Zubovie" (this teas the name of the minister of interior at that time, who was 

 a partner and shareholder also); but among the hunters they attained the appellation of "Saivernie" (northern) on 

 account of their situation north of Oonalashka, and "Kotovuie", or Seal-islands. At the present time (183S) they 

 are often called simply "The Islands" in the colonies {i. e., Alaska and Kamtehatha). The name of Pribylov, as the 

 one most justly applied, should be used throughout. 



The change from summer to winter is abrupt. The number of clear days is exceedingly small. The sun is 

 rarely visible between the 1st of May and the middle of August, and during nearly all that time it is impossible to 

 see beyond the distance of a few fathoms ("sajeens"). For this reason these islands are so difficult to find, that out 

 of twenty ships only one succeeded in reaching them by a straight course. They are visible only during easterly 

 winds for a brief period, * * * but the constant winds probably counteract the exhalations (from the carcasses). 

 Under the present circumstances (1S3S) it would be impossible to remedy the trouble ; to hill the animals at a 

 greater distance from the village would require an increased number of laborers to pack the skins and meat; and if 

 the carcasses were burned, the smoke would probably drive away the animals, while there is neither soil nor labor 

 sufficient to bury or to burn them. The latter process would also deprive the inhabitants of their fuel, as they 

 employ bones and putrified meat for cooking pui^oses, in place of wood. 



The food supply is ample even to luxury, especially on the island of St. Paul. The labor is severe, but 

 only temporary, and the inhabitants have a great deal of time for themselves. A majority of them employ their 

 leisure hours very well, teaching themselves and their children the rudiments of the Eussiau and Aleutian grammar, 

 and with such success that of late, under the administration of the Creole, Shiesneekov, nearly all the males on St. 

 Paul have learned to read. These people are not only richer, but more active and energetic in their labor as well 

 as in their pious faith, than are their Aleutian brethren elsewhere; and altogether the inhabitants of St. Paul may 

 be called the first among the Aleuts. 



On account of the value of fur-seal and sea-otter skins shipped from these islands since their discovery, and 

 up to the present time (1S3S), they might be called the "Golden islands", without estimating the 125,000 blue foxes 

 and 50,000 sea-otters shipped 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 

 ( Village Hill). In the village of to-day (1838) there is a wooden chapel in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul, 

 elected in 1821, and nicely ornamented in 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" (harracoon) built alter the fashion of Aleutian "oblaghamuh" (or large, communistic, underground 

 habitations) houses, a few private dwellings, and thirteen native barrabaras. A small wind-mill has been added of 

 late. 



"Translated, by the author, from Bishop Innocent Veniaminov's work, Zapicska ob Ostrovah Oonahlashkeuskaho Otdayla : St. 

 Petersburg, 1S40. The only Russian treatise upon the subject found. Those selections most pertinent to the subject are introduced above 

 iu my translation. The italics are mine, and explanatory. — H. W. E. 



10 



