ALEUTIAN ISLANDERS. D 



The immense quantity of animal life which then 

 existed on these islands, may be gathered from the 

 fact that on one short expedition in 1750, the large 

 numxbers of 1781 sea otters, 720 blue foxes, and 

 840 young sea bears were taken, and their furs and 

 skins carried back by one vessel to the Russian 

 territories. 



The inhabitants are described by the admirable 

 and sagacious Steller, who accompanied Behring, as 

 mostly young or middle-aged, of moderate stature, 

 but tolerably well-proportioned ; their arms and legs 

 very fleshy, their hair straight and of a glossy 

 blackness, the nose flat but not broad or large, the 

 eyes black, the lips thick and turned upward ; necks 

 short, shoulders broad, and bodies thick but not 

 corpulent. They wore shirts made of the intestines 

 of whales ; boots and breeches of seal-skin, stained a 

 brown red with alder bark ; and had long iron knives, 

 apparently their own manufacture (though he throws 

 some doubt on this point later in his narrative). They 

 made hats of bark which were coloured red and green, 

 and ornamented Avith feathers and grass ; and bored 

 holes in various parts of the face, in which they 

 inserted bones and stones. They had little or no 

 beard. 



They seemed to migrate from island to island, 



