28 



BULLETIN OF THK UNITKD STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Number of births and deaths on Commander Islands, 1868 to 1881. 



1868 



1869 



1870 



1871 



1872 



1873 



1874 



1875 



1876 



1877 



1878 



1879 



1880 



1881 



Total 



Births and deaths on Commander Islands, according to months, from 1S6S to 1881. 



.Tanaary 



Felirna'ry 



March 



Aitril 



May 



Jniie 



July 



Avi^^ist 



St'iitember 



October 



November 



December 



Month unknown 



Total 



Bering Island. Copper Island. Both islands. 



173 44 55 99 132 140 272 



Bering Island. Copper Island. 



9 92 171 



The Commander Islanders, being' derived from the other Aleutian Islands, do not 

 difler from their relatives now under American authority in any essential point, and they 

 naturally possess thecharacteristics, both uood and bad, of the latter. By nature gentle 

 intelligent, and honest, the worst of their present vices have been acquired by contact 

 with white men. I have spent twenty mouths among them, and.I have only the most 

 lileasant recollections of these simple-hearted people. 



Notwithstanding their common origin, there is a marked difterence between the 

 natives on Bering Island and those on Copper Island. The former are more reticent, 

 less ambitious, and, therefore, to most people, less attractive than the latter, whose 

 gaiety and whim make a very favorable impression ou the visitor. This difi'erence 

 seemed more marked during my visit to the islands last year than on the former occa- 

 sion, and, ou the whole, it seemed as if the Bering Islanders had deteriorated. Even 

 theft was not uncommon among the younger generation on Bering Island — though aa 

 almost unknown thing fourteen years ago. But even now real criminal offenses are not 

 freouent. Occasionally a serious offeuder has to be seut to Vladivostok for punish- 



