THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 47 



of driftwoDtl logs resting ou pegs driven into the ground, as sliown in the accompany- 

 ing photograph (pi. i9b). The upper end of these stairs ((JS feet above the sea) enters 

 the little creek mentioned above and the driveway proceeds up the narrow valley. 

 The kettle-shaped upper end of the valley, the sides of which form a slope of al)0ut 

 10 degrees, is separated from a similar kettle on the north side by a narrow saddle. 

 This pass I have determined to be (1 l.'J feet.' The descent is steep, but not so high as 

 oil the south side, and the driveway now follows the bed of the little creek, as the 

 narrow V-shaped valley affords no other road. The lower end of the drive, after it 

 enters the grass-covered sandy plain back of the Karabelni village, where the killing- 

 grounds are situated, is comparatively easy. 



The salt-house was formerly situated at the front of the village, east of the river 

 ami of the large rock in the bay called UriU Kamcn. The beach there is not very 

 safe or convenient for loading the skins into the boats or landing the salt, for which 

 reason a new one has been built at Popofslcu the small "bay" just west of ITrili 

 Kameu (pi. 63a). 



From Yodopad the driveway, if it is deenie<l necessary to take the meat to the 

 village, is longer by at least a mile over the high plateau northeast of the rookery, 

 besides being very severe in other respects. The grassy slopes of the valley opening 

 at this point are very slippery and steep (about 30'=), but the greatest hardship is 

 caused by the exceedingly dillicult ascent of the bluff" before reaching the valley. 

 The bluff here consists of the naked hard rock, and consequently steps built of drift- 

 wood logs, as at Stolbovaya Bukhta, were out of the question. They had to be roughly 

 cut out of the rock itself, as shown in the accompanying photograph (pi. 45), which 

 will give a better idea of this extraordinary place than any description. It will be 

 seen that the side next to the picturescpie waterfall is nearly jierpendicular, in fact so 

 steep that the men can not follow the drive up on that side in order to urge the seals 

 on and to prevent them from going down over the precipice. To remedy this a rope 

 is stret(died from the top down to the beach, as is plainly shown in the photograph to 

 the right of the fall. When seals are driven, rags and scraps of paper are fastened 

 to this rope, which is kept in constant motion so as to frighten them and urge them on. 



It is hardly to be wondered at that the men prefer to let the seals carry their own 

 skins u|) this road. The top of these stairs is (55 feet above the sea, and I found it 

 jiretty hard work to climb it without carrying anything. 



At Krepkaya Pad and at Malinka Ibikhta there is no jiossibility of getting the 

 .seals uj) alive; hence they were killed back from the beach and their skins carried 

 across the mountains. At Krepkaya Tad the men alone did the killing and carrying, 

 while ]\Ialiiika Buklita was reserved for the women, who did all the skinning and 

 carried the skins to the salt house. Malinka llukhta is reached along the beach from 

 Scrodka, but between it and Krepkaya Pad there is a Neproimsh which can not be 

 passe<l. 



The appended map of Karabelnoye rookery (pi. 0), was made in 1883, July 3 to 

 10. The angles were taken with an azimuth compass and the distance measured witli 

 pediometer. In 1805 my stay at the rookery was too short to make an independent 

 plane-table survey, but a blue-print of the old sketch was placed on the table and a 

 few necessary corrections made. A series of photographs taken at the time have also 

 been used in verifying it. 



' Aver.ago of fi observations on July 3 to 8, 1883. 



