20 



DISCOVERIES ABOUT BERING SEA. 



luhaliitanta. 



Ve;retatiou. 



George. Myriads of birds breed upon the bigb, 

 rocky cliffs of the ishmds. 



The group was uninhabited when first dis- 

 covered, but was soon colonized by the intro- 

 duction of natives from Unalaska and other 

 islands of the Aleutian Chain. In 1890 the pop- 

 ulation of St. Paul was two hundred and forty- 

 four souls, of which twenty-two were white ; on 

 St. George there were ninety-three souls, of which 

 eight were white ; making the total population of 

 the group three hundred and thirty-seven. Seal 

 meat is the staple food of the natives to-day. 



The vegetation resembles that of the Aleutian 

 Islands, in that no trees are found. It consists 

 of numerous species of grasses of an intensely 

 green color, and of many kinds of wild flowers, 

 Avhich grow in abundance. 



DISCOVERY AND OCCUPATION OF THE SHORES 

 AND ISLANDS OF BERING SEA. 



ReriTio's first ex- rpj^g exploration of Berinp- Sea and of the coasts 

 and islands of America which surround it fol- 

 lowed upon, and was the direct result of, the oc- 

 cupation^ of Eastern Siberia and the peninsula of 



1 Voyage to tlie Pacilic Ocean under the direction of Capt. Cook 

 and others, Loudon, 1784, vol. Ill, pp. 359-383 ; Coxe's Russian 

 Discoveries between Asia and America, London, 1804, p. 317 et 

 scq. ; Miiller, Voyages from Asia to America, translated by Jef- 

 fries, London 1701, 2d ed., pp. 1-44. 



