1897^1 Medni (or Copper) Island 



The fate of Steller, the discoverer of the "four sieiieis 

 great beasts" of Bering Sea, "Sea Cow, Sea Otter, ^"^^ 

 Sea Lion, and Sea Bear," was even more tragic than 

 that of Bering. Accused in Russia of some trivial 

 offense against the Czar, he was ordered back from 

 Kamchatka for trial. Much of the way had to be 

 traversed in an open sleigh drawn by dogs, and one 

 night his guard lingered in a tavern, he being 

 asleep in the bitter cold outside, where he was at 

 last frozen to death. Thus died in his thirty-fifth 

 year one of the ablest of the early naturalists, leav- 

 ing all his admirable work to be made known by 

 others. 



From Nikolski we steamed over to the sister island 

 of Medni or Copper, anchoring first off the village 

 of Preobrajenski on the northeast corner. Here we 

 encountered the "willie waughs," as the sailors call 

 them — sudden and violent gusts of wind from the 

 jagged mountain summits, a phenomenon said to be 

 especially characteristic of the inlets of Tierra del 

 Fuego. From Preobrajenski we went southward Medni 

 along the coast to the village of Glinka, where we P"''^^^^^^ 

 found the Russian official very doubtful as to whether 

 we might be allowed to visit the rookeries at all, 

 there being no precedents to govern the case. The 

 situation was then discussed with Thompson over 

 repeated glasses of vodka, a beverage not at all to 

 my taste. Meanwhile I slipped out quietly, crossed 

 the high and narrow ridge which there forms the 

 backbone of Medni, and inspected the three prin- 



c 591 : 



