THE HEAL '' EOOKEEIES." 



195 



Act of Congress passed in 1870 fur the protection of the Pribylov 

 Islands the extent of the preserved waters is not definitely specified 

 — the phrase " and the waters adjacent thereto " being employed. 



Our dogs were unharnessed and tied up, and, taking the 

 precaution of keeping well to leeward, we walked down to inspect 

 the rookery. Although familiar with the description of a former 

 visitor, I confess that I was utterly unprepared for the sight that 



SLEDGE DOGS. 



met my eyes. For a distance of about three-quarters of a mile 

 along the coast was spread a seething black mass of animal life, 

 the individuals of which seemed ahnost "as the sand upon the 

 sea-shore for multitude." There were, we were told, about seventy 

 thousand of them, but had our informant said seven hundred 

 thousand I do not think I should have been astonished. Beyond 

 a certain limit the eye is incapable of estimating nmnbers. Ex- 

 cepting in the case of the hmnan species, I had never before seen 

 such an enormous collection of living creatures gathered together 



