VIII THE LAST OF THE BERING SEA 153 



been lying or sleeping. This was a bitter disappointment 

 for me, as it was evidently hopeless to wait on the chance of 

 a few odd ones arriving, which they might not do for many 

 days. We felt certain they had not as yet come so far south, 

 for if they had done so we should surely have seen or heard 

 some along the coast. We had the melancholy satisfaction 

 of finding numerous bones and remains of walruses killed 

 here in former seasons by other hunters or natives who had 

 been more fortunate than ourselves. 



I was surprised at one thing on the island, and this was 

 that it absolutely swarmed with red foxes. They had a 

 great number of earths in the small sand-hills, and were so 

 fearless that they remained standing at the mouths of their 

 earths looking calmly at us often at a distance of not more 

 than 50 yards. I could have shot a great many with the rifle, 

 but would not do so, as their coats were then in a poor state 

 and quite worthless. Their food must have consisted of dead 

 fish and other refuse cast up on the shore by the sea, as there 

 appeared to be no other living thing on the island. Doubt- 

 less a certain number of unwary ducks, etc., fall a prey to 

 them, for we observed several huge flocks consisting of what 

 I estimated at thousands of eiders, harlequin, and other 

 kinds. There were also vast numbers of scoters, which were 

 swimming and flying round the island. There was one 

 immense mob of birds which could not have been less than 

 2000 in number, but just too far off for me to identify 

 them. On first seeing them I thought my eyes had deceived 

 me, as a moment afterwards I looked at the same spot and 

 not a bird was to be seen. Another minute and they were 

 all in the same place. On watching them closely I saw that, 

 apparently on a given signal, the whole Hock dived simul- 

 taneously and remained under water several seconds, not a 



