NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 303 



than those of stonei. " At one time these caribou were abun- 

 dant throughout the length of the Alaska Peninsula from a 

 point nearly opposite Kodiak Island west to the island of 

 Unimak and thence all around the Alaskan shore of Bering 

 Sea (Nelson, 1887), as well as on Nunivak Island. At present, 

 writes Murie (1935), "the numbers on the peninsula have 

 dwindled greatly, but a few herds are still holding their own. 

 One herd, numbering possibly 2,500, ranges from Morzhovoi 

 Bay to Herendeen Bay, with the center of abundance in the 

 vicinity of Pavlof Valley. The other herd, apparently a little 

 larger, ranges from Moller Bay to the vicinity of Black Lake. 

 The latter herd appears to be less molested by hunters than the 

 others, but as a whole the caribou of the peninsula have been 

 and are rapidly dwindling . . . Caribou are scarce to the 

 eastward of Port Heiden, but a few have been recorded as far 

 east as Becharof Lake in comparatively recent years. Several 

 islands adjacent to the peninsula were inhabited at one time. 

 Caribou occurred in considerable numbers on Unga Island, 

 according to A. J. Stone, and Deer Island is also said to have 

 had caribou, but today none are found on either. In July 1925 

 a caribou skeleton was found on Amak Island, 12 or 14 miles 

 off the Bering Sea shore . . . This island cannot be much 

 over 2 miles square. Unimak Island, roughly 30 by 75 miles 

 in extent, represents the westernmost point of distribution for 

 caribou and harbors a group that has been estimated at from 

 7,000 to 10,000 animals; a visit to the island in 1925 inclines 

 the writer to favor the lower figure. " According to reports of 

 Donald H. Stevenson, quoted by Murie, the caribou here were 

 decreasing rapidly in the eighties and early nineties, when it 

 was thought many caribou were killed for food by men hunting 

 sea otter. With the cessation of these activities the caribou 

 commenced to increase until "by 1905 the island held all that 

 the range could carry. About 1908 they again began to decline 

 in numbers, but soon were able to hold their own and later 

 increased once more. " At intervals these island animals have 

 been known to cross to the mainland of the peninsula, and 

 there is some evidence of migratory movements lengthwise up 

 and down the country. 



From the evidence brought together by Murie it seems that 

 in spite of a depletion that has restricted these caribou to 

 parts of the peninsula and islands, and cut them off from the 



