CONTENTS. ix 



Wood and Water Trails. Simple Cuisine. Their Remarkable Willing- 

 ness to be Christians. A Greek Church or Chapel in every Settlement. 

 General Intelligence. Keeping Accounts with the Trader's Store. 

 They are thus Proved to be Honest at Heart. The Festivals or "Praz- 

 niks." The Phenomena of Borka Village. It is Clean. Little Ceme- 

 teries. Faded Pictures of the Saints. Atto, the Extreme Western Set- 

 tlement of the North American Continent. Three Thousand Miles West 

 of San Francisco ! The Mummies of the " Cheetiery Sopochnie." The 

 Birth of a New Island. The Rising of Boga Slov. 



CHAPTER IX. 



WONDERFUL, SEAL. ISLANDS pp. 188-253 



The Fur-seal Millions of the Pribylov Islands. Marvellous Exhibition of 

 Massed Animal-life in a State of Nature. Story of the Discovery of 

 these Remarkable Rookeries, July, 1786. Previous Knowledge of them 

 Unknown to Man. Sketch of the Pribylov Islands. Their Character, 

 Climate, and Human Inhabitants. A Realm of Summer-fog. The Seal- 

 life here Overshadows Everything, though the Bird Rookeries of Saint 

 George are Wonderful. No Harbors. The Roadsteads. The Attractive 

 Flora. Only Islands in Alaska where the Curse of Mosquitoes is Re- 

 moved. Natives Gathering Eggs on Walrus Islet. A Scene of Confusion 

 and Uproar. Contrast very Great between Saint Paul and Saint George. 

 Good Reason of the Seals in Resorting to these Islands to the Exclusion 

 of all other Land in Alaska. Old-time Manners and Methods of the Rus- 

 sians Contrasted with Our Present Control. Vast Gain and Improvement 

 for Seals and Natives. The Character of the Present Residents. Their 

 Attachment to the Islands. The History of the Alaska Commercial Com- 

 pany. The Wise Action of Congress. The Perfect Supervision of the 

 Agents of the Government. Seals are more Numerous now than at First. 

 The Methods of the Company, the Government, and the Natives in 

 Taking the Seals. 



CHAPTER X. 



AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS pp. 254-353 



Difference between a Hair-seal and a Fur-seal. The Fur-seal the most Intelli- 

 gent of all Amphibians. Its singularly Free Progression on Land. Its 

 Power in the Water. The Old Males the First Arrivals in the Spring. 

 Their Desperate Battles one with Another for Position on the Breeding 

 Grounds. Subsequent Arrival of the Females. Followed by the " Bach- 

 elors." Wonderful Strength and Desperate Courage of the Old Males. 

 Indifference of the Females. Xoise of the Rookeries Sounds like the Roar 

 of Niagara. Old Males fast from May to August, inclusive ; neither Eat 



