Vlll CONTENTS. 



Station of Ookamok, the Botany Bay of Alaska. The Wild Coast of the 

 Peninsula. Water-terraces on the Mountains. Belcovsky, the Rich and 

 Profligate Settlement. Kvass Orgies. Oouga, Cod-fishing Rendezvous. 

 The Burial of Shoomagin here, 1741, The Coal Mines here Worthless. 



CHAPTER VH. 



THE QUEST OF THE OTTER pj* 127-144 



Searching for the Otter. Exposure and Danger in Hunting Sea-otters. The 

 Fortitude, Patience, and Skill of the Captor. Altasov and his Band of Cruel 

 Cossacks. Feverish Energy of the Early Russian Sea-otter Traders. Their 

 Shameful Excesses. Greed for Sea-otter Skins Leads the Russians to Ex- 

 plore the Entire Alaskan Coast, 1760-1780. Great Numbers of Sea-otters 

 when they were First Discovered in Alaska. Their Partial Extermina- 

 tion in 1836-40. More Secured during the Last Five Years than in all 

 the Twenty Years Preceding. What is an Otter? A Description of its 

 Strange Life. Its Single Skin sometimes Worth $500. The Typical Sea- 

 otter Hunter. A Description of Him and his Family. Hunting the Sea- 

 Cotter the Sole Remunerative Industry of the Aleutians. Gloomy, Storm- 

 beaten Haunts of the Otter. Saanak, the Grand Rendezvous of the 

 Hunters. The "Surround" of the Otter. " Clubbing" the Otter. 

 " Netting " the Otter. " Surf -shooting " Them. 



CHAPTER VHI. 



THE GREAT ALEUTIAN CHAIN pp. 145-187 



The Aleutian Islands. A Great Volcanic Chain. Symmetrical Beauty of 

 Shishaldin Cone. The Banked Fires in Oonimak. Once most Densely 

 Populated of all the Aleutians ; now Without a Single Inhabitant. 

 Sharp Contrast in the Scenery of the Aleutian and Sitkan Archipelagoes. 

 Fog, Fog, Fog, Everywhere Veiling and Unveiling the Chain Inces- 

 santly. Schools of Hump-back Whales. The Aleutian Whalers. Odd 

 and Reckless Chase. The Whale-backed Volcano of Akootan. Striking 

 Outlines of Kahlecta Point and the " Bishop." Lovely Bay of Oonalashka. 

 No Wolf e'er Howled from its Shore. Illoolook Village. The "Curved 

 Beach." The Landscape a Fascinating Picture to the Ship- weary Trav- 

 eller. Flurries of Snow in August. Winds that Riot over this Aleutian 

 Chain. The Massacre of Drooshinnin and One Hundred and Fifty of his 

 Siberian Hunters here in 1762-63. This the only Desperate and Fatal 

 Blow ever Struck by the Docile Aleutes. The Rugged Crown and Noisy 

 Crater of Makooshin. The Village at its Feet. The Aleutian People the 

 Best Natives of Alaska. All Christians. Quiet and Respectful. Fash- 

 ions and Manners among them. The "Barrabkie." Quaint Exterior and 

 Interior. These Natives Love Music and Dancing. Women on the 



