THE FUR SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 329 



this place iu search of eggs, one threatening, foggy June morning, may be better imagined than 

 described, for as the clumsy bidarrah came under the lee of the low clifl's, swarm upon swarm of 

 thousands of inurres or "aries" dropped in fright from their nesting-shelves, and before they had 

 control of their flight, they struck to the right and left of me, like so many cannon balls. I was 

 forced, in self-protection, (o instantly crouch for a few moments under the gunwale of the boat 

 until the struggling, startled flock passed, like an irresistible, surging wave, over my head. Words 

 cannot depict the amazement and curiosity with which I gazed around, after climbing up to the 

 rocky plateau and standing among myriads of breeding-birds, that fairly covered the entire sur- 

 face of the island with their shrinking forms, while others-whirled in rapid flight over my head, as 

 wheels within wheels, so thickly inter-running that the blue and gray of the sky was hidden from 

 my view. Add to this impression the stunning whir of hundreds of thousands of strong beating 

 wings, the shrill screams of the gulls, and the muffled croaking of the "aries," couphd with an 

 indescribable, disagreeable smell which arose from the broken eggs and other decaying substances, 

 and a faint idea may be evoked of the strange reality spread before me. Were it not for this island 

 and the case with which the natives can gather, in a few hours, tons upon tons of sea-fowl eggs, 

 the people of the village would be obliged to go to the westward, and suspend themselves over 

 the lofty cliff's of Einahuuhto, dangling over the sea by ropes, as their neighbors are only too 

 glad and willing to do at Saint George. 



SAINT PAUL. A glance at the map of Saint Paul shows that nearly half of its superficial 

 area is low and quite flat, not much elevated above the sea. Wherever the sand-dune tracts are 

 located, and that is right along the coast, is found an irregular succession of hummocks and hillocks 

 drifted by the wind, which are very characteristic. On the summits of these hillocks the Elymus 

 lias taken root in times past, and as the sand drifts up, it keeps growing on and up, so that the 

 quaint spectacle i.s presented of large stretches to the view, wherein sand-dunes, entirely bare of 

 afl vegetation at their base and on their sides, are crowned with a living cap of the brightest green, 

 a taft of long, waving grass blades, which will not down. None of this peculiar landscaping, how- 

 ever, is seen on Saint George, not even iu the faintest degree. Travel about Saint Paul, with the 

 exception of the road to Northeast Point, where the natives take advantage of the low water to 

 run on the hard, wet sand, is exceedingly difficult walking, and there are examples of only a few 

 white men who have ever taken the trouble and expended the physical energy necessary to accom- 

 plish the comparatively short walk from the village to Nahsayveruia, or the north shore. Walking 

 over the moss-hidden and slippery rocks, or tumbling over slightly uncertain tussocks, is a task and 

 not a pleasure. On Saint George, with the exception of a half-mile path to the village cemetery 

 and back, nobody pretends to walk except the natives, who go to and from the rookeries in their 

 regular .seal drives. Indeed, I am told that I am the only white man who has ever traversed the 

 entire coast-line of both islands. 



SAINT GEORGE. Turning to Saint George and its profile, presented by the accompanying 

 map, the observer will be struck at once by the solidity of that little island and its great boldness, 

 rising, as it does, sheer and precipitous from the sea aJl around, except at the three short reaches 

 of the coast indicated on the chart, and where the only chance to come ashore exists. 



The seals naturally have no such opportunity to gain a footing here as they have on Saint 

 Paul, hence their comparative insignificance as to number. The island itself is a trifle over 10 

 miles in extreme length east and west, and about 4 miles of greatest width, north and south. It 

 looks, when plotted, somewhat like an old stone ax; and, indeed, when I had finished my first 

 contours from my field-notes, the ancient stone-ax outline so disturbed me that I felt obliged to 

 resurvey the southern shore, in order that I might satisfy my own mind as to the accuracy of my 



