FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 95 



have laid every sea.son, since 1854, slougbiug away iuto the saud beueatli, 

 has not and does not cause any sickness among- the people who Hve right 

 over them, so to speak. The cool, raw temperature and strong winds 

 peculiar to the iilace seem to prevent.any unliealthy effect from the fer- 

 mentation of decay. The ElymuK and other grasses once more take heart 

 and grow with magical vigor over that unsightly spot, to which the seal- 

 ing gang again rejturns, repeating their bateau, which we have marked 

 before upon this i)lace, three years ago. In that way, this strip of 

 ground, seen on my map between the vilhige, the East landing, and the 

 Lagoon, contains the bones and the oil drippings and other fragments 

 thereof, of more than 4,(HH),0()0 seals slain since 178(5, while the slaughter 

 fields at Novastoshnah record the end of a million more! 



I remember well the unmitigated sensations of disgust that possessed 

 me when I first landed, Aj^ril 20, 1872, on the Pribilov Islands, and passed 

 up, from the beach at Lukannon, to the village over the killing grounds. 

 Though there was a heavy coat of snow on the fields, yet each and every 

 one of the 55,000 decaying carcasses was there, and bare: having burned, 

 as it were, their way out to the oi)en air, polluting the same to a sad 

 degree. I was laughed at by the residents who noticed my facial con- 

 tortions, and assured that this state of smell was nothing to what 1 

 should soon experience when the frost and snow had fairly melted. They 

 were correct; the odor along by theendof May was terrific punishment 

 to my olfactories, and continued so for several weeks until my sense of 

 smell became blunted and callous to this stench by longfamiliarity. Ijike 

 the old residents, I then became quite unconscious of the prevalence 

 of this rich "funk" and ceased to notice it. 



Those who land here, as 1 did, for the first time, nervously and invari- 

 ably declare that such an atmosphere must breed a plague or a fever of 

 some kind in the village, and hardly credit the assurance of those who 

 have resided in it for the whole period of their lives, that such a thing 

 was never known to St. Paul, and that the island is remarkably healthy. 

 It is entirely true, however, and after a few weeks' contact or a couple 

 of months' experience at the longest, the most sensitive nose becomes 

 used to that aronui, wafted, as it is, liourl)^, day in and out, from decay- 

 ing seal tiesh, viscera, and blubber; and, also, it ceases to be an object 

 of attention. The cool, sunless climate during the warmer months has 

 undoubtedly much to do witli checking too rapid decomposition and 

 consequent trouble therefrom, which would otherwise arise from the 

 killing grouiuls. 



The freshly vsk inn ed carcasses of this season, do not seem to rot, sub- 

 stantially, until the following yeai'. Tlien, they rapidly slough away into 

 the sand upon which they rest. The envelope of blubber left upon 

 each body, seems to act as an air-tight receiver, holding most of the 

 putrid gases that are evolved from the <lecaying viscera until their vol- 

 atile tension causes it to give way. Fortunately, the line of least resist- 

 ance to that merciful retort, is usually right where it is adjacent to the 

 soil : so, both putrescent fluids and much of the stench within, is deodor- 

 ized and absorbed before it can contaminate the atmosphere to any great 

 extent. The truth of my observation will be promptly verified if the 

 skeptic chooses to tear open any oue of the thousands of gas-distended 

 carcasses in the fall that were skinned in the killing season. If he does 

 so, he will be smitten by the worst smell that human sense can measure; 

 and should he chance to be accompanied by a native, that callous indi- 

 vidual will even pinch his grimy nose and exclaim, it is a "keeshla 

 pahnoot!" 



At the close of the third season after the skinning of the seal's body, 

 it will have so rotted and sloughed down as to be marked only by the 



