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 Tliousand Miles West 

 of San Francisco ! — The Mummies of the " Clieetiery 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 Hiiman 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. — Contj-ast 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. 254-3r>3 



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. — Noise of the Rookeries Sounds like the Roar 

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



