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. — Oonga, Cod-fishing Rendezvous. 

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



CHAPTER Vn. 



The Quest of the Otter pp. 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- 

 otter 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. — "Chxbbing" the Otter. — 

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



CHAPTER Vm. 



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 

 Poj^ulated 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 



