AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS. 353 



aud 8t. Paul of to-day will find their streets dry and bard as floors 

 for they have been covered with a thick layer of volcanic cinders 

 on both islands. 



On St. George the "holluschickie " are regularly driven to that 

 northeast slope of the village hill which drops down gently to the 

 sea, where they are slaughtered, close by and under the houses, as 

 at St. Paul. Those droves which are brought in from the North 

 rookery to the west, and also Starry Arteel, are frequently driven 

 right through the village itself. This killing-field of St. George 

 is hard tufa and rocky, but it slopes away to the ocean rapidly 

 enough to drain itself well ; hence the constant rain and humid 

 fogs of summer carry oli" that which would soon clog and deprive 

 the natives from using the ground year after year in rotation, as 

 they do. Several seasons have occurred, however, w4ien this nat- 

 ural cleansing of the place, above mentioned, has not been as thor- 

 ough as must be, so as to be used again immediately : then the seals 

 were skinned back of the village hill and in that ravine to the west- 

 ward on the same slope from its summit. 



This village site of St. George to-day, and the killing-grounds 

 adjoining, used to be, during early Russian occupation, in Priby- 

 lov's time, a large sea-lion rookery, the finest one known to either 

 island, St. Paul or St. Geoi-ge. Natives are living now, who told 

 me that their fathers had been employed in shooting and driving 

 these sea-lions, so as to deliberately break up a breeding-ground, 

 and thus rid the island of what they considered a superabundant 

 supply of the Eumetopias, aud thereby to aid and encourage a 

 fresh and increased accession of fur-seals from the vast majority pe- 

 culiar to St. Paul, which cou^jSjlct ensue while big sea-lions held 

 the land. ^^Kf 



^^V<^. 





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