THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. Ill 



The sea-cows were almost constantly occupied in feeding on those sea-weeds found in abundance along the coast, 

 in doiug which they moved necli and head as an ox. They showed great gluttony, and wei-e not disturbed in the 

 least by the presence of people. It was possible to go up to and even to touch them without their being scared or 

 seeming to mind it. Toward each other they showed great affection, and when one was harpooned the others 

 made unusual efforts to save it. 



When Steller was there these animals collected in great herds as neat-cattle, grazing everywhere along the 

 shores. A great number were killed by Steller and his companions. Later the hunt for these animals was an 

 important food-item for those Russians who sailed from Kamtchatka to the Aleutian islands. Hundreds were killed 

 yearly, and it was soon exterminated, as it existed, if we except a few animals gone astray, at that time only on 

 Bering island. According to what Middendorf quotes from the very careful researches which the celebrated 

 academicians v. Baer and v. Brandt had made, the sea-cow had not been seen before Steller's time, 1741, and the last 

 was said to have been killed in 17GS. During the many investigations I made among the natives, I obtained reliable 

 information that the sea-cow had been killed much later. A "creole" (i. e., a mixture of Eussiau and Aleut), who 

 is now sixty-seven years old, of clever appearance and perfect mental condition, said that his father died in 1847, 

 aged eighty-eight. The father was from Wolhynien, and came to Bering island when eighteen years of age, that 

 is, in 1777. The first two or three years (that is, 1779 or 1780) after his arrival, they used to kill sea-cows as they 

 grazed at low-water mark. Only the heart was eaten; the hide was used for badarrahs. In consequence of its 

 thickness it was split in two parts. Two such split hides were sufiicient to cover a badarrah of 20 feet length, 7J 

 feet width, and 3 feet depth. After that time none of these animals had been killed. 



Last sight of sea-cow here. — It is surmised that a sea cow had shown itself much later around the island. 

 Two "Creoles", Teodor Merchenin and Stepnofif, saw, about twenty -five years ago, at Tolstoi Mees, on the east of 

 the island, an animal which they did not know; it was very thick forward and tapered backward, had small fore- 

 feet, and showed itself about 15 feet above the water, rising and again sinking. It blew, not through a blow-hole, 

 but through its mouth, which was somewhat elongated. Its color was brown, -with large light spots. It had no 

 fin on the back, but wheu it raised itself it was possible to see the vertebroe lumps, in consequence of its verj' lean 

 condition. I made a very thorough examination of the two tales-men. Their story agreed fully, and appeared as 

 if entitled to be given credence. 



One of the Alaska company's hide-examiners, Mr. Ohsche, a native of Lifland and for the present living on 

 Copper island, told me that bones of the sea-cow could be found on the west side of Copper island, in the center. 

 Agaiu, it is said that no bones exist on the little islet, opposite the colony, although bones are plenty on the 

 neighboring beach on the main island. This is the meager information I could gather from the natives and other 

 people residing here about the animal. But I was very fortunate in being able to collect a very large and beautiful 

 assortment of skeleton parts. 



2foEDENSKioLD's SUCCESS IN GETTING ITS BONES. — When I flrst made the acquaintance of the Europeans 

 living on the island, I was told that there was a very poor show for making any large collections. The company 

 had in vain offered 150 rubles for a skeleton. But after I had been ashore a few hours I already found out that 

 larger and smaller collections of bones were to be found here and there in the huts of the natives. Those I 

 bought, paying purposely for them in such a way that the seller was more than satisfied, and his neighbor a little 

 envious. A large portion of the male population now commenced very zealously to hunt for bones, and in this 

 manner I got together twenty-one casks, large boxes, and barrels full of Rhytina bones, among them many very 

 extensive bone-collections from the same animal, two whole, very pretty, and several more or less damaged skulls, etc. 



Bones op the extinct sea-cow of Steller. — M^/fwa bones are not lying near the water-edge, but on a 

 beach-shelf, 6 to 10 feet high, thickly covered with grass. They are usually covered with a layer of earth debris of 

 1 to li feet thickness, and in order to find them we had to explore the ground with a bayonet or a sharp iron, as it 

 would have beeu too laborious to dig up the whole grass layer. A i)erson very soon gets accustomed to distinguish, 

 by the sound or the feeling of the bayonet, whether he has struck against a stone, a piece of wood, or a piece of 

 bone. 



In consequence of their hard ivory -like condition, the Rhytina bones are used by the natives for sleigh- runners 

 and for carvings. They are, therefore, already to a great extent used up and rarer than other bones. The bones 

 from the finger seem in most cases to be entirely destroyed, and the same is the case with the extreme tail-parts. 



Fur-seals on Bering island. — The only large animal which still exists on the island, in perhaps as large 

 numbers as at the time of Steller, is the sea-bear, Otaria ursina. Even that had decreased so that the yearly catch 

 was a very inconsiderable one, when the Alaska Company obtained the exclusive privilege for hunting, by a 

 payment to the Russian government of, if I remember right, two rubles for each animal killed. The hunting was 

 then organized on a more advantageous basis. At certain periods of the year the animals are now altogether 

 unmolested. The number of animals to be killed is settled beforehand, just the same as the farmer in the fall of the 

 year (slaughtering-time, Swedish custom) is in the habit of doing with his cattle. After that is done, the animals 

 condemned to death are selected as well as can be done in a hurry, but animals with poor skin, old females and pups, 

 are liberated. Those numerous flocks of sea-bears, which are found on the shores of Bering and Copper islands, are 

 consequently handled nearly the same as a herd of tame animals. This cau only be done in that manner, beciiuse 



