PAPER BY WILLIAM PALMER. 289 



color very much as on soundings. At 4 lirs., 30 m. had just com- 

 puted longitude when Captain Tomogoroh and others rushed in my 

 room in great excitement, reporting land in sight. I ran on deck, and 

 one of my men, an American sailor, coming down from aloft, said he 

 saw low land and breakers ahead, extending three points on the star- 

 board bow; also on the weather bow. I therefore wore ship, and stoop 

 on by the wind S. by W. I then went aloft with another of my men, 

 who said that he could see low land and breakers on the lee; but I could 

 not, although using an opera glass. The sea appeared rather white on 

 the horizon; there were also some birds; the passing cloudy snow 

 squalls, however, prevented seeing anything distinctly. After standing 

 2£ miles S. by W. wore again and steered the old course, E. by N., 

 which, if there had been a reef, would have brought us close to it. The 

 sky became clearer in that direction, but nothing was to be seen like 

 breakers or land ; all admitted that if it were there we would have 

 seen it. I supposed, when land was reported, it might be the island 

 1 Hiawatha,' which Commodore Eogers had looked for, and was in 

 hopes that we had made a discovery. I presume it was a snow squall; 

 the clouds (cumuli) were very heavy and low down. From the noon 

 position we had ran 17 miles on an E. by N. course when land was re- 

 ported." 



In June, 1867, finally, the schooner Caroline Mills, Captain Turner, 

 was sent out expressly by San Francisco merchants to search for the 

 reported land. On the 17th she was in a position 24 miles distant from 

 its supposed IW. extremity, with a light breeze and a clear atmos- 

 phere, but there were no indications of laud. On continuing she was 

 at midnight within half a mile of that point. Approaching it the sea 

 became discolored, resembling a bank, which appearance had already 

 been observed when 5 or 6 miles northwest of the supposed island and 

 continued for 200 miles to the eastward, extending 10 degrees of longi- 

 tude up to 136° 00'. On sounding at noon on the 17th bottom was not 

 obtained with 100-fathoms line; at 10 hrs. p. ra., within 4 or 5 miles of 

 the supposed land, no bottom at 55 fathoms ; on the 18th at 4 hrs. a. m. 

 no bottom at 90 fathoms, and at 4 hrs. p. m. no bottom at 100 fathoms. 

 The course on that day was SW. up to 16 miles from the reported posi- 

 tion of the supposed island, when the sea became blue again ; then an 

 eastern course was steered for, land appearing to be at a great distance. 

 It was continued for 75 miles on the reported parallel, but nothing was 

 seen. Everywhere sea birds (sand pipers) and numerous seal were 

 found. 



From all this it would appear that the reports of the existence of land 

 in this part ot the Pacific Ocean are unreliable, and the " discolored 

 water" may also have been a delusion. 



EXTRACT FROM A PAPER PREPARED BY WILLIAM PALMER. 1 



FATE OF THE FUR-SEAL IN AMERICA. 



[Read before the Biological Society of Washington, D. C., October 17, 1891 and illustrated by lantern 



slides.] 



The present condition of the Alaskan fur-seal islands is but another 

 illustration of the fact that the ignorance, avarice, and stupidity of man 

 have succeeded in reducing an overwhelming abundance of animal life 



1 As published in Forest and Stream for October 29, 1891. 

 12364 19 



