sealing gear, found within sixty miles of aay port of either America, 

 British, Japanese or Russian territory, iimediately be confiscated and 

 the crew and officers punished by fine arid imprisonraent, or. both, was passed. 

 Under this system the depleted hord of 235,000 in 1910 has now increased 

 to more than 3,000,000 soals,, .The Coast Guard cutters maintain a patrol 

 and strictly Gnj;orce these trQ.atios, 



Upon completion of tiio dtitios at the Pribilofs and in the vicinity, 

 the CrEMrl procGcdod northward to Nome, Nome is a seacoast town located 

 on the mainland about 600 miles north of Unalaska, ^t is built along the 

 shoro, being without a harbor. The roadstead is open to navigation from 

 about Juno 5 till November 15 each year and the balance of the year it, is 

 frozen in. The residents are then cut off from the outside world by boat 

 but they can be reached bj^ trail ox by aeroplane when the weather permits. 



In the autuiiin, generally about November 1, Bering Sea begins to 

 take on a covering of slush ice, Sometirao later the Arctic ice pack, a 

 solid field begins forming and, hundreds of sqiTare miles in oztent, soon 

 covers the sea. In the Spring these iiTEiionse fields of ico float gently 

 out to sea and arc carried northward by the currents. The field passes 

 through BeriEg Strait, the narrow strip of v/ater between the crsternmost 

 point of Asia and the westoinuiost point of Alaska Mainland, The creaking, 

 crushing noise coii be hoard for a great disitance. 



On days when the Arctic sun is shining, after the ioe has left, the 

 land-scape and the sea-scape present a pretty view. The tundra on the 

 shore is brown and green, and the air is filled with summer heat, while 

 pretty wildflow^rs adorn the foot hills. But quite often, without notice, 

 the scene changes. Black lowering clouds obscure the sun, heavy iTinds 

 lash the sea and largo, white-capped v/avcs crash on the beach. The thunder 

 of the surf can bo hoard for miles. TJae ships in the roadstead must '^eer 

 more chain on their anchors and for a while try to ride out the storm, but 

 when the anchors begin dragging they lun for safety in the lee of Sledge 

 Island or go off to sea. Often the gale blows for three or four consecutive 

 days, 



Nome in summer is a busy place. King Island Eskimos poddlo their 

 ivory on the main street. The stores are stocked with furs. Hea?.e and 

 there men are seen working the beach sands while on the first and second 

 beaches large dredges mechanically pan for gold dust. The cutter CHELAN 

 saw a decided change later in the year when it visted Nome after a fire 

 which destroyed about 80jo of its business section and 40^ of the residential 

 section. 



The next place of interest p&ssed was a small projaction to the 

 northwest of Nome about 60 miles distance, called King Island. This rock 

 is the home of the Eskimo tribe of natives called King Islanders., They build 

 their houses on stilts as there is no level spot, the sides of rock being 

 sheer. These natives spend their summers in Nome, leaving King Island about 

 June 21, In October they are taken back to their island home by the cutter 

 NORTHLAflD, This place is surrounded by ice during, the winter and in the 

 spring months it is a spendid hunting gromid for walrus. 



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