EXPLANATORY NOTES AND COMMENTS UPON THE MAP OF ST. PAUL 



ISLAND. 



St. Paul. —This name was given to the island because it was described for the first time on St. Paol'a 

 Day, Jn) V 10, 1787, by the Kussian discoverers. [June 29, Justinian calendar. | 



Definitions for Kussian names op thb eookeeies, etc.— The several titles on the map that in- 

 dicate the sever.ll breeding-grounds owe their origin and have their meaning as follows : 

 Zapadnie signifies "westward, " and is so used by the people who live in the village. 

 ZOLTOI signifies '-golden." so used to express the metallic shimmering of the sands there. 

 Ketavie signifies "of a whale. " so use d to designate that point where a large right whale was stranded 



in 1819 (?) ; from Eussinn "keet," or ''whaled 

 LukannON. — So named after one Lukannon, a pioneer Kussian, who distinguished himself, with one 



Kaiecov, a countryman, by capturing a large number of sea-otters at that point, and on Otter Isl- 

 and, in 1787-88. 

 TONKIE MEES signifies " gmall (or ''slender") cape" ftonkie, "thin;" mees, "cape."l 

 POLA^^NA literally signifies " half way," so used by the natives because it is practically half-way b© 



tween the salt-houses at Northeast Point and the village. Polavina Sopka, or "half-way vtount- 



ain" gets its name in the same manner. 

 Novastoshnah, from the Eussinn "novaite," or " recent growth." so used because this locality in 



pioneer days was an island to itself ; and it has been annexed recently to the mainland of St. Paul. 

 Vesolia jiista, or "jolly place," the site of one of the first settlements, and where much carousing 



was indulged. 

 Maroonitcii, the site of a pioneer village, established by one Maroon. 

 Nahbayvekxia, or " on the north shore," from Eussian "tayvernie." 

 Boga Slov, or "word of God," indefinite in its application to the place, but is, perhaps, due to the fact 



that the pious Russians, immediately after landing at Zapadnie, in 1787, ascended the hill and erected 



a huge cross thereon. 

 EiNAHNUiiTO, an Aleutian word, sisnifying the "three mammce." 

 Tolstoi, a Eussian name, signifying "thick." It is given to at least a hundred diflFerent capes and 



headlands throughot Alaska, "being applied as indiscriminately as we do the term " Bear Creek " 



to little streams in the "Western States and Territories. 



The pkofi; e of St. Paul.— That profilfof the south shore, between the Village Hill and Southwest 

 Point, ttkeu from the steamer's anchorage off the Village cove, shows the characteristic and remarka- 

 ble alternation of rookery slope and low sea-level flats. This point of viewing is slightly more than 

 half a mile true west of the Village hill, to a sight which brings Boga Slov summits and Tolstoi head 

 nearly in line. At Zapadnie is the place where the Eussian discoverers first landed in 1787, July 10. 

 With the exception of the bluffy west end, Ein ahnuhto cliffs, the whole coast of St. Paul is accessible, 

 and affords an easy landing, except at the short reach of •' Seethah " and the rookery points, as indi- 

 cated. The great sand beach of this island extends from Lukannon to Polavina, thence to Webster's 

 house, Kovastoshnah ; from there over, and sweeping back and along the north shore to Nahsayvemia 

 headland, then between Zapadnie and Tolstoi, together with the beatitiful, though short, sand of Zoltoi. 

 This extensive and slightly broken sandy coast is not described as peculiar to any other island in 

 Alaska, or of Siberian wai ers. 



Fuesh-wateu lakes.— There are no running streams at any season of the year on St. Paul ; bnt 

 the abundance of fresh water is plainly presented by the numerous lakes, all of which are " svayjoi," 

 save the lagoon estuary. The four large reefs which I have located are each awash in every storm 

 that blows from seaward over (hem; they are all rough, rocky ledges. That little one indicated in 

 English Bay caused the wrecking of a large British vessel in ]'847, which Was coming into anchor just 

 without Zapadnie ; a number of the crew were " maaslucken,"* so my native informant averred. 



Deift-wood.— Most of the small amount of drift-wood that is found on this island is procured at 

 Northeast Point and Polavina ; the north shore from Maroonitch to Tsammanah has also been favored 

 with sea-waif loga in exceptional seasons, to the exclusion of all other sections of the coast. The 

 natives say that the St. George people get much more drift-wood every year, as a rule, than they do 

 on St. Paul! From what I could see during my four seasons of inspection, they never have got much, 

 under the best of circumstances, on either island. They pay little attention" to it now, and gather 

 ■what they do during the winter season, going to Polavina and the north shore with sleds, on which 

 they hoist sails, after loading there, and scud home before the strong northerly blasts.^ 



Captain Erskine inlorms me that the water is free and bold all around the north shore from Cross 

 Hill to Southwest Point ; no reefs or shoals up to within a half mile of land anywhere. English Bay 

 is very shallow, and no sea-going vessel should attempt to enter it that diaws over 6 feet. 



Authokities for latitude and longitude.— All the positions of latitude and longitude which I 

 place upon this map are taksn from Captain Archimandritov'a manuscript chart. During the whole 

 month of July, 1874, while I was here with the Reliance, there was not a sinele opportunity for a solar 

 observat ion, although Captain Baker made several attempts to make some. Captain Erskine, however, 

 has verified Archimandritov's work, and says that it is very nea'- the coirect thing. I could have taken 

 observations easily in the occasional clear November days of lfc72, but unfortunately the chronometer 

 which I tnd proved so defective that I abandoned the labor. 



How to reach Walrus Islet.— To visit Walrus Islet in a boat, pleasantlv and successfully, it is 

 best to submit to the advice and direction of the natives. They leave the village in the evening, and, 

 taking advantage of the tide, proceed along the coast as far as the blufls of Polavina, where they rest 

 on their oars, doze, and smoke, until the downing of daylight, or later, perhaps, until the fog lifts 

 enough for them to get a glimpse of the isletwhich they seek ; they row over then in about two hours 

 with their bidarrah. They leave, however, with perfect indifference as to da.N-light or fog; nothing 

 but a southeaster can disturb their tranquility when they succeed in landing on Walrus Island. They 

 would find it as difBcult to miss striking the extended reach of St. Paul on their return, as they found 

 it well-nigh impossible to push oft' from Polavina and find " Morzovia" in a thick, windy fog and run- 

 ning sea. 



Ottek Islet: Slight correction.— Otter Island, or "Bobrovia," is easily reached in almost any 

 ■weather that is not very stormy, for it looms up high above the water. It takes the bidarrah about 

 two hours to row over from the village, while 1 have gone across once in a whale-boat with less than 

 one hour's expenditure of time, sail and oars, en route. A slight mistake of the engraver causes 

 Crater Point to appear as a bifurcated tongue. It is not so ; but there is a funnel-shaped cavity here 

 plainly emarginated from the sea, and on that extreme point, constituting and giving to it this name. 



* Ansrthing missing or beyond human ken, in the Aleutian vernacular, is "maaslucken." 



