— 18 — 



caused b}' athmospheric agents connected with the cra- 

 cking of the layers in vertical, as well as in horizontal way 

 give a beginning to landslips, which crush whole rooke- 

 ries. Fortunately such large slips seldom occur. Every 

 spring stones begin to fall, partly rolling into the sea and 

 thus building those submerged rocks, mentioned above. 

 The falling of large stones is accompanied by sounds, 

 which remind one of distant shooting. The drives on 

 Copper lsl. is one of the most difficult; one is obliged to 

 draw the seals up to a height of 600 — 900 feet. To form 

 an idea of the steepness of these slopes one must imagine, 

 that drives are accomplished in places, where the breadth 

 of the Island is only about 6 versts, a verst of which 

 has to be deducted on a slight incline. In some of the 

 seals dwelling — places, which are inaccesible, one is obli- 

 ged to let oneself down on a 2 inch ropeladder and to 

 climb up the same with the skins, taken off the captured 

 seals. 



On the Commander Islands only so called bachelors- 

 males from 2 — 3 years of age, are killed for the sake of 

 the skin. Males of 4 years — half bulls are only killed 

 occassionally, as single specimens. Females are not killed 

 at all. In the trade there are also some skins, but in ver} T 

 small quantities of those females, that perish during the 

 time, when they were driven away by a sun stroke or 

 were crushed by masses of males, tumbling over them. 



An insignificant number of females perish through 

 wounds they receive from the males, when they arrive 

 on the rookeries. The real loss of seals on the rookeries 

 is not important, especially in comparision with the loss 

 of those on the Prybiloff Islands. The greatest loss falls 

 upon the newlyborn, so called black seals, which perish 

 in the harems crushed by bulls, a small number is occas- 

 sionaly crushed during the time the seals are driven 

 accross, when the bachelors settle down between the 

 spaces of the family divisions; a part, the greater one, of 

 these black seals „Kotiki", perishes after the death of the 



