EXPLORATION OF NAGAI ISLAND 79 



did not connect towards the north with the mainland and form 

 a peninsula, as we could not see the end of it in that direction. 

 This island, as well as all the others, consists only of high solid 

 rocks covered with vegetation. The rock is mainly a coarse, 

 gray and yellowish graywacke,"^ in some places a gray sand- 

 stone; a black, thick slate occurs also. The shore is everywhere 

 stony and rocky; springs and small brooks [are] in abundance. 

 Of animals I met a black fox^^^ right at the start, which, as he 

 barked at me like a dog and was not shy at all, I took to be a 

 dog at first. After close .'nspection, however, I realized my mis- 

 take and thought of having him shot either by Plenisner or my 

 huntsman, in order to take him along as a piece of evidence, 

 but [the plan] miscarried. Red foxes ^^^ were seen by us in dif- 

 ferent parts of the island ; yevrashkas, or small marmots, * ^^^ were 

 found in great abundance. Besides these, I noticed the track of 

 an entirely unknown animal. The footprints, made on the 

 clayey beach of a small lake, resembled the track of a wolf but 

 by their expanse and the great size of the claws indicated that a 

 different and larger animal, or a very big species of wolf, must 

 live here.^" 



'64 The MS has only "Felsen Stein," which Pallas has changed to 

 "Graufels." On the probable occurrence of graywacke on Kayak Island 

 see, above, footnote 116. 



165 Black and red foxes: possibly, as on Kayak Island (see, above, 

 footnote 122), Vulpes kenaiensis Merriam. (S) 



* Mus Citillus.—P. 



i6« The yevrashka {Mus ciiillus according to Pallas' footnote) is Citellus 

 nehulicola Osgood, which was described from Nagai Island in the Shu- 

 magin group {Proc. Biol. Soc. of Washington, Vol. 16, 1903, p. 26). (S) 



167 The large tracks seen by Steller cannot well have been of any 

 other animal than those of a wolf, as of course he was familiar with bear 

 tracks. I am not aware that any form of wolf has been definitely recorded 

 from the Shumagins or from the Alaska Peninsula, so it is not possible to 

 say with certainty definitely what species originated the tracks. How- 

 ever, it is not likely to have been any of the timber wolf races, as the 

 region in question is destitute of forests. It is most probable, therefore, 

 that the species is Canis tundrarum Miller {Smithsonian Misc. Colls., 

 Vol. 59, No. 15, 191 2, p. i). (S) 



