FUR SEALS FOR FOOD 177 



that at our departure a few barrels thereof were left be- 

 hind. «2 



During the whole of May and half of the month of June we 

 lived on the meat of the young and female sea bears which are 

 much more tender to eat. 



On May 5^23 by erecting the sternpost and the stem on the keel 

 the start was made on our vessel and our future deliverance. 

 Lieutenant W'axel thereupon invited all and everybody to him 

 and, in default of other drinks, treated us to Mongolian satu- 

 ran,*^* or tea soup, which is prepared with flour and butter, at 



422 In the MS the following here intervenes: "Shortly after this sea 

 lions, in Kamchatka called siviich, also appeared frequently, but nobody 

 dared to kill this ferocious animal. One which had been wounded in 

 Kamchatka with a nosok, or harpoon, and escaped was cast ashore near 

 us dead but still fresh, and we set to work on this one too." 



This passage is omitted by Pallas in the journal but occurs (Neue 

 Nordische Beytrdge, Vol. 2, 1781, p. 290, lines 7-12) in Steller's description 

 of Bering Island as Pallas had published it twelve years previously 

 (see, below, Appendix A, p. 226). The passage is there completed by the 

 following sentences {loc. cit., lines 12-17, and, below, Appendix A, p. 226) : 



"The most delicate part of this animal is its flippers. When being 

 boiled they swell up a great deal and can then easily be skinned, while 

 when raw it is not possible to remove the skin. I have discussed the main 

 matters of interest concerning this animal in the previously mentioned 

 description of sea animals." [The reference is to Steller's "De bestiis 

 marinis, " pp. 360-366 (see also, below, p. 224, footnote 125).] 



The sea lion {Eumetopias jubata (Schreber)) is known in Kamchatka 

 under the name sivuch. The full-grown male is a large and formidable 

 animal. In view of Steller's own statement on p. 168, above, that "on 

 January 29 our company killed the first sea lion" it would appear that 

 the one then killed was a female or young male, a supposition corrobo- 

 rated by his saying that the meat w^as almost like veal, a quality which 

 even he would hardly attribute to that of the old sivuch. (S) 



423 In the log book (Vol. i, p. 234) this event is dated May 6. 



424 According to Admiral Ferdinand von Wrangell (Expedition to the 

 Polar Sea, New York, 1841, pp. 84-85) the saturan is prepared as follows: 

 "The meal is roasted in a pan, and butter or train oil mixed with it so 

 as to bring it to a paste, which is then thinned by the addition of boiling 

 water. When the drink is carefully made, and with good butter, it has 

 an agreeable flavor, and is very nourishing and warming; it may be com- 



