steller's account of the sea otter. 217 



pany with Mr. Plenisuer, I saw in the distance a mother otter sleeping with a year-old 

 cnb. When she caught sight of us the mother ran to her offspring, woke him up, and 

 warned him to flee; but, as he preferred to go on sleeping rather than to run away, 

 she picked him up in her i>aws in spite of himself and rolled him like a stone down 

 into the sea. 



On land they can not see very well, but their sense of smell is very keen. They 

 ought, therefore, to be hunted from the lee side. Tlieir sense of hearing is just as 

 sharp. 



The cry of the sea otter is very like the cry of an infant. They doubtlessly live 

 many years. They never breed strife among themselves, but always live on the best 

 of terms with one another. They are very much afraid of sea lions and sea bears, 

 and they do not like the company of seals. Accordingly the places which those 

 animals frequent are carefully avoided by the otter. 



The flesh of the adult otter is much more tender and savory than that of the 

 seal. The flesh of the female is best, for it is fatter and more tender, and the fat lies 

 between little membranes. It is for that reason a little hard. In the case of preg- 

 nant mothers, the nearer they are to parturition the fatter they are. In this respect 

 they are different from land animals. The flesh of the young otter is most delicious; 

 it can not easily be distinguished from the flesh of an un weaned lamb, whether 

 roasted or boiled, and the gravy from its preparing, in either way, is most delicious. 

 Otter flesh was our principal food on Bering Island; it was also our universal medi- 

 cine. By its use we were saved from scurvy, and no one got sick of it, although we 

 ate it every day half raw and without bread. The liver, heart, and kidneys tasted 

 exactly like those of the calf. Tbe natives of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands 

 give the first preference to the flesh of eagles, the second to otter's flesh. The liver 

 and kidneys they eat raw, and declare them most excellent. Not only the natives 

 but also the Russians use scrapings from the bony base of the penis as the proper 

 remedy to cure the tertian fever. 



The skins go through the following processes before they are ready for use. (1) 

 After the skin has been taken from the animal shreds of muscle are cut from it with 

 a knife. This process the Russians call by the Slavonic term, '■'■holon sniaV^ (2) 

 Then the; skin is stretched to its utmost; for, besides the fact that the price increases 

 with the size, the skins thus prepared become hghter, although the fur does become 

 less beautiful. (3) After this they straighten out the hairs with bones from the wings 

 of gulls, and sleep ui)on them, naked, for several weeks to make them glossier, nicer, 

 and more beautiful. This process the Russians call '■'■mjspat bobr.^' (4) While the 

 Cossacks are getting the skins from the natives they frequently beat the skins upon 

 the snow with sticks, and if the fur is gray, or any other color than black, they color 

 them with alum and einpetrum berries cooked to the proper consistency with tish oil. 

 This makes them glossy black. But the fraud can be detected —pull out of a dyed 

 skin a single hair and it will show three colors: at the end, the black of the dye; 

 from the middle down, the native color; and. Anally, the base of the hair. 



While the skins are being i^repared for use, the natives treat them also as follows: 

 they smear the inside of the skin with a powder made of dried tish eggs, as the 

 Rutheni do with simple yeast; then they roll it up and lay it away for several days, 

 and after that they scrape it with shells and glass, and finally smooth it down with 

 pumice stone. During this time they knead the inside with a wooden hook and with 



