VENIAMINOF'S ACCOUNT OF THE SEA BEAK. 



Translated by Leoniiard Stejnegek. 



The followiug is a translation of Bisbop Ivan Veniaminof s account of the fur 

 seals of the Pribilof Islands, published in Wraiigell's Information Regarding the 

 Russian Provinces on the Northwest Coast of America, forming the first volume of 

 von Baer and von Helmereen's Contribution to the Knowledge of the Russian 

 Empire and the adjacent countries of Asia.' 



The Sea Bear. Phoca iirsina. MorsTcoit ko). 



The sea bears are chiefly taken in the (Russian) colonies on the Commander and 

 Pribilof islands,^ but the most important locality for this industry is the island of St. 

 Paul, Avhere many Aleuts and some few Russians reside for this purpose. The 

 method of taking the seals will be better understood if I give a short description 

 of the habits of these animals. The sealers distinguish the sea bears as sikatchi, 

 polusikatchi, holostiaki, matki, and kotiki. 



By siliatch is understood a full-grown male not less than 6 years old, and either 

 possessing or able to i^ossess a harem. His size is about three or four times that of 

 the female and e(]ual to that of a 2-year-old calf; the color of the hair is dark gray, 

 the hair from the head half way down the body being stiff and much longer than on 

 the other parts. Polusikatchi are males 4 or 5 years of age, which, although fully 

 able to fecundate the females, are not allowed to possess a harem. Their mane is stiit" 

 biit much shorter than that of a sikatch. 



HolostiaJci are males from 2 to 3 years old ; they have no mane and the color of 

 the hair is lighter gray (than in the adults), especially in the spring. 



Matki are the females capable of bearing young. They are only two or three 

 times the size of the young. The color is not exactly the same in all. In some it is a 

 reddish brown, in others grayish, and in still others reddish gray. 



Kotiki are the young males and females from 4 months to a year old, including 

 those born in the spring and killed in the fall. It is the furry pelt of these which is 

 the most highly valued. This furry quality of the pelage particularly distinguishes 

 the fur seals from the hair seals, sea lions, and other kinds of seals in general, 

 rendering it preferable to all others for the fur trade. 



' Beitriige | zurKenntniss | de.s Russischen Reiclies | und der | angrjinzenden Lander Asiens. | — Auf 

 Kosten der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wisseiischaften | herausgegeben | von | K. E. v. Baer und Gr. v. 

 Hehuerseii. | — Erstes Biiiidchen. | Wrangell'e Nachrichten iiber die Russischen Besitzungen | an der 

 Nordwestkiiste von Amerika. | — St. Petersburg, 1839. | lui Verlage der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wis- 

 senschaften. — Special title: Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten | iiber | die Russischen 

 Besitzungen | an der | Nordwestkiiste von Amerika. | Gesammelt | von dem ehemaligen Oberverwalter 

 dieser Besitzungen, | Centre- Admiral v. Wrangell. | — Auf Kosten der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissen- 

 schaftcn | herausgegeben | und mit den Berechnungenaus Wrangell's Witteruugsljeobachtungen | und 

 andern Zusiitzenvermehrt | von K.E. v. Baer. | — St. Petersburg, 1839. | Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen 

 Akademie der Wissenschaften. 



-The animals were formerly plentiful on the Farallone Rocks, out at sea, opposite the bay of San 

 Francisco, but the Americans of the United States have extirpated them completely. A species of 

 sea bear is also found on Guadalupe, but this inhabitant of a warmer region is smaller than its 

 more northern relative and its color is less silvery. (Footnote by von Baer. — Tr.) 



219 



