CHAPTER III. 
THE HOME OF THE FUR SEALS. 
A. THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 
THEIR GEOGRAPHY. 
The little group of rocky islets known as the Pribilof Islands, from the name of 
their discoverer, is situated in the Bering Sea, in latitude 57° north and longitude 
170° west. They are isolated from other land, the nearest point to the south being 
Unalaska Island, at a distance of 214 miles. Cape Newenham, on the mainland of 
Alaska, at a distance of 309 miles, is the nearest point to the eastward, while St. 
Matthew Island, 220 miles away, is the first land to the northward. 
The islands are of volcanic origin, and are five in number—St. Paul, St. George, 
Otter, Walrus, and Sivutch Rock. The first two only are of importance. The last 
three are small islets lying about St. Paul Island and within about 7 miles of its 
shores. The main islands are separated hy about 40 statute miles of water. 
ST. PAUL ISLAND. 
St. Paul, the largest island, lies in latitude 57° 07’ north and longitude 170° 17: 
west.* It has an extreme length from northeast to southwest of 134 miles. Its 
maximum width is 73 miles. It has a shore line of about 454 miles and an area 
of 43 square miles. The surface of the island is in the main low. Rocky plateaus 
alternate with low valleys, some of which contain ponds of fresh water. One of 
these covers a space upward of 2 miles in length by half a mile in width, but is very 
shallow. It is shut in by sand dunes, and lies along the narrow neck which joins 
the rocky headland called Northeast Point with the main body of the island. In the 
southeast end of the island is a salt-water lagoon, covering some 169 acres in extent, 
and connected with the sea by a narrow channel some 75 to 100 feet in width. The 
average elevation of the upland areas is not more than 150 feet, but a number of cinder 
cones and voleanic craters rise to varying heights in the interior portion of the island. 
Bogoslof attains an elevation of 590 feet, but Rush Hill on the west shore is the 
highest, 665 feet. A number of shallow bays indent the coast line, bordered by long 
stretches of sandy beach, behind which are areas of shifting sand dunes; but for the 
most part the shores are bowlder-strewn and rugged, rising in sheer cliffs at the 
headlands. 
ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 
St. George lies to the southeast of St. Paul at a distance of about 40 miles, in 
latitude 56° 36’ north and longitude 169° 32’ west.* It has a total length of 12 miles 
and a width of 44 miles. The area is about 35.9 square miles, and it has a coast line 
of 30 miles. The central portion of the island is composed of an elevated ridge 
containing one peak over 900 feet in height. The general altitude of the island 
* Latitude and longitude of the village. a 
