62 THE ASIATIC Fim-SEAL ISLANDS. 



It is hardly to be wondered at that the men prefer to let the seals carry their own 

 skins up this road. The top of these stairs is 65 feet above the sea, and I found it 

 pretty hard work to climb it witbout carrying anything. 



At Krepkaya Pad and at Malinka Bukhta there is no possibility of getting the 

 seals up alive; hence they were killed back from the beach and their skins carried 

 across the mountains. At Krepkaya Pad the men alone did tbe killing and carrying, 

 while Malinka Bukhta was reserved for the womeu, who did all the skinning and 

 carried the skins to the salt house. Malinka Bukhta is reached along the beach from 

 Serodka, but between it and Krepkaya Pad there is a NepropusJc which can not be 

 passed. 



The appended map of Karabeluoye rookery (pi. 99) was made in 1883, July 3 to 

 10. The angles were taken with an azimuth compass and the distance measured with 

 pediometer. In 1895 my stay at the rookery was too short to make an independent 

 plane-table survey, but a blue print of the old sketch was placed on the table and a 

 few necessary corrections made. A series of photographs taken at the time have also 

 been used in verifying it. 



GLINKA ROOKERIES. (Plate 101.) 



The southern, or Glinka, group of rookeries {Olinlcovshoye lezhbishtche) is situated 

 about i^ miles southeast of Karabelnoye. They contain the most important hauling 

 grounds on the island, but at the same time the most inaccessible. The island is here 

 very narrow, yet the mountains average even a greater height than farther north, and 

 the passes between the short and steep valleys on the east and west sides are also 

 very high. The mountains rise precipitously from the sea, bordered only by a very 

 narrow beach of rocks and stones, hardly deserving the name. All the rocks are here 

 stratified, with a very pronounced dip. The projecting capes run out into jagged 

 reefs formed by the exposed broken strata standing nearly on end, while numerous 

 outlying rocks and stones guard the approaches (pi. 47). Singularly formed rocks 

 and pinnacles carved out by the never-ceasing breakers and sawtooth promontories 

 mark the ends of th^ various bays. 



The length of the whole beach of this rookery is about 6 miles, but this stretch 

 is not occupied by a continuous line of seals. On the contrary, they are gathered in 

 groups at certain points, which, for some reason unknown to us, are ]3referred to 

 others, although apparently equally suitable. These various seal grounds are named 

 as follows fjom west to east: Gorelaya, Lebiazhi Mys, Peresheyek, Urili Kamen, 

 Pestshanoye, Pestshani Mys, Pagani, Zapadni, Sabatcha I)ira, Palata, Zapalata, 

 Sikatchinskaya, Gavarushkaya, and Babinskaya Pad. 



Of these, Palata [Palatinslioye lezhhisMche) is unquestionably the most important. 

 It is named from the high and sharp promontory which extends farthest out into the 

 sea on this part of the coast, and which somewhat resembles a large house with a 

 steep, peaked roof. The top of it is fully 500 feet above the sea, and the walls are very 

 steep, being in fact nearly perpendicular on the south side. This is Palata proper. 

 A very jagged reef extends in a southwesterly direction from the foot of it (pi. 70), 

 and to the northwest aie several detached rocks. From one of these twp of the 

 accompanying photographs were taken (pis. 48 and 49). On the north side this 

 promontory is separated from the high mountain walls back of it by a narrow gully, 

 which toward the sea expands into a somewhat open basin, the bottom and sides of 

 which are lined with a pale-buff clay. The beach, a narrow strip covered with large 



