THE AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN ISLANDS. 219 



no comparison. On St. George the driveways over which the seals have to, or had 

 to, travel to the killing grounds are comparatively easy, often over level land, and 

 mostly over good firm ground, the greatest hardship being several low ridges of 

 moss-covered bowlders. On Copper Island, however, the seals have to cross high 

 mountain ridges, varying from 600 to 1,200 feet, climbing hills with, slopes of 35° to 

 45°, and descending or sliding down still steeper declivities. In describing the 

 driveways of Copper Island (Euss. Fur-Seal Islands, pp. 46, 47, .50, 51) and the 

 drives themselves (op. cit., pp. 72-74), I was particularly careful not to overstate the 

 facts, in order not to lay myself open to an accusation for exaggeration, since I was 

 going to use the much greater hardship of the seals as an argument against the 

 opinion which blamed the overdriving for the decrease of the seals. Partly deterred 

 by the example of an earlier writer on similar matters, I abstained as much as possible 

 from expressions which might seem to be sensational, preferring to let the reader get 

 his impressions from the photographs of the driveways and from the map of the 

 Glinka rookeries (pis. xiii and xiv), on which, for that very purpose, I had gone to 

 the trouble of sketching in the altitude curves. Nevertheless, here is what I 

 concluded then (op. cit., p. 74) : 



The above descriptions give a fair idea of the drives on Copper Island as they were and as they 

 are. They demonstrate the tremendous difficulties and the hardships of the seals. A glance at the 

 maps of the Copper Island rookeries, and a study of the descriptions I have given of them, must 

 convince anybody that there is nothing even approaching them on the Pribilofs. 



This was written at a time when I imagined the St. George Island drives to be 

 quite severe. After having seen the routes of the latter it is possible to emphasize 

 the terrible character of the Copper Island drives still more, and to aflSrm most 

 positively that the severest drive on the Pribilofs is only child's play compared with 

 those over the ragged mountains and the slippery, clayey sides of the Russian 

 islands. 



Here is an abstract from my diary, St. George Island, July 9, 1896, which shows 

 the impressions of the worst Pribilof Island drive as written down at once : 



Visited the Stari Artil rookery in the afternoon to get an idea of the drive, which is said to l)e 

 the hardest on the islands. It is about 2 miles long, but mostly over mossy ground, and if the seals 

 are driven with care the drive can not be considered a, hard one. There are no particularly steep or 

 difficult places, and the hauling ground is practically level with the driveway. St. George being a, 

 comparatively rocky island, I had got the idea that the drives Were on the same order as those of 

 Copper Island, but nothing could be more removed from the actual facts. Most of the drive is over a 

 springy, soft sphagnum plateau, only in a couple of places interrupted by narrow, low ridges of lava 

 bowlders, but the interstices between these are filled with humus and vegetation and the passage over 

 them is comparatively easy. 



The hauling grounds of the bachelors are so favorably situated in the rear of the rookeries and 

 high up on the slopes or plateaus that there are no difficult places to drive them up from the beaches, 

 as on Copper Island. As a matter of sober fact, there is not a single drive on Copper Island which is 

 as easy as the worst on St. George Island, except those few where the seals are killed on the west side 

 just back of the rookeries. 



When I described the Commander Island drives I was familiar with them only; 

 what I knew of the Pribilofs was chiefly from the exaggerated descriptions of others. 

 Dr. Jordan, who first saw the drives on the latter, was naturally much more vividly 

 impressed by the enormity of the Copper Island drives, which he witnessed later. To 



