THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 
31 
The blue foxes must now be taken in traps exclusively. Shooting them is entirely 
forbidden, and as the foxes mostly live near the coast it is also forbidden to travel 
with dog sledges and to tire any shot near the coast after Sex)tcmber 1 (old style). 
It was found that by digging them out of their holes females were mostly obtained, 
and this method has consequently been prohibited. The dried skins are sold to the 
company at a fixed price. As the natives are now paid 14 rubles for each first-class 
fox skin and 7 rubles for each second-class skin, it will be seen that the foxes are a 
valuable source of income to them. 
Owing to the ease with which the natives could procure seal meat for food, they 
have paid but little attention to other means of subsistence, particularly as the ready 
money obtained from the company for skins and work secured sufficient variation 
fro7U the company’s stores, whence they also obtain their flour, hard bread, tea, sugar, 
etc., not to forget canned provisions. As a result, the sea fishery does not yield what 
it otherwise might. On Copper Island, however, the natives catch some cod and 
halibut. They have a tolerably good boat harbor and many boats. On Bering Island 
however, the lack of a sheltered harbor and landing-place is a great drawback. On 
tbe other hand, the rivers and creeks of Bering Island are filled wdth salmon during 
the summer months, thus yielding the natives an abundant supply of fish for them- 
selves and their dogs. The Saranna Elver is particularly important in this resi>ect. 
The salmon are here caught in a substantial weir built across the river at the a illage 
of Saranna. Ouriug each summer nearly all the women are kept busy cleaning 
and drying from 60,000 to 100,000 salmon (pis. GO, 61). The Aveir is kept open 
from Saturday night to Monday morning to allow fish to ascend the river and lake to 
S])awui. The bulk of the salmon prrt uj) belongs to the two species “Krasnaya riba,” 
or redtish {Oncorhynchus nerlca), and kisutch, or silver salmon (0. lisutch). 
There is very little game now to hunt on the islands. The natives are very fond 
of the meat of the various sea birds, especially early in siting, and being provided 
with modern breech-loading guns and an unlimited supply of ammunition,’ the result is 
that birds have become comparatiA^ely scarce — very much so, in fact — near the villages. 
Ptarmigans {Layoims ridgivayi) are, I believe, still numerous on Ber ing Island. 
During their lease Hutchinson, Kohl, Philippeus & Co. introduced a herd of 
Kamchatka cattle on Bering Island and kept it at an expense entirely dis]>ropor- 
tiouate to the benefits derived. The company has given up keeping cows, but the 
cattle have passed into the hands of the natives, while the Avhite families on the island 
also have a feAV head to keep them supplied with milk. It has been supposed that' 
cattle-raising might have a future on Bering Island, lurt past experience disproA^es 
the prediction, at least with the present breed of cattle. It has even been suggested 
“that these sturdy cattle might be advantageously introduced into the Aleutian 
Archijrelago,” but aside from the fact that it requires a good deal of care and fodder 
to bring them successfully through the winter, even on Bei’ing Island, the breed is 
liighly objectionable from the fact that the cows refuse milk the moment their calves 
are taken aw’ay from them. 
On the other hand, I firmly believe that with a suitable breed sheep-raising could 
be made a success, not only on the Commander Islands, but on the American Aleutian 
Islands as Avell. The climate is not more severe nor more moist than on some of the 
‘ Mr. Kluge says the natives on Copper Island aimually use 800 to 900 2 ^ouiul 8 of gnujiowder. 
