118 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
RAIDING OF COMMANDER ISLANDS ROOKERIES. 
The rookeries of Bering and Copper islands have always been a sore temptation 
to inaranding schooners, especially those of the latter island, where, in addition to the 
fnr-seals, there was a fair chance of obtaining a number of the costly sea-otters, a 
few of which would go a long way to pay for the expenses and risks of such an 
expedition. The material is not at hand for an exhaustive list of all the attempted 
and accomj)lished raids on the Commander Islands rookeries, but I shall give a 
suhiciently detailed account to show that considerable damage has been done by the 
liirates. 
Leaving out of consideration the possible raids during the nourishing times of 
the whale fishery in the forties, and coming down to recent days, we find that at first 
the raiders were attracted to Copper Island by their knowledge of the plentiful 
occurrence of the sea-otter on that island, a knowledge gained by maiiy of them 
during their visits to the islands during the “interregnum.” We thus find the Amer- 
ican schooner Three Sisters^ Captain Herendeen, caught on July 22, 1879, at anchor 
off the Northwest Cape of Copper Island, the mate and sailors camping ashore near 
the sea-otter rookery. Twenty-nine skins of grown sea-otters and 16 sea-otter pups 
were taken from her, but also 123 fur-seals, which it was claimed, however, were taken 
at sea. Instead of seizing the vessel, the authorities let her go with a warning. The 
seal skins found on her proved that sea-otter was not the only game looked for, and 
in tlie same year, on Aiigust 10, an unknown schooner, off Glinka, attempted to land 
three boats, but the natives frightened them off'. 
The year 1880 saw an increased activity on the part of the poachers, who were 
much eudroldeued by their successes in the Okhotsk Sea and the Kuril Islands. As 
early as July 7 the Three Sister’s, of San Francisco, Captain Beckwith, was seen at 
anchor off Glinka liookeries, killing seals; the crew was driven off' by the natives 
shooting at them. Mr. E. F. Miner (Brit. Counter Case, App., p. 113; Fur-Seal 
Arb., VIII, p. 700) gives the following graphic account of this raid: 
SLe was chartered by H. Liebes A Co., and was supposed to be going out on a sea-otter and fur- 
seal hunting expedition, but as a matter of fact all of us who shipped as hunters knew that the vessel 
had been lifted out for a raid on the rookeries on the Commander Islands. Early in .Inly we started 
from the Alaskan coast for the Commander Islands, and about the middle of the month landed on the 
west side of Copper Island. We lauded in the day time in a fog. Tliere were three boats. We had 
killed about 800 seals before we were seen, but had taken none of them on board the vessel. A baid- 
arka with natives in it came along then, and we knew tliat warning would be given to the people on 
the island, and we began skinning the seals. In about an hour what ap))eared to be fifty men came 
across the island to where we were, and began bring at us with blank cartridges. We started off at 
once, but when some distance from laud began killing seals in the kep). Then they fired on us with' 
bullets, and we went on the schooner. All the skins we got of the seals wo killed was 153. Before 
we made the raid on the seal rookery we had anchored at the north end f>f Copper Island, where sea- 
otters are plentiful, and while there a baidarka full of nativ-es came fmt to us and .served a warning 
on the captain, telling him that he must not hunt within 5 miles of the islands — the miles were, 
I suppose, meant for Russian miles. We went from Copper Island to the Kurile Islands to look for 
sea-otter, and after getting one sailed on the 4th August for San Francisco. 
On July 13, 1880, a schooner was reported at anchor close to the beach of North 
Eookery, Bering Island, and beiug discovered had probably but poor success. Not so, 
however, with the schooner that raided the Glinka rookeries about two weeks later, 
killing “ a number of seals, say about 400.” This can hardly have lieeu the Otsego, Cap- 
tain IsaacksoD, flying the Dutch flag, which was boarded ou August 6 by the steamer 
