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JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
MAMMALS OF THE ST. MATTHEW ISLANDS, BERING SEA 
By G. Dallas Hanna 
The St. Matthew Islands are located in Bering Sea about 220 miles 
to the northward of the Pribilof Islands, and about the same distance 
west of the Alaskan mainland. The group consists of three islands, 
which, named in order of size, are St. Matthew, Hall, and Pinnacle 
Islands. It was made a bird reservation by executive order of February 
27, 1909, being officially known as the Bering Sea Reservation. Owing 
to the distance of the islands from the regular channels of travel, oppor- 
tunities for naturalists to visit it rarely occur. It is barren, treeless, 
uninhabited and surrounded by dangerous and poorly charted waters. 
Through a request of the Biological Survey of the Department of 
Agriculture I was detailed to make an examination of the reservation 
in June, 1916, but owing to the fact that the ice packs remained in that 
vicinity until after the middle of the month this was impossible. In 
July, however, the trip was made, and six days were spent on St. Mat- 
thew and Hall Islands. Arrangements having been made with the 
Coast Guard Service for transportation, I left St. Paul Island on the 
morning of July 7, on the Cutter Unalga, Capt. F. G. Dodge in command. 
The next morning the spires of Pinnacle Island were in full view and at 
noon a landing was made on St. Matthew near Cape Upright. Between 
then and the twelfth almost the whole of this island was examined, and 
•on the thirteenth we went to Hall Island. Pinnacle Island was not 
visited on account of adverse weather conditions. I wish to express 
my appreciation of the favors extended me by the Coast Guard Service 
and especially by Captain Dodge and the crew of the Unalga, every 
man of whom willingly and eagerly assisted me on every occasion. 
St. Matthew Island is about 22 miles long by two to three miles wide 
and is slightly curved to the north. Its mountains rise as high as 1800 
feet and are in most cases, weather-worn and smoothly eroded. Some 
of them have mosses and lichens growing to the tops, but others, espe- 
cially in the center of the island, are entirely devoid of vegetation. The 
rocks forming these latter are weathered into very small fragments, 
set edgewise and close together and making a natural pavement. 
Most of the valleys are covered with reindeer lichen and mosses and 
in many favorable places there are true tundra bogs. Vegetation other 
than mosses and lichens is dwarfed and scant in most places. The 
rank growths of wild parsnip and wild rye found on the Pribilofs are 
^entirely absent. There are a large number of fresh and brackish water 
