40 
SARYTSCHEWS TRAVELS. 
that it can be closed when it is under w'ater. In other respects* 
both as to the form of its body and feet, it resembles the sea- 
dog. It frequents the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean, 
and the Southern Ocean. The males are very jealous of the 
females, which they keep to the number of eight or ten, form¬ 
ing with them and their young, a distinct herd. Their jealousy 
often occasions violent and bloody disputes. The Kamtschadales 
kill them with their darts for the sake of the fat and the skin, 
which in the young ones, is little inferior to the Kamtschadale 
otter, for the delicacy and firmness of the hair and down. 
On the 12th, w r e concluded from our calculation, that we 
must necessarily be in the vicinity of the above-mentioned 
islands, but an impenetrable mist prevented us from seeing 
them. A still greater number of sea-bears were in sight to-day, 
than w hat w e had seen the day before, and a number of aars,^ 
kept hovering round our vessel. 
The mist soon after dispersing, w e discovered the two islands, 
the first of which, St. Paul’s w'as eight miles ahead of us to 
north-west 25°, the second, St. George’s, tw enty miles behind us 
to south-east 57 Q \ The shores of these islands consist of moun¬ 
tains of a moderate height: on the north-eastern side of St. 
Paul’s, sinking down to a level opposite to its south-western side, 
is an islet, not very lofty, but very steep in ascent. At a dis¬ 
tance of six miles from the western promontory of St. PauTs, 
we found ourselves in 35 fathoms water, on a bottom of stone 
and shells, our latitude being 56 a 2<j', and longitude 189° 4 o'. 
These islands were discovered in the year 1786, by Pribylow’, 
steersman to a merchant’s ship, who finding a number of marine 
animals and walrus’ teeth, staid with his companions for some 
time there, and in the space of two years caught 2320 otters, 
30,000 sea-bears, 480 young otters and bears, and 8000 blue 
foxes, besides 700 puds of walrus’ teeth, which they found on 
the shores, all which, when calculated at a moderate rate, pro¬ 
duced at Ochotsk 230,000 rubles. It is necessary to observe, 
that the otters first spoken of, are the mustela lutris, a species 
of river animals about three feet long, with three feet united by 
a firm hairy w r eb. Its head is flat, its snout thick, hair black, 
and extremely thick, at the same time as soft as down, particu¬ 
larly that on the belly, w hich is extremely tender and of a greyish 
colour. The tail is a fourth part of the length of the body. It 
* The aar, or ara torda alca, is the name of a Ivamt6chadale fowl, of 
the species of the Gagara (colywbus arcticns) or water-hen, is found in 
great abundance in the country of the rocky islands. Its back, head, and 
neck are black, its belly white, bill long, straight, and pointed, feet dark* 
grey, with three toes united by a web. At Kola it is called Gegarkiu 
