irregular character of the island is broken in two places on the 
southern portion where extensive dry flats, only a few feet above 
sea level, extend across the island (Figs. 13 and 14). Earth dis- 
turbances adjacent to the cliffs, mentioned by Hanna (1920), are 
apparently the result of land slippage where concentrations of a 
mineral, similar to bentonite, occur in the soil and decomposing 
volcanic rock. This mineral has a marked affinity for water with 
which it forms a greasy gumbo-like texture, very conducive to mass 
slippage of the earth. 
There are several fresh and brackish water lakes on the ialand, 
many of which have been formed by gravel bars built by wave action. 
Storm tides bring salt water into some of the lakes. Residual snow 
banks, ground water and precipitation feed the numerous small streams 
which drain the valleys and empty into the lakes. 
The climate of St. Matthew Island is characterized by extreme 
wind velocities, a moderate temperature for such a high latitude, 
considerable summer fog and an annual precipitation of 15 inches. 
A weather summary kept by the U.S. Army from September 1943 through 
August 1944 on St. Matthew Island, is presented in Appendix Table l. 
HISTORY OF THE REINDEER HERD 
The existing reindeer herd on St. Matthew Island is the result 
of the release of 24 female and 5 male reindeer on August 20, 1944, 
by the U.S. Coast Guard (Beals, 1944). The animals, which were all 
two-year-olds, were obtained from the Nunivak Island herd near Nash 
Harbor and were transported by the Coast Guard Cutter "Clover". The 
objective of the release was to establish a small herd as an emergen- 
cy food supply during World War II. A Coast Guard loran station and 
an Army weather station were maintained on the island during the war 
years, but both were abandoned before the herd was of harvestable 
size. Shooting of the newly established animals by the military per- 
sonnel was not permitted. The island has been uninhabited since 
then and no harvest of reindeer has taken place. 
REINDEER POPULATION COUNTS 
The total count of the entire reindeer herd was obtained at a 
time when the main body of the herd was located on the narrow part 
of the island south of Big Lake (See Fig. 1). Four consecutive days 
were spent in making this count and complete coverage of the island 
was obtained from southeast to northwest. During 1957 a total of 
1,226 reindeer were counted, with no known duplication existing. 
While making the counts at the north end of the island some animals 
were missed due to impaired visibility by fog. Large bulls, which 
were scattered throughout this area at the time, probably constituted 
the greater portion of the animals missed. This is also indicated 
by the disproportionate sex ratio among the older animals in the raw 
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