The Voyage Of The Vega Round Asia And Europe Part 56

There is evidence, however, that a sea-cow had been seen at the island still later. Two _creoles_, Feodor Mertchenin and Stepnoff, stated, that about twenty-five years ago at Tolstoj-mys, on the east side of the island, they had seen an animal unknown to them which was very thick before, but grew smaller behind, had small fore-feet, and appeared with a length of about fifteen feet above water, now raising itself up, now lowering itself. The animal "blew," not through blowholes, but through the mouth, which was somewhat drawn out. It was brown in colour with some lighter spots. A back fin was wanting, but when the animal raised itself it was possible, on account of its great leanness, to see its backbone projecting. I inst.i.tuted a through examination of both my informants. Their accounts agreed completely, and appeared to have claims to be regarded as trustworthy. That the animal which they saw was actually a sea-cow, is clearly proved both by the description of the animal's form and way of pasturing in the water, and by the account of the way in which it breathed, its colour, and leanness. In _Ausfurliche Beschreibung von sonderbaren Meerthieren_, Steller says, p. 97, "While they pasture, they raise every fourth or fifth minute their nose from the water in order to blow out air and a little water;" p.

98, "During winter they are so lean that it is possible to count their vertebrae and ribs;" and p. 54, "Some sea-cows have pretty large white spots and streaks, so that they have a spotted appearance." As these natives had no knowledge of Steller's description of the animal, it is impossible that their statement can be false. The death-year of the Rhytina race must therefore be altered at least to 1854. With reference to this point it may be remarked that many circ.u.mstances indicate that the Rhytina herds were rather driven away from the rich pastures on Behring Island than exterminated there, and that the species became extinct because in their new haunt they were unable to maintain the struggle for existence. The form of the sea-cow, varying from that of most recent animals, besides indicates that, like the long-tailed duck on Iceland, the dront on Mauritius, and the large ostrich-like birds on New Zealand, it was the last representative of an animal group destined to extinction.

Mr. OSCHE, one of the Alaska Company's skin inspectors, a native of Liffland and at present settled on Copper Island, informed me that the bones of the sea-cow also occurred on the western side of that island. On the other hand, such bones are said not to be found on the small island described farther on lying off the colony on Behring Island, although Rhytina bones are common on the neighbouring sh.o.r.es of the main island.

This is the scanty information I have been able to collect from the natives and others resident in the quarter regarding the animal in question. On the other hand, my endeavours to procure Rhytina bones were crowned with greater success, and I succeeded in actually bringing together a very large and fine collection of skeleton fragments.

When I first made the acquaintance of Europeans on the island, they told me that there was little probability of finding anything of value in this respect, for the company had offered 150 roubles for a skeleton without success. But before I had been many hours on land, I came to know that large or small collections of bones were to be found here and there in the huts of the natives. These I purchased, intentionally paying for them such a price that the seller was more than satisfied and his neighbours were a little envious. A great part of the male population now began to search for bones very eagerly, and in this way I collected such a quant.i.ty that twenty-one casks, large boxes, or barrels were filled with Rhytina bones; among which were three very fine, complete skulls, and others more or less damaged, several considerable collections of bones from the same skeleton, &c.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SKELETON OF RHYTINA SHOWN AT THE 'VEGA' EXHIBITION AT THE ROYAL PALACE STOCKHOLM. (After a photograph.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE RHYTINA.

1. Drawing in an old map of the Behring Sea, found by Middendorff (_Sibir. Reise_ iv. 2 p. 839).

2. Sketch by Steller, given to Pallas (Pallas, Icones ad zoographiam _Rosso-Asiaticam_, Fasc. ii.) ]

The Rhytina bones do not lie at the level of the sea, but upon a strand-bank thickly overgrown with luxuriant gra.s.s, at a height of two or three metres above it. They are commonly covered with a layer of earth and gravel from thirty to fifty centimetres in thickness.

In order to find them, as it would be too troublesome to dig the whole of the gra.s.sy bank, one must examine the ground with a pointed iron rod, a bayonet, or some such tool. One soon learns to distinguish, by the resistance and nature of the sound, whether the rod stuck into the ground has come into contact with a stone, a piece of wood, or a fragment of bone. The ribs are used by the natives, on account of their hard ivory-like structure, for shoeing the runners of the sledges or for carvings. They have accordingly been already used up on a large scale, and are more uncommon than other bones. The finger-bone, which perhaps originally was cartilaginous, appears in most cases to be quite destroyed, as well as the outermost vertebrae of the tail. I could not obtain any such bones, though I specially urged the natives to get me the smaller bones too and promised to pay a high price for them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RECONSTRUCTED FORM OF THE SEA-COW. After J. Fr. Brandt (_Symbolae Sirenologicae_, Fasc. iii. p. 282). ]

The only large animal which is still found on Behring Island in perhaps as large numbers as in Steller's time is the _sea-bear_.

Even it had already diminished so that the year's catch was inconsiderable,[367] when in 1871 a single company obtained for a payment to the Russian crown, if I recollect right, of two roubles for every animal killed, and exclusive right to the hunting, which was accordingly arranged in a more purposelike way. At certain times of the year the killing of the sea-bear is wholly prohibited. The number of the animals to be killed is settled beforehand, quite in the same way as the farmer at the time of killing in autumn is wont to do with his herd of cattle. Females and young are only killed exceptionally. Even the married males, or more correctly the males that can get themselves a harem and can defend it, commonly escape being killed, if not for any other reason, because the skin is too often torn and tattered and the hair pulled out. It is thus the bachelors that have to yield up their skins.

That a wild animal may be slaughtered in so orderly a way, depends on its peculiar mode of life.[368] For the sea-bears are found year after year during summer at certain points projecting into the sea (rookeries), where, collected in hundreds of thousands, they pa.s.s several months without the least food. The males (oxen) come first to the place, most of them in the month of May or at the beginning of June.

Combats of excessive violence, often with a deadly issue for one of the parties, now arise regarding the s.p.a.ce of about a hundred square feet, which each seal-ox considers necessary for its home. The strongest and most successful in fight retain the best places near the sh.o.r.e, the weaker have to crawl farther up on land, where the expectation of getting a sufficient number of spouses is not particularly great. The fighting goes on with many feigned attacks and parades. At first the contest concerns the proprietorship of the soil. The attacked therefore never follows its opponent beyond the area it has once taken up, but haughtily lays itself down, when the enemy has retired, in order in the aims of sleep to collect forces for a new combat. The animal in such a case grunts with satisfaction, throws itself on its back, scratches itself with its fore-feet, looks after its toilet, or cools itself by slowly fanning with one of its hind-feet, but it is always on the alert and ready for a new fight until it is tired out and meets its match, and is driven by it farther up from the beach. One of the most peculiar traits of these animals is that during their stay on land they unceasingly use their hind-paws as fans, and sometimes also as parasols.

Such fans may on a warm day be in motion at the same time by the hundred thousand at a "rookery."

[Ill.u.s.tration: SEA-BEARS Male, Female, and Young. (From a water colour painting by H.W. Elliott.) ]

In the middle of June the females come up from the sea. At the water's edge they are received in a very accommodating way by some strong oxen that have succeeded in securing for themselves places next the sh.o.r.e, and now are bent by fair means or foul on annexing the fair for their harem. But scarcely is the female that has come up out of the water established with seal-ox No. 1, when this ox rushes towards a new beauty on the surface of the water. Seal-ox No.

2 now stretches out his neck and without ceremony lays hold of No.

1's spouse, to be afterwards exposed to a repet.i.tion of the trick by No. 3. In such cases the females are quite pa.s.sive, never fall out with each other, and bear with patience the severe wounds they often get when they are pulled about by the combatants, now in one direction, now in another. All the females are finally distributed in this way after furious combats among the males, those of the latter who are nearest the beach getting from twelve to fifteen consorts to their share. Those that have been compelled to settle farther from the sh.o.r.e must be content with four or five. Soon after the landing of the females they bring forth their young, which are treated with great indifference and are protected by the adopted father only within the boundaries of the harem. Next comes the pairing season, and when it has pa.s.sed there is an end to the arrangement and distribution into families at first so strictly maintained. The seal-oxen, rendered lean by three months absolute fasting, by degrees leave the "rookery," which is taken possession of by the sea-cows, the young, and a number of young males, that have not ventured to the place before. In the middle of September, when the young have learned to swim, the place is quite abandoned, with the exception of single animals that have remained behind for one reason or other. In long continued heavy rain many of the animals besides seek protection in the sea, but return when the rain ceases. Continuous heat and sunshine besides exert the same influence, cold, moist air, with mist-concealed sun, on the other hand draw them up on land by thousands.

Males under six years of age cannot, like the older males, possess themselves, by fighting, of spouses and a home of their own. They therefore collect, along with young females, in herds of several thousand to several hundred thousand, on the sh.o.r.es between the rookeries proper, some of them close packed next the water's edge, others scattered in small flocks a little farther from the sh.o.r.e on the gra.s.s, where they by turns play with each other with a frolicsomeness like that of young dogs, by turns he down to sleep at a common signal in all conceivable positions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SEAL ROOKERY" ON ST. PAUL'S ISLAND, ONE OF THE PRIBYLOV ISLANDS. (After a drawing by H.W. Elliott.) ]

It is these unfortunate useless bachelors which at the properly managed hunting stations yield the contingent for slaughter. For this purpose they are driven by the natives from the sh.o.r.e slowly, about a kilometre an hour, and with frequent rests, to the place of slaughter, situated a kilometre or two from the sh.o.r.e. Then the females and the young ones are driven away, as well as the males whose skins are unserviceable. The rest are first stunned with a blow on the head, and afterwards stabbed with a knife.

While the _Vega_ steamed down towards Behring Island we met, already far from land, herds of sea-bears, which followed the vessel from curiosity for long stretches. Being unacquainted with the sea-bear's mode of life, I believed from this circ.u.mstance that they had already left their summer haunts, but on our arrival at the colony I was informed that this was not the case, but that a very great number of animals still remained at the rookery on the north-eastern point of the island. Naturally one of our first excursions was to this place, situated about twenty kilometres from the village. Such a journey cannot now be undertaken alone and unattended, because even an involuntary want of caution might easily cause much economic loss to the natives, and to the company that owns the right of hunting. During the journey we were accordingly accompanied by the chief of the village, a black-haired stammering Aleutian, and "the Cossack," a young, pleasant, and agreeable fellow, who on solemn occasions wore a sabre nearly as long as himself, but besides did not in the least correspond to the Cossack type of the writers of novels and plays.

The journey was performed in large sledges drawn by ten dogs over snow-free rounded hills and hill-plateaus covered with a rather scanty vegetation, and through valleys treeless as the mountains, but adorned with luxuriant vegetation, rich in splendid lilies, syngenesia, umbellifera, &c. The journey was sometimes tedious enough, but we now and then went at a whistling rate, especially when the dog-team descended the steep mountain slopes, or went through the mora.s.ses and the clay puddles formed in the constantly used way. The driver was bespattered from top to toe with a thick layer of mud, an inconvenience attending the unusual team, which was foreseen before our departure from the colony, in consequence of which our friends there urged that, notwithstanding the fine weather, we should all take overcoats. The dog-team was kept pretty far from the sh.o.r.e in order not to frighten the seals, and then we went on foot to the place where the sea-bears were, choosing our way so that we had the wind in our faces. We could in this way, without disturbing them, come very near the animals, which, according to the undoubtedly somewhat exaggerated statement made to us on the spot, were collected at the time to the number of 200,000, on the promontory and the neighbouring sh.o.r.es. We obtained permission to creep, accompanied by our guide, close to a herd lying a little apart. The older animals became at first somewhat uneasy when they observed our approach, but they soon settled down completely, and we had now the pleasure of beholding a peculiar spectacle.

We were the only spectators. The scene consisted of a beach covered with stones and washed by foaming breakers, the background of the immeasurable ocean, and the actors of thousands of wonderfully-formed animals. A number of old males lay still and motionless, heedless of what was going on around them. Others crept clumsily on their small short legs between the stones of the beach, or swam with incredible agility among the breakers, played, caressed each other, and quarrelled. At one place two old animals fought, uttering a peculiar hissing sound, and in such a way as if the attack and defence had been carried out in studied att.i.tudes. At another place a feigned combat was going on between an old and a young animal. It looked as if the latter was being instructed in the art of fighting. Everywhere the small black young ones crept constantly backwards and forwards among the old sea-bears, now and then bleating like lambs calling on their mothers. The young ones are often smothered by the old, when the latter, frightened in some way, rush out into the sea. After such an alarm hundreds of dead young are found on the sh.o.r.e.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SLAUGHTER OF SEA-BEARS. (After a drawing by H.W.

Elliott.) ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SEA-BEARS ON THEIR WAY TO THE "ROOKERIES."

(After a drawing by H.W. Elliott.) ]

"Only" thirteen thousand animals had been killed that year. Their flayed carcases lay heaped on the gra.s.s by the sh.o.r.e, spreading far and wide a disagreeable smell, which, however, had not frightened away their comrades lying on the neighbouring promontory, because, even among them, a similar smell prevailed in consequence of the many animals suffocated or killed in fight with their comrades, and left lying on the sh.o.r.e.[369] Among this great flock of sea-bears sat enthroned on the top of a high stone a single sea-lion, the only one of these animals we saw during our voyage.

For a payment of forty roubles I induced the chief of the village to skeletonise four of the half putrefied carcases of the sea-bear left lying on the gra.s.s, and I afterwards obtained, by the good-will of the Russian authorities, and without any payment, six animals, among them two living young, for stuffing. Even the latter we were compelled to kill, after in vain attempting to induce them to take some food. One of them was brought home in spirits for anatomical examination.

The part of Behring Island which we saw forms a high plain resting on volcanic rocks,[370] which, however, is interrupted at many places by deep kettle valleys, the bottoms of which are generally occupied by lakes which communicate with the sea by large or small rivers. The banks of the lakes and the slopes of the hills are covered with a luxuriant vegetation, rich in long gra.s.s and beautiful flowers, among them an iris cultivated in our gardens, the useful dark reddish-brown Sarana lily, several orchids, two species of rhododendron with large flowers, umbellifera as high as a man, sunflower-like synanthea, &c. Quite another nature prevailed on the island lying off the haven, regarding which Dr. Kjellman and Dr.

Stuxberg make the following statements:--

"Toporkoff Island is formed of an eruptive rock, which everywhere rises along the sh.o.r.e some scores of feet from high-water mark, in the form of steep cracked walls from five to fifteen metres in height, which is different at different places. Above these steep rock-walls the surface of the island forms an even plain; what lies below them forms a gently sloping beach.

"This gently sloping beach consists of two well-marked belts; an outer devoid of all vegetation, an inner overgrown with _Ammadenia peploides, Elymus mollis_, and two species of umbellifera, _Heracleum sibiric.u.m_, and _Angelica archangelica_, the two last forming an almost impenetrable thicket fifty metres broad and as high as a man, along the slope. The steep rock-walls are coloured yellow at some places by lichens, mostly _Calopaca murorum_ and _Cal. crenulata_; at other places they are covered pretty closely with _Cochlearia fenestrata_. The uppermost level plain is covered with a close and luxuriant turf, over which single stalks of the two species of umbellifera named above raise themselves here and there. The vegetation on this little island unites a very uncommon poverty in species with a high degree of luxuriance.

"Of the higher animals we saw only four kinds of birds, viz _Fratercula cirrhata_, a black guillemot (_Una grylle_ var.

_columba_), a species of cormorant (Phalocrocorax) and a sort of gull (Larus). _Fratercula cirrhata_ lived here by millions. They haunted the upper plain, where they had everywhere excavated short, deep, and uncommonly broad pa.s.sages to sleep in, provided with two openings. From these on our arrival they flew in large flocks to the neighbouring sea and back. Their number was nearly equal to that of looms in the Arctic loomeries. The black guillemots and cormorants kept to the cliffs near the sh.o.r.e.

"The number of the evertebrate land animals amounted to about thirty species. The most numerous were Machilis, Vitrina, Lithobius, Talitrus, some Diptera and beetles.

They all lived on the inner belt of the sh.o.r.e, where the ground was uncommonly damp."

Behring Island might without difficulty feed large herds of cattle, perhaps as numerous as the herds of sea-cows that formerly pastured on its sh.o.r.es. The sea-cow besides had chosen its pasture with discrimination, the sea there being, according to Dr. Kjellman, one of the richest in algae in the world. The sea-bottom is covered at favourably situated places by forests of seaweed from twenty to thirty metres high, which are so dense that the dredge could with difficulty force its way down into them, a circ.u.mstance which was much against the dredging. Certain of the algae are used by the natives as food.

In the course of our journey to the hunting place we had an opportunity, during a rest about halfway between it and the village, of taking part in a very peculiar sort of fishing. The place where we rested was in an even gra.s.sy plain, resembling a natural meadow at home, crossed by a large number of small rivulets. They abounded in several different kinds of fish, among them a Coregonus, a small trout, a middle-sized long salmon with almost white flesh, though the colour of its skin was a purplish-red, another salmon of about the same length, but thick and hump-backed. These fish were easily caught. They were taken with the hand, were harpooned with common unshod sticks, were stabbed with knives, caught with the insect net, &c. Other kinds of salmon with deep red flesh are to be found in the large rivers of the island. We obtained here for a trifle a welcome change from the preserved provisions of which we had long ago become quite tired. The Expedition was also presented by the Alaska Company with a fine fat ox, milk, and various other provisions, and I cannot sufficiently value the goodwill shown to us not only by the Russian official, N GREBNITSKI, a zealous and skilful naturalist, but also by the officials of the Alaska Company and all others living on the island with whom we came into contact.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALGA FROM THE Sh.o.r.e OF BEHRING ISLAND.

_Thala.s.siophyllum Clathrus_ Post. and Rupr.

One-fourth of the natural size. ]

It was my original intention to sail from Behring Island to Petiopaulovsk, in order from thence to put a stop to the undertakings which were possibly in contemplation for our relief.

This however became unnecessary, because a steamer, which was to start for Petropaulovsk as soon as its cargo was on board, had anch.o.r.ed by the side of the _Vega_ two days after our arrival. The steamer belonged to the Alaska Company, was named the _Alexander_, was commanded by Captain SANDMAN, and was manned almost exclusively by Swedes, Danes, Fins, and Norwegians[371]. We found on the _Alexander_ two naturalists, Dr. BENEDIKT DYBOVSKI and Dr. JULIAN WIEMUT. The former is a Pole exiled to Siberia but now pardoned, whose masterly zoological works are among the best contributions which have been made during recent decades to our knowledge of the natural conditions of Siberia. His researches have hitherto mainly concerned the Baikal region. Now he wishes to extend them to Kamchatka, and has therefore voluntarily taken a physician's post at Petropaulovsk. Science has reason to expect very rich results from his work and that of his companions in one of the most interesting, most mis-known, and least known lands of the north.

The _Vega_ left Behring Island on the afternoon of the 19th August, and anch.o.r.ed at Yokohama on the evening of the 2nd September. The first part of the pa.s.sage, while we were still in the cold northerly Polar Sea current, was favoured by fair winds and moderate heat. The surface temperature of the sea was from +9 to +10. On the 25th August in 45 15' N.L. and 156 E.L. from Greenwich the temperature of the sea-water began to rise so rapidly that the thermometer in 40 Lat. and 147 41'

Long already showed +23.4 at the surface. This indicated that we had come from the cold current favourable to us into Kuro-sivo, the Gulf Stream of the Pacific. The wind was now at times unfavourable and the heat oppressive, notwithstanding the frequent rain showers accompanied by lightning and heavy squalls. In such unfavourable weather on the 31st August the mainmast of the _Vega_ was struck by lightning, the flash and the report being of excessive violence. The vane was broken loose and thrown into the sea along with some inches of the pole. The pole itself was split pretty far down, and all on board felt a more or less violent shaking, the man who felt it most standing at the time near the hawse-hole. The incident was not attended by any further noteworthy unpleasant consequences.

On our arrival at Yokohama we were all in good health and the _Vega_ in excellent condition, though, after the long voyage, in want of some minor repairs, of docking, and possibly of coppering. Naturally among thirty men some mild attacks of illness could not be avoided in the course of a year, but no disease had been generally prevalent, and our state of health had constantly been excellent. Of scurvy we had not seen a trace.

[Footnote 356: In February 1871 the right of hunting on these islands was granted by the Russian government to Hutchinson, Kohl, Philippeus &c. Co., who have made over their rights to the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco. ]

[Footnote 357: According to a communication made to me by Mr. Henry W. Elliot, who, in order to study the fur-bearing seals in the North Behring Sea, lived a considerable time at the Seal Islands (Pribylov's Islands, &c.) on the American side, and has given an exceedingly interesting account of the animal life there in his work, _A Report upon the Condition of Affairs in the Territory of Alaska_, Washington, 1875, the statement in my report to Dr.

d.i.c.kson, founded on oral communications of Europeans whom I met with at Behring Island, that from 50,000 to 100,000 animals are killed yearly at Behring and Copper Island, is thus probably somewhat exaggerated. ]

[Footnote 358: Original accounts of the wintering on Behring Island are to be found in Muller's _Sammlung Russischen Geschichte_, St Petersburg, 1768, iii, pp. 228-238 and 242-268, (Steller's) _Topographische und physikalische Beschreibung der Beringsinsel_ (Pallas' _Neue Nordische Beytrage_, St. Petersburg and Leipzig, 1781-83, ii. p. 225), G.W. Steller's _Tagebuch seiner Seereise aus dem Petripauls Hafen. . . und seiner Begebenheiten auf der Ruckreise_ (Pallas' _Neueste Nordische Beytrage_, St. Petersburg and Leipzig, 1793-96, i. p. 130; ii. p. 1). ]

[Footnote 359: According to Muller, whose statements (based on communications by Waxel?) often differ from those of Steller. The latter says that the flesh of the sea-otter is better than that of the seal, and a good antidote to scurvy. The flesh of the young sea-otter might even compete with lamb as a delicacy. ]

[Footnote 360: To judge by what is stated in Steller's description of Behring Island (_Neue nord. Beytr._, ii, p. 290) no one would have dared to attack "diese grimmigen Thiere," and the only sea-lion eaten during the winter was an animal wounded at Kamchatka and thrown up dead on the coast of Behring Island. The fin-like feet were the most delicate part of the sea-lion. ]

[Footnote 361: According to Muller's official report, probably written for the purpose of refuting the rumours regarding Steller's fate current in the scientific circles of Europe. According to the biography prefixed to Georg Wilhelm Steller's _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka, herausgegeben von J.B.S._ (Scheerer), Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1774, Steller had in 1745 begun his return to St.

Petersburg, and was already beyond Novgorod, when he received orders to appear before the court at Irkutsk. After a year he obtained permission to travel to St. Petersburg, but when he came to the neighbourhood of Moscow, he received a new order to return, and for farther security he was placed under a guard. They had travelled a good way into Siberia, when he froze to death while the guard went into a public-house to warm themselves and quench their thirst. ]

[Footnote 362: As early as Schelechov's wintering at 1783-84 the foxes on Behring Island were princ.i.p.ally white. During Steller's wintering, over a third of the foxes on the island had a bluish fur (_Neue nord. Beytr._, ii, p. 277). In the year 1747-48 a fur hunter, Cholodilov, caught on Behring Island 1,481 blue foxes and 350 sea-otters, and the following year another hunter returned with over a thousand sea otters and two thousand blue foxes, which probably were also caught on Behring and Copper Islands (_Neue Nachrichten von denen neuentdeckten Insuln_, Hamburg u Leipzig, 1766, p. 20). In the year 1751-53 Jugov caught on the same island 790 sea-otters, 6,844 black and 200 white foxes, and 2,212 sea-bears (_loc. cit._ p.