ubfossil bones of marine
animals which we examined at Pitlekaj the bones of the sea-cow did
not appear to be present. ]

[Footnote 365: Von Baer's and Brandt's numerous writings on the
sea-cow are to be found in the publications of the St. Petersburg
Academy. ]

[Footnote 366: That the hide of the sea-cow was used for _baydars_
is evident from the short extract given from Korovin's voyage. On
hearing this "creole's" account I inquired whether there were not
to be found remaining on the island any very old sea-cow skins that
had been used for _baydars_, but the answer unfortunately was in the
negative. ]

[Footnote 367: The number of these animals killed on Behring Island
is shown by the following statement given me by Mr. Henry. W.
Elliot:

In the Year In the Year In the Year
1867 27,500 1872 29,318 1877 21,532
1868 12,000 1873 30,396 1878 31,340
1869 24,000 1874 31,292 1879 42,752
1870 24,000 1875 36,274 1880 48,504
1871 3,614 1876 26,960

During the eighteen years from 1862 to 1880 there have thus been
shipped from Behring Island 389,462 skins. The catch on the Pribylov
Islands has been still larger. These islands were discovered in
1786, but the number of animals killed there is not known for the
first ten years; it is only known that it was enormously large. In
the years 1797-1880--that is in eighty-four years--over
three-and-a-half millions of skins have been exported from these
islands. In recent years the catch has increased so that in each of
the years from 1872 to 1880, 99,000 animals might have been killed
without inconvenience. ]

[Footnote 368: The traits here given of the sea-bear's mode of life
are mainly taken from Henry W. Elliot's work quoted above. ]

[Footnote 369: Elliott (_loc. cit._ p. 150) remarks that not a
single self-dead seal is to be found in the "rookery," where there
are so many animals that they probably die of old age in thousands.
This may be explained by the seals, when they become sick,
withdrawing to the sea, and forms another contribution to the
question of the finding of self-dead animals to which I have already
referred (vol. i. p. 322). ]

[Footnote 370: According to a statement by Mr. Giebnitski, tertiary
fossils and coal seams are also to be found on Behring Island, the
former north of the colony in the interior, the latter at the beach
south of Behring's grave.