that is, the
offspring of a Russian and an Aleutian), who was sixty-seven years
of age, of intelligent appearance and in the full possession of his
mental faculties, stated "that his father died in 1847 at the age of
eighty-eight. He had come from Volhynia, his native place, to
Behring Island at the age of eighteen, accordingly in 1777. The two
or three first years of his stay there, _i.e._ till 1779 or 1780,
sea-cows were still being killed as they pastured on sea-weed. The
heart only was eaten, and the hide used for _baydars_.[366] In
consequence of its thickness the hide was split in two, and the two
pieces thus obtained had gone to make a _baydar_ twenty feet long,
seven and a half feet broad, and three feet deep. After that time no
sea-cows had been killed."

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
instituted 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 _Auesfurliche
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