284 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



June 29. A drive from English Bay and Tolstoi yielded 1,038 skins. The quota 

 is 5,000 skins short of the conditions of last year at this time. 



July 2. A drive at Halfway Point yielded 834 skins. At Northeast Point 968 

 skins were taken. Seals are coming in slowly this year and seem to have diminished. 



July 6. A drive from English Bay and Tolstoi yielded 1,302. At Northeast 

 Point 376 were taken. The quota is now 7,000 short as compared with last year, the 

 shortage being chiefly at Northeast Point. St. George is reported to be 1,300 skins 

 short as compared with last year. 



July 10. A drive from Halfway Point yielded 654, and one from Northeast Point, 

 800 skins. The quota is 7,370 short as compared with last year. 



July 13. At Southwest Bay 1,006 skins were taken; at Northeast Point, 793. 

 There is an evident decrease also in the breeding rookeries. 1 



July 25. Two schooners, having 418 and 76 skins, respectively, were captured. 

 A drive from English Bay and Middle Hill yielded 1,752 skins. 



July 31. At Northeast Point 538 skins were taken to-day, making the total of 

 85,000 for the season. 2 



August 9. St. George furnished only 14,978 skins. 



RECORD KEPT BY CHAS. J. GOPF. 



September 1. The old bulls have about all gone from the Reef. The pups are 

 getting rather large and can be seen by the thousands playing in the water, but they 

 are not nearly so numerous as in the past. 



RECORD KEPT BY G. R. NETTLETON. 



October 6. Captain Healy, of the Bear, reports that in several days' cruise about 

 the islands he had not seen a dozen seals in the water within 10 miles of shore. All 

 the bull seals which held places on the breeding grounds have gone. The rookeries 

 are well covered with cows and pups, mixed with bachelors. The water adjacent is 

 full of seals as far out as 2 miles. 



November 7. At a drive of pups for food 1,044 were killed and distributed. 



November 18. The killable seals are in the water or near its edge and mixed 

 with cows. 



November 23. A raid was made on Zapadni; 7 dead cows were found and 1 

 wounded bull. A drive from Reef was made, yielding 347 seals for food. 



December 2. There are few seals on the Reef. They have all left Lukanin and 

 Kitovi. A number remain at Zapadni and large numbers are reported at Northeast 

 Point. 



1 Here we have the first intimation that there is any diminution in the breeding Heals. 



2 This quota, as we know, for 1889 was made up almost wholly of undersized seals, which would 

 not under normal conditions have been taken at all. This course of action was pursued because the 

 lease under which the islands was then held was drawing to a close. The conditions were well 

 enough understood by the lessees, if not by the officers of the Government, :\s the following 

 statement by Superintendent Mclntyre ("Seal Life," Senate Doc. 137, Part I, 1895) will show: "I 

 repeatedly pointed out to our company and to the special Treasury agents during the seasons of 1887, 

 1888, and 1889 that the seals were rapidly diminishing, and that in order to get the full quota allowed 

 by law we were obliged to kill, in increasing numbers in each of those years, animals that should 

 have been allowed to attain greater size, and finally the catch of 1889 was mostly of this class." 

 This admission makes clear the conditions of these years and fully explains the gradual progress of 

 the decline notwithstanding the abrupt collapse of the bachelor herd. 



