262 ALASKA. 



^'Seal-skins are very mneh nsed in tbeir raw state as articles 

 of apparel by the natives of the polar zones ; when tanned, 

 they are used extensively in making shoes ; and the Eskimo 

 have a x^rocess by which they make them water-proof, (?) so 

 that, according to Scoresby, the jackets and trousers made of 

 them by these people are in great request among the whale- 

 fishers for preserving them from oil and wet. But the skins 

 are not only used in this raw and tanned state as leather; on 

 account of their silky and downy covering, they constitute still 

 more important articles connected with the fur-trade. Thus 

 considered, seal-skins are of two kinds, which may be distin- 

 guished as liair-skins and fur-skins ; the former are used as 

 clothing and ornament by the Eussians, Chinese, and other 

 nations, and the latter yield a fur which we believe exceeds in 

 value all others which have been brought into the market. 

 Many seals supply nothing but hair, while others in different 

 proportions produce both the hair, and underneath it soft and 

 downy far. The majority, we believe, are to be considered 

 merely as hair-skins, similar to the bear or sable, and of these 

 some are excellent of their kind and much prized.'* — Hamilton''s^ 

 AnqihihioHS Mammalia, Edinburgh, 1839. 



With regard to the manner in which the business was carried 

 on down here we find in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the fol- 

 lowing facts: " From about the year 180G till 1823 an extensive 

 trade was carried on in the South Seas in procuring seal-skins;, 

 these were obtained in vast abundance by the first traders and 

 yielded a very large profit. The time was when cargoes of 

 those skins yielded five or six dollars apiece in China, and the 

 present price in the English market averages from SO to 50 

 shillings per skin. The number of skins brought off from 

 Georgia cannot be estimated at fewer than 1,200,000 ; the 

 island of Desolation has been equally productive, and, in addi- 

 tion to the vast sums of money which these creatures have 

 yielded, it is calculated that several thousand tons of shipping 

 have annually been employed in the traffic." 



An English writer in 1830 calls attention to the deplorable 

 and ruinous management of affairs on the great rookeries of 

 the South Pacitic in the following strong terms : 



'' It may be considered superfluous to read a lecture to the 

 trader upon a matter so nearly touching his own interest ; and 

 yet there is one point, at the same time, which forms so essen- 

 tial a part of my subject, that we cauuot withhold a word or 



