ALASKA. 263 



two. These valuable creatures (fur-seals) have often been 

 fouud fnciucntin*;- some sterile islands in innumerable multi- 

 tudes. Jiy way of illustration, 1 shall refer only to the fur-seal 

 as occurring in South Shetland. On this barren spot their 

 numbers were such that it has been estimated that it could 

 have continued permanently to furnish a return of 100,000 furs 

 a year; which, to say nothing of the public benefit, would have 

 yielded annually a very handsome sum to the adventurers, 

 but what do these men do? In two short years, 1821 and 1822, so 

 great is the rush that they destroy 3i.H),000. They killed all, and 

 spared none. The moment an animal landed, though big with 

 young, it was destroyed. Those on shore were likewise imme- 

 diately dispatched, though the cubs were but a day old. These, 

 of conrse, all died, their number, at the lowest calculation, ex- 

 ceeding 100,000. iS^o wonder, then, at the end of the second 

 year the animals in this locality were nearly extinct. So is it in 

 other localities, and so with other seals, and so with the oil-seals, 

 and so with the whale itself, every addition only making bad 

 worse. All this might easily be prevented by a little less bar- 

 barous and revolting cruelty, and by a little more enlightened 

 selfishness. 



^' With regard to this seal-fishery of the south, the English 

 and Americans have exclusively divided it between them, and 

 with very great profits. It has lately been stated (1839) that 

 they together employ not fewer than sixty vessels in the trade, 

 of from 250 to 300 tons burden. These vessels are strongly built, 

 and have each six boats, like those of the whalers, together 

 with a small vessel of 40 tons, which is put in requisition when 

 they reach the scene of their operations. The crew consists of 

 about twenty-four hands ; their object being to select a fixed 

 locality from which to make their various hatteaus. Thus it is 

 very common for the ship to be moored in some secure bay and 

 be partially unrigged, while at the same time the furnaces, 

 try-pots, &c., required for making the oil are placed on shore. 

 The little cutter is then rigged and manned with about half 

 the crew, who sail about the neighboring islands and send a 

 few men here and there on shore where they may see seals or 

 wish to watch for them. The campaign frequently lasts for 

 three years, and in the midst of unheard-of privations and dan- 

 gers. Some of the crew are sometimes left on distant barren 

 spots, the others being driven off by storms. They are left to 



