264 ALASKA. 



perish or drag out for years a Diost precarious anil wretcLed 

 existence."* 



This gives a very fair idea of tbo manner in wbicli the busi- 

 ness was conducted in the South Pacific. How long would our 

 sealing interests in Bering Sea withstand the attacks of such a 

 ■fleet of sixty vessels, carrying from twenty to thirty men each? 

 :N"ot over two years. The fact that these great southern rook- 

 eries withstood and paid for attacks of this extensive character 

 during a period of over twenty years speaks eloquently of the 

 millions upon millions that must have existed in the waters now 

 almost deserted by them. 



* Robert HamiltOD, Auipbibious Mammalia, Edinburgb, 1839. 



