ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 103 



longer duration tlian is general, and that the loss in skins of seals which 

 were necessary to be taken for food during that time has thereby been 

 unusually large. It may be remarked, however, that the waste in this 

 respect during the past was much less than that of the previous year. 



Kelative to the killing of young seals late in the fall for winter food, 

 I would respectfully state that there have been heretofore taken for 

 such iHiriJose from 4,000 to 5,000 annually. As the skins of these 

 young animals possess no commercial value, and are not, therefore, 

 accepted by the company as a part of the yearly quota, it was my desire 

 to limit the number taken on this island to 3,000 and to substitute in 

 their stead animals of prox)er condition to furnish imme skins; but 

 when the time arrived for securing this supply of meat it was found 

 that the skins of all the larger seals continued stagey, with the pros- 

 pect that they might remain so until their departure from the island, 

 and as it would have involved a greater actual loss to have killed such 

 seals at that time, and in order to insure a full supply of winter meat, 

 I was compelled to x^ermit the maximum number of young seals to be 

 taken. 



Of large seals killed for food after the close of the sealing season, I 

 may report that there now remain in the company's salt houses on this 

 island 2,522 skins, these to be included in the company's quota for the 

 coming season. 



Eegarding the general condition of the seal life on this island during 

 the past summer a favorable report may be made. The large rookery 

 bulls, which are the first seals to reach the island in the spring, arrived 

 somewhat behind the general time, owing to the late season; this, how- 

 ever, did not delay the approach of the cows nor prevent the rookeries 

 from filling as early as usual. The nonbreeding seals, to which the 

 killing is confined, also presented themselves slowly during the early 

 part of the summer, but were i)resent in sufficient numbers on the 4th 

 of June to permit an inauguration of the sealing, which progressed 

 favorably and was completed as early as the 14th of July. Of seals 

 of this class it may generally be stated that their movements to and 

 from the land during the season are variable and irregular, and that it 

 is not, therefore, jiracticable to obtain reliable data upon which to base 

 a report of their condition as compared with previous years. The 

 weather proving favorable, their greatest numbers are usually repre- 

 sented after the close of the sealing, when their grounds are no longer 

 disturbed by the sealers. At such a season of the past year I may 

 state that the general appearance of their hauling grounds presented 

 no material changes from that of the previous year, so far as the closest 

 observations could determine. 



The residence of the breeding seals on the island during the season 

 assumes a permanent character, and as the general arrangement and 

 disposition of the families are very regular and systematic, it is practi- 

 cable, by a close scrutiny from year to year of the grounds occupied by 

 seals of this class, to detect any material increase or diminution which 

 may occur in numbers. From a comparison of my observations of the 

 breeding rookeries on this island during the past season with Treasury 

 Agent Elliott's survey of their boundaries in 1872 and 1873, I find in 

 most of them a very appreciable expansion, and in none any noteworthy 

 contraction. In general terms, I may report the condition of all the 

 rookeries as very satisfactory. There has been a marked increase of 

 cows since 1872, and there is as yet no evidence that a supply of large 

 bulls sufficient for breeding piirposes has not been preserved. 



It will be observed from the report of Treasury Agent Moulton that 



