ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 75 



rear of the village. HLoiild this attempt be repeated, it will be neces- 

 sary to put a partj^ on it to prevent its injury by disturbing tbe seals. 

 As it is only a rock, without any reliable supply of fresh water, it will be 

 necessary to have a large boat for the purpose of carrying supplies there. 

 This island has no breeding rookery on it, but in the months of August 

 and September 5,000 or 6,000 seals resort there to rest and play on its 

 outlying rocks and ledges. 



I herewith inclose an aftidavit sworn before me by Benjamin G. 

 Mclntyre on September 10, that it may be of service should any pro- 

 ceeding be instituted. 



1 have the honor to remain, 



Charles Bryant, 

 Treasury Agent, in Charge of ISeal Idands. 

 Hon. B. H. Bristow, 



Secretary of the Treasury. 



Tnelosnre wiili Bryant's letter of May 12, 1S75 : (JeposHion of Mr. B. &. McTntyre as to 



invasion of rookrrie>i by crew of " Cygnet."' 



St, Paul Island, Alaska Territory, ss: 



Personally appeared before me, Charles Bryant, special agent of the 

 Treasury Department under the act of Congress approved March 5, 

 1872, B. G. Mclntyre, who, on beiug duly sworn, deposes and says: 



I am agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, in charge of said 

 company's business at St. Paul Island, Alaska; that on the 19th day of 

 August, A. D. 1874, the schooner Cygnet, of Santa Barbara, Captain 

 Kimberly, appeared off said island; that on the attempt being made 

 by Capt. Charles Bryant, special Treasury agent in charge of the seal 

 islands, to board said vessel, she stood away after she had lowered her 

 boat; that said schooner sailed around the island on the night of the 

 19th of August, 1874, and disappeared ou the 20th of that month; that 

 on the 29th day of said month said vessel was again discovered by the 

 natives of said island at anchor behind the bluffs of Otter Island, where 

 she was engaged, as they believe, in unlawfully shooting fur seals in 

 the water near said Otter Island; that on the night of the 29th of said 

 month deponent went to Otter Island, under cover of darkness, where 

 he hid until daybreak on the morning of the 30th of said month, when 

 by pulling alongside said vessel, he suddenly surprised her crew and 

 boarded her; that he saw on board said vessel the carcasses of several 

 fur seals, and which were admitted to be such by the captain of said 

 vessel; that the said Captain Kimberly informed deponent that he had 

 on board the skins of several fur seals caught in the waters about tbe 

 seal islands of Alaska, aud requested deponent to inform the special 

 Treasury agent in charge of the seal islands that he intended to keep 

 said skins; that said Captain Kimberly informed deponent that he had 

 endeavored to avoid seeing any person from the islands; that on differ- 

 ent occasions deponent saw several shots fired from the deck of said 

 vessel, and saw the boat lowered and something taken on board, which 

 he believed to have been fur seals unlawfully shot and killed in the 

 water adjacent to the islands. 



B. G. MclNTYRE. 



Done at my office on St. Paul Island, this 10th dav of September, 

 A. D. 1874. 



Charles Bryant, 

 Special Treasury Agent, in Charge of the Seal TsJands. 



