4 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



Collector Ketchum : Habits of Seals, etc. 



San Francisco, Cal., October 26, 1868. 



Sir: Since my arrival here I have had interviews with gentlemen 

 representing the various rival interests connected with the fur-seal 

 fishery in Alaska, and from their united testimony have obtained the 

 following facts in relation to the sealing interest upon that coast: 



First. About the latter end of March or the early part of April in 

 each year, the seals begin to move toward the uninhabited islands of 

 St. Paul and St. George, in Bering Sea, the object being to accom- 

 plish the period of gestation, which is during the summer months. For 

 this purj)ose they move like an army. At first a very few old male 

 seals reconnoiter the coast, and if there are no alarming features 

 they return and communicate with an advance guard of males, who 

 upon their report make a more thorough reconnoissance of the coast, 

 and their report being favorable, the main army, consisting of from 

 300,000 to 400,000 seal, advance and take possession of the tenantless 

 coasts. Here they remain, bringing forth and nurturing their young 

 until the first frost sets in (October or November), when they take 

 their departure. 



Second. It appears to be universally conceded by those experienced 

 in the business that loud noises, the appearance of blood, or the active 

 signs of habitation deter the seal from settling upon the coast. For 

 that reason the native hunters, both from motives of policy and in 

 accordance with the regulations of the Eussian Fur Company, have 

 been in the habit of selecting the seal whom they designed to kill, 

 driving him inland to the distance of a mile or over, and there dispatch- 

 ing him by a blov/ upon the head with a club. Great caution has to 

 be exercised in driving him, because on account of his excessive fat 

 and his fear combined he is apt to die in the transit, in which case the 

 perspiration which he evolves loosens the fur and destroys the value 

 of the skin. One well-directed blow, aimed at a point somewhere 

 between the brain and the ridge of the snout, causes instantaneous death 

 or insensibility, similar to the butcher's stroke between the horns of 

 an ox. 



Third. Eeckless hunting of the seal by inexperienced hands will have 

 the inevitable effect of driving him to other shores. It is even intimated 

 that the Eussian commissioner reserved Bering and Copper islands 

 in the treaty of cession with the expectation that the improvidence of 

 American adventurers would in a short time force the seal upon those 

 coasts. Major-General Halleck informs me that a number of years ago 

 the seal actually deserted the American islands and took refuge upon 

 those reserved by Eussia, and it was many years before they returned. 



From present information, it seems to me of vital importance that 

 any legislation by Congress at its ensuing session should guard against 

 the promiscuous killing of the seal, and it would be decidedly better if 

 it were left altogether in the hands of native hunters. 

 With great respect, I am, your obedient servant, 



Hiram Ketchum, Jr., 

 Collector of Customs, District of Alaska. 



Approved : 



Charles Bryant, 

 Special Agent, Treasury Department. 



Hon. Hugh McCulloch, 



Secretary of the Treasury. 



