18 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



and ordered to assist me at St. Paul for some time before leaving for 

 Washington. 



I consider it particularly desirable tbat be should become thoroughly 

 acquainted with all the details of the plan to be submitted by me to 

 the Department. 



I am, sir, very respectfully, 



Charles Bryant, 

 Special Agent, Treasury Department. 

 Hon. Geo. S. Bout^vell, 



Secretary of the Treasury. 



Report of S. JV. BuynitzJcy, of the Treasury Department, stationed at St. 

 Paul Island, AlasTca, in charge of tJie seal fishery. 



Washington, D. C, December 30, 1870. 



Sir : By letter of instructions of May 25, 1870, I have been detailed 

 to the islands of St. Paul and St. George, Alaska, there to act under 

 the orders of Oapt. Charles Bryant, special agent of the Treasury 

 Department, and also to obtain and report to the Department such 

 information as might be acquired relative to the seal fishery and the 

 commercial interests of the islands and of the country generally. Con- 

 cerning my action at the islands under the instructions of Capt. 

 Charles Bryant, I beg leave respectfully to refer to Mr. Bryant's official 

 reports. As to the information which I have been able to acquire rela- 

 tive to the seal fishery and the commercial interests of the islands and 

 of the country, I have the honor to submit the following : 



The islands of St. Paul and St. George, owing to their isolated posi- 

 tion, their climate, and the configuration of their shores, seem to have 

 been particularly designed by nature for the propagation of the species 

 of seals commonly known under the name of fur seal and scientifically 

 classified under the appellation of " Phoca ursina." The number of fur 

 seals congregating every summer at the islands is literally beyond 

 computation. At the commencement of sjiring they begin to appear 

 in the Bering Sea, coming from the Pacific through the straits of the 

 Aleutian islands, chiefly through Unimak Pass. Full-grown males 

 (called bulls) are the earliest visitors at the islands of St. George and 

 St. Paul. They approach the islands in the last days of April, and after 

 a careful survey of their habitual resting grounds settle thereon, to 

 await the arrival of the females, which takes place considerably later. 

 The seals invariably select for their resting grounds (rookeries) such 

 beaches as are strewn over with large bowlders, affording a safe hold 

 against the sweep of the surf. Flat, sandy beaches are carefully avoided 

 by them, probably on account of the danger to which the new-born 

 seals would be exxiosed of being carried oif by the sea before they have 

 learned to live in that element. From the day of their settling on the 

 rookeries to the epoch of the appearance of the females the bulls sleep 

 almost without interruption. Toward the end of May they begin to 

 look out for the coming of their families. The females (cows) generally 

 recognize their former mates, and land at their respective rookeries. 

 There being a considerable difference between the male and female in 

 regard to age of puberty (6 years for the male and 2 for the female), 

 this species is necessarily polygamous, and an average family numbers 

 about ten cows to one bull. The rookeries nearest to the water are 

 occujned by the propagators, while the minor individuals of the tribe 



