ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 297 



Accompanied by Agent Barnes, Mr. Fowler, of the North American Commercial 

 Company, and by'the British commissioners, I visited Tolstoi rookery on August 19, 

 and we i'ound thousands of dead pups, covering a space of about 5 acres, and their 

 mothers had disappeared. 



Dr. Dawson, one of the commissioners, took kodak views of the place, and when 

 he asked me what I thought was the cause of their death, I answered : "Their moth- 

 ers have been killed at sea." 



Since I left St. Paul Island I have received a letter from Agent Barnes, in which 

 he savs : " You remember the appearance of Tolstoi ? I visited Halfway Point, along 

 with Mr. Fowler, and found the same state of affairs, or worse; and those who have 

 been to Northeast Point say it is still worse there." 



Bearing in mind that the Northeast Point is the largest rookery in the world, it 

 is no exaggeration to say that between 20,000 and 30,000 pups are lying dead at St. 

 Paul Island whose mothers were slaughtered by sealing schooners in the open sea 

 and the pups lelt to starve upon the rookeries. 



The theory of an occasional epidemic among the seals has been broached, and 

 plausible arguments advanced to prove that the decrease in seal life can be accounted 

 for without blaming the sealing schooners, but as the "oldest inhabitant" on the 

 islands has no recollection of anything of the sort, and as no one ever saw a dozen 

 dead cows on any rookery, it is safe to say there is no foundation for or truth in the 

 epidemic theory. 



It is not for me to say what course shoirld be pursued in the future, but it is self- 

 evident to all who know the present condition of the seal rookeries that the indis- 

 criminate slaughter of seals in the open sea must be stopped at once if they are to 

 be preserved from total extinction and the unfortunate natives of the seal islands 

 saved Jrom starvation and pauperism. 



Respectfully submitted. 



.Joseph Murray, 

 First Assistant Treasury Agent. 



Maj, W. H. Williams, 



Agent in Charge of the Seal Islands. 



Exhibit S. 



REPORT OF ASSISTANT AGENT LAVENDER. 



Office of Special Agent, 

 Treasury Department, November 1, 1891. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report upon the condition of the 

 seal rookeries on the island of St. George and of the native inhabitants thereof, 

 together with the recommendations for the better government of the island. 



During the seasons of 1890 and 1891 I was upon the island and noted carefully the 

 condition of the breeding rookeries. I found a marked decrease in the number of 

 seals upon all the rookeries, with perhaps one exception. As suggested by yon, I 

 carefully ol)served the seals upon the breeding grounds, in order to learn whether 

 there is a scarcity of bulls, and am convinced that the decrease in seal life can not 

 be attributed to that cause, as there appears to be a surplus of bulls upon all the 

 rookeries. 



As a result of my observations I am convinced that the diminution of seal life is 

 largely due to the indiscriminate slaughter of the female seals when away from the 

 rookeries, either going to or returning from the feeding grounds. 



While at IJnalaska, on my return from the seal islands, I had a long conversation 

 with the captain of a hunting schooner. He informed me that he had hunted seal 

 in Bering Sea every season for the last five years. I examined a number of seal 

 skins he had on board the schooner which were taken during the month of August, 

 and found that of his total catch of 178 skius, more than 90 per cent were of female 

 seals. He also informed me that there was abundant evidence that the females 

 killed were almost invariably mothers. He stated that, notwithstanding the fact 

 that he was engaged in the business, he did not approve the practice of shooting 

 seals in the waters of Bering Sea for the reason that nearly all the seal shot were 

 either killed or wounded and not more than one in six was secured; also that tlae 

 proportion of female seals killed this season -^vas not greater than it had been in 

 former years, as he had known 100 seals to be killed in a single day, of which 98 were 

 females. 



When the mother seal is killed before the month of October of any year, the young 

 must starve, as it has no means of sustaining life other than the nourishment from 

 the mother. 



