108 BULLETIN OF THE 



year would have bidden forty cents apiece for tliem. To this is to be 

 added the cost of salt, buildings, and the expense of the agency on 

 shore. Their market value was at that time five dollars, so that, after 

 a liberal allowance for incidental expenses, the profit must be very 

 large. 



Previous to 1 8GG these skins were worth only three dollars each, 

 but owing to recent improvements in their manufacture they have 

 become fashionable for ladies' wear, and soon after the transfer of the 

 Territory to the United States the price rose to seven dollars. At this 

 time the Russians had one hundred thousand on hand, which were for- 

 warded to London, the only market for seal-skins in the raw state, and 

 the only place where they are dressed. The different parties who sealed 

 on the islands in the summer following the purchase took two hundred 

 thousand, which so overstocked the market that they are now worth 

 only three or four dollars. 



The agents of the Russian Fur Company aimed to control this branch 

 of the fur trade in Europe by regulating the supply. To do this they 

 sent orders a year in advance to have such a number killed as in their 

 judgment the market might need, always keeping at the same time one 

 year's supply on hand. At the time of the sale of the Territory the 

 annual yield was estimated at eighty thousand skins. The opinion of 

 the men who have the special care of the seals is that it has reached 

 one hundred thousand, and that the killing yearly of this number will 

 in no way cheek their increase. As I have elsewhere explained, to 

 kill a proper number of males annually tends to a general increase in 

 the whole number of seals. 



Use of the Flesh by the Natives. — The flesh of the seal constitutes 

 the principal food of the inhabitants they killing from time to time 

 such numbers as are necessary for that purpose. Before the; seals 

 leave in autumn a number are killed sufficient for their winter's 

 supply. Tie- carcasses are allowed to freeze, and in this state they 

 keep them until the return of the. seals in the spring. The flesh of 

 the yearling seal is somewhat darker than beef; it is juicy and tender, 

 but lacks the sweetness and flavor of beef, and is less firm and nutri- 

 tious. In highly seasoned dishes it is relished by nearly all who partake 

 of it. The soldiers on the island preferred it to salt rations. Alive 

 weeks' old pup roasted is esteemed a great luxury. The sea lion 

 also constitutes a part of the natural food of the natives. 



Cambridge, August, 1870. 



