CHAPTER XVII 



The Fur- Seal Industry 



ENWRAPPED in constant sea mists, which 

 hitherto had concealed them, the breeding 

 grounds of the Alaskan fur-seal were finally 

 discovered in 1786 by a patient and persistent fur 

 hunter, Gerassim Pribilof, after whom the group of 

 four islands is named. The first sight of these small 

 barren islands nearly covered with millions of fur- 

 seals must have brought a great thrill to Pribilof. 

 At that time the value of seal skins was not generally 

 recognized ; only the Chinese utilized them, and they 

 did not use the fur as we do now, but plucked out the 

 long silky hairs. 



At the time of the purchase of Alaska by the 

 United States, more than two million seals inhabited 

 the islands. For the next forty years, sealing priv- 

 ileges were granted to lessee companies, which took 

 more than two million skins. Because of the reckless 

 slaughter of the seals by the companies, and by the 

 sealers hunting on the open waters of the ocean, 

 who shot many seals which sank and therefore could 

 not be recovered, the seal herd was seriously reduced. 

 In 1910 the United States government undertook 

 to manage the seal rookeries, giving control to the 



Bureau of Fisheries. Pelagic sealing was stopped in 



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