314 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



to come on the actual breeding grounds play near-by 

 on the "hauling grounds." From here they are driven 

 like sheep to the killing fields, which are located some 

 distance from the rookeries in order to avoid dis- 

 turbance of the breeding grounds. The animals are 

 first rendered unconscious by a blow on the head, 

 and they are then bled. The skin is pulled off after 

 cutting around the head and flippers and down the 

 belly. After the adhering blubber has been removed 

 from the skin, it is salted down, allowed to cure for 

 ten days, and rolled up into a compact bundle. The 

 skins are packed into water-tight barrels and shipped 

 to St. Louis, where they are put through many very 

 elaborate and complicated processes before becoming 

 the beautiful fur-seal skins of commerce. 



Some of the meat of the seals is eaten by the native 

 Aleut Indians who live on the islands. The blue foxes 

 are also fed from the meat of the seal carcasses. The 

 residue is converted into oil and fertilizer. The oil ob- 

 tained from the carcasses is shipped to St. Louis and 

 used in tanning the skins. Until 1915 the seal skins 

 were all shipped to London, where they were sold at 

 auction and then tanned, dyed, and finished. In that 

 year a number of the best seal dressers and dyers of 

 London came to this country and the industry was 

 moved to St. Louis. With the British dressers and 

 dyers as a nucleus, an excellent organization has been 

 formed. Many researches have been conducted which 

 have produced a much finer product than had ever 

 been made before. A strong, thin, light pelt is now 

 produced which weighs little more than the same area 

 of the imitation, Hudson seal or dyed muskrat. 



