APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 325 



There bas been much exaggeration with regard to the profits of the 

 Rnssian Corporation. An English writer of authority calls them 

 ''immense," and adds that formerly they were much greater. I refer 

 to the paper of Mr. Petermanu, read before the Geographical Society 

 of London in 1852 (Journal, vol. xxii, p. 120). The number of skins 

 reported at times is prodigious, although this fails to reveal precisely 

 the profits. For instance, Pribylow collected within two years on the 

 islands north of Alaska which bear his name the skins of 2,000 sea- 

 otter, G,000 dark ice foxes, 40,000 sea-bears, or ursine seals, together 

 with 1,000 pouds of walrus ivory (the poud is a Eussian weight of 36 

 lbs.). Liitke mentions that in 1803 no less than 800,000 skins of the 

 ursine seal were accumulated in the fiictory at Ounalasska, of which 

 700,000 were thrown into the sea, partly because they were badly pre- 

 pared, and partly in order to keep up the price, thus imitating 

 79 the Dutch, who for the same reason burnt their spices. Another 

 estimate masses the collection for a series of years: 



From 1787 to 1817, for only a part of which time the Company existed, 

 the Ounalaska district yielded ui)wards of 2,500,000 sealskins; and 

 from 1817 to 1838, during all which time the Company was in power, 

 the same district yielded 579,000 seal-skins. As.suming what is improb- 

 able, that these skins were sold at 25 roubles eacli, some calculating 

 genius has cyphered outthe sum-total of proceeds at more than 85,000,000 

 roubles; or, calling the rouble 75cents,asum-totalof morethan 03,000,000 

 dollars. Clearly the latter years can show no approximation to any 

 such doubtful result. 



Descending from these lofty figures, which, if not exaggerations, are 

 at least generalities, and relate partly to the earlier periods, before the 

 time of tiie Company, we shall have a better idea of the commerce if we 

 look at authentic Keports for special periods of tijne. 



Admiral von Wrangel, who was for so long Governor, must have been 

 well informed. According to statements in his work, adopted also by 

 Wappiius in his " Geographic," the Company from 1826 to 1833, a period 

 of seven years, exported the skins of the following animals: 



Nine thousand eight hundred and fifty three sea-otters, with 8,751 

 sea-otter tails, 40,000 river beavers, 6,242 river- or land-otters, 5,243 

 black foxes, 7,759 black-bellied foxes, 1,633 red foxes, 24,000 Polar foxes, 

 1,093 lynxes, 559 wolverines, 2,976 sables, 4,335 swamp otters, 69 wolves, 

 1,261 bears, 505 musk rats, 132,160 seals, 830 pouds of whalebone, 1,490 

 pouds of walrus ivory, and 7,122 sacks of castoreum. What was their 

 value does not appear. 



Sir George Simi)son, the Governor-in-chief of the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany, whoTvas at Sitka in 1841, represents the returns of the Company 

 for that year as follows: 



Ten thousand fur-seals, 1,000 sea-otters, 2,500 land-otters, and 20,000 

 walrus teeth, without including foxes and martens. 



There is still one other Eeport for the year 1852, as follows: 



One thousand two hundred and thirty-one sea-otters, 129 young sea- 

 otters, 2,948 common otters, 14,486 fur-seals, 107 bears, 13,300 beavers, 

 2 wolves, 458 sables, 243 lynxes, 163 mole-skins, 1,504 bags of castoreum, 

 684 black foxes, 1,590 cross foxes, 5,174 red foxes, 2,359 blue Arctic 

 foxes, 355 white Arctic foxes, and also 31 foxes called white, perhaps 

 albinos. 



Besides these Reports for special years, I am enabled to present from 

 the Russian Tables of Captain Golowin another, covering the period 

 from 1842 to 1860, inclusive, being as follows: 



Twenty-five thousand six liundred and two sea otters, 63,826 "otters," 

 probably river-otters, 161,042 beavers, 73,944 foxes, 55,540 Arctic foxes, 



