AEGUMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN. 76 



It is next stated by the United States tbat not till 1889 

 did the — 



decrease in the birth-rate of the seal herd .... hecomti snfifi- 

 ciently evident amouii' the male portion of the herd to seriously attract 

 the notice of, and alarm, the Government Agents on the islands. 



It is, of course, impossible to say wliat precise amount 

 of decrease would be such as to "attract tlie notice" of a 

 Government Ajient, or whether these Agents were more 

 easily " alarmed" in this respect in the last year of the lease 

 of the Alaska Commercial Company than they had been 

 formerly. The Company was in fact about to make a new 

 tender for a second lease of the islands. It is unnecessary 

 to inquire into this subject too minutely, for the United 

 States have in their Case adduced evidence, and asserted ibid., pp. les, 

 on the authority of that evidence, that the decrease of seals i'"' 

 became perceptible as early as 1884; while the British Com- n,,^|;io;ter .,^^°^: 

 missioners have conclusively shown that the decrease was port, paraa. 57,53. 



almostcontinuous from the earlier years of the United 

 88 States control of the islands, and had become such p.^g^ gg 

 as to be seriously felt, at least as early as 1879. 



It is here stated by the United States that in 1889— Page 67. 



for the first time the weight of skins fell helow the average for for- 

 mer years. 



If, by this statement, it is meant merely to affirm that 

 the weight (this being equivalent to the size) of skins was 

 lower than the general average weight of the preceding 

 nineteen years, it is correct; but if it is intended to mean 

 that this was the first year in which the weight of skins 

 was lower than in preceding years considered separately, 

 it is untrue. Evidence quoted in the British Commission- im^si'omrs^ it- 

 ers' lieport shows conclusively that the decreasing weight port, para. C9c. 

 of skins was fully acknowledged on the islands at least as 

 early as 1883, and evidence since obtained, and given in British coim- 

 the British Counter-Case, shows that smaller and smaller a^j'ii^'ii.^l^li/facS 

 skins were almost each year taken since 1873. tbat page. 



It is here stated, that notwithstanding the reduced num- 

 ber of seals taken in 1890 and in 1891 (under the modus 

 Vivendi of that year) — 



the herd continued to become more and more dejileted, and in 1892 a 

 decrease appears over 1891, though the consensus of opinion of those 

 on the islands is, that in the last year the male seals have increased 

 to a limited extent. 



These remarks are doubtless intended to apply to seals (..arntf^f/ca'se*! 

 seen upon the Pribylofif Islands only, and do not take into Apiioiuii.x.voi.ii! 

 account observations on abundance of seals made at sea. ^''livitish' com- 

 But even limiting the view to the islands, the conchisionsmjasioners'^K^e- 

 above stated are directly opywsed to those resulting from^*"^ '^^^'^'^^' 

 the directions upon the islands of the British Commission- 

 ers in 1891 and to those of the British Agent in 1892. 



The British Commissioners say: mi^slJi^CTs^ "re- 



All the evidence collected indicates, that they [the rookeries] were, l'"^*^' P'^""''- ■'^■ 

 in 1891, in at least as good condition as they were in the preceding 

 year; 



while as to 1892 the British Agent says: , British coun- 



^ " ter-Case, Apjien- 



The rookery- and hauling-grounds themselves exhibited unmistaka- '^'^^ 'P* 

 ble evidence that the number of seals was greater in 1892 than in 1891, 



