4 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



at auclior lono' after commuuication ^yitll the shore has become imprac- 

 ticable; in fact, she might hiy out many of the short summer gales, 

 even with the ^yin(l blowing on-shore. 



We were greatly entertained during the first night of our visit at St. 

 Paul by the graceful antics of the seals which were constantly playing 

 about the ship. They were greatly interested in the electric lights, 

 and their efforts to obtain a nearer view of them through the side ports 

 were persistent and very amusing. Numbers of them remained about 

 the ship day and night watching every movement on deck or aloft, 

 their particular delight, however, being the ship's boats, which they 

 would escort to and from the vessel, playing about in the most graceful 

 manner just clear of the oars. 



I visited Lukannon rookery on the afternoon of the 29th in company 

 with J. Stauley-BroAvn and the U. S. commissioners, and had an excel- 

 lent opportunity of observing it carefully. The first impression of the 

 notice is unbounded amazement at the seeminglj' endless numbers of 

 seals {Callorhiniis iirshius) covering the ground adjacent to the beach, 

 yet further observation revealed the fact that only a small projiortion 

 of the original rookery was occupied. The grassy margins define 

 unmistakably the extent of the rookery at successive periods. 



I made no survey of the rookery, made no measurements whatever; 

 yet, standing on Lukannon Hill, overlooking nearly every foot of its 

 adjacent breeding aud hauling grounds, a fairly good estimate could be 

 made of the comparative area of the original rookery and the space 

 occupied at present. The family relations were beginning to break up, 

 the pups being several weeks old and many of the cows absent trom 

 the rookery seeking food; but the old bulls still occupied their harems 

 with such of their females and young as they could keep about them. 



The interval of time which has elapsed since the first indicated con- 

 traction of area was estimated at from seven to ten years; my own 

 opinion, based upon the appearance of the grass which covered the 

 surface, inclines to the shorter period. 



The Treasury agent informed me on the evening of the 29th that a 

 sealer had been at work off" J^ortheast Point rookery for three days, his 

 rifles being distinctly heard in the fog, and, in the absence of naval 

 vessels or revenue cutters, he appealed to the Albatross to assist him to 

 capture or warn the poacher off". We offered all practicable aid, as a 

 matter of course, and, with the agent and a boat's crew from the village 

 on board, we examined the region north and east of the island next 

 day, but saw nothing of the vessel. We learned subsequently, how- 

 ever, that she was captured by the revenue cutter Coricin on the 28th 

 of July and taken to Unalaska. Early in the morning of August 3 

 the United States and British commissioners, ofQcers of the Danube and 

 Albatross, and others, met on the village killing- ground to witness the 

 killing of 120 young male seals, a part of the quota of 7,500 allowed 

 for the subsistence of the natives. 



