30 



CRUISE OF TUE STEAMEli COKWLN. 



Table thowinrj the number of arrivals of re8«e{« at the i»Uiiid of Si. Paul. 



Table ahounng the number o/aeah takiii on the island of St. Paul, number of sealers employed, time occupied, the amount 



paid to the scalers, etc. 



I am unable to give the increase or decrease of population that may be caused hy immigration 

 or emigration, but it may be deduced, approximately, from the first of the tables here given. At 

 least oiH» interesting fact is shown by this table, naiiioly : That while a given number of deaths 

 oecuriiiig (hiring a given year is about etpial to the number of births recorded during the same 

 time, an epidemic visits these people at intervals and carries oft" a number who are never replaced, 

 ])roving conclusively that the race is on the decrease. 



By the table on the preceding page it will be observed that there is a gradual decrease in the 

 number of days retjuired for making the catch, which goes to prove an increase in the seal-life on 

 this island. The catch for this sea.son was completed on the 21st of July, and although unusual 

 (iare had been exercised in the selection of the animals, in order to secure the highest gra<^le of 

 skins, the whole work was done in the shortest spaiu' of time, considering the number of seals 

 taken and the men employed. The natives of St. I'aul are required to drive the seals up from 

 the beaches and i)erform the operation of skinning after the animals have been killed. All other 

 hibor is pertbriiied by men from Oiiiialaska and other jilaces, who are taken to St. Paul for that 

 purpose. The sealers are paid a sum etjiial to forty cents lor every skin taken, and are divided 

 according to their experience and proficiency into five classes. Those belonging to the second, 

 thiril, fourth, and fifth classes receive, respectively, nine-tenths, eight-tenths, seven-tenths, and five- 

 tenths of a first-class share. 



