THE SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 



By Henry W. Elliott. 



HISTORY AND OBJECTS OF THE MEMOIR. 



The WRITER'S opportunities for observation.— During the prog- 

 ress of the heated controversies that took place pending the negotia- 

 tion Avhich ended in the acquisition of Alaska by our Government 

 frequent references were made to the fur seal. Strange to say, this 

 animal was so vaguely known at that time, even to scientific men, that 

 it was almost without representation in any of the best zoological col- 

 lections of the world. Even the Smithsonian Institution did not 

 possess a perfect skin and skeleton. The writer, then, as now, an 

 associate and collaborator of this establishment, had his curiosity very 

 much excited by those stories, and in March, 1872, he was, by the 

 joint action of Professor Baird and the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 enabled to visit the Pribilof Islands for the purpose of studying the 

 life and habits of these animals. 



The fact is, that the acquisition of those pelagic peltries had engaged 

 thousands of men, and that millions of dollars have been employed in 

 capturing, dressing, and selling fur-seal skins during the hundred 

 years just passed by; yet, from the time of Steller, away back as far 

 as 1751, up to the beginning of the last decade, the scientific world 

 actually knew nothing definite in regard to the life history of this 

 valuable animal. The truth connected with the life of the fur seal, 

 as it herds in countless myriads on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska, is 

 far stranger than fiction. Perhaps the existing ignorance has been 

 caused by confounding the hair seal, Plioca vituUna, and its kind, 

 with the creature now under discussion. Two animals more dissimilar 

 in their individuality and method of living can, however, hardly be 

 imagined, although they belong to the same group, and live apparently 

 ujjon the same food. 



The notes, surveys, and hypotheses herewith presented are founded 

 upon the writer's personal observations in the seal rookeries of St. 

 Paul and St. George during the seasons of 1872 to 1874, inclusive, 

 supplemented by his confirmatory inspection made in 1876. They 

 were obtained through long days and nights of consecutive observa- 

 tion, from the beginning to the close of each seal season, and cover, 

 by actual surveys, the entire ground occupied by these animals. 

 They have slumbered in the author's portfolio until the present 

 moment, simply for the reason that he desired, before making a final 

 presentation of the history of these islands and the life thereon, to 

 visit the Russian seal islands, the " Commanders," viz, Bering and 

 Copper islands, which lie to the westward, 700 miles from our own, 

 and are within the pale of the Czar's dominion. 



