196 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



take them; the former for their oil, the latter for their skins. Captain Weddell 

 states that he had been credibly infoi-med that during a period of about fifty years 

 not less than 20.000 tons of oil were procured annually from this spot alone tor the 

 London market, which, at a moderate price, would yield about £1,000,000 a year. 

 " Seal skins are very much used in their raw state as articles of apparel by the 

 natives of the polar zones; when tanned they are used extensively in making shoes, 

 and the Eskimo have a process by which they make them waterproof (?) , so that, 

 according to Scoresby, the jackets and trousers made of them by these people are 

 in great request among the whale fishers for preserving them from oil and wet. 

 But the skins are not only used in this raw and tanned state as leather; on account 

 of their silky and downy covering they constitute still more important articles 

 connected with the fur trade. Thus considered, seal skins are of two kinds, which 

 may be distinguished as hair skins and fur skins. The former are used as clothing 

 and ornament by the Russians, Chinese, and other nations, and the latter yield a 

 fur which we believe exceeds in value all others which have been brought into the 

 market. Many seals supply nothing but hair, while others in different proportions 

 produce both the hair and, underneath it, soft and downy fur. The majority, we 

 believe, are to be considered merely as hair skins, similar to the bear or sable, and 

 of these some are excellent of their kind and much prized.'" (Hamilton: Amphib- 

 ious Mammalia, Edinburgh, 1839.) ., , •, ^4. 



It may be considered superfluous to read a lecture to the trader upon a matter 

 so nearly touching his own interest, and yet there is one point, at the same time, 

 which forms so essential a part of my subject that I can not withhold a word or 

 two. These valuable creatures (fur seals) have often been found frequenting 

 some sterile islands in innumerable multitudes. By way of illustration, I shall 

 refer only to the fur seal as occurring in South Shetland. On this barren spot 

 their numbers were such that it has been estimated that it could have continued 

 permanently to furnish a return of 100.000 furs a year, which, to say nothing of 

 the public benefit, would have yielded annually a very handsome sum to the 

 adventurers. But what do these men do? In two short years. 1821 and 1823 so 

 great is the rush that they destroy 320,000. They killed all, and spared none. The 

 moment an animal landed, though big with young, it was destroyed. Those on 

 shore were likewise immediately dispatched, though the cubs were but a day old. 

 These, of course, all died, their number, at the lowest calculation, exceeding 

 100 000. No wonder, then, at the end of the second year the animals in this 

 locality were nearly extinct. So is it in other localties, and so with other seals, 

 and so with the oil seals, and so with the whale itself, every addition only making 

 bad worse. All this might, easily be prevented by a little less barbarous and 

 revolting cruelty, and by a little more enlightened selfishness. 



With regard to this seal fishery of the south, the English and Americans have 

 exclusivelv divided it between them, and with very great profits. It has lately 

 been stated (1839) that they together employ not fewer than sixty vessels in the 

 trade, of from 250 to 300 tons burden. These vessels are strongly built, and have 

 each six boats, like those of the whalers, together with a small vessel of 40 tmis, 

 which is put in requisition when they reach the scene of their operations, ilie 

 crew consists of about 24 hands, their object being to select a fixed locality from 

 which to make their various bateaux. Thus it is very common for the ship to be 

 moored in some secure bav and be partially unrigged, while at the same tune the 

 furnaces, try pots, etc., required for making the oil are placed on shore. Ihe 

 little cutter is then rigged and manned with about half the crew, who sail about 

 the neighboring islands f:nd send a few men here and there on shore, where they 

 may see seals or wish to watch for them. The campaign frequently lasts tor three 

 years, and in the midst of unheard-of privations and dangers. Some of the crew 

 are sometimes left on distant, barren spots, the others being driven off by storms. 

 They are left to perish or drag out for years a most precarious and wretched 

 existence.' 



With regard to the manner in which f nr sealing was carried on then, 

 we find in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the following facts : 



From about the year 1806 till 1823 an extensive trade was carried on in the SOTith 

 seas in procuring seal skins. These were obtained in vast abundance by the first 

 traders and yielded a very large profit. The time was when cargoes of those skins 

 yielded $.5 or §6 apiece in China, and the present price in the English market aver- 

 ages from 30 to 50 shillings per skin. The number of skins brought off from 

 Georgia can not be estimated at fewer than 1.200,000; the Isl and of Desolation ha s 



• Robert Hamilton: Amphibious Mammalia, Edinburgh, 1839. 



