ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 235 



not bear, according to the opinions and personal observations of the 

 old people, the following- may be depended upon with confidence: Not 

 more than one-fifth of the mature or "effective" females are without 

 young. But to avoid erroneous impressions or conflicting statements 

 between others and myself, I have had but one season ("trayt") in 

 which to personally observe and consider the multiplication of seals. 



His thoughts on birth of pups. — There is one more very impor- 

 tant question in the consideration of the breeding or the increase of 

 seals, and that is, of the number of young seals born in one year, how 

 many are males; and is the number of males always the same in pro- 

 Ijortion to the females"? 



Judging from the "holluschicliie" accumulated from the "zapooska" 

 in 1822-1824 on the island of St. Paul, and in 1820-27 on the island of 

 St. George, the number of young males was widely variable; for 

 example, on the island of St. Paul, in three years, 11,000 seals were 

 spared, and in the following three years there were killed V,000, i, e., 

 about two-thirds of the number saved; opposed to this, on the island 

 of Sr. George, from 8,500 seals spared in two years, less than 3,000 

 were taken — hardly one third. 



Why this irregularity? Why should more young males be born at 

 one time, and at another less? Or why should there be years in which 

 many cows do not bear young? 



According to the belief of the people here, I think that of the num- 

 ber of seals born every year, half are niales and as many females (i. e., 

 the other half). 



Table No. I: Its use. — To demonstrate the above-mentioned con- 

 ditions of seal life, the Table No. I has been formed of the number of 

 seals annually killed on the Pribilof Islands, from 1817 to 1838 (when 

 this work was ended). 



From this it will be seen that — 



1. No single successive year presents a good number of seals killed, 

 as compared with the previous year; the number is always less. 



2. The annual number of seals killed was not in a constant ratio. 



<3. And, therefore, in the regular hunting season there is less need or 

 occasion, during the next fifteen years, to demand the whole seal kind. 



4. Fewer seals were killed in those years, generally, following a pre- 

 vious year in which there were larger numbers of the "holluschickie;" 

 that is, when the young males were not completely destroyed, and 

 more were killed when the number of "holluschickie" was less. 



5. The number of "holluschickie" is a true register or showing of the 

 number of seals; i. e., if the "holluschickie" increase and exist like 

 the young females, and conversely. 



G. "Holluschickie" break from the (common) herd and gather by 

 themselves no earlier than the third year, as seen in the case of the 

 spared seals on the islands of St. George and St. Paul, the latter from 

 1822-1824 to 1835-1837, inclusive; the former from 182G-27. 



7. The number of seals killed on the island of St. George, after two 

 years (" zapooska") was resumed, and gradually increased to five times 

 as many. 



8. In the fifth year from the first " zapooska" (or saving) it became 

 possible to count or reckon on the number remaining, and C-year-olds 

 began to appear twelve times as numerous, and 7-year-olds came in 

 numbers sevenfold greater than their previous small number; and, 

 therefore, the number of 3-year-old seals was quite constant. 



9. If on the island of St, George, in 1826-27, the seals had not had 

 this rest (" zapooska"), and the killing had been continued, even at the 



