FISHEEIES OP ALASKA, 1908. 71 



or bowhead, whale. A glue is also made from the residue of the 

 blubber after boiling, and this is used at the station for coating the 

 insides of the barrels to hold the oil. In addition the company is 

 experimenting with the preparation of a meat extract from the flesh, 

 an entirely new thing, and with the preparation of leather from the 

 skin and stomach wall, wliile glue has been prepared wliich it is hoped 

 can be put to commercial use. 



If the prejudice against whale meat could be overcome it would 

 prove a most important addition to the larder, in Alaska at least, 

 where fresh meat is difficult to obtain. The tail and adjacent parts 

 and the soft piece under the eye are the choice portions. It is said 

 to have much the flavor and appearance of beef. 



A considerable quantity of whalebone is secured each season in the 

 Arctic by shore parties of whites and natives, who kill the whales 

 in the narrow channels between the ice. The wliites save only the 

 whalebone, but the natives eat the flesh in addition to saving the 

 bone. This year over 53,000 pounds of whalebone came from these 

 sources. 



The fleet whaling in the Arctic Ocean and having its headquarters 

 in San Francisco was composed this year of 8 steamers and 2 sailing 

 schooners. Several of the vessels wintered in the Arctic, the steamer 

 Karluk some miles to the eastward of Point Barrow. The ice is 

 reported to have been the worst in years, and owing to this the fleet 

 did not deem it prudent to go to the eastward of the point, all of the 

 whahng being done to the westward, where more open water was to 

 be found. Before the fleet managed to get through Bering Strait 

 into the Arctic the steamer Wm. Bayliss was wrecked and became a 

 total loss in Anadir Bay, Siberia. The remaining 7 steamers all 

 returned to their home port in November, having secured 26 whales in 

 all, wliich netted 39,500 pounds of whalebone. No reports have 

 been received as yet as to the success of the schooners. The quantity 

 brought back in 1907 was 114,500 pounds, but this represented two 

 seasons' work.*^ 



Owing to the large stock of whalebone at present on hand and the 

 very slight demand for it, the owners of the Arctic fleet are reported 

 to have agreed not to send the fleet north in 1908, thus giving the 

 holders of the goods a chance to dispose of the present surplus. 



AQUATIC FURS. 



Beaver. — The beaver is slowly, but surely, approaching extinction 

 in Alaska, being one of the most valuable fur-bearing aquatic animals 

 in the interior waters and most eagerly sought after. With the 

 exception of the belt of barren coast country bordering the Arctic, 



a None of the data in this paragraph appears in the statistical tables of this report. 



