92 THE ALASKAN SEAL HERD. 



easily determine whether the seals are stationary, increasing, or dimin- 

 ishing in numbers. 



Measurements of the breeding grounds, how- 



Daniel Webster, p. 181. ever, show an increase or decrease of the number 



of seals, because the harems are always crowded 



together as closely as the nature of the ground and temper of the old 



bulls will permit. 



THE ALASKAN SEAL HERD. 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN ALASKAN HERD AND RUSSIAN HERD. 



Page 94 of The Case. 



I can tell by examining a skin whether it was caught in season or out 



of season, and whether it was caught on the Rus- 



George Bantle, p. 508. siau side or on the American side. A Russian 



skin is generally coarser, and the under wool is 



generally darker and coarser than the skins of the seals caught on the 



American side. A Russian skin does not make as fine a skin as the 



skins of the seals caught on the American side, and are not worth as 



much in the market. I can easily distinguish one from the other. 



The herd to which the 2,170 seals above referred to belong, and known 

 as "Russian seal," and have no connection what- 

 CharlesJ.Behloic,pA0i. ever with the seals taken on the coast of North 

 America or in the Bering Sea, and known as the 

 Northwest seal, the herd that have their rookery on the Pribilof Is- 

 lands. 



That the differences between the three several sorts of skins last men- 

 tioned are so marked as to enable any person 

 E. S. Bevington, p. 551. skilled in the business, or accustomed to handle 

 the same, to readily distinguish the skins of one 

 catch from those of another, especially in bulk, and it is the fact that 

 when they reach the market the skins of each class come separately and 

 arc not found mingled with those belonging to the other classes. The 

 skins of the Copper Island catch are distinguished from the skins of the 

 Alaska and Northwest catch, which two last-mentioned classes of skins 

 appear to be nearly allied to each other, and are of the same general 

 character, by reason of the fact that in their raw state the Copper skins 

 are lighter in color than either of the other two and in the dyed state 

 there is a marked difference in the appearance of the fur of the Copper 

 and the other two classes of skins. This difference is difficult to de- 

 scribe to a person unaccustomed to handle skins, but it is nevertheless 

 clear and distinct to an expert, and may be generally described by say- 

 ing that the Copper skins are of a close, short, and shiny fur, particu- 

 larly down by the flank, to a greater extent than the Alaska and North- 

 west skins. 



I learned that fur-seals of the species Callorhinns ursinus do breed 

 and haul out at the Commander Islands and Rob- 



J. Stanley Brown, p. 12. bin Reef, but the statements made to me were 

 unanimous that they are a separate herd, the pelt 



