PELAGIC SEALING A SPECULATION. 593 



To the President of the Alaska Commercial Company: 



I have made a thorough and accurate examination of the seal-hunt- 

 ing industry of British Columbia which is carried 



on in Bering Sea, in accordance with the follow- Theodore T. Williams, p. 

 iug instructions received from your company: 496. 



"Exact account of British Columbia fur-seal in- 

 dustry, to go back as early as possible and show the area over which 

 the seals were hunted before the existence of the Alaska Commercial 

 Company (1870) and during the early years of the lease. 



"It should show the development and expansion of the business, in 

 accordance with the enhanced value of skins, caused by the operation 

 of the company. 



"As exactly as possible it should give — 



"Statistics of yearly catch and prices obtained for same at British 

 Columbia, number of vessels employed, their value and cost of outfit, 

 and any other details of the business possible. 



"To be of value it should be accurate, and not merely approximate, 

 as we desire to use the figures to base our estimate for bidding for re- 

 newal of the sealing lease, an important factor, in which must neces- 

 sarily be the probability of the continuance of illicit sealing and its 

 consequent depletion of the seal herd. The profits to illicit sealers be- 

 ing greater or less, will, of course, increase or decrease their number. 



"There should also be a careful statement made and sworn to by 

 competent men of the value of the vessels that have been seized and 

 stranded at Unalaska or condemned elsewhere. All this should be 

 prepared as honestly and correctly as possible, with no effort to mini- 

 mize values, but only to state honestly, as near as may be, real values." 



Statistics of yearly catch. 



1881. 



The first seal-skins ever handled in British Columbia caught in the 

 Bering Sea were taken in 1881. Prior to that year, no vessels sealed 

 in the Bering. In 1881, the American schooner San Diego caught 193 

 seals in the Bering, and sold the skins to T. Lubbe, of Victoria, British 

 Columbia, at $9.25 per skin. These skins were shipped to London, as 

 are nearly all of the skins bought in Victoria, British Columbia, and 

 the trade, therefore, brought no profit to Canada, T. Lubbe being an 

 American. I have, however, included the record of this and all other 

 collections made by American ships in the Bering Sea when sold in 

 British Columbia, because they all figure in the reports of the Victoria 

 custom-house. In keeping the collection of the American and Cana- 

 dian vessels from the Bering district, you can see at a glance the rela- 

 tive value of the Bering Sea collection to American and Canadian 

 sealers. 



1883. 



American schooner San Diego: Bering Sea collection, 327 seals; sold 

 to T. Lubbe at Victoria, British Columbia, at $8 per skin. 



1883. 



American schooner San Diego: Bering Sea collection, 908 skins; sold 

 to T. Lubbe, Victoria, British Columbia, at -$10 per skin. 



1884. 



Bering Sea collection, sold in Victoria, British Columbia: American 

 schooner San Diego, 980 skins, at $8; American schooners Otter and 

 38 B S 



