44 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
The important problem of housing the natives has received atten- 
tion, and improvements in the native dwellings on St. Paul Island 
will be made as funds are available. One additional dwelling on St. 
Paul Island was completed and occupied during the past year. 
School buildings and dwellings were repaired, a new shop and ware- 
house was built on St. George Island, extensions to the salt houses 
were made on St. Paul Island, additional roadwork was undertaken, 
and, in conjunction with the Navy Department, preliminary work 
in drilling an artesian well was done. The by-products plant on St. 
Paul Island was operated, and 8,759 pounds of seal meal and 5,271 
gallons of various grades of oil were produced. 
The Bureau’s vessel /%der has given valuable service in transpor- 
tation of supplies and persons between Unalaska and the Pribilof 
Islands, and also made trips to King Cove and Kodiak, While re- 
turning from the latter place in December, the Hider rendered note- 
worthy assistance in locating at Chignik the disabled mail boat 
Pulitzer, long overdue, whose passengers, crew, and mail were taken 
to Unga. Credit is due the master and crew of the Hider for this 
work, as well as for other hazardous voyages during the winter to 
the Pribilof Islands. 
Acknowledgment is made of courtesies extended by the Navy 
Department in the transportation of supplies and passengers on the 
Saturn from Seattle to the Pribilof Islands and in carrying seal- 
skins and fox skins on the return voyage of that vessel. The 
operation of the radio stations on St. Paul and St. George Islands 
has been of great value to the Bureau. The Bureau is also pleased 
to acknowledge numerous courtesies by the Coast Guard in the trans- 
portation of personnel and supplies upon vessels of that service. 
THE SEAL HERD. 
The 1920 census of the seal herd, taken as of date of August 10, 
indicated 552,718 animals of all ages, an increase of 28,483 over 1919. 
The census for 1921 gave 587,820 animals on the same date, an increase 
of about 35,000. The number of pups born in 1921 was 176,655. The 
seals killed from one census date to the next are not included in these 
figures. The 1920 enumeration was made by Dr. G. Dallas Hanna, 
who had been in charge of this work for several years; the 1921 census 
was placed under Edward ©. Johnston, who had participated in the 
work of the previous year. 
An innovation connected with the census in 1921 was the construc- 
tion of two runways 6 feet above the ground leading to observation 
towers on one of the large rookeries on St. Paul Island, where in for- 
mer years much difficulty and danger were experienced in making 
accurate observations on the large number of massed seals. To fur- 
ther facilitate the census, a number of concrete markers were prepared 
and placed on the rookeries at important points. 
The average number of cows per harem in 1920 was 41; in 1921 the 
average was 45. These figures are regarded as indicating a very satis- 
factory condition of the herd. 
Tn order that the Bureau might have the views and counsel of per- 
sons familiar with the fur-seal herd, an important conference was 
held in Washington on January 10, 1921, at which there were dis- 
