﻿34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 74 



The visit to the Prihilofs was favored with cool cloudy weather 

 which showed up the rookeries to the best advantage. The increase 

 in the number of seals on the beaches, a result of the elimination of 

 pelagic sealing by the treaty of 1911 between the United States, Great 

 Britain, Japan and Russia, was very remarkable, notwithstanding the 

 handicap of the excessive increase of superfluous and therefore dis- 

 turbing young males due to unfortunate legislation which stopped 

 land killing for five years following the signing of the treaty. By 

 drastic measures the proper numerical ratio between the sexes has 

 almost been accomplished by now, and a complete restitution of the 

 fur seal herd to its former maximum is confidently predicted for the 

 not distant future, if pelagic sealing is not resumed. An improved 

 method in stripping the skin from the body of the dead seal and 

 subsequent cleaning of the skin was being tried out for the first time 

 on an extensive scale and was shown to be a great improvement on 

 the old method. Greatly improved methods were also observed in 

 the handling of the blue foxes. The air of prosperity and progres- 

 siveness pervading the whole establishment as compared with condi- 

 tions 25 years ago was very notable, bearing testimony to the efifi- 

 ciency of the management of the islands by the Bureau of Fisheries. 



The Algonquin with Stejneger and Lindquist on board returned to 

 Unalaska to fill up with fuel oil preparatory to the trip to the Com- 

 mander Islands, a distance of approximately 1,100 miles. At Dutch 

 Harbor, while the vessel was taking in oil, the opportunity was taken 

 advantage of to examine the small group of Sitka spruce planted 

 there nearly 100 years ago by the Russian Admiral Liitke while 

 visiting the island in the corvette Senia^'iii. A fire during the 

 summer of 1896 came very near destroying the stand, but timely 

 aid saved most of the trees. The little isolated grove, the only one 

 west of Kodiak Island, showed the efi^ects of the fire. There are 

 now 15 trees left, all looking healthy, the foliage being dense and 

 dark, and the lower branches sweeping the ground. The south side 

 of the trees was covered with blossoms and last year's cones, but no 

 seedlings were seen anywhere. Among the large trees, however, there 

 were a couple of saplings about 10 feet high, which had been 

 smothered to death, but which show that fertile seeds have been pro- 

 duced occasionally. The largest tree was measured and found to be 

 8 feet in circumference 3 feet from the ground. About a foot higher 

 it divides into three distinct trunks. 



The Commander or Komandorski Islands were reached on July 24. 

 These islands form the most western group of the Aleutian Chain. 



