142 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



His thoughts on birth of pups. — There is one more very important question in the consideration of the 

 breeding or the increase of seals, and that is, of the number of young seals born in one year, how many are males; 

 and is the number of males always the same in proportion to the females? 



Judging from the "holluschickie" accumulated from the " zapooska" in 1822-'24 on the island of St. Paul, and 

 in 1820-27 on the island of St. George, the number of young males was widely variable; for example, on the island 

 of St. Paul, in three years, 11,000 seals were spared, and in the following three years there were killed 7,000, i. e., 

 about two-thirds of the number saved ; opposed to this, on the island of St. George, from 8,500 seals spared in two 

 years, less than 3,000 were taken — hardly one-third. 



Why this irregularity! Why should more young males be born at one time, and at another less? Or why 

 should there be years in which many cows do not bear young? 



According to the belief of the people here, I think that of the number of seals born every year, half are males 

 and as many females (i. e., the other half). 



Table No. I : Its use. — To demonstrate the above-mentioned conditions of seal-life, the table No. I has been 

 formed of the number of seals annually killed on the Pribylov islands, from 1817 to 1838 (when this work was ended). 



From this it will be seen that — 



1. No single successive year presents a good number of seals killed, as compared with the previous year; the 

 number is always less. 



2. The annual number of seals killed was not in a constant ratio. 



3. And, therefore, in the regular hunting-season there is less need or occasion, during the next fifteen years, to 

 demand the whole seal kind. 



4. Fewer seals were killed in those years, generally, following a previous year in. which there were larger 

 numbers of the " holluschickie " ; that is, when the young males were not completely destroyed, and more were killed 

 when the number of "holluschickie" was less. 



5. The number of " holluschickie " is a true register or showing of the number of seals ; i.e., if the " holluschickie " 

 increase and exist like the young females, and conversely. 



6. "Holluschickie" break from the (common) herd and gather by themselves no earlier than the third year, 

 as seen in the case of the spared seals on the islands of St. George and St. Paul, the latter from 1822-'24 to 

 1835-'37, inclusive; the former from 1826-'27. 



7. The number of seals killed on the island of St. George, after two years ("zapooska") was resumed, and 

 gradually increased to five times as many. 



8. In the fifth year from the first "zapooskie" {or saving) it became possible to count or reckon on the number 

 remaining, and six-year-olds began to appear twelve times as numerous, and seven-year-olds came in numbers 

 sevenfold greater than their previous small number; and, therefore, the number of three-year-old seals was quite 

 constant. 



9. If on the island of St. George, in 182G-'27, the seals had not had this rest {"zapooska"), and the killing had 

 been continued, even at the diminished ratio of one-eighth, in 1840 or 1842 there would not have been a single seal 

 left, as appears by the following table : 



Seals. 



1825 5,500 



1826 4,400 



1827 3,520 



1828 2,816 



1829 2,468 



1830 2,160 



1831 1,890 



1832 1,554 



Seals. 



1833 1,360 



1834 1,190 



1835 1,040 



1836 850 



1837 700 



1838 580 



X 839 500 



1840 400 



10. Results of the "zapooska". — Following two years of "zapooska" {saving), the seal-life is enhanced for 

 more than ten years, and the loss sustained by the company in the time of " zapooskov" (about 8,500) is made good 

 in the loug run. The case may be thus stated : if the company had not spared the seals in 1826-27 they would 

 have received, from 1826 to 1838 (twelve years), no more than 24,000, but by making this zapooska regulation for 

 two years, they got in ten years 31,570, and, beyond this, they can yet take 15,000 without another, or any, zapooska. 



11. And in this case, where such an insignificant number of seals was spared on St. George (about 8,500), and 

 in such a short time (two years), the result was at once significant every year; that is, three times more appeared 

 than the number spared. The result, therefore, must be large annually on the island of St. Paul, where, in 

 consequence of the last orders or directions of the governor, already four years of saving have been in force, in 

 which time over 30,000 seals have been left for breeding. 



On this account, and in conformity with the above, I here present a table, a prophecy of the seals that are to 

 come in tbe next fifteen years from 7,060 seals saved on the island of St. Paul in 1835. 



On the island of St. Paul, at the direction of the governor, a "zapoosk" or saving was made of 12,700 seals; 

 that is, before the year 1834 there were killed 12,700 seals, and on the following year, if this saving had not been 



