REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 149 



Tlie first really conuiiorcial ai)pejir;iii(;e of fur-seal skins at Victoria, 

 aceordiii,i^' to Mr. II. Finlayson, was in or about l^id, between whieli 

 date and 185G considerable numbers of skins from the l'ril»yloff or Com- 

 mander Islands, collected at Sitka by the Kussian Fur Company, were 

 forwarded from Victoria to London by the Hudson's Bay Company. 

 These were shipped in casks, and were presumably salted skins, doubt- 

 less all taken on the breeding islands. In ])art ov^erlapping the period 

 just mentioned is the record of x)urchase of fur seal skins by the same 

 Comi»any from Indian hunters, which runs from 1852 to the i)resent 

 year. (See Appendix Gr.) 



580. When, however, better prices began to be paid for these skins, 

 those persons interested in Indian trade along the coast became familiar 

 with the native mode of hunting, and recognized thedillicnlty and dan- 

 ger to which the native hunters were often exposed in consequence of 

 the distances to which they were obliged to venture from the shore in 

 pursiut of the seal. The endeavour was then made to encourage the 

 Indians in sealing, because of the profits obtained from the sale of the 

 skins, and it naturally occurred both to the Indians and the traders 

 (some of whom emi)loyed small vessels for the purposes of traffic), that 



a combination might be formed which would be advantageous to 

 99 both parties. It became evident that the danger and hardship 



inherent in the independent native mode of hunting might be 

 much reduced by employing small vessels to carry the Indians and their 

 canoes to sea in search of seals, thus to serve as a base of operations 

 from which they might more successfully practise this industry. 



581. At this time, the Indians of the coasts of South-eastern Alaska 

 and British Columbia knew nothing whatever about the summer resorts 

 of the fur-seal in Behring Sea, and very little was known by any oneas 

 to the extent or course of their migrations. Thus, Dall, in his elaborate 

 work on Alaska, published in 1870, though conversant with all facts 

 then available, is able meiely to make the following statement on this 

 subject: "The Alaskan fur-seal formerly extended from the ice line of 

 Behring Sea to the coast of Lower California. At present, a few strag- 

 glers reach the Strait of Fuca . . . , but the great majority are con- 

 fined to the Pribyloff Islands .... They leave on the approach of 

 winter — usually about the end of October. They are supposed to spend 

 the winter in the open sea south of the Aleutian Islands."* 



Even so late as 1880, Professor Allen, after a very careful investiga- 

 tion of the whole subject, was able to write in the following very gen- 

 eral way only with regard to the migrations of the fur-seal: 



Except during the season of reproduction, these animals appear to lead a wander- 

 iu<T lite, but the extent and direction of their migrations are not yet well known. 

 Steller spoke of their migrations being as regular as those of the various kinds of 

 sea-fowl, and they are recorded as arriving with great regularity at the Pribyloff 

 Islands, but where they pass the season of winter is still a matter of conjecture.! 



582. It was the habit of the Indians, when sealing in their own 

 canoes, to bring back the entire carcasses of the seals killed, and to util- 

 ize the flesh and fat as food. When schooners were first employed as 

 an auxiliary, the same practice \vas very often followed. The carcasses 

 belonged to the individuals killing the seals, and w'cre prized by them, 

 and whenever possible carried back to the villages to which the sealing 

 Indians belonged. The vessels were seldom very long away from jwrt. 

 Tlie sealing voyages thus at first nmde were restricted in their scoi)e, 

 and it was only by degrees that it came to be discovered that the seals 



* "Ahiska and its Resources," p. 493. 



t " Monograph of North American Pinnipeds," p. 335. 



