REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 187 



reveniio-YCssel sliniild bo l<nown to be in these w.aters dnriiig the senson for tlio pro- 

 tection of the islands, tliat it is not necessary to locate an ofilicer and men from the 

 vessel on Otter Island, and that now — there being two special agents dnring the sea- 

 son on each island — an occasional visit by them in their boat from St. Pan! to Otter 

 Island wonld be sufficient. 



740. In 1879, the reveTine-cruizer " Rush " rooeived her orders " to 

 cruize in the waters of Alaska and among the ishmds of the Aleutian 

 Archipelago . . . , with a view to protecting- the seal-iisheries and 

 sea-otter hunting grounds." 



The Captain reported "that in June 1879 he landed 3 tons of coal on 

 Otter Island, and left Lieutenant Wyckoff and two men on St. Paul 

 with instructions to i)roceed to Otter Island as soon as the Company 

 could furnish him with two men and a whale-boat, this same arrange- 

 ment having been made every year." 



He added that in the end of September (1879), "Lieutenant Wyckoff 

 reports that quite a number of seal would haul ashore at Otter island 

 during the summer. They were not inclined to stop there, but probably 

 would if there was no one living on the island. He had seen four or 

 five pups which Avere born there, but later in the season quite a number 

 of young coM^s came there with the male seals." 



741. In 1880, the Captain of the revenue-ci^uizer "Corwin" reports 

 that he visited St. Paul on the 18th September: 



Special Agent H. G. Otis in'fornicd nie that he had visited Otter Island several 

 times dnring the sunnner, and that no vessels nor nnanthorized parties had been 

 seen anywhere in the vicinity of the seal islands. 



742. In 1880, Mr. Webster, according to his own statement to us, 

 found clubs, liauling-hooks, and dead seals on the Great Eastern 

 Kookery, St. George Island, all left there by raiders. 



743. In 1880, the Captain of the revenue cruizer "Corwin" reported 

 to the Secretary of the Treasury his seizure of the schooner "Leo" in 

 the Arctic for whiskey selling to the Eskimo, adding, "There were also 

 found on board the 'Leo' several persons . . . : five were natives 

 of Kodiak, employed, probably, for the purpose of taking seals around 

 the seal islands in the fall." 



744. In 1881, the Cajitain of the revenue-cruizer "Corwin" reported 

 that on the 23rd May, at St. Paul Lsland, " Colonel II. G. Otis, the Special 



Treasury Agent in charge, came on board, and, after a consul- 

 127 tation with him, it was decided unnecessary to detail an olfi(!er 



for duty on Otter Island, as it was believed that the force on 

 St, Paul Island would be ample to protect both islands." 



745. In the same report the Captain states that, on the 19th June, 

 1881, he overhauled the schooner "Flying Mist" at St. Michael's, and 

 found 25 gallons of whiskey on board, " also complete outfit for taking- 

 seals, • . . . . seal clubs for killing them, and salt for preserving 

 their skins, and was apparently on a predatory cruize around the seal 

 islands later in the season." 



746. The Captain of the "Corwin " also reports that the Special Treas- 

 ury Agent on St. Paul wrote to him that, " on the night of tlie 8th June 

 (1881) a schooner, supposed from her suspicious movements to be on a 

 predatory mission in these waters, was sighted off the east side of the 

 island bearing in a northerly direction, and next morning at 2 o'clock 

 she was discovered by the lookout at East Point standing close in 

 shore. Later in the morning, after the men on shore commenced mov- 

 ing about, she stood out to sea." On this the Captain remarks: "As 

 parties on board the ' Flying Mist' acknowledged to having been in the 

 vicinity of the seal islands, she was undoubtedly the vessel referred to 



