THE SEALS. 163 



used by tlie Alaska Commercial Company and improvement 



over Russian me tli- 



tlie American Government for the care and pres-o<is of taking, 

 ervation of the seals were much better than those 

 used by the Russian Government."-^ 



When a ''drive" arrives at the killing grounds Killing, 

 the animals are allowed to rest and cool off; then 

 they are divided into groups or "pods" of from 

 twenty to thirty;^ the killable seals are carefully 

 selected, those of three and four years being pre- 

 ferred; ^ the killing gang then club those selected, 

 allowing the remainder to return to the water. 



The skins are removed from the carcasses, Salting and 



keucLiiig. 



counted by the Government agent, salted and 

 packed in ''kenches" at the salt houses. The 

 flesh of the seals is taken by the natives for 

 food.^ 



Under the Russian management many skins improvement in 



treating the skins. 



were lost through the drying process, and also 

 from the glutted condition of the Chinese market, 

 where the greatest number of the skins were 

 disposed of by barter. Bishop Veniaminof says 

 (Vol. I, p. 296) that "in 1803 eight hundi-ed thou- 



iVol. II, p. 99. 



•^ Daniel Webster, Vol. II, p. 182. 



3 H. H. Mclntyre, Vol. II, p. 57; J. Stanley Brown, Vol. II, p. 16. 



* Letter of Chief Manager Furnlielm to the Board of Adminis- 

 tration of the Eussian American Company, dated July 16, 1863, 

 Vol. I, p. 88. A fnll account of the method of drying, salting, 

 and packing the skins is given by Dr. H. H. Mclntyre, Vol. II, 

 p. 57. 



