282 THE SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. 



Camidianinvest- boats, wliicli caii all be used in some other in- 



ment questiona- 

 ble, dustry/ excepting, perhaps, the old and unsea- 



worthy vessels. 



Teiagic sealing But admittino" the validity of the investment, 



a speculation. 



it can be questioned whether those embarking 

 therein as a rule pay the expenses incurred out 

 of the sum realized on the catch. An examina- 

 tion of the table of sealing vessels and their 

 respective catches, as given by the Canadian 

 Fishery Reports, shows that the number of seals 

 taken by a vessel varies to a great extent. Thus 

 in 1889 several vessels took less than three 

 hundred seals each; one schooner, with a crew 

 of twenty-nine men, took but one hundred and 

 sixty-four seals, while another, with a crew of 

 twenty-two men, took over three thousand.^ In 

 1890 the same variation may be seen.^ In 1889 

 the average selling price of skins in Victoria 

 was $7.65.^ On the catch of one hundred and 

 sixty-four seals, therefore, the total received 

 would be $1,25460, of which at least $400 

 would have to be paid to the hunters, leaving 

 $854.60 to pay the entire expense of the voyage 

 of at least four months. If the men were paid 

 $30 a month on an average, the cost of the 



• T. T. Williams, Vol. II, p. 500. 



" Canadian Fisheries Report, 1889, p. 253. 



3 77)uZ.,1800,p.l83. 



" T. T. Williams, Vol. II, p. 499. 



