332 EEPORTS OF BERING SEA COMMISSION. 



CONDITIONS. 



Present condi- In considering' the condition of seal life on the 



tiouB. 



PribihDf Islands at the present time, it is impor- 

 tant to inquire, first, is there any marked decrease 

 in the number of seals frequenting these islands 

 during the past few years ; and, second, if such 

 decrease has taken place, among what class or 

 classes of seals is it most notable? 

 Sources oi in- Although ail affirmative answer to the first 



formatiou. . . -, . . i i m 



question is generally agreed to, it is worth wiiile 

 to consider for a moment the evidence on which 

 such an opinion is founded, especially as it is all 

 more or less related to questions concerning the 

 amount of decrease and the period over which it 

 extended, about which considerable difierences 

 of opinion are known to exist. This evidence 

 easily resolves itself into two kinds: (1) the 

 evidence of eyewitnesses or human testimony in 

 which observations of several individuals cover 

 the last quarter of a century ; and (2) what may 

 be called the internal evidence of the rookeries 

 themselves as they a])pear to-day 

 Estimates of 1th proper to remark tliat in our judgment 

 exaggerated. most, if iiot all, of the published estimates of the 

 number of seals hitherto found on these islands 

 are exaggerated. From the very nature of the 

 case an estimate of numbers is extremely diffi- 



