REPORT OF AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS. 359 



every year. In the nature of things, this can Couciusions 



from diagrams. 



not be expected, and the excess here existmg is 

 undoubtedly small enough to insure against loss. 

 Althouo'li the allotment of one male to twelve 

 females is believed to be less than the actual 

 average in nature, the number of males allowed 

 to escape the club is considerably in excess of 

 that demanded on this supposition, and all of the 

 hypotheses of the calculation are made to insure 

 safety and perpetuity to the herd. 



The graphic representation of the condition of ^^j-^,^^^j^®g^''*^^^"^y 

 the herd serves also to emphasize the fact that 

 when an attack is made on the life of the seal 

 by destroying the females, the results of such 

 destruction will be first noticed in a diminished 

 number of killable males. The number of males 

 being relatively small, any change is more 

 readily observed, particularly since the killable 

 males of the herd are the only seals in which 

 the islanders are immediately interested. 



Having thus shown the possibility of contin- 

 ually taking a large number of male seals with- 

 out the slightest danger to the herd, and also 

 that tlie only harmless killing of female seals is 

 that in which the barren only are destroyed, let 

 us examine the nature of pelagic sealing and its 

 results as compared wath sealing on the islands. 



