372 KEPORTS OF BERING SEA COMMISSION. 



Growth of pe- Tlius it appears that for ten years after the 



lagic sealiug. 



Alaska purchase the fur-seals of the Pribilof Is- 

 lands were practically undisturbed in passing to 

 and from their breeding grounds; that in 1879, 7 

 vessels and 213 men attacked them in the sea 

 along the Northwest Coast, securing 13,600 

 skins; that the industry proved so remunerative 

 that in twelve years the number of vessels had in- 

 creased from 7 to over 100; the men from 213 to 

 upwards of 2,000, and the skins secured from 

 13,G00 to more than 62,000! One of the effects 

 of this slaughter was the appearance on the 

 rookeries upon the islands of thousands upon 

 thousands of dead pups, starvation resulting from 

 the loss of their mothers who went out in search 

 of food but never returned. A glance upon the 

 chart showing the location of the sealing schoon- 

 ers when warned out of the sea by Government 

 vessels will throw much light on the wholesale, 

 not to say inhuman, destruction of young seals. 

 Comparison of Finally, in comparing the operation of taking 

 arseaf ""^ '"" '^"^ scals on land with pelagic sealing, it is important 

 to observe that in the latter there is no possible 

 way in which the number of seals taken can be 

 controlled. While limitations of time and place 

 might restrict the number captured by one 

 hunter, increase in the number of hunters, which 



