230 FAMILY OTARIID^E. 



" Catharine," of New York (Capt. H. Fanning), visited the Cro- 

 zette Islands, where they landed, and found vast numbers of 

 Fur Seals, but obtained their cargo from Prince Edward's 

 Islands, situated a few hundred miles southeast of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, where other vessels the same year obtained full 

 cargoes. 



In 1830, the supply of Fur Seals in the southern seas had 

 so greatly decreased that the vessels engaged in this enterprise 

 "generally made losing voyages, from the fact that those 

 places which were the resort of Seals," says Captain Benjamin 

 Pendleton, "had been abandoned by them, or cut off from 

 them," so that the discovery of new sealing grounds was 

 needed. Undiscovered resorts were believed to exist, from the 

 fact that large numbers of Fur Seals were seen while cruising 

 far out at sea, which must repair once a year to some favorite 

 breeding station.* 



Captain Weddell states that during the years 1820 and 1821 

 over 300,000 Fur Seals were taken at the South Shetland Isl- 

 ands alone, and that at the end of the second year the species 

 had there become almost exterminated. In addition to the 

 number killed for their furs, he estimates that not less than 

 100,000 newly -born young died in consequence of the destruc- 

 tion of their mothers. So indiscriminate was the slaugh- 

 ter, that whenever a Seal reached the beach, of whatever de- 

 nomination, it was immediately killed. Mr. Scott states, on 

 the authority of Mr. Morris, an experienced sealer, that a like 

 indiscriminate killing was carried on at Antipodes Island, off 

 the coast of New South Wales, from which island alone not 

 less than 400,000 skins were obtained during the years 1814 

 and 1815. A single ship is said to have taken home 100,000 

 in bulk, which, through lack of care in curing, spoiled on the 

 way, and on the arrival of the ship in London the skins were 

 dug out of the hold and sold as manure! At about the same 

 time there was a similar wasteful and indiscriminate slaughter 

 of Fur Seals at Jbhe Aleutian Islands, where for some years 

 they were killed at the rate of 200,000 a year, glutting the mar- 

 ket to such an extent that the skins did not bring enough to 

 defray the expenses of transportation. Later the destruction 

 of Fur Seals at these islands was placed under rigid restric- 

 tions (see infra the general history of the Northern Fur Seal)', 

 in consequence of which undue decrease has been wisely pre- 



* Farming's Voyages, p. 487. 



