HUNTING AND THE FUR INDUSTRY. 133 



it was Imperially confirmed under the title of the United American Company. The Emperor Paul 

 took a lively interest in the fate of this company; by an ukase of the 8th .June, 1799, he took it 

 under His protection and ordered it to be called the Russian-American Company, at the same 

 time granting «in reinforcement of the undertakings of the company all possible assistance ou 

 the part of the military authorities with land and sea forces on demand made by the same». 

 In virtue of this ukase the Russian- American Company was granted, among other things, «the 

 right to make use of the fisheries and establishments upon the north-western shore of Amer- 

 ica, north of 55" north latitude in Behring Sea, and further on the Aleutian, Kuril and 

 other islands; to discover and occupy lands to the south of 55° north latitude, if these lands 

 are unoccupied by any nation; to enjoy the use of all that has yet been discovered or 

 shall in the future be discovered in these places, both .on the surface and in the bowels 

 of the earth, without any claim on the part of others; to navigate to all the neighbouring 

 peoples and to can-y ou trade with all the powers lying around» 



Thus the Russian-American Company did not limit its activity to the fur trade aloue, 

 but set itself a wider scope and even had a political character. Thanks to its exclusive 

 position, during the first term of its privilege, namely twenty years, it earned 20,024,698 

 roubles, paying its shareholders a dividend of 30 per cent. The continued progress of the 

 company was still further assured when in the beginning of the twenties of the present 

 century the Government recognized the necessity of limiting the rights of foreigners to trade 

 in Behring Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, as also on their shores. With varied fortune the 

 company at the expiration of one term renewed its privilege, enjoying without competition, 

 if not the sole, at any rate the richest fur seal fishery in the world, namely that of the 

 Commander and Pribylov Islands, as also on the less important points of the Pacific coast of 

 North America and Siberia within the limits of Behring Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. 



The demand for seal skins was then very small, and it was apparently declining from 

 the beginning of the present century, as in 1817, 60,000 seals were caught on the Pribylov 

 islands alone, while twenty years later the Russian American company took on the same islands 

 only 7,000 skins. In the same year, 1837, about 4,000 seals were caught on the two Com- 

 mander Islands, so that the total quantity of skins got by the American Company in the 

 thirties did not exceed 11,000. These skins, dressed like any others, and even rather roughly, 

 found a sale almost exclusively in Russia and China, in the former country fetching about 

 six roubles apiece. In Kiakhta these goods until March 30, 1861, were bartered for silk 

 goods, tea, and other productions of China. In the thirties a sharp change took place in the 

 sealskin trade. Instead of merely preparing the skin as heretofore, the fur itself was sub- 

 jected to treatment, the long hair being all plucked out and the remaining down dyed a dark 

 brown colour. An exceedingly elegant article was thus obtained and quickly a large demand 

 for it arose in England. But in consequence of inability to salt the skins, they spoiled in the 

 prolonged voyage in sailing vessels from the Pribylov and Commander islands to London 

 past Cape Horn. 



Notwithstanding however this inconvenience, sealskin furs began to be more highly 

 valued in England, than in Russia and other places, so that the whole of these goods 

 began to gravitate to London, and .soon the latter became the centre of the world's 



