I jO SIBERIA. 



Ih<;ir inoUier.sKuik. (Jii tin- Iiiih'M i^iaii'i iin' iiii->.'5iaii-, on ii;tuiiJiiit.' tint Iter iii iii'' >j>iiiiu', li'-ijijt.'iniy 

 round tlioijsuml of ItniJios of various a^e.s, iho traces loft of tliu preseuce there of the pirates 

 ill th(! late aiitnniii, ami of llieir slaughter of all the animals still remainin(( up^m the islaml. 



The chief ohstacle to the establishnieiit of an international agreement was the ileclaratiou 

 ol tiiL- Canadian minister of navigation and lisheries, T<!nner, that the multiplication of fur seals 

 is not harmed by hunting them in the open sea but by the piratical attacks to which certain 

 islands are subjecteil which possess seal rookeries, and that for the preservation of the fisheries 

 it is perfectly sufilcient to protect the rookeries. Great Britain demanded preliminarily to the 

 decision of the question of preservation, the collection of the results of supplementary inves- 

 tigations upon the mode of life of the fur seal, but the Government of the United States 

 energetically opposed the further postponement of the question of the establishment of the 

 necessary agreement and succeeded in winning the point. In 1891 the United States of 

 America concluded a treaty with Great Britain by which the killing of seals was tempor- 

 arily prohibited for the subjects of both the said states in the waters of Behring Sea, 

 situated to the east of a line of demarcation fixed by the treaty of 1867 between Russia and 

 the United States. This agreement had a peculiarly fatal effect upon the Russian seal industry, 

 as the Anglo-American pirates incommoded in the limits of the Canadian and Federal possessions, 

 directed their criminal activity mainly to Russian waters. According to information afforded by 

 the New- York Russian Consulate in 1891, 8J schooners were employed in the clandestine catching 

 of seals by whom more than 50,000 skins were taken, of which about 9,500 were in Russian 

 waters. According to the same authority, in 1892, 62 vessels were employed in this trade, two 

 of which being steamers, and they took 45,000 skins, 15,000 of which were from Russian 

 waters. Notwithstanding the considerable character of the figures quoted there Is reason to 

 think that they are far below the fact. The returns of the London market, which is the centre 

 of the sealskin trade, lead to the same conclusion. According to the communication of the 

 Governor of the Commander Islands, 60 schooners were observed in their neighbourhood in 

 1892, which occupied themselves with killing seals on land and on the water, one party of 

 the pirates carrying out the slaughter while the other returned the fire of the guard protecting 

 the fisheries. Their audacity reached such a height, that the slaughter of the seals was 

 carried on in the rookeries themselves. This piracy is growii>g more and more every year 

 and as it is the interests of Russian subjects that suffer most from it, this Government 

 could not but direct attention to such an abnormal state of things. 



The consent of Russia to the above mentioned Anglo-American agreement of 1S91 

 would only have a value for her in case of the extension of the prohibition mentioned to 

 the waters of Behring Sea also lying to the west of the line of demarcation of 1867. How- 

 ever the Government of Great Britain has declined such a statement of the question and 

 from that time Russia has taken no further part In the negotiations. But protecting her own 

 interests she has found it necessary to pass a new law by which the seal industry on the 

 sea is absolutely prohibited, the killing or catching of seals, or in general, the seal industry 

 on land, is only allowed with the permission of the Government, according to regulations 

 established by it for the purpose. For carrying on the sea industry, as well as for the 

 unauthorized killing on land, the guilty parties are subject to imprisonment from two 



