f)<! >KA1. LIFK ON THK 1'RIBILOF ISLANDS. 



\Y iiat is t IK- cause of tin- death of so many fur-seal pups ? " lias been 

 asked many times during the past live years' discussion of the seal 

 (jucstioii. and many eonilicting ans\\ers have l>een given. 1 think tlie 

 following, under i he circumstances, is an answer that can not be contra- 

 dicted. The pelagic sealing season opened in liering Sea on August 1, 

 is: |. in accordance with t he international regulations made possible by 

 the Uering Sea Tribunal, under which pelagic sealers arc licensed to 

 kill seals, with spears, outside of the 00 mile /.one around the seal islands, 

 and imincdi'ilely we see the result of their work in the thousands of 

 pups <tarved t> death after then mothers had been killed at sea by the 

 men whose right to kill them, at certain seasons, has been established 

 ami acknowledged by the very t ribunal t hat was created for the purpose 

 of preventing 1 the destruction of the fur seal herd. 



One of the most horrible and harrowing sights imaginable is that of 

 being Mirroiiiided on the bleak and inhospitable shores of the Pribilof 

 Islands by thousands ol' dead and dying 1 pup seals whose death has been 

 the result of slow starvation, and whose hungry cries and almost human 

 appeal-- tor food and life must be made 1 in v: in, for, no matter how willing 

 and anxious one may be to render assistance, one feels it is bevond 

 human power to arrest the gnawing 1 of hunger in an animal who is 

 totally dependent for sustenance on a mother who was killed a month 

 ago by pelagic sealers! 



Those who once witnessed such a >ighi never can forget it. and occa- 

 sionally I receive letters from some o: them which run somewhat like 

 the following: 



I >o i e'l me what i> in IK- done with the lew remaining seals. 1 1' these 



steps had been taken lasl year, even, tlu-re iiii^ht ha\el>een enough left to tell the 

 tale, lint a- it is I can not hut Ceel \vh:>i a pilialde si^ht the rookeries will present 

 next veal'. ll was d iseoii i aej ui; enoi! <_Ji last spring when 1 eonrpai'ed the rookeries 

 wi'h \\hai 1 had seen jusi t lie \ ear In-Core. My heart l>h-d Cor the poor starving pups 

 so inneh. tin- last stroll 1 took on the rookeries, that i eonld never <;o hack. I don't 

 see how the .jud;_r<' eophl stand to see 1 1 i.t it '( I de id ones. It would have hroken my 

 heart I know. The morning we eaine into 1 Mitch llaihor on our voyaue down we 

 sa \\ three sealing vessels sailing on t to\vard the ('.('-miles limit. Oh. what a Caree. 

 what a snare and delu.-ion that lid-mile limit \\ a > ! l(ow eonld anxone who had 

 e\ ( r lieen io the sea] inlands ami noted the hahits ol' tlie feeding cows ever rccoui- 

 niend such a murderous proposi t ion .' Kven 1 knew lielter than that. I>ut 



l:;.(H") cn\\ s taken stau'-ere 1 me. ! had. expected a'.out ."i.JUMI or (i. <)<)(>. and even enl- 

 elllated the teriil>le eouse(| iieuce upon the rookeries, lnit lii.UlKl! that was terrihle, 

 terri'de ! 



The \\ ri t er of tliat let t er is the \\'ile oi' t he Treasury agen t . a n A mer 

 ican lady of ('hristian education, culture, and refinement, who natu- 

 rally felt horrified at the sight she saw on the rookeries, and, like the 

 tender and merciful woman she is. she denounces the system, regula- 

 tion, custom, or whatever else it may be called, which makes such suf 

 fering possible. 



One inM;iiice in this connection worth recording is that of a pelagic 

 sealer \\hose heart was touched by the pitilnl cries of an orphan pup. 

 and the story is told by an eye\\ it ne-s under oat h : 



O| the -eal> th;it we] e ca n <_ h 1 oi! the coast Cull\ !() on! of every !<>() had youn^ 

 pup- in them. The lioats would l,nn,LC the seals on hoard the \c>sel, and we would 

 take the v(.iiii'_: pup-- out and skin them. 1C the pup is i^ood and a nic-- one, we 

 would.-!. in li and keep it for oursi 1 vrs. I hadei^hl such skins myseJ I. l'urout 

 oC ti \ e. il ca mhl :u Max or June, would he alive, \\heu we cut them out ol' their 

 motheis. One ol' t hem we kept Co i jirettyne.il' t hrce weeks a 1 i ve oil deck h\ Ceed- 

 iie^ it on eoiideu-i-d nd I k. One ol' t he men linall^ 1\ i 1 led it lieea u -e i t cried so pit i- 

 Cu!l . A Cnda il of \ Ilied ! >:i rde.i u. 



The reverse -ide of the qiic.-tioii is that held by the average pelagic 

 sealer. \\ ho kill- the nmt hei cal and cuts out her unborn voting or 

 lea \ es the born \ounu to slo\\ ! v st ar\'e to death on the rookeries. 



