100 SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



young male life which were not drawn upon or disturbed, from which a steady 

 stream of new male blood for the breeding grounds could and did now. (Elliott's 

 report (Paris print), 1890, p. 237.) 



Again, he says: 



Nobody, in 1872, ever thought of such a thing as coming over from the village to 

 make a killing at Zapadnie. (Ibid., p. 246.) 



He continues : 



I had this point in my thought during my studies in 1872-1874, but at that time no 

 holluschickie were driven from Southwest "Point, from Zapadnie, from Tonkee Mees 

 or Stony Point, or from Polavinia no seals were driven from these places where 

 everybody admitted that full half of jthe entire number belonging to the islands, 

 laid. (Ibid., 271.) 



Then that immense spread of hauling ground covered by swarms of young male 

 seals, at Zapaduie, at Southwest Point, at English Bay, beyond Middle Hill, west, 

 at Polavinia, and over all that 8 long miles of beach and upland hauling ground 

 between Lukanuon Bay and Webster's house at Novastoshuah, all of this extensive 

 sealing area was not visited by sealing gangs, or spoken of by them as necessary to 

 be driven from. (Elliott's letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, report of 1890, 

 p. iv.) 



In 18J2-1874 I observed that all the young male seals needed for the annual quota 

 of 75,000 or 90,000, as it was ordered in the latter year, were easily obtained every 

 season, between the 1st of .1 une and the 20th of J uly following, from the hauling grounds 

 of Tolstoi, Lukannon, and Zoltoi Sands from these hauling grounds adjacent to the 

 rookeries or breeding grounds of Tolstoi, Lukaunon, Reef, and Garbotch. All of these 

 points of supply being not more than 1| miles distant from the St. Paul village kill- 

 ing grounds, the Zoltoi drive being less than 600 feet away. (Ibid.) 



Therefore, when attentively studying in 1872-1874, the subject of what was the 

 effect of killing annually 100,000 young male seals on these islands (90,000 on St. 

 Paul and 10,000 on St. George), in view of the foregoing statement of fact, I was 

 unable to see how any harm was being done to the regular supply of fresh blood for 

 the breeding rookeries, since those large reservoirs of surplus male life, above named, 

 held at least just half of the young male seal life then belonging to the islands 

 these large sources of supply were never driven from, never even visited by the 

 sealers, and out of their overwhelming abundance; I thought that surely enough 

 fresh male seal life must, did annually mature for service on the breeding rookeries. 

 (Ibid.) 



That day in 1879, when it became necessary to send a sealing gang from St. Paul 

 village over to Zapaduie to regularly drive from that hitherto untouched reserve, 

 was the day that danger first appeared in tangible form since 1870 since 1857 for 

 that matter. (Ibid.) 



For the good of the public service the truth must be told; and that 

 is that the official records of the drives and killings on the islands of 

 St. Paul and St. George are in direct opposition to Mr. Elliott. They 

 show that, beginning in 1871, there are no records of the daily killings 

 for 1870 drives were made regularly from every hauling ground on the 

 islands: and a close inspection will reveal the fact that an aggregate of 

 102 drives were made, before 1879, from Zapadnie or Southwest Bay, 

 Polavinia or Halfway Point, and from English Bay, during the very 

 period of which Mr. Elliott speaks when he tells us "they were never 

 driven from, never even visited by the sealers." 



For convenience of reference I quote from the official island records 

 the daily drives and killings made between 1870 and 1871) from the three 

 principal rookeries of which Mr. Elliott speaks so positively; and 1 

 think it will be sufficient to show every fair-minded man in the country 

 that the large reservoir of "surplus male life" so often spoken of by 

 Mr. Elliott was unknown to everyone else on the seal islands, and never 

 had an existence outside his own fertile imagination. 



