SKAL LIFE ON THE PRIHILOF ISLANDS. 237 



Tlie management of the sealeries upon Copper Island, under Kussian 

 occupation, was left wholly to the native chiefs and ignorant laborers 

 of the Russian-American Company, The work of killing the seals and 

 curing the skins was done by them in a very unsystematic, careless 

 way; but even then it was understood that as the seals aie polygamous 

 'Jie surest way to secure an increase of the herd was to kill off surplus 

 males and spare the females, and this was systematically practiced, 

 resulting, as far as I am aware, most satisfactorily. Alter the expira- 

 tion of the franchise of the Russian American Company, in 1807 I think 

 it was, and their abandonment of the island, and the execution of the 

 lease to Hutehinson, Kohl & Co., in 1871, several different parties visited 

 the island, killed seals injudiciously, and inflicted great injury upon the 

 rookeries. They were restrained to some extent by the natives from 

 indiscriminate slaughter, but I have no doubt they killed more males 

 than they ought to have done, and perhaps also some females. Upon 

 my arrival upon the island, in 1871, the native chief told me that the 

 seals were not as plentiful as they had been formerly. I announced 

 that we intended to secure 0,000 skins that year. They protested, that 

 it was too many, and begged that a smaller number be killed for one 

 year at least. We, however, got the 0,000 skins as proposed, and an 

 almost constantly increasing number in every subsequent year as long 

 as J stayed on the islands, until in 1880 the rookeries bad so developed 

 that about 30,000 skins were taken without in the least injuring them 

 This is proved by the iact that the increase for the next ten years allowed 

 still larger numbers to be killed, amounting, I think, in one of the years 

 of the second decade of the lease to about 40,000 skins. In order to 

 secure uniformity in the methods pursued respectively upon the Pribilof 

 group and Commander Islands, the respective lessees of the two 

 interests sent Capt. Daniel Webster, an expert sealer of many years 7 

 experience in the business, and who was at the time in the service of 

 the Alaska Commercial Company at St. Paul Island, to assist and 

 instruct me through the summer of 1874 in the best manner of handling 

 seal droves, salting skins, and generally in the conduct of the business. 

 In working under his direction, 1 found that the methods pursued by 

 the respective parties upon the different sealeries did not differ in any 

 essential feature. The main object in both places was to select good 

 skins for market and spare all female seals and enough vigorous bulls 

 to serve them. When the supply of bulls is more than enough I have 

 no doubt the number of offspring is diminished. The bulls, when over- 

 numerous, tight savagely for the possession of the cow seals, and unin- 

 tentionally destroy many young in their conflicts. The healthiest 

 condition of a rookery is no doubt when, under the laws of polygamous 

 reproduction for this species, the proportion of the sexes is properly 

 balanced. (C. F. Emil Krebs.) 



Following the surrender of occupancy of these islands by the Eussian- 

 American Company in 1868, the sealeries were left opeu^to all parties," 

 and various expeditions visited them unrestricted by any govern- 

 mental control. Their catches amounted in 1868 to about 15,000, in 

 1869 to about 20,000, and in 1870 to about 30,000 skins. In 1871 the 

 Russian Government executed the lease to Hutchinsou, Kohl & Co., 

 and it was found necessary to restrict the killing for this year to about 

 6,000. skins, because the rookeries had been largely depleted by the 

 excessive killing, unwise methods, and heedless husbandry. The result 

 of improved methods showed themselves at once, and the rookeries 

 steadily increased in size and number of occupants. We were thus 

 enabled to procure an almost constantly increasing number of skins 



