344 SEAL LIFE ON THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 



the part of any of tbe nations interested, to allow pregnant female seals 

 (and scarcely any other are taken there) to be killed on the British 

 Columbia coast; but, if something must be conceded to the poachers, 

 perhaps the opportunity to pursue their destructive occupation along 

 this coast is the least that will reasonably content them. 



In the present status of the seal fishery the value of a renewal of the 

 franchise for another term of twenty years is very difficult to estimate. 

 The outlook for the next three or four years is decidedly bad. The 

 chief elements of uncertainty are: 



(1) Doubt as to the intention of our Government in regard to pro- 

 tecting the fisheries against poachers. 



(2) Question whether, in case a restrictive policy is decided upon, the 

 Government will be able to successfully patrol the broad extent over 

 which the seals are scattered. A failure to protect them without fur- 

 ther delay will be fatal to any considerable catch on the islands. 



(3) The fact that the rookeries are already badly depleted, and that 

 all the best seals, for the next two or three years at least, must be 

 reserved for breeders. 



(4) The positive knowledge that the seals that would otherwise come 

 forward for killing during the next two years have already been slaugh- 

 tered, and that the catch must for several years to come be much 

 smaller than heretofore. 



I was of opinion two years ago that the next twenty years' lease 

 could be more valuable than the present term, but am now greatly in 

 doubt whether we can afford to pay as much as the present rental, even 

 with a guaranty from the Government of entire protection outside of 

 British Columbia waters. Without such guaranty there is "nothing in 

 it" beyond a small prospective catch from such animals as may escape 

 the toils of the hunter this summer. At the present rate of diminution 

 the rookeries will soon do little more than support the natives dependent 

 on them and pay the expenses of the necessary outfit to follow the 

 business. 



Very truly, yours, H. H. M C!NTYRE, 



Superintendent. 

 The ALASKA COMMERCIAL COMPANY, 



San Francisco, Cal. 



CAUSES OF DECREASE IN SEAL HERD. 



WEST RANDOLPH, VT., December It, 1890. 



MY DEAR SIR : I have at hand extracts from the report of Prof. H. 

 W. Elliott to the Secretary of the Treasury in the fall of 1890, relative 

 to the decrease of the seal rookeries of St. Paul and St. George islands, 

 Alaska; and knowing that you take a deep interest in the matter, beg 

 to call your attention to a few conspicuous errors into which he has 

 fallen. 



He asks, " Why is it that we find now only a scant tenth of the num- 

 ber of young male seals which I saw there in 1872 ? When did this 

 work of decrease and destruction so marked on the breeding grounds 

 begin? And how? n He answers these questions as follows: 



(1) From overdriving, without heeding its warning, first begun in 1879, dropped 

 then until 1882, then suddenly renewed again with increased energy from year to 

 year, until the end is abruptly reached, this season of 1890. 



(2) From the shooting of fur seals (chiefly females) in the open waters of the North 

 Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, begun as a business in 1886, and continued to date. 



