TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13 



ClIAI'TER XI.— Pf.LAIIIC SKAI.ISC, OR KlI.I.INI^i AT SK,.\ — ContilUU'll. I>a;;e. 



The shootiDK of the seals Ul 



Loss resultiu;; from shooting 145 



The siicai" least wasteful 1J.5 



Northwest Coast sealing IIB 



Heriug Seasealiuj; 14ti 



Pelagic catch Uti 



Does uot iiulude seals killed, liiit lost 147 



Early sealing eon lined to Pribilof herd 147 



Suspension of l.iud killing 147 



Modus viveudi transferred sealing to .Vsiatie sidi' 147 



Decline of the lateh 148 



Unfavorable weather not the cause 148 



Pelagic killing and land killing compared 14X 



Statistics regarding land and sea killing 149 



The period from 1871-1882 149 



Growth of the eatch 149 



Relation of gains and losses in the herd 149 



Period subsequent to 1882 150 



Expansion of pelagic; decrease of land sealing 150 



Canse of decline to be sought in breeding herd 150 



The beginning of the decline 151 



Early pelagic sealing a mere check 151 



Irregular quota since 1890 151 



Pelagic sealing and th<' Commander herd 1.52 



Interrelation of pelagic and laud catches 153 



Chatter XII. — The Effect of PELAiiic Sealing : 



Pelagic sealing kills females 153 



Pelagic .sealing and the sealing of the South Seas 153 



Methods of southern sealing 1.53 



"Indiscriminate" not "excessive" 154 



The preponderance of females 154 



The sealing caiitaius' record of sexes taken 1.54 



Customs-house examination by experts 155 



Contrast of sex returns 155 



The sex of salted skins easily determined 155 



Investigations of .Alexander and Halkett 1.55 



Females more easily taken 156 



The capture of males not important 1.56 



Possibility of ec|uilibrium ' 156 



E(iuilibrium a theoretical fact 157 



Death from old age 15^ 



A hypothetical case l-"'^ 



Possible abstraction of females '07 



Secondary loss of pups 158 



Pelagic catch still involves 16 per cent 158 



Pelagic eatch must still fall to one-third before equilibrium 158 



The equilibrium rould not be maintained 1-59 



Equilibrium exists only far below commercial ruin 159 



Destruction of unborn pups ll^O 



Females pregnant and nursing IfjO 



Pelagic sealing takes compound interest 1*W 



Destruction of nursing pups l^O 



Pups dependent upon milk until December 16" 



The absence of excrement 1°1 



The supposed uonfeeding of females 161 



