OlIAl'TEi: XIX. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



Assumiu" that the fur-seal herd will ultimately receive that protection which it 

 deserves, it is in order for us to make certain reeommendatious and suggestions which 

 naturally grow out of our investigations of the past two seasons. 



INADEQUACY OF PAST KNOWLEDGE. 



We have had occasion in our present discussion to point out the faulty and 

 misleading character of much of the information which has been published concerniug 

 the fur-seal herd. It is not necessary to recur to it here. We must, however, note 

 the fact that between the first two investigations instituted by the Government a 

 period of fifteen years elapsed, during which there was absolutely no provision made 

 for obtaining information concerniug the real condition of its breeding herd. 



THE AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT NOT INVESTIGATORS. 



After the investigations of Mr. Elliott, covering the period from 1872 to 1876, 

 the herd was given over to untrained men, who were not prepared to conduct the 

 investigations necessary to understand the nature of the trust they were set to guard. 

 To make matters worse, these men were speedily replaced by others equally inex- 

 perienced as soon as, by reason of jjractical contact with the affairs of the islands, 

 they began to ac(iuire some knowledge of their duties. The result is that the herd 

 passed unnoticed from its state of maximum prosperity into one of rapid decline, and 

 was reduced to one-half its size before the Government or its agents were made aware 

 of the fact. 



THE FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND THE CONDITION OF THE HERD. 



How little the situation was understood in 1889 by the ofiBcers of the Government 

 may be seen from the fact that in that year the agent in charge of the islands 

 recommended that the quota of killable seals be reduced from 100,000 to ()0,000, when, 

 as a matter of fact, the hauling grounds were only capable of furnishing 20,(100, as 

 the year 1800 disclosed. 



Through lack of experience in dealing with animals, or because intlueuced by the 

 crude notions of tlie natives, the agents of the Government, early in the history of the 

 herd, established the trailitiou that tiie seals were virtually wild auiuials, which must 

 be left severely alone if they were not to be driven away. Accordingly, they instituted 

 stringent rules against the visitation and molestation of the breeding grounds. These 

 rules were not only enforced against the natives and casual visitors, but for the most 

 part they were so rigidly adhei'ed to by the agents themselves that they too remained 

 in practical ignorauce of the real condition of the herd. 



191 



