84 ALASKA. 



patch of each upper lip, on which the coarse mustache grows, 

 the skiu on the tip of the lower jaw, the insignificant tail, to- 

 gether with the bare hide of the flippers. 



The blubber of the fur-seal is of a faint yellowish white, and 

 lies entirely' between the skin and the flesh, none being depos- 

 ited in between the muscles. Around the small and large intes- 

 tines a moderate quantity of hard, firm fat is found. The blub- 

 ber possesses an extremely offensive, sickening odor, difficult to 

 wash from the hands. It makes, however, a very fair oil for 

 lubricating, burning, &c. 



The flesh of the fur-seal, when carefully cleaned from fat or 

 blubber, can be cooked, and by most i)eople eaten, who, did 

 they not know w hat it was, might consider it some poor, tough, 

 dry beef, rather dark in color and overdone. That of the pup, 

 however, while on the land and milk-fed, is tender and juicy but 

 insipid. 



The skins are taken from the field to the salt-house, where 

 they are laid out open, one upon another, " hair to fat," like so 

 many sheets of paper, with salt profusely spread upon the 

 fleshy sides, in "kenches"' or bins. After lying a week or two 

 salted in this style they are ready for bundling and shipping, 

 two skins to the bundle, the fur outside, tightly rolled up and 

 strongly corded, having an average weight of twelve, fifteen, 

 and twenty-two pounds when made up of two, three, and four 

 year old skins respectively. 



The company leasing the islands are permitted by law to 

 take one hundred thousand, and no more, annually : this they 

 do in June and July ; after that season the skins rapidly grow 

 worthless by shedding, and do not pay for transportation and 

 tax. The natives are paid forty cents a skin for the catch, and 

 keep a close account of the progress of the work every day, as 

 it is all done by them, and they know within fifty skins, one 

 way or the other, when the whole number have been secured 

 each season. This is the only occupation of some three hun- 

 dred and fifty people here, and they naturally look well after 

 it. The interest and close attention paid by these Aleuts on 

 both islands to this business was both gratifying an.d instruct- 

 ive to me while stationed there. 



The common or popular notion regarding seal-skins is that 

 they are worn by those animals just as they appear when offered 

 for sale. This is a very great mistake; few skins are less at- 

 tractive than the seal-skin as it is taken from the creature. 

 The fur is not visible, concealed entirely by a coat of stilTover- 



