FEBRUAEY 29 



revenue of 750,000 ; and the return will increase 

 proportionately to that of the number of seals, which, 

 under existing protective measures, ought soon to reach 

 the old figure of three millions. May I offer cordial 

 congratulation to the Humanitarian League and to Mr. 

 Collinson on the result to which they contributed so 

 materially by their advocacy. They at least enlisted 

 the sympathy of a considerable section of the educated 

 public, and made known to general readers facts which 

 otherwise might never have leaked out of departmental 

 pigeon-holes. 



VIII 



Heligoland, a shred of terra firma about a mile long 

 and 600 yards across its broadest part, stands Bird 

 out of the North Sea about 36 miles north- Migration 

 west of the mouth of the Elbe. It was ceded by Great 

 Britain to the German Empire in 1890 in exchange for 

 certain territory in East Africa, and many hard things 

 have been uttered since against the late Lord Salisbury, 

 who, as Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, must be 

 held responsible for the transaction. With the merits 

 of the deal we have no concern here, though it may be 

 observed in passing that, although the German Govern- 

 ment were allowed without remonstrance to convert 

 this isolated rock into an impregnable place d'armes, 

 had the British Government attempted anything of the 

 kind while it was under their flag, it would have been 

 interpreted and accepted as a direct flout upon the 

 German Empire. For the purpose of these notes the 



