24 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



345. In order to exhibit the circumstances surrounding this fact and to arrive at a 

 probable explanation of its true meaning, it will be necessary in the first instance 

 to give in summarized form the observations and notes bearing upon it made on the 

 ground by ourselves. 



346. When visiting Tolstoi rookery, St. Paul Island, on the 29th of July, we 

 observed and called attention to several hundred dead pups which lay scattered 

 about in a limited area on a smooth slope near the northern or inland end of the 

 rookery ground and at some little distance from the shore. The bodies were partly 

 decomposed and appeared to have lain where found for a week or more, which would 

 place the actual date of the death of the pups, say, between the 15th and 20th of 

 July. Neither the Government agent who was with us, nor the natives forming our 

 boat's crew at the time, would at first believe that the objects seen on the rookery 

 were dead pups, affirming that they were stones ; but when it became clearly apparent 

 that this was not the case they could suggest as causes of death only overrunning 

 by bulls or surf along the shore, neither one of which appeared to us at the time to 

 be satisfactory. Mr. D. Webster, interrogated on the subject some days later on 

 St. George Island, offered merely the same suggestions, but a few days still later, 

 both whites and natives on the islands were found to have developed quite other 

 opinions and to be ready to attribute the deaths to the operations of pelagic sealers 

 killing mothers while off at sea and leading to the death of pups from starvation 

 consequent on such killing. 



347. Believing the matter to be one of considerable importance, however, it might 

 be explained, particular attention was paid to it on subsequent visits to rookeries. 

 On the 31st of July and the 1st of August the rookeries of St. George were inspected, 

 but no similar appearances were found, nor was anything of the same kind again 

 seen till the 4th of August, on Polavina rookery, St. Paul Island, where, near the 

 southern extremity of the rookery, several hundred dead pups were again found by 

 us, here also covering an area of limited size, which we were able to examine care- 

 fully without disturbing the breeding seals. It was estimated that the pups here 

 found had died between ten days and two weeks before, which would place the actual 

 date of death at about the same time with that of those first referred to. 



348. On the following day the extensive rookeries of Northeast Point were visited 

 and examined, but very few dead pups were anywhere seen. Mr. Fowler, in charge 

 of these rookeries for the company, was specially questioned on this point, and fully 

 confirmed the negative observations made by ourselves at the time. It may here 

 be mentioned that the vicinity of Northeast Point had been the principal and only 

 notable locality from which, up to this date, sealing vessels had been sighted in the 

 offing or had been reported as shooting seals within hearing of the shore. 



349. On the 19th of August, after a cruise to the northward of about a fortnight's 

 duration, we returned to St. Paul and on the same day revisited Tolstoi rookery. 

 On this occasion the dead pups previously noted were still to be seen, but the bodies 

 were flattened out and more or less covered with sand by the continuous movement 

 of the living seals. There were, however, on and near the same place, and particu- 

 larly near the angle between Tolstoi rookery and the sands of English Bay, many 

 more dead pnps, larger in size than those first noted and scarcely distinguishable in 

 this respect from the living pnps, which were then "podded out" in great numbers 

 in the immediate neighborhood. Messrs. Fowler and Murray, who accompanied us 

 on this occasion, admitted the mortality to be local, and the first-named gentleman 

 stated that in his long experience he had never seen anything of the kind before, and 

 suggested that the mothers from this special locality might have gone to some par- 

 ticular "feeding bank" and have there been killed together by sea sealers. On the 

 same day we visited the Reef rookery again, and a search was made there for dead 

 pups, which resulted in the discovery of some of approximately the same size with 

 those last mentioned, but probably not more than an eighth, and certainly not more 

 than one-fourth in number as compared with the inner end of the Tolstoi rookery 

 ground, and proportionately in both cases to the number of living pups. 



350. While making a third inspection of the St. Paul rookeries in September, on 

 the 15th of that mouth, the Reef and Northeast Point rookeries were again specially 

 examined. The rookery ground of the southeastern side of the Reef Point was 

 carefully inspected, area by area, with field glasses, from the various rocky points 

 which overlook it, and from which the whole field is visible in detail save certain 

 narrow, stony slopes close to the sea edge, where dead pups might have been hidden 

 from view among the bowlders. Subsequently, the northeastern sloping ground, 

 named Garbotch on the plans, being at that date merely occupied by scattered groups 

 of seals, was walked over. The result of the inspection was to show that there were 

 on the southeast side a few dozen dead pups at the most in sight, while on the oppo- 

 site side perhaps a hundred in all were found in the area gone over, being, probably, 

 the same with those seen here the previous month, and in number or contiguity not 

 in any way comparable with those seen at the inner end of Tolstoi. 



351. On the same day a final visit was made to the Northeast Point rookeries, then 

 in charge of three natives only. Two of these men went over the ground with us 



