140 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



animals is found among the consignments received by us at the begin- 

 ning of each season, which, we understand, and are informed, are the 

 skins of seals caught in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of America, 

 but a much smaller percentage of such small skins is found among the 

 consignment later iii the season, which we are informed are of seals 

 caught in the Bering Sea. (Emil Teichmann.) 



From G. M. Lampson & Co. to G. A. Williams, August 22, 1889. 



LONDON, 64 QUEEN STREET, E. 0., 



August 22, 1889. 



DEAR SIR : We beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 10th 

 instant, inclosing draft of a paper to be submitted to Congress on mer- 

 chant marine and fisheries. 



We have read the paper with a great deal of interest and consider 

 that it places the matter in a thoroughly impartial way before its readers. 

 It has been so carefully prepared and goes into all details so fully that 

 we can add but little to it. There are, however, one or two points to 

 which we beg to draw your attention, and which you will find marked 

 in red ink on the paper. 



When speaking of the supply of fur skins we would suggest mention- 

 ing the following localities : 



Cape of Good Hope. From some islands off this cape, under the pro- 

 tection of the Cape Government, a yearly supply of from 5,000 to 8,000 

 skins is derived. All these skins come to the London market, part of 

 them being sold at public auction, the remainder being dressed and 

 dyed for account of the owners. 



Japan. The supply from this source has varied very much of late 

 years, amounting sometimes to 15,000 skins a year, at others to only 

 5,000. Last year, we understand, the Japanese Government passed 

 stringent laws prohibiting the killing and importation of seals, with the 

 view of protecting seal life and encouraging rookeries, and the conse- 

 quence has been that this year very few skins have come forward. 



Vancouver Island. For many years past, indeed long before the for- 

 mation of the Alaska Comx>any, regular supplies of fur seals in the 

 salted and parchment state have come to the London market, killed 

 mostly off Cape Flattery. The quantity, we should say, has averaged 

 at least 10,000 per annum. This catch takes place in the months of 

 March and April, and we believe that the animals from which these 

 skins are derived are the females of the Alaska seals, just the same as 

 those caught in the Bering Sea. 



Had this quantity been materially increased, we feel sure that the 

 breeding on the Pribilof Islands would have suffered before now; but 

 fortunately the catch must necessarily be a limited one, owing to the 

 stormy time of the year at which it is made and the dangerous coast, 

 where the seals only for a short time are found. It must, however, be 

 evident that if these animals are followed into the Bering Sea and hunted 

 down in a calm sea in the quietest months of the year, a practically 

 unlimited quantity of females might be taken, and, as you say, it would 

 be only a few years till the Alaska seal was a thing of the past. 



C. M. LAMPSON & Co. 



C. A. WILLIAMS, Esq., Neiv London. 



