ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 145 



because of the entire absence of any protection or of any restriction of 

 any kind whatever upon the number, age, or sex of seals killed, and 

 not merely, as deponent understands has been claimed by some author- 

 ities, because they were killed on land instead of in open sea, which 

 moreover, in that locality, deponent is informed, is practically impos 

 sible, by reason of the roughness of the sea and weather. 



(b) A considerable number of seal skins were formerly obtained upon 

 the Falkland Islands; how many deponent is not able to state. 



(c) That a certain number of seals were also caught at Cape Horn, 

 and that more or less are still taken in that vicinity, though the whole 

 number has been very greatly reduced. 



(d) That at the present time and for many years last past the skins 

 coming to the market and which are known to commerce have come 

 from the following sources : By far the most important are the Northern 

 Pacific skins, which are known to the trade under the following titles : 



The Alaska catch, which are the skins of seals caught on the Pribilof 

 Islands, situated in Bering Sea. For many years past the whole of the 

 skins caught upon these islands have been sold by deponent's firm, and 

 a statement of the number of skins so sold in each year is appended 

 hereto and marked Exhibit A, showing the aggregate of such skins 

 sold from the year 1870 to the year 1891, inclusive, as 1,877,977. 



The Copper catch, bein g the skins of seals caught upon what are known 

 as the Commander Islands, being the islands known as Copper and 

 Bering islands. All the skins so caught have been sold by deponent's 

 firm in the city of London, and the total number of such Copper catch 

 from the year 1872 to 1892 appears upon the statement which is hereto 

 annexed and marked Exhibit B, showing the total so sold during such 

 years of 768,096 skins. 



The Northwest catch, being the skins of seals caught in the open sea 

 either of the Pacific Ocean or the Bering Sea. These skins were 

 originally caught exclusively by the Indians and by residents of the 

 colony of Victoria and along the coast of the British possessions. A 

 statement of the total number of the catch from the year 1868 to 1884, 

 inclusive, is appended hereto and marked Exhibit 0, showing a total of 

 153,348. That statement is divided into three heads : First, the salted 

 Northwest coast skins; second, the dried Northwest coast skins, both 

 of which were mainly sold through deponent's firm in London; and 

 third, salted Northwest coast skins, dressed and dyed in London, but 

 not sold there. It will be noticed that in the years 1871 and 1872 an 

 unusually large proportion of dried skins appeared to have been 

 marketed. Those skins were purchased in this year from the American- 

 Eussian Company and sold when the Americans took possession. For 

 the years 1871 and 1872, therefore, the surplus skins over the average 

 for the other years should be rejected in a computation of the general 

 average of seals killed during the years from 1868 to 1884, inclusive. 



From the year 1885 to the year 1891 the number of skins included in 

 the Northwest catch enormously increased, and a statement of such 

 skins is hereto annexed and marked Exhibit D, showing a total of 

 331,962, and is divided, like the statement marked Exhibit C, into three 

 heads: The salted Northwest coast skins, the dried Northwest coast 

 skins, and the salted skins dressed and dyed in London but not sold 

 there. The majority of the first two classes were, as in the previous 

 case, sold by deponent's firm. The great majority of these skins appear- 

 in gin the last-mentioned statement are the skins caught by vessels sent 

 out from the Canadian provinces; many also by vessels sent out from 

 San Fran cisco, Port Townsend, and Seattle, and a few from vessels 

 sent out from Yokohama; the majority, however, are supposed to have 



H. Doc. 92, pt, 2 10 



