372 H1STOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



4 YEAR OLD <J : WELL GROWN : at June 1 of every season : 



FUR fully developed as to even length, except a decided advance in length and perceptible stiffness over the 

 shoulders, in the " wig"; otherwise perfectly uniform in thickness and even distribution ; this grade is almost as 

 safe to take, and as good as is the three-yei.r-old ; average weight of skin, as removed, 12 pounds. 



5 YEAR OLD J : WELL GROWN : at May to June 1 every season : 



FUR fully developed, but much longer and decidedly coarser in the " wig " region ; otherwise, uniform in thick- 

 ness and distribution ; the coarseness of the fur over the shoulders and disproportionate length thereon destroys 

 that uniformity necessary for rating A 1 in the market ; iu fact it does not pay to take this skin ; average weight, 

 16 pounds. 



6 YEAR OLD $ : WELL GROWN : from May to 'June 1 every season : 



FUR fully developed, still longer and stiffer in the "wig" region, with a slightly thinner distribution over the 

 post-dorsal region, and shorter ; this skin is never taken it is profitless ; average weight, 25 pounds. 



7 YEAR OLD AND UPWARD J : from May to June 1 every season : 



FUR fully developed, but very unevenly distributed, being relatively scant and short over the posterior dorsal 

 region, while it is twice as long and very coarse in the covering to the shoulders especially and tlie neck and chest. 

 Skins are valueless to the fur trade ; weights, 45 to 60 pounds. 



The analysis, as above, is a brief epitome of the entire subject; only it should be added that 

 the female skins are as finely furred as are the best grades of the males ; and also, that age does 

 not cause the quality of their pelage to deteriorate, which it does to so marked an extent in the 

 males. But, taking them into consideration is entirely out of the question, and ought to be so 

 forever. 



The fetal coat of the pup is composed of coarse black hair alone : the underwool not at all 

 developed; when this is shed and the new coat put on in September and October, it is furred and 

 haired as a yearling, which I diagnose above ; this pelage has, however, no commercial value. 



All the skins taken by the company for the last eight years Jiave been prime skins, iu the fail- 

 sense of the term; but all the seal-skin sacques made therefrom have not been of the first quality, 

 by any means. 



In order that the rules and regulations and the law governing and protecting the interests of 

 the Government on these islands may be fully understood, I give them below, pages 388, 390. 



OIL OF THE FUR-SEAL. I have spoken of the blubber, and as I mentioned it, doubtless the 

 thought will occur, what becomes of the oil contained therein; is it all allowed to waste? A most 

 natural query, and one that I made instantly after my first arrival on the islands. I remember 

 seeing 40 or 50 hogsheads and tierces headed up and standing near the foot of the village hill, in 

 which there were many thousands of gallons of fur-seal oil.' I asked the agent of the company 

 when he was going to ship it; he shrugged his shoulders and said: "As soon as it will pay." 



I made, during the season, careful notes as to the amount of oil represented by the blubber 

 exposed on the 100,000 young male seal carcasses, and I found that the two and three year old 

 'holluschickie" bodies as left by the skinner would not clean up on an average more than half a 

 gallon of oil; while the four-year-old males would make nearly a gallon. It should be remembered 

 that quite a large portion of the seal's fat is taken off with the skin, as its presence thereon is 

 necessary to that proper amalgamation and preservation by the salt when it is applied to its fresh 

 surface in the "kenches"; hence the amount of oil represented by these carcasses every year is 

 not much over 00,000 gallons. 



CONDITION OF THE FUR-SEAL OIL MAKKET. When among the seal-oil dealers in New York 

 City, during the mouth of May, iu 187C, I took these notes with me and investigated the standing 

 and the demand for fur-seal oil iu their market and the markets of the world; and the statements 

 of these oil experts and dealers were all in accord as to the striking inferiority of fur-seal oil. 

 compared with the hair-seal and sea-elephant oil, which they dealt in largely. The inferiority of 

 the fur-seal oil is due primarily to the offensive odor of the blubber, which I have spoken of here- 

 tofore. This singularly disagreeable smell does not exist hi the blubber of the hair-seal (Pltocidte), 



