THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF CAPE FLATTERY. 397 



The number of fur-seal skins taken by the Indians belonging to the Makah Indian Reservation, 



* 



Cape Flattery, were reported to me as follows : 



Total catch reported by the schooners 4,710 



Total number purchased by the traders, independent of Teasels 1,558 



Total catch of 1880 reported at Neah Bay 6,268 



The catch of British Columbia was probably larger lhan that of last year, but I will as- 

 sume the number reported by Mr. Anderson as tfie basis of this years estimate, say.. . 12, 500 

 To this should be added the catch of English schooner Favourite, wrecked off Barclay 

 Sound, British Columbia, and skins totally lost, reported amount 382 



Total number of skins taken on west coast of British Columbia 12,882 



Total number taken this season 19, 150 



Total value at $9 each $172,350 



I am of the opinion that this amount is under the true estimate, as the catch on the American 

 side of the sjrait, being greatly in excess of last year, it is but reasonable to infer that a corre- 

 sponding increase has been made on the English side, and if the exact number could be ascertained 

 at this time, I do not hesitate to give it as my opinion that twenty thousand seals have been killed 

 during the season of 1880, ending with the 30th day of June. 



Of the catch on the American side, that portion taken by Indians who went on the schooners, 

 4,710 skins, one-third were given by the Indians to the vessels to pay for transporting them and 

 their canoes to the sealing-gronnd, amounting to 1,570 skins. The remainder, 3,140. added to the 

 amount sold by the Indians to traders independent of the schooners, 1,558 skins, makes a total of 

 4,698 skins, for which they received from the traders, in cash and trade, an average of $9 per 

 skin, equal to $42,282. This sum, divided among two hundred and thirty-two Indians, the whole 

 number who were engaged in sealing during the season, gives a little over $182 to each Indian 

 for his six months' work. 



The total value of the fur-seal catch of 6,268 skins, reported at Neah Bay as taken by the 

 Indians of the Makah Reservation, at $9 each, is $56,412. 



This shows the value and importance of one of the interests of Washington Territory of which 

 hitherto but little has been known, it being evidently for the pecuniary advantage of the very 

 few persons who have engaged in it to keep the public in the dark as much as possible regarding 

 its extent and value. This season, however, has shown an increase of the vessels employed, and 

 it is more than probable that the number will be increased another season. The unprecedented 

 number of seals which made their appearance, a number which seems to have steadily increased 

 each season since 1866, will give employment to a larger fleet of vessels another year. One of the 

 captains remarked to me, " If a hundred schooners could have obtained crews of Indians, there 

 were more than enough seals to have satisfied them all." 



This is a business which cannot be monopolized by one individual or one company any more 

 than the codfish or whaling business can be monopolized. It is a fishery or pursuit upon the open 

 ocean and on the high seas, free and open to all ; but whether the assembling of a large fleet of 

 vessels at Neah Bay, which is the only harbor of refuge to which they can repair, would be attended 

 with any peculiar benefit to the Indians of a Government reservation, whose policy has always 

 been to prohibit free intercourse of the whites and Indians in Indian country, and to prevent, 

 under heavy penalties, the assembling of white persons on or near Indian reservations, either for 

 purposes of settlement or trade, or whether such a collection of vessels with the confusion and 

 irregularities incident to every fishing village would not be looked upon by the Government as a 



