LETTER OF TRAINtSMITTAL. 



Hon. John G. Caulisle, 



Secretary of the Treasury. 



Dear Sir: I have the houor to transmit to you the following preliiuinary report 

 on investigations on the fur seal in Bering Sea, made in the summer of 1896, in pur- 

 suance of an act of Congress, as follows: 



'^Resolved bi/ the Senate and House of h'epresentatives of the United States of America 

 in Congress assembled, That the Secn^tary of the Treasury be, and is hereby, author- 

 ized to expend, from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise ai>propriated, a sum 

 sutticient to ]irovide for the employment of persons to conduct a scientilic investiga- 

 tion, during the fiscal years eighteen hundred and ninety-six and eighteen hundred 

 and ninety-seven, of the present condition of the fur-seal herds on the Pribilof, Com- 

 mander, and Kurile islands in the North PaciHc Ocean and Bering Sea, said amount 

 not to exceed for both said years the sum of five thousand doUai-s. 



"The Secretary is also authorized to employ a stenographer in connection with 

 this investigation at a rate of compensation not exceeding one thousand five hundred 

 dollars ])er annum, and to pay his compensation and expenses out of any moneys in 

 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 



"The President is authorized to detail, for the purposes of assisting in this inves- 

 tigation, any ofticer or otiticers or employees of the United States (Jovernment, their 

 actual expenses and the expenses of the person or persons employed under the pre- 

 ceding paragraph to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury out of any moneys in 

 the Treasury not otherwise a])propriated. 



"The President may detail a vessel of the United States for the purpose of carry- 

 ing out this investigation." 



In accordance with the act above <) noted, I was ai>pointed to take charge of the 

 investigation of the fur seals on June IS, 1S<)6. Mr. Joseph Murray, of Fort Collins, 

 Colo., formerly United States Treasury agent at St. Paul Island, was selected as 

 assistant, and the following persons from the United States National Museum and 

 the United States Fish Commission were detailed as associates: Lieut. Commander 

 Jefferson F. Moser, commanding the United States Fish Commission steanu'r Alba- 

 tross; Dr. Leonard Stejueger, curator of reptiles, United States National Museum; 

 Mr. Frederic A. Lucas, curator of comparative anatomy, LInited States National 

 Museum, and Mr. Charles H. Townsend, naturalist of the Albatross. 



In accordance with the provisions of the act above quoted, Mr. (Jeorge Archibald 

 Clark, president's secretary at Leland Stanford Junior University, was ai)pointed 

 secretary and stenographer to the investigation, and by the faithi'iilni^ss and accu- 

 racy of his natural history observations, as well as by his stenograjihic skill, he has 

 contributed very largely to the success of the work. 



I can not si)eak in too high terms of the zeal with which Messrs. Stejueger, Lucas, 

 and Clark gave themselves to the trying work involved in this investigation. To 

 their desire for absolute accuracy in all details, and to their energy in carrying out 

 the work assigned to tliem, the success of the investigation may be chiefly attributed. 

 As commander of the Albatross, Cajjfain ^ioser was of the greatest service to the 

 Commission, liis deep interest in the work, his extensive hydrographic knowledge, 

 and his excellent se;miauship, being factors of great importance. The work assigned 

 to Mr. Townsend was executed with his accustomed care and accuracy, and the prac- 

 tical knowledge of Mr. Murray proved of great value. The continuous and efficient 

 interest of Assistant Secretary Charles S. Hamlin in these and all other matters per- 

 taining to Alaska has been a large element in the success of our work. 



Series of similar investigations were carried on at the same time by Prof. D'Arcy 

 W. Thompson, of the University of Dundee, and Mr. C4erald E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, 

 of Dublin, commissioners for Great Britain, and by Mr. James M. Macoun and Mr. 



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