FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OP ALASKA. 



19 



dowu there now valuable enough to rouse the interest of uny govern- 

 ment. Still, a beginuini;' iiuj;ht be made whieh possibly iit'teen or twenty 

 years hence would rehabilitate the scourged and desolated breeding- 

 ground of the south seas. We are selhsh people, however', and look 

 only to the present, and it is without question more than likely that 

 sh(ml(l any such proposition be brought before the British Parliament 

 it would be so ridiculed and exaggerated by unthinking men as to cause 

 its speedy supi)re^ssion. 



Now, we are brought in this season of 1890 face to face with the same 

 danger on our own ])reserves which has destroyed these interests in the 

 Antarctic. Shall we be equal to the occasion, or, shall it be, said that 

 they, too, have been ruined by human greed? 



THE ROOKERIES OR BREEDING GROUNDS OF THE FUR SEAL ON THE 



PRIBILOV ISLANDS. 



The breeding grounds or rookeries of the Pribilov Islands have 

 altered very slightly insofar as their topographical features are con- 

 cerned since the date of my last survey of them in 1874; but a marked 

 change in the numbers of the fur seals that then repaired to these 

 grounds, has taken place. 



On St. Paul Island, in 1872, we saw the breeding herds of the fur 

 seal in the following form and numbers, contrasted with the figures of 

 to-day, which are made in precisely the same time and method as those 

 of 187L'-187-4 were: 



Anahjsis of the breedinrj (f rounds of the fur seal on St. Paul Island (Pribilov group). 

 AS SURVEYED, SEASONS OF 1872-1874. 



Rookeries. 



Sea mar 

 gin. 



July 10, 1S72, July 15, 1874, Reef had 



July 10, 1872, July 15, 1874, (laibotclj had 



July 10, 1872, July 10, 1874, Lagoon had 



July 10, 1872, Nah Speel had 



JulV 15, 1872, July 19, 1874, Luknniion had 



July 14, 1872, July 19, 1874, Ketavie liad 



July 1.5, 1872, July fi, 1874, Tolstoi had 



July 16, 1872, July 16,1874: 



Upper ZaiPiuinie had 



Lower Zapadine had 



July 17, 1872, July 18, 1874, Polaviua, ineluding Little Pola- 



vina, had 



July 18, 1872, July 18, 1874, Noyastoshnah Lad 



Grand .sum total, season of 1872 



Feet. 

 4,010 

 3.660 

 750 

 400 

 2, 270 

 2,200 

 3,000 



2,680 

 3,200 



4,000 

 15, 840 



Average 

 depth 

 solid 



massing. 



Feet. 

 150 

 100 

 100 

 40 

 150 

 150 

 150 



731 

 2154 



150 

 150 



Square 

 feet. 



Number of 



seals (bulls, 



cows, and 



pups). 



602, 000 

 366, 000 

 750, 000 

 16, 000 

 340, 000 

 330, 000 

 450, 000 



195,600 

 690, 000 



600, 000 

 2, 400, 000 



.301,000 

 183, 000 

 37,000 

 8,000 

 170,000 

 165, 000 

 225, 000 



97, 800 

 345, 000 



300, 000 

 1,200,000 



3, 030, 000 



AS SURVEYED, SEASON OF 1890. 



July 10, 1890, Reef has 



July 10, 1800, (iarbotch has 



July 14, 1890, Lagoon has 



July 14, 1890, Nah Speel * 



Jul'y 11, 1890, Lukanuonhas 



July 11, 1890, Ketavie has 



July 11,1890, Tolstoi has 



July 12, 1890: 



U])])('r Zapadniohas 



Lower Zapadnii- has 



July i;!, ISUO, I'lilavina, iniluding Little Polaviua has . 

 July 13, 1890, Noyastoshnah has 



Grand sum total, season of 1890. 



4,300 

 2,400 

 1,500 



65i 

 70? 

 12 



2.050 

 1,700 

 2,800 



4, 500 

 2,700 

 2,255 

 11, 435 



60A 

 34 

 44 J 



15| 

 634 

 121 i 

 37A 



281,000 



169, 604 



18, 000 



145, 000 

 56, 000 

 124, 800 



70. 000 

 175,410 

 284, 500 

 435, 750 



140, 500 



84, 802 



9,000 



72, 500 

 28, 000 

 62, 400 



35, 500 

 85, 705 

 142, 250 



217, 875 



878, 532 



Season of 1872 . 

 Season of 1890 . 



■ Has disappeared. 



3, 030, 000 

 878, 532 



Showing a loss since 1872 on the rookeries of St. Paul of 2, 151, 468 



