6 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



of our Govenimeiit on the Pribilov Ishiruls, and that immediate action 

 necessary, viewed in tlie full lij^ht of existiiiii' danjier. 



VIII. Appendix, in whieh the author's daily lield notes appear ver- 

 batim ct HteratiDi. in order of <lay and date, 



IX. Revised general maps of St. Piuil and St. George, showing the 

 area and position of the hauling grounds of the fur seal tliereon m 

 1872-1874 and again in 1890. 



X. A series of special maps showing the exa(;t topography, area, and 

 ])Ositi(ui of the breeding rookeries of iSt. Paul and St. George islands 

 in 1872-1871 and again in 181M), together with an illustration of eaeli 

 rookery, drawn from life by the author. 



Although I was unable to detect any sign of existing danger or 

 injury to those interests of our Government on these islands of Pribilov 

 in" 1872-1871, yet the need of caution on the part of the agents of the 

 Government, and their close annual scrutiny, was i)oiuted ont and 

 urged by nw published work of 1874' in the following language (pp. 

 75-77) : 



Until my arrival on the seal islands, April, 1872, no steps had been taken toward 

 ascertaining!; the extent or the iui])ortan(e of these interests of the Government by 

 either the Treasury agent in charge, or tlio agent ol"tlie coinjiiin.N' leasing tlie islands. 

 This was a matter of no esjiocial concern to the latter, but was of tlie lirst impor- 

 tance to the Government. It had, however, failed to obtain dotiuite knowledge upon 

 tiie subject, on account of the iuaccurate mode of ascertaining the nuuiher of seals 

 which had been adopted by its agent, who relied njiou an assuni^jtion of the area of 

 tlie breeding rooivcries, but who never took tlie trouble to ascertain the area and 

 position of these great seal grounds intrusted to his care. 



After a careful study of the subject during two whole scisons, and a thorough 

 review of it during tliis season of 1S74, in company with my associate, Lieutenant 

 Maynard, I propose to show i)laiuly and in seciuence the steps wiii( h have led mo to 

 a solution of the question as to the number of fur seals on the Pribilov Islands, 

 together with that determination of means by which an agent of the Government 

 will lit! able to correctly report n))on the condition of the seal life from year to year. 



At the close of my iuvestigatiou for the season of 1872, the fact became evident 

 tliat the breeding seals obeyed implicitly a fine, instinctive law of distribution: so 

 that the breeding ground occupied by them was .-ilways covered by seals in an exact 

 ratio, greater or less as the area was held; that they always covered the ground 

 evenly, never crowding in at one; i)hico and scattering out at another; that the seals 

 lay just as tliickly together where the rookery is a small one of only a few thousand 

 as at Nahspeel, near the village, as they do wliere a million of them come together as 

 at Northeast I'oiut. "^ ' 



This fact being determined, // /.s at once i)lain ihatjtist as the breedinq grouniU of the 

 fur Kcal on these islands expand or contraet in area from their present dimensions, so the 

 seals will have increased or diminished. 



Impressed, therefore, with the necessity and the imjiortauce of obtainiu"- the exact 

 area and positu)n of tiiese breeding grounds, I siirvcved tliem in lS7'»-7:5 tor that 

 purpose, a^nd resurveyed them this season of 1S74. The result has been carefuUv 

 dra^vn and plotted out, as presented in the accompanying ma])s. 



The time for taking the boundaries of the rookeries is <iuring the week of their 

 greatest expansion, or when they are as full as they arc to he for the season and 

 betore the regular system of com].nct, cv< n oiganizati(m breaks ui) : the seals 'tl)eii 



scattering out in pods or clusters, straying far'ba.'k, the same number coverin-^ then 

 twice as much ground in places as they did before wlicn niarshale.l on the r/rokerv 



mo to come, upon which 



Flliolf ' snccl';;"?'!? .^t"^'*'"" '\[ ■^'^'"■' '" *^^'' Territory of Alaska, by H«mrv W 

 (mcl^'v^:r']!/^Xy!^'''''''^ Dopart.neut. Washington: Government Printin, 



