SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. Ill 



at least has occurred to other investigators, but whether prior to my own 

 studies I cau not say. 



It appears to me entirely feasible to brand the seals with a property 

 mark. If the cows are to be so ti-eated, it would be best to place the 

 brand on the back, where it couhl be plainly seen. This would alsa 

 have the effect of rendering- the skins of tbe cows unmarketable, and 

 there would be no object in destroying them. 



It is, of course, taken for granted in proposing this plan that prop- 

 erty so branded would be recognized as property on the high seas- 

 Whether this would be the case I can not venture to decide.^ 



KILLING OF FEMALES BY THE GOVERNMENT OBJECTIONABLE 



In conclusion, it maybe })roper for me to remark that 1 should depre- 

 cate most earnestly the adoption of any plan to bring the fur-seal ques- 

 tion to an end by a wholesale butchery of all the seals, male, female, 

 and young, on the Pribilof Islands. I do not think that our Govern- 

 ment or any other could maintain its dignity while pursuing such a 

 course. It could oidy be regarded as a work of spite, which would be 

 unbecoming in an individual and much more so in a nation. 



No one having the smallest spark of love for nature and her works 

 who had visited the fur-seal islands could for an instant entertain a 

 proposition for the slaughter of the seal herds. To any such it would 

 seem little less than wholesale murder. 



Putting sentiment aside, it does not seem to me that such a course is 

 necessary. Even if the patrol of Bering Sea is suspended and sealers 

 are allowed to approach the islands, the time will speedily come when 

 sealing as an industry will cease to be profitable and will be abandoned. 

 There will still be a remnant of seals which, unmolested, will increase 

 and once more cover the breeding grounds. In the interval there would 

 be time for the cultivation of public sentiment in this country and 

 Europe favorable to the preservation of the seals, and to arrange plans 

 of international protection. 



On the other hand, if the breeding seals are slaughtered on the rook- 

 eries, one more s])ecies will be added to the already formidable list of 

 those which have been exterminated by unwise and improvident human 

 action. Such a proceeding would be in the highest sense immoral, and 

 no less inconsistent with the true aims of a civilized nation. 



' Mr. True suggests further in respect to this subject that, in case of the presence 

 of pelagic sealers in Bering Sea next season, the entire body of seals might be driven 

 back from the rookeries and retained in the inland lakes and lagoons for about six 

 weeks, or duriug the period when pelagic sealing is mainly carried on in that region. 

 The execution of such a plan is entirely practicable with regard to all grown seals 

 of both sexes, but it would result in the destruction of the pups born that season. 

 If, however, the seals were held inland for only three or four weeks, the majority of 

 the pups would probably be saved, as tliey could exist for that length of time without 

 feeding, while the retention on land of the grown seals, even for so short a space of 

 time, would undoubtedly cause the abandonment of nearly all pelagic sealing. 



