170 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



It is an exceedingly difficult matter to count these skins, precisely to a dot, when they are rapidly hustled into 

 the baidars and then tossed below the decks of the rolling, pitching ship which receives them; a rough sea may be 

 running, a gale of wind howling through the rigging, and a thick fog shrouding all in its wet gloom. I believe, 

 therefore, from my own full experience in this important matter, that it is a physical impossibility, at many seasons 

 of shii)ment, to tally accurately every pelt as it enters the vessel's hold, when loaded oflf the islands here. The 

 Treasury agent who comes within 100 to 150 skins, more or less, of the true 100,000, or in that ratio to the whole 

 catch, as it may be, is doing all that he possibly can under the circumstances. Naturally, the custom-house tally is 

 considered the most accurate, by reason of the great physical advantages attendant ; and, upon its certification the 

 company pays the tax levied by law. 



Useless slaughter of the pups. — The observer will also notice, that during the last season, viz, July 20, 

 1880, to July 20, 1881, as shadowed in the foregoing table, more than 7,000 seals were killed for food, the skins of 

 which were simplj' wasted— never used; and of that aggregate we find nearly 6,000, or about nine-tenths of the 

 entire loss, to be "pups". At this point, and in this connection, I desire to enter my protest against the useless 

 and wholly uncalled-for slaughter of these pups, which is annually permitted and inadvertently ordered, with the 

 best of spii'it, by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is a shiftless legacy of the old Russian Company, which the 

 present admirable conduct of business on the Pribylov islands really renders superfluous and wasteful; it is simply 

 catering to a gastronomic weakness of the Aleuts, that should not be considered, inasmuch as the supply and the 

 flesh of the two and three year-old males is fully good enough ; and most of the skins taken from such animals late 

 in October and thereon to the end of the year, will be accepted as prime by the company, and counted iu the regular 

 annual quota for exportation. I have in this matter, however, been quite as much at fault as the Secretary himself; 

 more so, because I have not hitherto directed attention to it; it escaped my mind in 1874, and I have not had 

 occasion to recall it until the present writing. 



The season of 1881 a vert creditable one. — The exhibit given above, of the work performed in the 

 height of the sealing season, June and July, is a better one, even, than any one which has passed prior to it under 

 my supervision. In other words, the number of cut or rejected skins is almost infinitesimal compared with the 

 huge aggregate accepted ; and, were it not for the wasted pup skins, this presentation of the field-labor on the 

 seal-islands for 1881, would be a very clean and economic synopsis.* 



The thought also occurred to me, when regarding this special point of the relative improvement in the method 

 of killing and handling seals and pelts, that a very simple yet trustworthy notice, as to the increase or diminution 

 of the seal-life, would be served annually in the following manner: in 1872, I observed that the natives never had 

 any difficulty in getting their full quota of " holluschickie " daily, during the prime season of taking skins; again, 

 in 1873, I saw that, if anything, the number of " holluschickie" required was easier to obtain than in 1872, prior; 

 still again, throughout the killing-season of 1874, the constant remark of all concerned, at St. Paul, was that the 

 prime seals were never so abundant before ; and, finally, in 1876, 1 heard, from these same i)arties interested, that 

 it had been the most auspicious season, throughout, ever known to St. Paul island. 



Thus, it may naturally be inferred, that this steady and rather increased supply of "holluschickie" from year 

 to year, means nothing, unless it points to a relative annual augmentation of the seal-life on the Pribylov islands; 

 and it really acts in this wise as a life-barometer, that is sensibly afi'ected by the heavier or lighter i^ressure of the 

 rookeries operating upon it. 



Hence, the foregoing table, brought down as it is, to date, shows that the chosen seals are in abundant supply; 

 that the work was remarkably expeditious ; that the natives scarcely wasted a skin by cutting on the killing-grounds; 

 and, all in all, it represents a highly creditable state of affairs, suggestive of the steady condition of prosperity and 

 security, which I unhesitatingly prophesied in 1873, after giving the matter much study and reflection. 



A presentation of the revenue derived from the Pribylov islands. — The following transcript 

 from the books of the Treasury Department, shows the exact receipts which the public coffers have derived as 

 revenues from the seal-industry on the Pribylov islands, between the date of the act leasing them, July 1, 1870, up 

 to August 20, 1881. I may say, without the least exaggeration, that these interests never yielded a tithe of this 

 substantial aid and support to the government of Eussia, and they would not have returned a single cent, net, to 

 the Treasury of the United States, had they not been so wisely and promptly protected by the good sense of our 

 Congress in 1870. They would have passed in a few short seasons beyond all knowledge of men, as far as their 

 appearance on the great breeding rookeries of St. Paul and St. George was concerned. 



'The report of Colonel Otis, special agent Treasury Department, in charge of the seal-islands, for 1880, contains an interesting table, 

 ■which covers a period of eleven years, viz, 1869-1880, inclusive; and it shows, first, the number of seal-skins taken in each sealing season 

 proper on St. Paul island ; second, the number of days expended in the work per annum ; third, the number of sealers engaged ; fourth, 

 the average number of skins taken per day; and fifth, the average daily credit of skins taken for each man. The deduction which that 

 gentleman makes from this suggestive and instrnctive codification, is that the seals seem to sensibly increase from year to year, rather 

 than to diminish iu numbers. 



