EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS. 



EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OP CAPT. CHARLES BRYANT TO 

 THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 1 



Fairhaven, Mass., November 30, 1860. 



Sir: Having returned from Alaska, where I was ordered as special 

 agent of the Treasury Department in September, 1868, to examine into 

 the resources of the territory and the character and habits of its vari- 

 ous tribes, I have the honor to submit the following report: 



On account of the great diversity in the physical features of the 

 territory, the widely varying nature of the products of the different 

 sections, and the very marked difference in the character and habits of 

 the various tribes, I have deemed it necessary to describe each portion 

 of the country in detail in order that a proper idea of the whole terri- 

 tory may be gained; and, as my attention was more particularly called 

 to the interests of the fur-seal trade in Behring Sea, I will begin with 

 the islands of St. Paul and St. George. [Here follows a geographical 

 description of the same.] 



THE FUR-SEAL. 



The seals resort to the Pribilov Islands, during the summer months, 

 apparently for the sole purpose of reproducing their species. To this 

 end each age or class contributes its share of labor or care, remaining 

 on shore or in the water, as may be necessary. In order to fully under- 

 stand the duties of the various classes, a description of the animal seems 

 to be necessary at this point. 



The male seal attains its full growth at the age of six years, when it 

 measures from seven to eight feet in length and from six to seven in 

 circumference. Its color is a dark brown with a gray over-hair on the 

 neck and shoulders, and its weight is from six to twelve hundred pounds. 

 These alone occupy the rookeries with the females. 



A full-grown female measures from four to five feet in length and 

 three feet in circumference and weighs from one to three hundred 

 pounds. It differs in shape somewhat from the male in having a 

 shorter neck and greater fullness of body in the posterior parts. Its 

 color when it first leaves the water is a dark "steel-mixed" on the back 

 and lighter about the breast and sides. After being on shore a few 

 days its color gradually changes to a dark brown on the back and as- 

 sumes an orange hue on the breast and throat, and is. therefore, easily 

 distinguished from the male. The female attains its full size and 

 brings forth young about the third or fourth year. The yearling seals 

 weigh from forty to sixty pounds, and are of a dark-brown color, with 

 a lighter shade abou t the throat. The intermediate ages from one to 



1 Senate Ex. Docs. Xos. 1 to 39, 1869-'70. 



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