RELATING TO FUR-SEALS AND SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. 367 



Since the killing of seals in the water is wasteful and in every sense 

 contrary to the laws of nature (which require that spe- 

 cial protection be afforded to the females and young of ^[n^ur^d! pelagi0 

 all animals), I am of the opinion that it should be en- 

 tirely forbidden. If it is only partly suppressed or prohibited within 

 a certain distance from the islands the evil would not be cured, although 

 its effects might be less noticeable; for the killing of females, many of 

 them heavy with young, would necessarily continue, since all expe- 

 rience shows that female animals always constitute the chief catch of 

 the open-sea sealer. 



Nicholas A. Grebnitzki, 

 District Chief of the Commander Islands, 



District St. Petersburgh. 

 26 Kbveinber-8 December, 1892. 



United States Consulate-General, 



St. Petersburgh, December 8, 1892. 



I, J. M. Crawford, consul-general of the United States at St. Peters- 

 burgh, do hereby certify that Nichola A. Grebnitzki, military chief of 

 of the Commander Islands, appeared before me this day and declared, 

 under oath, that all the statements contained in the foregoing article, 

 consisting of twenty-live (25) pages, are, to the best of his knowledge 

 and belief, strictly true, including the substitution of the word " males" 

 for "seals," on page 14, line 18; the substitution of the word "males" 

 for " seals" on page 16, line 16; the substitution of the word " males" 

 for " seals," on page 17, line 8; the omission of the word " to " on page 

 19, line 18, and the addition of the words " considerable distances " to 

 line 6 of page 24. 



[seal.] J. M. Crawford, 



U. S. Consul- General. 



December 8, 1892. 



Deposition of Max Heilbronner, Secretary of the Alaska Commercial 



Company. 

 State of California, 



City and county of San Francisco, ss: 



Max Heilbronner, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am a resident 

 of San Francisco, California, and am secretary of the 

 Alaska Commercial Company, which position I have x P enence - 

 held since 1882, prior to which time I acted as Assistant Secretary for 

 said Company. I am thoroughly familiar with the books of said Com- 

 pany and the methods employed in counting the sealskins received by 

 said Company from the Pribilof Islands during the term of the lease of 

 said islands to said Company. 



I hereto append a comparative statement of the various counts of fur- 

 seal skins taken on the Pribilof Islands by said Com- 

 pany for each year from 1870 to 1889, inclusive, as the ra e C nT P o a / at co V unt8 tat of 

 same appears on the books of said Company; the column 8kins from 187 ° to 

 entitled " Island Count," represents the number of skins 1889 ' 

 appearing in the invoice made out by the Company's Superintendent on 

 the Pribilof Islands and delivered to us on the arrival of the vessel 

 transporting the skins to San Francisco; it gives the count of each 

 season's catch as made by the Government officials and Company's 

 agents on the Pribilof Island; the second column entitled "Inspector's 

 Count " represents the number of skins reported to the Collector of Cus- 

 toms of the United States by the Inspectors of Customs who counted 



