RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 9 



Very soon after the islands came iutothe possession of the American 

 Government all this was clianged. Their nndcrurouud 

 earthen lodges were replaced by warm, comfortable mani^'7mtnt^^^'^^^ 

 wooden cottages for each family; fnel, food, and 

 clothing were fnrnished them at prices 25 per cent above the 

 wholesale price of San Francisco; churches were built and school 

 houses maintained for their benefit, and everything- done that would 

 insure their constant advancement in the way of civilization and ma- 

 terial progress. Instead of being mere creatures of the whims of their 

 rulers they were placed upon an equal footing with white men, and re- 

 ceived by law a stipulated sum for each skin taken. So that about 

 $40,000 was annually divided among the inhabitants of the two is- 

 lands. In place of the skin-clad natives living in turf lodges which 

 I found on arriving on the island in 1869, I left them in 1877 as well 

 fed, as well clothed, and as well housed as the people of some of our 

 New England villages. They had school facilities, and on Sunday they 

 went to service in their pretty Greek church with its tastefully ar- 

 ranged interior; they wore the clothing of civilized men and had polish 

 on their boots. All these results are directly traceable to the seal 

 fisheries and their improved management. 



In addition to this the Alaska Commercial Company, as previously 

 stated, had introduced far better facilities, such as 

 boats, horses, nmles, and carts, for transporting- the '■'^'"'5°'^ ""S" '^^■ 

 skins, and improved methods of caring for them, which not only 

 greatly reduced the labor required of the natives, but which, when 

 aided by their improved physical condition and the increased number 

 of the seals, enabled the company to take their full quota in thirty 

 working days in 1877. 



This alone enormously reduced the molestation of the seals on the 

 hauling grounds, for in the old Ilussian days, as previously stated, the 

 seals were driven and killed at all times during their jireseuce on the 

 island. 



If the seals were as numerous to-day on the Pribilof Islands and the 

 manner of driving- and killing- conducted in the same 



d -XT 111 Number that niiglit 



urmg my experience there, one hundred bekiUed under proper 

 thousand male seals of from 2 to 4 years of age could restrictions. 

 be taken from the hauling grounds annually for an indefinite period 

 without diminution of the seal herd. 



I am of the opinion that the Pribilof seal herd should be protected 

 throughout Bering Sea and also in the North Pacific 

 Ocean. A zone of 30, 40, or 50 miles about the islands ^^5-.°^'^'"°" '"''"''■ 

 in which sealing is prohibited would be of little or no 

 protection, as the females, during the breeding- season, after their pups 

 are born, wander at intervals over Bering Sea in search of food. But 

 to suppose an impossibility, even if such a zone could protect seal life, it 

 would be impossible, on account of the atmosphere being so constantly 

 foggy and misty, to prevent vessels from crossing an imaginary line 

 drawn at such a distance from and about the Pribilof Islands. 



Charles Bryant. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the 

 District of Columbia, this 16th day of April, 1892. 

 [L. s.] Sevellon a. Brown. 



