RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 91" 



Company from 1877 to this date, acquainted with every aspect of the 

 business. All advices from our London agents, and information in re- 

 gard to the sealskin market from all sources, passed through my hands, 

 and instructions to the agents of the company in regard to the class of 

 skins desired emanated from time to time from me. I had no difficulty 

 in getting the size and weight of skins as ordered, nor had my prede- 

 cessors in the office, up to and including 1884. The casks 

 in which we packed them for shipment were made by ^.aaks! "^ riicking 

 the same man for many years, and were always of uni- 

 form size. In 1885 these casks averaged about 47^ skins each, nnd in 

 1886 they averaged about 50| skins each, as shown by the records in 

 our office. After this date the number increased, and in 1888 they 

 averaged about ooy skins per cask, and in 1889 averaged about 00 skins 

 l^er cask. These latter were not such skins as we w\anted, but the 

 superintendent on the islands reported that they were the best he could 

 get. 



The work of taking the annual " catch " was done in 1883, 1884, and 

 1885 under my management in the same Avay in every particular as 

 under my predecessor. The seals were carefully driven, ry ■ ■ „ 

 handled, and killed in an orderly manner, the whole "^i°g- 

 work being carried on as systematically and quietly as in the well con- 

 ducted slaughterhouses in our cities. The talk about lasting injury 

 resulting from overexertion to such seals as are turned back to the 

 water after having been driven to the killing grounds is nonsense. 

 The management of the rookeries the first lifteen years of the 

 Alaska Commercial Coinpany's lease resulted in a large increase 

 of seals. The same business management continued, and the same 

 system was pursued to the end of the term, yet in the last five years 

 the rookeries fell oft". Clearly it was through no fault 

 of the company, and resulted from some cause beyond *'°'"*''is<'- 

 their control. I do not think the Alaska Commercinl Company made 

 any mistakes in managing the seal herd. They liandlcd 

 them in every respect as I would have done if they had . pare exercised by 



T 1 i IT 111- J? iilaska Commercial 



been my own personal property, and as I would do it company. 

 they were now to come into my hands. If they erred 

 in any particular in their management, it was in their futile attempt in 

 1888 and 1889 to stoj) the waste of seal life at the island si)igot while il 

 was running out at the bunghole of pelagic sealing. 



The record shows that we did not finish the catch as early in 1885 as 

 had been done in former years. I do not think this was from any lack 

 of seals, but was caused by greater care in making our selection of ani- 

 mals to be killed. I saw no diminution of seal life dur- 

 ing my three years on the island. The outlines of the ,^^5" 'decrease up to 

 rookeries remained just about the same from year to ' 

 year. I was told at the time that there had formerly been a large in- 

 crease, and did not then understand why it did not continue, as every 

 condition seemed favorable for it. There were, apparently, an abun- 

 dance of bulls for service ; every cow seemed to have 

 a pup and all were healthy and in good condition, ^e^is iie«iti^y- 

 No females were killed, and in the natural order of ^o females killed 

 growth there ought to have been at this time a con- 

 stantly increasing area covered with breeding rookeries. Yet such 

 was not the case. The explanation of the matter came later when we 

 fairly awoke to the fact that our animals were being slaughtered by 

 tens of thousands in the North Pacific. I knew in a 

 commercial way from our sales catalogue that a very geamig.*''^ °^ poiagio 

 large number of " Victoria skins," as they were called. 



