TESTIMONY RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 



Deimsition of Georr/e B. Adams, agent of lessees on St. Geoyrjc Island, 

 management and pelagic sealing. 



State of California, 



City and county of San Francisco, ss: 



Georo-e R. Adams, liaving been duly sworn, deposes and says: I »)>. 

 a citizen of tlie United States and a lesidentof PasoRo- 

 bles Cal wlieie I am employed in general business. Experience. 

 I first went to Alaska in the bark Golden Gate, Captain 

 Scannnon, June 10, 1805, on tlie Ameriean Telegraph Expc'titiuu 

 and explored the country about Bering Sea froin St Michael^ 

 north returning in September, 1807. In the spring of 180b I returned 

 to Alaska soon after its purchase by the United States. I went for the 

 lite John Parrott, of San Francisco, direct to the islands of St. I aul 

 and St George. We were the first parties who went to those islands 

 after tiie purchase, and commenced taking seals about 

 the 1st of July. We and other parties took about i.^atl^^sS:^' ^^ 

 05,000 that year from St. George Island alone. We 

 killed no females except by accident, for the reason that we thought at 

 that time the skins of females were worthless ^ . ^, _ 



No sealing was dime at the Pribilof Islands duriiig the seasons ot 

 1809 and isfo except for food for the natives, the Gov- ^,^ seaiins on 

 ernment having declared these islands a reservation, 5;i-Ji^;^««-di87o 

 and the lessees did not perfect the lease m time to except loriooa. 

 commence operations that year (1870). . , , ^, . . „ 



From the start I was employed by the Alaska Commercial Company 

 and remained in their service until 1870, in charge of 

 the compauies' business on St. George Island. In 1871 |^pX-\-„,, ,, 



we 



took 25,000 seals on that island, and the regular island in i87i. 



qiiota"each year thereafter. During the season of 1870 ,i^^ 'Vol^ 



1 was in charge of their business at St. Paul Island. i87o-76. 



Wc had no difficulty during my seven years residence 



at the island in obtaining the full quota; nor could I discover at any 



time any diminution of the number of seals annually hauling up at the 



island. When the period arrived for their coming to land, the shore 



literally swarmed with seal life. It was the uniform 



policy of the lessees to carefully preserve and protect Policy of lessees. 



for breeding purposes all female seals; and, as their 



agent, I was instructed to exercise all possible care and caution for 



the preservation of the female when driving or killing. 



I observed a perceptible increase annually in the num- increase of females. 



ber of females arriving at the island, due, in my judg- ^ ^ 'y 



ment, to the care exercised by those charged with their custody. 1 



was also instructed to use the greatest care and cau- ^^^^ .^^ .u,vi„g,„a 



tion in driving and killing the bachelor seals in order ^^-^y.^^, 



not to injure those not wanted for their skins, but to 



drive them back from the killing grounds into the sea. 



