496 TESTIMONY 



To the President of the Alaska Gommerclal Gompany : 



I have made a thorough and accurate examiuation of tlie seal-hunt- 

 ing industry of British Columbia which is curried on in 

 le^ees"^'* report to Bering Sca, in accordance with the ibllowiug instruc- 

 tions received from your company : 



" Exact account of British Columbia fur-seal industry, to go back as 

 early as jiossible and show the area over which the 

 Scope of the report, geals wcrc huutcd bcforc the existence (.f the Alaska 

 Commercial Company (1870) and during the early years of the lease. 



" It should show the development and expansion of the business, in ac- 

 cordance with the enhanced value of skins, caused by the operation of 

 the company. 



"As exactly as possible it should give — 



" Statistics of yearly catch and prices ol)tained for same at British 

 Columbia, number of vessels employed, their value and cost of outfit, 

 and any other details of the business possible. 



'' To be of value it should be accurate, and not merely approximate, as 

 we desire to use the figures to base our estimate for bidding for re- 

 newal of the sealing lease, an important lactor, in which must neces- 

 sarily be the probability of the continuance of illicit sealing and its con- 

 sequent depletion of the seal herd. The ])rofits to illicit sealers being 

 greater or less, will, of course, increase or decrease their number. 



" There should also be a careful statement made and sworn to by com- 

 j)etent men of the value of the vessels that have been seized and 

 stranded at Unalaska or condemned elsewhere. All tliis should be 

 prepared as honestly and correctly as pos.sible, with no effort to mini- 

 mize values, but only to state honestly, as near as may be, real values." 



STATISTICS OF YEARLY CATCH. 



The first sealskins ever handled in British Columbia caught in the 

 li in Ber Bering Sca wcrc taken iu 1881. Prior to that year no 

 lag Sea beffre"i88r vcssels Sealed iu the Bering. In 1881 the American 

 schooner San Diego caught 193 seals in the Bering and 

 San Dieno 1881 ^^^^ ^^^ skius to T. Lubbc of Victoria, British Colum- 

 bia at $9.25 per vskin. Tliesc skins were shipped to Lon- 

 don, as are nearly all of the skins bought in Victoria, British Columbia, 

 and the trade, therefore, brought no ]>rofit to Canada, T. Lubbe being 

 an American. I have, however, included the record of this and all 

 other collections made by American shii^s in the Bering Sea when sold 

 in British Columbia, because they all figure in the reports of the Vic- 

 toria custom house. In keeping the collection of the American and 

 Canadian vessels from the Bering district, you can see at a glance the 

 relative value of the Bering Sea collection to American and Canadian 

 sealers. 



1.S82. 



American schooner San Diego; Bering Sea collection, 327 seals, sold 



toT. ^ ^ ' ' — "^ - ■ 



skin. 



„ ^, ,.,,,, , -^ ^ ,_ — , , — . -. ^ — , -^ — 



„ ^. to T. Lubbe at Victoria, British Columbia, at $8 per 



San Diego, 1S82. _,__.__ ' • } * J. 



1883. 



American schooner San Diego; Bering Sea collection, 908 skins; sold 

 to T. Lubbe, Victoria, British Columbia, at $10 per 



San Diego, 1883. 



skin. 



