SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 511 



ters. The proportion of females in this lot was 



over 90 per cent. It was very easy to distinguish ^ZnTooT^l^Z"!''' 



the males from the females on account of the forma 



tion of their heads, the belly being swollen out of shape, the teats 



showing signs of development, and also showing that the seal had 



been full of young and had evidently been cut open and the 



young removed. There were also some black pups among the lot, 



which are the skins of unborn seals and have no commercial value. 



I am informed and believe that the reason of there 

 being such a large proportion of females among the propoXn°o/femails! 

 coast skins is because the male, which is powerful and 

 strong, usually swims more rapidly and at a longer distance from the 

 coast, and are so scattered and active and hard to catch that it does 

 not pay to hunt them. The female heavy with young easily tires, and 

 sleeps on the water, and is easily shot while in that condition. 



I also examined a portion of the catch brought to Victoria in 1891, 

 and the same conditions as to females existed as in the Larger proportion 

 previous year, except that there was a larger i)ropor- "aJ^^j/'^gli**'^'"^ ''' 

 tion of yearling skins among them. 



I have also examined skins taken by hunters from the Bering Sea, 

 and there is even a greater proportion of females than Lj^-ger proportion 

 among those taken on the coast. It is easier to distin- of femaies among Ber- 

 guish'the females in the Bering Sea skins, for the teats i"fong''t^ioafof cS 

 are fully developed from the seals suckling their young ^^^^^^^^ feedin<' 

 and they are caught while in the sea searching for food. ^'^'^ ""^ *"'' '°^" 

 The fur on the belly of tliese female seals is very poor and thin, owing 

 to the swelling and fever in the teats, caused by suckling. Oftentimes 

 female skins are found with big bare spots round the teats, due to the 

 same cause. 



I have made it my business to find out what proportion of skins of 

 seals killed are really brouglit into the market, and from the information 

 which I obtained from the sealers, hunters, and those ^ , 



, , , . T 1 1 J.1 J- 1 Only one secured 



ownnig the skins, I learned that on an average only out of six killed. 

 about one out of six killed was secured, varying with 

 the expertness of the hunter. 



In former times the seals were shot with rifles, and only had one small 

 hole through which the bullet entered. Now shotguns t d k' 



are used, and the skins are frequently so perforated that 

 they look more like a si( 

 value over 50 j)er cent. 



In the pursuit of my business I have had an opportunity to buy and 

 examine fur-seals taken from the Commander Islands, 

 and can readily distinguish them from the northwest heS^Tstoct^'^'from 

 coast catch and those taken from the Pribilof Islands, that of the northwest 

 They are evidently a distinct and separate herd, as the j'^^*.'*'''^ ^""'^'^"^ ^" 

 foundation of the fur is much coarser, and at the same 

 time does not cover the belly as thickly as on the Alaska seal and is 

 of very much less value. The proof of this is that the Commander 

 Island skins bring 30 per cent less in the market than the Alaska skins. 

 From my knowledge and experience in the purchase and handling of 

 fur-seal skins, I know that the skins taken from seals 

 along the coast and those taken from the Pribilof Is- tiiose^of Prfbiiof^'is*^ 

 lands belong to the same herd. In buying the skins jaufls belong to same 

 taken from seals caught by hunters in the Bering Sea, 

 the price is usually made for the lot as it runs without any limitation 



