590 TESTIMONY. 



about 300, of which the greater part are well paid, on account of their , 

 work being upon a very valuabh>, si)ecies of merchandise, and that 

 there are about oOO or 600 persons employed in the industry in France, 

 exclusive of salesmen, porters, etc. 



That in the years from 1872 to 1877 we bought only 



oniy'iand catch""^ Alaska sealskius (that is to say, those from the islands 



of Pribilof) and tlie Coi)per catch, coming from Russia, 



and a few skins coming from the islands of Lobos and from the South 



Seas. 



That later on, from the year 1878, we have noticed in 

 Northwe's'^t '"c" as"t the Loudou market sealskins called Victoria or North- 

 skina. west coast skins, the quantity of which is variable, but 



wliich has continually increased until last year, when the total quantity 

 was held at 80,000 skins. 

 That we have often heard, and from different sources, that these last- 

 named skins are in the majority the skins of the female 

 Mostly females. ^^^j^ ^j^^ thiiiiiess of the luiir upon the flanks seems 

 to confirm this assertion, although it is imposvsible for us to test the 

 absolute truth of this statement for ourselves, for when the seals have 

 been dressed the signs of the mammals disappear. At any rate the 

 employment of these skins is much less advantageous 

 a.ivan^geo.^^' tobil^T- to our busiiicss bccause there is a great predominance 

 "CSS. of small skins, wliich are evidently those of young seals 



Predominance of which are uot killed by the companies which have the 

 small .skins. coucessious for tlic Alaska and Copper sealskins. 



Skins ies.s valuable, Morcover, thcse Victoria or Korthwest coast sealskins 

 because riddled witii are riddled with shot, which very materially depreci- 

 *''°*- ates their value, while the seals of both the Alaska aud 



Copper companies are killed by a blow of a club upon tlie head, which 

 does not at all impair the quality of the skin as regards its ultimate 

 uses. 



That the fact that the annual production of Victoria or Northwest 



coast skins has increased in proportion as the Alaska. 



HkYnTZe'topeS skius has diminished seems to indicate that if fewer 



sealing. Northwcst coast animals had been killed the quantity 



of Alaska skins would not have diminished. 



That we firmly believe that if the slaughter of the Nortlnvest coast 



fur-seals is not stopped or regulated, the Ahiska fur- 



noYstf^'fJd AiSi seals will disappear entirely, as is the case with the 



fur-seals' will disap- scals of the Shetland Islands, from where hardly a 



P*''"'- single seal has been received during the last ten years. 



That the annihilation of the seals would be a very great loss for our 



country, for the fur of the seal can not be replaced by 



^^Great loss to Indus- ^^y other. It Avould also 1)0 a great loss for the work- 



''^' men who are specially trained for the work upon these 



skins. 



Leon Eevillon. 



Sworn before me this 20 day of June, 1802. 



[SEAL.] JlBNRY VlGNAUD, 



Secretary of the Legation of the 

 United States, at Paris, France. 



