194 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



British Com- It is Considered to be unneceSwSary here to enter into any 



port, paras. 39-11. detailed criticisin or the management of the Pribyloff 



Islands by the Russians, tor which reference may be made 



Britisii Case, to the authorities stated, as well as to Mr. Elliott's synopsis 



Appendix^ _voi^^^ the coiiditlons contained in that part of his Report of 



fmiy'' ^bt-ao ^^^^^ which has been published, and which is printed in one 



pp- • Qf ^jjg. Appendices to the British Case. 



OUTLINE OF THE RUSSIAN REGIME. 



It is known that practically indiscriminate killing con- 

 tinued from the discovery of the islands in 178G down to 

 1806, when the Russian Ambassador Resanof visited the 

 islands, and learned that the seals had decreased 90 per 

 British Com- ceut. siucc the earlier years. He ordered the killing to stop 

 por^'p?788. "^"^ ^^^' a time, but notwithstanding this and other precautionary 

 measures, iu sufficient in themselves or imperfectly carried 

 out, a continued decline in the number of seals took i)lace 

 until ISoJ: or 1835. From about 1842, an increase com- 

 menced, which (with possibly some brief periods of arrest 

 or reversal) was generally maintained till the close of the 

 Russian regime. It is further shown that the decrease 

 depended largely upon the killing at certain times of great 

 numbers of seals, and it is even asserted by Veniaminov 

 ibid-.para. 786. that betx> ecu 1801 and 1801 the Company had accumulated 

 "Alaska," p^4i7^ about 800,000 skins, many of which rotted for want of care, 

 and were destroyed or thrown away. 



In the earlier years, both males and females, as well as 

 young, were killed; but even after the killing was directed 

 chiefly to young males, the bad effect of killing these in 

 excessive numbers was well known. Thus Mr. 

 224 Yanovsky, reporting on his inspection of the rook- 

 eries iu 1820, remarks : 



Revised trans- .... that every year the young bachelor seals are killed, and 



dix"vil.tp.^2l." ' t'^''^* ^'"^y tli« cows " sekatch," and half " sekatch " are left to propa- 



' • ' • • gate the species; it follows that only the old seals are left, while, if 



any of the bachelors remain alive in the autumn, they are sure to be 



killed tlie next spring. The consequence is, that the number of seals 



olitained diminishes every year, and it is certain that the species will 



in time become extinct. 



This view is contirmed by experience. 



Mr. Yanovsky then recommends that not more than 

 50,000 seals iu all should be taken annually from the 

 Pribyloff Islands; but the reduction in numbers of the 

 seals which had already taken place did not permit even 

 this number being taken in succeeding years. 



NUMBER OF SEALS KILLED DURING RUSSIAN CONTROL 

 COMPARATIVELY MODERATE. 



In one important respect, however, the Russian manage- 

 ment is found to contrast very favourably with that under 

 the United States, i. e., in the comparatively small number 

 of seals actually killed. From the year 1817 accurate data 

 on this subject are available, and for the Avhole ])eriod of 

 the Russian control a fairly exact estimate of ihe average 



