COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 257 



sible to do what was expected of them by the Company; in other 

 words, there are so many men on the island, and their services are 

 absolutely necessary to carry on all the business and do the seal work; 

 but one-third of them were incapacitated for the reason I have stated. 

 And I charged them, and I charge now, that the Agent who had control 

 over them was directly responsible for it. 



AGENT MURRAY, 1890. 



Assistant Agent Murray, writing in his Eeport of St. 

 George Island as late as 1890, says : 



It would be an impossibility, however, to do much towards estab- ■^^*'^^ Case, 

 lishing a sanitary system of value until wo have better water and a ^j^^^V. t^^ Ued 

 more abundant supply than is possible under existing conditions. states No. 2 



The present sup})ly of water for domestic purposes is obtained from (1891)," p. 19. 

 a well into which the draiiiage of half the village finds its way, and United states 

 the wonder to me is that the people are not constantly sick while they Qone;* 2nd Sess 

 have to use such drinking water. There is a nice fresh-water lake jKx.li'oc. 49, p. v! 

 within 2,000 feet of the village, and fully 50 feet higher, from which 

 a constant and never- failing supply of good water can be taken if you 

 can have 2,000 feet of 2-inch pipe and the necessary hydrant and fixings 

 sent here. 



A drain is the next essential to success, and one of 700 feet in length 

 can be dug easily ; and will suffice to carry all the dirt and ofi'al of the 

 village into the sea. It will be necessary to have 700 feet of 12-inch 

 drain-pipe. 



The total absence of water-closets on this island is a disgrace, and 

 is beyond all question the cause of more immorality, disease, and death 

 than all other things combined. That such a state of things has been 

 allowed to exist for twenty years is a disgrace to our civilization, and 

 I do hope you will insist on the present lessees or on the Department 



to have it altered at once. 

 302 The subject is so abominable I dare not write it in a public 

 Report. 



It is absolutely necessary, too, that at least six of the dwelling- 

 houses be enlarged, as the families now occupying them have not room 

 to live as human beings should. It may be true, as many assert, that 

 under Russian rule the natives were not housed one-half so well as 

 they are now; but such arguments are of no avail in a country like 

 ours. When a family of seven persons, of all ages and sexes, are 

 packed in a sleeping apartment measuring 10 by 10 feet they are not 

 treated riglit, nor does our Government intend to have such things 

 existing where it has jurisdiction. 



The dwelling-houses are badly in need of repairs, and the attention 

 of the local agent, Mr. Webster, has been called to their condition; 

 but as he is to leave the island this year, it may be necessary for you 

 to mention it to the General Manager of the North American Com- 

 mercial Company. 



REMARKS ON ORIGIN AND TREATMENT OF SO-CALLED 

 NATIVES IN BRITISH COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. 



The British Commissioners in their Eeport do not enter 

 at any great length into the question of the condition and 

 treatment of the so-called natives on the Pribyloff Islands. 

 They point out, however, that these people are not in real- 

 ity " natives " of the islands, but descendants of Aleuts from 

 the Aleutian Islands, brought thither by the Eussians, 

 mixed with recent importations from the same islands. 

 They allude also to the fact that the whole number of these 

 people is so insignificant (about 300) as to render the ques- 

 tion of the cost and manner of providing for their support 

 one which can scarcely be allowed a place in the discussion 

 of the general questions relating to the condition of the 



B s, PT vni 17 



