APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



365 



and Co., thence to be forwarded to 

 their destination, since no ships 

 bonnd for St. Petersburg or Krou- 

 stadt can be found at San Fran- 

 cisco, and to charter special 

 47 vessels is very exi)eusive. 



At Irkutsk also, only dry skins 

 are required; they may be for- 

 warded by Ay an. 



At the same time the Board of 

 Administration asks you to make 

 arrangements to enable you, with 

 the proposed increase in the fur- 

 seal catch to 50,000 skins per an- 

 num, to ship 43,000, as indicated 

 above, in due time to tlieir several 

 destinations, storingthe remainder 

 at New Archangel for use in case 

 of special demands. In order that 

 these stored skins may not spoil in 

 the warehouses you will make it a 

 rule to ship the reserve of each 

 year to Russia in the following 

 year, rei)lacing them from the new 

 surplus. The killing of small seals 

 should be avoided altogether, if 

 possible, but, if it must be done, 

 for the sake of procuring food, you 

 must find means of using the skins 

 for clothing in the Colonies, keep- 

 ing a strict watch to prevent their 

 falling into the hands of foreign 

 traders. In the opinion of the 

 Board there can be no difficulty in 

 preparing such small skins in the 

 Colonies, where so many men are 

 in need of employment whom we 

 can more easily assist in this way 

 than wath direct charity. 



In connection with this object of 

 finding a market for the small seal- 

 skins, the Board of Administra- 

 tion would ask you to introduce 

 their use as an article of clothing 

 among the savages of the northern 

 districts, who may purchase them 

 with other furs, which the Com- 

 pany could dispose of at a greater 

 profit. Thepriiicii)al object in try- 

 ing to accustom the natives to the 



Pelly, or to Hamburg, to Mr. 

 Sturm, for further dispatch to their 

 destination, as at' San Francisco it 

 is impossible to find a vessel with 

 cargo going to St. Petersburg or 

 Kronstadt, and it would be very 

 expensive to charter one for that 

 special purpose. 



Only dried seal-skins are in de- 

 mand at Irkutsk, and they must be 

 sent by way of Ayan, 



The Board of Administration 

 therefore requests you to make ar- 

 rangements so that in future, until 

 there is a possibility of increasing 

 the demand for seal-skins, about as 

 many as 50,000 may be killed in 

 the Colonies every year, of good 

 quality as above directed, 43,000 

 of which will be sent at the proper 

 time to their destination, and the 

 remainder kept in reserve at New 

 Archangel for the contingency of 

 a special demand, and, in order 

 that those stored may not be in- 

 jured by lying so long in the ware- 

 houses, you will make it a rule to 

 ship them the following year to 

 Russia in exchange for the skins of 

 the new catch which will remain in 

 the warehouses. Furthermore, you 

 will endeavour, so far as possible, to 

 kill none of the small kinds of seal, 

 but if it is impossible to avoid this, 

 you are permitted to use them for 

 clothing in the Colonies, taking 

 special care that they are not sold 

 to foreign vessels undressed. In 

 the opinion of the Board of Admin- 

 istration there will be no difficulty 

 in dressing them in the Colonies, 

 as there are many people there in 

 need of work, especially in the dis- 

 tricts, to whom this would furnish 

 the means of earning something. 



At the same time, in order to 

 find a market for small seal-skins, 

 the Board of Administration re- 

 quests you to endeavour to intro- 

 duce the use of them among the 

 savages in the north, with whom 

 they might be exchanged for lurs, 

 the acquisition of which would be 

 of great advantage to the Com- 

 ])any. In doing this wehavechiefly 

 in view the fact that bv this means 



