i a 
APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. — - 193 
seal skins are sent to London, where they are dressed and dyed for the market, and 
where many of them are sold. It is stated that at least 10,000 people in that city 
find profitable employment in this work; far more than the total number of people 
engaged i in hunting the fur seal in every part of the world. Atthe Pribyloff Islands 
it is believed that there are not more than 400 persons so engaged; at Commander 
Islands, not more than 300; in the north-west coast fishery, not more than 525 Indian 
hunters and 100 whites; and in the Cape Horn fishery not more than 400 persons, of 
whom perhaps 300 are Chileans. Great Britain, therefore, in co-operating with the 
United States to prevent the destruction of fur seals in Behring’s Sea, would also be 
perpetuating an extensive and valuable industry in which her own citizens have 
the most lucrative share. 
linclose for your information copy of a Memorandum on the fur seal fisheries of 
the world prepared by Mr. A. Howard Clark, in response to a request made by this 
Department to the United States Fish Commissioner. I inclose also, for your further 
information, copy of a letter to me dated the 3rd December last, from Mr. Henry W. 
Elliott, who has spent much time in Alaska, engaged in the study of seal life, upon 
which he is well known as an authority. I desire to call your special attention to 
what is said by Mr. ElHott in respect to the new method of catching the seals with 
nets. 
As the subject of this despatch is one of great importance and of immediate 
urgency, I will ask that you give it as early attention as possible. 
lam, &c. 
(Signed) T. F. BAYARD. 
[Inclosure 2 in No. 93.] 
Review of the Fur Seal Fisheries of the World in 1887, by A. Howard Clark. 
In the “‘Encyclopiedia Britannica,” ninth edition, the fur seal fisheries are credited 
with an annual yield of 185,000 skins, of which 100, 000 are said to be obtained from 
the Pribyloff Islands, 30, 000 from the Commander Islands, 15,000 from the Straits of 
Juan de Fuca and vicinity, 12,000 from the Lobos Islands, ‘15, 600 from Patagonia and 
outlying islands, 500 from the Falkland Islands, 10,000 from the Cape of Good Hope 
and places thereabout, and 2,500 from islands belonging to Japan. 
The above statistics were communicated by me to the author of the article 
175 “Seal Fisheries” in the ‘‘ Encyclopedia,” and had been carefully verified by 
the latest official records and by a personal interview with Messrs. C. M. 
Lampson and Co., of London, one of the principal fur houses of the world, and by 
whom most of the annual production of fur seal-skins are placed upon the market. 
A review of the subject at this time (January 1888) necessitates but a slight change 
in the annual production and in the apportionment to the several fisheries. Some of 
the fisheries have increased, while others have decreased. Taking the average 
annual yield from 1880 to date, I find that the total production is now 192,457 skins, 
obtained as follows: 
ANNUAL YIELD OF FUR SEAL FISHERIES. 
Number of 
Fur Seal Skins. 
Pr WLOot Islands; BenrINo7s Sean. saa temsercs onsets cmieacice's sec coce soe See 94, 967 
Commandertislandsand Mobb enineehseos- «ose o=icen ae nice eae os eee oa - 41, 893 
HSlmd selon on abo apaMe sms soe Aen isae Co seem se ee eels nae ie f. 4,000 
British and American sealing fleets on north-west coast of America (includ- 
ing catch at Cape Flattery and Behring’s Sea)..---.-.----.----------.-s-- 25, 000 
Wohosislands abemouth ofikiordedaelatie-os-. 5-52 sess ace--5 ccs. cece ee 12, 385 
Cape of Good Hope (including islands in Southern Indian Ocean)..--...--. 5, 500 
PAV CHE OLMERe OOM eee ee a ersesioae coe anes Ce ioe sees chee ceramics seas 8, 162 
eitalerrecl Wel vides Meee eT AC Oy SON: DOR Ree TG The aR 550 
ORO EES Gas Sis Sere ECR Eee Sie ean gees Smilies ae ae ea pe 192, 457 
The Statistics for the Pribyloff and Commander Islands are compiled from Reports 
of the Alaska Commercial Company, Mr. Elliott’s Reports in Vol. viii, 10th Census, 
and in Section 5, United States Fish Commission Report, and Trade Reports of 
annual sales in London (‘Fur Trade Review,” published monthly at No. 11, Bond 
Street, New York). The north-west coast statistics are from the annual Reports of 
the Department of Fisheries of Canada, and from Mr. Swan’s Keport in pec uon 5, 
vol. ii, of the quarto report of the United States Fish Commission. For . Japan, 
Lobos Islands, Cape of Good Hope, and Falkland Islands the statistics are from the 
“Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries 
and British Possessions as presented to Parliament.” Statistics for Cape Horn 
region are from sealing merchants of Stonington and New London, Connecticut. 
BS, pr y——13 
