230 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
{Translation.] 
The places where fur-seal hunting takes place can be divided into 
two distinct groups: 
Number of 
Fur-Seals 
killed in 
1885. 
The first group would include: 
ite aap wot lsland S)00S CHiN G6 | SOa ieee = see a= sean eel eee ae ener one ae eee 100, 000 
The Commander Islands (Be hring and Copper Telands)-<-2e.-2-4-teseee-e sees eee 45, 000 
The Seal Islands (Sea of Okhotsk)): 3. 22S cnc edaemomcsnw ene mcsece cee: mcsedessaee oe = | 4, 000 
149, 000 
The second group: 
Theiseaadjoiing the (coasts! of Vactoriarsecce--ece eres see see eee eases as eee 20, 000 
LObDAS «.322 0-22 s0( oes Soe dee aslo Boe Sane n esse oe cle perc nee snisin ciate a Seo see aieiae a eee ee Me ereee 15, O00 
The islands near Cape Horn and the South Polar Sea..--.-----.. 2. -..--.------- cannes 10, 000 
Lhe Cape.of 'Goodsbope: os... cece seas aes ssa see an ae eae ee ee See eee ae eee eee 5, 000 
The Japanese [slands+62-o te ac coe ce ocetaisiseigeis coecctne cae tse CCee eter omen Coreen Caner 7, 000 
57, 000 
207 In the first group the number of fur-seals killed annually is 
much larger than in the second group. 
Hunting is conducted on rational bases, 7. e., that only such fur-seals 
are killed as are useful for commercial pur poses, 8 seals of a certain size, 
of the male sex, and at a time of year when the fur has the most com- 
mercial value. In addition, the hunting is regulated in such a way that 
the number of fur-seals w hich frequent the islands, far from diminish- 
ing, increases every year. 
In the second group hunting is carried on under no system. Male 
and female fur-seals of every age are killed, without regard to the season 
of the year. In consequence of this destructive method, and the 
absence of protective laws, the complete disappearance of the fur-seals 
from these shores is to be apprehended. As a proof, it is stated that 
millions of fur-seals were found formerly in places in the second group 
where but a few thousands are killed now. 
The period which followed the expiration of the Concession accorded 
to the Russo-American Company for hunting on the Pribyloff and Com- 
mander Islands clearly showed the injurious effect of unrestricted hunt- 
ing on the development and multiplication of fur-seals. After the 
expiration of this Concession the islands became a prey to the first 
comer, and the following figures show the enormous increase in the 
number of fur-seals exter minated during these two years: 
In 1867 the number of fur-seals killed on the Pribyloff Islands was 
40,000; in 1868, 242,000; and in 1869, 87,000. ; 
On the Commander Islands 4,000 fur-seals were killed in 1867 ; 12,000 
in 1868; 21,000 in 1869; and 27 000 i in 1870. 
The complete extermination of the seal species was only prevented 
by the distance of these islands from inhabited countries, and the 
limited numbers of the local population. 
To put an end to these abuses the United States Government con- 
ceded, in 1870, to the Commercial Company of Alaska the right to fur- 
seal hunting on the Pribyloff Islands for twenty years. 
The same Company, under a different name, obtained a similar author- 
ization from the Russian Government to hunt fur-seals on the Com- 
mander and Seal Islands for the same period of twenty years from the 
18th February, 1871. 
