2 FUR SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



Q. These are the ftir-seal islands ? — A. Yes, sir ; the Pribylov group, 

 which consist of two islands. After receiving your summons, Mr. 

 Chairman, I looked np my report of December 30, 1870, to the Secretary 

 of the Treasury, and I find that I can give every part of it as true. It 

 is very brief and at the same time it is a comprehensive statement of 

 the condition of the fisheries. 



Q. Well, sir; we'll be glad to have that. You can just put that in. — 

 A. This report is to be found in Executive Document No. 83, of the 

 Forty-fourth Congress, first session, on page 41. It is only three pages 

 of print, and I think it contains a great deal of information on points 

 which are not liable to mutation or change ; of the conditions of the 

 island and the habits of the seals and the way of hunting there ; and a 

 part of the report refers to the economical aspects of the fisheries at the 

 time, which of course has undergone an immense change since that 

 time, eighteen years ago. 



Washington, D. C, Deccmler 30, 1870. 



Sir: By letter of instructions of May 25, 1870, 1 Lave been detailed to the islands of 

 St. Paul and St. George, Alaska Territory, there to act under the orders of Capt. 

 Charles Bryant, special agent of the Treasury Department, and also to obtain and 

 report to the Deiiartmeut snch information as might be acquired relative to the seal- 

 fishery and tho commercial interests of the islands and of the country generally. 

 Concerning my action at the islands, under tho instructions of Capt. Charles Bryant, 

 I beg leave respectfully to refer to Mr. Bryant's official reports. As to tbo infor- 

 mation which I have been able to acquire relative to the seal-fishery and tho com- 

 mercial interests of the islands and of tho country, I have the honor to submit tho 

 following: 



The islands of St. Paul and St. George, owing to their isolated position, their 

 climate, and tho configuration of their shores, seem to have been particularly de- 

 signed by nature for tho iiropagation of tho species of seals commonly known under 

 tho name of fur-seal, and scientifically classified under tho appellation of phoca 

 ursina. The number of fur-seals congregating every summer at the islands are liter- 

 ally beyond computation. At the commencement ot" tho spring they begin to appear 

 in the Bering Sea, coming from the Pacific through the straits of tho Aleutian 

 Islands, chiefiy through Oonimak Pass. Full-grown males (called bulls) are the 

 earliest visitors at the islands of St. George and St. Paul. They approach the islands 

 in tho last days of April, and after a careful survey of their habitual resting grounds, 

 settle thereon to await the arrival of the females, which takes place considerably 

 later. The seals invariably select for their resting grounds (rookeries) such beaches 

 as aro strewn over with large bowlders, afl'ording a safe hold against the sweep of 

 the surf; flat, sandy beaches are carefully avoided by them, proljably on account of 

 the danger to whicii tho new-born seals would bo exposed of being carried ofl'by the 

 sea before the;y have learned to live in that element. From tho day of their settling 

 on the rookeries to the epoch of the apjjearance of tho females the bulls sleep almost 

 without interruption. 



Toward the end of May they begin to look out for the coming of their families. 

 The females (cows) generally recognize their former mates, andland at their respective 

 rookeries. There being a considerable dift'erence between the male and female in re- 

 gard to age of puberty (six years for the male and two for the female), this species is 

 necessarily polygamous, and an average family numbers about ten cows to one bull. 

 The rookeries nearest to the water are occupied by the propagators, while tho minor 

 individuals of the tribe have to camp on the slopes, where they are more exposed to the 

 danger of being cut off from tho sea and to become tho prey of the hunter. Tho 

 hunting begins as soon as the resting-grounds aro fully occupied, which generally 

 happens about the end of June. It is carried on until tho middle of November, when 

 the seals leave the islands, to disappear for five months in the vast expanse of the 

 Pacific. The surrounding, driving, killing, and flensing of tho fur-seals has been re- 

 duced to a science ^Ty the natives of the islands. A day is waited, for when the direc- 

 tion of the wind allows of a rookery being approached so that the game can not scent 

 the hunters ; a party of from twenty to thirty men, armed with clubs, cautiously ad- 

 vance along the shore until the retreat of the animals toward the sea is cut oft' by the 

 line of hunters ; then, at a signal from tho chief of the expedition, the men rush up 

 the cliffs and drive toward the interior of the island as many seals as have been sur- 

 rounded. 



When the herd has been driven a certain distance from the shore a halt is made, 

 and a sorting of the game as to age, sex, and condition of the fur la effected. This 

 operation requires the exercise of a life-long experience and is of the utmost imijor- 



