136 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



Q. I wish you would state in tbat connection what other fur-seal 

 rookeries exist in the workl.— A. To the best of my knowledge, there is 

 a small, very small rookery on the Lobos Islands, just north of the 

 mouth of the Eio de la Plata, on the eastern coast of South Amer- 

 ica, owned and protected by the Argentine Eepublic. South of those 

 islets about 100 miles, at Cabo Corrientes, under the hij>h cliffs, there 

 are a couple of small bluffy haulinf? grounds controlled by the same 

 power. I do not know of any other breeding grounds located and pro- 

 tected elsewhere in the world. 



Q. What do you know of the history of the former existence of fur- 

 seal rookeries in other parts of the world ?— A. What I know I have 

 learned from a patient reading of all the old sailors' narratives, and from 

 navigators and merchants, and from returns of sales at Canton and 

 other markets -, but, on the whole, the knowledge that 1 have of the exact 

 importance and position of those rookeries is very unsatisfactory. I 

 know, however, from analogy, that those interests, in the south^seas 

 must have been the most valuable, and of much greater extent prior 

 to their discovery in 1778, and extermination in 1845, by the combined 

 efforts of all nationalities, than our own are to day. 



Q. What has become of those rookeries; are they still in existence ? — 

 A. :N"o, not even to any microscopic extent. A few scattered animals, 

 however, must breed here and there in inaccessible places, because every 

 year now several hundred skins are secured from the antarctic. 



Q. So far as your knowledge of the existence of seal rookeries is con- 

 cerned, is it true that they have all been practically exterminated and 

 destroyed, except those under our protection and Eussia ?— A. Yes, 

 sir ; there are no such breeding grounds anywhere else to-day. It is 

 remotely stated that fur seals have in earlier tunes bred to a great ex- 

 tent on islands otf the coast of California ; but certainly they do not 

 breed there now, and have not for the last thirty or forty years. These 

 Californian rookeries, however, never could have been extensive. 



Q. Will you state the nature, character, and habits of the fur seal, 

 and what measures have been adopted to prevent unnecessary waste 

 and destruction of seal life ?— A. The nature of the fur seal is that of a 

 perfect amphibian. I think the fur seal is the most perfectly organized 

 of all the amphibians. The fur seal is obliged by its nature to secure 

 its living in the water and reproduce its species on the land ; therefore 

 in obedience to this law of existence it is obliged to " haul up " at stated 

 periods every year on these breeding grounds I have mentioned. Its 

 forefeet or " flippers" are exceedingly broad and powerful, and when 

 it comes out of the water it moves forward stepping with considerable 

 rapidity and much grace. It is an animal of great intelligence, much 

 more so, I think, than most naturalists give it credit for It speedily 

 anticipates danger and readily understands the disposition of man not 

 to disturb it. This»trait has been conspicuously exhibited on the 

 breeding grounds in Alaska, where right in sight of and less that 200 

 yards from the killing grounds of St. Paul, where the groans of the 

 dying can be heard and blood of the slain smelled, the breeding seals 

 on the Lagoon Eookery continue to come and increase year after year, 

 knowing that they are never disturbed, and that man has no disposi- 

 tion to interfere with them. This shows a very remarkable degree of 

 intelligence. 



Q. So tliat they will stand a considerable amount of noise and con- 

 fusion, so long as it does not disturb the breeding rookeries ?— A. Pre- 

 cisely so. They are In full sight of the village and yet feel easy. But 

 if you disturb them, go among them, or attempt to drive off" a few 



