140 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



A. No. The exclusive trading claim of Russia to Behring Sea in 1821 

 was never qnestioned by Great Britain or by this Government. 



Q. There is no account of the hunting of seals prior to our acquisi- 

 tion ? — A. No, sir ; and not for many years after. 



Q. Do you think that protection in the waters away from the isl- 

 ands essential to the protection of the herd in the rookeries? — A. I 

 tliink the indiscriminate hunting of seals in the open waters of Ber- 

 ing Sea would result in the extermination of these rookeries in any- 

 where from two to three years. 



Q. In spite of all the care we could take ? — A. That would not have 

 the slightest effect. 



Q. You think simply mating a reservation of the islands upon which 

 the rookeries exist, and keeping other than authorized people away, 

 would not be suflBcient protection ? — A. It certainly would not be, and 

 I can explain why : It is fair to assume that very few of our people 

 clearly understand what peculiar advantages a fur-sealing schooner 

 and her crew would enjoy in Bering Sea for the successful prosecution 

 of their errand, if unchecked. In order that the full significance and 

 importance of that action of our Government which arrests or restrains 

 the pelagic sealer within those waters may be perceived, I offer the fol- 

 lowing epitome. 



It is now well understood and unquestioned by those familiar with the 

 subject : 



(1) That the fur-seal of Alaska is obliged to annually haul out upon the Pribylov 

 Islands for the purpose of breeding and shedding its coat. 



(2) That from the time of its departure from these islands in the fall of every year 

 up to that moment of its return to them in the following spring, it lands nowhere 

 else. 



(3) That it arrives en masse on these islands in June and July, and departs from 

 them in a body during October and November. 



(4) That when leaving the islands in the autumn, it heads directly forand rapidly 

 travels out from Bering Sea into the waters of the North Pacific Ocean ; its paths are 

 bee lines from the Pribylov Group to and through the numerous passes of the Aleutian 

 Archipelago, the passes of Oonimak, Akootan, Oonalga, Oomnak, and the Four Mount- 

 ains being the most favored by it. 



(5) That it returns to the Pribylov Islands from the broad wastes of the North Pa- 

 cific Ocean by these same paths of departure. 



Therefore, if you will glance at a map of Alaska, you will observe 

 that the convergence of those watery paths of the fur-seal as it trav- 

 erses Bering Sea, going to and from the seal islands, resembles the 

 spread of the spokes of a half wheel — the Aleutian chain forms the fel- 

 low, while the hub into which the spokes enter and meet is the small 

 Pribylov Group. 



Hence, it will be noted that as these watery paths of the fur-seal 

 converge in Bering Sea, they, in so doing, rapidly and solidly mass to- 

 gether thousands and tens of thousands of widely scattered animals at 

 points, ten, fifty, and even one hundred miles distant, at sea, from their 

 landing on the breeding rookeries. 



Here, then, is the location and the opportunity of the pelagic sealer, 

 anywhere from ten to one hundred miles south of and distant from the 

 seal islands; there is his chance to lay at anchor over the shallow bed 

 of Bering Sea, where he has the best " holding ground" known to mar- 

 iners, and where he can safely ride out the wildest gales, with no dan- 

 ger of a lee-shore even if his tackle breaks ; while on the other hand 

 the immediate vicinity of any pass of the Aleutian Chain is too danger- 

 ous for a prudent sailor — the tide rips there, the swift currents drift 



