282 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES CF ALASKA. 



REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SEAL FISHERIES IN ALASKA. 



The law limits the number of seals which may be killed for their skins on the 

 islands of St. Paul and St. George to one hundred thousand (100,0UU) per annum. 

 At present the quota is fixed at eighty thousand (80,000) for St. Paul Island and 

 twenty thousand ("20,000) for St. Georgelsland. This proportion may be varied from 

 time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, as facts may seem to demand. 



The skins will be counted by Treasury agents as they are placed in the salt houses, 

 and again as they are placed on board the vessel ; and a daily record of the count will 

 be kept. This record will be filed, and from it will be entered, in a ledger, a proper 

 report of the season's catch. At the close of each season a report to the Treasury 

 Department will be made by the principal agent, showing the number of skins taken 

 and shipped, which will include the skins of any seals killed for food and accepted 

 by the company as part of its quota. The report will also show to what extent the 

 company has performed the other conditions of the lease, with respect to furnishing 

 supplies to the natives, keeping the school, etc., and generally embracing a review 

 for the year of the condition of affairs at the islands. The natives are expected to 

 perform the work assigned them in an orderly and proper manner, and the making 

 or the use of " quass" or other intoxicating drinks will be discouraged by the officers 

 of the company and of the Government, and, when necessary, the issuance of sup- 

 plies from which such beverages can be made may be refused. To do the coarser kind 

 of work, such as salting the skins, etc., the company is authorized to take from other 

 parts of the Territory a proi)er number of men who may be used to do the work of 

 killing or flaying, should the natives of the islands fail or refuse to do their work or 

 to perforin it in a satisfactory manner. 



The Treasury agents are expected to maintain order, require the attendance of the 

 children at the school, and lend their best efforts to regulate the condition of affairs 

 so as to promote the welfare of the natives and advance them in civilization. 



Occasional visits will be made by the Government officers to Otter Island, situate 

 about six miles from St. Paul Island, where large numbers of seals congregate, in order 

 to keep off marauders and i^revent the unlawful killing of seals. On shipment of the 

 skins from the seal islands, a certificate, signed by the Treasury agent and by the 

 captain of the vessel, of the number of skins laden on board, will be made out in du- 

 plicate, one copy to be given to the captain and one to be retained by the agent. 

 The captain will, on arrival, deliver his copy to the collector of customs at San Fran- 

 cisco.' The skins will be then counted by officers detailed by the collector for that 

 purpose, and a record of each day's count made. Temporary payment of tax will be 

 accepted on the count of skins made at San Francisco, and a report will, upon pay- 

 ment of such tax, be made by the collector to the Treasury, showing the number of 

 skins embraced in the certificate presented by the captain, the number ascertained 

 by the San Francisco count, and the sum paid as tax. Should any considerable vari- 

 ance be shown by these reports between the count of the skins made at the islands 

 and that made at San Francisco the Department will take such action in regard 

 thereto as the facts may appear to demand. 



Mr. Manchester, the assistant agent, who had been upon the islands 

 the year before, landed the same spring with Mr. Gavitt, and having 

 had one year's experience upon the island,* 1 said to Mr. Gavitt, " Mr, 

 Gavitt, Mr. Manchester knows all about this business, and is fully 

 posted and fully instructed, and that you may get along smoothly when 

 you are lef<" here alone at the close of the season, and Mr. Manchester 

 goes over to St. Paul, I will leave Mr. Manchester in charge of the 

 islands for the summer. You will be instructed by Mr. Manchester. 

 You will observe bow he conducts the business, learn it, and be better 

 equipped for going through the winter alone." He did not seem to 

 like it, and was very much displeased with it, in fact. From that 

 time on he was hostilfe and displeased with me for making him subject 

 to Mr. Manchester. Mr. Manchester instructed him as far as he would 

 receive any instructions from him, but he was not disposed to take it 

 from Manchester ; in fact, he treated him very disrespectfully and un- 

 kindly. 



Mr. Gavitt was left in charge in August and Mr. Manchester was 

 placed in charge of St. Paul Island. I returned, by authority of the 

 Department, a copy of which authority I have here, back to San Fran- 

 cisco and spent the winter. On my return to the islands in the spring 



