738 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1038 



includes botli sexes. We have a right to as- 

 sume that this order was an intelligent inter- 

 pretation of Tanovsky's recommendation. 

 He had reported that the young seals were too 

 closely killed; the order was that a reserve of 

 such animals should be set aside for breeding 

 purposes. 



It may be noted, therefore, that the testi- 

 mony of the Russian agent Tanovsky is that 

 in the period at and prior to 1820 the Rus- 

 sians were killing young female seals. 



The statements of Bishop Veniaminof are 

 much more detailed and definite. In the Zon 

 translation from page 353 of the Zapiski, we 

 read: 



Under the name Kotiki, or gray pups, are classed 

 the four-months-old males and females, which were 

 born in the spring and which form the largest 

 and almost the entire quantity of seals used in 

 the trade. 



This means that the Russian sealing took 

 chiefly the gray pups at the age of four months, 

 male and female alike. Amplifying this idea 

 further, we may continue to quote from page 

 360: 



Some years in September the young pups form 

 large pods and congregate in special places and 

 lie carelessly, so that they all can be driven off 

 without leaving a single one behind. Such pods 

 are very advantageous for the trade but are the 

 most ruinous for the increase of the herd. 



The reason for this is made plain on page 

 364. After describing at considerable length 

 the Russian method of driving and sorting 

 the seals, which was from the breeding 

 grounds and included all classes of animals, 

 he concludes with these words: 



As soon as they are rested the killing is begun 

 with clubs. Small pups which were born the same 

 summer are killed without discrimination, both 

 males and females. 



These are very positive statements and there 

 can be no doubt about the translation. They 

 confirm the statement of Tanovsky that the 

 Russians killed the young seals too closely, 

 leaving only the " old breeding animals " for 

 propagation. As these older animals died off 

 in the course of time through natural termi- 



nation of life, the herd necessarily declined. 

 The account of Veniaminof adds other de- 

 tails of importance, among them that the gen- 

 eral oversight and control exercised by the 

 Russians was inadequate. He says, page 368 : . 



From the very discovery of the Pribilof Islands 

 (1786) until 1805 ... the industry on both is- 

 lands was carried on without any plan, because at 

 that time there were many companies and there- 

 fore many masters and each of them attempted 

 to kill as many seals as possible. 



As a result of this it was necessary to cease 

 killing for a time, but the irresponsible meth- 

 ods were not reformed and so Veniaminof 

 continues : 



From the time of those close seasons, that is on 

 the island of St. Gteorge from the year 1808 and 

 on the island of St. Paul from 1810 to 1822, kill- 

 ing was carried on on both islands without any 

 economy and even with extreme negligence, so 

 that even sikatchi (adult bulls) were killed for 

 their skins and mother seals perished by the hun- 

 dreds in the drives and in their journeys from the 

 breeding grounds to the slaughtering places. 



This is from page 369. Then came the order 

 of Muraviev, already cited, following the re- 

 port of Tanovsky — to save young seals for 

 breeding. Even this order was disregarded, 

 as we learn from page 371, where Veniaminof 

 tells us. 



It was ordered that more care should be exer- 

 cised in separating adult and young females from 

 the seals which were being killed, and to try as 

 far as possible to reserve some of those which 

 would regularly be killed. 



These are the Russian records in so far as 

 they are available to us. They show that Rus- 

 sian sealing was not confined to the bache- 

 lors, as is the land sealing of to-day and that 

 it included females as well as males. 



This was all prior to 1834. The efforts 

 toward reform of these early methods failed, 

 one after another, because they were directed 

 toward limitation or suspension of all killing 

 for brief periods and not toward the elimina- 

 tion of indiscriminate killing. With the crisis 

 of 1834 came a complete change in Russian 

 methods. Prior to that time the driving had 



