626 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



when the families show signs of breaking- up, which condition becomes 

 general by the middle of September, and the Seals are nearly all in the 

 water. The young also begin their attempts at swimming early in 

 August, and are ready to accompany the adults to sea during the two 

 succeeding months. A few Seals remain late into the winter. The 

 adult males eat nothing during the entire season, but the females go 

 back and forth from the islands constantly. The "hauling-grounds" are 

 frequented by the young or immature males. They are much more ex- 

 tensive than the breeding-grounds and of different character, princi- 

 pally covering level, smooth ground. The " Holluschickie," as the 

 young males are termed, spend their time in sleeping, bathing, and 

 procuring food, and in restless movements, hither and thither, over a 

 large area. They show a playful and harmless disposition and do not 

 indulge in combats with one another as do the old males on the breed- 

 ing-grounds. It is from the Holluschickie that a selection is made for 

 killing, as many of those of three and four years as possible being in- 

 cluded. The fur in animals of this age is in the finest condition and 

 most valuable commercially. There is apparently no diminution in the 

 number of Seals frequenting the islands, and with a reasonable amount 

 of watchfulness on the part of the Government there need be no fear 

 of their extinction, unless from natural agencies at work in that part of 

 the globe. In 1842 an unusually severe winter caused much havoc 

 among them, and it is probable that similar conditions will produce a 

 like effect at intervals in the future. 



THE FTJR SEAL FISHERY. 



Shortly after the acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1868, the Seal 

 fishery was taken under the control of the Government of the United 

 States aud leased, August 7, 1870, to the highest bidder, the Alaska 

 Commercial Company, at a rental of $55,000 per annum, and a tax of 

 $2,624 per skin for a period of twenty years, under the provision that 

 only a hundred thousand pelts should be taken each year. The Seals 

 killed, as already stated, are males of three and four years, from the 

 great hordes of " Holluschickie" which swarm over the hauling-grounds. 



The work of preparingthe skins is done by about eighty of the resident 

 Aleutes who are employed by the company. The Seals selected for 

 killing are driven away from the coast a short distance and dispatched 

 by well-directed blows on the head. The skinning is immediately done, 

 since a delay of even two or three hours causes serious damage to the 

 skins by the loosening of the hair. The natives have become very 

 skillful in this work, so that the loss of skins from bad cutting and the 

 like does not exceed one-fourth of one per cent. The sum of 40 cents 

 is paid for each skin prepared, and at the close of the season, when the 

 account is settled, the amount paid out aggregates about $40,000. The 

 fishery is at present con lined to about 40 days in the earlier part of the 



