CONTENTS. 7 



A. — The Russian Fcr-Seal Islands, 1741 to 1897 — Continued. Page. 



"V. — uA.. comparative study of the conditions of the sealing industry on the Pribilof 

 Islands and on the Commander Islands — Continued. 



Number of seals on the islands 222 



Management of the fur-seal industry 224 



Hydrography and feeding grounds 225 



Pelagic sealing 225 



Protective measures 226 



Is a temporary stoppage of killing on land advisable? 227 



VI.— Conclusions 229 



Summary - - 229 



Cause of tlie decline 230 



Future prospects on Commander Islands 231 



VII.— Bibliography 232 



B. — The Kuril Fur-Seal Islands and the Pur-Sbal Industry of Japan 237 



I. — Introduction 237 



Authority for the investigation 237 



Itinerary 237 



Acknowledgments .- 238 



II. — The Japanese Fur-seal Islands 239 



1. Description of the Kuril Islands 239 



Meteorology 241 



Prof. C. Carpmael's notes '. 241 



Capt. H. J. Snow on the climate 241 



Plants 243 



2. The Eookery islands -. - 246 



Mushir Kocks 246 



Raikoke 248 



Srednoi Rocks 249 



Makanruru Island , 250 



3. History of the Japanese Fur-seal Islands 251 



Early conditions 251 



Discovery and later history of the rookeries 258 



u,. Srednoi rookery 254 



6. Mushir rookery - 255 



c. Raikoke rookeries 256 



d. Makanruru rookery 256 



Estimate of number of seals on the Kuril rookeries when discovered 257 



Number of fur-seals killed on Kuril Islands 257 



How many fur-seals are left on the Kurils ? 259 



Cause of exhaustion of the Kuril rookeries 259 



Can the Kuril rookeries be restored? 260 



III. — Pelagic sealing in Japanese waters 261 



»Beginning of pelagic sealing on Asiatic side 261 



Three classes of pelagic sealers in Japanese waters 262 



Migration of Commander Islands herd 262 



Conditions of the pelagic sealing off Japan 264 



Proportionate number of seals shot at and skins secured 266 



Tables of catches, 1890-1897 267 



Analysis of pelagic seal catches off the coast of Japan 268 



The contention of the pelagic sealers ^ 272 



The future of pelagic sealing in Japanese waters '• 273 



Extracts of sealing logs 276 



