72 THE ASIATIC FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 



the same condition as I found it in 1896. Between these two years lies the whole rise 

 and fall of the Eobben Island fur-seal rookery. 



In administrative respect Eobben Island is under the jurisdiction of the adminis- 

 trator of the Commander Islands and is included in the lease of the latter. In fact, 

 Eobben Island is regarded as a dependency of Bering Island, as the men of the killing 

 gang are taken from that island and the money for the Eobben Island seals goes to 

 the Bering Island natives. Since 1885 th'fe government has stationed a force of 15 to 

 20 sailors and one or two officers of the navy on Eobben Island, in order to protect it 

 against the raiders, but apparently with but poor success, judging from the history to 

 be related further on. This failure is partly due to the fact that on account of the 

 severity of the season the guard has been taken off before the middle of October. 



As remarked above, the island is included in the lease of the Commander Islands, 

 and Hutchinson, Kohl, Philippeus & Co. took possession of it in 1871. The Eobben 

 Island part of the business was attended to chiefly by the schooner Leon, Capt. John 

 Gr. Blair; mate, Mr. E. Kluge. The name of the schoouer belonging to the new 

 company is the Bobrik, 119 tons (pi. 596), Capt. D. Groenberg, master,' who for many 

 years was first mate and late captain of the old company's steamer Alelcsander II 

 (pi. 59a). The skins have hitherto been shipped to London via San Francisco. 

 During 1897 the schooner was laid up, and the natives brought to and from the island 

 by the company's Okhotsk tea steamers, in which the skins were also brought to 

 Petropaulski. 



HISTORY OF ROBBBN ISLAND. 



The history of this little reef is very interesting and highly instructive as showing 

 how nearly impossible it is to extirpate the seals either by harsh measures on shore or 

 by excessive raids from marauding vessels, provided there be some protectioji extended 

 to them, however small. 



The existence of seal rookeries on Eobben Island was probably first discovered^ 

 by some of the numerous American whalers frequenting Okhotsk Sea in the early 



the bulls arrived very slowly; on June 5 (old style) there were in all 28 males, 65 females, and one pup; in 

 1892 the ice also remained late on northern Saghalin, and on May 15th (oldstyle) there was not one seal 

 on the rookery, the first hnll arriving on the 16th of May (old style). In 1893 the first bulls appeared 

 on May 17 (old style) at the coast, although broken ice was lying along the eastern side ; the temperature 

 of the water was 25° C. Ice was covering the deep water of Terpenia Bay. • * * In 1891 at the 

 end of the period of birth, there were on .luly 3 (old style) 5,000 females and 4,000 pups, showing 

 one-fifth of the females to be virgin. Lieutenant Brumer notes the following special circumstance: 

 In .July and the beginning of August (old style) there were about 15,000 to 17,000 seals, but in 

 September the inhabitants of the rookery had increased considerably." 



Dr. Slunin himself, in the beginning of May (old style), 1892, calculated the number of seals on 

 Tiuleni to be from 13,000 to 16,000 all told, allowing 3 square feet to each animal, large and small {op. 

 cit., p. 17). Here seems to be some mistake. According to his own maximum figures of the extent of 

 the rookery it covered only 18,000 square feet, which according to his way of calculating would only 

 give 6,000 seals, large and small. In 1892 the first bulls arrived about May 16 (old style)°and the first 

 females May 20 (op. cit., p. 27). This is contrary to what he states on p. 18, where it is 'said that in 

 1892 the bulls arrived about June 15-18 (old style), and the females came ashore on June 26. 



' Now commanding the comjiany's barkentine Bering. 



2 The existence of the island itself was known long before that, however. It is fairly well located 

 on a map published by the ctuartermaster-general's department, St. Petersburg, 1802. 



