EXHAUSTION OF THE KURIL ROOKERIES. 259 



1885. — Several schooners, according to Snow, took 6,000 seals on Ralkoke; Petersen, in the 



Diana, obtained 107 on Mushir, while he himself got 12 at Srednoi and 384 on Mnshir; 



together 6,491 



1886. — Three schooners with 886 seals on Ralkoke. The Diana is supposed to have obtained 



some (possibly 100) on Mushir, Raikoke, etc 986 



1887. — The Diana is said to have obtained 401 seals on Raikoke and the Base 520 921 



1888. — Only 9 skins are on record for this year, having been taken on Raikoke by the Diana... 9 



1889. — The record slightly better, two schooners obtaining 44 together. The 36 skins taken 



by Japanese schooners are those obtained by the Suisan Kaisha, and the figures are official.. 44 



1890.— Only the schooners of the Suisan Kaisha seem to have obtained skins on the Kuril 



Islands, the official figures being 379 -■ 379 



1891.— The same remark applies to this year 44 



1892. — Suisan Kaisha only got 3 and the Diana obtained 37 skins on Raikoke. Sagiro Kwata 



claims to have taken 300 on Raikoke ; say 340 



1893. — Xhe Retriever secured 6 on Broughton, Sagiro Kwata claims to have killed 60 on Raikoke, 



and the Suisan Kaisha obtained 9 "here and there" on th§ Kurils, of which 3 were taken on 



Mushir, September 19 ; 3 on Raikoke, September 23, and 1 on Srednoi between September 26 



and November 13 (Nozawa in letter) 75 



1894. — According to the official report of Mr. Niva in the Third Chishima Maru, that vessel killed 



4 males on Mushir on September 11 (Rep. Jap. Fish. Bur., 1894, p. 202) 4 



1895. — Sagiro Kwata got " a few" on Broughton, possibly the same 8 found there by the Third 



Chishima Maru early in August (Rep. Jap. Fish. Bur. , 1895, p. 146) 8 



1896. — The only ones taken this year seem to have been the 12 obtained by the Takumo Maru 



on August 19 12 



• Total 24,491 



HOW MANY PUB SEALS ARE LEFT ON THE EUEILS ? 



The question Las been asked : How many seals properly belonging to the Kuril 

 Island rookeries are still left ? 



It is a hard one to answer in a deiinite way, yet it is easy to fix a maximum. As 

 related before, during a careful inspection in 1896 of the rocks where the seals used to 

 breed, I myself did not see one, though I am willing to believe that a few may yet be 

 left which were at sea somewhere. We have, however, asked other people the same 

 question, who were there the same summer, and who have been there every year for 

 many seasons, and all agree that there are yet a few left. How many ? A hundred ? 

 No ; decidedly not. Fifty ? Possibly. Thirty ? Hardly more. 



CAUSE OF THE EXHAUSTION OP THE KURIL ISLANB ROOKERIES. 



In fifteen years the rookeries which we have conservatively estimated at nearly 

 25 000 seals have been reduced to scarcely more than 30 individuals, all told. 



And the cause? Indiscriminate slaughter, wholesale at first, then in rapidly 

 dwindling numbers, but what is of importance, unremittingly and with no trace of or 

 pretense at protection. Eobben Island offers an interesting parallel and yet a 



Government having confiscated certain catches may lead somebody on the track of the mystery, and 

 for that reason the statement has been reproduced here. 



Mr. Nozawa also presented another account, also by an Aino, but which he distinctly stated to 

 be unreliable, to the effect that "clubbing took place chiefly between 1877 and 1882; that during that 

 time 5 000 to 10,000 skins were taken annually hy one vessel, gradually decreasing to 400 to 500 per vessel, 

 the whole catch since 1883 being about 10,000 a year." Of course this statement is simply ridiculous. 



