PELAGIC SEALING. 263 ' 



AUTHORITIES FOR FIGURES USED IN FOREGOING TABLE. 

 [In quoting from Fur-Seal Arbitration Papers, the first edition is always referred to.] 



' Fur-seal Arbitration. App. to U. S. Case, vol. 1, p. 591. 



^ Catches for years 1868 to 1879, incluBiye* are made up of' northwest coast catches (Fur-Seal Arbitration; British 

 Commissioners' Report, p. 207 et seq.); Indian canoe catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp.207, 208), and skins 

 obtained through the Hudson Bay Company's trading stations (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213. 



^ Catches of pelagic sealers and Indian canoes (British Commissioners' Report,pp. 207, 208),and returns from Hudson 

 Bay Company's posts (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213). 



*San Francisco custom-house records; Deputy Collector Jerome's letters of February 26 et seq., 1892, on file in 

 Treasury Department. 



^ Catch of schooner Oity of San Diego (British Commissioners' Report, p. 208). 



® Catches of pelagic sealers in North Pacific and Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 209), and returns from 

 Hudson Bay Company's posts (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213). 



' Catches in North Pacific from all sources (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 210, 213). 



^Marketed catches from Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 210) plus 2,000 skins seized on schooners 

 Onioard, Thornton, Oarolena, and San Diego (H. H. Mclntyre's manuscript report to Alaska Commercial Company, a copy 

 of which is In possession of Department. 



^British commissioners' estimated catch of American vessels in all localities (British Commissioners' Report, p. 212). 



'"North Pacific catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 210, 213). 



II Marketed catches from Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 210) plus 8,910 skins seized in Bering Sea and 

 unaccounted for by British commissioners; 11,901 skins were seized that year (United States Counter Case, p. 337), and the 

 British commissioners, on page 210 of their report, account for 2,991 of them. 



"North Pacific catches (British Commissioners* Report, pp. 213, 21B). 



'^ Bering Sea catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 211, 212). 



"North Pacific catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 211, 213). 



*s This figure, 27,450, is the sum of the figures 22,530 and 4,920, the origin of which will be found under note 16. The 

 British commissioners, on pago IS of their report, give the approximate total catch as 68,000. 



i^In a letter from the British foreign oflioe to the Secretary of State, dated May 17, 1895, the Bering Sea catch of 

 British vessels for 1891 Is quoted at 29,146. It has been found by this Department that these figures represent the total 

 catch in Bering Sea— that is, including seals killed off the western side. In Russian waters, as well as off the eastern 

 side, which afterwards became the award area. This Is borne out by the fact that it appears by the British case before 

 the tribunal at Paris that 41 vessels were warned out of the American side of Bering Sea between Jane 29 and August 

 15, 1891, under the modus vivendi of June 15 of that year. It Is certain that many of these vessels crossed over to the 

 Russian side of Bering Sea and continued sealing until the close of the season. 



Statistics made by Mr. Alfred Fraser,nowin possession of the Treasury Department, show that 8,432 skins were 

 thus taken on the western side of Bering Sea in Russian waters. Of these, 6,616 were taken by British vessels and 1,816 

 by American vessels. We should, therefore, deduct from the British figures (29,146) the sum of 6,616, leaving 22,530 as the 

 British catch in the award area— that is, the eastern side of Bering Sea^for the year 1891. 



It further appears from Mr. Fraser's figures that the American catch In Bering Sea in 1891 was 6,736, of which 1,816 

 were taken in Russian waters and 4,920 in the award area. Adding to the corrected British catch, 22,530, the catch of the 

 American vessels, 4,920, we have 27,450 as the total catch of British and American vessels in that part of Bering Sea known 

 as the award area for the year 1891 . 



In the report of the Committee on Ways and Means to accompany H. R. 8909, Fifty-third Congress, third session. 

 Report No. ]849, the catch in Bering Sea for the year 1891 was given as 23,041 on the authority of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment. These figures included only the returns of British vessels, as no reliable returns as to American vessels were then 

 in possession of the Department. The result was reached by deducting from the estimate given by Consul Meyers in his 

 report (United States counter case), 28,605, a number of skins estimated to have been taken off the Russian coast. This 

 estimate was reached by a careful examination of all catches referred to in the affidavits and other papers in the case and 

 counter case of the United States and Great Britain, excluding those which were clalpaed to have been taken off the 

 Russian coast. 



That theBritish returns (above cited), 29,146, include seals taken on the western side of Bering Sea, from the Russian 

 herd, will appear, as above stated, from the fact of the warning of said vessels, under the modus vivendi, and their subse- 

 quent crossing to the Russian coast. 



The report of the minister of marine and fisheries of Canada for 1891 credits none of the catch to Russian waters. In 

 1892, however, said report credits 14,805 skins out of a total of 53,912 from said Asiatic shores. The fact that this large 

 catch was made in 1892 points strongly to similar catches in the year 1891, which are confirmed by the above-mentioned 

 evidence. 



"? Obtained by subtracting the total of 27,450 and 8,432 from 68,000. 



'* See United States Counter Case, page 408. 



IB Taken from Alfred Fraser's estimates for American sealing fleet in Asiatic waters. Skins entered in United 

 States ports. 



^ The smallneos of the number, 2,199, suggests that either many of the vessels after clearing sailed directly for the 

 Japan coast, or else the catches off the northwest coast were transshipped at Japan ports. 



21 The American catch for 1893 is based upon statistics compiled by A. Fraser and on file in the Treasury Depart- 

 ment. The United States consul at Yictoria states (Consulat Reports No. 161, p. 279) that American schooners in 1893 



