FURS AND THEIR WEARERS. 



151 



the Alaska territory. When, in 1869, General George H. Thomas 

 was sent by our government to examine and report upon the country, 

 he estimated the fur-bearing seals, or sea-otters, seen each summer on 

 these islands, at from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000, lying in the rookeries, 

 and covering hundreds of acres. For the last fifty or sixty years, the 

 Russian Government had limited the number of skins to be taken 

 yearly to some 80,000 or less. As General Thomas recommended that 

 the hunting and killing of these animals should be regulated by law, 

 Congress, in 1870, adopted substantially the Russian system; and in 

 a few weeks the Alaska Company, of which Hon. Henry P. Haven, 



Fig. 11. 



Chinchilla. 



of New London, Connecticut, is a prominent owner and influential 

 officer, leased from the United States the islands of St. Paul and St. 

 George. The company contracted to pay a rent of $55,000 per an- 

 num, and a revenue tax of 82.62-J- on each fur-seal taken and shipped 

 from the islands. Two United States officials are stationed on each 

 of these islands to see that the company complies with the conditions 

 of the lease, and to count the skins as they are shipped to San Fran- 

 cisco, where they are again counted by the custom-house officers. The 

 number taken annually must not exceed 100,000. The catch in 1872 

 amounted to 96,069 skins. The sea-otter is the boldest swimmer of 

 the amphibious tribe, for troops of them are met with 300 miles from 

 land. When holding a fore- paw over their eyes, in order to look 

 about them with more distinctness, they are called sea-apes. They 

 are exclusively found in the North Pacific Ocean and on its borders, 

 between the 49th and 60th degrees of latitude; and, although living 

 mostly in the water, they are occasionally found on land very far from 



