INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 691 



the same as at St. Paul, only not so many seals, and — no, my father did not go over 

 there with him. Why? Because the St. George work was always kept by itself — ■ 

 had its own books without any connection with the business on St. Paul. This was 

 so ordered at the start by the old company and never departed from until your people 

 took the islands. Why? Because Baranov thought it best to stimulate rivalry 

 between the work on the islands by making each one strive to do better every year 

 than the other. It may have been good business management, if such rivalry did 

 not hint the seals, but it did hurt them — it destroyed them. 



""When Capt. Yahnovsky finished and left the islands in November he gave my 

 father a handsome letter, assuring him of his regard and praising him for the truthful 

 and intelligent information which he had secured from him. At Sitka, in February, 

 YahnoA-sky prepared his report and sent it to the directors. He did not go home 

 with it, unfortunately for the seals, because he had other investigations of the com- 

 pany's work to make. 



"Well, the directors did not comply with Yahnovsky's recommendation that the 

 killing be stopped altogether — they complimented him, but made no change in 

 their requisitions. Then Moorayvev, who was very much stirred up at Sitka by the 

 condition of affairs on the island because he himself went up in 1820, after Yahnovsky's 

 wish was made known to him, and there saw for himself the truth; he decided to rest 

 the seals in 1S23, and ordered that no attempt to get more than 10,000 be made then 

 (1823 ), and for the next year's catch the result of the sealing in 1823 would determine; 

 in spite of all they hoped for the seals grew fewer, and the small catch of 8,000 or 

 10,000 was again ordered for 1824, 1825, and 1826; then an attempt in 1827 was made 

 to get 40,000, and though all possible effort was made, not quite 28,000 seals were 

 secured. 



"The same close killing was made in 1828, and continued to the close of 1834, when 

 barely 12,000 small seals could be secured, My father saw that the end of this work 

 was close at hand unless the seals had a chance to live and naturally increase. So, 

 when he sent his report down to the chief manager at Sitka, together with the season's 

 catch, November 12, he said that in spite of his utmost effoits he had been able to get 

 onlv 12,000 skins instead of the 32,000 asked for. He closed this letter by saying that, 

 in his best judgment, it was not safe to kill any more seals for several years to come, 

 since the male life was on the near approach to complete extinction ; he had to do thia 

 in humble and respectful language; you know that the management was — what you 

 callit? Irresponsible? No, "autocratic"? Yes; that is it. It was always obedience 

 to orders and no questions about them; that was the style of the management, and my 

 father was trained to it. 



"No copy of Yahnovsky's report was ever filed in Sitka, or with the papers of that 

 office; it was a special report and for the directors at St. Petersburg. No, you will 

 not find anything about it in Techmainov's big book which I have here, and all that 

 appears relative to that work of Yahnovsky is a short letter of the directors [showing 

 it], dated St. Petersburg, March 15, 1821, which denies Capt. Yahnovsky's recom- 

 mendation, and is addressed to Gen. Moorayvev at Sitka. No, it is not strange that 

 Yahnovsky's report was not filed with other papers at Sitka. It was a secret report 

 for the information of the board, and which the board had secretly ordered. Your 

 report that you are making is a public report, and it can not be hidden or suppressed. 

 You see, the old company was in difficulty for money, and the Imperial Government 

 was being pressed by the stockholders for money which was due and not paid for 

 years back. Yahnovsky's report, which showed the danger ahead to the value of 

 that industry, was not the sort of a paper to make public under the circumstances, 

 because it was none of the public's business and would only have made more trouble 

 for the board . 



"For this same reason my father's letters, always telling of loss and danger to the 

 seals, were not allowed to be published by the secretary of the company, and you will 

 not find one of them in this big history of the company (Techmainov's). Yes, Tech- 

 mainov is the only man who had access to the company's papers, and the only one 

 who has written anything about the company based upon facts. 



' 'Yes, Veniaminov got his facts and figures all from my father. You know my father 

 had a dual office ; he was the "bidarshik " and also the deacon or lay priest on St. Paul; 

 every year or other year sometimes, a full ordained priest would visit the islands and 

 marry the people and perform other functions which the deacon could not do. But 

 as a lay priest my father had to make an annual report to the bishop at Kodiak or Sitka, 

 and in that way he became well known to the church authorities. The condition of 

 the church on St. Paul depended for good or bad upon the condition of the sealing 

 business; if plenty of seals, then the church was self-supporting; if seals were scarce, 

 then the church needed help. So my father's letters always told about the seals, and 

 Bishop Veniaminov got deeply interested in them and encouraged mv father to con- 



