INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 717 



Mr. Elliott. That is the natural law. When the female returns 

 from her second migration, as a 2-year-old, she goes to the breeding 

 grounds, being in heat for the first time; and from that time she 

 never consorts with the bachelors on the hauling grounds. But 

 the 2-year-old male never goes on the breeding grounds until he is 

 6 years old, because he is not strong enough. 



Mr. Pattox. What was the weight limit in 1870 for killing? 



Mr. Elliott. They had no official regulations at all until 1896. 

 I am coming to that. Nobody wanted the yearlings in those days; 

 there was not the slightest inducement to kill them. They were 

 not worth taking in 1870: nobody wanted them. 



Mr. Stephexs. When did they first begin to take yearling skins? 



Mr. Elliott. Eighteen hundred and ninety-six. That is when 

 they began to kill them for the first time, in violation of the law and 

 regulations. 



Mr. Pattox. Why did they commence taking them if they were 

 of no use ? 



Mr. Elliott. Because the value rose. 



Mr. Pattox. They were taken then? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes. When the bigger seals disappeared, and they 

 could not get them; and, the catch fell, from 100,000 in 1889, to 

 20,000 in 1890, then they went to the dregs or "small-pup" slcins, for 

 the demand put up the price. 



The Chairman. Then it was they commenced to take the young 

 seals, because there was money enough in them ? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes. It did not pay when I was there in 1872; 

 they rotted on the ground; they were of no value. 



1872. In 1872, under date of St. Paul Island, September 5, 1872, 

 Chief Special Agent Charles Bryant has the following official report 

 to make in re the appearance of the yearlings there on the hauling 

 grounds during the killing seasons of June and July (seep. 36, Seal 

 and Salmon Fisheries, vol. 1) : 



It is also observable tbat a larger number of yearlings or last year's pups than 

 usual have returned to the island the present season. 



1873. In 1873, under date of September 30, Special Agent Charles 

 Bryant in an extended official report to the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury has this to say, particularly of the yearlings (see p. 40, Seal 

 and Salmon Fisheries, vol. 1): 



It was also observable that a much larger number of 1-year-old seals arrived on 

 the island during July and August, as if the season had been more favorable for them 

 while absent during the winter and the destruction of them less than usual. 



1874. In 1874 Assistant Agent Samuel Falconer, and in charge 

 of St. George Island since 1871, makes to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury an elaborate report upon the seal herd and its condition, 

 dated August 1, 1874. On page 57, Seal and Salmon Fisheries, 

 he has this to say about the yearlings, showing his full understand- 

 ing of the fact that they hauled out males and females alike to- 

 gether on the hauling grounds during June and July, i. e., "during 

 the breeding season," to wit: 



The female arrives at puberty at 2 years, and produces her first pup at the age of 

 3 years. This I very readily determined from the fact that when 1 year old both sexes 

 haul up on the backgrounds and are not allowed by the bulls to approach the breeding: 

 rookeries during the breeding season. 



