FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS 
303 
The next calamity that befell the Commander Islands seal herd was incidental 
to the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5. Details of the wanton destruction are 
lacking, but the rookery raids, which were not uncommon before and especially 
after, assumed the character of willful extermination. Thus we were told that on 
Copper Island in 1904 a large number of Japanese landed on the Karabelni Rookery, 
and in addition to killing and taking the skins of a great many seals, practically 
all of which were cows, shot and butchered every seal they could reach for the sheer 
sake of destruction. This once flourishing rookery was thus to all intents and pur- 
poses exterminated during the war. 
Nor did the raiding of the rookeries cease with the end of the war. The schoon- 
ers came early and went late. In 1907 the first one was noticed at Copper Island 
on April 24 (old style). In 1908 they were observed in April, and in 1909 the first 
one was seen as early as February 26. Again, in 1910 the first one was reported 
on April 24. The piratical raiders did not confine themselves to the rookeries, but 
looted the houses of the natives as well. The sealing village of Glinka, inhabited 
only during the sealing season, was visited by the marauders on April 16, 1908 (old 
style) , and nearly all the houses were broken into, their doors and windows smashed, 
and the household goods, such as dishes, linen, tools, and even the stoves, stolen; salt, 
sacks, and ropes were taken. The robbers even went so far as to carry away the 
supply of coal — about 3 tons. The same thing happened the following year when 
the crew of one of the schooners landed on March 6, broke the windows in 17 houses 
on Glinka andstole the contents (Suvorof, Komandorski Ostrova, 1912, pp. 246-247). 
Under conditions such as these it is a wonder that any seals were left. We shall 
later learn what happened to the remnant of the herd on land. 
It must not be inferred that the Russians were not taking any measures against 
this state of affairs. The natives were organized and well armed for watch service, 
and during the seahng season several men-of-war patrolled the 30-mile zone and 
visited the islands. However, anyone familiar with the storms and fogs of the 
North Pacific and Bering Sea, the mountainous character of the islands, and the 
difl[iculties of transportation, must realize that effective protection against the small 
schooners with their reckless crews was very difficult. Nevertheless, several seiz- 
ures were made during these years. 
The transport Shilka, on August 6, 1906 (old style), arrested the schooner 
Kompira Maru 15 miles from Bering Island North Rookery. On May 16, 1908, 
the schooner Miye Maru was arrested 7}4 miles from shore. Besides seals she had 
on board 1 sea otter and 1 blue fox, sufficient evidence of illegal catch on shore. 
Again, on July 25, 1909, the Shilka stopped the schooner Tokiva Maru, belonging 
to the firm Yeno-gono-kaisha, and confiscated 14 sea otters and 6 sealskins. On 
the same day the rookery guards on Copper Island caught a boat with three raiders 
from the schooner Hosio Maru, 2}4 miles from the Bobrovi Rocks off the northern 
end of Copper Island. These few instances, however, and the punishments inflicted 
(the three men caught in the raid on July 25, 1909, were given sentences of three 
months in the Vladivostok jail) were of no avail in checking the aggressiveness of 
the raiders. 
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