328 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
In the meantime the Soviet Government in Vladivostok had been superseded 
by a "white" one and plans were laid for the supression of the Kamchatkan Federal 
Republic in Petropaulski. The "white" government in Vladivostok was in turn 
overthrown by the forces of the " Chita Government, " or the so-called Far Eastern 
Republic, during October, 1922. Shortly afterwards the Petropaulski Government 
was also deposed and the whole Coast Province, including Kamchatka and the 
Commander Islands, was again in the hands of the "red" or Soviet Republic. 
The details as to what took place on the Commander Islands since 1917 have 
been set forth in order that the conditions on the Russian fur-seal islands during 
this highly critical period, when the seal herd needed the most careful nursing, may 
be fully understood. As will be seen, it was mainly a period of instability and lack 
of authority and discipline. The natives had been taught not to pay any attention 
to the orders of the officials, and naturally all law and regulation practically ceased. 
That under such circumstances complete chaos did not ensue speaks well for the 
common sense of the natives, yet it was but natural that the seal herd should suffer 
much as it did during the "interregnum" from 1868 to 1871 (Asiatic Fur Seal 
Islands, p. 117). Alcohol now, as then, played an important role. The natives, 
unrestrained by the strong arm of the Russian officials, would sacrifice anything 
for the chance to get drunk. With the many vessels of varying allegiance — 
Japanese and "white" and "red" Russians — touching at the islands, there was 
no lack of supply, and the means of obtaining the much desired alcohol were the 
furs of seals, foxes, and sea otters surreptitiously killed and secretly stored away. 
The number of fur-seal skins disposed of in this way by the natives may not have 
been very great because of their bulk and the difficulties connected with curing 
them, but there is reason to believe that in 1919, 1920, and early 1921 there were 
shipped fur-seal skins in considerable quantity of which no official records were 
kept. 
Of course, all these transactions being illegal, it was next to impossible to 
obtain definite and reliable data. Even the crews of the Japanese men-of-war 
that visited the islands several times each year were reported to trade extensively 
with the natives, obtaining furs in exchange for liquor and old clothes. Copies 
of official reports to that effect were furnished the writer. 
With the practical abandonment of the naval seal patrol by the Russians after 
the revolution, the seal pirates began their destructive work again, but while before 
the treaty of 1911 it was lawful for them to sell their skins in the markets of at 
least three' of the contracting powers, they were now compelled to dispose of their 
illegal catches surreptitiously. Consequently, while formerly it was possible to 
demonstrate by figures the pelagic losses of the seal herd, it is now only a matter 
of conjecture how many skins were taken at sea and in raids on the rookeries. 
If it be recalled with what boldness the seal pirates operated about the islands in 
1911 (see pages 316 to 318) almost in the presence of the Russian men-of- 
war, it may easily be understood that during the critical years of the revolution 
and after, when no naval authority was there to check them, their activities and 
recklessness increased from year to year. 
