80 
sides 5800 Ivoloschlans, who act as inter-traders with the nume¬ 
rous Indians of the interior. The Company has numerous 
stations or factories throughout the length of the coast and 
among the Aleutian islands, maintaining nearly 1000 people 
regularly, two fine steamers and several smaller ones, eight 
barqeus, brigs, etc., and numerous boats. The value of the furs 
may be estimated yearly at not less than $1,000,000 in gold, as 
the company insures their regular shipments for $600,000. By 
the time these furs reach our markets they are doubled in value.” 
— Davidson. 
In our remarks on the branch of the Japanese current washing 
the islands of St. Lawrence, (in another portion of this work), 
we should have also stated that by this strong tide, acting con¬ 
jointly with the westerly winds in the spring months, blowing 
from the Asiatic coast, large fields of ice are crowded into the 
sounds, bays and coves indenting the shores of western Alaska 
margining Behring sea, and are held there for months by the 
action of winds and eddy currents. “ But the whole of the 
waters of the Kamschatka current do not pass through Behring 
Strait. Striking against the south shore of the large island of 
St. Lawrence, part of the waters are deflected to the eastward, 
southward, and finally westward of south, casting their floating 
wood on the American coast and the north shores of the Aleu¬ 
tian islands.” — Davidson. 
On those ice fields the hair seals congregate annually in mil¬ 
lions. They are large and very fat, yielding rich clear oil and 
valuable skins. This industry invites development and offers 
sure reward to hardy seamen of nerve and capital. The seal 
fisheries have been profitably prosecuted for centuries along the 
coasts of northern Europe. The Danes have realized immense 
revenues from this branch of industry around the shores of Ice¬ 
land and Greenland. The expert fishermen on the eastern coast 
of Newfoundland have reaped golden harvests from the seal 
fishing; in the recent spring months an extraordinary number 
were taken. The income from the seal fishery amounted to over 
$2,000,000 in coin. Taking into consideration the temperate 
climate in the Behring sea, the boundless seal fields, the absence 
of icebergs, the smooth water, and the certainty of success* 
may we not look for great development in this inviting industry ? 
Fur Seals, so relentlessly hunted in other climes, have for 
years resorted to the islands of St. Paul and St. George in 
