The Opelousas courier., 1890-04-19
THE FUR SEAL ROOKERIES
AN ANNUAL RESORT FOR NILL.
IONS OF VALUABLE SEALS.

How the Government of the United
States Has Protected the Seals
From determination.
The Pribylof Islands lie north of the
long Aleution chain in latitude fifty
seven degrees and longitude 40 de-
grees. They are hundreds of miles west
of the coast of Alaska and very desolate.
These islands are drenched with fogs
throughout the summer and therefore
are particularly pleasing to the fur seals,
which probably were driven thither from
the Southern ocean, where they had
been pursued relentlessly by the butchers
of the eighteenth century. The year of
the discovery of the great reokeries on
the two small islands of St. Paul and St.
George, composing the Pribylof group,
more than 500, 900 seals were killed by
Russian sailors and by the Aleuts whom
they had imported.
Before that date the islands were unin-
habited, and were utterly unknown to
the natives of Alaska. Within a short
time the dead bodies of many thousands
of seals had poisoned sea and land, and
the living remnants of the herds were
nearly driven away from their place of
last resort. In 1899 the Russian
American Company secured from the
Gear of Russia the right for twenty years
to hunt and fish over the whole of Alaska.
Its agents continued the slaughter of seals
begun by Pribylof, but, luckily, in 1905
Count Rezanof, Chamberlain of the Gear,
visited the islands and stopped the de-
struction for a period of five years. At
the end of that time the herds had in
creased greatly, and the Russian-Ameri-
can Company had learned that it was best
to protect the seals. That was done
very effectively thenceforth.
After the United States came into
possession of their islands the animals
were again in danger of being extermi-
mated. In 1870, however, st. Paul and
st. George were declared a Treasury
reservation, and the right to take seals
there was sold for twenty years to GER
tain citizens of San Francisco and Con-
necticut composing the Alaska CONNER
cial Company.
In 1880 Henry W. Elliot, of the Smith
sonian Institution, who had spent several
seasons at the Pribyloff Islands, reported
that the great herds of fur seals were
gradually increasing in she-that more
than 5000, 900 of them occupied the
rookeries in the breeding season, and that
the Government limitation of 100, 600
seals given over to slaughter yearly might
be doubled safely if deemed desirable.
He also reported that the condition of
the dfn inhabitants of the islands, nearly
all of whom were Aleuts brought from
the mainland and colonized there, was
excellent, having been greatly improved
since the days of Russian control. The
houses were comfortable and in good SAM
tary condition, the food was plentiful,
and the treatment of the natives kind.
Schools had been established and were
fairly well attended. The sealing season
lasted only thirty to forty days every year,
beginning early in July aud ending in
August. The rest of the year was abso-
lutely without employment for the occu-
pants of the islands save that religious
ceremonials claimed their attention dur
ing a large portion of the time. They
were paid forty cents for every skin pre-
| pared by them. While most Aleuts were
im%provident, some of them had saved
several thousand dollars out of their earn
ings.
The fur seal of Alaska leaves the water
annually and rests on the sandy shores of
the Pribylof Islands for the purpose of
-sreeding. From the time of its depar-
ture from the islands in the autumn of
every year up to the time Of its return in
the following year it lands nowhere else.
1t reaches the island en- masse in June or
July and leaves them in October and No
vennber. The old male seals arrive first
I on the breeding ground and fight fiercely
/ among themselves for several weeks for
choice locations before the arrival of the
females. AS the seals 60 and come
through the narrow passes of the
Aleutian Islands to the south the poach-
ers pursue them relentlessly. In tbs
| spfee,g the females are the easiest marks
OF the poachers. With guns, with har-
poems, and with gill-nets they kill the
d~efenceless creatures. A few seasons OF
such relentless butchery would utterly
destroy the magnificent herds Of fur
seals. The story of the Antarctic seas,
from which they were driven years ago,
would be repeated and the sealskin OF
commerce would become q thing of the
past. The United States Government
should protect the seals with its whole
power. It is a struggle of enlightened
commercial foresight and humanity
against cruelty and barbaric greed.
The sealskin of N is the skin
Of the young male, varying in age from
three TO five years. Males of that age
are s~tbachelors," and have no place on
the breedina grounds, for the simple
reason that Thy are not strong enough
to fight wrs1 the ferocious old males.
J They dwell by themselves and are easily
collected and driven in herds of several
thousand to the killing grounds, where
they are knocked on the heads with blud'
/ geons.
That there is enormous profit in tht
seal-killing monopoly is evident. Tit
100. 900 skins sold in London each yea
bring about $40 each, or 81 900, 600
Of this the Government receives 800, 900,
and the Aleuts who do the killing receive
$40, 000.-Chieoqo Ne,ss.