The Opelousas courier., 1893-08-19
ABOUT THE FUR SEALS
THE SUBJECT BEFORE THE TRIBU.
NAL OF ARBITRATION.

Ing DOD LNdus W p1ooSSc "S 'SN
Boring Sea this summer, the patrol
fleet will be strong enough and quick
enough to make it lively for poachers.
It is the business of our ships, under
the present contention of the United
States, to see that nobody save the n
authorized company shall take seals
within our portion of Boring Sea or IN
the Pacific Ocean within three miles of
u possessions. That gives the patrol
feet an arena almost half as large as
the Gulf of Mexico to look after. 1t
the tribunal sitting at Paris shall de"
eide against our claim touching Berlng
Sea the ships will then confne their ef-
forts to keeping poachers away from
the Pribylov Islands of ST. George and
st. Paul, in Boring Sea, and to guard
ing the coast within the three-mle
limit. Nobody expects. however, that
the decision of the court will be given
in time for it to have much efectupon
this seasons sealing.
The company to which the United
States has sold the exclusive right to
take seals may take them only upon
the Pribylov Islands, andmay not take
more than 1900 in any one year. Fur
thermore, the company's agents may
kill seals only in the presence Of an
agent of the United States, and must
not kill either the females or the old
bulls, but only the bachelors, as the
young Jmales are called. The sealing
of the company is the tamest kind OF
sport, as the bachelors are merely
driven gently apart from the rest of the
herd and are killed with sticks.
The agent of the company counts
the skins in the presence OF the
Governments agent, and the latter
sends to San Francisco a tally OF the
number shipped in each cargo. This
comes to another United States agent
at San Francisco, who makes sure that
there are no more skins than tho
Government agent at the Northwest
has certified to. Most of our officers
who have visited Alaskan waters be-
lieve that the seal must before long
become extinct in spite of all these
precautions taken to preserve the
species. It the sea shall be open to
all corners and seals shall again be
taken with nets, the final destruction
will be fastened.
The sealing season properly begins
about the last of June or the first OF
July, when the seals have become well
established in Boring Sea and breeding
has begun. At that time the rocky
Pribylovs, andas well a few islands be-
longing to Russia over neer the coast
of Siberia, are crowded. with thousands
of seals, and the animals swim the sea
in search of food. The poachers do
not wait so long, but intercept the
seals on their way from the ocean into
Boring Sea. Our ships cannot inter
| fere with sealing in the Pacific three
| miles from our own shores, but we can
watch the passes of the Aleutian,
| through which seals and sealers enter
Boring Sea.
The patrol fleet is on the lookout for
poachers during May, June, July
August, September and October, and
business is liveliest in midsummer,
though the seal islands have been
raided as late as December. By the
last of September, however, things are
pretty squsily in Boring Sea, and be-
| fore the LIST of November snow storms
are frequent, and sealing is no fun,
Captain Mike Healy, of the revenue
cutter Bear, who knows Boring Set
from the Aleutians to the Arctic, anc
is known to everybody in that region
rs the embodiment of Uncle Sans
power, usually stays about the sea
islands later than any one else, and thu
poacher who falls into Mike Healy'
hands is likely to repent of his temerity
The patrol fleet now and then SENDS
o ship far to the east, and occasionally
even in midsummer, has a landing
party stationed on one of the island
commanding an important pass, bu
mostly the work of the patrol is con
fined to the region about the Priby
lows. A disguised poacher might ente
the sealing region with a vessel OF tn
patrol feet looking on. Nevertheless
If a suspicious looking craft should b
found entering the sea, she would Gel
tainly be overhauled and made to e1
plain. The seal poaeher is usual
recognized by her having great man
small boats, an unusually large con
plement of men and an abundance {
firearms. Her method when a herd
seals is encountered swimming is t
lower many boats with armed men, WI
shoot the seals as rapidly as posslb
and then pick them UP. Old an
Young, male and female, are thus sho
and many are lost. Some old sailo
estimate that seventy-fve per cent.
seals killed in this way are not reco
cred by the poachers. Others say tn
the loss does not exceed ten per cen
! As a small vessel may take $1,000
worth of seals in a single season, Il
temptation to the poacher is stron
II is all the stronger from the fact tn
the men who ship on poaching vesse
+ go under an agreement OF enc cate
no pay
r Sealing in May and through most
June is a rough profession, for Beril
2 Sea has winter weather far into Jun
Y ! and the hills ashore are still snt
+ clad sometimes as late as July /. TIL
comes the heat of the northern sul
Q mer. The air is mild, the sea at or
nary times is calm, and ashore a the
sand flowers are blooming and the n
grass is shooting up waist high. TIL
Q is the active time of the patrol feet.
: In all ordinary weather the ships
n the patrol feet can overtake the swi
I est of the poachers when once t