USA > Alaska > Our Arctic province, Alaska and the Seal islands > Part 26
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# Living as the Seal-islanders do, and doing what they do, the seal's life is naturally their great study and objective point. It nourishes and sustains them. Without it they say they could not live, and they tell the truth. Hence, their attention to the few simple requirements of the law, so wise in its provi- sions, is not forced or constrained, but is continuous. Self-interest in this re- spect appeals to them keenly and eloquently. They know everything that is done and everything that is said by anybody and by everybody in their little community. Every seal-drive that is made, and every skin that is taken, is recorded and accounted for by them to their chiefs and their church, when
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The company found so much difficulty in getting the youth of the villages to attend their schools, taught by our own people, es- pecially brought up there and hired by the company, that they have adopted the plan of bringing one or two of the brightest boys down every year and putting them into our schools, so that they may grow up here and be educated, in order to return and serve as teachers there. This policy is warranted by the success which at- tended an experiment made at the time when I was up there first, whereby a son of the chief was carried down and over to Rutland, Vt., for his education, remained there four years, then returned and took charge of the school on St. Paul, which he has had until recently, with the happiest results in increased attendance and attention from the children. But, of course, so long as the Russian Church service is conducted in the Russian language, we will find on the islands more Russian-speaking people than our own. The non-attendance at school was not and is not to be ascribed to indisposition on the part of the children and parents. One of the oldest and most in- telligent of the natives told me, explanatory of their feeling and consequent action, that he did not, nor did his neighbors, have any objection to the attendance of their children on our English school ; but, if their boys and young men neglected their Russian lessons they knew not who were going to take their places, when they died, in his church, at the christenings, and at their burial. To any one familiar with the teachings of the Greek Catholic faith, the objec- tion of old Philip Volkov seems reasonable. I hope, therefore, that, in the course of time, the Russian Church service may be voiced in English ; not that I want to substitute any other religion for it- far from it; in my opinion it is the best one we could have for these people-but until this substitution of our language for the Russian is done, no very satisfactory work, in my opinion, will be accomplished in the way of an English education on the Seal Islands.
The Alaska Commercial Company deserves and will receive a brief but comprehensive notice at this point. In order that we may
they make up their tithing-roll at the close of each day's labor. Nothing can come to the islands, by day or by night, without being seen by them and spoken of. I regard the presence of these people on the islands at the trans- fer, and their subsequent retention and entailment in connection with the seal- business, as an exceedingly good piece of fortune, alike advantageous to the Government, to the company, and to themselves.
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WONDERFUL SEAL ISLANDS.
follow it to these islands, and clearly and correctly appreciate the circumstance which gave it footing and finally the control of the business, I will pass back and review a chain of evidence adduced in this direction from the time of our first occupation, in 1867, of the territory of Alaska.
It will be remembered by many people, that when we were rati- fying the negotiation between our Government and that of Russia, it became painfully apparent that nobody in this country knew anything about the subject of Russian America. Every school-boy knew where it was located, but no professor or merchant, however wise or shrewd, knew what was in it. Accordingly, immediately after the purchase was made and the formal transfer effected, a large number of energetic and speculative men, some coming from New England even, but most of them residents of the Pacific coast, turned their attention to Alaska. They went up to Sitka in a little fleet of sail and steam vessels, but among their number it appears there were only two of our citizens who knew of or had the faintest appreciation as to the value of the Seal Islands. One of these, Mr. H. M. Hutchinson, a native of New Hampshire, and the other, a Cap- tain Ebenezer Morgan, a native of Connecticut, turned their faces in 1868 toward them ; also an ex-captain of the Russian-American Company, Gustav Niebaum, who became a citizen immediately after the transfer, knowing of their value, chartered a small vessel, and lastened so as to land there a few days even before Captain Morgan arrived in the Peru, a whaling ship.
Mr. Hutchinson gathered his information at Sitka-Captain Mor- gan had gained his years before by experience on the South Sea seal- ing grounds. Mr. Hutchinson represented a company of San Fran- cisco or California capitalists when he landed on St. Paul; Captain Morgan represented another company of New London capitalists and whaling merchants. They arrived almost simultaneously, Morgan a few days or weeks anterior to Hutchinson. He had quietly enough commenced to survey and pre-empt the rookeries on the islands, or, in other words, the work of putting stakes down and recording the fact of claiming the ground, as miners do in the mountains ; but later agreed to co-operate with Mr. Hutchinson. These two parties passed that season of 1868 in exclusive control of those islands, and they took an immense number of seals. They took so many that it occurred to Mr. Hutchinson unless something was done to check and protect these wonderful rookeries, which he
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saw here for the first time, and which filled him with amazement, that they would be wiped out by the end of another season ; al- though he was the gainer then, and would be perhaps at the end, if they should be thus eliminated, yet he could not forbear say- ing to himself that it was wrong and should not be. To this Cap- tain Morgan also assented, and Captain Niebaum joined with them cordially. In the fall of 1868 Mr. Hutchinson and Captain Mor- gan, by their personal efforts, interested and aroused the Treas- ury Department and Congress, so that a special resolution was enacted declaring the Seal Islands a governmental reservation, and prohibiting any and all parties from taking seals thereon until further action by Congress. In 1869, seals were taken on those islands, under the direction of the Treasury Department, for the subsistence of the natives only ; and in 1870 Congress passed the present law, for the protection of the fur-bearing animals on those islands, and under its provisions, and in accordance there- with, after an animated and bitter struggle in competition, the Alaska Commercial Company, of which Mr. Hutchinson was a prime organizer, secured the award and received the franchise which it now enjoys and will enjoy for some time yet. The company is an American corporation, with a charter, rules, and regulations. They employ a fleet of vessels, sail and steam : four steamers, a dozen or fifteen ships, barks, and sloops. Their principal occupation and attention is given naturally to the Seal Islands, though they have station sscattered over the Aleutian Islands and that portion of Alaska west and north of Kadiak. No post of theirs is less than five hundred or six hundred miles from Sitka.
Outside of the Seal Islands all trade in this territory of Alaska is entirely open to the public. There is no need of protecting the fur-bearing animals elsewhere, unless it may be by a few whole- some general restrictions in regard to the sea-otter chase. The country itself protects the animals on the mainland and other islands by its rugged, forbidding, and inhospitable exterior.
The treasury officials on the Seal Islands are charged with the careful observance of every act of the company ; a copy of the lease and its covenant is conspicuously posted in their office ; is trans- lated into Russian, and is familiar to all the natives. The company directs its own labor, in accordance with the law, as it sees fit ; se- lects its time of working, etc. The natives themselves work under the direction of their own chosen foremen, or " toyones." These
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WONDERFUL SEAL ISLANDS.
chiefs call out the men at the break of every working-day, divide them into detachments according to the nature of the service, and order their working. All communications with the laborers on the sealing-ground and the company passes through their hands, those chiefs having every day an understanding with the agent of the company as to his wishes, and they govern themselves thereby.
The company pays forty cents for the labor of taking each skin. The natives take the skins on the ground, each man tallying his work and giving the result at the close of the day to his chief or foreman. When the skins are brought up and counted into the salt-houses, where the agent of the company receives them from the hands of the natives, the two tallies usually correspond very closely, if they are not entirely alike. When the quota of skins is taken, at the close of two, three, or four weeks of labor, as the case may be, the total sum for the entire catch is paid over in a lump to the chiefs, and these men divide it among the laborers according to their standing as workmen, which they themselves have exhibited on their special tally-sticks. For instance, at the annual divisions or "catch " settlement, made by the natives on St. Paul Island among themselves, in 1872, when I was present, the proceeds of their work for that season in taking and skinning seventy-five thousand seals, at forty cents per skin, with extra work connected with it, making the sum of $30,637.37, was divided among them in this way ; There were seventy-four shares made up, representing seventy-four men, though in fact only fifty-six men worked, but they wished to give a certain proportion to their church, a certain proportion to their priest, and a certain proportion to their widows; so they water their stock, commercially speaking .*
It will be remembered that at the time the question of leasing the islands was before Congress much opposition to the proposal
*37 first-class shares, at. $451 22 each.
23 second-class shares, at 406 08 each.
4 third-class shares, at 360 97 each.
10 fourth-class shares, at 315 85 each.
These shares do not represent more than fifty-six able-bodied men.
In August, 1873, while on St. George Island, I was present at a similar division, under similar circumstances, which caused them to divide among themselves the proceeds of their work in taking and skinning twenty-five
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was made, on several grounds, by two classes, one of which argued against a " monopoly," the other urging that the Government itself would realize more by taking the whole management of the busi- ness into its own hands. At that time far away from Washington, in the Rocky Mountains, I do not know what arguments were used in the committee-rooms, or who made them ; but, since my careful and prolonged study of the subject on the ground itself, and of the trade and its conditions, I am now satisfied that the act of June, 1870, directing the' Secretary of the Treasury to lease the seal- islands of Alaska to the highest bidder, under the existing condi- tions and qualifications, did the best and the only correct and profitable thing that could have been done in the matter, both with regard to the preservation of the seal-life in its original integrity, and the pecuniary advantage of the treasury itself. To make this statement perfectly clear, the following facts, by way of illustration, should be presented :
First. When the Government took possession of these interests in 1868 and 1869, the gross value of a seal-skin laid down in the best market, at London, was less in some instances and in others but slightly above the present tax and royalty paid upon it by the Alaska Commercial Company.
Second. Through the action of the intelligent business-men who took the contract from the Government in stimulating and en- couraging the dressers of the raw material, and in taking sedulous
thousand seals, at forty cents a skin, $10,000. They made the following subdivision :
Per share.
17 shares each, 961 skins. $384 40
2 shares each, 935 skins 374 00
3 shares each, 821 skins. . 328 40
1 share each, 820 skins 328 00
3 shares each, 770 skins 308 00
3 shares each, 400 skins 160 00
These twenty-nine shares referred to, as stated above, represent only twenty- five able-bodied men ; two of them were women. This method of division as above given is the result of their own choice. It is an impossible thing for the company to decide their relative merits as workmen on the ground, so they have wisely turned its entire discussion over to them. Whatever they do they must agree to-whatever the company might do they possibly and probably would never clearly understand, and hence dissatisfaction and suspicion would inevitably arise. As it is, the whole subject is most satisfactorily settled.
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WONDERFUL SEAL ISLANDS.
care that nothing but good skins should leave the island, and in com- bination with leaders of fashion abroad, the demand for the fur, by this manipulation and management, has been wonderfully increased.
Third. As matters now stand, the greatest and best interests of the lessees are identical with those of the Government; what in- jures one instantly injures the other. In other words, both strive to guard against anything that shall interfere with the preservation of the seal-life in its original integrity, and both having it to their interest, if possible, to increase that life ; if the lessees had it in their power, which they certainly have not, to ruin these interests by a few seasons of rapacity, they are so bonded and so environed that prudence prevents it.
Fourth. The frequent changes in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury, who has very properly the absolute control of the business as it stands, do not permit upon his part that close, careful scrutiny which is exercised by the lessees, who, unlike him, have but their one purpose to carry out. The character of the leading men among them is enough to assure the public that the business is in responsible hands, and in the care of persons who will use every effort for its preservation and its perpetuation, as it is so plainly their best end to serve. Another great obstacle to the success of the business, if controlled entirely by the Government, would be encountered in disposing of the skins after they had been brought down from the islands. It would not do to sell them up there to the highest bidder, since that would license the sailing of a thousand ships to be present at the sale. The rattling of their anchor-chains and the scraping of their keels upon the beaches of the two little islands would alone drive every seal away and over to the Russian grounds in a remarkably short space of time. The Gov- ernment would therefore need to offer them at public auction in this country : that would be simple history repeating itself-the Government would be at the mercy of any well-organized combi- nation of buyers. Its agents conducting the sale could not count- eract the effect of such a combination as can the agents of a private corporation, who may look after their interest in all the markets of the world in their own time and in their own way, according to the exigencies of the season and the demand, and who are supplied with money which they can use, without public scandal, in the manipulation of the market. On this ground I feel confident in stating that the Treasury of the United States receives more money,
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OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE.
net, under the system now in operation than it would by taking the exclusive control of the business. Were any capable government officer supplied with, say, $100,000, to expend in "working the market," and intrusted with the disposal of one hundred thousand seal-skins wherever he could do so to the best advantage of the Government, and were this agent a man of first-class ability and energy, I think it quite likely that the same success might attend his labor in the London market that distinguishes the management of the Alaska Commercial Company. But imagine the cry of fraud and embezzlement that would be raised against him, however hon- est he might be! This alone would bring the whole business into positive disrepute, and make it a national scandal. As matters are now conducted there is no room for scandal-not one single trans- action on the islands but what is as clear to investigation and ac- countability as the light of the noon-day sun ; what is done is known to everybody, and the tax now laid by the Government up- on, and paid into the treasury every year by the Alaska Commer- cial Company yields alone a handsome rate of interest on the en- tire purchase-money expended for the ownership of all Alaska.
It is frequently urged with great persisteney, by misinformed and malicious authority, that the lessees can and do take thousands of skins in excess of the law, and this catch in excess is shipped sub rosa to Japan from the Pribylov Islands. To show the folly of such a move on the part of the Company, if even it were possible, I will briefly recapitulate the conditions under which the skins are taken. The natives of St. Paul and St. George do themselves, in the manner I have indicated, all the driving and skinning of the seals for the company. No others are permitted or asked to land upon the islands to do this work, so long as the inhabitants of the islands are equal to it. They have been equal to it and they are more than equal to it. Every skin taken by the natives is counted by themselves, as they get forty cents per pelt for that labor, and, at the expiration of each day's work in the field, the natives know exactly how many skins have been taken by them, how many of these skins have been rejected by the company's agent be- cause they were carelessly cut and damaged in skinning-usually about three-fourths of one per cent. of the whole catch-and they have it recorded every evening by those among them who are charged with the duty. Thus, were one hundred and one thousand skins taken, instead of one hundred thousand allowed by law, the
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WONDERFUL SEAL ISLANDS.
natives would know it as quickly as it was done, and they would, on the strength of their record and their tally, demand the full amount of their compensation for the extra labor ; and were any ship to approach the islands, at any hour, these people would know it at once, and would be aware of any shipment of skins that might be attempted. It would then be the common talk among the three hundred and ninety-eight inhabitants of the two islands, and it would be a matter of record, open to any person who might come upon the ground charged with investigation.
Furthermore, these natives are constantly going to and from Oonalashka, visiting their relations in the Aleutian settlements, hunting for wives, etc. On the mainland they have intimate inter- course with bitter enemies of the company, with whom they would not hesitate to talk over the whole state of affairs on the islands, as they always do ; for they know nothing else and think of nothing else and dream of nothing else. Therefore, should anything be done contrary to the law, the act could and would be reported by these people. The Government, on its part, through its four agents stationed on these islands, counts these skins into the ship, and one of their number goes down to San Francisco upon her. There the collector of the port details experts of his own, who again count them all out of the hold, and upon that record the tax is paid and the certificate signed by the Government.
It will therefore at once be seen, by examining the state of af- fairs on the islands, and the conditions upon which the lease is granted, that the most scrupulous care in fulfilling the terms of the contract is compassed, and that this strict fulfilment is the most profitable course for the lessees to pursue ; and that it would be downright folly in them to deviate from the letter of the law, and thus lay themselves open at any day to discovery, the loss of their con- tract, and forfeiture of their bonds. Their action can be investigated at any time, any moment, by Congress; of which they are fully aware. They cannot bribe these three hundred and ninety-eight people on the islands. to secrecy, any more successfully than they could conceal their action from them on the sealing fields ; and any man of average ability could go, and can go, among these natives and inform him- self as to the most minute details of the catch, from the time the lease was granted up to the present hour, should he have reason to suspect the honesty of the Treasury agents. The road to and from the islands is not a difficult one, though it is travelled only once a year.
CHAPTER X.
AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS.
Difference between a Hair-seal and a Fur-seal .- The Fur-seal the most Intelli- gent of all Amphibians .--- Its singularly Free Progression on Land .-- Its Power in the Water .- The Old Males the First Arrivals in the Spring .- Their Desperate Battles one with Another for Position on the Breeding Grounds. - Subsequent Arrival of the Females .-- Followed by the "Bach- elors."-Wonderful Strength and Desperate Courage of the Old Males .- Indifference of the Females .- Noise of the Rookeries Sounds like the Roar of Niagara .- Old Males fast from May to August, inclusive ; neither Eat nor Drink, nor Leave their Stations in all that Time. - Graceful Females .- Frolicsome "Pups." -- They have to Learn to Swim !- How they Learn .- Astonishing Vitality of the Fur-seal. - "Podding" of the Pups .- Beauti- ful Eyes of the Fur-seal .- How the " Holluschickie," or Bachelor Seals, Pass the Time .- They are the only ones Killed for Fur .- They Herd alone by Themselves in spite of their Inclination; Obliged to .- They are the Champion Swimmers of the Sea .- A Review of the Vast Breeding Rook- eries .- Natives Gathering a Drove .- Driving the Seals to the Slaughtering Fields. - No Chasing-no Hunting of Seals .- The Killing Gang at Work : Skinning, Salting, and Shipping the Pelts .- All Sent Direct to London .- Reasons Why .- How the Skins are Prepared for Sacks, Muffs, etc.
" The web-footed seals forsake the stormy swell, And, sleeping in herds, exhale nauseous smell."-HOMER.
A VIVID realism of the fact that often truth is far stranger than fic- tion is strikingly illustrated in the life-history of the fur-seal : as it is the one overshadowing and superlatively interesting subject of this discussion, I shall present all its multitudinous details, even at the risk of being thought tedious. That aggregate of animal life shadowed every summer out upon the breeding grounds of the Seal Islands is so vast, so anomalous, so interesting, and so valu- able, that it deserves the fullest mention ; and even when I shall have done, it will be but feebly expressed.
-
THE HARBOR SEAL
Adult Male and Female
Young, 2 months
[Phoca vitulina : a Life Study made at Zapadnie, St. Paul's Island. July 10, 1872]
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AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS.
Great as it is, yet a short schedule * embraces the titles of all the pinnipeds found in, on, and around the island-group. Of this list the hair-sealt is the animal which has done so much to found that erroneous popular and scientific opinion as to what a fur-seal appears like. Phoca vitulina has, in this manner, given to the peo- ple of the world a false idea of its relatives. It is so commonly dis- tributed all over the littoral salt waters of the earth, seen in the harbors of nearly every marine port, or basking along the loneliest and least inhabited of desolate coasts far to the north, that every- body has noticed it, if not in life, then in its stuffed skins at the museums, sometimes very grotesquely mounted. This copy, set everywhere before the eye of the naturalist, has rendered it so diffi- cult for him to correctly discriminate between the Phocidce and the Otariide, that the synonymy of the Pinnipedia has been expanded until it is replete with meaningless description and surmise.
Although the hair-seal belongs to the great group of pinnipeds, yet it does not have even a generic affinity with those seals with which it has been so persistently grouped, namely, the fur-seal and the sea-lion. It no more resembles them, than does the raccoon a black or grizzly bear.
I shall not enter into a detailed description of this seal; it is wholly superfluous, for excellent, and, I believe, trustworthy ac- counts have been repeatedly published by writers who have treated of the subject as it was spread before their eyes on the coasts of
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