(W.  H.  Williams.)

DECREASE   OF   THE   ALASKAN   SEAL   HERD.
After  1882  they  seemed  to  stay  about  the  same,  as  far  as  the  number
of  breeders  was  concerned,  as  long  as  I  was  there.  (John  Armstrong.)

I  ascertained  by  questioning  those  who  had  years  of  continuous  expe-
rience with  the  seals  that  up  to  the  year  1882  there  was  an  annual  expan-
sion of  the  boundaries  of  the  breeding  grounds ;  that  this  was  followed
by  a  period  of  stagnation,  which  in  turn  was  followed  by  a  marked
decadence  from  about  1885-86  down  to  the  present  time.  ( J.  Stanley-
Brown.)

I  am  unable  to  state  whether  the  seals  increased  or  not  during  my
residence  on  St.  Paul,  but  they  certainly  did  not  decrease,  except,  per-
haps, there  was  a  slight  decrease  in  1884.  In  all  my  conversations  with


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  225

the  natives — which  were,  of  course,  a  great  many — they  never  spoke  of
the  seals  being  on  the  decrease,  as  they  certainly  would  have  done  if
such  had  been  the  case.  (II.  A.  Glidden.)

\Yhile  on  St.  Paul  I  do  not  think  the  number  of  seals  increased,  and
in  the  last  year  (1884)  I  think  there  was  a  slight  decrease.  (J.  H.
Moulton.)

Upon  the  Commander  Islands,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  increase
in  seal  life  was  constant  for  many  years,  but  in  1800  we  noticed  a
decided  disturbance  in  the  rookeries  and  a  considerable  decrease  in
their  population.  This  we  subsequently  attributed,  when  the  facts
were  ascertained,  to  pelagic  sealing  in  the  adjacent  waters.  (Gustave
Hiebaum.)

I  noticed  during  this  period  no  perceptible  increase  in  the  breeding
rookeries  on  St.  George.  (B.  F.  Scribner,  Treasury  agent.)

ON   PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.
