The killing of fur-seals is accomplished entirely on land, and has been reduced almost to a science of the greatest dispatch and system. The able-bodied Aleuts now settled upon the two islands of Saint Paul and Saint George are, by the terms of the agreement between themselves and the lessees, the only individuals permitted to kill and skin the seals for the annual shipment as long as they are able to perform the labor efficiently within a given time. For this labor they are remunerated at the rate of forty cents per animal. Life-long practice has made them expert in using their huge clubs and sharp skinning-knives, both implements being manufactured expressly for this use. These men are as a class proud of their accomplishments as sealers, and too proud to demean themselves in doing any other kind of work. For all incidental labor, such as building, packing, loading and unloading vessels, etc., the lessees find it necessary to engage laborers from the Aleutian Islands, these latter individuals being generally paid at the rate of one dollar per diem.
The work connected with the killing of the annual quota of fur-seals may be divided into two distinct features, the separation of the seals of a certain age and size from the main body and their removal to the killing-ground forming the preliminary movements; the final operation consisting of another selection among the select, and killing and skinning the same. The driving as well as the killing cannot be done in every kind of weather, a damp, cool, cloudy day being especially desirable for the purpose.
As it is the habit of the young male seals up to the age of four years to lie upon the ground back of the so-called rookeries or groups of families that line the seashore, the experienced natives manage to crawl in between the families and the "bachelors," as they were named by the Russians, and gradually drive them inland in divisions of from 2,000 to 3,000. It is unsafe to drive the seals more than five or six miles during any one day, as they easily become overheated and their skins are thereby injured. When night comes on the driving ceases, and sentries are posted around each division, to prevent the animals from straying during the night, occasional whistling being sufficient to keep them together. In the morning, if the weather be favorable, the drive is continued until the killing-ground is reached, where the victims are allowed to rest over night under guard, and finally, as early as possible in the morning, the sealers appear with their clubs, when again small parties of twenty to thirty seals are separated from their fellows, surrounded by the sealers, and the slaughter begins. Even at this last moment another selection is made, and any animal appearing to the eye of the experienced Aleut to be either below or above the specified age is dismissed with a gentle tap of the club, and allowed to go on its way to the shore, rejoicing at its narrow escape. The men with clubs proceed from one ground to the other, immediately followed by the men with knives, who stab each stunned seal to the heart to insure its immediate death. These men are in turn followed by the skinners, who with astonishing rapidity divest the carcasses of their valuable covering, leaving, however, the head and flippers intact. Only a few paces behind the skinners come carts drawn by mules, into which the skins are rapidly thrown and carried away. The wives and daughters of the sealers linger around the rear of the death-dealing column, reaping a rich harvest of blubber which they carry away on their heads, the luscious oil dripping down their faces and over their garments.
The skins, yet warm from the body, are discharged into capacious salt-houses and salted down for the time being like fish in bins. This treatment is continued for some time, and after the application of heavy pressure they are finally tied into bundles of two each, securely strapped, and then shipped.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
According to the terms of the treaty between the United States and Russia, the boundaries of Alaska are as follows:
"Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54° 40´ north latitude, and between the 131° and 133° west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent where it strikes 56° north latitude; from this last mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude (of the same meridian) and finally from the said point of intersection the said meridian line of the 141st degree in its prolongation as far as the frozen ocean.
"With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the preceding article it is understood: