Three and a half millions of skins were taken from Mas a Fuera to Canton between 1793 and 1807. Another species (Artocephalus Delandi) formerly abounded on the coast of Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope. Their fur was the least valuable of the different kinds of fur seal, and the species seems to have become extinct. * * *

Of the Arctic or Behring Sea species (Callor pinus Ursinus) not less than 6,000,000 skins have been obtained since 1741.

HABITS.

The Alaskan fur seal formerly extended from the ice line of Behring Sea to the coast of Lower California. At present a few stragglers reach the Straits. of Fuca, where 5,000 were said to have been killed in 1868, but the great majority are confined to the Pribyloff Islands. They have never been found in Behring Strait, or within 300 miles of it. They arrive at the islands about the middle of June, a few stragglers coming as early as the end of May. They leave on the approach of winter, usually about the end of October. They are supposed to spend the winter in the open sea, south of the Aleutian Islands.

When returning from their winter quarters (the location of which is yet unknown), they come up in droves of many thousands on the hillsides near the shore, and literally blacken the islands with their numbers.

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METHOD OF KILLING SEAL.

The manner of conducting the fishery is as follows: A number of Aleuts go along the water's edge, and getting between the animals and water, shout and

wave their sticks. The seals are very timid, and always follow each other like sheep; yet, if brought to bay, they will fight bravely. A man who should venture into the midst of a herd would doubtless be torn to pieces, for their teeth, though small, are exceedingly sharp.

A body of four or five hundred having been sepaFated, as above, from the main assembly, they can be driven very slowly by two men into the interior of the island, exactly as a shepherd would drive his sheep. Their docility depends upon circumstances. If the sun is out and the grass dry, they cannot be driven at all. If the day is wet and the grass sufficiently moist, they may be driven several miles. Every two or three minutes they must be allowed to rest. Those who become tired are killed and skinned on the spot by the drivers, as it is of no use to attempt to drive them. They would at once attack the driver. When the seals have been brought to a suitable place, they are left with some one to watch them until it is desired to kill them. The skins of old males are so thick as to be useless. The Russians restricted the killing solely to young males less than five years, and more than one year, old.

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No females, pups or old bulls were ever killed. This was a necessary provision to prevent their extermination. The seals are killed by a blow on the back of the head with a heavy sharp-edged club. This fractures the skull, which is very thin, and lays them out stiff instantly. The Aleut then plunges his sharp knife into the heart, and with wonderful dexterity, by a few sweeps of his long weapon, separates the skin from the blubber to which it is attached. The nose and wrists are cut around, and the ears and

tail left attached to the skin. When the operation is over the skin is of an oval shape, with four holes, where the extremities protruded. They are then taken out and laid in a large pile, with layers of salt between them. After becoming thoroughly salted, they are done up, two together in square bundles, and tied up with twine. They are then packed for transportation to London. No guns are used in killing the seal. Indeed, guns are not only unnecessary, but injurious, for a hole in the skin diminishes its value one-half. All the fur seals are dressed in London. They were worth in the raw state, in 1868, about $7 each in gold. (Now, 1884, said to be worth $10 each.) A machine has been invented by which the skin is shaved very thin, the roots of the stiff hairs are cut off and they may then be brushed away. The down, which does not penetrate the skin to any distance, remains, and is dyed black or a rich brown. This is the state in which we see the skins at the furriers.

VANCOUVER ISLAND.

Vancouver Island, in and between latitude 48 deg. 18 min. and 50 deg. 55 min. north, and longitude 123 deg. 15 min. and 128 deg. 30 min. west, has an area of about 14,000 square miles, with a population of 15,000.

The principal products are coal and timber of a fine quality. Of the former, immense quantities are produced.

Although my purpose throughout has been to refrain altogether from allusion or description of lands not located strictly as ocean islands, yet so grand and interesting is Puget Sound, that the following short description may be of interest to the general reader.

THE PUGET SOUND REGION.

Puget Sound abundantly deserves its reputation for remarkable beauty. Commodore Wilkes is quite within the bounds of truth in his statement: "Nothing can exceed the beauty of these waters. I venture nothing in saying there is no country in the world that possesses waters equal to these." With a length of probably not more than two hundred miles, the sound has a coast line of more than fifteen hundred miles. It covers an area of about two thousand square miles, or a little more than twice the extent of Cook County, in which Chicago is. Its waters are very deep, and at almost any point vessels of the largest size may approach to land until their sides. touch the shore, before their keels touch the bottom. It has hundreds of beautiful islands and bays. It lies as a deep basin between two lofty ranges of mountains

-the Cascade Range on the east, and the Coast or Olympian Range on the west. The gateway opening into it from the Pacific Ocean is the Straits of Juan de Fuca (the name of their discoverer), which are ninetyfive miles long and an average of eight miles in width. The sound itself was named for Peter Puget, one of Vancouver's lieutenants, who explored it. This great navigator gave to another of his lieutenants, Rainier, the honor of calling the grandest mountain peak in the country by his name, though it is now more generally called by the Indian name Tacoma (nourishing breast), while it is claimed that its true Indian name is Tanoma (almost to heaven). It is the highest peak but one in the United States, Mount Blanca in Colorado being just twenty feet higher. The latter, however, is not so massive, so grand, so overwhelming to the view,

since no beholder looks upon it except from an elevation of as much as seven thousand feet, while the former, at the town of New Tacoma, is seen from the sea level, rising grandly 14,444 feet, and covered perpetually with snow and ice, its glaciers surpassing, in extent and grandeur, anything to be seen in the Alps. Senator Edmunds, who visited the mountain last year, says of it: "I have been through the Swiss mountains, and I am compelled to own that-incredible as the assertion may appear-there is absolutely no comparison between the finest effects that are exhibited there, and what is seen in approaching this grand isolated mountain. I would be willing to go five hundred miles again to see that scene. This continent is yet in ignorance of the existence of what will be one of the grandest show places, as well as a sanitarium."

QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS

Northwest of Vancouver, one hundred and thirty miles, and eighty miles from the coast, are the Queen Charlotte Islands. Like Vancouver, they belong to British Columbia.

There are, in all, about twenty islands in the group, the principal being Prevost, Graham, North and Moresby.

Area of the group, 5,000 square miles; population, 6,000. The climate is good, with an abundance of water, and pine and cedar timber. Copper, iron and coal are found.

Many good harbors are to be met with in the group, while the bays and inlets around the islands teem with fish.