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The Wide World Magazine. 
 
 VoL I. 
 
 APRIL, 1898. 
 
 Na 
 
 The Romance of Seal Hunting, 
 
 An Interview with Sir George Baden-Powell, K.C.M.G., Etc 
 Bv William G. FitzGerald. 
 
 E average man who knows little 
 about the seal beyond what he has 
 to pay for his wife's coat will, it is 
 pretty safe to predict, be some- 
 what astonished by the photographs 
 and information set forth in this article. 
 
 SIK CBOBCB BADEX-rOWEIX, K.C.M.G., ETC. 
 
 I* .Vomot Jlmt * Co.. OnAlnkam. 
 
 As far back as 1886 that well-known states- 
 man and yachtsman, Sir George Baden-Powell, 
 was staying on the coast of California when he 
 heard that some American war-ships had seized 
 three Bntish sealing schooners. Sir George at 
 once went up along the coast interviewing the 
 inhabitants and the American sealers at San 
 Francisco, who were one and all very angry at 
 the arbitrary proceedings of the United States 
 (iovemment Our own authorities, however, 
 did not seem particubrly anxious to move in the 
 matter, and for the next two or three years the 
 Americans still went on seizing schooners. They 
 contended that Behring Sea Ix-longed to lliem. 
 as they had bought all rights from the Russians. 
 
 In 1891 the American Government gave 
 notice that they were sending up several men- 
 
 of-war to seize every vessel of any kind what- 
 soever that came into Behring Sea. Then it 
 was that Lord Salisbury decided to act. 
 
 " Early one Sunday morning," said Sir George 
 Baden-Powell to the present writer, as he paced 
 his study in Eaton Square, " I was awakened 
 from sleep by my man, who informed me that a 
 messenger from ' Mr. Hatfield ' was waiting 
 downstairs for an immedbte answer to a note 
 he had brought. I told my servant I did not 
 know anyone of the name of Hatfield, and 
 didn't want to be disturbed. Noticii^ the word 
 ' Hatfield ' on the envelope, I f<Mind the letter 
 was a despatch from the Marquis of Salisbury, 
 which I forthwith o[)ened. The Government 
 had decided at once to send a British Com- 
 missioner to inquire into the Behrii^ Sea 
 troubles. Would I go ? I promptly consented, 
 and the necessary arrangements were made so 
 rapidly, that I sailed for \ew York a few days 
 after the receipt of ' Mr. Hatfields' letter. On 
 the steamer going out I had piles of papers and 
 documents on the subject to read." 
 
 After conferring with the British authorities 
 
 "KLONDIKt" DAWSON, WHO ACCOX»A«m> M> 
 
 from a PMo. fty Xutman d Ma 
 
THE ROMANCE OF SEAL HUNTING. 
 
 Na i. 
 
 jnd what- 
 Then it 
 t. 
 
 >ir George 
 
 i he oaced 
 
 awakened 
 
 me that a 
 
 IS waiting 
 
 to a note 
 
 I did not 
 
 tfield, and 
 
 g the word 
 
 the letter 
 
 Salisbury, 
 
 ovemment 
 
 itish Com- 
 
 hiing Sea 
 
 consented, 
 
 e made so 
 
 , few days 
 
 ettcr. On 
 
 papers and 
 
 authorities 
 
 in Washington, Sir George went on to Ottawa, 
 where he met Dr. George M. IXiwson, the well- 
 known Canadian scientist, who was to be his 
 fellow Commissioner. As everybody knows, Dr. 
 Dawson is geologist for the Canadian Govern- 
 ment, and so important a part has he taken in 
 the development of British Columbia and the 
 North-West Territories, that it is after him that 
 Dawson City — the metropolis of the Klondike — 
 is named. 
 
 " After consulting the Canadian Ministers in 
 Ottawa," pursued Sir George, " 1 crossed the 
 Continent to Vancouver and Victoria, where 
 I held pre-arranged interviews with experienced 
 sealers. As soon as the chartered s;eamer 
 Danube was ready, we sailed direct to the 
 port of liiuliuk, in the Island of Ounalaska. 
 Altogether, our cruise in the North Pacific 
 occupied nearly three months, during which 
 time, according to the log, we travelled some 
 9,000 miles, mostly in fogs, gales, and ver}' 
 invigorating cold." 
 
 The fur seal of the North Pacific is es.sen- 
 tially a sea animal, but for sor: ■ part of the year 
 it has to come on land at certaii. breeding-places 
 where the young are brought fortli. The seals 
 of the North Pacific travel north to the breeding- 
 grounds in the spring and return southward in 
 
 the autumn, following two main lines — one skirt- 
 ing the western coast of North America, and the 
 other the Asiatic coast. The seals which take 
 the former route for the main part breed in the 
 Pribyloff Islands in summer, and spend the 
 winter in that part of the ocean near the coast of 
 British Columbia. I'he seals that follow the 
 second route mainly breed on the Commander 
 Islands and winter off the coast of Japan. 
 
 The breeding males begin to arrive on the 
 Pribyloffs at various dates in May, and they 
 remain continuously ashore for about three 
 months. The females arrive nearly a month 
 later. The " pups " are born in June and July, 
 and commence to herd by themselves away from 
 their mothers towards the middle or end of 
 August. They frequent the l^each in great 
 numbers, and bathe or swim in the surf. But 
 the photograph which is here reproduced will 
 give one an absolutely exact idea of how the 
 seals bask on the beach in the sunlight on 
 .Zoltoi sands in St. Paul's Islanu, one of the 
 Pribyloffs. 
 
 "The Americans had told us," remarked 
 Sir George Baden-Powell as he looked at this 
 photograph, "that the seals were pretty well 
 exttrminated on the Zoltoi sands ; they told us 
 that no seals would l^e found here. You can 
 
 M« GEOBGE. 
 
 SBAI.S BASKINIi ON THB BEACH IN ST. FAfUS ISLAND 
 
THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE. 
 
 see for yourself what truth there was in this 
 assertion. Fortunately, we had a Government 
 photographer with us to obtain this indisputable 
 evidence. I remember that in order to get this 
 photograph we had to creep up carefully and 
 noiselessly to the top of the dunes overlooking 
 the beach. Had the basking seals heard us 
 coming they would all have taken to the water. 
 Most of the animals you see in this photo, are 
 ' HoUuschickie" — that is to say, half -grown 
 males or bachelors. These and a few old bulls 
 are the last to leave the island." 
 
 On the Pribyloff and Commander Islands in 
 the North Pacific, large numbers of f-ir seals 
 have been regularly killed for more than loo 
 years since the first occupation of these islands 
 by the Russians. In 1868 the FribylofTs 
 passed into the control of the United States. 
 Then came much indiscriminate slaughter, and, 
 although for a great number of years certain 
 restrictions were imposed, it was not until the 
 year 1875 that the first note of warning was 
 sounded about the economy of seal life. In 
 1870 the Pribyloffs were leased by the United 
 States to the Alaska Commercial Company, who 
 were allowed to kill 100,000 males annually. 
 The result of this tremmdous slaughter was 
 very quickly noticeable. Monsieur (Irebnitzky, 
 Superintendent of the Commander Islands, and 
 himself a great seal naturalist, declared that when 
 the proportion of females exceeded ten to each 
 mature male, he considered that too many males 
 were being killed, and that each "harem' 
 should in no case contain more than twenty 
 females. 
 
 " Now, however," remarked Sir George, " the 
 harems in the Pribyloffs are yearly growing 
 larger, so that, according to our own observa- 
 tions, it was no uncommon 
 thing to find a single male 
 seal with a harem numbering 
 from forty to fifty, and even 
 as many as sixty to eighty 
 females." By only killing 
 males the natural proportion 
 of the sexes has been upset, 
 which is contrary to all suc- 
 cessful experience on cattle 
 ranches, sheep stations, or 
 deer forests. 
 
 There are, it seems, two 
 distinct ways of hunting seals 
 — land sealing and pelagic 
 sealing. The former is a 
 very simple business. Men 
 go (k ivn in gangs to the 
 beach, and simply drive a 
 number of seals some way 
 inland, and there club them to 
 
 death and skin them. Pelagic sealing is a phrase 
 applied especially to the hunting of the fur 
 seal in the open sea, schooners or other 
 small vessels being employed as the basis 
 of operation. This method originated, and 
 has been practised from time immemorial, 
 by the coast natives of British Columbia, South- 
 East Alaska, and the State of Washington. 
 
 We asked Sir George whether the seals were 
 in any way dangerous. " The younger seals of 
 both sexes are harmless Enough," was the reply, 
 "except that they bite and even kill one another in 
 times of excitement, such as during a ' drive'; but 
 I must say that the old imlls are rather unpleasant 
 customers to deal with. Some of these actually 
 attain the respectable age of twenty years and 
 upwards, and are many times larger than the 
 average female. I saw a great number of old 
 bulls that were larger than a full-sized Polar 
 bear, and one fellow was nearly as big as a cow. 
 Moreover, strange as it may seem, one of these 
 old bull seals will pursue and overtake a man in 
 fifty yards. If, of course, a man has more start 
 than this, he may possibly get away, as the seal 
 cannot maintain a great speed for any distance. 
 These old bulls, however, have been known to 
 bite savagely at a man and hurl him backwards 
 over their head." 
 
 Here Sir George Baden-Powell .showed us 
 the two very interesting photographs which we 
 reproduce. The first photo, shows an old bull 
 asleep on one of the seal rookeries of the 
 Pribyloff Islands. 
 
 " He was a huge, powerful fellow," remarked 
 Sir George ; " probably weighing 7oolb. or 
 8oolb. When wt; first saw him he was fast 
 asleep like this on the sands, but I fancy the 
 movements of the photographer must have 
 
 
 AN lll.l) ULl.l. StAI. ASI.KEI'. 
 
is a phrase 
 of the fur 
 
 or other 
 
 the basis 
 lated, and 
 imemorial, 
 bia, South- 
 igton. 
 
 seals were 
 er seals of 
 ; the reply, 
 
 another in 
 drive'; but 
 unpleasant 
 :se actually 
 
 years and 
 r than the 
 ber of old 
 i/ed Polar 
 ^ as a cow. 
 e of these 
 e a man in 
 more start 
 as the seal 
 y distance. 
 
 known to 
 backwards 
 
 showed us 
 > which we 
 in old bull 
 es of the 
 
 ' remarked 
 7oolb. or 
 
 e was fast 
 fancy the 
 
 nust have 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF SEAL HUNTING. 
 
 , 
 
 H.ll lU I.I. -SKAr. li(H SKI) h^■ IMF I'HnI 
 
 woke him up. At any rate, he did awake, and 
 slowly raised himself up as you see in the 
 second photo. We could not put a man by the 
 side cf him for comparison — for very obvious 
 reasons —but 1 can assure you that this bull seal 
 was nearly as big as a donkey, ^\'hen he rais' d 
 himself up like this, he gave vent to a hoarse 
 roar, and made off in the direction of the sea." 
 
 It was in 1878-7 that pelagic or sea sealing 
 began to attract attention, and from four 
 schooners at that time the sealing fleet in British 
 Columbia increased, until in 1891 upwards of fifty 
 vessels were employed in it. These were pro- 
 vided with 370 boats and canoes, manned by 
 1,083 whites and Indians. The number of skins 
 procured by this fleet in 1891 was 49,615. In 
 the same year the sailing fleet of the United 
 States numbered more than fort) vessels, and 
 the value of the catch was latlier more than 
 ^,^30,000. Since 1887 the decrease in the 
 number of seals in the Pribyloff Island.s, which 
 had been very rapid, has ceased, and the 
 numbers are again steadily increasing. More 
 females are being killed at sea, and not so 
 many males on shir -. 
 
 Wt need hardly say that during this prolonged 
 cruise Sir (George bi'lield many strange spec- 
 tacles ; but perhajis the strangest of all is repre- 
 sented by the frontispiece of this Magazine, 
 which is probably the most astounding photo- 
 graph ever taken. Our frontispiece is repro- 
 duced from an instantaneous photograjih of 
 Borgosloff, the island which was thrust up from 
 the sea in a single night slightly to the north of 
 the Aleutian chain. 
 
 " The natives in those parts," remarked Sir 
 (icorge, "told us one night about strange, weird 
 flames that had been seen rising out of the water 
 
 far out at sea. Next 
 day we came ujjon this 
 awful and mysterious 
 island, which was com- 
 posed of lava and other 
 volcanic material. The 
 |)recii)ice facing you in 
 the i)icture was upwards 
 of 360ft. high. Fortu- 
 nately for us a strong 
 wind was blowing, other- 
 wise we might have been 
 choked by the very 
 strong sulphurous fumes 
 which you can see for 
 yourself are being blown 
 away from this wonderful 
 island." 
 
 It must be said that 
 AiHi E(. avarice is the priii<;ipal 
 
 cause of the diminution 
 of the seals. The Alaska Commercial Com- 
 pany exacted the utmost value out of their 
 lease of the Pribyloff.s. Soon the larger seals 
 became scarce, and then the standard weight 
 of skins was. steadily lowered, so as to include 
 the younger .seals in the "killables." Instead 
 of skins weighing 7II). or 81b., those of 61b. 
 and even 41b. were taken and accepted by the 
 Company as early as 1889. The (lovernment, 
 in the new 1891 lease, have increased the tax 
 on skms from zdol.s. 25 cents to lodols. 25 cents. 
 Init perhaps tV'o most serious cause of waste 
 of seal life on the Pnbylofi"s just now 's the 
 dying of the pups, due chiefly to the presence 
 of "parasitic uncinaria," and also to accidental 
 killing by over-driving and other violence 
 inseparable from driving and clubbing ; the 
 trampling to death of pups by the older seals in 
 the stampede ; and, Instly, poaching and raids 
 generally, 'i'lie extraordinary jihotograph of the 
 (ireat Seal Rookery on Copper Island, which 
 forms the subject of the full-page illustration 
 reproduced on the next page, will enable the 
 reader to realize that seal poaching, if it could 
 be safely worked, is one of the most profitable 
 kinds of theft imaginable. A glance at this 
 wonderful photo, will show that the beach is 
 literally alive with seals, while thousands more 
 are seen playing in the sea. The Russian 
 rookeries are now so carefully guarded, how- 
 ever, that aching is practically impossible, but 
 formerly i ns conducted in a wholesale manner 
 and in an itj.jminably cruel way. 
 
 On Cop])er Island the killing of young seals 
 for native food has been prohibited for the Inst 
 seventeen years, and a fine of one luindrcil 
 roubles is exacted in the case of each female 
 accidentally killed. The name of this island, by 
 
THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE. 
 
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THE ROMANCE OF SEAL HUNTING. 
 
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 the way, is due to the fact that native copper 
 was originally found in little nuggets along 
 the shore. Copper Island is watched by the 
 Russians on the very best principles. A 
 Cossack (iuard is kept there with orders to 
 shoot ruthlessly any persons found illegally 
 killing the seals. This severe order was given 
 on account of the wanton way in which the 
 sealers formerly worked. In the South Seas 
 they used to club every seal, whether male or 
 female, big or little, that scrambled ashore, and 
 consequently in six or seven years' time there was 
 hardly a seal left. 
 
 Talking about poaching raids, these were at 
 one time very common in the PribylofTs. On 
 the night of June 8th, 1891, the special agent 
 in St. Paul's Island reported that a schooner, 
 supposed from her suspicious movements to 
 be on a predatory mission to these waters, was 
 sighted off the east end of the island. This 
 proved to be the Inlying Mist, but seeing people 
 on shore she stood out to sea again, returning, 
 however, later in the season when the nights 
 were longer, and killing and capturing seals 
 during the night. In the autumn of 1889, the 
 Allie Al^ar raided the Island of St. (leorge, 
 and procured more than 800 .skins. Certain 
 members of this same schooner's crew boasted' 
 that, in the same year,Jifteen men had in one 
 night in five hours killed upwards of 1,000 
 seals. Another poaching schooner was sur- 
 prised in thi very act of raiding, and she 
 departed hastily, leaving 190 female seals dead 
 on the beach. 
 
 One result of this policy of extermination has 
 been to make the seal more jielagic or sea-going 
 in its habits. Few people have any idea of the 
 magnitude of the sealing industry, even at the 
 present day. The buildings, plant, and equip- 
 ment of the North American Company in the 
 islands of St. Paul and St. Ceorge are estimated 
 to be worth i3o,ooodols. The estimated total 
 value of the British Columbia sailing vessels 
 with their ecjuipment, as they sailed in 1891, was 
 359,ooodols. Add to this amount an estimate 
 of the value of the United States Sailing 
 Fleet in the same year — from 2 5o,ooodols. to 
 3oo,ooodols. — and we get a total for the com- 
 bined fleet of about 75o,ooodols. In one year 
 (1891) the American sailing fleet took 68,000 
 skins at sea. 
 
 On the Pribyloff Islands, the whole native 
 population employed in killing seals numbers 
 about 300. At the present day the work is 
 carried on in accordance with most rigorous 
 regulations ; and in view of the fact that the 
 virtual extinction of the fur seal in the South 
 Seas is entirely due to the killing having been 
 carri'^d out on shore during the breeding season, 
 
 profitable sealing on the PribylofTs is limited to 
 a period of two months. 
 
 The " drives " are now made as short as 
 possible— often not more than half a mile. 
 There is no hurrying about this, and the "drives" 
 are under the personal supervision and res|K)n- 
 sibility of an officer. There is, however, still 
 room for improvement. Sir (leorge Haden- 
 Powell recommends that all seals not intended 
 to be killed should be separated as soon as 
 possible from each " drive." The actual clubbing, 
 too, should be performed with greater care, so as 
 to avoid injury or death to seals not intended to 
 be taken. As to pelagic or sea sealing the use 
 of rifles for shooting seals should be prohibited, 
 and spears employed instead as the method of 
 capture. Then, again, white hunters should 
 have personal licenses, renewable annually. 
 The maximum number of seals to be taken on 
 the Pribyloffs was recommended to be fixed at 
 50,000 annually. A close time was also sug- 
 gested, extending from September 15th to May 
 I St in each year. During this period it was 
 recommended that all killing should be ]iro- 
 hibited, with the additional provision that no 
 sealing vesset should enter Behring Sea before 
 July ist of each year. 
 
 Now, as to the question of the seal's food. 
 The fur seal has been known to eat all kinds 
 of fish, including cod, and even halibut. Its 
 favourite diet, however, is small fish, of which 
 the herring is the most important. Sir George 
 Baden-Powell gathered some very curious facts 
 about the animal's habits : — 
 
 " An Aleut foreman in charge of the rookeries 
 on Behring Island said that the young seals 
 began to swallow pebbles when about four 
 months old. It also seems that during the 
 time the seals are on the islands they have a 
 prolonged fast. Colonel J. Murray told us that 
 he examined the stomachs of several hundred 
 young seals killed by the natives for food, but 
 he never found the slightest trace of food in the 
 stomachs of the animals themselves. ' On their 
 arrival in the spring,' Colonel Murray goes on to 
 say, ' the se.nls are very fat and unwieldy, but 
 when they leave after their four months' fast they 
 are very often reduced to one-half their former 
 weight.' The habiti? of the animal are such 
 a saf(! terrestrial retreat at the 
 which the young are born, and 
 little ones may remain undisturbed 
 for three or four months, until such time as 
 they are able to assume the sea-going habits of 
 their parents." 
 
 In the next jihotograph which we reproduce 
 we are looking down on one of the great seal 
 rookeries of Copper Island from some distance 
 up a precipice, whose total height is about 200ft. 
 
 as to require 
 .season during 
 where the 
 
10 
 
 THE WIDE WORLD MACAZINE. 
 
 The view is a most extraordinary one. The 
 sandy beach is dotted all over with seals, and 
 our eye extends along the wild roast, where the 
 surf is roaring and breaking amidst the rocks. 
 
 BXTRAORDINARV VIEW OF A SEAL ROOKERY ON COPIER ISLAND — LOOKING DOWN ON THE HEACH 
 
 FROM A HEIOHT OF 6or' ' 
 
 The sea rookeries on St. Paul's Island are the 
 most important in the I'ribylofTs. There is 
 neither tree nor shrub worth speaking of in either 
 St. Paul or St. ( leorge ; the surface is covered 
 
 with grass, moss, and 
 ichen. It seems that 
 the seals are not par- 
 ticular in their choice 
 of a rookery. I'hc 
 only two things they 
 avoid are mud ;tnd 
 loose sand. The 
 animals have some 
 curious enemies. On 
 Robbcn Island large 
 numbers of young 
 pups are killed by the 
 i)urgomaster gulls, 
 which pick out their 
 eyes. This is so well 
 known that a rewArd 
 of live kopecks is 
 given for each gull 
 killed. Another danger 
 to the pups is when 
 the adult bull runs 
 amuck and fights. 
 But the most terrible 
 cause of seal mortality 
 is the "killer- 
 whale." Lieu- 
 tenant May- 
 nard s|)caks of 
 a single killer- 
 whale which 
 was found with 
 fourteen young 
 seals in its 
 s t o m a c h . 
 I,;istly, young 
 seals die of 
 the disease 
 and violence 
 already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 "At Tolstoi 
 Rookery, in 
 St. Paul's 
 Island," said 
 Sir Cieorge, 
 " we ourselves 
 observed, on 
 July 29th, 
 I <S 9 I , h u n • 
 dreds of dead 
 ])ups on the 
 smooth slo|)e 
 some little dis- 
 tance from the 
 
THE ROMANCE OF SEAI, HUNTINC;. 
 
 ti 
 
 shore. These, on furthor examination, were 
 shown to have died of an exbanstinj; parasitic 
 disease. 
 
 " However well n-gulated," continiu'd Sir 
 (leorgf, " the mt-tliod ado|)ted ol drivinj^ fur 
 seals must be cruel and destructive. The animal 
 goes at a short shufTlinn run, then rests. If the 
 weather is at all warm 'luring the driving, indi- 
 viduals droj) out and die ; others are smothered 
 or badly bitten by their fellows. It is a grim 
 fact that the killing ground to which the 
 seals are tlriven is always close to the salting 
 house, so that it 
 may be said that 
 the seals are com- 
 pelled to carry 
 their own skin 
 from the beach 
 to the warehouse. 
 The drive on St. 
 (ieorge's Island 
 is about three 
 miles in extent, 
 the time occu- 
 ()ied being from 
 four to six hours, 
 according to the 
 we.ither. During 
 the drive the ani- 
 mils become very 
 much exhausted, 
 and (]uite da/ed 
 through fear. The 
 
 effects of driving may be seen along the routes 
 by the significant frecjuency of skeletons and 
 bones round each rocky place that has to be 
 passed. During the drive the seals flop about 
 in a helpless and frightened manner, emitting 
 hoarse crie.s. When the killing ground is reached 
 the men provide themselves with wooden clubs, 
 .something like the capstan-bar of a shij) in size, 
 shape, and weight. The animals are then struck 
 on the head ; and expert killers only require to 
 deal one blow. The animals are next skinned 
 expeditiously, and the skins placed in piles 
 on top of each other, with layers of salt in 
 between." m 
 
 Pvxperts assert that different localities produce 
 different skins. The " Alaska " skin is supposed 
 to come from the I'ribyloff Islands, whilst the 
 "Copper" hails from the Commander Islands. 
 Of these, the former has the longer and finer fur. 
 Hut Sir Ceorge tested this by marked .skins 
 he brought from the islands, and found the 
 names were given to skins of a certain character, 
 but not according to actual place of origin. 
 The major [jortion of the I'ribyloff catch are 
 two or three year olds, and when the skins 
 are placed together in bundles of two, the 
 
 separate packages weigh from ulb. to 151b. 
 each. 
 
 In the accompanying photograph we .see a 
 great number of the skins are rolled up 
 together in pairs in this way, ready for ship- 
 ment. In this sha|)e they go into the hold of 
 the coast steamer at St. Paul, and are counted 
 out from it at San Francisco. 
 
 The i)rocess of preparing seal skins for the 
 market costing on the whole iSs. to 20s. p'T 
 skin is a prosperous industry in London. 
 
 After investigating affairs in all parts of 
 
 K SKIN^ WAIltNt; Sllll'MKN I'. 
 
 Hehring Sea, and consulting with the native and 
 white [)elagic sealers from Sitka down to Seattle 
 and with the authorities at Ottawa, Sir Cieorge, 
 with his (Canadian colleague, proceeded to 
 Washington, he having crossed to England to 
 consult with l>ord Salisbury. He was then 
 appointed, in December, i8yi, British member 
 of the joint Commission in Washington, and 
 assisted our Ambassador, Sir Julian I'auncefote, 
 in obtaining the Treaty referring all matters in 
 dispute to arbitration. Returning to England, 
 the two Commissioners prei)ared their full 
 Report to Her .Majesty, and then Lord 
 Salisl)ury appointed Sir Oeorge adviser in 
 the preparation of the British case before the 
 Paris Arbitration, in which we achieved a victory 
 particularly memorable, in that it is the only 
 insiance in wliich we have ever won a:i Inter- 
 national Arbitration. And it was acknowledged 
 on all hands that this victory was principally due 
 to the full and e.xact information obtained as to 
 all right of navigation and fishery in Ik'hring 
 Sea, and also as to fur .seals and their habits, by 
 the British ('ommissiotier and his Canadian 
 colleague, whose portraits aj)pear on the first 
 page of this article. 
 
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