A British war-ship, the _Wild Swan_, which is stationed in the Bering
Sea to protect the sealing interests of Great Britain, has just arrived
at Victoria, British Columbia.
The officers state that the seal herd is undoubtedly very much smaller
this year; so small indeed that there is the gravest reason to fear that
the seals are really dying out.
The Englishmen lay the blame of the smallness of the herd on the
shoulders of Professor Jordan, and declare that it is due to the
branding of the seals.
They insist that the seals who were branded last year were so badly
frightened that they will not venture into the same waters again.
Instead of coming to the Pribylov Islands, the officers say that they
have made their way to some other islands north of Japan, and that the
Japanese are reaping the benefit of Professor Jordan's experiment.
The British officers also say that the electric apparatus which Dr.
Jordan took with him this year has proved to be a failure, and that the
branding has had to be done with hot irons as usual. Trouble with the
apparatus caused considerable delay, and according to the story told by
the officers of the _Wild Swan_, only a few pups have been branded.
This news makes the conference all the more necessary. If there are no
means of marking the female seals without frightening the herd away from
their feeding-grounds, the different countries interested in the sealing
trade should lose no time in coming to an understanding, that the herd
may be preserved.
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