TX V,3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES tj>nWRSITY of CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY FUR SEAL ARBITRATION. PROCEEDINGS OF THE Tribunal of Arbitration, CONVENED AT PARIS UNDER THE TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN, CONCLUDED AT WASHINGTON FEBRUARY 29, 1892, FOR THE DETERMINATION OF QUESTIONS BETWEEN THE TWO GOV- ERNMENTS CONCERNING THE JURISDICTIONAL RIGHTS OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE WATERS OF BERING SEA. VOLUNIK III. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 189 5. FUR-SEAL ARBITRATION. APPENDIX TO The Case of the United States BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL OF ARBITRATION TO CONVENE AT PAKIS UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN, CONCLUDED FEBRUARY 29, 1892. VOLUME II. 'i^ i * > i ' > 'i J. > , J : > J J 'a » ^o ' , >■>,'''', ^ ' 1 '.' ' ' >' ' ' " J '' ^ ,' ' * , '' , > ' • '*, u - . , ' = J ,,,„._,.._ 1 i . 1 ^ ^ i I , > WASHINGtb!N, t); C.: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1892. 13960H LIST OF DEPONENTS. Name. Page. Abakee, Alexy Abakoo, YakoflF Abangac, Peter Abankook, Peter . . . Abanyngaw, Pavel . Abbey, Chas. A '. Adair, Chas Adams, George E . . . Adungan, Peter Agooklook, Giorgi. . Akatoo Akerly.J.C.S Alexander, A. B Alexandroff, Ivan . . Aliman, Miron Allis, Watson C Andersen, N. W Anderson, Andrew . . Anderson, C. H Anderson, Peter Andricius, H Anna-tlas Anutak, Feodore . . . Aogay, Gregory Apavelook, Stepban Apokchee, Nicoli ... Armstrong, Jobn . . . Aitomanoff, Kerrick Ascb & Jaeckel Atenas-Koo Avery, Chas Ayonkee, Adam Ball, George Balashoff, Michaeler Balashoff, Sacar 225 234 225 224 225 185 400 157 234 234 237 95, 141, 145 352 229 234 97 223 217 205 313 314 254 218 234 225 224 1 99 526 237 218 255 481 229 229 Name. Ban tie, George Barastoff, Feodor Barnes, Milton Baronovitcb, Johnnie. Page. 508 229 101 276 Bates, C. Francis 508, 528 Bates, Martin, Jr., & Co 526 Bates, Maurice 276 Behlow, Chas. J 401,402, 403 Bendt, Wm Bennett, Wilton C Benson, Edw Benson, Martin Bevington, H. S Blair, John G Bleidner, Bernhardt Bonae. Niels Borudakaifsky, ApoUon. Bowa-chup Bradley, John Andrew . . Bradley, Thomas Brennan, Wm Brown, Henry Brown, J. Stanley Brown, Peter Brown, Thomas, No. 1 . . . Brown, Thomas, No. 2 ... Bryant, Chas Budington, Jas. W Burdukofski, Ruth Buterin, Karp Buynitsky, S. N Calkins, Carlos G Callapa, Landis Campbell, Charles Canetak, Ivan 404 359 277 405 551 193 314 315 140 376 227 406 357 317 10,20 377 318 317, 406 3 593 206 102 20 104 379 256 229 111 IV LIST OF DEPONENTS. Name. Cantwell, John C Carthcut, Jas. L Chakatt Chalall, Charles Chara8hook, Peter Charlie Chayha, Tunafe Chichinoff, Vassili Chillta Chin-koo-tin, Simeon . . Choomovltsky, Evan . . Choomovitsky, Makar . Christiansen, Julius . . . Church, Peter Circus- Jim Clahowto Claplanhoo, James Clappa Clark, Harry N Clark, Wm Clat-ka-koi Clausen, Christ Claussen, Daniel Clement, John C Cohen, Maxwell Collins, Peter Comer, George Coulson, Washington C Cox, Leander Culler, Louis Dahtliu, Charlie Dalgarduo, Jas Dall, Wm. H Dalton, John Dardean, Alfred Davis, Frank Davis, Jeff Demidoff, Timothy Dennis, Joseph Dick (or Ehenchesut) . Dick, Hoonah Dishow, Geo Dohrn, John Dolan, Richard Page. 407 409 307 410 225 304 234 218 308 256 234 234 219 257 380 312 381 307 158 293 305 319 411 258 224 413 596 414 416 321 278 364 22 417 322 383 384 218 418 306 258 323 259 418 Name. Douglass, Jas. Henry Duff, John Duffy,Peter Duncan, Wm Echon Ehenchesut (or Dick) EUabush Erskine, M. C Esaiassen, Elias Fairchild, George Falconer, Samuel Feeny,F.F Feodor, Vassili : Fletcher, Herbert V Fogel, Geo Foster, Wm Fowler, C. L Frank Frank, Chief Frank, Luke Franklin, Luther T Eraser, Alfred Fratis, John Frazer, Thomas Frazer, Wm Funcke,Edw. W Fyfe, John Gadowen, Nicholi GaflFney, Frank M George (Son of Klotz-Klotz) George, Chad Gibson, Charles Gibson, Thomas Glidden, Henry A Goff,Chas.J Gonastut Gondoweu, .Janu's Gorloi, Kassian Grady, George Greenleaf, E. M Gregoroff, Niftili Griffin, Arthur Griffin, Jas Page. 419 227 421 279 279 306 385 421 230 423 160, 163, 166 220 230 105 424 220 25, 141 293 280 294 425 554, 561 107 364 426 427 429 249 430 247 365 281 431 109 111 238 259 212 433 324 234 325 433 LIST OF DEPONENTS. Name. Griffith, W.P Grinolf, Evan Grinoff, Feodore Grymes, Joseph Guild, A. J Gunther's, C. G., Sons Gunther, Franklin L. Hagman, Chas. H Hague, Chas J Haldane, Henry , Hannon, Martin Hansson, Alexander . . Harmsen, H Harris, Alfred Harris & Russak Harrison, James Hartlisnuk, Jacob Hayikahtla, Sam Hays, J. M Hayuks, Charley Hay ward, James . Healy, M. A Heilbronner, Max Heuriques, John A. . Heuson, Wm Hereford, Wm.S.... Hermann, Wni Hertz, Erain Hirschel, Arthur Hodgson, Norman . . Hoffman, Andrew J . Hofstad, E Holm, O Hughes, Edw Imihap Inloo, Nicoli Inloo, Nicoli, jr Irving, Alfred Isaacson, Gustavo . . Ishka Ivanhoff, Tekan Jackobson, Victor . . Jaeckel, Hugo Page. 260 218 218 434 231 526, 532 531 435 207 281 445 116 442 529 526 326 239 239 26 312 327 27 29, 117, 167, 509 31 483 32 445 587 563 366 446 260 368 36 308 229 229 386 439 387 225 328 530 Name. Page. Jamieson, James Johnson, Frank Johnson, J Johnson, Jack Johnson, Selwish Johntiu, Johnnie Joy, James G Kah-chuck-tee Kahiktday, Percy Kahoorof, Saml KalishnikofF, Anton . . Kalishnikotf, Avakoon . Kamlook, Alexander . . . Kashagak, Nicoli Kashevaroif, Philip Kaskan Kaskwa, King Kasooh, Jim Kean, James Keetnuck, Albert Kennedy, James Kethusduck, Mike Ketwooschish, George . Kickiana Kiernan, James Kinimel, Louis King-Hall, F. R Kinkooga Klananeck, Charlie Klonacket, James Konkonal Kookew, Tekan Kooko, Robert Koosche, Marka Korth, Frank Kotchooten, Jacob Kowiueet, John Krebs, C. F. Euiil Krukoff, Ivan Krukoft', Nicoli Kushen, Aggei Kvam, Olaf Lacheek, George Laflin, James 132, 128, 329 440 331 282 388 282 591 248 261 214 234 234 225 225 261 247 295 296 448 250 449 262 251 306 449 173 332 240 263 283 251 225 296 234 235 131 263 194 208 140 140 235 264 451 VI LIST OF DEPONENTS. Name. Laiug, Andrew Lampsou, Sir Geo. Curtis Langwalic, Stephen Lavender, A. W , LawBon, Edw. Nighl . . . . . Lcnard, Isaac M Lennan, James Liebes, Geo Liebes, Herman Liebes, Isaac Liebes, Sidney Lighthouse, James , Liudahl, Caleb , Littlejohn,E.W Lofstad, John N Long, \Vm. H Loud, Abial P , Lowe, Thos Lutjens, Chas Lyons, Thos McAlpine, George McClennen, Charles E . - , McDonald, J. D , McIntyie,H.H Mclutyre, H. W . .'. Mclsaac, William , McKeen, James McLaughlin, William McLean, Alexander McLean, Daniel McManus, Robert H Madden, Thomas Mahagak, Alexy Maitland, Edw Makeshow Maliek, Afanasse Malowansky, John Maloy, James Malzoff, Denis Mandregin, Noen Margathe, John Maroney, Patrick Page. 334 564 224 265 221 217 369 510 512 452, 515 516 389 456 457 516 457 37 371 458 460 266 517 266 30,40,43, 44,47,54, 517, 599 134 460 267 461 436 443 335 462 225 284 311 234 197 463 224 139 308 464 Name. Martin, Charles Martin, Walter E... Mason, Frederick Mason, Henry Mason, William Mathaaan, Thorwal. Melavidoif, S Melovedoft", Anton . . Melovidov, Simeon . Michaelson, Robert. Mill, Amos Miller, N.B. Miner, G.E Monin, lyfym Monin, Metry Morehead, Eddie . . Morgan, Thomas F. Morreau, Frank . . . Morris, John Morris, Matthew . . Morton, John M . . . Moses Moss, Morris Moulton, Jacob H . Muller, Peter C Murray, Joseph Nah-hoo, Billy Nankook, Prokopy . Nashtou Natch Smith Nathlan, Dan Nechantake Neishkaitk, Joseph Nelson, Niles Nettleton, S. R Newman, Arthur . . . Nicoli, Nicoli Niebaum, Gustave . Noojook, Nicoli Noyes, L. A Ntkla-ah O'Brien, John Of kew Pavel Page. 297 567 284 464 465 339 209 138, 142 145 232 285 199, 371 466 224 225 467 59, 60, 201 467 340 286 66 309 341 71 223 73 252 218 297 298 286 240 287 469 74 210 229 76, 202 225 79 288 470 224 LIST OF DEPONENTS. VII Name. Ofkew Wasyryon Oliver, Nelson T Olson, John Olsen, Peter Oponyak Osly Otis, Harrison Gray . . . Parker, William Parker, Wilson Pestikoff, Alamphy . . . . Peterson, Charles PetersoHjChestoqua ... Phelan, John J Pike, Richard Poland, Henry Porter, Edwin P Price, Charles W Prokopief, Eliah Prokopief, Filaret Redpath, J. C Reed, Charles W Repin, Paul R€viUon, L^on Rice, George Riesoff, Simeon Riley, Kesth Ringchook, Pavel Roberts, W Rohde, William Rolyah, Sacar Rondtus Ryan, Abel Ryan, Thomas F Ruszits, John, estate of Saalburg, S. W Saisnn Salamatoff, David Sayers, Adolphns Scammon, CM Schkatatin Schucklean Scribner, Benjamin F. . Shepard, L. G Shimeakin, Pavel Page. 224 372 471 288 308 390 85 342 391 218 345 392 518 592 570 346 521 215 216 140, 147 472 207 589 572 218 252 224 241 222 229 242 299 174 526 521 307 209 473 473 243 253 89 187 234 Name. Short, W^illiam Showoosch Shuckeyah, Geo Shucky, Jack Shyha, Alexander Simes, Peter Simson, Aaron Singay, Martin Sitka, Jack Skeenong Skibby, Fred'k Skowl, Thos Skultka, Geo Slanoch, Yuan Sloan, James •Sloss, Leon Smith, Fred Smith, John W Smith, Wm. H Soron, E. W Stahkan Stake, Emil J Stamp, Wm. C. B Stephens, Cyrus Sternfels, B. H Stickland, Joshua Sundvall, G Swain, John A Tanapee, Simeon Tanner, Z. L Taylor, W. B Tchet-Chak Teichmann, Emil Temple, George H Thlkahdaynahkee, Michael Thomas, W Thomas, Wm. G Thompson, Adolph W Thunk Titchenoff, Peter Tlaksatan, Charlie Tolman, John C Toochyk, Stephaii Toodays, Charlie Page. 348 243 248 289 226 476 290 268 268 244 228 300 290 253 477 90 349 232 478 479 244 530 574 479 522 349 480 350 225 373, 485 175 254 576 153 269 485 291 486 245 222 270 222 225 249 VIII LIST OF DEPONENTS. Name. Tread well, Geo. H.. TreadweU, Henry .. Trearslieit, Peter . . . Tuttle, Francis Twouj^kwak Tysnni, John Ullmann, Joseph . . . Ullmann, Saml Uuatajim, James . . . Usher, Geo Verbeke, Francis... AVagner, Ohas. T... Walton, Rudolph . . . Wank, Charlie Wardman, George . . Washburn, M. L. . . . Washburn, Seth M.. Wassermaun, Elkan Watkins Webster, Daniel Weckenunesch Weittenhiller, P. S.. White, Charlie Page. 523 524, 526, 529 271 487 245 393 526 527, 532 271 291 311 211 272 273 177 488 154 534 394 179 311 274 395 Name. White, Michael Wiepert, Wm Williams, Billy Williams, C. A Williams, Jos. D Williams, Theodore T Williams, Wm. H . . . . Wilson, Fred Wilson, James Windmiller, Maurice . Wispoo Woodruff, John Wooskoot, Michael . . . Yahkah Yeltachy, Billy Yethnow, Hastings . . . Yohansen, Alf Young, Paul Young, Walter ^ YuUa, Hish Zammitt, George Zaotchnoi, Pud Zolnoks, Thomas Page. 489 535 300 535 548, 549 491 93 301 228 550 396 506 274 246 302 302 368 292 303 397 507 213 398 TESTIMONY RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. Deposition of John Armstrong^ engineer of lessees^ steamer and agent on St. Paul Island, management. .State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: John Ariustrong, having; been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 50 years old, and reside in San Francisco. I was em- ^^ erienoe j)loyed in Alaska service in connection with the seal ^^ nenoe. fisheries from 1868 to 1886, inclusive. During the first eight years of the time I was chief engineer of the steamer plying between San Fran- cisco and the seal islands and other Alaska ports, and from 1877 to 1886, inclusive, as agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, living almost constantly for the whole ten years upon St. Paul Island. I always as- sisted in the seal-killing, and, in common with all other employes on the islands, made the seals my study and care. Everyone connected with the business, from the superintendent to the humblest laborer, is, when at the islands, keenly alive to every occurrence relating to the herd. There is nothing else but seals to attract our attention when there, and the most trivial incidents in regard to the rookeries, as well as the more serious ones, are noted and discussed. For the first few years I was on the islands the rookeries grew larger every year, and I was told by the nativ esand others that they had grown a good deal since the Americans first er["J'.'''^'^'^® "^ ''°"^' took them. After 1882 they seemed to stay about the same, as far as the number of breeders was concerned, as long as I was there. The skins taken ])rior to 1886 weighed from 6 ^ . ,^ . ^■ - , ^ . , , ,-, 1 1 ■ Weight of sliius. to 10 pounds each, averaging about 8 pounds per skin; but I understand from those who remained there on duty that much smaller ones were afterwards taken, because the large seals had become scarce and were needed for rookery service. I observed that very few seals go out to sea to feed during June, July, and Au- j.^,,„_.^,^, r.n.iii.sr. gust, except females and some of the younger males. The greater part of the older bachelors ajipear to be always about the rookeries after the cows come, and comparatively few as old as five years come up with the droves to the kiUing grounds. The .^,.j^,^ ^^^^j same seal is sometimes driven several times during the ariving."^' season. One with a peculiar spot on him was driven in more than a dozen times in one season. His skin was in such con- dition that we did not want it. But I do not tliink that he or any other one of the drove was injured by the exertion. The drising gave them, with rare exceptions, very little more exercise than they appeared 1 2716 — VOL IT 1 I TESTIMONY to take when left to themselves. The practice of driving has always been conducted the same as when I was on the islands, and the seals ^. ^. have thriven and increased under it. They arrow much Domestication. , , .,, ^ -k ^ • • i^i tamer, too, witli repeated driving, and seem to Jeai'ii the road and what is expected of them on the killing ground. It is much less trouble to handle a drove of seals from the rookery very near the village than those li'om a distant point. They grow very tame when reared near where people are passing and repassing, and none of them are as Avild or show as much fear as sheep ordinarily do when approached by man. Tlie huge bachelor seals arrive on the islands from the 1st to the 15th of June each year, sleek and fat as they can be, while Arrival of bachelors. ^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^.^y^ .^^ September are very thin in flesh, or in about the same condition as the biill seals then are, which, it is well known, do not leave the rookeries for some four months. On the other hand, the yearlings and two-year-olds remain in good condition the en- tire season, and must, I think, go off to the feeding grounds occasion- all v during the summer. The females go and come Females feeding. ^^^.£^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^ ^^^^, _, ^j. ^j^^j^, ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ islailds. I have seen rookeries, and particularly the one on the reef, plainly in sight from St. Paul village, swarming with pups and comparatively few mothers in sight, and it has sometimes remained so for twenty or thirty hoiu'S at a time, convincing me that they must have gone a consider- able distance fi'om the islands for food. Up to 1881 there were never enough dead pups on the rookeries to cause any re- Dead pups. mark. Occasionally one would be trampled to death by the fighting bulls, but the loss was almost nothing until the marine hunters began their work, and it grew to be quite noticeable before I left the islands. It was easy enough to see what they died of. They simply starved to death, wandering about and bleating until it made one's heart ache to see them. Tlieir mothers liad been killed off in the water, and the pups lived and suffered for weeks. They are very tena- cious of life, holding out six or eight weelcs or more after they lose their mothers. I am asked whether the seals copulate in the water. It is a ques- „ . . . tion that is often discussed at the islands, and neither Copulation m water. ., ■ l- j' ^ i.^ ■ j.-^ i i j. the scientinc observers nor the unscientmc are able to agree about it. I have seen seals in position when it seemed to be at- tempted, but doubt whether it is effectually accom|)lished. If it were, I thiidi; we should see pups sometimes born late and out of season, but sueh is not the case. I believe there has been a great decrease of seals on the islands since ^ I left there, and this is no doubt due to pelagic hunt- ing. The exterminatiou of the animals and of the in- dustry will be swift and sure unless the female seals are protected fiom Protc tion ^^^ devastatiou noAv going on, and I do not believe it ])ossible to protect them as they should be unless the North Pacific as well as Bering Sea is included in any measures adopted to this end. John Armstrong-. Subscribed and sworn to before me this lOth day of May, A. D. 1892, [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. RELATING TO PRIRir.OF ISLANDS. 3 Deposition of Charles Bryant, special Treasury agent an rribilof Islands. HABITS. District of Colitmeia, City of Washington, ss : Charles Bryant, being" duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a resi- dent of Mattapoisett, Plymouth County, State of Massachusetts, and am 72 years of age. In Septeuiher, ]up must inevita- bly perish by starvation. As evidence of this fact I will state that I have taken stray, motherless pups found ou the sand beaches and idaced them upon the breeding rookeries beside milking females and in all instances these jiups have finally died of starvation. When about 4 weeks old the pups get together in groups or pods and ap- proach nearer and nearer to the shore; after a week or so they are down near the surf but run back terrified whenever a wave comes in. They then begin to get acquainted with the sea and little by little overcome their terror and learn to use their flippers. I have seen a female sometimes pick her pup up by the back of the neck and carry it out into the water and let go of the little animal, catching it before it drowned and holding it above the waves; this she would repeat time and again until the little fellow got over his terror and began to use his flippers. By the 1st of September nearly all the pups have learned to swim, and until the time of their departure from the islands spend their time both on land and in the water, but by far the greater por- tion of this period is spent on land. The time they leave the islands is generally the middle of JS^ovember, but the weather is the true mark of such departure, they seeming to be unwilling to stay after the first snow or sleet comes. On departing from their island home they pro- ceed southward through the Aleutian jiasses, the majority going through or to the eastward of the pass of longitude 172°. The cause of their dei)arture is doubtless the approach of cold ,^. ^. ,, 1 ^T 1 1 /> /V2 • J. 1? 1 Migration, cause ot. weather and tlie lack of sufficient lood. Providing the conditions were the same on the islands the year round as they are in the summer, and providing the food supply was suffi- cient in the immediate vicinity of the islands, I think the seals would remain on or about the islands during the entire year. The seals evi- dently consider these islands their home and only leave them by rea- son of lack of food and inclement weather. Some seals remain about the islands until the first of January, and the winters of 1874 and 1875 being exceptionally mild, seals remaiued ou or in the vicinity of the islands during the whole year. From my inquiries and observations I am convinced the seals, after going through the Aleutian i^asses, seek the vast schools of fishes 6 TESTIMONY wliifli, at this season of theyear, are to be found in tlie North Pacific, then followino: these lislies as they niijiiate towards the jiigration, course of. ^^j^^.^-i^.j^^ ^.^;^^^ f^r tlic pnrpose of siiawniug, they ap- pear oft' the Californian coast during tlie early part of the year. The seals then go northward, still followiug these schools offish, the males ;nri\iiig again at lieriiig Sea in the early part of May and the females ill June and July and proceeding at once to their island home. The young seals are now a year old, and I am of the opinion the sexes herd together. This year they leave the islands a little earlier than the previous season ami make the same migratior in search of food. Eeturniug agaiu, this time as " two-year olds," the males go upon the hauling gronnds with the bachelor seals and the females land on the breeding rookeries. It is probable that the females of this ageare fertil- ized by the bulls and leave the islands in the fall pregnant. In watching the seals while swimming about the islands I have seen cases where they appeared to be copnlating in the water, but I am cer- .. ^ . -. tain, even if this was the case, that the propagation of Propaiiation effected ., ' ■ ■ , -, ' nc j. i • j-i • j.i ouiy .'n land. tlic spccics IS uot as R rulc eflected m this way, the natural and usual manner of coition beiug upon land. On returning the third year the young male goes again upon the haul- ing grounds and the female to the rookeries where she brings forth one pu]). From this time until she is between 12 and 16 years of age she continues to bear one pup annually. Under my direction microscopic examinations were made of the female reproductive organs, which showed that some of, the older females had borne at least eleven to thir- teen pups. VAHien the male seal returns after his sixth or seventh migration he goes to the breeding rookeries, and, if he is able, be- "■ comes master of a harem with the title of " seecatch." He arrives now at the islands during the month of May and after re- peated battles obtains a place upon the breeding grounds. He remains there about three months, that is, during the rutting season, without eating or drinking, never leaving his position. Here he gathers about him as many cows as he is able to place within the radius of the area controlled by him; the average seen at one time while I was on the islands was from tifteen to twenty to a bull; but as the cows were con- stantly going to and coming from the water it is impossible to calculate accurately the number to a harem. Probably not all the cows belong- ing to a bull were on shore at any one time; and I am of the opinion that a bull could if necessary serve seventy-live to a hundred cows during a season. I am satisfied the princii)al food of the fur seal is fish. During the summer fish arc i)ractically unknown about the is- ■'""' ■ lands, but they abound in great quantities in all parts of Bering Sea, 30 to 40 miles I'roin the islands. This fact came to my knowledge during my eighteen years' whaling exi^erience in that local- ity. J do not thiidv the male seals of any class feed to any extent while located at the islands, but the females are absent more or less of the time in search of food. By my observation I am convinced that a seal can swim more rapidly . ^ than any si)ecies of fish, and I believe that a female Spee( inswiraming. ^^j^^]j j^^.^yg ^j^p islands, go to a flshiug grouiid 100 miles distant and easily return the same day. I think seals can with- out difiiculty swim 10, 15, or even 20 miles an hour for several hours at a time. RELATING TO PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 7 I liave further observed the fact tliat bulls Lave a tendency to returu to the same place on the same rookery year after year. One bull in par- ticular, which I knew from his peculiarities, returned to the same rock for five seasons. During- my observation only one class of bachelor seals on the islands showed any deficiency in numbers, and 1 accounted for this fact in my report to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated September 5, 1872, from Avhich I quote: "The weather, although excessively foggy and disagreeable to the residents of the islands, ^^^f^^^ "^ slaughter has been especially favorable to the young seals. It is also observable that a larger number of yearlings or last year pups than usual have returned to the islands the present season. There is now only a deficiency of one class, tliat of the four and five year old seals. This is clearly traceable to the following" causes : During the season of 18()8 there were killed on both islands -!20,000 animals for their skins, and in the season of 1869, 85,000 for their skins. At that time the rela- tive value of the sizes or ages of the skins was not understood, and all the skins being paid for at the same price, the natives who were quick to perceive the diflerence between taking a small skin and a large one and carrying it to the salt houses, killed all the yearlings they could; these were the products of 1807 and 1868. These were sent forward in 3 870 to market and overstocked it with small skins. This created a demand for larger skins, and the Alaska Commercial Company in- structed their agents to take all the large skins possible in 1871; this Avas done and as many 4 and 5 year old seals as could be taken. This again fell on the already diminished product of 1867 aiul 1868. When these weie sent to market they were found too old, and now the proper medium being ascertained the seals will be selected accordingly." It should be borne in mind that the killing in 1868 was done by un- authorized persons before the Government could arrange for the pro- tection of the rookeries. From 1870 up to the time I left the islands in 1877, the females, of which I made as ^crease. careful a calculation as is possible by measuring the areas covered by the breeding rookeries, increased from 1 to 5 per cent annually. The whole time I was there there was an ample supply of full-grown vigorous males sufficient for serving all the females on the islands, and every year a surphis of vigorous bulls ii|:'*"''"'^' '"' ™''^'' could always be found about the rookeries awaiting an opportunity to usurp the place of some old or wounded bull, unable longer to maintain his place on the breeding grounds. I should except from this general statement the seasons of 1873 and to 1875 when the destruction of young males in 1868 and the error made by the company under their misapprehension as to the character of skins to l)e taken for market, perceptibly affected the males on the breeding groun.ds. It is not certain that the fertilizing of the females was thereby affected and this gap was filled up and from this time on there was at all times not only a sufficiency but a surplus of male life for breeding ])urposes. The increase infemale life was readily determined by noticing annually the lines of demarkation of the breeding grounds among the rocks, and also from tlie fact that many lanes through the breeding rookeries to the hauling grounds, left by the old males for the use of the bachelors, which existed in 1870, were entirely closed up by the breeders in 1877, and the bachelor seals were compelled to haul out' on the sand beaches. Another proof of this increase was the lact that in 1870 the breeding seals confined themselves to the 8 TESTIMONY shores covered witli broken rocks, but h\ 1877 the areas had increased to such an extent that a consiilcrable ])er('entaf;e of the breeding seals extended ont onto the sand beaches, Avhich before they liad carefully avoided, for reasons I have heretofore stated. The pups on tlie rookeries were fat and healthy, and while I was on the islands no epidemic disease ever appeared among them, nor did the natives have stories of an epidemic ever destroying them. A dead pnp was rarely seen, the dead being a small fraction Deadpupsaianty. „f ;^ ^g^. ^.^^^ ^^ tllC wholc number of I.UpS. I do UOt think while I was there I saw in any one season tifty dead pups on the rookeries, and the majority of dead pups were along the shore, having been killed by the surf. During the entire time 1 was upon the islands the most stringent regu- lations were always enforced in relation to disturbing the rookeries in any way. The use of firearms during the season the foibLMen'onTsiamis* scals wcrc upou the islauds was forbidden, and this was enforced by taking possession of the guns of the natives or by removing the locks and retaining them until the close of the sea- son; also all (logs Avere, in 1869 or 1870, destroyed on the islands, and no others were allowed to be brought here. The driving and killing of the bachelor seals was always carried on in the most careful manner, and during my stay upon the islands there was i)ractically no injury caused to seal life by over- ^^nnving ami kill- di-iyjug.^ jy^jj after 1873, when horses and mules were inti'oduced by the lessees to transport the skins, the seals were not driven as far, killing grounds being established near the hauling grounds and the loss by overdriving was reduced to the frac- ^. , . . tion of 1 per cent. Kedriving of the growing males from the various hauling grounds was made at inter- vals of several days, and did not cause them any injury, and I am thoroughly satisfied that there was not a single instance in which the virility of a male seal Avas destroyed or impaired by redri\'ing. In all cases, at suitable intervals and before driving to the killing- grounds, the herd was halted and the males of 5 years old or older were allowed to escape. Females were never driven, except in a few cases Avhere a barren one had liauled u]) with the bachelors, but I do not think in ten thousand females there is one barren. The general methods employed under American rule were far su- in,i,n,ve.i manage- r^nor to tliosc of the Russiaus, as will be readily un- meui under Anicii- dcrstood fVom thc ff>llowing facts. caa coLtroi. Wlicu 1 fiist visitcd thc scal islaudsiu 1868 the natives were living in semi-subterranean houses built of turf and such jueces of driftwood and whalebones as they were able to secure on coiidiiion of natives tlic bcacli. Thclr food had been prior to that time in- conipany. sutncHMit lu Variety, and was comprised ot sea' meat and a few other articles, furnished in meager qvantity by the Kussian h^ir Company. Tlicy had no fuel, and depended ^ .r heat upon the crowding together in their turf houses, sleepiug in th , dried grasses secured upon the islands. Forced to live under these condi- tions they could not of ('ouis<^ make progress towards civilization. There were no facilities for transi)()itiug the skins. They were carried on the backs of the natives, entailing great labor and hardship, and by reason of these tedious methods the taking of the annual catdi was extended over a number of months, being a continual source of moles- tation to the hauling seals. < -I _] < Q. CO z o a z Q QQ _i O o I o CO RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 9 Very soon after tlic islands canio into the possession of the American Government all this was changed. Their nnderground earthen lodges were replaced by warm, comfortable nwrniSu^™*"^ *''''" Avooden cottages for each family; fuel, food, and clothing were furnished them at prices 25 per cent above the wholesale price of San Francisco; churches were built and school houses maintained for their benetit, and everything done that would insure their constant advancement in the way of civilization and ma- terial progress. Instead of being mere creatures of tlie whims of their rulers they were placed upon an equal footing with white men, and re- ceived by law a stipulated sum for each skin taken. So that about $40,000 was annually divided among the inhabitants of the two is- lands. ln])laceof the vskin-clad natives living in turf lodges which I found on arriving on the island in 18(39, I left them in 1877 as well fed, as well clothed, and as well housed as the people of some of our New England villages. They had school facilities, and on Sunday they went to service in their pretty Greek church with its tastefully ar- ranged interior; they wore the clothing of civilized men and had polish on their boots. All these results are directly traceable to the seal fisheries and their imju'oved management. In addition to this the Alaska Commercial Company, as previously stated, had introduced far better facilities, such as _, ,. , . boats, horses, nuiles, and carts, tor transporting the skins, and improved methods of caring for them, which not only greatly reduced the labor required of the natives, but which, when aided by their improved physical condition and the increased number of the seals, enabled the company to take their full quota in thirty working days in 1877. This alone enormously reduced the molestation of the seals on the hauling grcmnds, for in the old liussian days, as previously stated, the seals were driven and killed at all times during their j^resence on the island. If the seals were as immerous to-day on the Pribilof Islands and the manner of driving and killing conducted in the same ;^-,„„i,( ,. tiK.t lui-iit manner as during my experience there, one hundred i.ekiiuiiinuierpiopur thousand male seals of from 2 to 4 years of age could '•'^^^''. citizen of tlie United States; reside '\u^i1i"ent'^"* "^ ^^^ Mentor, Oliio; am by i^rofession a geologist, and as spcLi.i a„en . sucli am employed in the U. S. Geological Survey. In April, 1891, I was ordered by tlie honorable the Secretary of tlie Interior, to Avliose direction the ofiticers of the Geological Survey are subject, to rei)()rt to the honorable the Secretary of the Treasury per- sonally for special service. This I did, and on the 27th of that month ] recuiived from the latter a temporary appointment as special agent. On May 4 I was given instructions to visit the Pribilof Islands, for the purpose of studying the seal life found thereon, insintctions. -with a view to j)rocuring full and accurate information, not only as to its present general condition, but also more specifically as to any increase or diminution of the seal herd that makes its home ui>on the islands. I was further instructed, should I find that change had oc- cnrred,to inquire carefully into its relative amount and the causes lead- ing tliereto. My duties were in no way connected with the administra- tion of the islands, but I was left free to make as exhaustive and (•(nnpiehensive an examination of seal life on the islands as the time at my disposal would permit. In accordance with my instructions I proceeded to San Francisco Vo a-^e on Jiui.h ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^'^ 27t]i day of May sailed for Bering Sea on the ojageon «6 1. u^ji^^^d States revenue steamer Bush. The Bush -m'- rived at St. George Island on June 9th and at St. Paul on the following- day. I entered immediately upou the work assigned me and continued it intcrrnptodly until September 22, when the Bush returned to San Francisco, arriving there on October 2. Of theonehundred and thirty days devoted to field investigation eighty sourcesof informa- wcrc givcu to the two islauds and fifty spent at sea in *'"" making the voyage to and from San Francisco and in cruising in the vicinity of the Piibilof Islands. This cruising carried me as far north as the island of St. Matthew and of Nunivak, and gave mo an opportunity to visit the villages of Akutau, Unalaska, Makushin, 1 laslicga, and Cliernofsky, on tlie Aleutian chain. Thus by field inves- tigation, by cruising, as well as by seeking information from those (pmlified by their calling to give it, I sought to familiarize myself with the seal question in all its phases. In the prosecution of my investigations I deemed it desirable to pho- t()gra])li all the rookeries often from two positions; to ^^Photographed rook- ^^^^^^^ ., j,.,,^^,^.;^] to]iographic siu'vcy of both islands on a scale of 1 mile to the inch and to prepare detailed charts of the rookeries upon the unusnally large scale of 2(34 feet to the Survey of ishuuis i"*'!*- I" Carrying (Hit this work I examined the entire and ciia'rts of rooker- shorc liiies of St. Paul and St. George, and there is not "■*■ an area of a mile square upou either that I have not traversed nor a square hundred feet upon a rookery that I have not re- piiate lly inspected. The close attention to topographic forms demanded ^^^ t^f • - ^" I'^'^tting rookeries with so nuich minuteness and the aniina'tTon"' ^ "'*'''' care required ill sclcct iug the best positions to secure photograplis inevitably drew me in close contact with seal life and greatly increased my opjuntunities to study it. There was RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 11 hardly a day in wliicli I did not have a chance to examine the rookeries and observe lookery life in its varied forms. In all ruy work npon the islands I was constantly attended by native Alents, who assisted ill transporting- my iiistrnments and other impedimenta. Several of these could speak fair English. Our intim ite daily relations, which ex- tended over nearly three months, were under conditions that offered neither incentive to secrecy nor to deception, and, while their general views on and theory of seal life are to be received with caution, they are keen observers of little details, and from them, their friends, and old Russian records on the islands 1 received many valnable hints of a natural-history and historical character. This little gronp of islets, consisting, in theorder of their magnitude, of St. Paul, St. George, Otter, and Walrus islands, were created in the shallow waters of Bering Sea by volcanic " ' "* ^•'''^"'^''• agency. Outpour upon outpour of basaltic lava gave to St, Paul low- lying sea margins which the waves and ice ground into bowlders, pebbles, and sand, and distributed into long ^^' -'^'^ ^^i'*""^- reaches of sandy shore at several points. The island lies to day, except for these minor changes, just as it Avas created. Cliffs are infrequent and there are from 20 to 25 miles of alternating areas of sand, rocky ledges, and bowlder-covered shores that could be made available, did an expanding herd demand it, for the uses of the seal. About 37 or 38 miles to the southeast lies the second largest of the group, St. George, which, though formed in the same ' ^'^^^^ manner as its neighbor, has nevertheless been so moditied by orograi)hic movement as to form a strong contrast to it topographically. Bold, towering cliffs are the rule, low-lying shores are rare, and it can boast of only about 6 or 8 miles of really satisfactory rookery space along the entire sea front. As a natural result St. Paul can and does support a far greater seal population than St. George. The greatest length of either of these islands would be covered bj' 12 miles, while 6 would easily span them at their widest part. Otter and Walrus islands, the former about miles to the southward and the latter about 7 miles to the eastward of St. Paul, are mere rocky remnants and now play no part as breeding grounds for the seal, and it is ques- j^/^"|g ^^^ waima tionable if tliey ever did. The islands are far removed from other land areas, the nearest x)oint on the Aleutian Archipelago lying 200 miles to the southward. Tlienieteorologic conditions in these latitudes are such that fogs and mists hang so continuously over the land and water as to make navigation very uncertain and dangerous. So diuous"'^*'^''^'"^ '^°°' all-enveloping are these vapors that it is often inqjossi- ble to see the shore a quarter of a mile distant, and so fickle are the fogs and mists that I ascended Bogaslov, the central cone of the island of St. Paul, five times before I could catch a glimpse of the hills imme- diately surrounding it, and this, too, when each occasion was selected for its promise of clearness. The temi)erature of the warm season aver- ages about 45° or 50°, and, though no trees grow upon the islands, the excessive humidity is so favorable for grasses, flowers, and other herb- age that they grow with a rapidity and flourish with a luxuriance diffi- cult to realize and unknown in the north teiu])erate zone. Many ex])lanations have been offered of the seals having selected these islands as their home. My observation does not -^ ,.^ .. enable me to state their reason for having done so, but the fact remains substantiated by my experince and that of all others of whom inquiries were made that these remote, rock-bound, fog- 12 TESTIMONY (IroiH'lK'd islaiuls arc the cliosen resort of tlie fnr bearing seal (Callo- rhiniis vrsitni.s). Tlie more jayiued and irrej^iilar tlie lavafragments tliat coNtM' llie shore, tlie more coutiimous the drenching they receive from the moistiire-ladeu atmosphere, the better the seals seem to like it. Neither from ])crsonal observation, from inquiries of the natives on the islands and the villages of the Aleutian chain, nor from questioning seafaring men, who, by opportunity for observation and general intel- ligence, were competent to inform me, could I learn of any other land area ever having been selected by this herd of fur-seal for its residence and for the perpetuation of its species. I learned that fur-seals of the s])ecies Callorhinus nrsinus do breed and haul out at tlie Commander Islands and liobbin conirnfindcrisiaiids j{eef, but the statements made to me were unanimous ami Kobbin Keel. ^i -'.i . i i ^i li. x- i • i • that they are a sejiarate herd, the pelt ot which is readily distinguishable from that of the Pribilof herd, and that the two herds do not intermingle. As a result of the volcanic origin of the islands their shores are, with few exceptions, either made u]i of bowlder-strewn Kookenes. lava Icdgcs or covered by jagged fragments of basalt of all sizes, the sharp edges of which are only slightly worn by the seals' tiii)i)ers or more completely rounded by the waves at the water's edge. There are a few true sand beaches; occasional level areas are found at the back of the rookeries, and in some places between the rock masses comparatively smooth interspaces occur, but even the level i)oitions referred to must be reached by crossing a wide belt of bowlders of all sizes that have been pushed landward by the waves and by the ice which annually surrounds the islands. It is upon such shores that the seal "rookeries" are located. Of the ruggeduess of these shores or of the irregularity and confusion of the lava blocks that co\('i- them it is diflicult to Ibrin a picture, but it is in a measure indicated in tlie accompanying photographs. A rookery thus i)resents two distinct features structurally,' while from the standpoint of the seal life thereon there are iJ^VmuuKu"''^ '''"'^ again the two well-recognized divisions of "breeding grounds" and "hauling grounds." The word "rook- ery" is a general one and includes the specitic terms "breeding grounds" and '* hauling grounds." In general and by preference the more rocky areas are selected by the females as "breeding grounds," and here, of course, the breeding bulls are found ; while the young, immature males or bachelor seals are relegated to the adjacent sandy shores or smoother spaces at the rear of tlie rookeries for their "hauling grounds." ( )ver these nuissesof rock the females scramble and stumble during the entire breeduig season, and in maintaining the control of his household the bull dashes here and there, striking repeatedly against the sharp edges of the rocks with a force that to the onlooker would seem to threaten his life. At no time during 1S91 was there other than the greatest care exer- ,f . ,. cised in inotecting the breeding grounds from intrusion or molestation, precautions hemg taken that to a novice would seem excessive; nor could I iind by the most diligent inquiry among the natives that there had been any deviation from these rules Hiiice the American occu])ancy of the islands, nor during that time had there been the killing of a female seal save l)y the rarest accident. The "hauling grtless the habits of the sea- otter have become confused witli those of the I'ur seal. 16 TESTIMONY The pup tliiriii.1;' ihc first moiitlis of its life is not ainphibious. It does not even use its tiipi>ei's as the niaturer seals. Pup (imins first It movcs ill a Qiiit more like .li'oiny on "all fours," montliB nut ainpbibi- i -i ii i m^^ i i ' i "^ • j-i i : i „„s * while the adult sea! moves bv dra\viiiiips became so exhausted that they would have been drowned had 1 not rescued them. If the IJups when collected in groups or pods near the shore were to be over- taken by even a moderate surf they would be drowned, and such acci- dents to them do occur on the island before they have entirely mas- tered the art of swimming. The latter steps in the history of rookery life all facilitate, if indeed they do not play an important part in, the disorgani- rooker'iel'^"*^''*'°° °* zatiou ot the harciu system. Just as soon as the pup has reached the age of forming i)ods and making little excursions hither and thither, the bull's autliority diminishes, for his control over the mother is lost in the presence of the bleat of the hun- gry offspring. Up to the 20th of July the breeding grounds present a compact, orderly arrangement of harems, but under the combined influence of the completion of the serving of the females and the wandering of the pups, disintegration begun at that date rapidly progresses. It is at this time that the virgin cows of 2 years of age, or not older than 3, mingle more freely with the females and probably enter the mater- nal ranks, for the unsuccessful males and maturer bachelors, no longer deterred by the old males, also freely wander over the breeding grounds. While the l»rcediug grounds have been left undisturbed to theirown , career, the hauling grounds have alternately been the Urivinir and kiUmj;. v i • r A ly i -it mt, " scene ot drives lor the purpose ot killing, ihe imma- ture bachelors form the bulk of the seals that haul out upon these grounds, and of them only the 3 and 4 year olds are taken for their skins. The only seals killeil for their jxdts are those immature males that haul out upon th(^ hauling grounds remote from the breeding grounds, and the handling of them causes no disturbance to the Only immaturo breeding feuialcs. The number of bachelors permitted males killtMl. »7 . . • i -^i • ^i to be taken in any one season is entirely within the control of the Treasury Department, which control has been exercised RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 17 during the past two years for the euorinous reduction of the annual quota. There are certain physical as well as historical sources of informatiou upon the island from which the relation of the present to the past condition of the rookeries can be very clearly Present appearance , * , -^ '^ of rookeries. made out. I. Not only upon, but immediately to the rear of, the area at present occupied by the breeding seals occur fragments of basalt whose angles have been rounded and polished Grass patches. by the flippers of seals. Among these latter rocks grass is found grow- ing to an extent proportionate to their distances from the present breed- ing grounds, and further the soil sliows no recent disturbance by the seals. This rounding of the bowlders of the abandoned areas was not due to the impingement of sand grass driven by the wind. Ko geolo- gist would be willing to risk his reputation by asserting that this round- ing came from any such agency. The distinction between the result of sand blast action and seals' flippers is very marked. II. A careful examination among the roots of the grass will often show the former presence of seal by the peculiar appearance of the soil, due to the excrementa of the seal and the occurrence of a tliin mat of seal hair. The attention of Dr. George M. Dawson was called to such a felt of hair uj)on the sunnnit of Hutchinson Hill, and both lie and Dr. C. Hart IMerriam collected specimens of it from among the grass roots at that locality. III. At the rear of the rookeries there is usually an area of mixed vegetation — an area the boundary of which is sharply dcfliied, and be- tween which and the present breeding grounds occurs a zone of grass of only a single variety. In the immediate vicinity of the present breed- ing grounds only scanty bunches are to be seen. These gradually coalesce as the line of mixed vegetation is approached. The explana- tion of this is that the seals were formerly so abundant as to destroy the normal mixed vegetation at the rear of the breeding grounds, and that the decrease of the seals has been followed by the encroachment of the uniform variety of grass. IV. The statements made to me by competent observers who have lived upon the islands for years all agree that the shrinkage in the breeding area has been rapid during i^^frea.^^ '° ^^^'^^' the past five or six years. V. After observing the habits of seals for a season, I unhesitatingly assert that to satisfactorily account for the disturbance to vegetable life over areas whose extent is visible even to the most careless and prejudiced of observers would require the presence of from two to three times the amount of seal life Avhich is now to be found upon the islands. That there has been enormous decrease in the seals ^ XI T X- Decrease. there can be no question. In studying the causes of diminution of seal life there were found a variety of actual and i)ossible sources of destruction 1-1 11- J-- ■ • 1 TTix i-i Causes of decrease. which are enective m varying degrees. Fortunately the most important of these sources were directly under my observation and the following facts presented themselves for consideration. I. The restrictiona apon the molestation of the breeding grounds and upon the killing of X^males has been imperative both on tlie part of the Government and/jssees since the American owiicrslii]) of tlie i.slands, so that in the ^king of seals no injury could possibly have occurred to the females i^ A ^ i" • 1882 there was an annual expansion ot the boundaries of the breeding grounds; that this was followed by a period of stag- Decrease since uatioii, Avliicli ill tum was followed by a marked de- ^^^^~'^^- cadence from about 1885--8G down to the present time. VIII. In the latter ])art ot July, 1891, my attention was called to a source of waste, the efticiency of which was most startlingly illustrated. In my conversations with the natives I had learned that dead pups had been seen upon the rookeries in the past few years in such numbers as Dead m ^ causc mucli conccm. By the middle of July they ea( pups. pointed out to me here and there dead imps and others so weak and emaciated that thcu* death was but a matter of a few days. RELATING TO PUIBILOF ISLANDS. 19 By tlie time the BritivSli commissioncr.s arrived the dead pups were iu sullicient abundance to attract their attentiou, and they are, I believe, under the iinpreSvSion that they tirst discovered them. I procured a number of these pui)s, and Dr. Akerly, at my request, made autopsies, not only at the village, but later on ui^on the rookeries themselves. The lungs of these dead pups floated in water. There ^vutow-v was no organic disease of heart, liver, lungs, stomach, ^ " "ij^i^-" or alimentary canal. In the latter there was but little and often no fecal matter and the stomach was entirely empty. Pups in the last stage of emaciation were seen by me upon the rookeries, and their condition as well as that of the dead ones left no room to doubt that their death Avas caused by starvation. By the latter ^ ,, , ^ ... j_ T ii J.-I i. Ti 1 • Death by starvation. part ot August deaths were rare, the inortality having practically ceased. An examination of the warning lists of the com- bined fleets of British and American cruisers will show that before the middle of August the last sealing schooner was sent out of Bering Sea. These vessels had entered the sea about July 1 and liad done much effective work by July 15. The mortality among the pups and its ces- sation is synchronous with the sealing fleet's arrival and departure from Bering Sea. There are several of the rookeries upon which level iireas are so dis- posed as to be seen by the eye at a glance. In Se[)tember Dr. Akerly and I walked directly across the rookery of Tolstoi, Pooker - at Tolstoi St. Paul, and in addition to the dead pups in sight '"" ^'^^ ^ they lay in groups of from three to a dozen among the obscuring rocks on the hillside. From a careful examination of every lookery upon the two islands made by me in August and September, I place the mini- mum estimate of the dead j)ups to be lo,0()(>, and that some number between that and 30,(>()() would represent ^4"'"^"' "* '*''"' more nearly a true statement of the facts. Upon examining the Bering Sea catch for 18t)l, as based upon the records of the Victoria custom-house, I ascertained that nearly 30,000 seals had been taken by the British tioet ^^J;;;*'^'' I'y veastis m alone in Bering Sea during the summer of 1891, When there is added to this the catch of the American vessels, the dead pups upon the rockeries, and allowances made for those that ,,. ,,,„.t; „ „*• iit„ J / 1 • 1 _L)e8u uctioii ot Hie. are killed and not recovered we have a catch which will not only nearly reach iu numbers the quota of male seals allowed to be takeu upon the islands iu years gone by, but we have a catch in the secnring of which destruction has fallen most heavily npon the pro- ducing females. This is borne out by a furthei- fact. The young bach- elor seals can lie idly on the hauling grounds ami through the peculiarities of tlieir physical economy sus- ,„,^[^:f •'^'''"'■^' "" *'^- tain life with a small supply of food, but the cows mnst range the ocean in search of nourisliment tiiat they may meet the demands made upon them by their young. That seals go a great distance from the islands I know from personal oltservation, for- we saw them 120 miles to the northward of the island on the way to Xunix ak. That tiie females outnumber the males ten to one is well known, other- ., , ,. ,. „ Wise the hauling grounds would ])resent such an array of killable seal that there would be no necessity for the (lovernment to suspend the annual quota. It inevitably follows that the females are the class most jjreyed upon in Bering Sea. No class of animals which bring forth but a single offspring annually can long sustain itself against the destruction of the producers. As a result of my investigations 1 believe that the destruction of fe- 20 TESTIMONY males was carried to the point in about 1885 Avliere tlie birtli rate could De letion of rook ^^^^ ^^'0]) u]) tlie ucccssary Supply of mothers, and tliat eries^dueTo destmc- tlic equilibrium boiug once destroyed and the drain upon tion of mother seals, tlic produciui;;- cluss increasin.2," IVom year to year from that date the x>reseut dex)letcd coiulition of the rookeries has resulted directly therefrom. Joseph Stanley Brown. Subscribed aud sworn to before me, a uotary public in and for the Dis- trict of Columbia, this 9th day of May, 1892. [L. S.J Sevellon a. Brown. Deposition of Joseph Stanley Bron-'n, fjeologist in TJ. S. Geolor/ical Sur- vey, and special a' season I was appointed to take charge of both St. Panl and St. George islands. I arrived at the islands in July, 1871, and remained there till the latter part of April, 1872. Dur- ing my stay on the islands I inade careful examination into the habits and nature of the seal and also read and studied the recoids left by the Eussian Government in relation to the Pribilof Islands. The full grown male seals commence to appear about the islands during the latter part of April or tir.st of May. They come from the southeast through the passes between the Aleutian Islands. The bulls, as these seals are called, do not imnunli- ately land, but swim about surveying the coast; finally, they come on shore at the breeding rookeries, invariably selecting a shore covered with bowlders and avoiding sand beaches, for the reason, I believe, that when the pups are born on these rookeries they may not be swept away by the surf I believe also that a, bull comes back to the same rookery every season; this belief was formed from information I re- ceived from several of the natives of the islands, who told me that they had at one time cut the ears of some pups so that they could be readily distinguished; that when the pups were grown they had noticed eacli one on a particular rookery, and that in the years following the rook- ery had the same occupant. The female seals begin to arrive the latter part of May, going di- rectly to the breeding rookeries. The young male seals from 1 to 5 years of age, called " bachelors," come about the same time as the females, but do not go onto Bachelors. the breeding rookeries, evidently fearing the old bulls. These bachelors haul up by themselves on- narrow places along the shore left between the breeding rookeries, and from these jioints proceed inland much farther than the breeding rookeries. The seals killed on the islands for their skins are these bachelors, those of from 2 to 4 years old being carefully selected. Under no circum- kiiicd."^ stances is a female seal killed. In a "drive" the natives drive the seals from the hauling grounds a little way. Driving, separate the young killable males, and allow the re- mainder to returu to the water or the hauling grounds. Then these young males so selected are driven to the killing grounds and there dispatched with clnbs. During the entire time I was on the islands I never saw a single seal killed by overdriving. At the time I was on the islands I do not think there were any fish at all within 3 miles of the islands, and that the seals to feed had to go farther than that from land. This belief is ^^ni." ol' tia^d""" ^ founded on statements made me by natives on the islands, and also from the fact that fresh fish were seldom eaten upon the islands. Very soon after a female lands she gives birth to a pnp. I tliiidv that she never gives birth to more than one, 1 XI i 1 1 111 I ^ • ii Pups born ou is- and that she only suckles her own puj). inuring the ]and.s. two sealing seasons I was on the islands 1 only saw a very few dead pups, and these had been killed by i>earohibition the Pribilof seal herd will be either exterminated in a very short time or else the few which escape from the imliscriminate slaughter of pelagic hunters will be driven from the Pribilof Islands. Stephen K Buynitsky. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 28th day of March, 1892. [L. s,] Sevellon a. Bkown, Notary Ftihlic in and for the District of Colwnhia, U. iS.A. Dejwsiiion of William Healcy Dall, biologist and paleontologist in U, S. Geological /Survey. PELAGIC sealing AND PRIBILOF ROOKERIES. District of Columbia, City of Washiugton, ss: William Healey Dall, of Washington, aforesaid, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That in connection with my scieu- Espencnce. ^-^^ studics at c'ambrid ge, Mass., I devoted nearly three years to the study of biology, anatomy, and medicine; that since com])loting my studies with Prof. I^ouis Agassiz at Cambridge, in the year 1803, I have been engaged in scientiiic work, and am now a TT- •. 1 *i i-„ «^A paleontologist in the U. S. Geological Survey. I first Visited Alaska and -i ..,,,> '^. (^, . ,, j^tan- i Bering Sea in 1865, visitcd Bering Sca lu tlic summcr ot 180i) as a member ^^^^- of the scientific corps of the Western Union Telegraph expedition. Visited the Aleutian Islands and went to St. Michael, passing near the Pribilof group. In the spring of 180G again went to northern Alaska, in the same capacity, and remained there until the fall of 1808. In 18(»7 the aforesaid ex})Odition was abandoned, but [ renmined in the country in order to continue my scientific investiga- tions, wintering on the mainland. In the fall of 1808 I made my way back to San Francisco on the schooner Francis Steele^ owned by the Pioneer Ameiican Fur Com^iany, which had a station ishi'n^" l«l;ii>ds, which atforded me an additional opportu- nity to observe seal life on the rookeries. RELATING TO PRTBILOF ISLANDS. 23 In 1880 I again visiteeTing'se^iri88o!"'^ As a result of the above experience I would further state the following facts: During my visit to St. George Island in 18G8, before referred to, this vast territory of Alaska had just fallen into the possession of the United States, and the Government ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ had not yet fairly established more than the begin- ^"^ ®'"° uing of an organization for its management, as a whole, without mentioning such details as the Pribilof Islands. In consequence of this state of affairs, private enterprise in the form of companies deal- ing in furs had established numerous sealing stations on the islands durii»g 1808. During my stay, except on a single occasion, the driving from the hauling grounds, the killing and skinning was done by the .natives in the same manner as when under Russian rule, each com- peting party i^aying them so much per skin for their labor in taking them. Despite the very bitter and jnore or less unscrupulous com- petition among the various parties, all recognized the importance of preserving the industry and protecting the breeding grounds from molestation, and for the most part were guided by this conviction. In 1880 I found the rookeries full, and in my opinion there were as many seals on the islands as at any time during my ex- p„p,^„^„ a„,ihaui- perience. I have never known of a pup being born inf; ground's only] ou or of hauling grounds existing anywhere along the riii^flof islands. Alaskan coast or in the islands adjacent thereto, except the Pribilof Islands. I have heard stories and traditions to that eHect, but I have never known of their being substantiated. From my knowledge of natural history and from my observations of seal life I am of the opinion that it would be impossible for the young- seals to ])e brought forth and kept alive in the water. When it is the habit of an animal to give birth to its ^Ztlhft ^''"' '"' young u]>on the land it is contrary to biologic teach- ing and common sense to sui)pose they could successfully bring theiu forth in the water. It d«>es not seem to me at all likely that a mother would suckle any pup other than her own, for I have repeatedly seen a feiuale select one pup from a largo group and pay no attention to the solicitations of otliers. Pups require the nourishment from tlicir mothers for at least three to four months after their birth, and would perish if deprived of the same. There were not in 1880 sufficient dead pups scattered over the rookeries to attract atten- ^^ ^^^ ^^ tion or to form a feature on the rookery. A pup when *'''" '"'^'*'' firstborn can not sustain itself in the water and would unquestionably ])erish. The Pribilof Islands are the chosen home of the fur-seal {CallorMuus i(rsinus). Upon these islands they are born; there they first learn to swim and more than half of their ,,o;;..\';:l",',;fn.'r.s.'iL life is spent upon them and in the waters adjacent thereto. Here they give birth to their young, breed, nurse their pups, and go to ar.d come from their feeding grounds, which maybe miles distant from the islands. I have seen seals in the waters of Bering Sea distant 100 miles or more from the islands at various times be- tween the first of July and October. These seals were doubtless in search of food, wliich consists, according to my obser- Yeeding {emaUa. vation, of iisli, squid, crustaceans, and even mollu.sks. Upon the approach of winter the seals leave their home, iniluenced 24 TESTIMONY doubtless by tlie severity of tlic climate and decrease in the food supply. They go soutliward, making their way through the igra ion. passes of the Aleutian chain. In latitude 50° or thereabouts, extending across the Pacific east and west, is a warm cur- rent of about 70 or 80 miles in breadth; in this warm water are found fish* and crustaceans. This current sets eastward and is somewhat quickened at the approach of spring in harmony with the monsoons of its i)lace of origin. In the spring and fall I have seen seals in these warmer waters, but in August, when I once crossed the current, they were al)sent. Undoubtedly the seals find there agreeable temperature and sufiicient food supply, and, following the eastward set of the cur- rent and the migrations of the fish, find their way to the western coast of the United States and, thence turn northward being influenced by the bountiful food supply along the nortliAvest coast, and finally by that route return to their home upon the Pribilof Islands. I have had amx)le opportunity to form an opinion in regard to the efi'ect upon the herd of the killing of female seals. The f.mfie'si °' ^iiii"g female brings forth a single offspring annually, and hence the repair of the loss by death is not rapid. It is evident that the injury to the herd from the killing of a single female, that is, the producer, is far greater than from the death of a male, as the seal is polygamous in habit. The danger to the herd therefore is Just in proportion to the destruction of female life. Killing in the open waters is peculiarly destructive to this animal. No kiiihli^^*^^ *™^°'^**' discrimination of sex in the water is possible, the secur- ing of the prey when killed is under the best of circum- stances uncertain, and as the period of gestation is at least eleven months, and of nursing three or four months, the death of a female at any time means the destruction of two, herself and the foetus, or when nursing of three, herself, the nursing pup, and the ftetus. All killing of females is a menace to the herd, and as soon as such killing reaches the point, as it inevitably must if permitted to continue, where the annual increase will not make good the yearly loss, then the destruction of the herd will be equally rapid and certain, regarded from a commer- cial standpoint, though a few individuals might survive. Upon the amount of protection depends the safety of the seal herd in the future. If protected only upon the Pribilof Islands extermination will be rapid; if they are protected upon the islands and in the waters of Bering Sea also the decrease will be slower, but ultimate extinction will probably follow. To ]n'eserve them completely it ^j^roiiibihoii neces- jg necessary that they should be protected in all waters, which they frequent at all times. Killing upon land can be regnlated and interference with the females rigidly prohibited, but all killing at sea is indiscriminate and uncontrollable, and hence fatal in its consequences if carried on to any serious extent. Kegarded as a factor in the world's commerce, extinction means, and is here used to mean, a diminution so great that the catch would not i)ay for hunt- ing, witlumt reference to the fact that a few scattered individuals may long survive the general mass. Wm. H. Dall. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, A. D. 1892. [L. s.] John J. Malone, Notary Public, J). C. RELATING TO PRTBTLOF ISLANDS. 25 Deposition of C. L. Fowler, Assistant Agent of the lessees on the £riUlof Islands. HABITS PELAGIC SEALING Alaska, U, S. A., St. Paul Island, Prihilof Grotip, ss: C. L. Fowler, beiug duly sworn, deposes and says: I a?n 40 years of a^e, and was born at Stoneliani, Mass. I have been a resident of tlie Pribilof Islands most of the time since 1879. My oecnpation is that of assistant agent of the lessees of the islands. 1 have had eight years' experience on the sealing fields of St. Experience. Paul and St. George islands, and I have a practical knowledge of the habits of the fur-seal while on the islands, and of the methods used in taking and preparing the skins for ^^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ shipment. The bull seals arrive on the islands from the latter part of April to June 15, and most all of them ^. ^^^.^^ ^^ ^^^^^ leave in August and September, and I have seen a few igr-inon o u 3. as late as October. The cows come to the islands be- .... tween June 1 and July 20, and commence leaving in ^'^"^'"^ "* *^"^'- October, and but few are found on the islands as late as December, unless it should be a mild winter. The ^'^ration of cows, young male seals from 2 to 5 years old come in May or June, and hard out by themselves; the older ones ^;^^f ' ""^ ''^ y""°s usually come first, and they remain on or about the ^^'"'' islands until the inclemency of the weather compels tliera to leave, which is usually late in the fall or early ^Migratiou of young winter. Occasionally some remain till late in January. The pups are born soon after the cows arrive, and re- ^^.^^^^ ^^ main until October and November, and when they re- "^ '" ^"^^' turn, the following season, do not stay on land mucli of the time. The killing season for skins takes place in June and July, and none but males are killed, and it is seldom that the cows are ever in the drives at this time of the year. Should ^*"'"" "^'^'°°- a cow happen to get into one of the drives she is care- fully separated from the rest, and permitted to go to ^niy males kiiie.i. the water. Later in the season, when food drives are being made, and the harems are broken up, a small No females kuiod. number of cows are in the drives, but none are killed unless by accident. The natives who make the drives are very partic- ular on this point, and nothing offends them quicker than to have a female seal killed. They are very careful in handling the seals, and seem to fully appreciate the necessity of preserving the seals as well as the laws relating to that subject. I never saw any impotent bulls on the rookeries, and do not believe o""poen there ever was any, unless it was the result of age; nor do I believe that young male seals were ever rendered ,i,.|![,'-ng""'""^ ^™"* impotent by driving. There has always been a plenty of bulls on the rookeries for breeding purposes ever since ^^ j.^^^ „, -^,^1,3 I have been on the islands. Seals have decreased in numbers very rapidlyinthe last few years, and to any- Yiccrease. one who saw the breeding rookeries, as I did, in 1880, the change is most wonderful. The flesh of the fur seal is used for food by the natives and white men on the islands, and seaiaasfood. is relished by them. I have never known of any sick- ness or epidemic among the seals, and I am of the Nosicknesa among opinion that the thousands of dead pups on the rook- seals. 2G TESTIMONY eries last year died of st;irvation on acconiit of their motliers being sliot and killed while feeding at the tishing banks in Piil>s (Iviiig of star- . o o vatiou. ■ the sea. I was present last year and saw some of the dead pups examined. Their stcnnaehs were empty, and they presented all the appearances of starvation. 1 also noticed on the rookeries a great many emaciated pups, which, on a later visit, would be dead. It has always been the l)ra<;tice prior to 1801 for the natives to kill three to four thousand Y)n\)^ in November for lood, and we always find their stomachs filled with milk. I have also observed that the male seals killed soon after they come to the islands are fat and their stomachs filled ^ Bu Cause of deoi-oase. that the decrease in numbers ot seals m the JNorth Pa- cific and Bering Sea is owing to i)elagic hunting, and that unless dis- continued they Will soon become so nearly extinct as to be worthless for commercial purposes. I am not now, nor never have been, in the employ of the present lessees of the seal islands. J. M. Hays. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of March, 1802. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. • Deposition of 71/. A. Jlcalvy, captairij U. S. Revenue Marine. pribilof islands and pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Capt. M. A. Healey, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a citizen of the United States. I am now and have ^, bren fin- the last twenty-five years an ofhcer in the United States Eevenue Marine Service, and have been on duty nearly all the time in the Avaters of the jSTorth Pacific, Bering and Arctic Seas. Por the past six years I have been in command of the United States revenue steamer Bear, prior to which time I had command of the United States revenue steamer Corwin lor six years; both of Avhich vessels were employed almost exclusively in navigating the waters of Bering Sea, guarding the seal islands, and protecling the seals found in those' waters from destruction by x)oaching vessels engaged in what is known as pelagic sealing. INIy first voyage was made j,i,.^^ vovaRo to to tlie seal islands in 18()!), and I have cruised annu- I'riiiiiof is'ianSs in 18G9 ally for the last twelve years in the Alaskan waters about the Pribilof Islands up to the present time. My official position and the character of my eini>loyinent, as well as natural inclination, has given me an opportunity tor familiarizing myself with Kxpoikncc. the character of the fur-seal industry and the habits of the seals, and has also bnmght ine in contact with many people en- gaged in the hunting of the fur-seals, and of the general methods employed in catching them. ])uring my visits to the islands of St. . Paul and St. GeorgeVor tlu^ last twenty years I have ('arefully noticed that those islands were visited bv great herds of fur-seals during the breeding season, and that although UK»,(H)0 male seals were taken annu- ally at the islands by the lessees no perceptilde diini- -v^.,, diminution of niition in their numbers was noticeable until within srais on islands until the past few years when the killing of seals in the open _ -it iHn„ast.ew. years. sea on the part of fishing vessels became iirevalent; since which time 28 TESTIMONY tlicrc liiis been a very perceptible diminution in tlie nnmlier of seals seen in the water of tlie Bering Sea and hauling grounds on the islands. This decrease has become alarmingly sudden in the last three or four years, due I believe to the ruthless and indiscriminate methods of destruction employed by vessels in tak- ing female seals in the open sea. My experience has been that the vessels employed in hunting seals ^ J. . . ^ shoot indiscriminately, pups, male and female seals, re- in disc rim mate Ti ,. .^ 7 i -I 7 . i' . slaughter. gardlcss ot age or sex, and even should sealers wish to discriminate in the killing it would not be i^ossible for Sex indiatiiigiiisb- them to do SO. My study of them iu a loug experience able in water. -j-j^^ ^^^ enabled nie to positively distinguish the sex of a seal while in the wat(^r. It is the custoiii to pay seal-hunters per T, f, , skins taken, hence it is the object of the hunters to se- Pay of liiiiiters. ' . --i - -^ - cure as many as possible, without reterence to sex, age, or condition. While hunting they use small row boats, with two or ,r +, , fu »• three men in each boat armed with shotgun and rifle. Method of hiintinff. t ■ n ,i n i ■ , ■,-,■, •,• -ii chiefly the tormer, and it would be simply impossible for the master or owners, even should they desire it, to supervise ten or a dozen hunters as to the killing of any particular sex or kind. Formerly the seals were gentle and the approach of a vessel did not even alarm them, but when firearms came into use it so frightened Waste of life them that they had to be shot at long range, entailing a loss of not less than three out of every four or five killed. The ruthless practice of killing seals by shooting them in the sea is not only extravagant in the loss of skins, but is also a wanton and useless destruction of a valuable and useful animal, and must necessarily soon lead to its extermination if not discontinued. It will be readily seen that the demoralization ]n-odnced by a sealing fleet of fifty to a hundred vessels with from 1,000 to L*,000 men scat- tered over the sea, hunting and shooting indiscriminately, would soon put an end to all seal life in "those waters. My oAvn observation and the information obtained from seal hunters convince me that fully 00 per cent of the seals found swimming in the Bering Sea during the breeding season are iemales in iiigfvmau^'! "* ^'^^'^" search of food, and their slaughter results in the de- sti action of her young by starvation. I firmly believe that the fur-seal industry at the Pribilof Islands can be saved from destruction onlv by a total in'ohibition against killing ^j'roiubiiiou ueces- g^..,],, j,,,^ ^^^^^y {^^ ^^^ watcrs of the Bering Sea but also during their annual immigration northward in the Pa- cific Ocean. This conclusion is based u])on the well-known fact that the mother seals are slaughtered by the thousands in the North Pacific while on their Avay to the islands to give birth to their young, and extinction must ner(>ss;iiily conic to any s]iecies of animal wliere tlie temaleis con- tinually hunted and killed during the i)eriod required for gestation and rearing of her young; as now practiced there is no re- of^SeT ^"""'''' '"^Pite to the female seal from the relentless pursuit ot the seal hunters, for the schooners close their season with the departure of the seals from the northern sea, and then return home, refit immediately and start out upon a new voyage in February or March, commencing u])on the coast of California, Oregon, and Wash- ington, following the seals northward as the season advances into the Bering Sea. EELATING TO PEIBILOF ISLANDS. 29 I have made diligent iiKjuiry into the habits of the seals and have yet to learn that they haul upon laud on the American coast or islands except the Tribilof Islands, at which rSfisiandi^ ""^ place alone they bear their young, and I have no rea- son to believe that the pups are born in the water or peiagic birth im that they can be saved in the water if accidentally born possiijre. there. M. xV. Healy. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of April, A, D. 1892. [SEAL.] Cleme-XT Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Max Heilhronner^ Secretary oftlieAlaslca Commercial Com- pany. RAIDS. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Max Heilbronner having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am secretary of the Alaska Commercial Company, and as such have in my custody all record books of tlie Company; and among them the daily records or '' log book" kept by the agents of the Com- iMana^remeut pany on St. George Island from 1873 to 1889, inclusive, anagemeu . and on St, Paul Island from 1870 to 1889, inclusive. In these books every occurrence was carefully noted from day to /(y/o landed on Otter Island, a small islet 6 nules from St. Paul, and killed and skinned 1,000 seals. She Avas captured before leaving the island, and both the skins and vessel were condemned to forfeiiure by the United States court. The reports of the su])erinten(lent for the lessees show that it was the custom of the Company's agents on the islands to erfcs °^ frequently patrol the rookeries whenever the weather was such tliat a landing could be effected on them, and to keep watchmen at points distant from the villages, whose special duty it was to report every unusual or suspicious occurrence. For this purpose the northeast point of St. Paul Island was connected with the village by telephone in 1880, a distance of 12 miles, and the natives instructed in the use of the instrument. If any raids upon the islands, other than those herein mentioned, had occurred, I am sure they would have been detected and reported to this ofiice. Xo such reports are on tile. Max Heilbronnee. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Gth day of Maj', A. D. 1892. [sEAL.j Clement Bennett, Notary riiblic. Deposition of H. H. Mclntyre, superinicndent of Alaalca seal fisheries. State of California, City mid County of San Francifico, ss : H. H. Mclntyre, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I was superintendent of the seal ftsheries of Alaska from 1871 to 1880, inclu- sive. The records above referred to were kept under my direction by my assistants on the respective islands. I was in frequent correspond- ence with these assistants when not ])ersonally present and am sure that anything worthy of notice would have been promptly reported to Indorses records. "^^' ''■ ^G^i^^ve that tliose rccords contain a true account of all destructive raids upon the islands. If there had been any others I should have heard of them. Every unusual occur- rence at any point about the islands was noted by the keen-eyed natives and at once reported to the Comj^any's office, tlie matter was investi- gated, and a record of it entered in the daily jrmrnal. I am confident that the only maraudijig expedition that ever succeeded in killing more than a few dozen seals each were those of 1875, upon Otter Island, and of 188.") ni)on St. George Island, the details of which are set forth by ]\Ir. Ileilbronner in the foregoing aflidavit. If there were otheis of which no record appears, the nundjcr of seals killed was comparatively very small and had no appreciable effect upon seal life. H. II. McIntyre. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 0th day of May, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement BennI'^tt, JS^otary Fiihlic. RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 31 Deposition of Cajpt. John A. Henriqucs, U. S. Revenue 3iarine. rookeries on pribilof islands. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss: John A. Hcnriques, of jS^ew London, Conn., being- dnly sworn, deposes and says: I am 05 years of age, and a captain in the ^^ U. S. Kevenue Marine, and have been in the service "'<""'. for twenty-nine years. In the fall of 1808 I was ordered to Sitka and in the spring of 1809 received instructions to proceed at once with the revenue steamer Lincoln to Bering Sea in order to pro- tect the seal life from depredations, inforniiition having been received that sealskins had been taken from the Pnbilof Ishuids by unauthorized persons during tlie previous ^season. On the 4tli of May, 1809, Heft Sitka for Kodiak; on the 13thof lAlay ,akli*%.hif,f to[„^'' I left Kodiak puisuant to orders, with 14 men of the !j7'|y^<5"^*'^ "" ^s'""'!* Second Artillery and the commissioned oftii er. Lieu- tenant Mast. Thence proceeded to the Pribilof islands, touching at Unalaska. On May 22nd, I landed a portion of the tro»rps and Lieuten- ant Barnes, of the revenue service, with rations and stores, on St. Paul Island, one of the Pribilof group. The troops were here landed for the purpose ot enforcing the United States statute providing lor tlie pro- tection of seal life. Lieutenant Barnes had charge of St. Paul Island, and no seals were allowed to be killed, except a sufficient number for the food of the natives, and these were to be killed only under the direction of said Lieutenant Barnes. After landing I called the luitives together, and through an inter- preter informed them of the purport of the orders and diiections of the Treasury Department in relation to the island, and the natives readily agTeed to follow such instructions. I had heard from the natives that seals were very timid, and thereupon ordered all the dogs on the island to be killed, which order was executed within ten minutes after it was given. I liuther asked the natives to surrender all lirearms in their possession until the close of the sealing season, so that the sound of the tiring of the same might not disturb the seals; this also they im- mediately did. During the time I was on the island I particularly noticed the care that the natives took not to disturb the seal rookeries, even warning some of our i)arty from the use of tobacco in any form in the neighborhood of such rookeries. On May 24th I landed Lieu- tenant Henderson, of the Eevenue Marine, on St. George Island with the remainder of the troops, their stores and equipments. Lieutenant Henderson was vested with the same authority on St. George Island that Lieutenant Barnes had on St. Paul IslaiuL Here I also had an interview with the natives as on St. Paul Island, and they, too, readiiy complied with the orders in relatiou to dogs and the use of firearms above stated. Every pi ecaution that was possible was taken by the Government officers to protect the seal life on the islands, and also to prevent the breeding- rookeries from being disturbed in anyway. While in Bering Sea during the summer of 1809, 1 never saw , , ,, . a vessel sealing about the islands or anywhere in the i„ Beriiig'^sea'^ln sea, nor did I hear any report of the presence of such i*^g9. sealing vessels in those waters. j . Henrioues Captain, JJ. S. B. M. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of A]nil, 1892. [SEAL.] Geo. y. Coffin, Notary Fuhlic in and for the District of Columbia. 32 TESTIMONY DeiJontion of William 8. Hereford, phy.sician on Prihilof Islands. habits of seals — rookekies and pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Franciseo, ss : William S. Herefoid, Imviiig- been duly sworn, deposes and says: I Ex)erience am 31) yeai s of age, aiul am a pliysiciaii. I liold the xpenence. degree of B. S., Santa Clara College, S. J., year 1874, also a regular graduate of the medieal department of the University of Pennsylvania, year 1S71 • am a legular piaetitiouer of medicine and surgery. I entered the service of the Alaska Commercial Compauy August, 1880, for the purpose of being' one of the resident physicians on the seal islands, and was continuously in their employ until May, 1890, at which time I Aventinto theemphty of the North American Commercial Company in the same capacity until the latter part of August, 1891, having' left by resignation. I was in the service of the Alaska Com- mercial Company almost ten years and with the Nortli American Com- mercial Company about liftcen months, and had a total connection with the seal islands a little over ten years. Seal and seal life being the only and all absorbing topic of conversation, business, food, etc., equally Avith the natives as ourselves, one naturally becomes almost as familiar with the fur-seals and their habits, as a farmer would with those of the cattle and horses on his farm, or a hunter of the nuimalsby whom he is surrounded in the woods, and by the killing of which he gains a liveli- hood, both as a means of sustenance and article of commerce. In my capacity of physician and surgeon to the sealing companies, i. e., the Alaska Commercial Company and the North American Com- mercial Company, I w^as stationed the first year, i. e., 1880 and 1881, at St. George Island, and in 188L and 1882 at Unalaska, at which time my duties required me to sail from Unalaska to Attn, Belkofskie, Atka, Unga, etc. I have been from Kadiak to Attn and have visited the way places between those points, I have also in the same capacity made three trips to St. Michaels, Norton Sound, one of which trijis on account of the ice carried me over on to the Russian coast and as far north as the Bering Straits. I have also visited St. MattheAvs Island, though never having landed, passed by St. Lawrence Island, etc. After 1882 I Avas at St. Paul Island, Avith the exception of my vacations in San Francisco, Cal., until 1890 and 1891, Avheu I AA^as again placed on St. George Island. My knowledge is from personal observation and experience, as well as from conversation Avith the natives, having be- come more or less intimately acquainted Avith the language sijoken by the natives of the islands. The loss of life of pup seals on the rookeries up to about 1884 or 1885 Loss of pupa nj. to ^^''^'"^ comi)ai ativcly sligiit ami Avas generally attributed 1884 or 18S5 coiupaia- to tlic death of tlic nu)ther seal from natural causes or tiveiy slight. from their natural enemies in the Avater, or, as some- times happened, sudden storms with heavy surfs rolling in from certain diiections on to the breeding rookeries, but never at any time Avould a sufficient number of pups be killed to make it the subject of special coiiiinent, either among the natives or the employes of the company. Coincident Avith the increase of hunting seals in the sea, there was an increase in the death rate of pup seals on the rook- ratuo7pup8?^ '^''*^'' eries; also a i)erceptible diminution of female seals. As hunting increased, it became self evident, even to the RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 33 most casual observer, that the rookeries were becoming devastated. It is positively a fact tliat there are not near as many seals occupying the rookeries now, at the present time, lo^kerfe^s?***^*^^'**"' as there Avere when I first saw the islands. The va- cant spaces on the breeding and hauling grounds have increased in size from year to year since 1884, and have been very noticeable for the last four or five years. When I first went to the seal islands the seals were actually increas- ing in numbers, instead of diminishing. Two facts presented themselves to me later on. first "^Itf °^ ^^^^^ ** First. Seals were arriving each year in diminished numbers. Second. At the same time that the female seals were decreasing in numbers, the nnmber of dead pups on the rookeries was increasing. There lias been no change in the manner of conducting the business ashore, but there has been added the open sea hunting- industry in the waters surrounding the rookeries, and anagemen . which industry, as is well known, has rapidly increased since 1884, until now it has assumed grand proportions. It is a well-known fact tliat the female seals leave the islands and go great dis- ^ , . ,. . j:- J? 1 i-i.-ii xij. J? Females feeding. tances for food, and it is clearly proven that many ot them do not return, as the number of x)ups starved to death on the rookeries denn nstrates. The old mother seal will not nurse any but its own offspring, and can single it out of a band of thousands even after an ab- sence of days from the islands. The difference between o^.^n^^u"""*^® oniyits a well-nourished pup, and one starving to death is also easily recognized; one being i)lump and lively, growing extremely rapidly, the other slowly dwindling away, its body becoming lean, hmg and lanky, the head being the largest and most conspicuous part. The poor little thing finally diops from sheer exhaustion in its tracks, being- only a matter of time before it succumbs to starvation. In reference to the time a newly-born seal could live without its moth- „., ... „ -^ Vitality of pups. er's care, 1 can say that 1 have known one particular pup seal to have positively existed for a period of at least two weeks or more from the moment of birth with not over a pint or so of cow's milk, at the most, which had to be forced down its throat, rerhaps this will be best understood by explaining the circumstances. Little " Jimmie," as this particular pup was called, was the child of adverse circumstances as his mother liapi)ened accidentally to be canght in a large drive and could not be separated from the herd until the killing ground was reached. Shortly after being parted out and al- lowed to go free, on her way to the water, she hnrriedly gave birth to this pup and continned on her journey. The pup was watched care- fully for a few days, and when it was thought to have been deserted a kind-hearted employe of the company, Mr. Allis, brought it into the village with a double view of trying to save its Mfe as well as to make a i)et of it. For the first few days, as nobody could niamige to make him eat and as he would generally get the best of some friendly finger in these attempts at feeding, he was let severely alone. Then followed various contrivances, mechanical and otherwise, for indding his head so as to feed him with a spoon or a nursing bottle, but all to no pur- pose, for he would get most of the milk everywhere but where it was intended to go. This went on for all of two weeks or more. I then equipped myself with a large syringe and a flexible tube, and about a pint or so of warm, fresh cow's milk. Little "Jimmic's" mouth was 2716— VOL II 3 34 TESTIMONY kept open, tlic tube was passed down his throat into his stomach, the syringe tilled with millv, in quaiitity as before stated, and which was nnauiiuously agreed was not too much tor him at one feeding, was shiwly injected down the tube into his stomach. After the operation the tube was carefully witlidrawn and " Jimmie" was left to his own devices. The pup, nuich to the gratitlcation and amusement of all present, immediately began to show in the most unmistakable manner the greatest of seal delight, i. e., to lie down in the various positions of seal comfort, on his back and side, and wave and fan himself with his flippers, scratch himself, bleat, etc. As these signs were unmistak- able to all present who were familiar with the habits of seals, the op- eration was thonght to be a success. TJi) to the last time the pup was seen, late that night, he was doing finely, but next morning he was found dead, and 1 attributed his sudden taking off either to the small boy or an accident during the night. Another instance is that of a young pup seal born under almost sim- ilar circumstances some years previous, and deserted by his mother. It was placed near the water's edge to see if in a tew days its mother would not return to it, or maybe it might take to the water naturally and swim across to an adjoining rookery a few yards distant, and ijossibly there be found by its mother and its life thus be saved. 'nte?/ ■'^'^ ° ® Day after day this pup was Avatched, but it would not go near the water and neither did its mother return. After several days or so a new employe of that season only, and know- ing nothing whatever of fur-seal life and habits, coming along that way and finding the pup in the grass, thinking probably that he had gotten lost from the other side took him up and threw him into the water, with a view of giving him a chance of swimming back home. It was a mistaken kindness, however, for he was immediately drowned, as he was too young to swim, his head being too heavy for his body. These cases demonstrate two points, i.e., that a very young fur-seal reiajrio birth impos- cau livc a Considerable time without nourishment, sev- ^^^^^- eral days or more; also that they can not swim, and any and all fur seals born in the water must necessarily perish. I remember these two instances distinctly, as I was very much impressed by them at the time. Others might possibly be cited, but I think these will snflice. These two isolated instances show that a young far seal can live without its mother's care for a week or so, and that the little fellows on the rookeries, who probably have been nursed to their heart's content before the mother seals took their departure, stand at least an equal, if ]U)t superior, chance of life, until their mothers return from the feeding grounds, even giving them wide mar- gins for delays. It is asserted that the fur seals give birth to their young also on kelp patches, and lie asleep on their backs, with their keTp?^ ""* ^""^ °° offspring in their embrace, clasped to their breasts. This is descriptive of the sea otter, but is not true of the fur seal. It is known and currently believed among the natives of the seal islands, and also among the employes of the sealing company, past and Females feedin prcscut, that the mother seal will go great distances and be gone for long jieriods of time in quest of food. Such is also my observation and belief. In fact it is a common thing to see squads or herds going out and coming in at various times dur- ing the day. Food around the immediate vicinity of the seal islands is at the best of times scarce, and as the rookeries increase in the num- ])er of their occupants it becomes necessary for them each day to go RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 35 farther and farther. Distance, liowever, is no i>arti3nlar oliject to them, as they are very speedy ti'avelei's. I do not know whetlier the mother seal has the power of volnntarily restraining and postponing the involnntary act of hibor or not, bnt it wonhl almost seem as if she had, as on many occasions she will have but Jnst dragged herself ashore when she will give birth to her young. This nniy be a coincidence only, but when not disturbed they usually come ashore with plenty of time to make themselves comfortable. 1 have dissected the brains, eyes, and hearts, and have examined the lungs, liver, and internal viscera generally, of such seal as are to be found on the killing grounds. Have also examined some of the stomachs of the letups on the rookeries in the fall. The fur-seal has unusually thin bojies covering the brain. The brain is well shaped, the same almost as a human brain, quite large, and if one could judge from external a]>pearances the animal possessing such a brain should be unusually iutelli- natomyo. t eseai. gent. The eye during life is large, dark, sympathetic, and intelli- gent-looking, but, alas for appearances! On land they may be occa- sionally suspicious, especially should their other senses be helped out by their olfactories, for they have the keenest scent, but in the water they display the greatest curiositv and confidence in passing objects. They will catch iip and follow a boat, ^^^^f a conMing na- and in fact I have seen them play around the " killer- whale" totally oblivious of the fact that this "killer "is their bitter enemy. I have at the same time seen the sea lion, which is generally consid- ered more stupid, though braver, rush into shore and land on the rocks under similar circumstances, apparently preijaring to chance death from the natives to being snapped in two and made a meal of in two mouth- fuls by the "killers." I am of the impression that the fur-seal, notwithstanding its mag- nificent-looking eye, has rather a short range of vision; ,„ • , , ^^'1 1 ij.ij_ Sliort range ot vision. it may be more powerful under water than out. Of the stomachs of the killable seals, I may say that there is no de- gree of regularity in what may be found in them ; perhaps ofteuer noth- ing, many times a few worms, frequently a few small stones, sometimes a quantity of pea-soup-looking fluid, the result of the process of diges- tion, while some may contain the remains of fish bones, kelp, etc. Of the I'emale fur-seal stomach I know nothing, as they are not allowed to be killed on the islands, but I think it would be s;ife to say remnants of a fish and kelp diet would frequently be found, as that is their natural food, and they do considerable travel- ing backwards and forwards from the lishing banks while nursing their young after having received the attention of the bulls. The pups driven up for native use in the fall were always full to overflowing with milk, their stomachs containing nothing else. These pups are as round and plump as partridges, while those dead on the rookeries, un- less killed by accidents of some kind, are never of the i)lumi) and well- nourished looking order, but are generally lean and thin, bearing all the external signs of neglect and starvation. Of the lungs, liver, heart, and testicles of the male fur-seal, whicli I have observed, thereis nothing peculiar about them. The penisis charac- teristic of the class to which the fur-seal belongs. The brain, heart, liver, and kidneys make very good eating, and taste about the same as those of other animals. The meat, iiowever, which must be entirely freed from all its blubber or fat, tiiough (^uite nutritious and palatable, is somewhat soft, of a dark color, and reminds one, according to how it is cooked, of wild duck, venison, etc., only it must never be eaten rare, 36 TESTIMONY but always well done. On our table it generally went by the name of St. Paul or St. George mutton, respectively, and had its regular place in our bill of fare, being far more preferable to " salt horse " and canned stuffs. The methods employed in handling the drives are the same identi- M n o. ment cally as of twcuty years ago. The same methods were observed when I first went to the islands, and were in vogue during the period that I referred to as an actual increase in seal life, and have been continued up to the present times. There is noth- Great increase in ^^^S different, cxccpt the euomious increase of vessels number of sealing and huntcrs engaged iu pclagic Sealing iu Bering Sea. vessels and hunters. tt j. -i ooo i i iilo < -i. i • i j Up to 1883 and l^''i'^ to s.vim. sustain themselves in water than newly hatched ducklings. When the ])ups are a few days old the mothers leave them (generally soon after coitus upon the rookeries with the old nuile) to go to the feeding grounds, returning at intervals of one to three or four days to suckle their young. The im\}S do not appear to recognize their own dams, but the mother distinguishes her own offspring with i^yuInJti^^^'''^'"'^^ unerring accuracy, and allows no other to draw her milk. The pui^s remain upon the rookeries at or near the place where they are born until about five or six weeks old, when they congregate in groups or "pods," and about the ^ ^' same time begin to make excursions down to, and, after considerable hesitation and repeated trials and tiounderings, out into t .. . • ,*,. • the water, where they become, within a few days, expert ''"'""« swimmers. From this time, say about the 10th of August, until the latter part of October or November, the young seals remain alternately upon the land and in the water, as their comfort may dictate. They are greatly influenced in this respect by the weather; very calm, pleasant days, as well as x^i^iticularly rainy ones, inducing them to remain in the water, while during violent storms and heavy surf nearly all are found upon shore. But during this whole period, after they have ac- quired the ability to swim, they remain the major j>art of the time upon land. It should be particularly noted that they are not amphibious until several weeks old. Early in November, convoyed by the older seals, the pups leave the island and go to the southward, apparently moved there- ^.^ . .^^^ to not only by migratory instincts, but because the '^''^ ' weather at the islands at this time becomes unendurably severe for them, and perhaps for the further reason that a sufficient food supply for all can not be found in the immediate vicinity of the islands. But the infer- ence is reasonable that they i)refer to stay upon or near the islands at this time, from the fact that as long as the weather is comfortable the pups and nonbreeding seals may always be found tliere iu large numbers; and even after snow falls, and severe weather has been recorded, the nonbreeding males, upon the recurrence of milder ^ . , , , , , '^ . J. . 1 1 11 •. 1 • ^1 Leave i.sLiBfls only weather, again resort to land, and have, within the when forced by weatu- time of my connection with the business, been rex)eated]y **"■ "^ ^^'''"* "^ ^"""^ 42 TESTIMONY captured upon the islands in considerable numbers in December and January. Without the (hita at hand from Avhich to absolutely verify my statement, I think I am (Hirrect in saying that this class of animals remained in the vicinity of the islands throughout three of the twenty years from 1870 to 1890 and more or less of them were killed on shore in every month. I believe all classes of seals would remain constantly about the islands if conditions of clinuite and food sn])ply were favorable to their doing so. The fact remains, however, that the great mass of the pups migrate with their elders down through the passes be- ouThco migra ion. ^^.^^^ ^^^ isluuds of the Aleutian Archii^elago into the Forth Pacific, and are found at any time during the winter months east of longitude 170° west and north of latitude 35^ north. Toward spring they appear in increasing numbers off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington, and as the season advances still further north along the British Columbia and Alaska coasts in March and April; thence westerly in May and June and July until they reapi^ear in Bering Sea. The course pursued by the seals in their migration is, to some extent, a matter of conjecture, and the knowledge upon which evidence is given concerning it can not of course be based upon actual personal cognizance by any one man of all the facts from which the conclusion is reached ; but it is, nevertheless, I have no doubt, as ac- curately stated in this paragrax)h as is wan-anted by any series of ob- servations. The pups which I have so far followed in their first migratory round, now appear as " yearlings." They spend perhaps the Year gs. greater j)ortion of their time, the second summer, in the water, until the latter part of August and September, when they come . upon the laud, both sexes herding together indiscrim- inately. They are not at this time, nor are their elders, particularly timid. TJpon the near approach of a human form they start towards the Avater, but generally stop and look about them, un- less closely followed, without any indication of fear, and leisurely proceed to the beach, or again lie down upon the sand or rocks. The same demeanor in the water, when about the islands, as they calmly float upon the surface until a boat is almost upon them before they awaken to any sense of danger, seems to indicate that they feel at home on and about the islands. They again migrate southward for the second time, uj^on the approach Second mi-ration <)^ c^^^ wcathcr, goiug a little earlier than in the pre- ceding year, make the same round, and return to the islands as ''two year olds" in June or July. Now the sexes separate, the females going upon the breeding grounds, where they are fertilized before the old male leaves the island in August. It has been said that co])ulation also takes jdace in the water between these tu^wateir^'''^'"" *" young females and the so-called "noubreeding males," but with the closest scrutiny of the animals when both sexes were swimming and playing together under conditions the most favorable in which they are ever found for observation, I have been unable to verify the truth of this assertion. After coitus on shore, the young female goes off to the feeding grounds, or remains on or about the beaches, disi)orting on the land or in the water, as her inclination may lead her. The male of the same age goes upon the "hauling grounds" back of or beside the rookeries, where he re- mains the greater part of the time, if unniol(\sted, until nearly the date of his lu-xt migration. Here he has only the native RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 43 islander's club to fear, whicli, iu the best interests of commerce, should not be used on liim until the following year. After the third migration the female returns to the breeding grounds to be delivered of her first pup, and the male comes again to the hauling grounds, but, as a whole, cor.sid- blr'thof'iiijTpup.'"'^ erably earlier than he did w.lien 2 years old. Here he remains pretty constantly, if he escapes the club, until the beginning of the rutting season, when his instincts lead him to stay mucli of the time in the water adjacent to the breeding grounds through which the females are passing from and to the rookeries, or when allowed by the older non-breeders, to coquette with the females upon the beach stones awash at the edge of the water. The fourth and fifth migrations are about the same as the third. The female has already become a yearly producer of a single offspring, and the non-producing male is, in each mi^-raudlis'!°"^ ^""^ of the fourth and fifth years respectively, contributing a decreasing number of skins for market, and gaining size and strength to enable him, when G or 7 years old, to usurp the authority and juris- diction of some old male whose days of usefulness are numbered. This change is not effected without sanguinary conflicts. The food of the fur-seal I believe to consist maiidy of fish, and prob- ably chiefly, while in Bering Sea, at least, of codfish, the partially digested vertebrae of this species having been found in the stomachs of slaughtered animals more frequently than any other food. Squid and crustaceans have also been found in some instances, but the supply of these is comiiaratively limited, while it is a well-known fact that the waters of Bering Sea at nearly all l^oints, and particularly in that zone, from 20 to 00 miles south ol the Pribilof group abound iu cod. The presumption is well grounded that the old male, at least, makes good use of his oppor- f . r , E, F, and G. That the grounds indicated by said lines are practically correct and represent approximately the areas cov- ered by breeding seals on said rookeries in said years of 1870 and 1882. I further depose and say I have examined the charts of said St. Paid Island, made, as I am informed and believe, by J. b/j'Siey Biwn'? Staulcy Browu ; that to the best of my knowledge the spaces represented on said charts, as grounds over which the bachelor seals have hauled at various times during my ex- perience, are practically correct. H. H. McIntyre. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of March, 1892. [seal,] Sevellon a. Bkown, ICotary Public in and for the District of Columbia , U. iS. A. Deposition of II. II. McIntyre^ Treasury agent, and superintendent for the lessees of Pribilof Islands. management and pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss : H. H. McIntyre, of Eandolph, Orange County, Vt., on being duly . sworn, dei^oses an^"take"u to 1885, and at the sajne time a constant increase of fiorn 1871 to 1885. the scal lookcrics was observed. I am satisfied that with good management upon the islands, and the cessation of j)elagic sealing, this number could have been secured annually up to this time, and for an indefinite future. The total number of seals was stated in that report to be ''not less than 4,000,000 niSioiJ?^*^^""^^"^' upon the two islands." I am satisfied that this esti- mate was too high, and that the more recent estimates imblished in the reports of of6cers of the Treasury Department who have been at different times stationed upon the islands, or detailed to report upon the sealeries, have been still more erroneous than my own. " My figTires were made without any attempt at mathematical comj)uta- tion, and were mere guesses at the possible number of seals upon the difl'erent rookeries. My successors have attempted to measure the ground occnpied by the seals, and by multiplying the number upon a given area as ascer- tained by count, by the whole area of the rookeries, to arrive at an approximation to the total number. They added to their computation a large percentage to cover the number supj)osed to be in the water at the time, but did not subtract for the inaccessible portions of the grounds, vast tracts of which are covered with bowlders and lava rocks, where no seals could lie, or skirted with acclivities they m.^i^gpopuiatiou!*^' could uot asccud. That is, the estimates were made from measurements necessarily taken after the seals had left the rookeries, and sometimes weeks or months afterward, with only the recollection of the ground they had formerly occupied to guide the observer. JNiany sections were incbided which had been but thinly populated, if at all. An attempt to secure even an approximati\e census of seals may well be regarded with suspicion. Yet their habits are so well defined and unvarying that it is an easy matter to determine But pasy to deter- wlicthcr they iucrcasc or decrease from year to year, mine au increase or bccausc they always occupy tlie same portions of cer- d.*iease. ^.^-^^^ bcachcs, and simply expand or contract the bound- aries of the rookeries as they become more or less numerous. I re- turned to Washington, D. C, in November, 18(30, and was placed in charge of work during the following winter and spring pertaining to Alaska and the S(!aleries, in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. In June, 1800, I accepted the position of general agent of the Alaska Commer(;ial Comi»any, and in the following August, when the lease of the right to take seals was executed, I be(;ame superintendent of seal fisheries for the lessees, and remaiiu'd in this position until the si)ring of 1800. In this capacity I visited tlie Pribih>f Islands, and remained there every sealing season except those of 1883, 1881, and 1885, and . ^ ^ was there also during the winter of 1871-72. In kill- nvingan i iDg. ^^^^ geals for tlicir skins, tlie methods employed by the Eussian Fur Company, prior to American occupation, were closely fol- lowed, except that many innovations nnd improvements were instituted and adopted after the first year of the lease. Tlie work was chiefly r. D s. RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 49 done by the natives, eacli gang; of workmen being- beaded, as niider Rnssian cnstom, by a native chief. All thoroughly nnderstood the work, having been bred to it from boyhood. Great care was always exercised in approaching' the sealing grounds to disturb them as little as possible. On some occasions a considerable number of bulls, nearly large enough for lookery service, and rarely a barren cow, were un- avoidably gathered up from the beach and started inland with the herd. The greater part of these, at first opportunity, were segregated from the drove and sent back to the water. The drove was frequently allowed to rest, and whenever practicable driven through some of the numerous ijomls, or across marshes, to keep them cool. Generally the loss of life from the "drive" was very small, amounting, after the first two or three years, to only a fraction of 1 per cent of the number killed. And nearly all tha/ perished on the road were skinned, and the pelts counted in our annual quota. Upon reaching the killing ground the herd was, in dry weather, placed upon moist ground anil allowed to cool ofi". When killing, if the herd collected ui)on the slaughter grounds was of considerable size, a portion of it was segregated and taken to the immediate vicinity of the workmen, the remainder being left at rest. This portion was again subdivided into "pods" of twenty-five to seventy- five animals and driven directly to the killing gang, generally compris- ing six or seven men, who with a single blow knocked senseless such seals as they were directed by the "boss" to kill, and the remaining ones were driven aside and allowed to find their way back to the water at will, whi(*h they usualy did shortly after being set at liberty. Of course many of these were redriven, and Rednving. some of them several times during the season, but I believe no injury resulted to them fiom this process. They were sub- jected upon the drive to no greater exertion, and rarely to more cruel treatmeut in any way than we habitually put upon our domestic animals. The only noticeable effect upon them resulting from the "drive" was sometimes abraded hind flippers, and of course the signs of healthy fatigue naturally following continued exertion, fiom which they quickly recovered. The loss of virility and destruction of reproductive power in the older males by reason of relocated driving and other hardships to which tlie young animals are sub- in^Iu^mi hy'miHviult* jected upon the islands, exists, if at all, only in the imagination of theorists who have reported upon the subject. It is arrant nonsense. Impotent males are never seen there in any species until they have become so by old age. Female seals were very rarely included in the driven herd, and never killed except by accident. In 1871, for want of trained assistants the majority of the seals were killed under the supervision of native chiefs. We had no teams, and werepoorly sui)i)lied with boats and other facilities for transporting the skins and doing the work. Salt houses were inconveniently located, and the business was transacted in a crude way, under great disad- vantages. The skins and all other material upon the islands requiring to be moved were carried upon the backs of men, a wearisome and dis- agreeable task after a day's work on the killing grounds. Tlie results were unsatisfactory. The catch obtained under the direction of the chiefs comju'ised mainly small, light skins, because such could be easiest secured and transported. The work progressed slowly, as it had always formerly done under Russian direction. Less tlian two-thirds of the quota of skins were obtained in June and July. During August we were prohibited by law at that time from killing seals. Work was 2716— VOL. II 4 50 TESTIMONY resumed at a later date, and finislied shortly before tlie seals migrated, tlius keeping tliemin a state of unrest and commotion nearly the whole summer. But the custom did not differ in this respect from that pur- sued by the Russians. In 187l!, and every year tliereafter, an American " boss" was placed at the head of every gang of natives, Improved methods. ^^^^, ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^.^j^ houscs werc improvcd, supplies of salt for "kenching" skins increased, and the seal catch was pushed to com- pletion before the end of July. Additional salt houses Avere erected in this and the two following years contiguous to the respective rookeries, in order to avoid loug "drives" and facilitate tlie work of the men. In 1873 a horse and team of mules were taken to the island in furtherance of the same object, and these were added to fi-om year to year, and sup- plemented by several boats and a steam launch, so that long before the expiration of the lease, the labor put upon both seals and men was very greatly reduced. Under better management, the quality of the catch sent to market constantly improved. The sldns averaged larger and more uniform in size than had been formerly secured. During the whole period of seventeen years from 1868 to 1885, no difflculty was experienced in obtaining the full qnota obtaiLTf/om 18C8 to of 100,000 wcll sclccted, marketable skins. I know 1^85- this to be a fact during all these years, up to and in- cluding 1882, from personal observation and experience continued from day to day, in actively managing the business, and am assured by the daily record kept by my assistants, and by their reports to me from time to time, that they were equally successful in seasonably obtaining a desirable catch from 1883 to 1885, inclusive, while I was away from the islands. The work was not completed as early in the seasons from 1880 to 1885 as it had formerly been . This was chieiiy due to the greater care exercised in selecting animals to be killed. In order that the selection should be made from as large a number as possible, and to sat- isfy the requirements of the Treasury agents in charge, who demanded that all the rookeries be worked in regular rotation, frmii^thiZikeries!"^ ^'^ couimenccd in 1879 or 1880 to "drive "with greater frequency from the more distant and less accessible grounds. These distant animals were not, however, driven to tlie vil- lage killing grounds, as has been represented, but were slaughtered as near the rookeries as seemed prudent with regard to the welfare of the breeding seals, and the skins were transported in wagons or boats to the salt houses. With this exception, there was no change in the man- ner of conducting the business from 1870 to 1889. In 1880 I again assumed personal direction of the work upon the islands, and continued in charge up to and including 1889. And now, -r^•«- ,. • -.o.^ . for the first time in my experience, there was difficulty Difficult m 1889 to . . , , • - i mi x i i secure the proper lu sccunng sucli skius as wc Wanted. Ine trouble was «^'°^- not particularly marked in 1886, but increased from year to year to an alarming extent, until in 1889, in order to secure the full quota and at tlie same time turn back to the rookeries such breed- ing bulls as they seemed to absolutely need, we \vere forced to take fully 50 per cent of animals under size, which ought to have been al- lowed one or two years more growth. Concerning this matter I reported to the Alaska Commercial Company under date of July 16, 1889, as follows: "The contrast between the present condition o/th^e^'Iubject!^"''"'' of scal life, and that of the first decade of the lease is so marked that the most inexpert can not fail to notice it. Just when the change commenced I am unable, from personal ob- gervation, to say, for as you will remember I was in ill health and una RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 51 ble to visit the islauds in 1883, 1884, and 1885. I left the rookeries in 1882 in their fullest and best condition, and found them in 1886 already- showing- slight falling off, and experienced that year for the first time some difficulty in securing just the class of animals in every case that we desired. We, however, obtained the full catch in that and the two following years, finishing the work from the 21th to the 27th of July but were obliged, particularly in 1888, to content ourselves with smaller skins than we had heretofore taken. This was in part due to the neces- sity of turning back to the rookeries many half-grown bulls, owing to the notable scarcity of breeding males. I should have been glad to have ordered them killed instead, but under your instructions to see that the best interests of the rookeries were conserved, thought best to reject them. The result of killing from year to year a large and increas- ing number of umall animals is very apparent. We are simply draw- ing in advance upon the stock that should be kept over for another year's growth." In the process of securing the annual catch of seals for their skins, the breeding animals were very little disturbed, i^o Disturbance ot the one was allowed to molest them ; dogs were banislied rookeries. from the islands. Tlie use of firearms was forbidden. The rendering of oil from seal-blubber was stopped after the second year's trial, be- cause the smoke and odor seemed to disturb the rookeries near the works, and ev^ery precaution was adopted which good husbandry could sug- gest for the perpetuation of the industry. The seals were apparently subject to no diseases; the pups were always fat and healthy, and dead ones very rarely seen on or about the rookeries prior to 1884. Uijon my return to the islands in 1880, I was told by my as- sistants and the natives that a very large number of " ^"^'' puj)s had perished the preceding season, a x>art of them dying upon the islands, and others being Avashed ashore, all seeming to have starved to death. The same thing occurred in 1880, and in each of the following- years to and including 1889. Even before I left the islands in August, 1886, 1887, and 1888, I saw hundreds of half-starved, bleating, ema- ciated pups, wandering aimlessly about in search of their dams, and presenting a most pitiable appearance. For if the mother seals are destroyed, their young can not but perish ; no other dam will suckle them; nor can they subsist until at least three or four months old with- out the mother's milk. The loss of this vast number of pups, amount- ing to many thousands, we could attribute to no other cause than the death of the mother at the hands of pelagic seal hunters. Between 1874 and 1883 predatory vessels occasionally appeared in Bering Sea, among them the Cygnet in 1874 and the San Diego in 1870, but the whole number of seals de- I'oachers. stroyed by such vessels was small, and had no appre- Cygnet,i874:. ciable effect upon the rookeries; in 1884 about 4,000 san Diego, me. skins were taken in Bering Sea by three vessels, and starved pups were noticed upon the islands that year for the first time. In 1885 about 10,000 skins were taken in this sea, and the dead pups upon the rookeries became so numer- o/deaTpups °a ud^'of ous as to evoke comment from the natives and others poachers. upon the islands. From 1885 to the present time the fleet of inedatory vessels has constantly increased in proportion as the seal herd has decreased. From 186!) to 1882 the seal rookeries largely increased, I know this from accurate personal observation, and reported relative to it to the Alaska Conij-nercial Company July 16, 1889, as follows: "The breeding i^ToTimtL^m: rookeries from the beginning of the lease until 1882 52 TESTIMONY or ISS3 were, I believe, constantly increasinjjj in area and popnlation, and my observ^ations in this direction are in accordance with those of Mr. Morgan, Mr. Webster, and others who have been with nie for many years in yonr service, and of Special Treasury Agent J. M. ]\Ior- ton, who was on the islands from 1870 to 1880. Even as late as 1885 Special Treasury Agent Tingle reported a further increase of breeding- seals; but his estimates were made in comparison with those of Prof. H. W. Elliott of 1872 and 1873, and lie was probably not fully aware of the fact that the increase had occurred i)rior to 1883, and that in 1885 there was already perhaps a sliglit diminution of breeders." A very noticeable decrease in the herd commenced, as I have already pointed out, in 188G, and was coincident in time and Decrease of herd i)ioi)ortionate iu cxtcnt with the number of seals de- and mcrease of peu- ^ ' i • 4,1 4. rrt i ■ i- i • t gic sealing. stroycd lu the water. The busniess oi pelagic sealing in Bering Sea first assumed considerable X)roportions in 1884, and in that year dead pup seals first became numerous enough npon the rookeries to excite remark upon the islands. As the sealing tieet increased, tlie starved animals became more numerous. In 1887 fourteen vessels were seized for illegal sealing, and the effect was seen in the following year when a much less number engaged in the business and the Bering Sea catch amounted, as I am informed, to about 31,000 skins, against about 19,000 or i:o,000 in 1888. The failure of the United States Government to vigorously pursue in 1888 and the following- years the repressive policy so auspiciously begun in 1887, led to a large increase of the sealing fleet and corresiionding destruction of the herd, but the prohibition of pelagic sealing nevertheless continued, and the nsual i)roclaination was published by the Government warning all parties not to kill seals in Bering Sea or waters adjacent to the Alaskan coast. The policy of the Alaska Commercial Company, during- the' whole Folic of the vias pt'riod of its Icasc, was, as might be naturally expected, ka Commercial c'oiu- to obtaiii the bcst possiblc skiiis for market, and at P'^y- the same time jjreserve the rookeries against injury, for it was not only in their interests to be able to secure every year, until the expiration of the lease, the full quota allowed by law, but they confidently expected, l>y reason of their good management of the business, and faithful fulttliinent of every obligation to the Govern- ment, to obtain the franchise for a second term. I was, therefore, always alert to see that the due proportion of breeding males of serv- iceable age was allowed to return to the rookeries. This was a coni- jiaratively easy task prior to 1882. but became from year to year more difficult as the seals decreased. No very explicit orders were given to the "bosses" upon this point until 1888, because the bulls seemed to be plentiful enough, and because it was easier to kill and skin a small seal than a large one, and the natives were inclined for this reason to , allow the large ones to escape; but in 1888 and 1889 Scarcify of breed- ^. f^. ii-j./>i t i in- males in 1888 aud thcrc was such a marked scarcity 01 breecbng males ''^^^- u\um the rookeries that I gave strict orders to spare all five-year-old bulls and confine the killing to smaller animals. Through all this slaughter, involving the driving and redriving, year after year, of the same seals, they did not become more solh^^^^^^ **^ *^° timid when on land; but on the contrary, those resort- ing to the grounds most frequently disturbed were more tractable and easier driven and killed than the ones from remote points, as at Polavina or West Point, on St. Paul, or Zapadnieat St. George. The "killing gang" frequently sx)okeu of, and 1 myself, ob- RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 53 served the harder work in liaiKHing and subdividing the drove from the more distant phices, because of the more savage intractable char- acter of the bulls. I believe the seals to be susceptible of a high degree of domestica- tion. If their strong lU'opensitv to bite whatever comes .,, . nc • • -1 i' J.1 -J. 1 IT Susceptible of a withm oftensive proximity, whether it be, seal cub or higb.iejrreeoffioines- a hunter's limb, could be cured, they could be as easily t'cation. managed as a flock of sheep. Each one of the young jjups driven for the customary food su]>ply Ijefore their first migration is picked up by the hind flippers to determine the sex, females even at this age being- spared, and when thus in the hands of the hunters ^ ., .,., ,.^ J Ti' Ti 111 11 j^i 11 Poasibililvoibrand- could be as readily marked or branded as any thoroughly ingorotberwisemark- domesticated animal. In fact, a large number were '"=• thus marked in 1872, by Special Treasury Agent Charles Bryant, by clipping the ear as a means of further identification. Every seal upon the islands has in this way been, or might have been, if we had so elected, within our very grasj), to kill or not to kill, to brand or not to brand, as we thought best, its skin having at the same time com- mercial value. I conceive that 'no further act of domestication is re- quired to constitute under common law complete and absolute owner- ship, coupled, of course, with the right of i)rotection of the property, wherever found. In respect to the propagation and perpetuation of the species, they are as controllable and amenable to good management J.1 • 1 1 1 .J.1 T^j.1 • 1 j_ Propagation an (1 upon the islands as sheep or cattle. It the right pro- porp.tuation oi the portion is maintained between the sexes, the greatest ^P'^cies. possible number of progeny is assured. As long as we were able to keep exclusive control, undisturbed by outside influences, we main- tained the steady increase of the herd and profitable returns from the industry. When outside parties, beyond our jurisdiction, carried on their destructive work, to any considerable extent, the equilibrium of the sexes was destroyed, any calculation of those in charge of the islands was nullified or miscarried and the speedy decrease and ulti- mate destruction of the seals and sealing industry made certain. In contemplating this destruction, the natives of the seal islands are most deeply interested, for they are wholly dependent upon the seals for a livelihood. The ancestors of the ,. Effect of destnic- , / T , , , .1-11 tion on natives. three hundred i)eople now upon the islands were taken there more than one hundred years ago, and their descendants have been born and bred to their occupation of seal killing, and know no other. Prior to 1808 the Unssians furnished them only indift'erently well with coarse articles of food and clothing which the seals did not sup- Xfly, but left them to live in unhealthy conditions in their damp under- ground houses, often unsnpplied with fuel and not infrequently short of food. Under the liberal management of the Americans they have been provided with comfortable wooden o/3ives '"'.' ^mu- " houses, an abundance of coal to heat them, warm cloth- Auurkan mauago ing, well-taught schools in comfortable school-houses, at- """" ' tractive churches in the Greco-Iinssian faith, to which they are devotedly attached, and, in sliort, with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of civilization. AVitli these surroundings they have made remarkable progress, rendered possible by their income of more than $10,000 per annum from the seal fisheries, without which they are left in absolute poverty, and must either leave their island home in search of other employment of which they know nothing, rely upon the charity of the Government for meager support, or starve. They rightly charge these 54 TESTIMONY dire alteriuitives uiion the pelagic seal linnters, who have ruthlessly destroyed the herd in whicli every native had a certain vested right, in the exercise of which he deserved the x^rotectioii of the Government into whose care he has come. H. H. McIntyre. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of May, 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of H. H. McIntyre^ special Treasury agent and superintendent for the lessees of the Pribilof Islands. management. State of Vermont, Orange County, ss: H. H. McIntyre, of Randolph, in said county, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native of Vermont, 48 years Experience. ^j^|_ j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ -j^ggg j ^^.^^ Special United States Treasury agent assigned to duty in Alaska, under particular instructions to visit and report upon the seal fisheries of Alaskii, and from 1870 to 1881), inclusive, I was superintendent of the sealeries for the lessees of the Pril)ilof Islands. In these capacities T first visited the seal islands in the summer of 1860, and every year thereafter until and including 1880, except the years 1883, 1881, and 1885. In 1871 and 1872 I stayed there continuously for about sixteen months, and in each of the other years from two to four months, through the sealing season. I also visited London twice during my superintendency in connection with the sealing industry, and was at all times actively at work in the interests of my employers. My duties as such special Treasury agent and superintendent demanded and received my atten- tion to every detail of seal life and its relations to commerce. In the discharge of these duties 1 was constantly aided by able, intelligent assistants and native seal hunters, whose daily observations and reports were from time to time communicated to me. The work of seal killing is done by the Aleutian inhabitants of the seal islands under the immediate supervision of the ^^^^^"- superintendent for the lessees and his assistants. The natives are directed by tl'.eir chiefs, who are either chosen by them- selves or appointed by the Treasury agent in charge. Tbe force of natives is divided into gangs of 20 to oO men, each gang being led by an assistant sui)erintendent and native chief, and comprises the proper number of "clubbers,'" "rippers," and "skinners." Driving. In describing the habits of the seals it has already been pointed out ^ , that the "bachelors," or killable seals, haul out upon Driving; howdone.^^^^^ land Separate and apart from the breeding rook- eries, and it follows that they may be herded together and driven in from the beaches to the killing grounds without in the least disturbing- the breeding seals. During- the killing season, beginning the 1st of RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 55 June, or as soon as the seals arrive thereafter, it is customary for the superintendent to ascertain the day before a drive is to be made where the killable seals lie, and to instruct the chief in the evening in regard to the work for the following day. At daybreak, about 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, the chief calls a sufficient number of men, usually from six to twelve, and leads them to the designated beach. They approach the hauling ground as noiselessly as possible, keeping to the leeward of the seals until a point is reached whence the " run" is to be made, when, at the word, all move at the top of their speed along the edge of tlie surf and take intervals, like a skirmish line of soldiers, between the seals and the water, at the same time making such demonstrations by swinging the arms, flourishing caps and coats, or beating bones or sticks together as to alarm the animals and cause them to rush inland. The drove is quickly collected and brought together in one mass. When it has moved a short distance from the water it becomes perfectly manageable and is then divided into detachments of 500 to 1,000 seals; each detach- ment is placed by the chief in charge of a trusty man, who, aided by two assistants, one on each flank and himself in the rear, brings his drove along tow^ards the killing grounds at a speed varying from a few rods to a mile an hour, in accordance as the ^ • i • • r "weather may be hot and dry or moist and cool. If the ^^^ ^° * nving. chief is efficient and properly instructed, the seals are at the killing- ground by 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning, and are given an hour or two to rest and cool before the gang turns out after breakfast for the day's work. The longest drive made during recent years is that from English Bay to the village on St. Paul Island, about 2^ miles. Formerly it was customary to drive from Halfway ceu^ws'^""' ''"^*'' Point and Southwest Bay to the village grounds, but it was found to be less trying to the seals and better economy of labor to kill nearer to these rookeries. Mule teams and boats on St. Paul and pack animals on St. Geoige were accordingly supplied several years ago for transporting the skins from these more distant i)oiiits, and the killing has since been conducted as near the rookeries as practicable. In driving, advantage is taken of every snowbank, small lake, or stretch of marshy ground to rest and cool the drove; and if very hot and dry or the sun breaks out, it is rccautjons ta en. kept in a cool place until the conditions change. Sometimes the prac- tice of driving the seals in the afternoon and evening of tlie day before they are to be killed has been followed. In this case one herdsman through the night is sufficient to prevent their escaping. The fur-seals do not travel on the land wdth that ease of locomotion characteristic of i)urely land animals, but on the other , . ,. 1 TJ.1 •j_i j_ n 1 -I • n Locomotiou of fur- hand, they move wath great ireedom compared with seals. other species of seals. Their enforced action on the drive is, as a rule, but little more violent than they voluntarily take upon the rookeries wixen mo\'ing up and down the slopes and playing with each other. There are generally in each drive a few bulls, full grown or nearly so, too large for killing, and occasionally a dw^arf or sickly j,^^^^^ ^^^^ females seal and rarely a female, all of which are segregated excluded from tiie from the mass as soon as possible and left behind to **™^'*^- find their way back to the water. Much depends in driving upon the good judgment of the man in charge as to when and how long tliey should be allowed to rest, and in keeping the herd spread out so as to 56 TESTIMONY prevent the anininls from liuddling together and crowding. With , . . proi)er nmnnuenient, the loss from driving is but a Loss from (lri\ in;;. 7. >• j> i'" j_ i i n i • i traction oi 1 per cent, and nearly all are skinned and the skins counted as a part of the annual quota. The animals that are found unfit for killing and are allowed to return to the water to be repeatedly driven later in the season, suffer, in my opinion, no , ^. injury. 1 have seen it stated by tlieorists with little not inipiiircd by or uo practical experience, that the exertions to which ''''"''"5- the seals are subjected on the driv^es is unusual and excessive; and they infer that it must injure the animal's reinoducti\e usefulness. With more extended observation and experience they Avould discover that such is not the case. The best practical illustra- ^ ^, tion of this fact is found oii Coi)i)er Island of the Com- Drivniir oil (Joi)i>er , , i-j.ij.xi isiaud. mander group where, tor the i»ast twenty years or more, it has been customary to drive nearly all the the seals over a very rougli mountain trail across the island, and to ]>ractice the same methods in the killing that we have purvsued at the Pribilof Islands, with the result of constantly and healthfully in- creasing the herd. That seals are occasionally injured or lost by im- proi)er liandling is no suiticient reason for abandoning a system of man- agement which proves satisfactory when properly administered. These theorists apparently find it very easy to criticise the manage- ment of the seals without suggesting any way in which toimi)rove it. KilUnii. During the seal killing season the men turn out to their Avorlc about . " () o'clock a. m. Each man in the gang is assigned by hug; ow ( one. ^^^^ chief to liis appropriate part of the work. If the force comprises say twenty-two men, the most ineihcient one will be designated as "herdsman" to watch the drove and keep it as near the workmen as practicable; five of the most active, athletic young men are detailed as "clubbers," of whom two are called "drivers," it being their duty to cut off from the drove small detachments or "pods," of from forty to seventy-five seals and drive them up to the killers. If the drove contains a considerable number of adult bulls, or the seals are tired or the day warm and humid, the "drivers" have the most labor- ious part of the work. Next, one boy is detailed as "stabber," five as "flipperers," and the remaining ten, those who are most expert in the use of their knives, as "skinners." The clubbers are each armed with a turned hickory club, 5 feet 2 inches long, of best straight grained wood, like an exaggerated base- ball club, and a sharp pointed hook, similar to a stevedore's cargo hook, which he carries in his belt or boot leg. The stabbers and fiip- perers have double-edged knives 6 or 7 inches long, and the skinners ten or twelve inch single-edged blades; and each man a small, fine- grained oil stone of which he makes very frequent use, finishing the sharpening process on his own palm or the seal's fiipper, for the edges must be as keen as razors to effectually do the work. If the drove contains more than a few hundred seals, a portion of it is cut off and brought to within about 75 or 100 feet ol' the place where the first "pod" is to be killed. The drivers step quickly along the flanks of the drove at sev(n-al feet distant from it, and approach each other from opposite sides at a point to detach oO or GO animals. These are driven directly to the clul)beis who have been previously instructed by the assistant suj)erintendent what class of seals they are to kill and RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 57 VN^here tliey are to begiu operations. At the word from the chief the blows f\ill iu quick succession, a single blow upon the head of each seal designated being always sufflcient to completely stun him, and usually to fracture his skull. Those remaining are carefully looked over by the assistant superintendent, such of the doubtful ones killed as he may direct, and the remaining ones driven to one side and allowed to return to the water at will; or, after a few hours, if any renmin about the held, a boy is sent to head them toward the sea. The clubber's sharp hooks are now stuck into the noses or flippers of the fallen seals and they are dragged apart and laid singly, as closely together as convenient for the skinners. This is veiy necessary, because, if left in a heap as they are slain, the heat at points of contact quickly loosens the fur and spoils the skin. The drivers now "run" to bring up the next "pod," the stabber thrusts his knife to the heart of the stunned animals and the flipi)erers follow as soon as the seals are dead, to cut the skin around^ the head just in front of the ears, around the posterior extremity be- tween the body and hind fli])i)ers, around the two fore flippers and down the median line ot the belly. iS^ext he is taken in hand by the skinner, who quickly flays him with dexterous strokes of his long, keen- edged knife, leaving a considerable layer of blubber upon the skin to prevent its hardening and drying in the salting i»rocess. When it is desired to save the blubber as well as the skin, both are removed from the carcass together and flayed apart with skillful strokes of the knife. The seal killing is done in a very orderly, systematic manner, and the attendant waste is surprisingly small Avhen done with skilled labor. Earely an undesirable seal is hit by a clubber, and occasionally the sun will shine out unexpectedly and so heat the skins before they can be removed, as to loosen the fur and cause it topull out, but the entire loss under judicious management amounts to only a few score of skins in a hundred thousand. An experienced force of 22 men can easily slaughter and properly cure the skins of an average of 1,500 seals i^er day through the season. When the skin has been removed from the carcass it is thrown, flesh side down, upon the damp ground, and as soon thereafter as convenient hauled to the salt house, wlu>re each one is examined and counted, in the presence of the native chief, by the Treasury agent and the assist- ant superintendent, in order to determine when the number allowed by law has been taken and to form the basis for payment to the nati\-es for their work. Salting. In the early days of the sealing industry it was always customary to dry the skins fi»r maiket by stretching them upon the ground by means of wooden pins driven fhiongh '°^" their edges or by the use of stakes and twine. But this process made the skin difflcult to unliuir in dressing, and. moreover, in the verydam]) climate of Alaska it was often impossible to dry the skins thoroughly enough to prevent their decaying en route to market. Large numbers of skins were lost, I am informed, in tliis way, even after artificial heat was resorted to for drying them, and it was found most profitable to salt them and ship them iu salt to market. The salting is done in rows of bins called "kenches." Each skin is thrown to the man in the kench, who qnickly spreads .;jj;g„ci,i„.. " it, flesh side up, and a third sho\els salt enougli npon it to completely cover its surface. Tiie next skin is spread in the same way above the first, and so on with alternate layers of skins and salt 58 TESTIMONY mitil the kench is full. Here tliey lie from five to seven days and are then sliaken out, any curled ed^es are unrolled and salted, and the skius are folded with a snuiU quantity of salt between the folds, and again piled to coini)lete the curiuiL;" xjrocess. A few days Liter tliey are once more pulled apart and S])read out, s])rinkled with a handful of salt and rolled and tied in compact, cylindrical bundles containing two skins each, flesh sides together. In this shape they are lightered from the "wareliouses to the vessel in the skin boats built by the natives, and shii)ped to San Francisco, were they are packed in casks holding from fifty to sixty skins each, and forwarded to Loudon via New York, by railroad and steamer. The practice of salting the skins was followed to some extent by the Kussiaiis during the last few years prior to the cession of Alaska to tlie United States, and in nearly every particular the management of the sealeries by the Americans is the same as tliat pursued by the Rus- sians during the last years of their occupation. Since about 1835 the female seals have been invariably spared, and if the since "835.*^ '*' spared gealerics are to yield the best returns in future, the mse system under which they have been heretofore pro- tected must be rigidly maintained. The habits of the animals are such, in the separation of breeders from uoubreeders when on shore, that this can be easily accomplished; yet the fact should not be lost sight of that both breeders and nonl)reeders are, in the course of every season, com- pletely in the power of the occupants of the islands, and the entire herd may be slaughtered to the immediate advantage of their possessors, if, by reason of inter juitional complications, or any other cause, it is found desirable to exterminate them. Many improvenients were introduced by the Americans upon Eussian methods, more particularly in systematizing the work i)/Americ^T*^°"^*^*' upou the slaughter grounds, in providing convenient buildings in which to salt and bundle the skins, and in furnishing means for transporting them from the field to the salt houses and thence to the vessels; but tlie management of the rookeries as re- gards their preservation and growth has varied very little since 1835 or 1840, when the Russians awoke to the fact that all of the females and a proper i)rop()rtion of the males should be spared. The age at which the male seal should be killed for his skin to best meet the present demands of the market, is 3 and fierisXuw'btkmcd! 4 years old. It is, of course, as with other animals, imi)ossible to say in every case just how old a seal is, but in the large majority of cases an experienced seal-killer will deter- mine with accuracy fiom the size of the animal, the growth of hair upon the neck, and the length and size of the canine teeth. The average weight and length of the different sizes and ages may be generally stated about as follows: Length. Weight. At time of l)irfh At 1 year ohl At 2 years ol!>, and fi'om May to July, 1874, I was located on St. Paul Island, and also from July, 1882, to May, 1883; that during the remainder of the time I was upon said islands I was resident on St. George Island; that during my residence on said islands I examined frequently the breeding rook- GO TESTIMONY eries on tlie island where I then was located, and now recollect the condition of said rookeries, and tlie approximate area which each of thein covered at dilferent times during- my experience on said islands; that 1 have carefully examined the lines drawn by H. H. Mdntyre on , , exhibits signed bv him and marked Exhibits A, B, C, iTiuuatf's 1)11 charts -.^ t, tti ' i /i • ' t i.* j.i i i i • i the areas cov.a, .1 iiy D, E, F, and Gr, iiuhcating tjie grounds covered by said the nKikeriea. rookcrics ou St. Paul Ishuul in the year 1870, and tlu^ year 1882, and that the red line shoAvs the approximate area so covered in 1860, and the blue line the approximate area so covered in 1882; that I have indicated to the best of my recollection the grounds covered by breeding rookeries on tSt. George Island in the year 1874, by a red line, and the grounds so covered in the year 1884 by a blue line, on the exhibits signed by me and marked Exhibits H, I, J, and K; tliat the grounds so indicated are i)ractically correct and represent approximately the area covered by breeding seals on said St. George Island in said years of 1874 and 1884. I further depose and say I have examined the charts of said St. Paul and St. George Islands, made as I am informed nnd drlw^bv J.^'stiaacy ^>t'lieve by J. Stanley Brown; that to the best of my lirown showin-'iuiul- knowledge the spaces represented on snid charts as mg jrounds on isi- gi-ounds ovcr wluch tljc bachclor seals have hauled at various times during my experience are practically correct. Thomas F. Moegan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of Ai)ril, 1892. [seal.] Sevellon a. Brown, Notary Puhlic in and for the District of CoJumhia, U. iS. A. D('i)oKiilon of Thomas F. Morgan, agent of the lessees on the Prihilof Islands and of the lessees on the Commander Islands. habits, management, and pelagic sealing. District of Colu^mria, City of Washington, ss: Thomas F. Morgan, being duly sworn, says: I am 44 years of age, and reside in the town of (irroton. Conn. In 1808 I shijtpcd as second mate of the bark Peru, owned by the firm of Williams & Ilaven, . of the city of New London, Conn., which vessel Avas 'xpeiiencc. comiuauded by my father, Capt. Ebenezer Morgan, anuring the time the seals are upon laud the weather is damp and cool, tiie islands being almost continually enveloped in fogs, the average temx)erature being about 41° P. during the summer. The pup seals are born on the breeding rookeries on St. Paul ami St. George islands during tlie months of June and July. When first born a pup can only live upon land, is not amphibious, and is unable to swim. If it is washed off into the sea by tlie ous!''" ""* '*™P'^''^^- surf it is drowned, as I have often seen. If a pup was 62 TESTIMONY born in the water it could not jiossibly live and I have never heard of such a case. A further fact in this connection is that tlie females never come to the islands accomi)anied by a pup. After birth a pup at once begins to suckle its mother, who leaves its offspring only to go into the water for food, which I believe from my observation consists mainly of fish, squids, and crustaceans. In her search for food the fomf""*^^^'*""^'"^*'*"^ female, in my opinion, goes 40 miles or even further from the islands. TJie pup does not apj)ea;r to recognize its mother, attempting to draw milk from an 3^ cow it comes in contact with; but a mother will at once recognize her own pup and will allow no other to nurse her. This I know from often observing a cow tight off other pups, who approached her, and sear(;h out her oAvn pup Cow suckles only her from aiuong them, which I think she recognizes by its own pup. IT T •, o i7 smell and its cry. When the pups are about six or eight weeks old they begin to herd together in groups called "i)ods;" these by degrees lerram-r^to^swim.*"'^ work dowu towaid the shore and after several trials and ftiilures at last find the use of their flippers and learn to swim; from this time, the 1st of August or thereabouts, the pup goes into the water at intervals, but remains most of the time on the rookeries until about November, the time which the pup spends in the water depending a great deal on the weather. igra ion. Toward the first or middle of November the pups leave the islands; they instinctively turn southward toward the Aleutian Islands. The time of their departure depends a good deal on the state of the weather; if the winter is open, they may be found much later upon the islands and if j)articularly warm seals may be found during the whole winter upon and about the islands. l*robably, too, they are induced to leave the islands in pursuit of food. In my opinion if the islands were a little warmer in winter and not surrounded by ice, the seals would remain there the year round, as they evidently consider the Pribilof Group their home. From the islands the pup with his fellows goes southward, passing through tlu^ passes between the Aleutian Islands, and holds its course still south till lost sight of in the ocean. From this time until the herd re appears off the Californian coast their course is a matter of belief; but from information of sea captains of coasting- vessels who have sailed during the winter, seals during December and the first part of January are found heading southeastwardly toward the Califor- fomTcoaTt*""^''"" "i'l'i coast. Ill January and Febrrary they begin to appear along that coast; then turning northward they proceed along the coast, reaching Vancouver Island about March, the Southern Alaska coast in April and iNlay, and in June the herd reenters Bering Sea and proceeds again to their island home. It is iini)ossible to state the course or exact time of migration with complete accuracy, but this course here designated I believe to be approximately correct. The pui)s which left the island the year before liave now become Yeariino-s. " yearliiigs," the males and females lierding together indiscriminately and not coming on shore until some time in August or Sei)teni])er; they also leave the islands a little earlier than the first year and iiiai(rt/i/»/i rni • • j.i • Slaughter of 1868. that year was about 210,000. Ihis is the maximum figure. Despite the lowering of the standard weight of skins, care was taken annually on St. George that the resieriod when I left St. George Island, there was a marked increase in tlie number of dead pup seals, amounting, perhaps, to a trebling of the numbers observed in former years, so that 1 would estimate the number ofdejul pui^s in the year 1887 at about live or seven thousand as a maximum. I also noticed during my last two or three years, among the number of dead pups, an increase of at least 70 j)er cent of those which were emaciated and poor, and in my judgment they died from want of nour- islimciit, their mothers having been killed while away fi-om the island feeding, because it is a fact that pups drowned or killed by accidents were almost invariably fat. Learning further, through the London sales, of the increase in the pelagic sealing, it became my hrm convic- tion that the constant increase in the number of dead pups and the decrease in tlie luimber of marketable seals and breeding females found on the islands oaching- schooner and taken to Unalaska, which numbered about 400 skins, and of that 400 skins at least 80 per cent were the skins of female seals. I have also examined the skins seized from the James Hamilton Leicis in the year 1801, by the Eussian gunboat Aleiiie^ numbering L^wi^^ii^Ai^mV!' 410, of which at least 90 per cent were the skins of fe- male seals, and from my long observation of seals and seal skins, I am able to tell the difference between the skin of a male and the skin of a female seal. From my knowledge of the aquatic habits of the seal and the diffi- culty of accurate shooting when the object is in the water, I am of the opinion that a large number of seals are also killed by vessels engaged ill the business of taking seals in the open seas, which ^-asteofiife are not caught. I am unable to form any estimate of i\\e, number of seals shot or speared from vessels, which are lost, luit in the last two or three years of my residence at St. George Island, in taking 15,000 seals, I found, approximately, 3 pounds of lead, in the form of slugs, bullets, and buckshot, which I i^ersonally took from the bodies of male seals, some of which were so badly wounded that they would have died; and I have personally examined the log of the schooner Anr/el Dollie, in which it was stated that the hunters from that vessel got about one seal out of every ten seals shot at; also that on one occasion they fired 250 rounds and got 20 seals; on another occa- sion 100 cartridges and got seals; and which log also stated that the captain personally shot and killed 7 seals of which he got only one. Dei^onent further says that he thinks that the decrease in the num- ber of seals found in the rookeries and the increase in the number of dead pups are caused directly by the open-sea sealing commonly called ])oaching- and that the prohibition of such poaching is necessary to the preservation of the herds, and that gj''"**^''^'"" 'i^'=*'^- from what he has himself seen he thinks, if such poaching be not i^rohibited the herds will be i)ractically exterminated Avithin five years. One cause of destruction is raiding, ^ which has been done upon the shores of the islands. A half dozen such raids are known to me personally; but, while it is not possible for me to state with certainty the skins actually secured by such raids, I believe that, although such raiding is detrimental, its injurious effect as compared with the disastrous results of pelagic seal' ing is insignificant. Thomas F. Morgan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of April, 1802. [L. S.] SeVELLON a. IjKOWN, Notary Fiiblic in and for the District of Columbia, U. IS. A, 2716— VOL. II 5 S6 TESTIMONY Deposition of John M.Morton, af/ent of the leasees and Treasury agent on the Fribilof Islands. HABITS. State of California, City and Gonnty of San Francisco, ss: John M. Morton, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am United States sliipping- commissioner at San Francisco. The Ahiska Commercial Company obtained the lease of the seal islands in 1870. In „ the tall of that year I went to Alaska on the steamer Ootistantinens an agent of said company, arriving at St. Paul Island in October, where I remained until the close of the sealing season in the following year. During the summer of 1872, I visited all of the trading posts of the comi^any, both on the mainland of Alaska and the various islands, thus spending the entire summer in Bering Sea. This trip was extended to Co]iper and Bering islands, belonging to the Eussians, and of which members of the Alaska Commercial Company had control at that time, and to Petropaulovski in Kamchatka. In the course of our voyage in 1872, we touched twice at the seal islands of Alaska, spending there altogether, perhaps, a week or ten days. During our stay at St. Paul this year, I visited (in Jul}^) most of the rookeries and hauling grounds of the iiir-seals. The summer Of 1873 I spent on St. George, and while there my business called me frequeutly to the various poitions of the island where the seals were accustomed to congregate. I did not go to Alaska in 1874, but in 1875 and again in 1876 I went north, spending both seasons on St. Paul Island. I resigned my position with the Alaska Commercial Company in the fall of 1876, but in the sirring of 1877 I was appointed to the position of Treasury agent at the seal islands (in charge), and entered upon the discharge of my official du- ties in May of that year. During my residence on the island, which, so far as the sealing seasons were concerned, practically covered a period of eight years (from 1870 to 1878 inclusive), I obtained a full knowledge of the sealing business in its various branches, and became familiar with all of the grounds occupied by the fur seals. 1 was at all times greatly interested in observing the movements and habits of these animals and scarcely a day i^assed that I did not visit one or more of the rookeries. During the seasons of 1877 and 1878, while serving in the capacity of si^ecial Treasury agent, I devoted my best attention and study to this subject. It may be said in the start that the grounds held by the fur-seals are known at the islands as "rookeries" and "hauling grounds." On the former Rookerios and haul- are fouud the breeding seals, viz, the full-grown males ing grounds, descrii)- . , , , . -? i r- i p ^.^ tionof. not less than six years ot age, and lemales or tlnee years old and upwards. The grounds comprising the rookeries slope upward from the sea in a gradual and easy manner, and are characterized by hard dry surfaces of volcanic cement or basaltic rock. They are readilj^ accessible from the water and possess other favorable conditions tor occupancy by the seal life. The first arrivals of seals at the islands usually take place early in May. Arrival of buUs Thcsc are of the class of large bulls which occupy posi- tions on the rookeries. The females, as a class, begin to appear in June, and by the middle of July the whole of the vast Arrival of cows herd may be said to have arrived and established itself. The females soon after their arrival give birth to their RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 67 young and are limited, so far as I liave been able to obser\'e from long and close observation of the rookeries during the breed- ^ , . T , „ " Cows umparous. mg season, to a single " pup. The statement that the fur-seal njay bear and rear its j^onng at sea as well as on land is, in my oi)iuion, wholly gratmtous. I am unable to conceive of any ground whatever upon ^.Pe^^gic birth impos- which to base such an assertion. When born the "pup" is an exceedingly stupid animal, ^vith an abnormal develop- ment of head, and is apparently incapable of any exertion, except in the way of exercising its lungs. At this time it is certainly not an am- X)hibious animal, for it does not attemjjt to approach the water for a month or two after its birth, and in its first natatorial efforts not only does it seem to require instruction from the older seals, but considera- ble practice is also necessary in the shallow waters along the beaches before it dares to venture awav from « J-"p^ learning to c5 «- f>n 1111. the shore and among the turbulent waves of Bering Sea. In my opinion, the seal "pup" Avhen its first introduction to the world takes place at sea must inevitably perish. Assuming that it might float on the surface of the water for a while, what is to become oi: it during the long voj'ages the mother must now make in search of nour- ishment for it and herself? The supposition that it would be able to accompany her on such journeys is equally as absurd as the idea of its being left unprotected on the surface of a stormy sea while awaiting her return. I desire also to express my belief concerning the seal life that the act of copulation can not be successiully performed in the water. Those who have witnessed its accomjjlishment watei'lmposliu" ^''^ on the rookeries must coincide with such opinion. A firm foundation for the support of the animals, Avhich the ground sup- plies, and the water does not, is indispensable to oppose the pushing motion and forceful action of the posterior i^arts of the male which he exerts during coition. The closest observation which 1 liave been able to give to the movements and habits of the seals in the water has fur- nished no evidence to controvert the above opinion. The rutting season among the seals continues through the months of June and July and into the early part of August, and upon its subsidence the rookery bulls, after their long '" '"° hta^ou. fasting of two or three months, after many sanguiiuiry battles, worn, starved, and emaciated, return to the water. Y^oungcr males now make their appearance on the rookeries, coming and going at will; and now thousands and tens of thousands of "pups," "podded" together near the beaches or plunging and rolling in the surf, may be seen. By the middle of September the systematic organization of the rookeries is entirely broken up, and the major part of the seals have left the land. The seal life seems reluctant to depart from the islands, ^.. .. IT . .•■,-,■ 1 ,. T-> 1 Migration. and does not entirely disappear betore December or January; while indeed, if the winter be an open iaiid mild one, some of the old males will not depart at all. The seals are undoubtedly driven from the islands by the severe winter climate of Bering Sea and the necessity of seeking food. Were it not for these facts, I should be unable to conceive of anv reason for their migration. The rookeries are covered by the breeding seals in a very compact and regular manner. There is no evidence of ci-owd- ing or bunching in one place, or scattering in another, j-ooklncsf"^" "^ and apparently no spaces within tlieir limits, suitable for occupancy, which are not covered. It is evident from this system- 68 TESTIMONY atic .irraTigement and distiibution that any expansion or contraction which may take j)hu'e of tlie rookery boundaries must show a eor- res])ondini;' increase or diminution of their population; and further, that as the rookeries enhirge or diminish so in a like ratio will the general body of tln^ seal life be affected. By careful and intelligent study, then, of the br<'eding grounds, any material changes which may take place from year to year in tlie numerical condition of the seal life on the two islands may be determined. I may state that the sum of my observations in the above relation on the Pribiloff Islands at the close of the season of 1878 clearly indicated that since .oJn''''T,'Qr,^^ *''■*'''" 1870 the rookeries had increased in an appreciable 18/0 and 1878. i i xi j. i xi • • n manner, and 1 may add that such was the opinion or everybody on the islands who had given the subject any careful study. During the years 1 have mentioned, -to wit, from 1870 to 1878, inclusive, the stock of killable seals was always more than sufficient to meet the annual demands made upon it by the lessees and still leave in reserve a proper supply of males for future use on the rookeries. The slaughter of animals for their skins was always conducted care- fully and systematically, and in accordance with wise ^ '^""' regulations looking to the proper i)rotection ami con- servation of the seal life. The killing of females was prohibited, and, fortunately, a strict adherence to the law in this respect was entirely practicable by reason of the fact that the '' bachelors " or killable seals occupy positions on the islands separate and apart from the breeding- animals, so that the latter were never disturbed in the drove." There were often driven to the killing grounds at the same "^^°^' time as many as two or three thousand seals, from which were selected without difficulty such animals as were suitable for slaughter, while all others were allowed to return to by^a™idenr^^^'^ ''"^■' t^^' watcr. Feiuales might occasionally appear in the drove, but their presence was generally known and none were killed except by accident, which occurred very rarely. In the matter of driving, great; care was exercised to prevent over- heating and exhaustion on the road, and the loss of sc^i" iiw'drMno^*'"^^ animals in this respect was very slight. I may state here that I have never seen any evidence that the seals derived any material injury from their overland trip to the killing grounds. It has, I believe, been claimed by some one writing on the subject, that the large seals which have been thus driven, and subse- quently in the culling-out process dismissed from the herd and per- mitted to return to the water, sutfer a loss of viiility or the power of procreation by their journey. Such statement seems to me to be puerile •and altogether unworthy of serious consideration. As I have said, the driving was done carefully and without undue haste, and while an animal might occasionally succumb to the heat of an unusually warm day, as a rule the physical exertion called for on the part of the seals on these enforced journeys was not greater than they customarily put •forth in their xoluutary ramblings over the dunes and rocks of the islands. Indeed, the mortality among the seal life from whatsoever cause, outside of that incident to the killing of the animals for their skins, was always surprisingly small, and could not have affected the rookeries in any a])preciable manner. The seals are never visited by physical disorders of any kind, so far as I could ascertain, and I have never s(>en on their aeSs '''''*^'^*'^ among bodics ally blemislies, humors or eruxJtions which might be attributed to disease. EELATING TO PEIBILOF ISLANDS. 69 I am informed that of late years thousands of young pups have died on the islands while the season was in progress. Cer- tainly such condition did not exist during my residence *^"' ^''^^^^ on the Pribilof grouj). The "pups'* wer<^. sometimes trampled upon by the larger animals, and dead ones might be seen here and there on the rookeries but the loss in this i)articular was never large enough or important enough to excite any special comment. I have already stated that my personal observation and investiga- tion of the conditions at the islands from 1870 to 1878, inclusive, showed that during those years a steady expansion of the breeding rookeries took place. I am also informed erksfrom isVoLTs&x and believe that such expansion continued up to the year 1882 or 1883. During tin's period of general increase it is notable that the destruction of animals from pelagic sealing was comparatively unimportant. But a few vessels up to this time had made predatory excursions in Bering Sea, and the ,,^i^s=|°^"s°fP'^^''s^'' number of seals obtained by them is known to have been small. Since 1883, however, there is said to have occurred a very material diminution of the seal life on the Pribilof ^.^ Islands, due, as it is claimed, to a large and indiscrimi- nate slaughter of these animals in the waters of Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The cause assigned ±V)r this loss is un- doubtedly the true one. If no otiier i)roof were forth- ^..,uso.'^" sealing tho coming in relation to it the large display of dead pups on the rookeries would in itself fnrnish all the evidence required. Such diminution could not, in my opinion, be the result of the ordinary yearly slaughter for skins. It is shown that an ap])reciable expansion of tlie rookeries took jdace after twelve or fourteen years of such slaughter, and I think this fact conclusively demonstrates that tlu' number of seals which the law permitted to be killed each year was not greater than the known conditions of the seal's life would safely warrant. The business of pelagic sealing, if x)ermitted to be carried on in the northern waters, must soon result in the extermination ,, , ., ... ot the seal lile and the destructKm or a great and val- sar.y. uable industry. It nuist produce untold poverty and distress among the native people of the seal islands, e fleet of nnre- 1 • ■ 1 xfr- i j-1 J- • 1 • w „ stricted pelagic seal- and m various adverse ways atlect the material inter- ji,„. ests of other Alaska settlements and communities. 1 believe the American Government to be justified in assuming and maintaining the absolute proi)i'ietorship of the Ameri- can seals. They may, I think, in the broad sense ot the siiip oi seals. word, be regarded as domestic animals. They certainly possess qualities of a domestic nature which are susceptible of a high degree of develoi)ment. During the first two or three months of their lives they are as gentle and docile as .ells:""'^"' ''''*"'' "^ most domestic animals. They may be handled and petted, will accept food at one's hands, can be taught to follow one from place to place, and in various ways are amenable to intelligent guidance and training. Even at mature age they are subject to as mu(;h con- trol as are sheep or cattle. They may be driven here and there at will; may be separated and driven together again; divided into groups or " pods," great or small, or l)e herded by thousands with less etfort and trouble than bands of cattle are herded on the ])lains. They are far from possessing that excessive timidity which has been i)oi)ularly at- tributed to them. They soon grow accustomed to the sigiit of man, 70 TESTIMONY and ill the absence of offensive demon sliation on liis part quickly learn to regard Lis proximity witb indifference. At no time can they be called aggressive animals, but if suddenly attacked and their escape shut off, thev will snap and bite viciously. The Courage of bulls. j.^oi^gry bull \vill defend his harem valiently, and nothing less than superior i>hysical force on the part of his adver- sary can dispossess him. To test his courage in this respect I have occasionally attacked him with clubs and stones, and, though his family were driven off or deserted him, he still held his ground and suc- (iCssfuUy resisted my utmost efforts to exj^el him from the rookery. Upon their return to the islands in the spring the seals approach the land conhdeutly and their occupancy of the rookeries ^ Bulls returiL to same j^ regular and Systematic. That the male seal returns year by year to the same familiar spot or ground on the rookeries, when it is possible for him to do so, appears to be prob- able. I have seen this fact demonstrated in certain instances without any possibility of error; and when this is considered, and his well- known systematic and methodic habits are taken into consideration, the theory that such is the prevailing practice, at least among the rookery bnlls, seems a most natural and j)lausible one. It is now well established that, outside of the Pribilof group, there are no other islands or grounds in northwest Ainerica on^the^suiuis"^' ""'"^ whcrc the seals haul up for breeding purjioses. These islands are their natural and j)ermanent home, without which they could not exist. Tiiey leave it only when necessity demands and return to it as soon as the climatic conditions make it possible for them to do so. Here they hnd that x>i'otection and supervision indis- pensable to the rex)roduction of theii- kind and the multiplication of their numbers. During my residence on the islands the native inhabitants were pros- perous and contented. The profits resulting from the tiveT*^^""" ''^ ^^ labor of killing the seals and salting and shipping the skins were not only ample to supply them with the needs of life, but with many of its luxuries. Those who were careful and provident in the matter of their earnings were enabled to and did deposit some portion each year of the same with the Alaska Commercial Company or in the banks of San Francisco. The company furnished to each native family, without charge, a com- fortable frame dwelling, employed a physician on each island, and sup- plied medicines and medical attendance gratuitously. It may be said, perhaps, that it was plainly in the interest of the company to faithfully carry out all of its obligations designated or imj)lied by the terms of its lease. Such was undoubtedly the fact, but, in justice to the lessees, it should be stated that they always interpreted their contracts in a most liberal spirit, and in many ways exceeded their obligations as far as their treatment of the native people was concerned. J. M. Morton. Subscribed and sworu to before me this 11th day of May, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Xotary Fublic. .Mj^yi'fjeCon/K -j-j. >;:-vV >%:l£^.-. ■ ■^^^' Old Native Huts. RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 71 Deposition of Jacob H. Moulton, assistant Treasury agent on the FriUlof Islands. manageilent, habits, and pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss: Jacob H. Moulton, of Bowdoinliam, Me., being- duly sworn, deposes and says : I am oG years of age, and my occupation is farming'. From 1877 to 1885 I was first assistant Experience. Treasury agent on the seal islands. I arrived on St. George Island May 21, 1877, and left the islands in the fall of 1884. I spent four summers on St. George. Island, and one winter, from 1877 to 1881, and four summers and four winters on St. Paul Island, from 1881 to 1881. Each season I made careful examination of the rookeries on the island where I then was located, in connection with my official duties, and 1 also made some study of the life and habits of the seal. While I was on St. George Island there was a percepti- .^,,,,,^ „ „ . . ble increase m the number ot seals, there being more Georoe island from in 188 L than at anytime previous while I was there, i^'^toissi. While on St. Paul Island I do not think the number of seals increased, and in the last year (1884) I think there was a slight decrease on st. Paui decrease. During these years there was always a suf- isUmd m iss*. suffi- ftciency of male seals for breeding purposes, and in '"'"'■''>' "*' ^"^'^• every year I saw great numbers of idle, vigorous bulls about and back of the breeding grounds, which were unable to obtain females. I believe that it is utterly impossible to even approximately estimate the number of seals which resort to these islands. I i„poggii,,e ^^ ^,(.1- do not mean that it is impossible to measure the breed- mate number of seals ing rookeries, for that can be done by the use of sur- ^^^^^'^^^s to islands. veyors' instruments with practical accuracy, but after the measurements are made, it is imi)ossible to estimate the number of seals contained in these areas, the ground being covered with broken rocks of all sizes, some weighing over a ton, between which the seals lie, so that where the large rocks are not so thick there will be a greater number of seals; thus all over the rookeries the density of seal life varies, and besides this the seals are constantly in motion, the females coming from and going to the water. I do not believe any estimate of the number of seals on the islands heretofore made can be relied upon at all, as there may in reality be twice as many seals as estimated, or half as many. But it is possible to determine by close observ^ation j,,„„iy,ie t„ j^pte,.. from year to year whether the seals are increasing or mine an increase or decreasing, because the seals crowd together in the '^ecrcaae. same manner, whether there are a few or a great number, and as they increase the rookeries necessarily extend. While on St. George Island there were practically no dead pups on the rookeries. I do not think I saw during anyone ^^^^^^ season more than a dozen. On St. Paul Island I never '^"^ ^"^'^' saw any dead pups to amount to anything until 1884, and then the number was quite noticeable. These latter pups I examined, and they seemed to be very inurii emaciated. In my o])inion they died of starva- tion, caused by the mothers having been shot w hi hi absent from the islands feeding. Anotlier cause of their starving is because a cow refuses to give suck to any pup but her ownpuir"**""^-'"'''' own, and she recognizes her oft'spring by its ciy, dis- tinguishing its voice from that of hundreds of others which are con- 72 TESTIMONY stantly bleating. The pnp, liowever, seems to make no distinction between the coavs, endeavoring to nnrse from any which come near it. Then, too, a pnp is not weaned till it is fonr or more months old, depending entirely on its mother for sustenance. For 1 imi' anmia?" ^'"^ '^ *^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ eight wccks of Its life a pup is a land animal, having a coarse hair, but no fur. This coarse hair is shed before the fur appears. A pup is also unable to swim, and I have seen pups thrown in the water when their heads would imme- diately go under and they would inevitably drown if not rescued. There is no doubt that a seal born in the water would ^^Peia-ic birth irnpos- at oucc perish. Another poiut that shows a pup is a land animal during the first weeks of its existence is that it uses its hind tiippers as feet, running on them in much the same manner as other land animals, while a seal that has learned to swim drags his hind flippers, using his front flipi^ers to pull himself along. While on the islands I observed with great care the manner of driving • dkir "■ ^"cl handUng the young male seals allowed by law to riTing an i ing. ^^^ i^iHed for their skins, and I am convinced the meth- ods now in use on the islands can not be improved upon, and especially because all the driving is done by the natives, who from generation to generation have made this their only business, being trained up to it from boyhood. Every precaution is taken in driving not to overheat or weary the seals, frequent rests being had, and a "drive" never being undertaken when the sun was shining; if the sun came out unexi)ect- edl}' during a "drive," the animals were at once allowed to return to the water. No female is ever killed, and it is very seldom kmed^'^^*^^ never ^ female is driven. Very few seals die during a " drive," amounting to a very small fraction of 1 per cent of those driven, and in nine cases out often of those accidentally killed in this way the skins are saved. I never saw or heard of a seal being in- jured seriously bj' driving or redriving. I have seen the hind flippers in a few instances a little sore, but never in all my experience have I seen an old sore on a seal. I am i:»ositive the reproductive organs of every one of the hundreds of thousands of seals I have seen driven were un- injured by their movements on land, and I am further convinced this must be so from the fact that a seal when moving on land raises himself slightly on the hind flippers, so that his reproductive organs are clear . of the ground. Even if a seal was driven twelve suc- e nving. ccssivc days for the average distance between a hauling ground and a killing ground, I do not believe its virility would be at all impaired. While I was on the islands I am convinced that the iDropagation of seal life was never affected in the slightest degree by redriving or overdriving. The killing grounds were near the water, so that the seals let go from the killing could easily return to that grouudi!"" °^ ''^^"'s element, and these killing grounds were established as near the hauling grounds as it Avas possible to do, without having the odor from the carcasses disturb the breeding seals. Teams and boats were also used to transport the skins to the salt houses, so tliat the killing grounds could be located much nearer the hauling grounds than before this means of transportation was provided. There were only, as I recollect, four raids on the islands while I was there; but little or no damage was done, and seal life was not )perceptibly affected by such maurauding. I believe, to avoid certain extermination of the Pribilof seal herd in the RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 73 near futiu^e, that they must be protected in Bering Sea and in tlie i^Tortli Pacific Ocean. Pelagic sealing must be absolutely pro- hibited, because the majority of seals killed in this way sar™^'^"'"° "*'''*'* are pregnant or milking females, and this is certain to cause extinction of the species very soon, if continued. If pelagic seal- ing is stopped, and the present regulations enforced on the islands, the seal herd will sloAvly but surely inciease again, as they did before pelagic sealing had grown to such proportions as to affect seal life. J. H. MOULTON. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, U. S. A., this ICth day of April, 1892. [l. s.] Seyellon a. Bkown. Deposition of Joseph 2Inrray^ Treasury agent on the Frihilof Islands. DECREASE OF HERD. Joseph Murray, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside at Fort Collins, Colo.; I am 49 years of age, and I am the first assistant special agent at the seal islands in Bering =^p«"™ce. Sea. That in pursuance of Department instructions to me, dated April 20, 1889, I proceeded to the seal islands and landed on St, George Island May 31, 1889. That I had charge of that island until July 1, 1890, and I was present during the whole of two sealing seasons on the island of St. George. That my attention was called to the decrease of seals and the deple- tion of the rookeries at an early date after my arrival, and th at I attempted to study the habits and conditions ^^'"^^"^ "'""^^ i^^- and to note the numbers of seal on the several rookeries and hauling grounds, and that the natives and employes of the Alaska Commercial Company were uiianimous in their opinions that the seal had been de- creasing steadily and rapidly since 1884, and I reported the fact to Agent Goff, who had found similar conditions existing on St. Paul, and he so reported to the De])artment and ^.^'igjffted dimiuu- j. 1 ii j_ j_ ji /I,. ,v,wv , ■■ IT-, tiou ot lessees quota, suggested that not more than 00,000 seals should be taken in any one season in future. In pursuance of instructions from Agent Goff 1 left St. George Island on the 19th of July, 1890, and landed on St. Paul Island on the 20th of the same month, and remained there until August, 1891. During the month of July, 1890, I walked over the rookeries and hauling grounds of St. Paul Island and Agent Diminished area of Gofl:^ pointed out to me tlie lines to which in former iS!'' "" '^'' ^'"""^ years the seals hauled and the large areas which they covered; and then he called my attention to the small strip covered by seals on that date, wliich was smaller than the year previous. Agent Goff stopped the killing of seals by the lessees on and after the 20th of July, 1890, because of the depleted condi- tion of the hauling grounds; and I fully concurred in g^f'^'^s i^y lessees his order and action. I s]ieut the sealing season of ^ ''^'"* ' 1891 on St. Paul Island, and pursuant to instructions of Agent Williams, I gave my time and special attenti!). When the Alaska Commercial Company obtained the lease in 1S70, ot the right to take seals for their skins, I instructed the superintendent and agents of the company in regard to the way in which the work had been done, and outlined to them the policy to be pursued in the future. The lease of the Alaska Cojnmercial Company had twenty years to run, and it was for our interests that the very best methods should be adopted for nuinaging notonly the "baclielors, "then readyforslaughter, but also the breeding herds upon wliich the future of our business de- pended. To this end I directed our superintendent of the sealeries to observe the greatest care in driving, pi^i^s'i^nelsees **"' handling, and killing- the seals, cautioning him to allow nothing to be done that would in any way tend to alarm or disturb them, or in the least degree interfere with their already well-known orderly, regular habits of breeding and migration. The instructions were explicit that no females should be killed, and, further, that bulls enough of mature age should be preserved to serve them. In order to see that these instructions were followed and the business put upon what I confidently believed to be the right basis, I visited the islands in 1871 and 1872 and again in 1877, and was more than satisfied with the result of my investigations. The work was being carried on at these times in a highly systematic, ^ , , , 1 '^i , . , . o J J 7 Improved iiietliods orderly manner, showing great improvements over the muier American man- Avay of doing it under Ilussian regime, and the result »§*"'"«»*• of good management showed itself on every hand. The Ijreeding rookeries had largely expanded in 1877 over the limits of 1860, as I personally observed and as I was informed by the Ti-easury agent in charge, by our superintendent, and by the native chiefs. The natives were enthusiastic in their praise of the American Avay of doing busi- ness and conducting sealing, as compared with whaib they had been accustomed to in former years. Yet it required no very deep study nor occult knowledge to bring about the healthy growth of the seal rookeries. It was simply needed to treat them asoiu- ordinary domestic iiow tiie growth of animals are treated to produce the same result. The ^'K.rookeiie«wa,spio. seals are polygamous, as our horses, cattle, and sheep are, and the best methods of breeding these is equally advantageous when applied to the seals. It is an indisp,utablef;u't, and known to th^- most ordinary breeder of domestic animals, that any suri>lus of males is a positive injury, and results in a progeny inferior in size, quality, and numbers produced. The fierce struggles of the surplus male seals to gain a foothold on the breeding grounds create great disorder and com- motion, and often end in crushing- the pups, and sometimes even in kill- ing the mothers. This was so well understood by the Eussiaus that long before the cession of Alaska they ordered the slaughter, we are told by Yeniaminof, of the superannuated males, in order to c-lear the way for vigorous stock. They succeeded by this intelligent course in bringing up tlie rookeries from their dei)leted condition of about 1810, consequent upon the bad management of prior years, and the uupro- pitious season of 1835, when the ice nearly annihilated tlie seal life, to the productiveness in which we found them in 1808. We continued the same system, with slight modifications, and Imd every reason, up to 1882, to expect to be able to retiu'nthe property to tlie United States 78 TESTIMONY at the exi)iratioii of our lease in better condition than when we received it. But a force was already oaininjo- monieutuni long before we noticed any serious disturbance of the herd on the islands that was destined to disappoint our expectations, and, if not checked, to utterly destroy the commercial value of the sealeries. The practice of pelagic seal hunting was foHowed by the northwest Results ot leiaoif ^^'"^^^ Indians from their earliest history, but amounted sealing by noATiwest to SO little as to bc inappreciable on the islands. Even preciabie on'iliauds!' ^^^^^' "^^'^lit^ liuntcrs engaged in it in a limited way our losses from this source were attributed to the marine enemies of the seals, and was so far overcome by the good management on the islands as to permit the growth of the herd to continue so long as it was limited to a few vessels and confined to the vicinity of the Oregon, Washington, and British Columbian coasts. But even before any considerable slaughter had taken place in the waters of Bering- Sea, as early as 1882, it was noticed that the rookeries erfes ceaseTiia882.^" ^^^ stoppcd expauduig, thougli they were treated in every way as they always had been. An examination of the London Catalogue of sealskin sales shows that the "Victoria catch" already aggregated a very considerable number of skins and now brings home the conviction that pelagic sealing, when confined almost wholly to the Pacific, is still a very dangerous enemy of seal life on the islands. After 1886 the force of pelagic hunters w^as greatly augmented, and Increase in pelagic bccame morc aud morc aggressive, and their field of sealing^ after 1886 and operations widcly extended, until they appeared in alarming numbers in Bering Sea in 1884 and 1885. In 1887 we were forced to commence taking smaller skins in order to obtain our quota and preserve enough breeding bulls. In 1888 they were still smaller, while in 1889 more than half of them were such as we would not have killed in former years, and we called the attention of the Treasury Department to the evident diminution of seal life, and recom- mended that fewer seals be killed in future. There can be no question as to the cause of the diminution. It is the direct result of pelagic sealing, and the same destrue/uion, if continued a few years longer, will entirely dissipate any commercial value in the rookeries, if it does not, indeed, annihilate them. I was formerly, as I have stated, interested in the Commander seal ■p . , ,, islands, as well as those of Alaska. The two herds are Juissian anu A Ins- ' kan herds distinct Separate and distinct, the fur being of different quality qualities."* difleient r^^^^ appearance. The two classes of skins have always been held at different values in the London market, the Alaskas bringing invariably a higher price than the Siberias of the same weight and size of skins. I think each herd keeps upon its own feeding grounds along the respective coasts they inhabit. I am told that the diminution of seal life has been attributed to raids j^^jg by poachers upon the seal islands. Very few of these have occurred, and the number of skins obtained by the poachers has been comparatively infinitesimally small. I think the whole number obtained by them in this way does not exceed 3,000 or 4,000 skins. We were accustomed always to maintain a patrol and guard upon the rookeries whenever the weather was such that poachers could land upon them, and upon the least suspicious circumstances measures were taken to forestall any attempts to steal the seals. The sea is usually rough in the fall when poachers try to get iu their work; the shores are, at most jjlaces, inaccessible from boats, and the natives RELATING TO PRIBTLOF ISLANDS. 79 are vigilant and active. If marine limiting- is stopped, they can be safely trusted to defend the property upon which their very existence is dependent, as they have done repeatedly, against any single schooner's crew. It has been asserted in print that the Alaska Commercial Comi3any is engaged in the business of pelagic seal hunting. It has been the custom of the company to vindicate its comT^rc*aHjo4pany good name and title to respect by deeds rather than is e^igaged in pelagic words, but an imputation upon its honor so absolutely ^^^^^'s- groundless and unwarranted as this, it can not do less than deny. It is not, and never has been, nor have any of its officers or stockholders ever been directly or indirectly engaged in any manner whatever in pelagic seal hunting. It has always purchased from the natives such skins as they offered for sale, but when seal life grew scarcer on the islands it discouraged the natives by every means in its power from killing seals along the Alaska coast. To feel a present regret that this course was pursued in view of the destruction of the seal herd which the Government has permitted, would be but natural, yet we try, as honorable men, to rise above even this weakness. I have shown that under good management the seals increased on the Pribilof group, and know such to be the fact also ^ ^ ,, in regard to the ( 'ommander Islands. The methods mantier islands herd were the same in the two places, but the Asiatic herd ''"'^^ ^° ^^^"■ was not seriously molested at sea until 1890, and the increase continued up to that date, Now, pelagic hunting is going on there the same as in the Alaska waters, and already mSlihf ng tifit hcrd^ the herd is diminishing as did the Pribilof herd from the same cause several years earlier. The same good management, upon cessation of marine killing, will rapidly augment both herds again, for no animals are more susceptible to good treatment in breeding than- these. Their mai-ine enemies, aside from man, are a constant factor of destruction in disregard of wliich they multiply. I have no interest whatever in the sealeries or the seal-skin trade. G. INIEBAUM. Subscribed and sworu to before me this 13th day of May, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clexent Bennett, Isotary Fiiblic. Deposition of L. A.lS^oyes^ resident iihysici(m on the Prihilof Islands from 1880 to 1892. habits, management, and pelagic sealing. St. George Island, Priblof Group, Alaslca^ TJ. & A.^ ss: L. A. Xoyes, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native American, and my home is in Eandolph, Vt. I am 52 years of age, and a physician by profession. In 1880 I entered the service of tlie lessees of the Pribilof Islands as resident physician at the seal islands, and I have resided here continuously ever since, excepting an occa- '^''p^"®^*'®- sional visit to my home, for a few months in wiuter, once or twice since 1880. From June, 1880, to August, 1883, I was on St. George Island, and 80 TESTIMONY from 1883 to 1884 1 was on St. Paul Isliuul. I tlien returned to St. George, where) I have resided ever since, ex('ei)tiiii;' the vacations aforesaid. I luive giv^en ninch time to the stndy of the Alaskan fnr-seal and its pecnliar habits, and 1 have watched witli (;are and solicitnde the increase and tlie decline in numbers of tlic animal on the hauling grounds and rookeries, ami also tlie nietliods iollowed by the lessees in taking the skins — the driving an' but an approximate measuremi-iit. It was my opinion that the numbers were exagger- ated, and I so stated at the time. — L. A. N. RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLA>rDS. 81 comes from tlie north, and it will come and go with the tide and current8, generally from January to April, but occasionally remaining later, and again not appearing at all. In June, July, and part of August, the islands are enveloped for days at a time in dense fog, and a clear sunny day is of rare occurrence. The atmosphere is damp and cool, and the rain falls in a sort of fine mist which drenches one through before it is felt. The islands are of volcanic origin, and the shores are rough, uneven lava rock, and broken rock and bowlders of like formation. On this rugged shore the Alaskan fur-seals make their summer home; bere they are born and reared for the lirst six months of their existence; here they come every spring as regular as time, and here they repro- duce their species. The career of the fur-seal herd on ,,,. 1 • j_ Ti j_i J. X' 1 X- X 1 ^'^^ career of tlie these shores is not unlike that ot any domesticated seal is a qiiestiou of animal — it is simply a stock-breeding question. ""^'"^^ breeding. Areas upon which it is agreeable for the females to breed are care- fully reserved and set aside for that purpose. Each year a sufficient number of breeding bulls are reserved for service on the rookeries. The utmost care is taken that the future of the herd is not jeopardized by the injury or death of a female. So accustomed have the seals become to the presence of the natives that the timidity and shvness man nested in the ocean „, ^. , . , j_i • 1 ' 1 T xi • • J.' XI lameness of seals. IS not shown on the islands. In their mlancy the pups will approach a native without fear, and later on they are readily handled, and the sexes separated, should it be necessary to make a killing of pups for food. In the handling, management, and enlarge- ment of the seal herd there is as much amenability to domestication as there is in a band of range cattle. The male breeding seals, or bulls, begin to haul out on the breeding rookeries early in May, and they come in more and , . ,,.,,, . „ «' ^- "^ ' XI 1 1 IX- Arrival ot bulls. more rapidly as the month advances, and selecting their respective stations lie down and sleep almost continuously until within a few days of the coming of the females, or cows, when they assume a sitting posture and set up a bellowing noise peculiar to them- selves, which I suppose to be a "call" to the approaching herd of cows. It is at this time the bull appears at his best and in his most aggressive mood, and none but the physically strong and successful are allowed to remain within striking distance of the veterans. The cows begin to haul out in June, and practically they are all on the breeding rookeries by July 15. Immediately on ^^j^^i ^f cows. arriving they are taken possession of by the bulls, the strongest and most aggressive securing the greatest number, and giiard- ing with jealous care and increasing vigilance. As a rule the pups are born soon after the cows reach the shore, though it occasionally^ happens that a cow will be two p,ij,tii of pups or three days on the rookery before bringing forth her young. I think the pups are all born by July 22, and by the middle of August the cows have been fertilized for the next year, after which the harems are abandoned, and the bulls begin to leave the islands, and the females and bachelors (or young males) intermingle iiidiscriini- nately on the rookeries. From the time the bulls haul out in May till they leave in September they neither eat nor drink, r.uiis fasting ou and their lean and lanky appearance in September is i""i<^e"e'<- in striking contrast with their rotund form and sleek and glossy coats in May. 271G— VOL II G mg 82 TESTIMONY When the pup is born it is utterly helpless and dependent; it is not amphibious, and would drown if put into water. I ^^Pups not amphibi- j^^ve olteu watched the pups near the water's edge when in stormy weather tlie surf carried them off, and in every instance they drowned as soon as they went into deep water. The pup is entirely dependent on its dam for sustenance, and when it is a few days old she goes into the sea to feed, Mother cows feed- returning at intervals of a few hours at first, and, gradunlly lengthening the time as the j)nps grow older and stronger, until she will be, sometimes, away for a v.hole week. During these journeys, in my opinion, she goes a distance of from 40 to 200 miles from the islands to feed; and it is at this time slie fiills a prey to the pelagic hunter. Eeturned to the rookery, the cow goes straight to the spot where she left her pup, and it seems she instantly recognizes it by smelling; and it is equally certain that the puj) can not recognize its dam. I have often seen pups attempt to suck cows promiscuously, yet no cow will suckle any pup but her own. When tiv^e or six weeks old tlie Ti- ^ pups begin to run around and form bunches or "pods;" upspotung. ^^ seven to eight weeks old they try the water at the edge, where, after paddling in the shallows, they gradually learn to swim. After becoming expert swimmers they continue to show a preference for laud, where they generally remain if not driven into the water by heavy rain or warm sunshine. They make no effort to secure sustenance of any sort beyond that furnished by their dams. I have examined many pups at the food killings in Noveuiber, and I never found anything but milk in their stomachs. The young males, or bachelors, whose skins are taken by the lessees, begin to haul out in May, and they continue to haul lof^!"^'^^ °^ ^^''^^' out until late in July, the older ones coming first and the younger ones later; and they herd by themselves during May, June, and July, because were they to approach the breeding grounds the bulls would drive them off" or destroy them. The " bachelors" of from 2 to 5 years old are the ouly seals driven or killed on the seal islands by anyone or for any pur- pose; and the sensational stories told of how they are "tortured" on the drive have no foundation in fact. When necessary . to make a drive for skins from any given rookery, the "^°^' local agent of the lessees informs the Treasury agent, and obtains his permission to make the " drive." I^o seals are driven without the consent of the Treasury agent in charge of the island. All being ready, the native chief takes a squad of men to the hauling ground, Avhere the seals are quietly surrounded Avithout disturbing the breeding rookery, and they are then driven slowly along to the killing ground. Since the improved methods of 1879 there is no drives of greater Len til of drives length tluiu 2^ uiilcs, aud the majority of them do eng o rives. ^^^ excccd 1 mile. So carefully and so slowly are the drives made, the men driving are relieved every hour, because of ^.jj.^^ the slow motion they get chilled on the road. Arrived at the killing grounds, the seals are driven out from the main body in " pods" of twenty or thirty at a time, and experienced men club and kill the desirable ones, aud allow all that remain to re- turn at their leisure to the adjacent waters. The most experienced men do the skinning, and after them come the women aud children who carry off the carcasses for food, and the fat or blubber for winter fuel, RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 83 In accordance with instructions from the Department, the Treasury agent is always present at the Ivilliugs, and he has full power and au- thority to interfere in all cases where there is cruelty practiced or attempted. All seals killed by the lessees for skins are killed between June 1 and July 30, and generally the season closes on the ^ ^^^^^^ 20th of July. • After the regular season closes, in July, the natives kill, weekly, for food, from oneto two hundred male seals whose skins Seais killed for food. are large enough to be accepted as part of the next year's quota; and it is during these "food" drives in August, September, and October that an occasional female is accidentally killed. Being mixed with the "bachelors" at this time, some females are driven and accidentally killed. The killing of a female is the greatest crime Females kuied only known on the seal islands, and is never done inten- ^^ accident. tionally. Of this I am most positive, for I know that every i)ossible precaution has been taken to guard against it; and I believe there has not been one hundred females killed on St. (xeorge Island since 1S80, if I may except some killed by poacliers who were driven oft: before they secured the skins of the seals they had killed. Never since the islands have bceu American ]>roperty, lias there been indiscriminate killing done upon them, nor has there been a de- sire on the x)art of anyone connecti-d with them to injure or damage or waste seal life; on the contraty, everything has been done by the lessees, past and present, and by the United States, to foster and pro- tect it, and to improve the methods of driving the seals, so that the herds might grow and thrive and increase, and perpetuate themselves indefinitely. Laws, rules, and regulations were made from time to time, prompted by experience, with a view to add to the ^J:^^^' ior'^^f^l" "° value of the property, and to abolish everything that tLnof seiiufe.'^''^^'^' was not beneficial and in strict accord with the most humane principles. To this end all long drives were prohibited, and arrangements made by which the killing grounds have been brought as near the hauling grounds as is practicable without being injurious to the breeding rookeries. Orders were issued by which the driving is regulated in such man- ner that no hauling grounds are molested or disturbed more than another, and, being taken in rotation, the seals are allowed several days rest between drives. The rules for driving are so strict, so rig- idly enforced, and so faithfully carried out, that I hardly know how they could be improved upon. In my opinion the cows are the only seals that go into the sea to feed from the time they haul out in JMay till they leave the r^ ,, ■, , .,-,.-_ X T^ 1 T •'... Cows the only seals islands in iSTovember or December; and my opinion is tiiat leave islands to based on the fact that the seals killed in May have *'''*'*^'- plenty of food in their stomachs, mostly codfish, while those killed in July iiave no signs of anything like food in their stomachs. Again, the males killed for food as the season advances are found to be poorer and poorer, and in all cases after July their stomachs are empty. I am convinced, therefore, that none but mother seals go into the sea to feed during the summer months, and this accounts for the sudden decrease in the herd after the sealing schooners became so nu- merous in Bering Sea about 1884. The decrease in the number of seals coming to the islands in the last three or four years decrease of seals. became so manifest to everyone acquainted with the rookeries in earlier days that various theories have been advanced in 84 TESTIMONY an attempt to account for the cause of tliis sudden cbaiige, and the following- are some of them: 1st, "A dearth of bulls upon the breed- ing rookeries;" 2d, "Impotency of bulls, caused by overdriving while they were young bachelors;" and 3d, "An epidemic among the seals." The "dearth of bulls theory" has been thoroughly and impartially investigated without discovering a cow of 3 years old m dearth of bulls. ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ rookeries without a pup by her side at the proper time, and I am convinced that the virgin females coming on to the rookeries for the first time are the only ones to be found there without pups. The investigation established the additional fact that hundreds of vigorous bulls were lying idle on the rookeries without cows, and many others had to content themselves with only one or two. The theory of "impotency of the bull through overdriving" while young was also found to be untrue, and it was shown Ko impotent bulls. ^^.^^ ^^.^^^, ^^.-^ .^j^ j^^^^. ^^^.-^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ islaiids had becii abolished, and instead of driving seals from 6 to 12 miles, as was done in Knssian times, muie were driven to exceed 2^ miles. It is also a well-known fact that none but the physically strong- and aggressive bulls can hold a position on the rookeries ; and that a weak or an impotent animal has no desire to go there. The epidemic theory was urged very strongly in 1891, when the rookeries were found covered with dead juips; but a eeSs ^^^^^^^^ '^"""^ careful and technical examination was made on several of the dead bodies without discovering a trace of organic disease; while starvation was so apparent that those Avho examined them decided that it was the true cause of their death. Had sickness or disease attacked the seal herd, it is only reasonable to sup- pose a few grown seals would be found dead where so many young ones had died so suddenly; but the most diligent search has failed to find a grown seal dead upon the islands from unknown causes. From tlie discovery of the islands until the present time the flesh of the fur-seal has been the daily meat ration of the natives and of the white people, and yet it is a tact that a tainted or diseased carcass lias never been known. In my opinion the solution of the problem is plain. It is the shot- Peiagic sealing the gnu aiul rifle of tlic pclagic hunter which are so oniycauseofdcCTease. destructive to the COW seals as they go backwards and forwards to the fishing' banks to supply the waste caused by giving- nourishment to their young. At tliis time they are destroyed by thousands, and their young of but a lew weeks old must necessarily die of starvation, for nature has provided no other means of subsistence for them at this time of life. Unless the pelagic hunter is prevented from taking seals in Bering Sea and in the North Pacific, the Alaskan fur seal will Protection necessary. j^ i ^ ■ i i soon cease to be oi commercial value. L. A. NoYES, M. D. Subscribed and sworn to before me, an ofticei- empowered to admin- ister oaths under section 197G, iievised Statutes of the United States, this 11th day of June, 1892, at St. George Island, Alaska. Wm. H. Williams, Treaaury A0,000 on St. George, was ^^Abnndance of seals, taken with great ease and facility, the killing season proper extending over a period of only about forty- tive days in each year, and the actual working days being only from thirty -two to thirty- live in each year. During my term of service at the islands I made careful and elabo- rate reports each year to the Secretary of the Treasury. In one of these reports, dated July 30, 1881, I embodied a compilation from the official records covering a period from 1871 to 1881, Avitli the object of showing the relative abundance of the seal life during those years. The tabel was preceded in my report by the following explanatory ,^,^^^^ ,^ language: "The following table, covering a period of eleven years, shows : (1) The number of seal skins taken in each sealing season proper on St. Paul's Island; (2) the number of days expended in the wwk; (3) the number of sealers engaged; (1) the average number of skins taken per day; and (5) the average daily catch per man en- gaged; and it is conlidently submitted as the most solid ground we have to stand upon in attempting an answer to the inquiry, 'Are the fur seals of Alaska increasing or diminishing in numbers?"' Briefly summarized, the table shows that the working days for seal- ing proper were reduced from 55 in 1871 to 35 in 1881; ^ . ,„., that the average daily catch was increased from 1,375 '"' "' in 1871 to 2,158 in 1881, and that the daily average catch per man em- ployed was increased from 21 in 1871 to 32 in 1881. The plain lesson taught by these figures and comparisons is that the vast increase in the seal life due to the proper and ade- „ , ,. • ..« ^ quate protection of the rookeries and of the waters i'™*-*-"^-^'*^'^^^- adjacent thereto made it possible for the lessees to take the full quota of 100,000 skins in the very short period of from thirty-three to thirty- five working days. In truth, so abundant were the seals during these years that after the close of the sealing season, about July 20, when the entire number of 100,000 skins had been taken, the rookeries and haul- 86 TESTIMONY h\g grounds still held a vast population of these animals and it re- quired an expert to i)erceive the fact that they had been depleted at all. During those years the sealing season commenced about June 1st to . 4th and closed invariably before the 20th of July, so toea ing season. that the disturbance to the herd was confined to the shortest possible period of time and reduced to the minimum. Tlie efl'ect of this was of course most excellent. In addition to which fact the skins were always in prime condition during that agey season. period; whcrcas, later on, the "stagey" season com- mences, when the skins are inferior and not marketable. The conspicuous fact most ajDparcnt to me during all those years was ^ , ,. . ,.^ J that by the enforcement of the wise laws enacted by Protectionjustified. „ •' i x-j. j.-i • -j.- .^ a i i j.i • Congress early alter the acquisition oi Alaska, this precious animal life could be and was protected and preserved in the fullest measure, and that being so protected the natural increase of the herds more than ofiset the annual killing, great as it was. The most scrupulous care was always taken by all persons at the ^ , ^ ^ , islands, including Government agents, the Alaska Pemales protected. ^, • i r^ i j. i j.i ±.- -i • v Commercial Coinj)any's agents, and the native chieis and people, to spare and protect the mother seals, whether ui)on the rookeries or elsewhere on the islands; so careful were we in that re- gard that whenever a female seal happened to be driven up along with II herd of killable seals, or "bachelors," she was promptly distinguished from the males, never killed, but separated from the mass and allowed to make her way again to the sea. In all respects great care was taken to prevent the unnecessary harassment of any class of seals, whether old or young, male or female. The breeding rookeries themselves were never under any circum- stances disturbed. There was indeed no occasion to turbel*""*"^ ''''* ^^' disturb them, because the killable seals, or " bachelors," from 3 to o years old, were so numerous that the whole catch could be taken from this class with the ease and facility which I have already described. Besides, under the operation of the natui-al laws governing the species in their habitat, the classes are distinctly separated on land, the bulls, cows, and pups occupying the breeding- rookeries prosier, while what are known as the " bachelors," to wit, those young males which have not arrived at the dignity of being the heads of harems, haul out of the sea and gather upon the shores sep- arate and apart from the breeding rookeries, so that the driving for killing purposes could then be readily done without interfering with the breeding rookeries. Thus a wise deference on the part of man to the habits of this systematic race of aiumals can be turned to valuable account and nature be made to reinforce commerce in her work. During those years the lawless occupation of seal poaching was in ., . ^„„, its infancv. Marauding vessels, it is true, appeared from time to time in these waters, but the islands were so well guarded that during my term of office there never was a suc- cessful raid or landing upon either of the islands of !St. Paul or St. George. The only landing upon any island of the group was made in June, 1881, upon the unoccupied island of Otter (not included in the lease), as described in my special report to the Secretary of the Treas- ury, dated July 4, 1881. On that occasion a predatory schooner suc- ceeded in lauding a boat's crew, who killed forty or fifty seals, when they were driven oft' by a boat sent by me for that purpose from St. Paul, about 6 miles distant. EELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 87 Another prsictical i^roof of the fact that the seals were generally increasing- during- those years on St. Piiiil's Lsland was ^^^^ .^^ .^ found m the fact that a large overplus found their way issi. to the Island of Otter, a small island about six miles ^^^^^ island. away, and not included in the Alaska Commercial Company's lease. Otter was not a breeding- island, but a loafing and resting place for the "bachelor" seals, which congregated there to the number of several thousands during the season. I noted the move- ment with care, and believed then that with due protection the island would in time have become a breeding- island like the others, only to a lesser extent. My views and observations in regard to Otter Island were set out in a special report to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated April 1, 1882. My observation in regard to the pup seal life during those years was that the loss from natural causes was exceedingly ^^^,,1^,^,^ small. I made frequent visits to the breeding- rook- eries during and after the close of the breeding season, and found only a very small number of dead bodies ; it was a rare thing to find a dead pup seal. In one of my oflQcial reports I made an estimate of the loss from natural causes, which I fixed, I believe, at only 1 or 2 per cent of all classes. Some of these losses were due to their perhaps too early attempts to swim. When the pup is a few months old the mother seal conducts it to the water and teaches it ^^JjJ[p« ^''''™'"^^^f** to swim near the shore. If a heavy sea is encountered the weak little pup is liable to be thrown by the surf against the rocks and killed, but under natural conditions and with the protection to the rookeries formerly enforced at the islands, the losses from this cause and all others combined (save alone the authorized killing) amounted to an infinitesimal percentage of the whole numbers in the herds. The practice formerly prevailed of permitting- the native people to kill a very considerable number of four-months' old ^ .•,, ,^ ^ . ,^ ,. 1 rrM • 1 1 ^ -VT 1 . 1 Pups killed for food. pups lor food. This was done about -N o vember m each year, the numbers so killed being 5,000 on St. Paul Lsland and 1,500 on St. George Island. After observation and study, I satisfied myself that the number of pup seals so killed might properly be diminished somewhat, although it could only be done against strong opposition on the part of the native people, who are specially partial to the meat of pup seals, claiming that for X)urposes of salting and preservation for winter food the meat of the older seals is unfit. I, however, restricted the killing of pups to 3,000 on St. Paul Island and 1,000 on St. George Island, upon the condition and ^tS.^ "^ ^"^' '"'" agreement on the part of the Alaska Commercial Company, which also favored the restriction, that it would supi:)ly to the native people, in lieu of the pup seal meat taken away, a suflicient quantity of corned beef and canned milk to satisfy the wants of the inhabitants. Deference was always paid to the Avants and the fixed tastes of the native people and their families in this matter of supply- ing young seal meat for their subsistence, for the reason that the entire seal industry at these islands has always depended in so large a meas- ure upon the skill and labor of these people, Avho have invariably been employed to take the skins, and have no other occupation whatever. In the plethoric condition of the rookeries during the jjeriod of my service at the islands, and with the vast numbers of seals of all kinds, there was not any difficulty about the matter of either food seals or the taking of seal skins for commercial puri^oses. Stringency could only arise by the general destruction of the seal life which has taken place in recent years. Protection u e e e s - sary. 88 TESTIMONY In regard to the broad question of the protection of the seal life at our possessions in the Bering" Sea, I have clear and decided views. I thinlc there has been a criminal waste of this most ^_ Criminal waste of p^g^-jo^^g animal life, and that the whole recent era of destruction should have been averted by the prompt and forcible interference of the Government. It is a great industry, that deserves the fullest protection, whether the Gov- ernment and people of the United States, or those of Great Britain, or Canada, or Russia, are concerned. All have interests more or less in common in the perpetuation of the seal life and the preservation of this industry. The destruction of the seals results only in loss to all. When they are gone, there are no longer any seals to quarrel over and no need of the modus vivendi. I believe that our Government should have sought the cooperation of that of Russia, and that they should jointly have thrown a powerful fleet into those waters and protected the common interest. There is no question in my mind but that a vast deal of the destruction which has been going ^ , . ,. on in recent years is directly due to the lawless killing- in the open sea on the annual migrations of the female seals northward to the seal islands for the i>urpose of bearing their young, and later, on their voyages from the rookeries to the adjacent Ashing banks in search of food. You can no more preserve the seal life at these islands with these destructive methods in tiOT.^"^*^*^^^ nblic in and for the District of Columbia, U. S. A., this L*3d day of April, 1892. [l. s.] Sevellon a. Brown. Notary Fublie. Deposition of Leon Sloss, memher of the firm of Louis Sloss t6- Co., furriers and superintendent for the former lessees on the Prihllof Islands. management. pelagic sealing. State of Caltfoenia, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Leon Sloss, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: lam 33 years of age, a native of California, and a resident of San Experience. Fmucisco, California. I was for several years a director of the Alaska Commercial Company, and am a member of the partnership of Louis Sloss & Co., and have been engaged for the past fifteen years in dealing in wools, hides, and fur skins, but have now no interest in seals or sealeries. I was superintendent i)ro tempore of the sealeries of Alaska in the interim from 1882 to 1885, inclusive, during the illness of H. H. Mcln- tyre, the regular superintendent, and spent the sealing season of those three yearson the Pribilof Islands in the personal management of the business. I am, therefore, by reason of this service and of my active employment at all other times in the oftice of the Alaska Commercial RELATING TO PEIBILOF ISLANDS. 91 Coni})any from 1S77 to this date, acquainted with every aspect of the business. All advices from our London agents, and information in re- gard to the sealskin market from aJI sources, passed through my hands, and instructions to the agents of the company in regard to the class of skins desired emanated from time to time from me. I had no difficulty in getting the size and weight of skins as ordered, nor had my prede- cessors in theofiice, up to and including 1884. The casks in which we packed them for shipment were made by casks! ^^ pack ins the same man for many years, and were always of uni- form size. In 1885 these casks averaged about 47^ skins each, and in 1886 they averaged about oOf skins each, as shown by the records in our office. After tliis date the number increased, and in 1888 they averaged about 55y skins per cask, and in 1889 averaged about 00 skins per cask. These latter were not such skins as we wanted, but the superintendent on the islands reported that they were the best he could get. The work of taking the annual "catch" was done in 1883, 1S84, and 1885 under my management in the same way in every particular as under my predecessor. The seals were carefully driven, ^ . . handled, and killed in an orderly manner, the whole '"i"?- work being carried on as systematically and quietly as in the well con- ducted slaughterhouses in our cities. The talk about lasting injury resulting from overexertion to such seals as are turned back to the water after having been driven to the killing grounds is nonsense. The management of the rookeries tlie first fifteen years of the Alaska Commercial Company's lease resulted in a large increase of seals. The same business management continued, and the same system was pursued to the end of the term, yet in the last five years the rookeries fell off. Clearly it was through no fault JJf erf 3SP of the company, and resulted from some cause beyond their control. I do not think the Alaska Commercial Company made any mistakes in managing the seal herd. They handled them in every respect as I would have doneif they had .c^^e exercised i.y - 1 , IT ITT- /I Alaska Coinniercial been my own personal j^roperty, and as 1 would do it coiupany. they were now to come into my hands. If they erred in any parti(?ular in their management, it was in their futile attempt in 1888 and 1889 to stoj) the waste of seal life at the island spigot while it was running out at the bunghole of pelagic sealing. The record shows that we did not tinish the catch as early in 1885 as had been done in former years. I do not think this was from any lack of seals, but was caused by greater care in making our selection of ani- mals to be killed. I saw no diminution of seal life dur- ing my three years on the island. The outlines of the ^gss! '^'"'''''^'"' ''^' *" rookeries remained just about the same from year to year. I was told at the time that there had formerly been a large in- crease, and did not then understand why it did not continue, as every condition seemed favorable for it. There were, ai)parently, an abun- dance of bulls for service; every cow seemed to have a pup and all were healthy and in good condition. "^^ "^' '^' No females were killed, and in the natural order of pj^jgi^y;',""^''' ^''"*^'' growth there ought to have been at this time a con- stantly increasing area covered with breeding rookeries. Yet such was not the case. The explanation of the matter came later when we fairly awoke to the fact that our animals were being slaughtered by tens of thousands in the North Pacific. I knew in a commercial way from our sales catalogue that a very seauug.'^'' "^ ^ ^°*° large number of " Victoria skins," as they were called. 92 TESTIMONY were being sent to market, and that this number grew constantly larger; ^^ , .-.,. but I did not then know, as I now do, that each skin sold repi'esentated a waste of two or three and jierhaps even four or five seals to obtain it. ]Sror was any attention given to the now well known fact that these animals were a part of our herd, as wrongfully stolen from us, I believe, as my cattle would be if driv^en in and appropriated from the highway when lawfully feeding. Prof. H. W. Elliott says in his report of 1874 that: "With regard to the increase of seal life, I do not think it within the power of human management to promote this end to the slightest appreciable degree beyond its present extent and condition in a state of nature." If he means by the words "in a state of nature," a condition in which no slaughter is allowed, I quite agree with him; but I Breeding of seals, ^^j^ ]K)t agree that the increase can not be aided by killing surplus bulls. When herded in common pasture, the greatest number of progeny from our domestic animals will unquestionably be brought forth and live to adult age if a large portion of the males have beenkilled or castrated. The same no doubt holds good with respect to the seals. It is only when, as in the case of the seals, that the mothers and young offspring are slaughtered that the increase is checked, I am informed bv our Loudon sales agent, and believe, Mostly females taken. ^^^^^ nearly or qi^ite nine-tenths of the Victoria catch is comprised of females. I am a,sked if a zone of ijroliibitioii about the islands, a territorial limitation, or a close season for pelagic sealing, one or •^t'^'tion^^^*^^^ ^""^ ^^^ ^^ these restrictions will not, in my opinion, i^rove a pio ec ion. sufficient restraint upon marine hunters to allow the rookeries to grow again. I answer emphatically no. I do not believe they will suffice, and my answer is without personal bias, for I am not now engaged in the sealskin trade and have no interest in the industry other than that of the average American citizen. The scarcity of seals and consequent high price of skins stimulates the ingenuity of every man in the business either to evade restriction or invent more certain methods for capturing the animals. The rookeries are ne^r*^"^*'*"* ™°" doomed to certain destruction unless brought within the sole management of those on the islands, whose interest it is to care for them. Marine sealing should be absolutely prohibited and the prohibition enforced. I have handled many sealskins coming from both north and south of this port, and can readily distinguish the difference between them. Those from the southern islands are from a difterent species from the Alaskans, and both differ from the Asiatic skins. The skins from the warmer latitudes are greatly inferior. The fur is short and thin, and of a reddi.^^h brown color. They can be detected at once. It is not as easy to distinguish the Alaska from the Asiatic skins, but experts in handling them, nevertheless, do it with unerring accuracy. Leon Sloss. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of May, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, 2^otary Fuhlic. RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 93 Deposition of William H. Williams, Treasury agent in cliarge of the Frihilof Islands. MANAGEMENT. PELAGIC SEALING. William H. Williams, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Wellington, Ohio, and am 55 years of age ; tliat I am the United vStates Treasury Agent in charge of the Seal ^^p'^"^^^^- Islands in Bering Sea; that in pursuance of Department instructions to me of May 27, 1891, I made a careful examination during the sealing season of the habits, numbers, and conditions of the seals and seal rook- eries with a view of reporting to tlie Department from observation and such knowledge on the subject as I might obtain whether or not in my opinion the seals are diminishing on the Pribilof Islands, and, if so, the causes therefor; that as a result of such investigation I found, fi-omthe statements made to me by the natives on said islands. Government Agents, Emi)loyes of the lessees, some of whom had been on said islands for many years, that a decrease in number of seals had been gradually going on since 1885, and that in the sii^e isk. '^^"^'■^''®'°= last three years the decrease had been very rapid. A careful and frequent examination of the hauling grounds and breeding rookeries by myself and assistant agents during the months of June, July, and August showed that the seals had greatly dimin- ished in number, and we found large vacant spaces on all the rook- eries which in former years during these months had been covered by thousands of seals; that iirior to 1888 the lessees had been able to take 100,000 skins from male seals, but I am clearly of the oniy one-thh-d of opinion that not more than one-third of that number qiK^aof skins coum of merchantable skins conld have been taken during ^« taken m i89i. the year 1891. Furthermore, I made careful inquiry of the people on the islands, both native and Avhite, and of those who were or had been employed as masters or mates on sealing vessels, and others interested one Avay or anothei- in the capture of tur seals for food or for profit, and failed to find auyof them but who admitted that the numV)er of seals in the Bering Sea was much less now than a few years since, and nearly all of them gave it as their opinion that the decrease in number was due to pelagic hunting, or, as they more peiigVc'^^eaimg"'' *** frequently expressed it, the killing of females in the water. It was freely admitted by the pelagic hunters with whom I conversed that but a very small per cent of their catch was males, and I found their statements in this respect verified by the dealers who bought or handled the skins and jdaced them on the market. They are known to the trade as the " North West coast catch,'" and I am credibly informed that a portion of the skin on the belly of the female heavy with pup or giving suck to her young is worthless, and that this is one of the chief causes why they are sold so much less than prime skins in the London Market. They also further stated ^he most profitable that the two most profitable periods for them to catch period for pelagic seal was in the spring of the year, when the females were ''^''''"s- heavy with pup and frequently found asleep on the A\'ater, and in the summer, after the mother sealhad given birth to her young and gone out into the sea to feed, at which time she was easily ai)i>i<>ached. The investigation further disclosed the fact that of the large num- ber of seals killed by pelagic hunters only a por- ^visteofiiio tion of them are secured, and Vhile all admitted that some were lost they differed very considerably as to the number. 94 TESTIMONY RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. In one instance a hunter claimed that he secured nearly all that he killed, and in another instance it was said that only one out of fifteen was secured. A great majority of the hunters when closely questioned adjiiitted the losing- of a large pro])ortion shot at, and I am of the opin- ion that the wide difference in tlieir statement was due to two facts: First, some hunters are more skillful than others, and, Second, some base their estimate on what they know to have been actually killed, while others estimate from the number shot at; that the mother seals, while rearing their young on the Pribilof Islands during the mouths of July, August, September, and October of each year, leave the islands Females feedin.-. ^^^ §0 out to sca to feed, returning at intervals to give nourishment to their young. That they traveled long distances in pursuit of food at these times is a well-known fact and substantiated by the statements of re]uitable persons who have been on sealing vessels and seen them killed two hundred miles or more from the islands, and who say they have seen the decks of vessels slippery with milk flowing from the carcasses of the dead females. That thousands of the female seals were captured by the pelagic hunters in Bering Sea during the season of 1891, the most of which had to be secured quite a distance from the rookeries, owing to the presence of armed vessels patrolling the sea for miles around the islands, and that the slaughter of the seals was mostly of females, was Dead pups. confirmed by the thousands of dead pups lying on the rookeries starved to death by the destruction "of their mothers. i It is a fact that none but male seals are ever driven and killed on the islands, and great care is taken to preserve a sufficient killed on isLds'^'''^ number each year to supply the breeding rookeries. During the season of 1891 nearly every mature female coming upon the rookeries gave birth to a young seal, and there was great abundance of males of sufficient age to again go upon the c „ . ,, „ breeding grounds that year, as was shown by the ina- SutBciency of bulls, i -i-j. x. i , f It i bility 01 huge numbers of them to secure more than one to five cows each, while quite a number could secure none at all. My investigation confirms what has been so often said by others who have reported upon this subject, and that is that the Pribilof Islands are the great breeding grounds of the fur-seals, and crM^e ^^Hh ^rop?r *^^* ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ reared in great numbers on said islands, nianaKenient and pro- and at the Same time, under wise and judicious re- seaifng^. ° pe agic ,s<^i.j(.|;iQjjg^ ^ Certain uumbcr of male seals can be killed from year to year without injury to the breeding herds, and their skins disposed of for commercial purposes, thereby building up and perpetuating this great industry indefinitely, and thus adding to the wealth, happiness, and comfort of the civilized world, while, on Extermination if \^^^ Other hand, if the pelagic hunting of this animal peiajric sealing is not is to contiuuc, aud the barbarous practice of killing the prohibited. mother seal with her unborn young, or when she is rearing it, is to go on, it will be but a very short time before the fur- seal will practically become extinct and this valuable industry wiU pass out of existence. Wm. H. Williams. District of Columbia, City of Washington: Subscribed and sworn to before me this 19th day of March, 1892. [seal.] ■ Chas. L. Hughes, notary Public, o C < v. ■s. > 00 2 < 7. TESTIMONY RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. Deposition of J. C. 8. AJcerly, surgeon U. S. Revenue Marine and resident siUTfjeon on St. Paul Island. dead pups. State of California, City and County of San Franciseo, ss : J. C. S. Akerly, ph. b., m. d., having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a graduate of the University of California, ^^ erience 1882, and a graduate of the Cooper Medical College, 3;peiience. 1885. From June to August 18th, 1891, 1 was Surgeon on the Eevenue- Marine steamer Corwin. From August 18th to Novem- ber 24th, 1891, I was resident Physician on St. Paul isfaS'iloT.' ^'^^^ ^'"'^ Island, one of the Pribilof or seal islands. I am at present a practicing physician at Oakland, California. During my stay on the islands I made frequent visits to the different seal rookeries. One thing which attracted my attention was the immense number of dead young seals; another was the presence be?of!^ ^"^^' """^ of quite a number of young seals on all the rookeries in an emaciated and apparently very weak condition. I was requested by the Government Agent to examine some of the carcasses for the purpose of determining the cause or causes of their death. I visited and walked over all the rookeries. On all dead seals were to be foun^ in immense numbers. Their number was more apparent on those rook- eries such as Tolstoii and Halfway Point, the water sides of which were on smooth ground, and the eye could glance over patches of ground hundreds of feet in extent which were thickly strewn with carcasses. Where the water side of the rookeries, as at "Kortheast Point" and the reef (south of the village), were on rocky ground, the immense number of dead was not so apparent, but a closer examination showed that the dead were there in equally great numl)er scattered among the rocks. In some localities the ground was so thickly strewn with the dead that one had to pick his way carefully in order to avoid stepi)ing on the car- casses. The great mass of dead in all cases was within a short distance of tlie water's edge. The patches of dead would commence at the water's edge, and stretch in a wide swath up into the rookery. Amongst the immense masses of dead were seldom to be found the carcasses of full-grown seals, but the carcasses were those of pups, or young seals born that year. I can give no idea of the exact number of dead, but I believe that they could only be numbered by the thousands on each rookery. Along the water's edge, and scattered amongst the dead, were quite a number of live pups, which were in an emaciated condition. Many had hardly the strength to drag themselves out of one's way; thus contrasting strongly, both in appearance and actions, with the 95 96 TESTIMONY plump condition and active aggresive conduct of the liealtliy appearing pups. The majority of the pups, like all healthy nursing animals, were plump aud fairly rolling in fat. I have watched the female seals draw up out of the water, each pick out its pup from the hundreds of young seals sport- ing near the Avater's edge, and with them scramble to a clear spot on the rookery, and lying down give them suck. Although I saw pups nurs- ing in a great many cases, yet I never saw one of the sickly looking pups receiving any attention from the female. They seemed to be deserted. The cause of the great mortality amongst the seal ])ups seemed to me to have ceased to act, in great part, before my first of'dea'th^"^^' ^*^^^ visits to the rookeries; for subsequent visits did not show as great an increase in the masses of dead as I would have expected, had the causes still been in active operation. It seemed to me that there were fewer sickly looking pups at each sub- sequent visit. This grew to be more and more the case as the season advanced. When I visited the rookeries for the i)urpose of examining the dead bodies, it was with extreme difficulty that carcasses could be found fresh enough to permit of a satisfactory examination. I exam- ined a large number of carcasses. All showed an entire absence of fatty tissue between the skin and muscular tissue, na'tion'^of "^''^' exami- rpjjg omentum iu all cascs was destitute of fat. These are the i)ositions where fat is usually present in all ani- mals. Well nourished young animals always have a large amount ot fat in these localities. The few carcasses which were found in a fair state of preservation were examined more thoroughly. The stouuichs were found empty and contracted, but presented no evidence of dis- ease. The intestines were empty, save in a few cases, where small amounts of fecal matter were found in the large intestines. A careful examination of the intestines failed to discover any evidence of disease. The heart, lungs, liver, aud kidneys were in a healthy condition. Such is the evidence on which I have founded my opinion that the cause of the great mortality during 1891, amongst the young seals on St. Paul Island, Bering Sea, was caused by the deprivation of mother's milk. The result of my investigation is, that there was gYQi^:t, mortality exclusively amongst nursing seals. Secondly, the cause of this mortality seemed to have been abated j)rt>-i ixissu with the abatement of sea sealing. Thirdly, tiie presence of emaciated sickly looking jmps which were apparently deserted by their mothers. Fourthly, the plump healthy appearance of all the ])ups I saw nursing. Fifthly, the emaciated condition of the dead. Sixthly, the absence of food iu the stomachs, and their contracted condition. Seventhly, the absence of digested food in the small intestines. Eighthly, the absence of even fecal matter, save in small amounts in a few cases. Ninthly, the absence of structural changes iu the viscera or other parts of the bodies to account for the death. J. 0. S. Akerly, Ph. B., M. D. Subscribed and sworn to |)efore me this 16th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] CLEIVIENT BeNNETT, ifotary Fiihlic, RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 97 De;positionof Watson G. Allis, assistant agent of lessees on St. Paul Island. management; habit; pelagic sealing. State of California, City and county of San Francisco, ss : Watson 0. Allis, liaviiig been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 30 years old, an American citizen residing in San Francisco, Califorria, and by occnpation an Agent of the Fairbanks Scale ^^^ ,erience Company, engaged in selling and setting np scales. ^penence. In the summer of 1882, and again from the spring of 1887 to the fall of 1889, I was Assistant Agent of the Alaska Commercial Company upon St. Paul Island, and worked four sealing seasons in charge of a gang of natives engaged in seal killing. The work ^^^^^^^^^^ was done under the general direction of the Superin- tendent of the Sealeries, who placed a " boss," or leader, at the head of each gang of men. It was the business of the "boss " to divide his gang in proper proportions— into '-kill- ana'^lkTnners"^^^"' ers," " rippers," and " skinners." The " killers " were generally the same men day after day through the season. They became very expert in the management of the drove and the use of the seal club, and very rarely made the mistake of hittting a seal that was not wanted. The "boss" told his men in a general way what class of seals to kill, and worked with them. If they had any doubt whether a certain ani- mal should be knocked down they appealed to him for explicit direc- tions. The work thus went forward in a very systematic, orderly way. The same care was exercised in cutting out the drove ^ . . of "bachelor" or killable seals from the borders of a rookery and in bringing them up to the killing ground. Active young men were selected for this service, and placed in charge of a Chief, whose orders they implicitly obeyed. The driving was done mostly in the night, and in dry or warm weather was a slow and tedious process ; yet the men were very patient with their charge, moving them only at such rate as they could go without becoming over-heated, and taking advantage of every stretch of moist ground or pool of water to cool them off, and sometimes going themselves in the water up to their necks in order to give the animals a cold bath and take them out of the water and continue the journey. Any representation that the seals were over-diiven or ^^ ... "^ 1 , -, , j_i • 1 . ■ ■ -1 n No overdriving. over -heated, to then- subsequent injury, is drawn trom the imagination. Sometimes a drove would be caught upon a dry stretch of ground in unusually warm weather, and a few of them i)erish, but this did not often happen. In 1882 there was no scarcity of killable seals. The men drove up as many every day as they could handle, and those selected for kilUug comprised only the choicest ones. abie'seairin^is*^.^' There seemed to be also a large surplus of full grown bulls for rookery service, and enough escaped from the slaughter ground to keep the number good as the old ones passed sufficient buiis. the age of usefulness. I do not believe the condition of the rookeries nor the manner of driving and killing the seals at this time could have been improved. It was perfect in every respect, and the lessees, employes, and natives, as well as the seals, all appeared to be and were, I believe, contented and happy. 2716— VOL n 7 98 TESTIMONY 111 1886 the conditions had somewhat changed. The natives com- plained that big seals were growing scarcer, that there ^^Decreaaeofsoaisin ^^.gj,g manv dead pups on the rookeries, and the Super- intendent intimated to me that he did not like the out- look as compared with a few years previous, and said he thought either the number killed or the size of the animals taken lor their skins would have to be reduced if things did not improve. Still we had no particu- lar scarcity of killable seals, and the work went on as during my first year (1882) in the service. But the trouble of which they complained grew more serious in the following years, and I think it was in 1888 the Super- kilXnfsss ^^^^^ intendent told the -'bosses" they must kill less large seals and more " yellow bellies," or two-year olds. In 1889 a very large proportion of the catch was made up of this class. It was tiieu perfectly apparent to everybody, myself included, that the rookeries were " going to the bad," and that a smaUer number must inevitably be killed the following year. The work of herding and managing seals does not differ materially habits. fi'^J^ t^^t pursued with the stock-farm animals with Kesembiancetofarm which wc are most familiar. The herdsman has ell ieiiy animals. ^^ learn their quick motions and propensity to bite in order to handle them at will. I tried to thoroughly train the young seals, hoping to make valuable pets of them, and succeeded as far as the taming went, but could not get them to thrive on cows milk or the Domestication. fe> condensed milk of commerce administered from a nursing bottle. They became, however, very tame, stopped trying to bite unless they were made angry by rough usage, and followed me about like pups of the canine species. When they are older and before they leave the island in the fall they may still be handled with impunity, and their habits are such of massing and herding by themselves apart _^Po3sibiiityofmark- f^^.^^-^ ^^iQ oldcr scals, that all could be easily "rounded up " from the beaches in favorable weather and " cor- ralled " and marked. It would be perfectly feasible to drive them into and keep them in such a corrall or inclosure as would be constructed for calves or lambs, surrounded by a fence 3 or 4 feet high, and while there to catch each one and brand him. This has abeady been success- fully done on a small scale by naturalists Avho wanted to identify cer- tain ones for a future j)urpose. This is not mere theory with me, for I was bred to the management and handling of young domestic animals, and have handled the young seals, and have seen them handled by the natives in the same way. There Avere a great many dead pups on the rookeries during my last Dead us three yeaxsou St. Paul Island. Many of them wandered pups. helplessly about, away from the groups or " pods" where they were accustomed to lie, and finally starved to death. We knew at the time what killed them, for the vessels and boats w^ere several times plainlv iu sight from the Island shooting seals in c^f^t.^'" '*'^^^" ^^'^ the water, and the Keveuue Cutters and Company's ves- sels arriving at the island frequently reported the pres- ence in Bering Sea and sometimes the capture of these marauding crews. If all had been captured and the business broken up the seal rookeries would be healthy and prosperous to-day, instead of being depleted and broken up. I speak positively about it, because no other cause can be assigned for their dei)letion uiion any reasonable hypoth- esis. RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 99 Good management upon the island increased the seal life for many- successive years, and the same management continued, as I believe, to the present time. If'^the destruction of maSaglment?'^*"'^*""^ seals at sea is wholly suppressed it will result in restor- ing the rookeries to their former productiveness. But no partial meas- ure of protection should be undertaken, because it can not be enforced. During the summer months fogs envelope the Seal Islands or cover the sea a short distance from them a considerable por- tion of the time. Sealing vessels are enabled thereby i^I^i^ surround is- to carry on their work without detection at almost any point, and could and would, I believe, cross any boun- dary line that might be draAvn about the islands, and no^rotecti^ ^^^^^ catch seals at will inside of it. I do not think sealing can be, with safety to the rookeries, permitted in any or the sea. If the sealers are given an inch they tion in Bering sea will take an ell and destroy all. necessarj-. Watson C. Allis. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of July, 1892. [seat..] E. H. Tharp, Ifotary Fuhlic in mid for said city and county of San Francisco, Dejposition ofKerricJc Artonianoff, native chief resident of St. Paul Island. PELAGIC SEALING. MANAGEMENT. Alaska, U. S. A., St. Paul Island^ Prihilof Group, ss : Kerrick Artomanoff, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native Aleut, and reside on St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska; I was born at Northeast Point, on St. Paul Island, and am 67 years of age. I have worked on the sealing gTounds for the last fifty years, and am well acquainted with the methods ^P^rience. adopted by the Eussian and American Governments in taking of fur- seal skins and in protecting and preserving the herds on the island. In 1870, when the Alaska Commercial Company obtained the lease of the Islands, I was made Chief, and held the position for seventeen years. It was my duty as Chief to take charge of and conduct the drives with my people from the hauling to the killing grounds. ^^^.^^ The methods used by the Alaska Commercial Company "^'"^" and the American Government for the care and preservation of the seals were much better than those used by the Russian Government. In old Eussian times we used to drive Eus"fan3od/^^'' seals from Il^ortheast Point to the village, a distance of nearly 13 miles, and we used to drive 5 or 6 miles from other haul- ing grounds; but when the Americans got the Islands they soon after shortend all the drives to less than drives shortened. 3 miles. From 1870 to 1884 the seals were swarming on the hauling grounds and the rookeries, and for many years thev spread out more and more. All of a sudden, in 1884, we noticed seakTormeriy. ° there was not so manv seals, and thev have been de- ^ . ,„„, • n . ^"r -, Decrease since 18S4. creasing very rapidly ever since. My people won- 100 TESTIMONY Pelagic seaJingthe dered wliy tliis was so, and no one could tell why until we learned that hunters in schooners were shooting Destruction of fiud destroying them in the sea. Then we knew what ff-maiea. ^lic trouble was, for we knew the seals they killed and destroyed must be cows, for most all the males remain thfi^fands'!''"''''" *"* 01^ 01" I'ear the islands until they go away in the fall or fore part of the winter. We also noticed dead pups on the rookeries, that had been starved to ea pups. death. These dead pups have increased fi^om year to year since 1887, and in 1891 the rookeries were covered with dead pups. In my sixty-seven years, residence on the Island I never j^^ before saw anj'thing like it.. None of our people have ever known of any sickness among the pups or seals and have never seen any dead pups on the rookeries except a few killed by the old bulls when fighting or by diowning when the surf washed them off. If they had not killed the seals in Decrease of three- the sca there would bc as many on the rookeries as *^"^ ^^^' there was ten years ago. There was not more than one-fom^th as many seals in 1891 as there was in 1880. The fur seal goes away from the island in the fall or wioter and he returns in May or June, and I believe he will haul up turn of^seais. ^° ^^ in the Same place each year, for 1 particularly noticed \fce^ *° ^^"^ some that I could tell that hauled up in the same place ^^^'^^' for a number of years; and when we make drives, those we do not kill, but let go into the water, are all back where we took them from in a few hours. The pups are born be- Bu^h of pups. ^^^^^^ ^^^ middle of June and the middle of July, and ^^Swim when 6 weeks can uot swim uutil they are (> or 7 weeks old; and if born in the water they would die. I have seen the surf wash some of the young pups into the sea, and they drowned in a very short time. In four or live days after it is born, the mother seal leaves her puj) and goes away in the sea to feed, and in water" ""^^ ^°°'^ ^hcu the pup is 2 OP 3 wceks old the mother often stays away for five or six days at a time. The mother seals know their OAvn pups by smelling them, and no seal will allow any but her own pup to suck her. When the pups th^r o^^^'pnpr "''^^ grow to bc 6 OP 8 wccks old they form in "pods" and work down to the shore, and they try the water at the edge until they learn to swim. They wiU remain on the Island until November, and, if not too cold, will stay till December. epartureo pups, j j^.^^^ seen them swimming around the island late in January. All tlie seals, when they leave the Island, jtigration. ^^ ^^. g^^^-jj^ |j^^ ^ ^j^jj^j, ^^^y ^ould Stay arouud here all wiuter if the weather was not so cold. When they come back to the Islands they come from the south, and I think they come from the Nortli Pacific Ocean, over track.'^™ ^ ^^^"^ the same track that they went. Tne females go upon the , . rookeries as soon as they arrive here, buttheyearliiigs GrO on rookcn©8 / *j <:j do not come on land till the last of July, and yearling- Habits of young males and females herd together. 1 think they stay ^^^^^' in the water most of the time the first year, but after that they come regularly to the hauling grounds and rookeries, but do not come as early in the season as they do after they are 2 years old. Male seals from '2 to G years old do not go on the breeding rookeries, but haul out by themselves. The female seal gives birth to one p'up every y*ea^."^ ^^^ ouc pup cvcry year, and she has her first pup when she is 3 years old. The male seal establishes himself on RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 101 the breeding rookery in May or June, when he is 7 or Males in rookeries. 8 years old, and he fights for his cows, and does not leave the place he has selected until August or Sep- «» s as tember. Our people like the meat of the seal, and we eat no other meat so long as we can get it. The pup seals are our chiciken meat, and we used to be allowed to kill 3,000 or 4,000 male pups every year in November, but the Government agent forbade us to kill any in 1891, "^*^ and said we should not be allowed to kill any more, ^ ■^Fl°'^ "^^p'^p'^ *^°'' and he gave us other meat in place of "pup" meat; but **"' '^ "^^^ ' we do not like any other meat as well as pup-seal meat. We under- stand the danger there is in the seals being all killed off and that we will have no way of earning our living. There is not one peiagic sealing of us but what believes if they had not killed them cause of decrease. off' by shooting them in the water there would be as otherwise loo.ooo many seals on the island now as there was in 1880, and Hmit couia be main- we coidd go on forever taking 100,000 seals on the two *'^^°® ' Islands ; but if they get less as fast as they have in the last five or six years there will be none left in a little while. Keerick Artomanoff. Subscribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to admin- ister oatdis, under section 1976, Revised Statutes of the United States, this 8th day of June, 1892, at St. Paul Island, Alaska. Wm. H. Williams, Treasury Agent in Charge of Seal Islands. Deposition of Milton Barnes, special employe of U. S. Treasury on St. Paul Island. PELAGIC-SEALING. Territory of Alaska, TJ. S. A., St. Paul Island, ss: I, Milton Barnes, being duly sworn according to law, depose and say as follows: I am a citizen of the United States, and when at home re- side near Columbus, Ohio. Have been temjiorarily stationed during the last year on the Island of St. Paul, one of the fur- seal or Pribilof Group in Bering Sea, as a special em- xpenence. ploy6 of the United States Treasury Department on said island. One day, during the latter part of August or fore part of September last (exact date forgotten). Col. Joseph Murray, one of the Treasury agents, and myself, in company with the British Commissioners, Sir George Baden-Powell and Dr. Dawson, by boat visited one of the seal rooker- ies of that Island, known as Tolstoi or English Bay. On arriving there our attention was at once attracted by the excessive number of dead seal pups whose carcasses lay scattered ^'^ ^"^^* profusely over the breeding ground or sand beach bordering the rook- ery proper, and extending into the border of the rookery itself. The strange sight occasioned much surmise at the time as to the i^robable cause of it. Some of the carcasses were in an advauced stage of decay, while others were of recent death, and their general appearance was that of having died of starvation. There were a few that still showed 102 TESTIMONY signs of life, bloating weak and piteously, and gave every evidence o being in a starved condition, with no mother seals near to or showing them any attention. Dr. Dawson, while on the ground, took some views of the rookery with his kodak; but whether the views he took included the dead pups I could not say. Some days after this — can not state exact date — I drove with Mr. Fowler, an employe of the lessees, to what is known as Half- Way Point, or Polovinia rookery. Here the scene was repeated, but on a more extensive scale in point of numbers. The dead pupa*!^^^*^*^ ^^"' little carcasscs were strewn so thickly over the sand as to make it difficult to walk over the ground without stepping on them. This condition of the rookeries in this regard was for some time a common topic of conversation in the village by all par- ties, including the more intelligent ones among the natives, some of whom were with Mr. J. Stanley Brown in his work of surveying the island and brought in reports from time to time of similar othe^rooklrL!^* ^^^ couditious at Substantially all the rookeries around the Island. It could not, of course, be well estimated as to the number thus found dead, but the most intelligent of the na- tives — chief of the village — told me that in his judg- 20,000 dead pups. ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ j^^^ ^^^^^^ 20,000 dead pups on the various rookeries of the island and others still dying. Dr. Ackerly, the lessees' physician at the time, made an autopsy of some of the carcasses, and rei)orted that he could find no traces of semVon'iourilhme'^It". ^"^ discascd coudltiou whatcvcr, but there was an entire absence of food or any signs of nourishment in the stomach. Before Dr. Dawson left I called his attention to what Dr. Ackerly had done, but whether he saw him on the subject I can not tell. And further deponent sayeth not. Milton Barnes. Subscribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to ad- inister oaths under section 197 - - States, this 23d day of June, 1892. minister oaths under section 1976, Eevised Statutes of the United Wm. H. Williams, Treasury Agent in Charge of Seal Islands. Deposition of Karp Buterin, head chief on St. Paul Island, in charge of driving. MANAGEMENT AND HABITS. Alaska, U. S. A., St. Paul Island, Prihilof Group., ss : Karp Buterin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 39 years of age and I was born on St. Paul Isand, Alaska, and 1 have always lived here. I have a i)ractical knowledge of the fur-seal industry as it is done on St. Paul Island, for I have been working at it Experience. all of my life siucc I was able to work. I have driven seals and chibbed and skinned them; I have had charge of the drives and I have been second chief for four years, and I am head chief now, being elected in 1891. As chief it is my duty to see that the rookeries are not troubled by anyone, to teach my people to RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 103 obey the law and my young men how to drive seals to the killing grounds without iiM'nring them. I know, and all my people know, that the Government told us we must not kurcowsi *' kill cows, and we never kill them. The Company Agent says to me : " Karp, be careful that no cows are killed." I know, and we all know, if we kill cows the seals soon die out and we would not have meat to eat; and if anyone told me to kill cows I would say " ]N"o." If I or any of my i)eople knew of anyone killing a cow we would go and tell the Government officer. The Gov- ernment ofticer told as that the Government did not like to have cows killed, and that we should not kill any more pups be- ^^ cause it was wasting seals, and that the Government '"p^p^- would give us plenty of other meat instead of pup meat, and we all agree to that, and we have not killed any pups since. And all my peo- ple will do everything the Government wants them to do. If any of our men get bad and kill cows or pups or do anything bad I punish them and I bring them before the Government officer. Our priest tells us to obey the law and to do everything the Govern- ment asks us to do, and we are all pleased to do it. We all know that the food and clothes we are getting has been given us by the Govern- ment, because we are not killing any seals to earn money to buy things for ourselves, and we know it is the Government sends us plenty coal when we have no money to buy it. When we first noticed that the seals on the rookeries were not so many as they used to be we did not know what was wrong, ^ ,,,'' Ti /. ij.ij.ij.^1 Decrease, cause of. bnt by and by we found that plenty oi schooners came into the sea and shot seals, and we often found bullets and shot in seals when we were skinning them. And then we found plenty dead pups on the rookeries, more and more every year, until last year (1891) when there were so ^^^^ many the rookeries were covered with them, and when ^* ^^^^' the doctor (Akerly) opened some of them there was no milk or food in their stomachs. Then we all knew the cows had been i f j- shot when they went into the sea to feed, and the pups ^^^ "^ ^^ '°^' died because they had iiothing to eat. Plenty schooners came first about eight or nine years ago, and more and more every year since; and the seals get less and less ever since Schooners came; and my peoi)le kept saying "no cows," "no cows." First the cows get less, and then the "bachelors" get less, and the company agent he says " kill smaller seals," and we kill some whose skins weigh only 4^ pounds, instead of geSlkmedo'n isWaf 7 pounds, same as they always got. Then we could not get enough of seals, and at last we could hardly get enough for meat. Schooners kill cows, pups die, and seals are gone. Some men teU me last year " Karp, seals are sick." I know seals are not sick; I never seen a sick seal, and I eat seal meat every geSs.*''*'^*^^^ among daj^ of my life; all our people eat seal meat, white men eat seal meat, no one ever seen bad seal meat or sick seal. No big seals die unless we club them, only pups die when starved, after the cows are shot at sea. When we used to kill pups for food in November they were always full of milk; the pups that die on the „ , ,„„,.„ 1-1 Ml mi • ^ J.1 J- Females feeding. rookeries have no muk. The cows go into the sea to feed after the pups are born, and the schooner men shoot them all the time. The " HoUuschickie " (bachelors) do not go out to feed. When they 104 TESTIMONY come in May there is plenty of fish in their stomachs, ^^Bacheiors do not but after Jime there is nothing. Plenty of biiUs all the time on the rookeries, and plenty bulls have no cows. Abundance of buUs. X never sccu a 3-year-old cow without a pup in July; only 2-year-olds have no pups. All the drives are under the care of the Chief and my men never drive . . too fiist. No drive on St. Paul Island longer than 2 "vmg. miles. We never make more than two drives from the same rookery in one week. When I was a boy, before Americans came here, we used to drive from the rookeries at Northeast Point to the village killing grounds, a distance of 12 miles, and from Halfway Point a distance of 6 miles, and from Zapadnie a distance of 5 miles. After the Ameri- cans came the drive from Northeast Point was stopped at once and a salt house was built at Northeast Point and the seals have been killed there ever since within about 2 miles of the hauling grounds. In 1874 or 1875 the seals were killed within a mile of the hauling grounds at Zapadnie, and the skins have been taken ever since in boats across the bay to the village salt house. In 1879 a salt house was built at Half-way Point, and since then no seals have ever been driven on St. Paul Island more than 2 miles. No seals are injured by driving, for we drive very slow and only when the weather is cool. Once in a while one may be smothered and we skin it and count the skin along with the others. After the cows scat- ter in August they mix with the bachelors and a few will be driven when we drive seals for food, and sometimes one is killed by accident before the clubber knows it is a cow. If I knew that he killed it on jjurpose I would punish him; and if he did it again I would have him put off the island. The pups are born in June and July and they learn to swim in Sep- ' , . tember. They can not swim when they are born and Pups can not 8 wun. ., j. i i xi i j j.-i ^ j. j„ they can not help themselves, and they do not eat or Cow suckles only driuk ouly as they suck the cows. No cow will let her own pup. ,, " , , -i ±.^ • -lorw-i i j-i and the number 01 seals on them lu 1891 were less than one half of their size and number in 1886. The natives for whom I am entitled to speak, as being one of them, and receiving a share from the proceeds of the sealeries, i)rotest that .„ , . ,. the United States Government ought to have protected the rookeries against deei)-sea seal fishing, because we believe the seals rightly belong to us and should not be killed when Protection neces- they are away from their island home. We earnestly saiy- pray for the protection to which we are justly entitled. Alex. Hansson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public, RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 117 Deposition of Max Heilbronner, secretary o/Alaslca Commercial Company. SEALSKIN RECORD OF ST. PAUL ISLAND, ALASKA, 1871 TO 1889. Showing the dates, the rookeries from tvhich the seals tvere driven, avd the number lilled from each drove, except that the catch at Northeast Point, is entered weeMy, without designating the particular part of that rookenj from which the animals were driven. 1871. Oct. May 15. Reef and Tolstoy 175 Ausr. 24. 24. Reef 243 Juno 1 . Tolstoy 57m 10. Zoltoy ■ 173 10. Xortlieast Point 1, 585 12. Zoltoy 868 13. Halfway Point 811 June 14. Tolstoy 885 15. Zoltoy' and MnA' 624 16. Southwest I!a \ 2. 6 11 17. Nortlieast Poin t 3. 120 19. Zoltoy 2,912 21. Tolstoy Hill 3, 161 22. Zoltoy 480 24. Northeast Point 6, 193 24. Southwest Hay 4, .mS 26. Zoltoy ' 862 28. English Bay 3. 017 29. Zoltoy 1,112 July 1. Northeast Point 7, 000 120 TESTIMONY 1B76— Coiitiuucd. 4,495 2,Gi4 2,846 July 1. Tolstoy iiiiil Middle Tlill 4. Zoltoy and Kctovy 5. Tolstoy 7. English Bay 2, 267 8. Xorthcast I'oint 8,116 8. Liikiiiiaa 2,126 10. Zoltov 2,03'J 10. Tolstoy 1,974 21. Zoltoy 53 29. Zoltoy 1,040 2. Tolstoy 2, 139 2. Lukanan 1,538 Aug 10. Zoltoy 17. Ketovy 23. Keto^^r Sept. 1. Zoltoy 9. Ketoyy 16. Zoltoy Nov. 24. Southwest Bay. 25. Southwest Bay. Dec. 14. Tolstoy 120 129 207 163 50 9 376 127 575 Auff. 77, 900 187-7. May June 22. 4, 5. 8. 12. 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23! 23. 25. 26, 27. 28, 29, 30. May 20. 30. June 8. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 22. 24! 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Reef Reef Southwest and English Bay .".... Southwest and English Bay Reef and Zoltoy Halfway Point Southwest and English Bay Tolstoy and Lukanan . Zoltoy Zoltoy Tolstoy and Middle Hill Southwest Bay Zoltoy and Lukanan . . . Halfway Point Tolstoy and Middle Hill Northeast Point Zoltoy Halfway Point Tolstoy'and Middle Hill Zoltoy and Lukanan .. English Bay Tolstoy and Middle Hill Seal Lion Rock Southwest Bay and Tol- stoy Reef 332 546 796 1,696 446 1,092 1,647 1,506 1,092 1.011 1, 4.58 1,631 1,172 1,224 1, 050 5, 965 1, 2.50 430 2.020 1, 396 2,166 1,915 June 30, July 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 14, 27, Aug. 6, 11, 20. 30. Sept. 12, Nov. 18. 27. 29. Dec. 22. Northeast Point Zoltoy Tolstoy and Lukanan . English Bav and Middle Hill \ Ketovy and Lukanan.. Northeast Point Zoltoy^ Zoltoy Tolstoy and Middle Hill Northeast Point Zoltov Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Southwest Bay Southwest Bay Northeast Point 6,449 1, 849 1,534 2,522 2,275 5,660 1,113 495 2,086 2,172 1,066 75 142 168 176 108 52 201 1, 241 339 20 61, 584 isrs. Southwest Bay and Tol- stoy Reef Southwest and English Bays Tolstoy Ketoyy and Zoltoy Tolstoy and Middle Hill Southwest and Engli.->^ Bays Ketovy. Lukanan and Zoltoy Tolstoy and Middle Hill Southwest Bay Zoltoy and Ijukanan . . Northeast Point Halfway Point Tolstoy and Middle Hill Lukanan and Zoltoy . . Southwest and English Bays Ketovy and Zoltoy Tolstoy and Lukanan . . 205 703 857 2,407 556 1.098 '887 1,282 1, 501 2, 271 992 1,731 1.457 1,309 5, 900 1,473 1,.5.52 1,895 2, 666 1, 661 1,130 June 29. July 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 6. 8. 8. 9. 10. 10. 12. 13. 16. 17. 18. 18. 30. Aug. 10. Nov. 26. 28. Dec. 14. Northeast Point Halfway Point Zoltoy and Ketovy Lukanan Zoltov and Ketovy Tolstoy .' Zoltoy and Ketovy Northeast Point Halfway Point Lukanan and Ketovy.. Zoltov Zoltoy Northeast Point Tolstoy and Middle Hill Zoltoy Tolstoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Lukanan Zoltoy Zoltoy Reef and Tolstoy Reef and Tolstoy Northeast Point 6,375 2,237 3,903 791 2,010 2,622 1,036 7,li31 484 885 2,288 916 3,322 3, 600 2,101 1,986 2,337 1,549 272 304 294 1,128 815 183 82, 152 RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 121 ISVQ. May 20. Southwest and English June 28. Bays 278 26. Reef 525 June 2. Reef 162 7. English and Southwest Bays 1,627 9. Reef \ 431 10. Halfway Point 1, 188 11. Southwest and English Bays 1,462 12. Tolstoy 498 14. Southwest Bay and Middle Hill 997 13. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 730 16. Halfway Point 522 17. Southwest Bay and Middle Hill 1, 331 18. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 914 19. Southwest and English Bays 1,110 20. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1, 176 21. Lukanan, Ketovy, and R9ef ■ 1, 053 21. Northeast Point 7, 388 23. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 2, 300 24. Southwest and English Bays 1,822 Dec. 25. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 1,995 26. Tolstoy, Middle Hill, Aug. andZoltov 1,542 27. Halfway Point 1,940 1S80 May 14. Southwest Bay 206 22. Reef 225 29. Northeast Point 19 June 1. Reef 216 8. Southwest Bay 1, 496 9. Reef 926 11. Tolstoy and English Bay 884 12. Southwest and English Bays 762 14. Halfway Point 1, 204 15. Reef and Zoltoy 763 16. Southwest and English Bays 990 17. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy ' 703 18. Tolstoy and English Bay 1,618 19. Northeast Point 5, 277 19. English Bay and Mid- dle Hill . .' 801 21. Halfway Point 1, 459 22. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy .....' 1, 035 23. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1, 701 24. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 1,437 Aug. 25. English Bay and Middle Oct! Hill 2,.580 Nov 26. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- D: c. tow 1.062 26. Northeast Point 6, 201 28. Halfway Point 1, 514 29. Zoltoy and Lukanan . . 1, 743 28. 30. July 1. 2. i! 4. 5. 5. 7. 9. 10. 10. 14. 15. 16. 25. 29. Aug. 2. 11. 28. Nov. 13. 27. 6. 15. 26. 20. June 30. July 1. 2. 3. 3. 5. 5. 6. 7. 9. 10. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 30. 31. 19. 25. 29 8. 9. 31. Lukanan, Ketovy, and Zoltoy 1, 206 Northeast Point 7, 042 Tolstoy and Middle Hill 2, 617 English Bay 2, 148 Zoltoy and Lukanan . . 1, 885 Tolstoy and Ketovy ... 1. 932 English Bay 2, 106 Lukanan and Ketovy. . 1, 168 Northeast Point ". . . 9, 083 Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1,528 Lukanan, Ketovy, and Z(dtoy 1,920 Lukanan, Ketovy, and Zoltoy .' 983 Tolstoy 948 Northeast Point 5, .599 Zoltoy 2, 652 Zoltoy and Ketovy 1, 283 Tolstoy, Middle Hill. and Lukanan 2, 282 Zoltoy 434 Zoltoy 429 ZoltoV 237 Zoltoy 171 Zoltov 3 Reef. 70 Reef 162 Reef 845 Reef 1, 144 Northeast I'oint 62 Zoltoy 121 81. C04 Tolstoy and Middle Hill 2, 297 Tolstoy and Jliddle Hill 1, 621 English Bay 2, 373 Northeast Point 7, 167 Zoltoy, Reef, and Ke- tovy 1, 386 Halfway Point 789 Lnkanan and Ketovy.. 651 Zoltoy '. . . 1, 577 Tolstoy and Lukanan. . 1, 654 Reef, Ketovy, and Zol- tov 2,218 Middle Hill and Luka- nan 1,426 Northeast Point 7, 073 Zoltoy, Ketovy, and Lukanan 1,221 Zoltoy and Ketovy 817 Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1, 763 Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- nan ' 2,638 Middle Hill and Ketovy 1, 834 English Bay 2.461 Zoltoy 531 ZoltoV 228 ZoltoV 218 Zoltoy 3.51 English Hay 60 English BaV -l^O Reef '. 1,126 Soiithwest Bay 13 Northeast Point 125 78, 923 122 TESTIMONY 18S1. Jan. 1. Tolstov and Reef i)li> :i. Tolstoy 1:^2 May 29. Koef 171 Juiie G. Reef and Zoltoy 421 7. Enj^lish and Soutlnvest Bays 1,225 9. Roef 149 10. L'ockv Point. 474 14. Reof'anrl Zoltoy 195 15. Enfjlish and 8ontinvest Bays 2,386 16. Lukanan, Reef, and Zol- toy 723 17. TIalf'wav Point 539 18. Tolstoy and English P.ay 1, 225 2(». Z(dtoy and Lukanan. .. 1, 6M 21. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1. UU 22. Tolstoy and lOnglisli Hay 2, 058 23. Zoltoy 1,163 24. Halfway Point 638 24. English'Bay and Middle Hill 2,438 25. Middle; Hill, Lnkanan, and Zoltoy 1,275 2.5. Northeast Point 4, 196 27. English Bay and Tol- stoy 1, 252 28. Southwest and English Bays 1, 919 29. Zoltoy and Lnkanan .. 1,604 .30. Zoltoy and Lnkanan. . . 3, 000 July 1. Tolstoy, Middle Hill, andketoyy 1,134 2. Halfway Point 943 3. Northeast Point 7, 369 4. English Bay and Middle Hill 2, 285 ISS Jan. 12. Rea Lion Rock 77 Feb. 8. Sea Lion Roek 103 10. Sea Lion Rock 8 May 22. Tolstoy 134 22. Northeast Point .54 .30. R.'ef 146 June 2. Southwest Bay 400 7. Southwest Bay 847 8. Reef and Zoltoy 428 10. R(!ef and Zoltoy 488 12. Sonth west Bay 1, 196 J 3. 1 lalfway Point 217 14. Southwest l'.ay 803 14. Northeast Point 1, 393 16. Zoltoy and Halfway Point '.. 1,158 17. Sonth west Bay and Zol- toy ." 1,070 19. Lnkanan, Ketovy, and Reef 986 20. Southwest Bay 2, 010 21. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 6.52 22. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 1,157 23. Halfway Point 1, 230 24. Tolstoy and Middle Hill" 1,083 July 5. Zoltoy and Ketovy .... 1,129 6. English and Southwest Bays 3,447 7. Tolstoy and Zoltoy .... 1, 890 8. Halfway Point 1, 118 8. Northeast Point 6, 371 9. EnglishBay and Middle Hill ....' 2,630 12. Tolstoy, Zoltoy, and Lnkanan 3,073 13. English Bay and Middle Hill " 1,778 14. English Bay 1, 471 15. Tolstoy. Lnkanan. and Zoltoy 3,558 16. Lnkanan, Ketovy, and Zoltoy .' 711 16. Northeast Point 16 18. Tolstoy, Lnkanan and Zoltoy 2, 449 19. English Bay 2, 300 20. Tolstoy, Lukanan and Zoltov 2, 530 1. Zoltoy 313 5. Zoltoy 224 16. ZoltoV 247 5. Middle Hill 180 16. Middle Hill 669 17. Tolstoy 490 21. Middle Hill 461 7. Southwest Bay 1, 018 9. Reef 1.385 Aug. Nov. Dec. 82, 386 June 24. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. July 1. 1. 3. 4. .5. 6. 8. .S. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. Northeast Point 5,987 Southwest Bay 1,861 E]iglish Bay ami Mid- dle Hill..' 2,654 Reef and Zoltoy 2, 293 Middle Hill and Tol- stoy 1,791 Halfway Point 1,497 Zoltoy 1,021 Northeast Point *. 5, 830 Southwest Bay 2, 520 English Bay and Mid- dle Hill .; 2,0.37 Zoltoy and Ketovy 1, 778 Tolstoy, Mid.lle ' Hill, and Z(dtoy 1,241 English Hay and Mid- dle Hill..' 1,373 Halfway Point 1,977 Northeast Point 5,128 Zoltoy, Ketovy, and Lukanan 2, 055 Zoltov, Ketovy, and Lukanan-..-- 1,928 Son thwest Bay 2, 700 English Hay and Mid- dle Hill..' 2. .503 Northeast Point 4, 037 RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 123 1882— Continued. July 15. ZoltoT and Lnlcaunn .. 17. Ensli«l» Bav aud ^Ud- tUeHill..' 17. Northeast Point 18. Zoltoy 19. Zoltoy, Ketovy, and Lnkauau 1,276 20. Southwest Bay 724 25. Zoltoy 204 1,046 1 Aug-. 719 874 923 Nov. Dec. 4. Zoltoy . 14. Zoltov . 17. Tolstoy Hill . 30. Tolstoy 6. Reef . '. . 12. Keef . . . 1883. Jan. 1. Northeast Point May 20. Southwest Bay June 4. Tolstoy aud Southwest Bay 6. Halfway Point 9. Reef and Zoltoy 11. Southwest Bay 11. Tolstoy and Middle Hill 12. Reef and Zoltoy 13. Halfway Point 14. Southwest Bay 15. Tolstoy and Lukauan. . 16. Reef and Zoltoy 18. Southwest Bay 19. Tolstoy, Middle Hill, and En,iflish Bay 20. Halfway Point aud Luk- anan 21. Reef aud Zoltoy 22. Middle Hill and Eng- lish Bay 23. Northeast Point 23. Tolstoy andLukanan.. 25. English Bay aud Middle Hill 26. Zoltoy and Lukauan .. 27. Southwest and English Bays 28. Tolstoy, Lukauan, and Zoltoy 29. Middle Hill and Zoltoy 30. Lukanan and Zoltoy .. 30. Northeast Point July 2. HalfAvay Point 3. Southwest Bay 19 227 590 352 175 209 196 351 252 490 434 341 417 734 904 955 1, 401 3,279 1,078 1,428 838 1,638 1,607 1, 515 1,191 5, 012 1, 699 2,151 and Middle 251 103 161 803 865 398 77, 798 July 4. 5. 6. 7. 9. 9. 10. 12, 14. 16. 17 18 19 19 4ug. 1. 10. 20. Sept. 1. 12 Nov. 5. 26 27 Dec. 12 19 Middle Hill and Tolstoy Reef, Zoltoy aud Luka- nan Middle Hill and Zoltoy Zoltoy and Lukauan .. Northeast Point Middle Hill Middle Hill, Tolstoy, and Zoltoy Lukanan and Halfway Point '. Southwest Bay Middle H ill au'd Tolstoy Middle Hill aud Eng- lish Bay Halfway Point aud Zol- toy Southwest Bay Middle Hill, Lukauan and Zoltov Middle Hill, Lul;auan and Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Zoltoy Reef Reef Tolstoy Reef Keef 1,494 2,346 1, 755 935 5, 066 1,161 1,923 1, 657 2. 440 2, 126 2, 059 1, 115 1,873 1,782 101 190 154 197 112 53 174 155 84 402 421 59, 258 Jan 2. Reef May 21. Halfway Point and Keef 27. Southwest Bay and Reef June 3. Keef 5. Southwest Bay and Tolstoy 9. Halfway Point aud Reef" 10. English Bay 11. Southwest Bay and Halfway Point 12. Middle Hill and Zoltoy 13. Reef and Zoltoy 14. Tolstov and Halfway Point 16. Southwest Hay 17. English Bay aud Reef. 1884- 161 187 427 317 767 1,238 426 I, ,356 8()4 771 837 1,!21 1,266 June 18. Halfway Point and Ketovy 912 19. English Bay and Tol- stov .186 20. Southwest Bay 1, 7S() 21. Zoltoy aud Reef 1, 115 21. Northeast Point 4,074 23. Halfway Point and Zoltoy 2,163 24. Lukanan Reef and Zol- toy 1,724 25. Southwest Bay 1, 19 1 26. English I'.ay and Mid- dle Hill . .'. 2, 528 27. Zoltoy, Reef, and Ke- tovy 1, 827 28. Tolstoy, Middle Hill, and Lukanan 1,500 28. Noi'theast Point 5, 134 124 TESTIMONY 1884 — Continued. 17. 18. 18. 19. 21, Aug. 1. 5, 12, 19. 26, Oct. 30, Nov. 10. 24, Dec. 5 24. Juue 30. Halfway Point and July 15, Zoltoy 1,662 16, .July 1. Tolstoy, Zoltoy, and Lukauau 1,824 2. English r.ay and Mid- dle Hill 1,884 3. Southwest Bay and Zoltoy 1,336 4. Middle Hill, Tolstoy, and Lukanan 1, 512 5. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 1,249 5. Northeast Point 5, 799 7. Halfway Point 1, 934 8. Eeef, Zoltoy, and Ke- toyy 2,067 9. Sou th west Bay 1, 966 9. Northeast Point 3, 003 10. English Bay and Mid- dle Hill 1,915 12. Middle Hill, Lnkanan, and Zoltoy 3,072 14. Halfway Point and Zoltoy 2, 515 1885. May 19. Sea Lion Eock 127 I July 21. Sea Lion Kock 41 27. Zoltoy 136 June 3. Keef " 48 6. Reef 73 11. Reef and Zoltoy 125 13. Middle Hill andTolstoy 587 15. Halfway Point 741 16. Reef and Lukanan 971 17. Southwest Bay 1, 700 18. English Bay and Mid- dle Hill 617 19. Halfway Point and Lukanan 1, .307 20. Reef and Zoltoy 986 22. Zoltoy and Ijukanan .. 789 23. Halfway Point and Zol- toy 1,142 24. SonthAvest and English bays 1, 733 25. Lukanan, Reef, and Zoltoy L679 26. Halfway Point 1, 372 27. Lukanan, Zoltoy, and Reef.. ". 1,328 27. Northeast Point 4, 970 29. Southwest Bay 1, 002 30. English Bay aiid Middle Hill 2,681 July 1. Zoltoy and Lukanan .. 1,782 2. Middle Hill and English Bay 1,456 3. Halfway Point and Zol- toy /. 2,1.32 A. Lukanan and Zoltoy .. 976 4. Northeast Point 4, 152 6. Southwest Bay 1 , 271 7. English Bay and Middle iim 2,603 Southwest Bay 2, 049 English Bay and Mid- dle Hill 1,523 Lukanan and Zoltoj'.. 1,777 English Bay and Mid- dle Hill 1,866 Northeast Point .5, 089 Middle Hill, Lukanan, and Zoltoy 2,527 English Bay, Zoltoy, andKetovy 1,907 Zoltoy 229 Zoltoy 89 Zoltoy 65 Zoltoy 84 Zoltoy 57 Zoltoy 53 Tolstoy 115 ToLstoy 108 Zoltoy 487 Reef: 489 8. 9. 10. 10. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 18. 20. 21. 22. 23. 23. 24. 25. 27. Aug. 3. 12. 21. Sept. 5. Oct. 26. Nov. 9. 21, Dec. 4, 17, 84, 733 Lukanan and Ketovy . . 2, 548 Middle Hill 1,292 Halfway Point 2, 302 Northeast Point 3, 916 Southwest Bay 2, 132 English Bay and Middle HiU 2,692 Zoltoy 2,138 Halfway Point aiul Lukanan 2, 137 Zoltoy 2,201 Reef and iliddle Hill . . 1, 552 Nortlieast Point 4, 160 South west Bay 1,-590 Middle Hill and English Bay 2,720 Zoltoy, Reef, and Luka- nan 2, 739 Zoltoy and Middle Hill 1, 603 Northeast Point 2, 620 Halfway Point and Middle Hill 2, 495 Middle Hill, Lukanan, and Zoltoy 2,212 Zoltoy and Ketovy 983 Zoltoy 147 Zoltoy 178 Zoltoy 176 Zoltoy 44 Zoltoy 53 English Bay and MidiHo Hill ....: 330 Reef 144 Reef 383 Reef 701 85, 395 RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 125 1886. Jan. 21. Sea Liou Kock 83 29. Southwest Bay 49 May 17. Southwest I3ay and Eeef 300 28. Reef 153 June 4. Reef 561 8. Southwest ISay and Tolstov 1,323 9. Halfway Toiut 299 10. Reef and Zoltoy 633 11. Tolstoy 214 14. Lnlcanan and Reef 427 15. Southwest Bay 1, 166 16. English Bay and Tol- stoy 850 17. Halfway Point 833 18. Reef and Zoltov 651 19. Tolstoy and " Middle HilL 1,064 19. Northeast Point 4, 655 21. SoTithwest Bay 1, 890 22. English Bay and Tol- stoy ' 1, 006 23. Halfway Point 1, 770 24. Zoltoy 1, 555 25. Reef, English Bay, and Tolstoy ": 2, 1.58 26. Northeast Point 4, 295 28. Southwest Bay 1, 070 29. English Bay and Zol- toy 1,503 30. Halfway Point and Luka'nan 490 July 1. English Bay and Tol- stoy \ 1,318 2. Southwest Bay 856 3. Reef and Zoltoy 1,259 3. Northeast Point 4, 544 5. English Bay and Tol- stoy 1, 161 6. Halfway Point 942 July 7. 8. 9. 10. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 19. 19. 20. 21. 90 24. 26. Aug. 3. 19. Sept. 6. Oct. 24. Nov. 23. Dec. 1. 21. Reef, Zoltoy, and Lu- kanan ..." 1,967 Southwest Bay 1,466 English Bay and Mid- dle Hill..'. 1,.562 Reef, Zoltoy, and Lu- kauau 1.1.32 Northeast Point 4! 822 Halfway Point 1, 044 Southwest Bay ;nul West Point...' 1,442 English Bay and ]\iid- dle Hill 1, 074 Reef, Zoltoy, and Lu- kanan 1, 956 Halfway Point 937 Southwest Bay and West Point . . .' 2, 055 Northeast Point 4, 422 Reef and Zoltoy 2, 312 English Bay and Mid- dle Hill..' .3,140 Halfway Point 1,475 Southwest Bay and West Point ..\ 2,015 Reef, Zoltoy, and Lu- kanan 3, 147 English Bay and I\Iid- (i'le Hill 1,624 Northeast Point 4, 186 Southwest Bay and Hal fway Poin't 1, 988 Zoltoy 287 Zoltoy 282 Zoltoy 100 Reef.' 143 Reef and Tolstoy 665 Reef " 378 Tolstoy 191 84, 890 1887. May 25. Eeef and Southwest Bay 275 June O.Tolstoy 419 9. Reef 314 11. Tolstoy .501 13. Southwest Bay 407 15. Reef and Zoltoy .526 16. Halfway Point 750 17. Tolstoy and English Bay ! 765 20. Southwest Bay 523 20. Reef and Zoltoy 1, 641 22. English Bay and Luka- nan 1, 004 23. Halfway Point 1, 314 24. Reef and Zoltoy 1, 165 25. Northeast Poin't 4, 891 25. English Bay and Tol- stoy 1,961 27. Southwest Bay and West Point...' 1,180 28. Zoltoy and Lukanan . . 2, 964 29. Tolstoy and Midlle Hill 1, 895 June 30. Halfway Point 1. 604 July 1. English Bay 1, 1(12 Northeast Point 6. 068 Reef and Zoltoy 1, 616 Tolstoy and Middle Hill 1, 703 Reef, Zoltoy, and h\\- kanan....' 2,016 Halfway Point 990 English Bay and Tol- stoy .' 1,618 Reef and Zoltoy 1, 125 Northeast Point 5,717 Southwest Bay 2, 061 English Bay and Lu- kanan ...' 2,593 Reef, Zoltoy, and Kc- tovy 3, 028 Halfway Point 1, 201 Tolstoy and Keloyy ... 1,298 Reef and Zoltoy 986 Northeast Point 6, 324 West Point 617 Southwest Bay 2, 105 1. 2. 2.' 4. 9. 9. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 16. 17. 18. 126 TESTIMONY 18 Sr— Continued. July 19. English Bay and Tol- stoy 2,037 20. Zoltoy and Liikanan ... 3, 294 21. Halfway Point and La- goon 1,397 22. English Bay and Tol- stoy 1,87G 22. Northeast Point 5, 565 23. Zoltov and Southwest Bay 2,226 24. Middle Hill 232 Aug. 1. Zoltov 164 8. Zoltoy 113 18S8 Jan. 25. Northeast Point 532 May 19. Tolstoy and Sea Lion Kock 122 24. Reef 113 28. Reef 82 31. Zoltoy 290 June 2. Reef 121 7. Reef and Zoltoy 175 9. Tolstoy ' 342 11. Southwest and English Bavs 927 11. Northeast Point 121 12. English Bay 584 15. Halfway Poiut 428 16. Reef and Zoltoy 788 18. Southwest Bay 764 19. English Bay 'and Tol- stoy 490 21. Reef and Zoltoy 1, 398 22. Halfway Point 799 23. Northeast Poiut 5, 562 23. English Bay and Mid- dle Hill 700 25. Southwest Bay 1, 440 26. Enulish Bay and Mid- dle Hill 1,158 27. Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- nau ' 2,005 28. Hallway I'oint 911 29. South west Bay 1, 098 30. Ncutheast Poiut 5, 998 30. English Bay and Mid- dle; Hill 1,625 July 2. Reef, Zoltoy, aud Luka- nau ' 2,071 3. Halfway Poiut 1, 188 4. Southwest Bay 822 5. English Bay aud Luka- uau 1,942 6. Reef and Zoltoy 1, 491 7. Hallway I'oint 490 7. Xorthcasf Point 7,054 9. English I'ay aiul Luka- liau I 2,398 1889. May 22. Sea Lion Rock 124 25. Reef 41 28. Reef 234 J uno 5, Reef 201 Aug. 16. Reef aud Lukanan 207 24. English Bay 519 Sept. 5. Middle Hill 403 15. Zoltoy 106 Nov. 6. Zoltov 65 7. MiddieHill 590 2.5. Heef 78 26. Tolstoy aud Middle Hill 185 Dec. 9. Tolstoy aud Middle Hill 445 15. Sea Lion Rock and Southwest Bay 167 85, 996 July 10. Reef aud Zoltoy 1, 082 12. English Bay aud Luka- nan 1, 554 13. Southwest Bay 1, 337 14. Northeast Poiut 5,088 14. Halfway Poiu t 773 15. West ''oiut 480 16. Reef and Zoltov 2, 004 17. English Bay 2, 054 18. Southwest Bay 2, 216 19. Halfway Point aud Lukauan 1, 410 20. Zoltoy aud Reef 2, 018 21. Nortlieast Point 5, 463 21. English Bay aud La- g-oon 1, 347 23. Reef, Zoltoy, aud Luka- uan ■■ 1, 269 24. Halfway Point 347 25. English Bay 1, 619 26. Northeast Poiut 3, 565 26. Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- uan 1, 353 27. Southwest Bay and Zol- toy 950 2. Zoltov 177 8. Zoltoy 140 16. Zoltoy 159 23. Middle Hill aud Luka- uan 362 25. Zoltoy 321 6. Zoltoy 44 15. Zoltoy 14 27. Middle Hill 32 3. Middle Hill and Zoltov 126 15. Zoltoy ". 277 26. Zoltov Ill 30. Reef 127 17. Tolstoy 190 26. Sea Lion Rock 78 Aug. Sept, Oct. Nov. Dec. 84, 116 June 10. Reef 120 12. Tolstoy 94" 14. Reef aud Zoltoy 764 15. Southwest Bay 340 RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 127 188 G— Continued. J ime 17. Halfway Point 18. Euglish Bay ami Middle Hill 19. Zoltoy, Reef, and Luka- uau 20. Southwest Bay 21. Northeast Point 22. English Bay and Middle Hill 24. Eeef and Zoltoy 25. Halfway Point and Lukanan 26. English Bay and Middle HilL....' --.. 27. Southwest Bay 28. Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 29. Northeast Point 29. English Bay and Middle Hill July 1. Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- nan 2. Halfway Point 3. English Bavand Middle Hill " 4. Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- nan 5. Southwest Bay 6. English Bay and Middle Hill 6. Northeast Point 8. Reef, Zoltoy, and Luka- nan 9. English Bay and Middle Hill 10. Halfway Point 12. Reef and Zoltoy 13. Southwest Bay 13. Northeast Point Jan. 27. Sea Lion Rock 1,229 1,160 « 1,561 253 4, 156 1, 355 2,578 979 1,314 311 1,349 4,2(30 1,038 1,023 834 1,841 1,716 1,255 1, 302 5, 627 813 1,314 932 2, 004 1,006 3,148 July 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 20. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 27. 29. 30. 31. 31. Aug. 6. 14. 22. 31. Oct. 26. 4. 19. 21. Nov, 30. Dec. 11. English Bay and Middle HUl 3,083 Zoltoy, Reef and Lu- kanan 1,911 Halfway Point 1,931 English Bay, Middle liill, and Lagoon 2, 045 Southwest Bay 2, 016 Zoltoy and Reef 1, 913 Northeast Point 6, .301 English Bay and Middle Hill 1,943 Reef, Zoltoy, and Ke- tovy 1, 122 Halfway Point 1, 334 English Bay and Middle Hill.....* 1,752 Southwest Bay 679 Reef and Lukanan 1, 105 Northeast Point 3, 140 English Bay and Middle Hill 1,610 Halfway Point and Southwest liay 1, 588 Northeast Point 2, 162 Zoltoy *156 Lukanan *163 Zoltoy *181 Zoltoy '139 Zoltoy *87 Lukanan *44 Zoltoy *80 Tolstoy *223 Reef *347 Reef ^189 Reef *246 Zapadnie *240 84, 937 1S90. *170 I May 21. Sea Lion Rock asi Recapitulation of seals killed for their sJcins on St. Paul Island, Alaska, from 1S71 to 1SS9, inclusive. 1871 77, 620 1872 75, 352 1873 75,437 1874 92, 221 1875 90,036 1876 77,900 1877 61.584 1878 82,1.52 1879 81,004 1880 78, 923 1881 82,386 : 1882 77,798 i 1883 59,258 \ 1884 84,733 ! 1885 85,395 I 1886 81,890 1887 85, 996 1888 84,116 1889 81,937 I, Max HeilbroDiier, Secretary of the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco, solemnly swear that the foregoing " seal skin record of St. Paul Island, Alaska, 1871 to 1SS9," is forninlated and compiled from the books of said company kept on said island, now in jiiy cus- tody, and is correct and true, according- to my best knowledge and belief. Max Heilbronner, Secretary Alaska Commercial Company. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of May, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. * Killed for food. The seals killed for food from July 31, 1889, to May 21, 1890, inclu:nye, du not appear in the records of the Alaska Coinmercial Company, Vut are couipiled from the official report of the Treasury agent in charge. — M. H, 128 te.stimo:ny Deposition of Aggie Kushin, assistant priest on 8t. Paul Island, and em- ploye of lessees. MANAGEMENT, HABITS Alaska, U. S. A., iSt. Paul Island^ Pribilof Group, ss: Aggie Kusliin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Simsboe, Knrile Islands, and am o7 years of age. I i-xpenence. came to St. Panl Isbmd in 18G7 and liave resided bere ever since. I can read and write in tbe Russian and Aleut languages, and am able to interpret tbe one into tbe otber ; and I understand tbe Engiisb language fairly well. At present and for several years past I am assistant priest in tbe Greek Catbolic Oburcb. My occupation on tlie island is tbat of native sealer, and 1 have beeu such since 1870. I have a tborougb knowledge of the taking of fur i8^o"tii884^"^'^™°' seals for skins in^ all its details as it has been done on St. Paul Island since 1870. From 1870 to about 1884 tbe seal rookeries were always filled out to their limits, and sometimes beyond them. About 1885 a decrease was observed, and that decrease has become ^ . ,o„c more marked every year from 1885 to tbe present time. Docreaso since 1885. -^ t i i r- -i or. j i j. 1 never saw many sealing schooners before 1884, but they ba\e been coming more and more every year since, and I notice that as tbe schooners multiply in the sea tbe seals decrease on the rookeries. I do not mean to say that tbe seals were injured because a few were killed on tbe rookeries, when men from schooners landed on the islands in the uiglit or when tbe fog was very thick, for the num- bers killed in that way never amounted to much, as it is not often the raiders can land on a rookery and es- cape with their i)lunder. When, in 1880, we all saw the decrease of seals upon tbe hauling grounds and rookeries, we asked each other what was tbe cause of it, but when we learned that white men were shooting seals in the w^ater with guns we knew what was the matter; we knew that if they killed seals in the water that they must be nearly all females tbat were going out to feed, for tbe males stay on tbe islands until tluiy get ready to go away in the fall or winter. It was among tbe cows we first noticed the decrease, and as we never isiamis. """^ ^"^"'^ ''" kill the cows on tbe islands, we knew they must be killing them in the water, Y/e noticed idle vigorous bulls ou the breeding rookeries, because of the scarcity of cows, and I have noticed that tlie cows have decreased steadily every year since 1886, but more particularly so in 1888, 188!), 1890, and 1891. There was a great number of dead pups upon the rookeries last year, ^^^^^ ^^ whose; mothers, I believe, were killed at sea by sealing (at pups. schooners and I do not expect to see many cows this year. I never saw a dead grown seal on the island during my t^Yenty- five years' residence here, except odd ones that had been killed in fighting for places on tbe rookeries. I never heard any of tlic old men who have lived here for fifty years before mv time speak of such a thing as sickness or eaJe^n'moug seals.'"''" ^eath amoiig tlic scals. We eat tbe flesh of tbe seal and it constitutes tbe meat supply of the natives, and seals from two to five years old have be(Mi killed by them for food every week during their stay on tlie bind ever since the islands were peopled, and no one has yet found a diseased seal either young or old. RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND 129 I have been told that there are persons who claim Ave are not careful in driving seals and that we kill them regardless of sex. ^^.^. These statements are not true. I have taken my turn ' "^"'s- at driving seals from the hauling to the killing grounds every year since 1870 and I know the driving is very carefully done. When I first came here seals used to be driven from Half way Point to the vilhige, a distance of about six miles ; and from Zapadiiie to the village a distance of nearly five miles. V/et, or very • i. 1 T 1 -ii- Improved mi thods. Within two miles ot Hallway Point; and madeakilhng ground within a mile of Zupadnie. Since these changes were made no seals have been driven on St. Paul Island over two miles to a killing ground. The seals are never driven at a greater speed than one mile in three hours; and the men who do the driving have to relieve each other on the road because they travel so slowly they get very cold. In a very large drive a small seal may be smothered, but that does not injure the skin, which is taken and salted and counted to the lessees; and the greatest number I ever saw die i^g^'''^'' '''""^ "' '^"''' on the drive was twenty out of a drive of about nine thousand seals, and the twenty skins were good and were accepted as " first-class." The bull seal arrives at the island ArnvUofbuiLs early in May, and takes his place on the breeding rookery, and he stays there until August or September without food. About the middle of May the young males begin to haul j,j^^.,,^,]„j.g out but are driven off by tlie bulls a\ ho would tear them to pieces if they went on the breeding rookeries. Consequently the bachelors haul out by themselves and are easdy surrounded and driven into the killing ground without disturbing the breeding rookery. The cows begin to haul put in June and take their places on the breeding rookeries beside the bulls, where the young- pups are born, iu from one to three days after the ar- rival of the cows. When the cow goes into the sea for food her stay there becomes longer and longer as the season advances, until at times she , ,. ,. • 1, , J' J.1 !• 1 ^ J.' Females leeaiiis:. Avill be aAvay lor three or tour days at a time. The pups when first born can not swim, and will T ■j.-ii J. • i i Pnps can not swim. drown it they are put into water. I have seen many pups drowned when washed off the edge of the rookery by the surf. They do not go into the water ,.,,,■' . • 1 J. I 1 1 1 j-i i-i -n Learning to swim. until they are six or eight weeks old and tlien they will keep in shallow water and (dose to the shore for several days more. They seem to like to stay on land until late in the season. Every native knows a female seal at sight, and, as the law against killing a female is strict and so rigidly enforced, and as the {•lubbers are the most experienced and most careful ehTi'.bcdf"^ **" "''^'''' "' men on the island, it is very seldom that any femahi seal is clubbed. Our people have great respect for law and are always leady to obey any rules laid down by the i)roper authority, and they 2716— VOL. II 9 130 TESTIMONY Lave been raised in the firm belief that it is wrong- to kill a cow seal. No one knows better than the natives that onr inos])erity is in the pro- tection of the seals. They are our food sui>i»ly, and our earnings from taking the skins enable us to live comlortably. tSliould the Company desire us to kill female seals, every native in the village wonld be inter- ested in having the Govoniineut officer know it. The instructions we have always received from the Comj)auy was to be careful in driving and to never kill a female seal. During the month of August the families break up and the seals scatter around, and some of the cows mingle with the yonng males and are driven along with them when we make a dri\'e for food, and some- times one or two are killed accidentally. It is so seldom that this oc- curs, 1 do not think that there has been more than about ten cows per year killed on St. Paul Island since 1870. The skins taken from seals killed for food are salted and counted to the lessees on the quota of the following year, so that nothing may be wasted. When we were allowed to kill pups in November for food and clothing, we always picked out the males, because we Mere not allowed to kill female pups, and now we are not allowed to kill any pups at all. . When the seals leave the island they go to the south- igra 'on- ward, and when they come back in the spring they come from that tllrection. The bulls begin to leave the island about the middle of August, and most of them are gone by the middle of September. The cows and bachelors leave in November and the ])ups follow or go Avitli the cows. When the weather is good a number of seals will cling to the beach or remain in the water around the rookeries until December and sometiuies until late in January. I have noticed more and more dead pui)S on the rookeries every year pups- since 1888, and in 1891 they were so close together in places I could not step among them without ste])])ing on a dead jni]). I saw many of them cut open arid examined by the doctor (Dr. Ack- erly) and their stomachs were empty. All of the dead pui)s were poor and thin and starved. I believe they all died of starvation, because their mothers had been shot at.sea'when they went out to ieed. 1 never saw a full t;it i)up or one who had a mother to feed him dead, except a few V?h nill^rn*^^'" that were drowned in the surf. No cow will suckle anv pup but her own, and 1 have often watched a cow driv- ing pups from her until she found her own. She knows her i)up by smelling it. There are not one-fourth as many seals now as there ecrease. were iu 1882, and our peo})le are very much alarmed to know what is to become of them after the s?als are killed oft'. If the seals decrease as fast as they have during the past Effect ou natives. ^ • ,, -ii i i i-j • i ^ five or SIX years there will be none left in a very short time for us to live upon, Aggej Kushen. Subscribed and sworn to l)efore me, an officer enii)owered to adminis- ter oaths, under section 1!)7(>, Eevised Statutes of the United States, on this the 6th day of June, 1892, at St. I'aul Island, Alaska. W"m. H. Williams, Treasury agent in charge of seal islands. RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 131 Deposition of Jacob Kotchoofcn, native sealer on St. Paul Island. HABITS — PELAGIC SEALING — MANAGEIMENT, Alaska, U, S. A., jSt. Paid Island., Prihilof Group, ss: Jacob Kotcliooten, bein^ duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a na- tive of St. Paul Island, Alaska, and I am -10 years of age. I am a native sealer, and have worked among seals on St. Paul . Island all my life, and I remember when I was first ^pany made a killing ground within a mile of the rookery, and had the skins taken across the bay in boats to the village salt house. For the past thirteen years no seals have l)een driven a greater dis- tance than about U miles, and most of the drives are not over 1 mile. The drives are always made by our own peoi^le, under ^ . J- -I- / JJnvGs 111 1(1 1* l(v 111 the direction of the chiefs. None of our peo])le ever tives. ' ' ' ' knew of any sickness among the seals and pups, and ^'o sickuess amoug their tlesh has always been our meat food. *'^® ^^^^''' But very few dead pups were ever seen on the rookeries until the seal- ing schooners began to ccmie in the water around the ^ , . i*^ , T , , , . 1 1 . Dead pups. island, and they iiave increased more and more since 1888. In 1801 there was a great many that were thin aud poor, and they would crawl down to the water and make a noise for their m(»th- ers until they died, and when some of them were cut open they had no milk in their stomachs. When the cows first come to the islands they go on the breedin* rookeries and remain tliere through -Tunc and July, (3xcepting while they go out to sea to fV'cd, and this is ,„.'I,?^^'*'* "' ^^^ ^"' why very few cows are ever found in the driv(;s made in those two months while we are killing for skins. In August tlie fam- ilies are broken up on the rookeries and the cows scatter and mix up with the young males, and when we drive for food there are a few cows in every drive, but as it is unlawful to ^'", '•""'i^'* billed 1 -n 1 j_i • 1 I /> 1 1 "" islands. kill a cow seal on the islands we are careful that none is killed. Our people are very careful about that, and if one is killed by acci- dent they do not like it, and the chiefs report us to the Goxernmeiit officer. The most of the bulls leave the island in Sep- tember, and the cows in the last of October, and early '^'* ""^' in November, aud the pups leave in November; sometimes when the 132 TESTIMONY weather is warm ai few seals remain until January at Northeast Point and on " Sea Lion llock." In 1800 we killed seals at both places late in January, and we seen seals on Sea Lion Ifock in flaiiuary, LS02, J have noticed that the seals go off south as soon as the beach becomes icy, and when the is. ,^ , ,,. , , land is surrounded by drift ice the seals disa])i)ear BPnis so. entn'ely. 1 do not know where the seals go to when r.mk'r"'arh"year!'"" ^hey leave the island, but I do think they come back to the same rookery every year. Ten or twelve years ago the rookeries and sea were full of seals, but now there is not a great many; we used to kill S5,0(K) lea cecrease. .^ j^^^ than two uioutli's time ou St. Paul Island, and our peojde earned plenty of money to buy everything they wanted, and in the Avinter we killed 2,000 or 3,000 male pups for food and ck)thing. Now we are not allowed to kill any more pups, and oidy 7,500 male seals lor food, and our i^eople are very much worried to know what is to become of themselves and children. Jacob Kotchooten. S!il)scribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to adminis- ter oaths under section 1070, Revised Statutes of the United States, this bth day of June, 1802, at St. Paul Island, Alaska. Wm. H. WiLLTAMS, Treasury agent in charge of seal islands. Deposition of Wicoli Krnlcoff, native employe of lessees, on St. Paul Island PELAGIC SEALING, HABITS, AND MANAGEMENT. Alaska, U. S. A., 8t Paid Island, Frihilof Group, ss : Nicoli Krukoff, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 43 years of age and was born at Sitka, Alaska, I can read and speak the liussian, Aleut, and English languages. I came to St. Paul Island in 18G0, and have been here ever since, constantly employed among the . fur seals, and I have had daily experience in all the -xiiciKiice. branches of the business, from driving the seals to pre- jiaring the skins for shiiuneut, and I am at present the second chief on St. Paul Island, to which positicm I was appointed in 1801. I remem- ber the iirst time I noticed a decrease of seals on the rookeries, about seven or eight years ago, and the seals have become Decrease begau fewer everv year siuce. We used to kill 85,000 seals seven or eight years oi. i-» S r i i • i j.i • j. i i i- i-i ago. on St. Paul Island in less than sixty days time until 1800, when they became so few we could not take imu'e than about one-fourth of that number in the same length of time. I never saw but a few dead pups on the rookeries until the schooners came into the sea and shot the cows when they went eac pups. ^^^ ^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^^^ ^j^^ dead ])ups began to in- crease on the rookeries. I tiKve often cut open dead pups and examined their stomachs, and fs and we get other meat instead. All our people know the puplj"'''''''''" *" '''" seals are getting scarcer every year and we think it is because of the schooners coming in and shooting the .^ cows m the sea. Sometimes they try to land on the rookeries, but we drive them off with guns and they . never get many seals that way. We earn very little wages now, and we expect the Government to keep us in food and clothing. Unless the schooners are stoi)ped „if,'|am.ef '^'"'^^^^'' the seals will all be gone soon and then I do not know what my ix'Ojde can do for a living; they know nothing of other work and there is nothing else at the seal islands. NiCOLI Krukoff. 134 TESTIMONY Subscribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to admin- ister oatlis under section lOTO, IJevised Statutes of the United States, this 8tli day of June, 18012, at St. Paul Island, Alaska. Wm. H. Williams, Treasury Agent in Charge of Seal Islands. Deposition of II. W. Mclntijre, chief mcchanie and resident agent of lessees, on St. Paul Island. management. State of Califoenia, County of Tehama, ss : H. W. Mclntyre, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : I am an American citizen, a native of the State of Vermont; my age is 57 years; I am a resident of Vina, Teliama County, California, and by oc- cuj)ation General Manager of Senator Leland Stanford's Vina ranch and Palo Alto Vineyard. In the year 1871 I entered the service of the Alaska Commercial Company, and was assigned to dnty at the Pribilof group of islands in Bering Sea, tirst in the capacity of chief ]nechanic and later as resident Agent in charge of the island of St. Panl. I left San Francisco for Alaska early in April of 1871, and arrived at St. Paul Island abont the beginning of May the same xpenence. year, on wliich island I resided continnously nntil the close of the sealing season of the year 1881, leavingtliere in the month of Angust, except that I Avas absent on leave during a portion of the winter season in 1&j74, 1877, and 1880. During theperiod of my residence I visited the islands of St. (xcorge, Uualaska, and other principal sta- tions of the Alaska Commercial Company in Bering Sea and the N"orth Pacific, and obtained through observation and from information very accnrate knowledge of the fur seals andtheir habits while npon or near the islands which constitute their breeding place. Under personal instruction from the late Senator John F. Miller, then president of the Alaska Commercial Company, I st^'i^lurisiau*!"'" "* commenced shortly after my arrival upon the Island a series of observations in order to determine as nearly as i)racticab]e the area of ground occupied by the seals, and incident- ally their number, approxinmtely, during the season of 1871 for the purpose of noting the changes wliich might occur from year to year. To this end, in the year 1871, I carefully noted the i)osition of the seals on breeding rookeries and u])on the several liauling grounds where old, y(uing, and middle-aged seals were congregated, and by definitely markingthe points reached was enabled, after the animals had migrated in the autumn, to carry forward a survey of the Island as a whole, and on the plat or nia]> resulting from said survey was designated accurately the ground occupied l)y the seals. Tlui work of survey was carried on as rapidly as possible, and I was enabled frcmi the observations so made to make a chart or map having upon it bearings and distances, the Avhole of which were verified by Lieut. Washburn Ma^nard, of the (T. S. IS'avy, slight differences in our measurements and observations oidy l)eing noted. Owing to the fact that President Miller took occasion to impress upon me thenecessity of exercising the greatest care in complying strictly with RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 135 all the reqnircments of the lease, aiidtliat csireful attention to the pres- ervation of the seal life should under all circumstances be regarded as of lirst importance, and to this end the most careful study of the habits of the animals should be made at the outset, and continued from year to year in order to determine what effect the killing of a definite number might have uiion the seals as to increase or diminution — I took more than ordinary care in noting the area of ground occupied each year by the different classes of seals, and it was evident that „, , , . ■■■ -..-.r^-. 1 -.,-,.,-. • 1 • ^1 Steady increase during the years lb <1 to Ibbl inclusive there was a from i87i to issi. steady increase in seals of all kinds. As my observations extended over a period of time sufficient for the growth and full development of individuals I was enabled to determine with a greater degree of accuracy the ettect of the operations of the Com- pany generally, as well as to follow specitically to result, various mat- ters of detail, all of which were based upon the ex])erience and methods of the Kussian American Company as practically known to Captain Nie- banm. General Manager of the business of the Lessees, and to the Chiefs and other j)ermanent residents of the Islands. Grounds occupied by the seals as "breeding rookeries" or "hauling grounds" are filled with a degree of uniformity each year; hence the area occupied is a very sure criterion in estimating- numbers, whether of "bulls," or females with their young, or young males, or of mixed young (yearlings) of both sexes, and the fact of there being a constant increase as above mentioned was fully established by the constant en- largement, year after year, of the space so filled. The fur seals of Alaska are bred and born on the Islands of thePribi- lof groui) in Bering Sea, where they find combined the PribHof islands tiio conditions requisite to their existence, of isolation, home of the Ahiskau climate, and proximity to food supi)ly. ^^^^' Tiie seals are polygamous in their habits as to breeding, and each full grown and vigorous male animal endeavors to gather around himself the largest possible number of females, and to appropriate and hold by force the space necessary for them and their young. Accordingly, when the males return to the Islands, beginning in May of each year ^^^^^ ^^'^ poiyga- (in favorable seasons some may be seen in April), the most desirable locations on the breeding grounds are appropriated by the strongest and most vigorous males, while the weaker or half grown, or young, are forced to take places more remote from well defined cen- , ters of popuhition. In June the females driven by the nearai)proacli of maternity arrive, and on landing are forced by the nearest male to remain near himself as long as possible, but as the space he can reiTis™'^*'"" "^ ''* hold is limited and soon filled, his neighbors attempt to steal from his harem, which gives rise to fierce contests, in which, not in- frequently, the female is the victim and is maimed or killed, and the young (pups), perhaps just born, are trani])led and crushed ; hence it is evident thatasui)erabundanceof males on thebreeding grounds .. , , . IS not desirable, ana it is also evident that an intelligent m a i es on bm-ding and carefully applied system of killing males only must gr'>"n''sn<>tn was a source of gratification in all respects, and especially as in full evidence 136 TESTIMONY tliat tlie business was couducled ou correct principles. Of tliis I am fully convinced, and were I to have occasion to assume control of the seal interest (outside destruction being prevented), 1 Judicious manage- ghould uiost assurcdlv follow tbc precedent established ment by lessees. , ,_ .,, y, -t^i t- , o, by the Alaska Commercial Company during the nrst ten years of its lease of the Islands. Within a few days after landing (it may be but a few hours or even minutes, as I have seen) the female gives birth to her ^"^^■''* young, but one being brought forth each year. The reported occasional birth of twins is not verified. Tliese little ones, " pups," as they are called, are comparatively helpless, Unable to swim. particularly awkward ta movement, and, unlike the hair seal, are unable to swim. They are nursed by the mother, who, after copulation has taken place, is permitted by the old male to go at will in quest of food. At about six weeks old the Learning to swim. yQ^jjg- gather iu groups and shortly after learn to swim, but depend for a long period upon the mother for sustenance, hence her destruction must result in the death of the young through starva- tion. On the approach of inclement and wintry weather the seals migrate to find places where food is abundant and where the Migration. climatic conditions suit them best; but it is notable that they are governed in this solely by consideration of their own comfort and convenience, and not by any fixed or even approximate time. Indeed, so well are the people of the Islands aware of their habits in this respect that they carefully watch for the approach of ice or of se- vere storms from the northwest before taking their supply of seals for winter food. I have seen many seals upon the Island each month in the year, with a possible exception of the month of March; and I have been informed that, since I left the service, seals have been seen and captured on shore in this month also. They evidently have no fixed or on^iSands.'^ ""^ "°^^ definite " hauling ground " to visit, as it would have been discovered long since, but as they can sleep as well as find food at sea. they have no occasion to land until warned by the reproductive instinct to return to the place of their birth — their home — which they do, and are often found at precisely the place occu- pied during the preceding season or seasons. In evidence of this I have observed seals bearing unmistakable marks for identification re-' turn to the same spot year after year. It was the custom each year just prior to the migration of the young seals to take a certain number, under supervision of foS™°^ P"P^ ^"'" the United States Treasury agent, for food of the na- tives during the winter, and as females were in no case killed, a selection of male "i)ups" had to be made. This was done rapidly by catching each " \m]) " by the flipper, and upon releasing the animal, after examination, to send it witli the males for slaughter, or with the females for return to the sea. On such, and on other occa- sions, seals were often marked, or were noted as being marked by scars from fighting among the males; such marks were used to obtain data relative to their return to the Island, and during the latter portion of my stay on St. Paul Island such marked animals were seen and identi- fied in the herd or on breeding grounds. These cases were sufdciently numerous to warrant my present belief RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 137 tliat if such marking- liad been constantly practiced extensively, as might easily have been done precisely as in case of a baud of cattle on the plains with all the young, it would ,J;]^^f''^^^'' ^^ have established their identity and completely shown that the seals do not fii>d a home at any place other than that of their birth. The erection of '^ salt houses " at suitable places for curing the seal skins was one of the earliest works undertaken, and several were erected at points convenient to the larg- i„^/,"f™gwnent!"''"^''' est "hauliug grounds." In addition to this teams were furnished and skins hauled to the salting places or, in other in- stances, they were taken by boats as most convenient. ^^_^ In tbis manner the necessity for long drives was ob- "''"'^" viated and the work made easier in all respects. The polygamous habit before mentioned naturally results in forcing the young male seals to "haul" from the sea by themselves, which renders their capture less difficult, as tliey may be driven without dis- turbing the breeding seals with their young. Seals to be killed were usually, and as a rule, driven at night or very early in the morning wlien the grass or ground was moist with dew or during the prevalence of fog, and was leisurely performed under direction of experienced hunt- ers, hence the animals were spared the fatigue of traveling on dry ground at unwonted speed. When not being driven their movements on land are in nowise un- certain or distressing, and they are frequently seen journeying of their own volition from one "rookery" or "hauling place" to another at considerable distance, especially when singly or in small groups; tliey catch on a strong wind the scent of a herd at a remote point and set out to join it. In connection wiih the work of driving the seals at fre- quent intervals it was of special interest to observe that they became less wild or timid, and consequently could be managed more easily in herd. The " hauling grounds" nearest the " salt houses" were, as a matter of course, most frequently visited by the hunters. At each time of driving some animals were found too large or too small, or otherwise undesirable, and were allowed to escape from among the "killable" herd, and it was the subiect of frequent remark that these , „ /!!• 1 J. ij_j.i lameness ot seals. seals so frequently driven became accustomed to tne presence of man, and evidently acquired coniidence from the fact that they were not harmed, so far that on being separated from the herd they appeared unconcerned, and not worried or frightened, but would leisurely return to the lAace whence driven, and, without taking to the water as is their habit when frightened, would remain until, on the ar- rival of others in sufficient numbers, they were again driven, only to be released and returned as before. These repeated drivings did not apparently injure the animals in the least. Injuries through accident resulted at intervals, but most of those were slight, and recovery soon fol- j„h,',us7'"^ ""* "'' lowed. That the driving of the seals as practiced, whether more or less frequently, did not result injuriously to the breed- ing, is abundantly proven by tlie results noted after the lapse of several years. The area of "rookeries" constantly expanding was filled with ani- mals evidently healthy and strong; vigorous males wine in abundance, as shown by the increase of young, and by the fact that the number of barren females was not increased. Superannuated males were found 138 TESTIMONY as usual, but during the time of my residenoe no unusual lack of liealtli, strength, or vigor was seen among the seals of whatever elass or age. During my long and constant residence I became interested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the people residing upon the Is- hinds, and have since, through an extensive acquaintance witli Agents and employes of the Lessees, been constantly advised as to events trans piring there from year to year. From statements made by such personal acquaintances and friends I became aware of a rapid decrease in seal life in Decrease ot seals. ^y^>^]-.^^ and rcports of i)elagic sealing, as made public tlirongh the press, coml)ined witli previous personal knowledge of affairs as existing prior to 188:3, leaves no possible doubt as to tlu; cause of such decrease of seals. Pelagic sealing as practiced prior to the year 1882 had no apparent effect upon seal life, and even when to this was added the taking of a definite number year after year under lease from the United States Government, there was still a constant increast^ of seals observed; I am, therefore, fiilly cou- Peiagic sealing tbe finned iu the belief that the decrease in their numbers is due solely to the indiscriminate killing at sea of all ages, regardless of sex, as practiced since 1884. I liave also no doubt as to the final result of this iiuliscriminati^ sealing. The dense fogs v/hicli prevail over Bering Sea iu summer render the drawing of an imaginary line of protection about the seal islands absolutely futile and inoperative for such purpose; iuul unless fuli protection is afforded the animals, their extermination must follow as surely as in the case of the seals at the South Shetland Islands, or the buffalo on the plains of JSTorth America. H. W. McIntyre. Subscribed and sworn to before inc this IGth day of May, A. D. 1802. [SEAX.] E. HiLDEBRANDT, Notary Public. Protection n e c e s- sary. Depoftiiiona of Anton ilfdorcdoff, Xoen Mandrcf/hi, Apollon Borvdal-affsly, Aggie Kushin, Nicoli Knikoff, -l (J. RciljHUh, (J. L. Fowler, and J. G. IS. Akerly, residents on ISt. raid Island. DECREASE OF HERD. Territory of Alaska, U. S. A., The Island of 8t Paul Before me, F. H. Newcomb, a first lieutenant in the IT. S. Eevenue Marine Service, ami executive oflicer of the C. S. Revenue steamer .Rush, and autliorized and empowered to take testimony and administer oaths, ]»ersonalIy appeared Anton Meh)vedofi', who, being by me first duly swoi-n according to law, testified as follows, to wit: Q. State your age and ])laee of residence. — A. lam thirty-six years of age; Iuinc resided on St. Paul Ishmd, Alaska, for the i^ast twenty- four years. Q. What is y(mr oc<*u])ation? — A. I am a sealer; Experience. formerly ill the employ of the Alaska Commercial Com- pany, and now in the employ of the iSTorth American Commer(-.ial Com [)any. Q. lias your oe('U])afion been snch as to give you an opportunity to notice from year to year the condition of the rookeries and the peculiar- RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 139 ities of seal life? — A, Yes; I was chief for about ten years, and during^ that time had charge of the drives and have always participated in the killing (»f the seals. Q. Have you noticed any perceptible difference in the number of seals on rookeries fi-oni one year to another! — A. Yes. Q. What changes have you noticed? — A. They have been getting- less every year for about the last six years. ^ Q. About how much less is tlie number of seals dur- iug the past year tlian they were six years ago? — A. The number of seals this year are about one-fourth of what they were six years ago, and about one-half of what they were last year. Q. In what way do you form your above opinion as to the relative number of seals on the rockeries'? — A. By the fact that many spaces on the rookeries which were formerly crowded are now not occupied at all. Q. To what do you attribute the decrease in the number of seals on the rookeries? — A. To the great number of cows killed 1 1 T XI 1 i' Cause 01. by poachers, and consequently less pups are born on the rookeries. Q. How do you know that cows have been killed by poachers? — A. 1 have handled and seen a great number of skins captured by tlie Itevenue Cutters from the i)oaching vessels, and there were very few male skins among them; also have seen among them a great number of unborn pups. Twice uiDon the rookeries I have seen cows killed and left there by the poachers. Q. Why is it, in your opinion, that more female than male seals are killed by the poachers? — A. Because, first, in the pas- sage of the seals to the islands in tlie early season the p^Xrs'tematel!''^' females travel in groui^s and the males scatter; sec- ondly, after arriving at the islands the males remain on or about the hauling grounds, while the females having their pups „ , <• ,• c' * .' J 1 1 ■ ,■ 1 Feniales feeding. to nurse go out into the sea to obtain lood. Q. How do you tell the skin of a female from that of a male? — A. By the ni^jples and general appearance. (^>. Have you ever known the lessees to take female skins?— A. No. Any emph)ye. killing a female either ^^•:,^;:;:;f.^'" ^"'"'^ intentionally or accidentally would be liable to a tine. Q. Did you see any dead pui)s on the rookeries the ^^^^^ past season? — A. Yes; 1 saw lots of tliem. Q. How do they compare with the number observed informer years? — A. Mu(;h greater in proportion to the number of females on the rook- eries than formerly. Q. How do you account for this? — A. I think the cows were killed by the poachers while away from the rookeries, and as motlier seals nurse none but their own young, consequently the pups whose mothers were killed die from starvation. Anton Melovedoff. Also Noen Maudregin, who, being duly sworn by me as hereinafter certified, testified as follows: Q. State your age and place of residence. — A. 1 am thirty-four years of age and am a native and resident of St. V.\n] island, Alaska. Q. What is your occujiation? — A. I am a scaler, foinieily in the cm ploy of the Alaska Commercial Company, and noAV in j^xpcricuce. the employ of the North vVmericau Commercial Com- pany. 140 TESTIMONY Q. Did you see an unusual uuinber of dead pups on the rookeries this j^^^^ ^ season? — A. Yes; I saw more dead pups this year pups- than ever before. I went with Mr. J. Stanley Brown in August to assist him to make a survey of the rookeries an^l saw dead l)ni)s ^i)oacher8"'''^^"*'^"^'*^'Vo^^i^i^" ou thc roolccries, frequent the open sea in search , , ,. of food, whereas their ales frequent the hauliiiggrounds Females feeding. ,' . t-i i-j. *j. ■ j.- t or waters immediately around it. At various times 1 have seen skins which were seized by the cutters from the poacliers, and they were substantially female skins. Q. Have you noticed any dead pups on the rookeries this past sea- sou, and in what i^roportion to former years? — A. 1 Den.i pups. havc sccu au unusual number of dead pups this year on the breeding grounds; I may say twice as many as formerly^ RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 141 Q. How do you account for it? — A. From tlie fact of tlieir mothers liaviiii;' beeu killed by marauders. It is a Avell-known fact that the mothers suckle none but their own pups; consequently tlie motherless die from want of nourishment. Q. AVhat is the general condition of a healtliy pup seal receiving constaut attention from its mother? — A. I know liim to be completely gorged with milk and his body to be enveloped in fat. Q. What effect/iu your opinion, does the increase in the number of poaching vessels in Bering Sea have upon seal life? — A. Shice tlie number ot sealing vessels has increased, pof fbers!^ ^"*'^^**'^ "^ the number of seals coming to the islands has corre- spondingly decreased. J. C. Eedpath, Agent. Also C. L. Fowler, who, being duly sworn by me as hereinafter cer- tified, testified as follows: I have been a resident of the seal islands for the past ten years j formerly ass't agent of the Alaska Commercial Co., now agent of the ISTorth American Company, and dur- ^rpenence. ing that time have been engaged in the taking of seals. I have lis- tened to the testinnuiy of J. C. Eetlpath as above and corroborates Mr fnlly concur in all that he has said concerning seal life, Rcdpatb except as to with the exception that the number of seals on tlui *^''"^'^'''''"'- islands this season are in my judgment not more than one-fourth of what they were in 1887. C. L. FOWLEK. Also J. C. S. Akerly, who being duly sworn by me, as hereinafter certilied, testified as follows: Q. State your age, place of residence, and occupation. — A. I am thirty- one (31) years of age, reside in Oakland, California, and am physitdan on St. Paul Island, in the emx^loy of the ^peuence. I^orth American Commercial C'ompany. Q. Did you see any dead pups on the rookeries this season? — A. Yes; my attention was called to the matter by J. Stan- ley Brown, who requested me to examine them with a ^'^ ^"'^"'' view to determining the cause of their death. I examined a number Aviiich had apparently recently died. Their bodies were entirely desti- tute of fat and no food to be found in their stomachs. After a careful examination, I found no evidence of disease. Q. What do you assign as the cause of their death? — A. I believe them to have died of starvation. Q. Why do you think they died of starvation? — A. From the fact that nearly all the dead on the rookery Avere pups, and from absence of all signs of disease, emaciated condition of their bodies, and ab- sence of food fi-om their stomachs. J. C. S. Akerly, M. 1)., Th. B. Sworn and subscribed to before me this twenty-fourth day of Novem- ber, 1891, at 8c. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Bering Sea. Frank H. ^STEWCOMn, First Lieutenant U. S. li. M, WitncKfes : Milton Barnes. Johnstone H. Quinan, S'icond Lieutenant U. 8. E. M. 142 TESTIMONY Bejjosition of Anton Melovcdoff, 7iative Alaslrm, and emjjloye of lessees on ist. Pmd Island. management — habits. St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska, U. S. A., ss: Aiitou Melovedoff, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am thirty- eight (38) years of age and I was born on Kadiak Island, Alaska. I came to St. Paul Island in 18(54, the first time, and in 1809 the second time. I have resided here since 1869 and I have been constantly employed among the Alaskan fur-seals in all that time. I have had a Experience. large aud varied experience in all the details of the business as it has been carried on on St, Paul Island, and I have done service in aU the departments from the work of a boy to that of First Chief of the Island. I can read and write the Englisli, Eussian, and Aleut languages and I can interpret them into one another. I have read a considerable amount of the controversies on the Seal Question since the seals began to decrease so rapidly on the rookeries and I have observed the rookeries and their daily condition since I became First Chief in 1881, which office I resigned in 1891. In the liussian times, before 1808, the seals were always driven across Privin- while uii- thc Islaud of St. Paul from ISTorth East Point to the der Kussian manage- village Salt liousc — a distaiice of 12Jmiles — but when ""iluproved methods ^^e Alaska Commercial Company leased the islands luider American man- they stoppcd loug driving aud built salt houses near agement. ^^ ^j^^^ liauliug gTouuds, SO that by 1879 no seals were driven more than 2 miles. No one ever said in those days that seals were made impotent by driving, although long drives had been made for at least fifty years. ^^^^^^ jj I have never known or heard tell of a time when there eu .\ o )u s. ^^^^^ ^^^^ bulls enough and to spare on the breeding rookeries. I never saw a cow of 3 years old or over in August with- out a pup by her side. The only cows on a breeding rookery without imps are the virgin cows who have come there for the first time. 1 never went onto a rookery in the breeding season Avhen I could not have counted plenty of idle vigorous bulls who had no cows. I have heard it said that the seals are slaughtered indiscriminately on the seal islands, and that the natives take no care of the seals. The contrary of this is true. Rules could hardly be made any more stri 1 1 gent than the rules laid down by the Government and Company Officers for the care and management of the seals, and no people could be more carelnl in obeying them in letter and s]>irit than what ours are. The killing of females is a crime on St. Paul Island, and our Church teaches that it is a sin to kill one, and our ])eople know that the death ofacow seal means <»ne pup less Joi' meat in years to come. Never, since I came here in 1809, have I known of a cow to be killed accident'""^ ""'^'^^' uulcss by accident, and I think there has not been 10 cows killed out of every 85,000 seals killed every year from 1870 to 1889. When I first went on a drive I remember how the Chiefs talked to me alxmt l)elng careful of how I went on the hauling grounds: how I must not distirrb the breeding rookeries, and that I must walk as slow as I could when driving, and stop and let the seals rest occasionally. I believe the same instructions were given at all times by the Chiefs EELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 14 o to our peo])le, and I think tliey Lave been generally very faitlifully obeyed. Tlie bulls and cows being on tlie breeding- rookeries all through Juno and July, while the killing of the bachelors for skins is taking place, there is no reason Mhy a cow should be driven or killed in the two months named, and it is a very rare case to see a cow on the kill- ing grounds at this time and still rarer to have one killed. After the killing season is ended and the breeding seavson is over, the cows do mix up with the bachelors on the hauling grounds, and they are often driven when we make a drive of seals to kill for food, and sometimes one or two is clubbed by accident. With this exception there are no cows or females ever killed on the seal islands. I was First Chief from 1884 to 1891, all through Ivhe years of the de- crease and controversy, and it has been my duty to inspect the rookeries and seals from time to time and to report the condition of both to the Government and Company Agents. It has been my duty to thoroughly inform myself of. the number (»f male seals — bachelors — f>n each rookery, and to select the grounds to be driven from every killing day thi-ough- out each killing season, and I believe I never allowed the seals to be overdriven or the drives to be made too often. I remember seeing an occasional sealing schooner in Bering Sea as long ago- as 1878,"but it was in 1884 they came in large nundjers. At tirst it was supposed they intended to raid the rookeries, and we armed a number of men and kept guard every night, and we '''"'^^' drove off any boats we found coming to a rookery. Sometimes in a dense fog or very dark night they landed and killed a few hundred seals, but the numbers taken in this manner are too small to be considered. About 188G I noticed that the lines of former years were not filled with cows, and every succeeding year since then has shown a more marked decrease. In 1889 the bachelors i^'^cmise. were so few on the hauling grounds that the stand;ird Decrease iii^\ei"ht weight of skins was lowered to o pounds, and hundieds of skins. were taken at only 4 x^ounds in order to till thi' (piota of 100,000. It was noticed by everyone on the Island at this time that as the seals decreased on the rookeries from year to year the number of dead i)ups increased, until in 1891 the rook- ^^'■'''i p"ps- eries were covered ^\'ith them. From 1884 the schooners increase of seaiiug kept on increasing, until in 1891 there was more than ^'"'^' one hundred. These schooners care very little about coming to the islands to take seals on the land, for they oidy have to hover around the hshing banks from 50 to 200 miles away and take all the seals they want. It is to these baidcs the to^2™ttL^s7rom is" cow seals go to feed after the birth of their young, and •'*"''•■*• it is here they are shot and killed and the pups are left to starve and die on the rookeries. Last year I seen thousands of such pups, and 1 saw many of them opened, and in all cases there was not a sign of food in their stomachs. I never seen a pup that had a mother living to suckle it look i>oor oi- sick or starved; nor did I ever see or hear of a sick or diseased seal, although I have eaten the flesh of the fur-seal all my life, and it is and has ever been the staple meat ration of our i)eo]de. Seal meat is cooked at tlu^. Company house every day while seals are to be had, and it is eaten by all the white men on the Island. Men talk of epidemics among seals and of impotent bulls on the rookeries, but those who have spent a lifetime „,^^'!!^;|:"''«t.'i'.' '''^' on tUe beal Islauds, uud whose busme.ss and duty it 1 44 TESTIMONY lias been to guard and observe them, Lave no knowledge of the exist- ence of either. An hnpotent bull dare not attempt to go on a rookery, even had he a desire to do so. Excex)ting the extremely old and feeble, I have nev^er seen a bidl that was impotent. The seals come to the islands every year fiom the southward, through . the passes of the Aleutian Islands; and the bulls reach the islands late in April or early in May, and they con- ^""'''' tinue to haul out till June. They select their stations on the rookeries, and I believe they generally return to the spot they occupied the previous year; and they stay tliere till August or Sep- tember without food or water, and without much rest '^'''^^' or sleep. The cows begin to haul out early in June and they continue to haul out till about the middle of July; and the imps are born soon alter the cows land on the rookeries. When the pup is born it is utterly helpless and would drown if Pups can no swim. ^^^^^ .^^^^ water. Tliosc bom nearest the water are often drowned in the surf when the sea is rough in stormy Aveather. When , ,. ,. the pup is a few days old the cow goes into the sea to teed, and as the i)up grows older the cow will stay longer and longer, until sometimes she Avill be away for a week. When the cows return they go to their own pups, nor will a cow suckle any puj) but her own. The pups would suck any cow that would let them, foi' they do not seem to know one coav from another. sw" ^'^''^^''s '" At 7 or 8 weeks old the pups learn to swim by first paddling in the shallow water, but after learning to swim they appear to prefer to stay on land until the cold weather drives them oft' in November. Until 1891 we were allowed to kill several thousand pup seals for food in November about the time they were ready to ups a (3( 01 00 . jgy^g ^j^g Island. We generally killed ten or twelve for every person on the Island, and when we killed them they were always found to be full of milk. The bachelors commence to haul out in May, and they haul out till . . , fK , 1 latein July, theolderones comingearlyand the younger Arrival of bachelors. i x ' i t i l- t xi x xi i i -n i • ones later; and 1 have tound that the seals killed in May and earl y June were fat and that their stomachs were full of food, principally codfish, and that later in the season they were poor and had ,, , ,, , nothing in their stomachs. My opinion, therefore, is Only inotlier seals * j l 7 ' leave" tiio islands lor thatiioiie but the mothcr seals go out m the sea to eat *""'^- during the time the herds are on the islands, and this accounts for the great number of cows shot by the sealing schooners in Bering Seaduring July, August, and September. I was visiting in San Francisco in the winter of 1890-'91, and I worked in a ftir store duiing 1 . e tod 1) • ^*''^'*^^'' '^^ months of my stay there, and I was called on hiiiM^r San 'praVcisco to liaudlc and inspect thousands of the skins taken by those of cows. schooners in Bering Sea, and they were nearly all cow- seal skins. 1 know of no other explanation than this: The cows are shot and killed when tliey go into the sea to feed and the pups die on the rook- eries. This, I think, is the true solution of the vexed question, " What has become of the seals?". When the season ends and the compact family organization breaks up, the bulls begin to leave '" "^ '^ ' the islands, going aAvay slowly through September and eiirly October before they are all gone. Tlie bachelors, cows, and pujts go in November, the older bachelors leaving late in October and the jjups in November. Sometimes in good, RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 145 mild weather baclielors are found and killed for food late in January. The movements of the seals are governed quite considerably by the weather. When they do leave the Island they go southward and pass once more through the passes of the Aleutian Islands and out into the North Pacific Ocean. It is usually supposed that seals are like wild animals. This is not so. Tliev are used to the natives and will not run far e XT rni Txi-i -ii j- j-1 . 1 x amoiiess 01 seals. fi'omthem. Tlie little pups will come to them, andeven in the fall when they are older we can take them up in our hands and see whether they are males or females. We can dri\e the seals about in little or large bands just as we want them to go, and they are easy to manage. We protect and take good care of the seals, and if they were not killed in the sea we could make them increase upon the islands so that they would be as many as before. Anton IVIelovedoff. Subscribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to admin- ister oaths nnder section 1976, Revised Statutes United States, this 10th day of June, 1892, St. Paul Island, Alaska. Wm. n. Willi A?.rs, Treasury Agent in charge of t'^cal Islands. Deposition of Simeon Melovidor, natire Ahislrin, and employe of the lessees on St. Paul Island. MANAGEMENT — PELAGIC SEALING. St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Alaska, U. S. A., .s.s'.- Simeon Melovidov, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am twenty- five years of age, and I was born at Sitka, Alaska. 1 came to St. Paul Island in 1807, and resided here ever since, I have a practical knoAvledge of and am familiar with ^'^^i" i''™cc. the fur-seal industry as it is carried on on St. Paul Island. I became an able sealer in 1879, and worked at it ever since, e-xcept in the win- ters, when I was at school, I have driven seals and skinned them and prepared the skins for sliipmcnt. I am at present the school teacher on St. Panl Island, and 1 can read and write English and Ivnssian, as well as the Aleut langnage. I know that as long as i can remember the driving of seals has been the most carefully done work on the island, and all tlie drives have been done by our ^^'^^s- own people, iirder the immediate orders of the native Chiefs. The aim at all times of all concerned has been to care for and guard the seals, and to do everything possible to pre care taken of scai.s. serve and perpetuate seal life. We were always instructed by the Chiefs to drive slowly, and to let the seals stop and rest occasionally, and if a cow happened to join the drive, we had to allow her to drop out and return unmolested to the water. It has been the policy and practice of the lessees to do everything that could be done to shorten the lengtli of the drives whenever it could be done without injuring or disturb- ^^'''"^ """''' ''"'"■ ing the the breeding rookeries, and to this end salt houses have been built, teams and wagons or boats used so as to reduce tlie longest drive on St. Paul Island to not to exceed 2 miles. Never since 1879 has a seal been driven on this island to exceed that distance. In likemau- 2716— VOL II 10 146 TESTIMONY iicr I'lik's have been made and riji idly enforced Unit noliaulinp; jiTounds shall be driven from oftener than twice in any one Aveek, and it is a rare thing to drive more than once a week from the same place. , . . There is no fonndation in fact for the stories told of (i.arth of liuiis; uo ovci d rivniii- oi scals. ]S or IS there any shadow ot tact iiuiR.tciit bulls. j-yj^. ^jj^. j^ii^ statements made from time to time about a dearth of bulls on the rookeries or of imi)otent bulls. I have talked to the old men of our people, men who can remember back over fifty years, and not one of them know^s of a time when there was not plenty of bulls, and more than enough on the breeding rook- erics, and no one here ever heard of an impotent bull. wcH tilled'^ lookciies Until the schoouers came into Bering Sea the rookeries were always well lilled, and many of them had grown Full quota taken iu ^^teadilv fop vears, until it was no uncommon thing for the lessees to take the quota ot .sa,0()0 seals on St. Paul Island between June 1st and July 1:0 of each year. After 1884, when the original two or three sealing vessels had grown to be a Decrease since 1881. ^^.^jj .n'gaiiized flcct, we fouud a Steady decrease of seals (U all the rookeries and we found it difticnlt to secure the cpiota of skins, and in 1881) the lessees had to lower the standard of weight lower than ever before in tlie history of the Island. And as the Pend p-.ips. seals decreased we fouud the rookeries covered with dead pups, which in 1801 lay in heaps upon the ground; and when they were examined by the physician I was present, and I saw them cut open and their stomachs were empty and not a sign of milk in them. The only solution of the inoblem is, in my oi)inion, that the cows or mother seals go into the sea to feed, and while they are M-.thers killed at there they are shot and killed by pelagic hunters, and the pups, deprived of sustenance, die upon the rook- eries. Until 1891 we were allowed several thousand pup seals for food, and I have often killed them, and .saw others killing them, and the}' were always full of milk. The pups found dead upon the rookeries "are al- ways poor and thin and starved and empty. ^, , , ,, „ It has been said that cows are barren sometimes be- X\o tleailh ot bulls. x- xi i xi x- i n i i ■, • , . •• cause ot the dearth ol bulls, but such is not the case at all, for the only cows on the breeding rookeries in rnM." iKne^mp"! ^"^ J^^^Y Of August without pups are the 2-year-olds (vir- gins), which have come on the rookeries for the first time The young males or bachelors that are killed for skins are found to be full (»f food in j\Iay and early in June, but their stomachs are empty ^vhen killed in July or later. This shows, I think, tha't i8iSi^a"'foo(i. '*'''''''' !•<"»' 8« <>i^^ to feed in the sea except the cows during the time they are nursing their young. The pups, Pups helpless ^^'^'*'" ''^*^"' ^'''" '"'^ ''^^'^"" '*'' ^'*'^1* theuiselvesin anyway, and they are entirely dependent on the cows for suste- nance. They are 6 or 8 weeks old before they can .vcek'"oid ^' " ^ '^^vim. and were they put into the waterwheu born they wcmid perish, for they are not then ami)hil>ious. The flesh of the fur-seal has been eaten by our peoi)]eever since their first settling here, and it constitutes the chief part of th(;ir daily food, Kg disen.sed seals ''^"'^ '^ ^'"^ *"^^^'^^ legulaily by evciT whitc muii on the Is- land; and yet no one here has ever seen or heard tell of a sick or diseased seal. RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 147 I believe the seals come to the islands from the southward, and when they leave in November or December tliey lio south- ward through the passes of the Aleutian Isliinds and Gf iinoimh the into the Pacific Ocean. I believe the bulls do not eat i'"''^*'''- or drink duriug their three to four months' sojourn on „,?""^ ^^^^ ^" ^'^'■^^^• the island and I know they take little if any rest or sleep. I do not think it is any more trouble to manage the seal herd than it is to mannge some of the herds of cattle 1 have Domestic character seen in California, and of the two the seals seem to me of seals. tamer and less afiaid of the natives, to whom they are accustomed. We could now, as we always did in tlie ])ast, handle the young imps in the fall. We can care for and protect the mature seals as avcII ;is the cattle on the ranges are cared for and protected, and if they could be guarded from tin? hunters in the sea we could by good management again nndvc the rookeries as large as before. After careful in(piiry among our oldest i)C(>i)le and weighing my own experience and observations, I believe the decrease of the Alaskan fur-seal is due altogether to pelagic hunt- .,.^±-^r-?r'!',"f""'^ c X o source 01 tiouble. mg. Simeon Melovidov Subscribed and sworn to before me, an ofhcer empowered to admin- ister oaths, under section 1!>7(I, iJcvised Statntes of the United States, this 10th day of June, 181>L', at St. Paul Island, Alaska. Wm. II. Williams, Treasurij A(jeni In charge iScal Inlands. Deposition of J. C. Reilp(itlt,a!/eut of lessees S^^. Faul Island, Fribilof Group, Alaska, U. S. A., ss: ] ■ J. C. Kedpath, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am an Ameri- can citizen, a native of Connecticut, and I am forty eight (48) years of age. At present I am a resident of St. Paul Isiand, Alaska. I have resided on the Seal Islands of St. George ami St. Paul since my first coming to Alaska in 187r>. i'^^i"-i'"'<'- My present occupation is that of local agent on St. Paul Island for the present lessees, the North American Commercial Com])any. f have a practical knowledge of and am thoroiighly conversant wilh the habits and conditions of the fur-seal as it exists on the Pribilof Islands of St. George and St. Paul, ami also of the methods adopted and practiced in the taking of the skins, ami of the several eflorts made by the former and present lessees, as experience taught them, to increase the herd and to build up the rookeries and ])erpctuate seal life. I have had a persona! exi)erience of seventeen seasons on the killing grounds in diherent sitiuitions, from that of seal-clubber to fore- man, several years of whicii 1 have been the resident local agent. My position as local agent has led me to make a careful study of the seal question, ami it is my duty to rei)ort, from time to time, to tho general agent of the lessees the result of my observations. 148 TESTIiMONY The Alaskan fur-seal is a native ot tlie riibilof Islands, and, unless ])re- soais are natives of veuted, wjll letum to tliosc Islniids every year with the Tribiiot Islands. rejiularlty of tlic seasons. All the })ei'uliarities of nature Seals return to tiio thac suiTOuud the Pilbilof Group of Islaiids, such as low islands every your. aiideveii tenipeiature, foi;', mist, andperpetually clouded sky, seem to indicate their litness and adai)tal)ility as a. home for the Alaskan fur seal; and with an instinct bordering on reason they have selected these lonely and barren islands as the cl.oicest spots of earth „.,.,.. r upon which to assemble and dwell toireth<>r durino: Stayou Pnbilot Is- ,/ . . j-t i ± i i i n i_i lauds'six months. their SIX moutlis' Stay on land; and annually they journey across thousands of miles of ocean, and pass hundreds of islands, without pause or rest, until they come to tlie place of their birth. And it is a well-established fact that Hani up only on irpoii uo otlicr laud ill the world do the Alaskan fur-seal islands. , ^ , j_ J? j_ haul out ot water. Early in May the bulls approach the islands and alter cautiously and , ,., „ carefully reconnoiteriini' the surroundings haul out and Arrival ot bulls. i i. Ii • ^ l- j-i i • i ii select their stations on the rookeries, where they ])aticntly await the coming;' of the cows. When they first appear upon the rookeries the bulls are fat and sleek and very aggressive, but after a stay of from three to four months, without food, they crawl away from the rookeries in a very lean condition. In my opinion, Buiisieturntosauie the bull scal ictums to the siiot he occupied thi^ pre- si)ot every vear. , . i r i £• i ■ t i ceding years, and I know oi several instances where he could be distinguished by the loss of an eye or a tiipi)er, in which he actually did return for a series of years to the same spot. The mother seals or cows commence to haul out about June 10th, and . . , , nearly all of them are on the rookeries by July 15th, and Arrival ot cows. tit j-i i • r i.i j-t • i i. • t I believe they bring torth their young almost immedi- ately after reaching their places on the rookeries. When the pup is ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ from four to six days old, the mother goes into the piii.s. water for food and, as time passes, her stay becomes Females feeding. hmgcr, uutil filially slic will l)e away from licr pup for several days at a time, and sometimes for a whole Mothers killed 200 yrQQ\^^ During these longer migrations she often goes miles from islands. ■^ x 4.1 i iti i • j> -i 200 miles from the rookery, and I have been informed by men who were engaged in the trade of pelagic hunting that they had taken "mothers in milk" at a distance of over 200 miles from the Seal Islands. j^Jo cow will nurse any pu]> but her own, and I have often watched the pups attempt to suck cow^s, but they were always thlrrTwn'pni'r'*"^^ driveu oflf; and this fact convinces me' that the cow recognizes her own pup and that the pup does not know its dam. At birth and for several weeks after, the pup is utterly ^, , , , helpless and <^ntirely dependent on its dam for suste- Pups utterly help- "- i i ^ i " A • j.i ^ i- less. nance; and siiould anything prevent her return during ,. . „ „„. ,. this period it dies on the rookerv. This has beendem- Dvinjr from neglect. ^^ii i -,,,■., ,. onstrated beyond a doubt since the sealing vessels liave operated largely in IJcring Sea during the months of July, Au- gust, and S<^ptember, and which, killing the cows at the feeding grounds, left the pti[)s to die on the islands. At about t'lVG weeks old the pups begin to run about and congregate „ , . , in bunches or "pods;" and at to 8 weeks old they go swim. " into the shallow water and giadually learn to swim. They are not amphibious when born, nor can they swim for several RELATING TO ST. PAUL LSLAND. 149 weeks thereafter, and wore tliej^ put iuto the water A\-oiil(l perish beyond a doubt, as has been well estab- ^^l^' '""pi""-'""^ «' lished by the drowising of pups caught by the snrf in stormy weather. After learning to swim the pups still draw their sus- tenance from the cows, aud I have noticed at the animal killing of pups for food in November that their stomachs were always full of milk and nothing else, althougli the cows had left the Island some days before. 1 have no knowledge of the pups obtaining sustenance of any kind except that furnished by the cows; nor „;?tiurfoV\ootr "" have I ever seen anything but ni'lk in a dead imp's stomach. The young males, from 2 to 5 years old, whose skins are taken by tlie lessees begin to haul out on land in May and they continue to haul out till July. They herd by Arrival of bachelors Themselves during the months of May, June, and Julv, „ x-, .• , ■ , -,, Tji'V 1 • ^11 T Uabits of bachelors. and they do this because, during the breeding season, they dare not approach tlie breeding rookeries or the bulls would de- stroy them. Being thus debarred from a position on tlie breeding rookeries or from intermingling with the cows, they herd together on the hauling grounds, where they are easily approached and suiT<»undcd by the natives, who drive them to the ^'''"'"s- killing grounds without disturbing tlie breeding rookeries. Young males killed in May and June when examined are found to be in prime condition, and their stomachs are iilled with lish — priiicii^allv codfish — but those killed later in the Males do Honcavc: j7 1 , 1 II 1 ii • i 1 stay Oil islniiils duriu"; season are tonnd to be poor and lean and tlieir stomachs summer lor loo.i. empty; which shows that the males rarely leave the islands for food during the summer months. Statute law forbids the killing of the female seal, and nature regu- lates the matter so that there is no danger of their being driven or killed during the regular killing season, the isalmii's''' "'''"'^'^ '*" whicli takes i)lace in June and July when all the "kill- ing for skins" is done; and after all my experience here I am iree to say that a small fraction of one per cent would represent all the females killed on the islaiids since they became the property of the ITnitcd States. The compact fannly arrangement so tenaciously adhered to during the breeding season becomes relaxed in August, and the females scatter, and a few of them mix up with the , roinuic. killed only t'i ,1 • T-(. by acKleut. young males, and when the natives make a drive tor food it occasionally happens that a female will accomjiany t\\e males, and sometimes one or two may be accidentally killed. I use the word "accidentally" advisedly, liecause there is no Females less vabi- good reason why the natives or the lessees should kill skiLsVi'iaioni'i.'''' a female seal designedly, as th.e skin is of no more use or value (if so much), nor its llesli as good for food, as is that of the male. And, excepting accidents, it is a fact that no female seals are, or ever were, killed on the Pribilof ^^f■^"l.J^a^^''^ ^''"'''' Isla'ids siin-e American rules and regulations were es- tablished there. Tiie regular killing season for skins under the lease begins on June 1st and ends i)ractically on the last of July; and dur- ^..„. , 1 . • 1 J.1 J' j_ 1 til /> IT- KilliU!' season. lug this period the lirst class Alaskan tur-senl skins are taken. The seals are driven from the hauling to the killing grounds by experienced natives under the ordci-s of the native ^ i .^j.^^^^ Chief, and the constant aim and object of all concerned 150 TESTIMONY is to oxciciso tlic greatest care in driviuii', so rliat tlio (areot sc:i s. aiiiiuals may not be iiiJimMJ or abused in any manner. As the re.iiiilations ictiuire the U'ssees to ])ay for every skin taken I'rom seals killed by (lie orders ol" their local agents, and Scnis not over- ^^^^ ^|jg j^|.j,, ^^^■ .j,, overheated seal is valueless, it is only reasonable to supi)ose that they ^yon^d be the last men li\in.u' to cneunrage or allow their employes to overdrive or in any man- ner injure the seals. I know that the orders given to Positive ni.icis of me, as h)i*al agent, were always of the most positive s!''iis."''''^ " '"" " f^nd emphatic kind on this point, and they were always obeyed to the letter. Instead of overdriving or neg- lecting the seals the lessees have endeavored to do everything in their power to shorten the distances between the hauling and killing grounds, oi' between the hauling grounds and the salt house. Before the Alaska Conniercial Company leased the seal islands in isTb, it was a common ))rartice to drive seals from North East l*oint to the Village on St. Paul Island, a distance of 11} miles, and tioiu Zapad- nie to the Village on St. George Island, a distance of miles, across a very rough and rugged country. From Halfway point and from Zapadnie on St. Paul Island, seals were driven, respectively, o and U mues. When the Alaska Commercial Company took control of the islands the drive from North East j)oint was prohibited, and a salt house and other necessary buildings erected within 2 miles of the killing ground, and all the skins taken there were salted and stored and shipped fr uu North East- Point. In 187!) a killing ground was made, and a salt house built at Halfway Point, within 2 miles of the hauling gr(mnds, and all skins taken at tlie Point are salted there. At Zapadnie, the sanuiyear, a killing ground was made within a mile of the hauling ground, and the skins taken there are taken to the Vil'age salt house in boats, oi-, when the weather is unfavorable, by team and wagon. . . ^ Since 1878 there has not been a drive made on St. """"■ Paul Island to exceed 2 miles. At Zapadnie, St. George, a salt house was built about 1875, and the li mile drive pro- hibited, and a trail made at great expense across the Island, over which the skins are taken on pack saddles to the Village. Since 1874 no seals have been diiNcn on St. George Islaiul to exceed 2A miles. ^ . Although the seals are comparatively tame alter be- ing on the laud tor a short time, and do not get scared so easily as is connnonly sujtposed, the rules and regulations of the Treasury Department are \-ery strict on the question of absolute pro- tection to the seals on the Islands, and the Treasury Agents have always most rigidly enforced them. It is unlawful to tire a gun on the islaiulsfrom the time the first seal ,, , .. ,, 1 appears in the sitring until the last one leaves at the Isoshootinj;alloweil. i ,. , , i • i - ^ /. ji • end 01 the season ; and in order to properly enforce this law, the firearms are taken from the natives and locked iij^ in the Gov- ernment house, in care of the Treasury Agents. No person is allowed to go near a rookery uidess by special order of the Treasury Agent; and, when driving from the haul- tiub'ei'r'''*' ""* '^''' "^'^" ,y'i^"<"H"l^ tl'<' natives are forbidden to smoke or make any unusual noise, or to do anything that might dis- turb or frighten the seals. All driving is done wheu the weatlu^r is j,j.j^..|j,, c«iol and moist, and when the condition of the weather demands it, the dri\es are made in the cool of the night; and in no case are seals driven at a higher rate of speed than about RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 151. half a mile an hour. Sd carefully is the driving done that it has been found necessary to divide the uative drivers into several '• watches" which relieve each other on the road, because, the pace being so slow, the men ijet cold. From 1875 to 1(),(M)() skins l)et\veen June 1st and July 20, and yet there was no sign of any decrease, but ig^^toyf ""^ ^'''"" rather an expansion of most of the rookeries. I do not pretend to be able to say how many seals there are, or ever were, on the rookeries; nor do 1 Itelieve anybody else can tell; for the rookeries are so broken and tilled witli rocks it is impossil)le to esti- mate the number of seals upon tbem with any ai)])roacli to accuracy. The lines of expansion and contraction are plain enough, and can be seen and understood by tlie wiiole community. Until J88i sealing schooners were seen but very sel vo^i>-\nui,h,{^ve ])altry to be seriously considered, because the raids were so few, and the facilities for taking many seals oft" so utterly in- significant. In 1884 the sealing schooners became num- erous. I believe there were about thirty in the sea that crSsiug'shiec'iJIi!"" year, and they have increased very rapidly every year since, until now they are said to be about one hnndred and twenty. As the schooners increased the seals decreased, and tlie lines of contraction on the rookeries were noticed to eieas^'irstr^^^^^^^ '^''' draw nearer and nearer to the beach, and the killable seals became fewer in nund)ei'S, and harder to tlnd. In 18Sf> the de- crease was so plain that the natives and all the agents Mmked decrease hi on the islands saw it and were startled ; and theories of isso." all sorts Avere advanced in an attempt to account for a cause. A dearth of bulls on the breeding rookeries was a pet theory of one or two transient visitors, but it only neeeded a thorough -i-],^„,.ie3 investigation of the condition of the rookeries to con- vince the most skeptical that tliere were i»lenty of bulls, and to spare, and that hardly a cow could be found on the rookeries without a pup at her side. For hve years I have given this particular subject my most earnest attention, and every succeeding year's experience has ^.^^ aeartimf i.uiis. convinced me that tliere is not, and never was, a deaith of l)nlls. Tlie theory of ini[)()tency of the young bulls because of over driving when young is not worthy of consideration by any sane or honest man who has ever seeen a bull seal Jjjuns bniis not im- on aln-eeding rookery; and as I have already answered NooVenirhing. the question of over driving I will only add here that no young bull ever goes upon a breeding rookery until he is able to tight his way in, and an impotent bull has no desire to fight, nor could he win a position on the rookerv were he to attempt rni • 1 T 1 ' • Bulls SIX vem's old it. The man is not alive who ever saw a six or seven „ev.riini)oient. year old bull seal imiiotent. Another theory, equally untrne, was that an epidemic had seized the herd; but investigations of the closest kind have xo epidemiir. never revealed the death, on the islands, of a full grown seal from unknown causes. Let it be rememl)ered that the flesh of the seal is the staple diet of the natives and that it is eaten daily e 152 TESTIMONY by most of the white employes as well; aiid yet it is true that a sign of taint or disease has never been fonnd on a seal qwv- Dcad lups! *'"*"''^'"'' f'*'^^ i" ^^'t' memory of man. It was not nntil so many thousands of dead i)ni>s w ere found npon the rookeries that the ]nM)blem was solved. The truth is that when the cows i't- 111 1-^91 the rookeries on St. Paul Island were covered, in places, with dead i)ups, all of which had every symptom of having died of hunger, and on opening several of theni the stomachs were found to be empty. The resident ])hysiciaii. Dr. Ackerly, examined many of them and found in everv instance that starvation was the cause vaHon.'' '^"' '" '*"' o^' *l<^'^»<^''- '^^^^' lowcst estinuites made at the time plac- ing the number of dead pups on the rookeries at 25,000 is too high. It has been said that man can do nothing to facilitate the propagation , , , of the fur-seal. Mv exi^erience does not sunpi»rt this. 1)6 resiSated, otiiev- The reservation ot females and the killing ot the sur- wiso the bulls kill plug males, so that each bull can have a reasonable one another. i ^ • i j. x - 1 ^^ , number ot cows, is more advantage to the growth ot the rookeries than when in a state of nature bulls killed each other in their ettbrts to secure a single cow. The same care can be and is exercised in the handling and manage- ment of the seal herd as is bestowed by a ranchman seSs™"^***^ nature '>f ,|pr)n his bduds of ranging stock, and is productive of like results. The seals have become so a(;customed to the natives that the presence of the latter does not disturb them. The pups are easily liandlod l)y the natives, and formerly, when used as au article of food, thousands of pups were actually j.ucked \\\) and exam- ined, in accor*»'i Of tlic ordinary stock-breeding i^rinciples not only to ])eri)etuate but to raiudly increase the seal herd. To one who has spent so many years among the seals as I have and who has taken so much interest in them, it does appear to be wrong ^ ^ ,,., that tliev should be allowed to be so ruthlesslv and Wimtifi of lilt) indiscriminately slaughtered by pelagic hunters, who secure only about one-fourth of all they kill. There is no doubt in my mind that unless immediate protection be given to the ^p^-otectioa neces. Ahiskau furseil the species will be practically de- stroyed in a very few years; and in order to protect them i)elagi(' hunting must be absolutely piohibited. ]Sr. B. — The foregoing is substantially the same testimony that I gave to the commissioners who visited the islands in 1891. J. C. Eedpath. RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 153 Subscribed and sworn to before me, au officer empowed to administer oatlis nnder section 197(), T'evised Statutes of tlie United States, on this tlie 3d day of June, 181)2, at St. Paul Island, Alaska. W:\i. H Williams, Treasury Agent in Charg, of /Seal Islands. Deposition of George 11. Tetnple, assistant agent of lessees on St. Paul Island. habits, management. State of Vermont, County of Orange, ss: George H. Temple, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 32 years old ; a native of Vermont, Avhere I now reside. I was bred to the occupation ot larmrng, and am at present a hardware merchant in my luitive town of llaiidolph. From 1880 to 1882 I was employed by the Alaska Commercial Com- pany at St. I'aul Island, Alaska, as assistant agent, and in that position became familiar with the work of handling, driving, and herding the killable seals, and with the habits and ]:)eculiarities of the breeding seals on the rookeries, both of which liave, in t!ie main, been accurately and intelligently described by II. W, Elliott in his "Eeport on the Seal Islands of Alaska," publislied by the Department of the Interior, Census Office, 1884. I think he might, however, have made his description of tlie animals and the manner of obtaining their skins for market more intelligible to the ordinary reader by following more closely the analogy between the seals and iarm animals, which invariably strikes the ob- server who is familiar with the rearing, handling, and slaughtering of both. A farmer on going to the seal islands at once notices, as I did, that the term " seal hunting," so called, conveys no idea of the business of taking seals for their skins as it is there of^'Jais^*''' ciiaraettr carried on. It is in no sense "hunting," the work of bringing in for slaughter from their accust;)med haunts and slaying such number of killable seals from day to day as will serve as a day's work for those engaged in the killing being in no way different from that pursued by the farmer in driving up his farm herd and selecting and killing such as he sees fit; the only difference being that, in tln^ case of the seals, the pasture in which they feed is the broad ocean, out of which the seal farmer can not drive them. He must wait until they come on shore; but he can count with absolute certainty on their com- ing within his reach in due time, provided only their natural enemi(^s oppose them, and they are spared while at sea by tlieir human enemies, who may, with perfect propriety, be termed "seal hunters," The analogy can be further profitably followed by com])aringthe system usually pursued in breeding domestic animals with the methods adoi)ted by the late lessees of the seal fisheries ;,,;>":j}""*'"^ *° ^'"■'" in preserving all tlie female seals, and enough males for breeders, and also in their manner of driving, yarding, herding, select- ing for slaughter and for Ijrecding, handling tlie young, and generally in the management of the herd; the exception in this respect being found chiefly in the fact that the seals, after they are a few months old, can not be manipulated with the hands, because of their propensity to bite, but must be always kept at arm's Iciigth by the luirdmairs seal 154 TESTIMONY clnl), ill tlie nso of wliicli lie Ikm-ohu's so expert that, without striking- the seal or in auv way injiiriiiu liini, lie ])iotects himself most thoroughly against the snapping jaws and sharp teetli by which he is confronted. Before tiie young se:il leaACs the island for the first time, in the year of iiis birth, he is less vicious, or less exi^ert in the ^ diiii" SI als tame. o a • ± ^t i i "in i^ixi* use of his teeth, and may be jneued up by the nippers, or, if necessary, mariced or branded; and at tlie i)ro)>er season of the year I think 81> or !)(> per cent of all the young could be brought up iVoni the beaclies and so dealt witli. I make these stateineiits because 1 have heard it said that the seals are wild animals and cau not be iden titled as belonging to. any ])artic- ular herd or rookery wdieu off on the feeding grounds where they are ('ai)tured by the marine seal hunters. I again visited St. Paul Island and remained there several days in No ,h\nt:t'j:c h\ i.s- tlic suiumer of 1toined vivacity on the day folh)wing the drive. There are always some disabled seals on the beaches described by JVIr. Elliott as "hospital rookeries," where those maiihed in the con- flict for supremacy on the breeding grounds and decrepit tdd males too old for further service, haul uj) to rest and heal tlieir wounds. The nniiiber of sucli animals is never large; in pro|>(ntiou to the whole herd, and all others represent the highest type of virility, vigor, and strength. Geo. II. Temple. Subs'iibed and sworn to at Randidph, Vermont, this l.'Uh day of June, A. D. ISDU, lielbie me, J. B. Eldredge, [seal.] Notary Puhlic. Deposition oj Scth ^f. Waslihurn, asftifttant arjcnt of lessees and teacher on *S7. Paid Island'. management — HABITS. State oe Verm(>nt, Countij oj Windsor, ss: I, Seth M. Washburn, depose and on oath say: That I am 42 years of age, and reside in Bethel, Vermont, where I h.ave been a merchant since 1S78. 1 was born in IJandolph, Ver- mont, and lived thereuntil 1S74. 1 was a graduate of the State Normal RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 155 Scliool of Veriiioiit, and in 1874 was employed by the Alaska Commercial Company, the late lessees oftlie Alaska, seal (isheries, to .ao to the Island f)fSt. Paul of the l^iibilol^rou]), ns Assistant Agent and teacher. 1 went there iu 1874 and remained continuously until 1877, my residence there covering four sealing- seasons. IVIy duties as Assistant Ag-ent re- quired me to familiarize mys(df with the habits of the seals, the mauuer of driving' them from the rookeries, and the killing them and preserv- ing their skins. In doing this the rookeries were uuder my daily ob- servation. Moreover, from tlie isolated character of the life on St. I'aul Island, and the fact that the whole business and resources of the islanders and the al and overshadowing- subject of conversation a.nd observation anu)ng- the inhabitants. The density of the seal population on the rookeries ia the same each season; an inciease of seal life simplv extends the space ,. , . oecui)ied by the rookeries. l>y observing- each year the extent of ground covered with breeding- seals, and comparing- it, one year with another, an observer can easily determine whether the seals are stationary, increasing-, or diminishing- in numbers. From year to year, when I was at St. Paul, the mnnber of seals increased, and the increase was constant. This 1 know from my own careful ob- servation of the herds an Increase, 18(4- I8i7. the number of seals at St. I'aul, hi Ibi i, at a to 10 per cent, at least, greater than the first season I was there (1874). The number of non-breeding males of suital)le age and body for kill- ing was in each year largely in excess of the uuml)er „, , ,. , l)ermiLted to be kille. a citizen of the United States and a resident of PasoEo- bles, (Jah, where I am employed in general business. ExiKiicnce. I lirst went to Alaska in the Ijark Golden Gate, Captain Scanunon, June 10, 1805, on the American Telegraph Expedition and explored the country about Bering Sea from St. Michaels north returning in Sei)tember, 18(J7. In the spring of 1808 I returned to Alaska soon after its purchase by the United States. I went for (he late John Parrott, of San Francisco, direct to the islands of St. Paul and St. George. We were the lirst parties who went to those islands after the purchase, and commenced taking seals about the 1st of July. We and other parties took about i.^S^Jgls '^''''=' Or),()()0 that year from St. George Island alone. We killed no females except by accident, for the reason that we thou^4it at that time the skins of females were worthless. No sealing was done at the Pribilof Islands during the seasons of 1809 and 1870 except for food for the natives, the Gov- ^.^ soaiin - on ernment having declared these islands a reservation, islands in isGDanaisTo and the lessees did not perfect the lease in time to except tor loo.i. commence operations that year (1870). From the start I was employed by the Alaska Commercial Company and remained in their service until 1870, in charge of the companies' business on St. George Island. In 1871 ExperieDc^ ■, ,-.- ,^/,rv 1 J 1 u_ • 1 1 1 j-1 1 -Number killeil on we took 2o,000 seals on that island, and the regular isian.i in i87i. quota each year thereafter. During the season of 1 870 tahiin'''"f[iota "from 1 was in charge of their business at St. Paul Island, isto-tg. We had no difticulty during my seven years residence at the island in obtaining the full quota; nor could I discover at any time any diminution of the number of seals annually hauling up at the island. ' When the period arrived for their coming to land, the shore literally swarmed with seal life. It was the uniform policy of the lessees to carefully preserve and protect Policy of lessees. for breeding purposes all female seals; and, as their agent, I was instructed to exercise all possible care and caution for the preservation of the female when driving or killing. I observed a perceptible increase annually in the num- increase of female?. ber of females arriving at the island, due, in my judg- ment, to the care exercised by those charged with their custody. I was also instructed to use the greatest care and can- . .^^ _^^^ ^ tion in driving and killing the bachelor seals in order billing."" """^ """ not to injure those not wanted for their skins, but to drive them back from the killing grounds into the sea. 157 158 TESTIMONY Poaeliing in Bering- Sea had not begun in those years, and it was a rare tiling to find a dead pu]) about tiie sliores or on n^" i"iiniiiiiji ill ^\^^, loolceries. I had frequent oecasion after tlie close those days. ,. , i i t i ■ .^ n , ,.-,-, i ot the breeding season to visit all parts of tlie island, and there was no apix'ariince of gaunt or starved seals. Occasionally a dead pup was found that liad been crushed to death, by the bulls in their encounters with each other. I have always taken a great interest in the sealing industry, and felt a great desire to have them protected from destruction, peK4T8eaiinir'^ ^^ ?"f^ 1 Say, without hesitation, that the great decrease in the number now annually arriving at the seal ishinds is due entirely to the hilling of female seals by pelagic hunters. It has been my custom in the last few years to examine the logs of sealing vessels and to converse with officers and hunters Waste of life; as of such vesscls iu 01 der to obtain Avhat information I learned from vessels ii j.xi j^ii i iiix ij_i logs. could as to the methods cmiiloyed by hunters, and the loss of seals occasioned in such puisuit. From the logs T learned that in many instances one hundred rounds of ammu- nition had been fired to each skin secured, and often more; and on an average 1 found that not over five seals to the hundred shots had been obtained. The logs further showed that a large number had been wounded and lost. T also ascertained from the logs, and from conversation with masters of sailing schooners, that not one seal out often killed or wounded had been caught. These iiupiiries I pursued at Sau Francisco until quite recently. The chief killing by poachers uas done between the passes of Aleu- , „, ... tian Archipelago and the I'ribilof Islands. \V liere most of kill- ^i i ■ ,^ i • in j • « iiig by poaeiieis is i luivB uo cxact lutormation as to the proportion ot '^"rroportiou of le "i^^^^ 'i^'^^ feiualc seals killed by pelagic hunters, but it males killed. is luy hiiii couvictiou, from my knowledge of the habits of the males in not leaving the islands during the breeding season and the well-known fact that mother Females leedintr. i ^ i. t • x • i x- j- i i -i seals go great distances in search oi food while nursing their young, that the females are slaughtered in great numbers during their journeys to and from the islands by jjclagic hunters. " GeoivGE R. Adams. Sul)scribed and sworn to before me this Oth day of April, 1892. [SEAL.] E. A. Stowell, Notary Fublic. Dc]}osUion of JTarrij N. Clarl-j employe of lessees on St. George Island. management, habits, and pelagic sealing. State of California, County of Tehama, ss: Harry IS". (3]ark, ha\iiig bcfMi duly sworn, de])oses and says: Tain ,,.;,„.,, ^-5 years old, a native of V^'rmont, and now a resident ^''*^"^"^'' of Vina, Tehama (bounty Cal., and by occupation fore- man of vineyard culti\ation at (lovernor Stnnford's Vina ]\anch. From 1881 to 188!), inclusive, 1 was in the employ of the Alaska Com- mercial Company of San Francisco, on St. George Island, Alaska, en- gaged through each sealing season as"boss"of a gang of seal-hunters, ami ill the winter, excepting that of 188(5 and 1887, as teacher and storekeeper on that island. EELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 159 My work as the leader of the "sealing gang" gave me as perfect opportunity as conkl be had for studying the habits and peculiarities of the seal and determining the best manner of caring for tliem. The condition of seal life was the principal topic of discussion and thought during the summer months, and the only one of particuhii' in- terest. All became familiar with it, and watched every change in the breeding grounds or number of killable seals as carefully as a farmer watches the increase or decrease of his flocks and herds. The compact order in whicli the breeding seals arrange tliemselve.4 upon the "rookeries" upon their arrival in the spring, completely lill- ing the ground first taken before spreading over adjoining space, en- ables one to see at a glance, as the season advances, wlietlser, if he re- members the land nuirks to which they filled out in former years, they have grown more or less numerous. I did not notice any falling oif in the size of the "roolveries" from the land marks to which they came when I first saw them during the first two years 1 was on the island, ^..^'^".^•'"•;\'^''.'" and all agreed, in discussing the nnitter, that the seals nVig island I'sss." had never been more numerous tlian they then were; but in the following years, and i)articularlv in 1888 and Subscqucntde- 1889, no other opinion was heard than that the ani- mals had very greatly diminished, and in this opinion I fully coincided. Dead "pup" seals, whicli seenunl to have starved to death, grew very numerous on the "rookeries" these latter years; ^ and I -noticed when driving the "bachelor" seals for '" ''"^*''' killing, as we started them u]) from the beach, that many small "pui)s," half starved, apparently motherless, had wandered away Irom the breeding grounds and became mixed with the killable seals. The na- tives called my attention to these waifs, saying that it did not use to be so, and that the mothers were dead; otherwise they would be u])ou the breeding grounds. While I was upon the island the seal herd was, I believe, most wisely managed, so fiir as we were able to control them; l)ut we could not prevent the destruction which was carried ' ""asfi'i'-nt. on by Victoria and San Francisco seal-hunters from vessels and boats beyond our reach. I never noticed any disproportion of the sexes that would lead me to suspect that the "bull" seals were too few, nor more than an occasional barren "cow." These latter were so brtwerlrt'i'e's(''xoH'' few as to excite no remark; but if any such disproptu'- tion did, in lact, exist in 1888 and 1880 it was the fault of those who killed them at sea, because it never occurred at all until the marine hunters became numerecies is most natnral. From my experience with bi)tli 1 am able to declare positively that it is easier to manage and handle young seals than calves or Iambs. 160 TESTIMONY Large numbers of the former are customarily driven up in the f;jll hy the natives, to kill a certain number for food, and all could be "rounded up" as the prairie cattle are, if there was any need for doing so. All „ ., .,., ,. , the herd so driven are lifted up one by one and exam- Po3Sibilitv of brau:l- . , , i i -i ■ j-i • ■!.• „ i i i iiigaiuimnrkins. uumI as to scx, and whuc in this position each could be branded or marked if necessary. If the seal rookeries were my personnl property I should regard the task of branding all the young as no more dilTicult or onerous than the branding of all my calves if I were engaged in breeding cattle upon the ])rairies. The same force that has heretofore been engaged on the Pribilof Is- lands in killing seals in the summer could easily drive up and brand, in a i'ljw days in the fall months, all the "])up" seals born on the islands. The young seals at birth are very helpless. They sJin^ ^*^''™'"'^ *° ^'"^^^ ^"^^ swim and seem to have no desire to loarn. When they are six or seven weeks old, if the beach on which they lie slopes down very gradually to the water and the waves roll in on it, they will voluntarily commence to paddle about and Hnally get afloat without i)articular urging from the older seals, but if the rocks are abrui)t at the water's edge the old ones must push them over into the sea or seize them by the neck, as a mother cat handles her kit- ten, and drop them into the water before they will learn to swim. In such cases the "pups "often struggle to get back upon land. Daring my stay upon St. George Island several attempts were made by poachers to get on shore and steal the seal, but i.am'is!^'' "" ^^® '®" they succeeded, as far as I am aware, only on three occasions, and in all those three I do not think they killed more than 1,200 or 1,500 seals, including pups. If any others had effected a landing we should have known it, for the rookeries were constantly watched and the natives are very keen in this matter. During the summer months fogs envelop the seal islands or cover ciiniato. tlic sca a sliort distance from them a considerable por- tion of the time. Sealing vessels are enabled thereby to carry on their work without T, , , ... ... . detection at almost any point, and could and would, I rrolnbitKiTi within i "^ i i • -i i. • 1 fy f^J ^Vashington, ss: Samuel F.'ilconer, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 01 Ex erience ycars of age, and am now a wool-groA\er by occupation. experience. ^^^ residcuce is Falconer, McLean County, State of North Dakota. In 1870, in the month of October, having been RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 161 appointed assistant Treasury agent for the seal island.^ in Bering Sea, I proceeded to said islands, and from that time until August, 1870, I remained constantly in charge of St. George Island, excepting during the winter of lS71-'75. For a few days during each one of these years I visited St. Paul Island, never remaining tliere for any length of time, however. Each season while I Avas located at the islands I made a careful examination of the breeding gi onnds on St. George Island, not- ing particularly the areas covered by them. The result of my obser- vations was that there was marked increase in these ^ . , , areas from 18^1 to 18*0, and necessarily a correspond- ino .sromuis irom ing increase iu seal life, for no matter whether the seals ^^^^i-is^". are few or many in number tliey always crov:d together on the breed- ing grounds as closely as i)Ossib]e. In my judgment this increase was fully 25 per cent. One fact alone pruved conclusively that there had been a considerable increase, for in 1871 1 noticed passages left by the old bulls through the breeding gr(nin(ls for the bachelors to pass to and from the hauling grounds located back of the breeding grounds. In subsequent years these passages were entirely blocked up by the breeders. There was always during these six years an ^, „ I^'vcpss of ni'lls excess of adult, vigorous bulls, for breeding purposes, and large numbers of these hauled up back of and about the breeding grounds awaiting an opportunity to take the place of some wounded or aged bull unable longer to maintain a harem. In 1873 I assisted Prof. Henry W. Elbott in making his measure- ments and estimates of the number of seals on St. George Island. We set up stakes at some distance esHmlted;""^*"" ''""" from the breeding rookeries while they were occupied. Then when the seals were gone we sighted along these stakes to de- termine t\\Qi back lines of the rookeries a.nd measured the areas thus deternuned with a tape line, using our judgment by observing the nature of the ground to determine tlie curvature of these areas. We then calculated from our observations three seals to a square yard, and multiplying the yards in the areas measured by three made our estimate. I think the measurements were made as accurately as could be done by the means and instruments employed; however, I am convinced that no estimate of any kind, no matter how accurately the measure- ments are made, would give even approxinmtely the number of seals on the island, for the animals are constantly in motion, coming and going, and there seems to be almost as many in the water as on land. It is as impossible to estimate them as it is to estimate a swarm of bees. But accurate measurements would show conclusively, if made from year to year, whether or not the seals were iiu'reasing or decreasing. I have no recollection of ever having seen a dead pup on the breeding grounds, but I have seen a considerable number of silver gray pups— that is, those that liave learned to swim— ro,^fericr^ ^'"^'■'' "^ which had been killed by being dashed against the rocks by the surf. While I was on the island 1 became familiar with the methods of driving and handling the bachelor seals pursued by the natives, who were the only persons who ever drove, aih'in"'" '^"'' ^^'^^' handled, or killed these seals. I am ]>ositive the meth- ods can not be improved ujioii, and that if no other agency is at work in destroving seal life 1()U,(KK) bachelor seals can be taken „ trom the l/ribilot islands Nearly tor an uMlehmteiK'nod, provided the rookeries were iu the sanu' coudition th(\v werein 1871. Of this I am convinced from the fact that the seals continued to iucreasQ 271G— VOL II 11 162 TESTIMONY during all tlie time I was upon tlie islands, wlion 100,000 were killed every year, except one, when or),()(M> were taken. Tlie breeding rook- eries were never disturbed in anyway, and most stringent regulations were enforced to i)revent tbeir being molested. A female seal was sel- dom driven, not more tLan two a season on St. George, and I tliink they were in all cases barren cows, which had, because of their barren- ness, hauled up with the bachelors. Tlie greatest care was always taken not to overheat the seals in driv- ing them, and when a seal was by accident smothered the skin was re- n?oved and counted in th.e number allowed to be taken by the lessees. There Avere not, to the best of my recollection, twenty-live seals killed during any one season on St. George by overdriving. Whenever the sun came out while a ''drive" Avas in progress the driving at once ceased, so great was the care taken n(»t to overheat the seals. I never saw or heard of a ca.se where a male seal was seriously in- jured by driving or redriving. Certainly the reproductive powers were never in the slightest degree impaired by these means. When we con- sider that the bulls, while battling on the rookeries to maintain their positions, cut great gashes in the flesh of their necks and bodies, are covered with gaping wounds, lose great quantities of ^' blood, fast on lihe islands for three or four months, and then leave the islands lean and covered with scars, to return the fol- lowing season fat, healthy, and full of vigor, to go through again the same mutihition, and repeating this year after year, the idea tliat driv- ing or redriving, which can not possibly be as severe as their exertions during a combat, can affect such unequaled vigor and virility, is utterly X)reposterous and ridiculous. To show the wonderful vitality of the male seal, I will give one instance which came under my onyii observa- tion : A drive of about 3,000 bachelors had been made, and after going a short distance was left in charge of a boy'; by his negligence they escaped from his control, and the whole number plunged over a clilf, falling 00 feet upon broken stones and rocks along the shore. Out of the whole number only seven were killed, the remainder taking to the water; and these seven met death, I believe, from being the first to go over and the others falling u^ion them smothered them. As long as a seal is not overheated in driving he could be driven any number of successive days without in any way im])airing or aftecting in the slightest degree his procreative powers, of course always pro- vided the natives use the same methods in driving that they always have done. Seal life I am positive was never affected in this manner on tlie I'ribilof Islands, During the time I was on St. George Island there never was a raid „ ., , . on the rookeries to my knowledge, and I never heard No raid on rookeries. ,. , . , ' , . , r i oi any such raid ever having taken place. I am of the o[)iiiion, from what I know of the habits and nature ,, ,.,... of the fur seal and what I have learned of open-sea I'loliiliitioiiTieccs'^ary. .1,-1 ti -i -i i- i i i i i i i sealing, that the Pribilot seal herd should be pro- tected in all waters which they fre<]ueiit. Otherwise it is only a matter of a very short t inie before they will be exterminated. During the six years 1 Vfas on the islands the condition of the natives was wonderful] v inqjroved. AVhen 1 came there they oftKuvcs""'^'""" ^^'*'i'^"' partially dressed in skins, living in filthy, un- wholesome turf huts, which were heated by fires with bluf)ber as fuel; they were igiioi'ant and extremely dirty. When I left they had exchaiigeil their skin garments for well made warm woolen C3 q: o u O h- CO z o CD z Q _l QQ _l O O I o CO RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 163 clothes; tbey lived in substantial fiaiue houses heated by coal stov(»s; they had become cleanly, and the childieu were attending school eight months in the year. Tliey were then as well off as well-to-do working- men in the United States, and received much larger wages. IsTo man was compelled to work, but received pay through liis chief for the work accomplished by him. A native could at any time leave the islands, but their easy life and love for their home detained them. When T first went there the women did a good share of nninual labor, but wlien F came away all the hard work was done by the men. I do not recall a single instance in liistory where there has been such a marked change for the better by any people in such a short time as there has been in the Pribilof Islanders since the United States Government took control of these islands. If the seals became extinct, I can not conceive what these natives would do for a livelihood; they know no other occni)ation save seal driving, which has been pursued by them and their ancestors for a century. The destruction of the seal herd would result in removing their sole means of sustenance and Extinction of seal ,,.-■■ i'- 1 • J. i. 1 111 iiu';iiis starvation or in then' being plunged into poverty, and pntbable re- baibansui lomativcs. turn to barbarism. The only way to keej) them from starvation would be to remove them from the islands, and for the Gov- ernment to siii)port them. Samuel Falconer. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary [uiblic in and for the District of Columbia, U. S. A., this 19th day of April, 1892. SEVELLON a. IjEOWN. Exiierienco. Deposition of Samuel Falconer, Assistant Treasury Agent in charge of St. George Island. HABITS. District of CoLiTiMnTA, Citii of ]V<(,slini(/f<)n, ss: Samuel Falc!)ii('r, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 61 years of age, and am now a woolgrower by occupation. My residence is Falconer, McLean County, State of North Dakota. • In 18()8, during the month of October 1 went to Sitka, being located there as deputy collector of custcnus, in which position I remained until Sei^tember, 18G9. I then was em])Ioyeartit ularly interrogating the natives on the islands as to each doubtful point. 164 TESTIMONY The fur -seal only lands n])oii the Pribilof Group of islands. Of this fact I ain thoroughly eoiiviueed from earefully qiies- i,,?,'7j}:^ji>''''^"^" tioiiino- natives ot Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, and also froui n)y coasting experience as purser on board the Constantine. In all the years I passed in these localities I never heard of a seal landing anywhere except on the Pribilof Islands. This seal herd is migratory, leaving the islands in the fall or early winter and returning again tlie following spring; and Migration. it is my Opinion that the adult males, called "bulls," return as near as they are able to the same place on the same rookery year after year. In fact the natives pointed out to me one old bull who had returned to the same rock for five years successively. The reason the seals have chosen these islands for their home is be- cause the Pribilof Group lies in a belt of fog, occa- why seals ciiooso gxoncd by the watcrs of the Arctic Ocean coming down from the north and the warmer waters of the Pacific ilowing north and meeting at about this ]>oint in Bering Sea. It is necessary that the seals should have a misty or foggy atmosphere of this kind while on land, as sunshine has a very injurious effect upon them. Then too, the islands are so isolated tliat the seal, which is a very timid animal, remains here undisturbed, as every precaution is taken not to disturb the animals while they are on the rookeries. The mean temperature of the islands is during the winter Temperainre. ^^^^^^ ^(jo j?.^ and iu summcr about 430. I know of no other locality which possesses these peculiarities of moisture and tem- perature. The grounds occupied by the seals for breeding purposes are along the coast, extending from high-Avater mark back to the cliffs, which abound on St. George Island. The young males or "bachelors," not being allowed to land on these breeding places, lie Haulinn' u:v(iniKls. i i x- *" i i i.i ^ i- '1 back 01 and around these breednig grounds on areas designated "hauling grounds." Ayoung seal or "pup" when first born weights from 6 to 8 pounds, is almost black in color, and is covered with a short "''■''■ hair, which changes to silver gray hair when the pup learns to swim. . The phrce of birth is on the breeding grounds, which takes place soon after the female lands, generally within two days. When first born a pup can not swim, and does not learn so to do until it is six or eight weeks of age. It is therefore utterly impossible for a pup to be born in the water and live. I liave noticed that when a pup pos'ibTe'^ '""' "" ^^ ^^^^ ^8^ ^'^ P^^^ ^'^ ^^^ water it seemed to have no idea of the use of its flippers, and was very much ter- rified. A pup is (MM'tainly for the first six or eight weeks of its liife a land animal, and is in no sense amphibious. During anq.hTum™. ^"^'^ ""' tliis pcriod also a pup moves very much like a young- kitten, usingits hind flippers as feet. A mother seal will at once recognize her pup by its cry, hobbling over a thousand bleating pui)S to rea(;h her own, and every other ai>pr()ac!iing her save this one little animal she will diive away. From this tsict it is my opinion that if a i)np lost its mother ])v anv accident it would cer- starvalion'.'''''' '^"' "'' Mainly die of starvation, for it would not be allowi^d to derive nourishment from any other female. A pup, however, seems not to distinguish its mother from the other females about it. When six or eight weeks of age the older seals, generally the mothers, force the young seals into the water and teach tliem to swim. RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 165 I liave seen a motlier seal carry lier pup out a little way into tlie water and force the little animal to use its liii)pers. Finally, after repeated trials, tlie pup learns to swim, T^e'''™"'g to swim. and from that time on spends a good deal of time in the water; but still the greater portion of these first months of its life are spent on land sleeping and nursing. A good many pups are killed at this period of life by being dasheil :against the rocks by the surf, which is particularly violent about these islands. The only means of sustenance for a pup while it remains on the island 3S nursing, which it continues till it takes its departure ^, ^ ..^'. -K-r 1 1 X, J. 1 ■ Sustenance of pups. sometime m ISTovember, as a rule; but during one ex- ceptionally warm winter some seals remained about the island during the whole winter. During this first summer of their existence, after the breeding grounds have been broken up, it is possible to take posses- sion of every pup on the islands and mark them so they could be recog- nized in the future. I am of the opinion that, provided the weather remained the same the year round as it is in the summer, that tlie seal herd would stay in the vicinity of the Pribilof Islands during the entire year, for the seal evidently considers these islands its sole home. The cause of leaving is, as I believe, the approach of . . cold weather, with snow and ice, and perhaps a lack of '^"**^° ^^'^^^ '°"' food supply. On leaving the island the pup goes southward with his mother and companions through the Aleutian passes into the Pacific Ocean. While I was acting as purser on the steamer ConstanUne I ob- served during the months of January, February, and March numerous seals in the inland waters or along the coast between Port Townsend and Sitka. Never a day passed but on looking over the rail seal could be seen sleeping on or disporting in the waters. One day in the bay of Sitka I saw several hundred seals asleep in the water, but at the splash of an oar they immediately disapi)ear. These seals were in all cases much more timid than about their island home, Avhere they evidently realize they are practically safe. During June and the first part of July the females and pups go through the Passes, and, entering Bering Sea. again seek the islands. During their second summer the young seals herd together, the females not going upon the breeding grounds. Again in the fall they leave their home on the approach of cold weather and make the second mi- gration south. After this migration the females, now "two year-olds" or " virgin cows," goon the breeding rookeries, and the young males on the hauling grounds. The temale this season is probably fertilized. As a general rule the impregnation is by the bull, to whose harem she belongs, and not by the young males, as has sometimes been stated. These young males always pursue a female when she is allowed to leave the harem and go in the Avater, but she refuses them. 1 am posi- tive from my observations that copulation in the water possible!' "'"'**'^'^'™' could not be effectual, and would be a most unnatural occurrence. After this season and the migration following, the three-year-old cow lands again on the breeding rookery and gives birth to ^r • . J J I'll* UDFpfll'OllS* one pni); two at a birth is as rare an occurrence as a cow bringing forth two calves, and during my entire experience I never heard of this happening but once. The cow after bringing forth her young remains on the rookery until again fertilized by the bull, which is, I believe, within two weeks. After the fertilization she is allowed to go to and ti'oiu the water at will, in search of food, which she must 166 TESTIMONY 1 obtain so slie can nurse her ])up. She goes on these feeding excursions sonieiiinos, 1 beliexe, 10 or more miles from the islands, and as slie swims Avith great rapidit>', covers the distance in a short time. She may go nuicli farther, for I ha\'e known a cow to be absent from her pup tor two (Uiys, leaving it without nourishment for this period. Tliis vshows how tena.ious of life a young seal is, and how hnig it can live Mithout sustcMiance of any sort. The three-year-old male has meanwhile landed on the hauling grounds and is now of the most availa))le age to kill for his pelt. When the male reaches the age of seven or eight years he seeks the j,^^jj^ rookeries, and is then able to maintain his position against his fellows. He has come earlier than formerly to the islands, having arrived in May, and after a little investigation jj^^.^^^^ has landed upon the breeding grounds, giving battle to all who endeavor to usurp his place. I have seen twenty cows or more abont a bull, but of course the exact nuniber in a harem is a matter of conjecture, as many cows are absent in the water at all times after the season has fairly commenced. I am of the opinion a bull can easily and effectively serve fifty or more cows in a season, and I think at hrst he will fertibze six to eight a day. From their arrival in May for three or foar months the bulls remain constantly upon the rookeries, never leaving their positions and never eating or drinking, and sleeping very little. When they arrive they are enor- uKmsly fat, weighing from 500 to 700 pounds, butwheu they depart in August or September they are very lean and lank. The principal food of the fur seal is fish, which abound in all j)arts -p^^^^^ of Bering Sea, except in the neighborhood of the Pribi- lof Islands during the season the seals are on land. I have seen a fish in the mouth of a seal in the water, and have also seen fish in their stomachs when cut open. It is my belief they eat some kelp also The above facts in relation to the habits of the fur seals are from my own observations, wliich have in all cases l)een corroborated by the natives on the island of St. George, with whom I had mauy conver- sations in relation to these matters. Samuel Falconer. Snbscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, U. S. A., this 19th day of April, 180l>. Sevellon A. Brown. Deposition of Samuel Falconer^ assistant Treasury agent in charge of St. George Island. PRiBiLor rookeries. District of Columbia, Citg of Washington ss: Samuel Falconer, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am Gl years of age and am now a wool grower bj' occupation. My xpeiiencc. residence is Falconer, McLean County, State of North Dakota. In October, 1870, having been a])i)ointed assistant Treas- ury agent foi' the seal islands in Bering Sea, I i^roceeded to said islands and from that time until Au,nist, 1870, I remained con- stantly iu charge of St. George Island, excex)ting during the winter of RELATING TO ST. GEORGP: ISLAND. 1G7 1874-'75. For a few days diiriiig' each one of tliese years 1 visited St. Paul Island, never remaining- there for any length of time, however. I''ach season while 1 w as located on the islands I made a careful ex- amination of the breeding grounds on St. George Island, noting particu- larly the areas covered by them; and I now recollect the coiulition of said rookeries and the approximate area which each of tliem covered in the year 1874. I have carefully examined the lines ^,^ -n-.f,, drawn by Thomas F.Morgan on exhibits signed by him c- ii utV-s" in a"86 Northeast 800 July 3. Northern 8. Northeast 9. Northern 14. Near and northeast. 15. Near and northeast. 16. Starrie Arteel 18. Southwest 19. Northeast 22. Northern 24. Northern 792 641 548 263 534 5(8 411 871 778 ^■6 10, 000 RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLANT). IGO isrs. Killed for food 252 June 1. Starrie Arteel aud uear. 50 9. Starrie Arteel and near. 256 11. Northeast 177 14. Starrie Arteel and uear. 307 16. Northeast 358 18. Starrie Arteel aud uear. 334 19. Southwest 1, 294 23. Northeast 666 24. Starrie Arteel aud uear. 540 June 28. Northeast G92 30. Starrie Arteel aud uear. 1,412 July 5. Northeast 717 7. Starrie Arteel aud uear. 1, 019 12. Northeast 1, {i73 14. Northern 676 17. Northern 177 10, 000 1S76. Killed for food during fall aud winter Juufl 1. Northern 8. Starrie Arteel 12. Northeast 12. Southwest 15. Stai-rie Arteel and uear. 22. Northeast Killed for food in fall aud winter June 1. Northeast 11. Starrie Arteel 13. Northeast 14. Southwest 1, ^ 18. Starrie Arteel aud north- ern 1, 20. Northeast 22. Starrie Ai'teel and near. June 24. 307 27. 108 28. 372 July 3. 388 6. 599 7. 784 581 1877. June 23. 256 26. 198 29. 702 July 3. 578 6. 389 9. 10. 154 838 871 Starrie Arteel and near. 2, 067 Northeast 1,168 Starrie Arteel and near. 1,023 Northeast 1, 259 Starrie Arteel and near. 1, 027 Northeast 317 10, 000 Northeast 552 Starrie Arteel 1, 860 Northeast 1, 589 Starrie Arteel and uear. 1, 669 Northeast 2, 164 Northern 300 Northeast 880 15, 000 1878. Killed for food in fall and winter 405 June 10. Northeast ■ 385 14. Southwest 1, 07 1 17. Starrie Arteel aud north- ern 858 19. Southwest 717 22. Starrie Arteel and near. 570 25. Northeast 324 27. Southwest 851 28. Southwest 517 July 1. Northeast.' (544 July 4. 8. 9. 12. 13. 15. 17. 19. 21. Starrie Arteel aud near. Southwest 1, Northeast Starrie Arteel 1, Southwest Southwest 1, Northeast 1 . Northern 1 , Starrie Arteel 1 . Northeast 1 , 930 433 793 3- »•» 328 025 892 290 577 114 18, 000 1879. June 3. Killed for food in fall and winter Near 811 69 415 105 413 372 445 498 755 430 473 515 574 882 June July 25. 27. 27. 30. 3. 3. 4. 5. 7. 9. 14. 15. 16. Southwest Soutliwest Starrie Arteel Northeast Starrie Arteel. 522 286 1 17() 10. 11. Northeast Southwest l,.-)84 1,112 12. 13. Starrie Arteel and near. Southwest Southwest Soutliwest Northeast Northern 849 351 16. 17. Northeast Southwest Starrie Arteel and north- ern Southwest 535 1. 738 19. Starrie Arteel Northeast 1.261 1,636 20. Northern ... 8(i3 20. Northeast Southwest 800 23. 23. 25. Starrie Arteel and near. Southwest Northeast 20, 000 170 TESTIMONY ISSO. Killed for food in fall and wiutor 1. June 8. North 8. Nortlienst 11. ytarric Artcid 14. Northeast 15. Southwest 17. Starrie Artoel 17. Zapadnie 19. Zapadnie 19. Northeast 21. Starrie Arteel and near. 1, 21. Southwest 23. Northeast June 25. 1(19 25. 81 28. 333 28. 562 SO. 351 July 1. 734 v>. 557 2. 254 5. 223 6. 596 7. 182 9. 618 811 Southwest 8.33 Starri.e Arteel 1, 320 Northeast, 1,704 Southwest : 843 Starrie Arteel 808 Northeast 392 Sonthwest 961 Northern 954 Starrie Arteel 515 Northeast 1,481 Southwest 1,810 Northeast 948 20,000 1S81. Killed for food in fall and w inter 640 June 9. Northern 611 13. Northern 916 15. Southwest 494 16. Starrie Arteel 615 20. Starrie Arteel 445 21. Northeast 575 21. Southwest 447 23. Southwest 227 23. Starrie Arteel 288 24. Northeast 553 27. Starrie Arteel 814 28. Northeast 744 28. Southwest 373 30. Southwest 324 June 30. Starrie Arteel 707 July 1. Northeast 1,371 4. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 1, 179 6. Sonthwest 476 7. Northeast 1, 350 8. Starrie Arteel 362 11. Northeast 1, 300 12. Starrie Arteel 498 12. Sonthwest 769 14. Southwest. 590 13. Northeast 1, 705 15. Northern 1, 627 20, 000 Killed for food in fall and winter. June 6. Northern 12. Starrie Arteel and north- east 16. Starrie Arteel and north- east 19. Starrie Arteel and north- east 22. Starrie Arteel and north- east 24. Starrie Arteel and north- east 26. Starrie Arteel and north- east 29. Stari'ie Arteel and north- east July 1. Starrie Arteel and Jiorth- east Killed for food in fall and winter. June 12. Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 15. Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 19. Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 22. Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 25. Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 1SS3. July 3. 4. 534 26 508 887 926 • 847 1,192 1,040 1,273 1.063 1883. 403 June 28 7. 10. 11. 13. 14. 15. 16. 18. 19. 20. 139 283 61 379 684 30. July 2. 4. 7. 9. Starrie Arteel and north- east 910 Starrie Arteel and north- east 1,382 Starrie Arteel and north- east 1, 946 Northeastern 1, .368 Starrie Arteel and near. 1, 104 Northeastern 1, 074 Starrie Arteel 524 Northeastern 643 Starrie Arteel and near . 1, 015 Northeastern 1, 083 Northern 510 Northeastern 145 20,000 Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 442 Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 608 Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 340 Stariie Arteel and north- eastern 287 Starrie Arteel and north- eastern 645 Southwest 1,333 RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 171 1883 — Contiuued. July 10 Soutliwest 507 10. Northeast 306 11 . Starrie Arteel 260 12. Northeast 546 13. Starrie Arteel 321 16. Northeast 775 16. Southwest 1,015 17. Starrie Arteel 130 18. Northeast 467 18. Southwest 1, 216 20. Northeast 280 July 20. Southwest 1, 150 23. Starrie Arteel 766 25. Northeast 77 27. Northern 606 30. Starrie Arteel and nurlh- east 501 Aug. 6 Starrie Arteel and north- east 379 13. Northeast 94 15, 000 1884. Killed for food in fall and winter. 380 June 3. Northeast Ill 10. Southwest 1, 222 12. Starrie Arteel 690 16. Southwest 581 18. Starrie Arteel and north- east 552 21. Southwest 582 23. Starrie Arteel .598 26. Southwest 556 28. Starrie Arteel and north- east 486 July 1. Southwest 298 3. Starrie Arteel and north- east 71 July 7. Southwest 87 9. Starrie Arteel and nortii- east -. 1.260 12. Southwest 971 14. Northeast 29.S 15. 16. Northern 465 Southwest 726 17. Nortlieast 990 18. Starrie Arteel 501) 23. Southwest 795 23. Starrie Arteel 744 25. Northeast 595 26. Southwest 572 30. Starrie Arteel 640 Aug. 4. Northeast 224 15, 000 1885. Killed for food in fall and winter. 196 June 1. Northeast 118 10. Starrie Arteel and north- east 780 15. Southwest..: 775 17. Starrie Arteel 802 18. Northeast 825 22. Southwest 414 27. Starrie Arteel and north- east 1,775 29. Southwest 401 July 1. Starrie Arteel and north- east 2,287 6. Southwest 789 10. Starrie Arteel and nuitli- east 2,156 13. Southwest 1.011 16. Starrie Arteel and north- east 2,218 20. Southwest 483 15, UOO 1886. Killed for food in fall and winter. 370 June 9. Starrie Arteel and north- east 1,428 14. Southwest 831 16. Starrie Arteel and nortli- east 1,436 21. Starrie Arteel and north- east 742 21. Southwest 843 23. Northeast 343 24. Southwest 306 28. Southwest 288 29. Starrie Arteel 632 July 1. Northeast 481 July 5. Southwest 620 5. Starrie Arteel 499 6. Northeast 648 9 Starrie Arteel 865 12. Southwest 745 13. Northeast 888 15. Starrie Arteel and nortli- east 707 19. Southwest 663 20. Starrie Arteel and north- east 1,371 23. Northeast 294 15, 000 172 TESTIMONY lesr. Killed for food in fall and winter. June 8. Northeast 115. Northeast 15. Southwest 20. Southwest 20. Starrie Arteel 24. Noi'theast 27. .Sontliwest 27. Starrie Arteel and north- east 29. Northeast July 1. Starrie Arteel 4. Southwest Killed for food in fall and winter. Juiif (). Northeast 11. Southwest 11. Starrie Arteel and north- ern. 15. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 18. Southwest 18. Starrie Arteel 22. Starrie Arteel 25. South west 26. StaiTie Arteel and north- ern 27. Northeast 29. Starrie Arteel July 2. Southwest 3. Northeast 4. Starrie Arteel 6. Northeast 9. Southwest Killed for food in fall and winter. June 4. Northeast 10. Southwest 17. Southwest 18. Starrie Arteel 21. Northeast 22. Starrie Arteel and north ern 20. Southwest 25. Northeast 27. Southwest 29. Starrie Arteel 30. Southwest July 2. Starrie Arteel and nonh- ern 4. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 7. Southwest 9. Starrie Arteel 11. Southwest 13. Starrie Arteel and n-uih- ern 282 383 465 427 201 974 533 599 846 409 100 883 ! July 6. 7. 10. 11. 13. 18. 18. 20. Starrie Arteel and north- ern Northeast Southwest Starrie Arteel and north- ern Northeast Southwest Starrie Arteel Northeast Starrie Arteel and north- ern 1, 321 421 701 1, 296: 1, 509 1, 077 894 1,130 489 15, 000 18S8. July 418 121 272 455 227 427 324 764 908 894 438 341 341 530 503 648 389 18S9. 10. Starrie Arteel 1,169 11. Northeast 810 13. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 508 16. Southwest 694 17. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 1,090 19. Southwest 366 20. Starrie Arteel and nor th- ern 550 23. Southwest 179 24. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 405 25. Southwest 159 26. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 520 27. Southwest 142 27. Starrie Arteel 407 1, 293 156 275 244 773 176 284 596 496 223 429 167 275 418 229 269 192 667 July 15. Southwest 16. Starrie Arteel and north ern 18. Southwest 19. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 22. Southwest 22. Starrie Arteel and north- ern 24. Southwest 25. Starrie Arteel and north ern 27. Starrie Arteel and north ern 27. Southwest 29. Starrie Arteel and north ern 15, 000 371 1,028 439 1,140 500 628 279 1,450 942 568 613 15, 000 JiecnpituJation of seals killed for their skins on the St. George Island, Alaska, from 1871 to 1SS9, inclusive. 1871 19,077 1872 25,000 1873 25,000 1874 10.000 1875 10,000 1876 10,000 1877 15. 000 1878 18,000 1879 20, 0(X) 1880 20,000 1881 20,000 1882 20. 000 1883 15,000 1884 15,000 1885 15,000 1886 15,000 1887 15,000 1888 15,000 1889 15,000 RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 173 I, Max Heilbroniier, secretary of the Alaska Commercial CoDipaiiy, of Sail Francisco, do solemnly swear that the foregoing "sealskin record of St. George Island, Alaska, 1871 to 1881), inclnsive," is formn- lated and compiled froni the books of said company kept on said is- land, n.ow in my custody, and is correct and true according to my best knowledge and belief. Max Heilbronner, Secretary Alaska Commercial Company. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. J)eposition of Louis Kimmel, assistant Treasury agent on iSt. Georyc Island. HABITS. District of Colpmbia, City of Washington^ ss: Louis Kimmel, being duly sw(n'n, deposes and says: I am a resident of La Fayette, Indiana, and am G3 years of age. Dur- y^^^^^^,.^^^ ing the years 1882 and 1883 was the assistant Treas- m^y Agent located on St. George Island of the Frilnlof Group. 1 ar- rived on the island May 31, 1882, and remained there continuously until the latter part of July, 1883. While on the island I studied the habits of the fur seals in order that I might be able to perform my ofticial duty. The Arrival of buiis. bulls (males G years old and upwards) began to come '^ows, bacbtiors. to the island the first part of ^fay. The cows did not come till the latter l^art of the month and the first part of June. The bachelors, or young males, began to arrive about the same time as the cows. The bachelors try to land on the breeding rookeries occupied by the bulls, but are driven off by the older males and are compelled to herd together by themselves separately from the bulls and cows. A male seal is over 5 years of age before he is able to maintain himself on the breeding rookeries against the attacks of his fellows. The breed- ^, ^ .^ ,. , mg rookeries are never disturbed m any way by the em- ployes on the island and the most stringent rules are enforced against the use of firearms, allowing dogs upon the islands, or distvabing" the seals m any manner. The bachelors are the seals which are killed by the lessees of the islands, the killal)le age being from two to five years ; all seals which are not j^jui^g males or which are not of the correct age are separated from those to be killed and allowed to return to the water. Under no circumstances is it allowable to kill a female of any age. The killable seals, after being separated from the remainder of the herd, are driven by the natives to the killing grounds. After every p,.i,.ij,„ "drive" that took jilace while 1 was on the island I went back over the ground along which the seals had been driven to see if any seals had been killed by overdriving. The („.,.,.,i,.iviiiir. entire number of seals kiUed in all these "drives" did not exceed one hundred, and the maj(nity of tliem were killed by the large seals crushing the smaller ones to death. In every case of a seal being killed on the "drive," 1, as Government agent, imposed a fine in order that they might be more careful in the future. 174 TESTIMONY A COW never suckles any bnt licr own i)ui). When a strange jinp ap- l)roacIies a cow she will drive it away from her; and hefownpuiK'*'"""^-^' out of tliousauds of pups liuddlcd together she will single hero>Nn. Jt is my oi)ini()n that if a mother is killed her offspring dies of starvation. In performing my official duty _, , I frequentlv visited the breeding rookeries, and dui-ing Dean pups. i .' ?? 7 ?-< my entire stay on the island J never saw moie than iOO dead i)ni)S on all the rookeries. A new-horn jnip seal is nrahle to swim and is afraid of the watei'. I have seen a cow seal i)ush swMiir ^*^"'"'"^ *" her pup from a rock into the water Avhere it floundered about in a helpless manner uiitd the mother would go in, take it in her mouth as a cat cai ries kittens, and bring it again ashoi'c, only to again push it off the rock into the water. My observation has been that apup is general! v about two months old before sibic. it can swim. It is my opinion that a pup born m the water would drown in a very few minutes. A bull never leaves the breeding rookery during the entire breeding season, which is a period of from two to three months. Soon after a cow Females feediB"- briiigs fortli licr youug slic gocs luto the water to get food. [ know fiom actual observation that they go at least 1*0 miles from the islands, but how much farther I am unable to state. Louis Kimmel. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Soth day of March, 1892. [l. s.] Sevi:ll()N A. Brown, Notary rublic in and/or the District of Columbia, U. 8. A. Dcjwsition of Thomas F. Ixijan, assistant Treasury agent on St. George Island. HABITS, MANAGEMENT, TEL AGIO SEALING. DiSTRurr of Columbia, City of Washington, ss: Thomas F. Ryan, being dulyswoin, dc])oses aiul says: lam a resident ^^^ . _^,^^ of Indianapolis, Indiana, and am 51 years old. During vxpeneiiLi,. ^j^^ years 1885 and 1880 1 was Assistant Treasury Agent, residing on St. George Islaiul, one of the Pribilof Islands. I arri\cd there about the 1st of May, 1885, and remained there un- til August 1), 188G. In order to perform my duty as agent I made a careful study of seal life on the island, and examined Amva o seas. as far as I M'as able into the habits of the fur seal. The bulls generally begin to arrive on the island during the tirst part of the month of May. The cows begin to appear about June 1, and the young males, cr bachelor seals, about the same time. The seals which are 'Mlriven" and killed arc bachelors between the age of 2 years and 5 years. ISo females are al- x-iCemaies killed. m lowcd to bc diivcu or killed.. The breeding rookeries *"'*""'''• are never disturbed in anyway. The rule that '-the j-inarm.siorbid.ien. ^sc of firearius is foibiddcn between May 1 and iJe- cember 1, ex(;ei)t as permitted by the Government offi- cer," was enforced while I was on the island, l^o dogs are ever allowed upon the islands. The cow gives biilli to her pup soon jiiithofpups. after arriving on the breeding rookeries, and I think a RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 175 COW never gives suck to any puii save her own ; I jud o-e „ F.pmai.s nmsc onij , . „ * , f- » 1 '.•'.- their owu pups. this from my own observation. A pup does not sm im when first born, and is generally two montlis old before ^"^^ swiiuming. it goes into the water. I have seen the stomachs of several seals after they were killed and they contained only pieces offish, which seemed to be their sole food. I do not know whether they eat kelp or not, Tlie bnlls do not eat at all while on the breeding rookeries. The cows, however, eat and sometimes go 60 miles to get food, and perhaps farther. Old experienced poachers „,.^i"s\.Iain""' ^''' informed me that they remained that distance from the islands to cai>tnre the seals when they came to feed. I estimate that the seals killed by pelagic hunters are at least 90 per cent females; this estinmte is based on the great nnm- (.^^^'^''if ^j^"" *=•""* ber of motherless pups I have observed on the rook- eries, and also on statements made to me by many engaged in pelagic sealing whom I met and conversed with at Unalaska. There was but one successful raid on the rookeries while '"''* '' °" '""'""'^ ■• I was upon the island, and but 125 seals were killed. I do not consider that raids on the rookeries have anything to do with the decrease of the number of seals. I am further oriving not injuri- satisfied after my two years' experience that the driv- ing of male seals to the killing grounds by the natives could be of no possible injury to seal life on the islands. Itliinkthe seals ought to be protected both in Bering Sea and the l!^orth Pacific Ocean, and pelagic sealing entirely pro- hibited in those waters, or else a close season estab- lished, beginning March 1 and ending either Septem- ber 1 or October 1. In case the seals are not protected in this manner, I believe that they Avill be exterminated within five years. T. F. Kyan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2t>th day of March, 1892. [l. s.] Sevellon a. Brown, Notanj Public in and for the District of Columbia^ U. tS. A. Crotectiou iJcce-5- siiry. Prohibition. or close season. J)e])osition of W. B. Taylor^ assistant Treasury agent on St. George Island. management; habits; pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss : W. ]^. Taylor, of Oinalia,Nebr., being duly sworn, dei)oses and says: I a mi 41 yearsof age, Secretary andTreasurerofthe({h)be Loan andTrust Com- pany, of Omaha, Nebraska, and am not and never have been in anyway connectedwith any company engaged in the seal-skin imbistry. In tiie year 18.S1 1 was Assistant Trciisury Agent for the seal ishinds. I arrived on the islands in the latter partof May of that year, and afier a weelc's stay on St. Paul Island was detailed to St. George, reiimining there until the latter part of August. Since then I have not l)een on tlie islands. While on St. Ceorge I was on tiu3 killing grounds every . ^ day during the season, and visited the rookeries almost '-^^p""^""^' ■ daily, both m connection with my oliicial duties and for the purpose 176 TESTIMONY of studying seal life. From cnrefiilly observing the gronncls formerly o('cni)ied by breeding seals, as pointed out to nie by the natives, and from statements made me by tliose on the island, I believe there were more seals on the islands in 1881 than in any year ^jeaia numerous in previous to that time. I believe that the increase and decrease of seal life can be certainly told from accurate measurements of the breeding grounds, because the seals herd to- gether as closely as possible, whether there are few or many of them. But the number of seals can not be estimated with even approximate accuracy, because of the roughness and unevenness of the ground, and , , ,. because during the height of the season a maioritv of the females (called cows) are out at sea feeding, being often obliged to go 30 or nune miles from the islands for this purpose, and not returning till late at night. I think the number of seals here- tofore estimated has been largely exaggerated, and no dependence can be placed on any estimate as to their numbers. During the year I was on the Island of St. George I did not see to exceed twenty-five dead pups on the rookeries, and the lie ''""^ ^"^' '" bodies of these were not emaciated, but had evidently been killed by the old bulls climbing over them in their combats. From my observations 1 am convinced a pup must be G or 8 weeks old before it can swim, and that a fe- ^ Pups icannng t„ ^^^^^^ generally teaches her own pup the use of his flip- pers. Birth in the water would mean immediate death to the pup, both because of the fact last stated and from the further fact that for a day or two after birth a pup is entirely helpless. In my judgment, then, a seal pup for the first few weeks of its ^^seais land quadra- |j^^^ j^ ^ j.^^^^l quadrupcd audiuuo sense an amphibian. I believe that a seal is naturally a land animal, as all copulation, birth, and nursing takes place on shore, and theoidy reason I think the seals seek the water is because they are Jerk water only for eompellod SO to do iu ordcr to obtain food. This is veritied from the fact that the seals remain on laud as long as possible, until the need of food and severity of the weather compel them to take to the sea. A female when she returns from the feeding grounds will alwavs select her own pup from tiu'i™mvlumir °"^- i'll tli<>^««3 on the rookeries, and will give suck to no other. It is therefore my opinion that if a mother seal is killed the pup will certiiinly die of starvation. I made a very ]>aiticuhir examination and study of the methods em- i)l<)ved bv the natives in driving ai.d killing the young males, or biudielors, and in my opinion these methods are the very best that could be adopted, and I can conceive of no other way which could be employed and [>re:-'erve seal life so effectually. In starting a drive the bachelors are driven from the hauling grounds, which are separated from the breeding grounds. Great care was always taken not to disturb the breeders; no one was ever al- ree( iiigpro ec ec . Jq^^^^^i ^^ ^.^^ ^^j^ ^.j^^ i)reeding gTOuuds duriug the rutting season, all obvServations as to the habits being made from overhanging cliffs or some elevation in the vicinity of the harems. I never saw but one female kilh-d out of the 20,000 taken on St. George on^iXnds. ""* '''"''' i«l:ii»^^ i>^ 1881, and that Avas accidental. A drive is always made between 2 and (I o'clock in the morning, when the weatlu'i- is cool and there is less liability of overheating theseals. Seals are driven as slowly as is possible and still keep No overdriving. ^^^^^^^ .^^ motiou. I do Hot tliiuli that thcrc were fifty RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 177 seals killed during' the season by overheating and smothering, and in all cases the skins of these were taken and counted with the other skins transported to the salt houses. I never saw or heard of the gen- erative organs of a male seal being injured by redriving, and it seems to me to be utterly absurd that anyone could think that an animal with such wonderful vitality as is possessed by the male seal could be injured or his reproductive powers impaired by driving or redriving. If such a thing should occur it would be at once noticeable, for the im- potent bull would certainly haul up with the bachelors, having no in- clination and vigor to maintain himself on the rookeries. It is my opinion that a bull is able to serve from three to five cows a day, and certainly over a hundred in a season. I have ^ ^ . ^ seen over forty cows at one time in a harem, and the of buUs.^'* '"^' I'o^^er bull who possessed this harem was continually striving Harems to obtain more cows. There was but one raid on the rookeries while I was there, and that took place on Otter Island, about sixty skins being taken. After that raid the Government kept a man on Otter Island during the entire summer to protect it from marauders. Kaids on the islands never affected seal life to any ex- tent. Since my residence on the Pribilof Islands I ^'^^'^'^ °° '*'^«°'^"- have kept a very careful watch of the progress of events there, and have interviewed a great many connected with the seal industry. I am of the conviction that the reported decrease in seal life on these islands can be attributed to no other cause peuwc'^leaiin-"'' *'' save pelagic sealing. AVhile I was located at St. George Island in 1881 pelagic sealing was then and previous to that time had been of very little consequence, having very slight effect upon seal life. IS'ot more than four or five vessels were engaged in pelagic sealing in 1881 in the waters of Bering Sea, and prior to that time a still fewer number were so engaged. But since 1881 this industry has grown yearly until now about a hundred vessels are seaie™. '^^ ° ^^ '^^^'^ destroying the seals in great numbers, and, as I am in- ^^^^^ females ta- formed and believe, the great majority of those killed ken. are females. Then too, large numbers are killed in this waste of life. way which are never recovered or reported. It is, there- fore, in my opinion, necessary that the seals should be sao^"**^''*'°'' °''''®^' protected, and all killing in the water prohibited in all . . waters which the seal herd frequents, and especially in iii/sea'!m/Areutian Bering Sea ajid while the herd are en route to and I'-^ssea. from the islands through the Aleutian passes. W. B. Taylor. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, F. S. A., this 2Gth day of April, 1892. [l. s.] Sevellon a. Brown. Deposition of George Wardmanj assistant Treasury agent on St. George Island. m habits 5 management; pelagic sealing. District oe Columbia, City of Washington, ss : George Wardnian, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, being duly sworn, de- poses and says : I am 50 years of age, and editor of the Pittsburg Press. In 1879 as a journalist I made a trip to Alaska on the United States reve- nue steamer Bush, dimng her summer cruise. On that trip I stoi)ped at 2716— vol II 12 178 TESTIMONY many points along the northwest coast, the Alaskan coast, and the Aleu- tian chain, and also visited the Pribilof Islands and St. Experience. Michael, going as far north as Bering Straits. On April 4, 1881, 1 was appointed Assistant Special Treasnry Agent for the Seal Islands, and immediately after such appointment proceeded to San Fran- cisco and sailed for the islands, arriving there in the latter part of May. I was then detailed by Colonel Otis, Special Treasury Agent for the Seal Islands, to the Island of St. George, and until May 29, 1885, I remained in charge of that Island. During that time I returned but twice to the United States. I made careful examination of the rookeries each year, and after the first year I compared my yearly observations, so that I might arrive at some conclusion as to whether it was possible and ex- pedient to increase our portion of the quota of skins to be taken on St. George Island without injuriously affecting seal life there. I am satisfied from my observations that the breeding grounds on St. George covered greater areas in 1881 than in 1881, and that Increase, i88i-'84. ^^^j jj^^ materially increased between those dates; and this fact was verified by all the natives on the island. In fact there was no disagreement by anyone located on the islands as to that point. I am further satisfied that during this time there Avas Plenty of males. always a Sufficient number of males to fertihze the cows on the rookeries; otherwise there could have been no increase in the breeding grounds. While I was on the island I never saw more than twenty- live dead pups on the rookeries during any one season. I have seen occasionally a dead one among the bowlders along the shore, which had probably been killed by the surf; but these dead pups were in no instance emaciated. A cow will not suckle any pup but her own. Of this I tbffr o^Jn^p'upT "°^"^ ^^ convinced, because I have seen cows drive off other pups when they approached them, and wait until they appeared to recognize their own. I further think that if a mother were killed her pup would starve to death, for she suckles the pui) during the time it remains on the island, and it has no other means of subsist- males feedin ^uce. During tiiQ ruttiug season the bulls generally ema es ee mg. pguja^j,, ^pou land, whilc tlic fcmalcs are constantly Pups learning to going to and from the water, feeding and bathing, and ^'"""' teaching their pups to swim, as I believe, which the pups are unable to do for the first six weeks of their existence. In fact, a pup is afraid of the water during these six weeks and needs a good deal of coaxing at first to get him to go into it. Young pups can not be driven into the water by men, and when I tried to drive them in before they had learned to swim they would invariably run M na ement ^ack from the Water. While located on St. George I anagemen . bccauic thoroughly acquainted Avith the methods of driving, handling, and killing the bachelor seals by the natives. I believe those methods are the very best that could be adopted for the preservation of the roolcciies and conservation of seal life. A female was never killed while I was on St. George, except by acci- • dent. Seals were rarely killed by overdriving; but on^sian'iis.^'''^ ^'^^'^'^ wlicn sut'li au accidcut occurred the skin was taken off and included in the quota. Often after the drive I went over the ground where the seals had been driven and counted those left on the road. They were very few in number and did not aflect seal hfe in general on the island. The only injury I ever noticed ^ ,. ■ from redriving was that the hind flippers of yearlings iving. ^ixich had been driven several times would be slightly RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 179 abraded. They were footsore, you might say, but there was no in- jury to the reproductive organs of the males driven. I am satisfied the natives would have noticed it and spoken to the Government agents about it if we had overlooked the fact. My attention was never called to anything of this kind, and in all my experience I never heard of a male being so injured. Even if a male were driven once a day for ten successive days, I am certain that such driving would not impair his future usefulness as a progenitor of his species. I am of the opinion that all killing of seals in the water should be prevented, both in, Bering Sea and the sarj™ ^'^ ^°^ "eces- North Pacific, because the seals thus killed are slaugh- tered without discrimination as to age or sex. In case .^inf^iscriminatekin- such killing be prevented in the water, such regulations can be enforced ujion the islands that the Pribilof seal herd will yield a supply of skins for an indefinite period without reducing the size of the herd. If, however, the killing of seals in the water is not pre- vented, all calculations looking Toward the preservation of them on the islands by the Government and the lessees will be of no avail, and the Alaska seal will be exterminated. As seals are found in large numbers over 100 miles from the islands during the entire sum- mer, a zone 30 or 40 miles about the islands in which open-sea sealing were prevented, if such could be done, would be of comparatively little protection to seal life. Geo. Wardman. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, this 15th day of April, 1892. Chas. L. Hughes, Is'otary Public. Deposition of Daniel Webster, agent of lessees on St. George Island. MANAGEMENT AND HABITS. ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Pribilof Grou^, ALASKA, U. 8. A., ss: Daniel Webster, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 00 years of age, and am a resident of Oakland, Cal. ; my occui)ation is that of local agent for the North Americaii Commercial Company, and at present I am stationed on St. George Island, of the Pribilof Group, ex erience Alaska. I have been in Alaskan waters every year but ^^penence. two since I was fourteen years of age. I first Avent to Behring Sea in 1845 on a whaling voyage, and annually visited those waters in that pursuit until 1808, at which time the purchase and trans Cor of Alaska was made to the United States; since that time I have been engaged in the taking of fur seals for their skins. In 1870 I entered the employ of the lessees of the Pribilof Islands and have been so en- gaged ever since, and for the last thirteen years have been the (com- pany's local agent on St. George Island, and during the sealing season have, a part of the time, gone to St. Paul Island and took charge of the killing at Northeast Point, which is known to be the largest fur seal rookery in the Avorld. For ten years prior to 1878 I resided most of the time at Northeast Point, having landed and taken seals there in 1868. I have had twenty-four years' experience in the fur-seal industry as it exists in the waters of the jSTorth Pacific and Behring Sea, and liave made a very careful study of the habits and conditions of this useful 180 TESTIMONY animal. Duiiiij? tliis period it lias been my duty as a trusted employd of the lessees to observe and report, eacli year, tlie condition ot the rookeries. My instructions were explicit and emphatic to never per- mit, under any circumstances, any i>ractices to obtain that would result in injury to the herds. These instructions have been faithfully carried out by myself and other employes of the lessees of the Islands, and the laws and regulations governing the j)erpetuation of seal life have been rigidly enforced by all the Government Agents in charge of the Islands. In my twenty-three years' experience as a whaler in Behring Sea and the ]Srorth Pacihc, during which time I visited every ^''^^'*^' part of the coast surrounding these waters, and my subsequent twenty- four years' exiierience on the seal islands in Berhing and Okhotsk seas, I have never known or heard of any Aiasivan seal breeds place wlierc the Alaskau fiir seals breed except on the falliis"" Pribiloff Group in Bering Sea. These islands are iso- lated and seem to possess the necessary climatic con- ditions to make them the favorite breeding grounds of the Alaskau fur seals, and it is here they congregate during the summer months of each year to bring forth and rear their young. Leaving the Migration. islaiids late in the fall or in early winter, on account of the inclemency of the weather they journey southward through the jiasses of the Aleutian Archipelago to the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, and, gradually working their way back to Bering Sea, they again come up on the rookeries soon after the ice disapi)ears from the shores of the islands; and my observation leads me to believe that they select, as near as possible, the places they occupied the year before. The young seals are born on the breeding ■^"^^" rookeries in June and July. The head constitutes the greater part of this animal at this time, and they are clumsy and awk- ward in all their movements, and if swept into the water by accident or otherwise would perish from inability to swim — a fact that I have often observed, and one which is well known to all who have paid any attention to the subject. Practically they remain in this helpless condition, though taking on fat rapidly, until they are from G to 7 weeks old, when they commence to go into the shal- Leaining to s^vlm. j^^ ^^atcr, and, after repeated trials, learn to swim; but even then they spend most of their time on land until they leave the islands late in jSTovember. During the first few weeks after their birth they are not amphibious, and land is a necessity to their exist- To- 6nce. The mother seals go out to sea to feed soon after ee mg. giving birth to their young, and return at intervals of from a few hours to several days to suckle ai^d nourish their young. The mother seal readily distinguishes her own offspring from that of others, nor will she permit the young of any other seal to suckle her. I have noticed in the killing of young seals (pups) for food, in Novem- ber, that their stomachs were full of milk, although ax)pareiitly the mothers had not been on the islands for several days previous. 1 have observed that the male seals taken in the forepart of the season, or within a few days after their arrival at the islands, are fat and their stomachs contain quantities of undigested fish (mostly cod), while the stomachs of those killed in the latter part of the season are empty; and they diminish in flesh until they leaA^e the islands late in the season. I am of the o])inio\vers of reproduction were ever afitected by driving or rediiving. RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 183 The bulls maintain their positions on the rookeries from the time they arrive till the cows come by most bloody battles, and after the cows commence arriving they are continually contendiD^' for their pos- sessions. During these conflicts they are often seriously wounded, and their exertious are far more violent than any effort made by a youug male during a " drive." Then, too, the male seal must have great vi- tality to remain on the rookeries for three months without eating or drinking and with very little sleep. In spite of this drain on his vital force he is able to fertilize all the cows which he can get possession of, and a barren cow is a rarity. I believe that a bull can serve one hun- dred or more cows, and it is an absurdity to think that an auimal possessing such remarkable vigor could be igorofbuiis. made impotent by being driven or redriven when a " Bachelor." An impotent bull would have neither the inclination or vigor to maintain himself on the rookeries against the fierce and vigorous possessors of harems. The only bulls hauling up away from the breeding rookeries are those whose extreme old age and long service have made them impo- tent and useless, and I have never seen or heard tell of anything that would make an exception to this rule. The methods employed in taking the skins are, in my opinion, the ^''^""s- best that can be adopted. The killing grounds are situated as near the rookeries and hauling grounds as is x)ossible without having the breed- ers or bachelors disturbed by the smell of blood or putrefaction, and most stringent regulations have always been enforced to prevent dis- turbing or frightening the breeding seals. I am convinced that if open-sea sealing had never been indulged in to the extent it has since 1885 or perhaps a year or two earlier, 100,000 male skins could have been taken an- b?l?e'i!f-fc*'s^eaHn-''^^ nually forever from the Pribilof Islands without de- ' '^ " °' creasing the seal herd below its normal size and condition. The cause of the decrease which has taken place can be accounted for only by open-sea sealing; for, until that means of destruction to seal life grew to be of such proportions as to alarm those interested in the seals, the seal herd increased, and since that time the decrease of the number of seals has been proportionate to the increase in the number of those engaged in open-sea sealing. The majority of seals killed in the water are females, and all the females killed in Behring Sea are mothers Avho have left their pups on the rookeries and gone some distance from the Islands in search of food. The death of every such mother seal at sea means the death of her jDup on shore, because it is absolutely and en- tirely dependent on her for its daily sustenance. I never heard of any disease among the seal herd, nor of difeaso.""* ^"^J'^'''^ '"^ an epidemic of any sort or at any time in the history of the Islands. I do not remember the precise date of the first success- ful raid upon the rookeries by sealing schooners, but I j,^.^^^ do know that for the past ten years there have been many such raids attempted, and a few of them successfully carried out, and that as the number of schooners increased around the Islands, the attempted raids increased in proportion, and it has been deemed neces- sary to keep armed guards near the rookeries to repel such attacks. Although a few of the raids were successful, and a few hundred seals killed and carried off, from time to time during the past ten years, the aggregate of all the seals thns destroyed is too small to be mentioned when considering the cause of the sudden decline of seal life on the Pribilof Islands. Twenty-four years of my life have been devoted to the sealing in- 184 TESTIMONY RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. dustry in all of its details as it is jnirsiied upon the Pribilof Islands, and it is but natural that 1 should become dee])ly interested in the subject of seal life. My experience has been practical rather low up o . ^^,^^ theoretical. 1 have seen the herds grow and mul- tiply under careful management until their numbers were millions, as was the case in 1880. From 1884 to 1891 I saw their ^Doproase from 1884 ux^mbers decliue, under the same careful management, until in the latter year there was not more than one- fourth of their numbers coming to the Islands. In my judgment there is but one cause for that decline and the present con- pehigTc^'seaifuraione^ ditiou of the rookcrics, and that is the shotgun and ritle of the pelagic hunter, and it is my opinion that if the lessees had not taken a seal on the Islands for the last ten years we would still find the breeding grounds in about the same condition as they are to-day, so destructive to seal life are the methods adopted by fiif these hunters. I believe the number they secure is small as compared with the number they destroy. Were it males only that they killed the damage would be temporary, but it is mostly females that they kill in the open waters, and it is plain to any- one familiar with this animal that extermination must soon follow un- less some restrictive measures are adopted without delay. ]sr. B. — The foregoing is substantially the same statement that I statement to the i^ade to the commissioncrs who visited the islands in commissioners in 1891. 1891. Daniel Webster. Subscribed and sworn to before me, an officer empowered to admin- ister oaths under section 197G, Eevised Statutes of tlie United States, on this the 11th day of June, 1892, at St. George Island, Alaska. Wm. H. Williams, Treasury Agent in charge of Sad Islands. TESTIMONY RELATING TO SEIZURES IN BERING SEA. Beposition of Charles A. Abbey, captain, U. 8. B. M. pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss: Charles A. Abbey, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 51 j^ears of age, and am captain in the Eevenue Marine ^^ orjeuce of the United States, and have been in the service for ^pe"eBce. nearly twenty-eight years. From Jnne, 1886, until the latter part of August, 1886, I was in charge of the revenue steamer Corwin, cruising m Bering Sea for the purpose ot pro- tecting seal life, the fur-seal industry, and the Government interests in Alaska generally. On June 10, 1886, I left the Columbia Elver, j^ro- ceeding to Unalaska, and thence on the 27th day of June into Bering Sea, my destination being the Pribilof, or Seal, Islands. Soon after leaving Unalaska we began to see seals in the water about the steamer. Within seven hours after leaving Unalaska I sighted ^^^.^^ ^^^^ the schooner Sierra, of and from San Francisco, with her boats out sealing, in latitude 54° 20' north, longitude 166° 35' west. Before I could overhaul her her boats were called in and all evidences of sealing were out of sight. There were seal skins in her hold, but as there was no evidence that any had been taken in Bering Sea, I dis- armed her, she being without a permit for use of arms and ammuni. tiou, and let her go. The next morning siglited the schooner City of San Diego, of San Francisco, in lati- ^^m.'^ "-^ *'"" ^'^"^ tude 55° 52' north, longitude 168^ 25' west. As she also had no permit for arms and ammunition, I disarmed her. I then called at the Pribilof Islands and cruised about them for some days without seeing any vessels of any kind. On the 3d day of July cruised northward, returning to St. Paul on the 10th; it was very difficult to find the island because of the dense fog. On the 13th went south and west. Eeached Atka Island on the 15th; thence went easterly along the Aleutian Islands. On the 17th seized the schooner San Diego, of and from San Francisco, in ^gf"'^ ^''S" "'^'"'^'^■ latitude 54° 4' north and longitude 166° 46' west. She had 577 seal skins on board, and the captain confessed to having taken seals in Bering Sea. I took her into Unalaska that night. On the 26th of July I was again off St. Paul Island, and the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company came on board and informed me the sealing season on the island was ended, J '"^ lugseahon, and the day before the agent at St. George Island had informed me of the same fact in relation to that island. On August 1st I seized a boat containin g three men and eight dead seals. Proceeding southeasterly, seized another boat with men and several ^'/iomion seized, isse. dead seals on board. Seized the schooner Thornton, of 185 186 TESTIMONY and from Victoria, Britisli Columbia, in latiturle 55° 45' north and lon- gitude 1(58° 25' west. The two boats seized belonged to the Thornton. The same evening- seized the schooner Carolena. of Vic- oarorena seized 1886. ^^^.-.^^ British Columbia, in about the same locality. Half an hour later seized four boats belonging to the Carolena with dead .„ seals on board. That night spoke schooner Twili(jhf, Twaights^o\.en,im. gg^jij^g.^ ^^^^ ^^^ Captain stated they had taken no seals in Bering Sea, and on account of the schooners I had in tow I was unable to overhaul her. The next morning at 4:10 sighted a schooner, evidently a sealer, but was unable to pursue her, owing to the fact of having the Thornton and Carolena in tow. At 4:40 a. m. spoke the schooner Omcard, of Vic- toria, British Columbia, in latitude 55° 10' north and a«ward seized, 1886. lougitude 107° 40' wcst. The master acknowledged he iiad been sealing in Bering Sea. Boarding her and finding seal skins and unskinned dead seals on board, 1 seized her and took her also in tow. At 7 :20 a. m. sighted another schooner, but she fled, and outsailed us. At 11 a. m., sighted a schooner under shortened sail. She at once changed her course and made all sail southeast and escaped. Beached Unalaska that night. The Thornton 1886^^^°°* seized, ^xad ou board four rifles and six shotguns; the Onward, one rifle and thirteen shotguns; the Carolena, four rifles, one musket, and five shotguns. Altogether, the vessels I seized had over 2,000 seal skins. My orders made no dis- siiins seized. tiuctiou as to sciziug English or American vessels, and each vessel seized received the same treatment without relation to the nationality of its crew or owner. Fogs are almost Weather. constant in Bering Sea in the summer time. During the fifty-eight days I cruised in tho?e waters fifty-four days were foggy or rainy, the other four days being partly clear. On this account it is most ditticult to seize vessels in Bering Sea. The reports of the guns of the hunters might often be heard when no vessel could be seen. For fifteen or twenty days at a time I did not see the sun, and never while in Bering Sea did I see a star, the night being continually over- cast or foggy. Our position was in nearly all cases determined by dead reckoning or bearing of the land. The following statements here made in relation to open-sea sealing are based upon my own observation, and also upon information I received from conversations with forty or fifty men engaged in open-sea sealing in Bering Sea. The ud^outfit'^' ^'""^ "*^' averagesizeof the sealing vessels is from 25 to 50 tons, and the number of the crew varies from 10 to 20 or 25. A vessel is fitted out with about 4 to G boats, or 6 or 8 canoes. The white hunters used either a Winchester rifle or a double-barreled shotgun, and a gafl" with a shaft 4 or 5 feet long. The Indians use a _ , . ,. toggle-headed spear, with a shaft 7 or 8 feet in length. " ■ ■ "' Each boat has a rower and one or two hunters, and is also provided with a compass, small amount of provisions, ammunition locker, seal knives, and a short club. The boats, on being lowered from the vessel, provided the water is fairly smooth, go toward all points of the compass, and 1 have found them as far as 6 miles from the schooner. The white hunter in a boat, Avhen a seal appears on the surface, if within 50 vards, fires at it. If killed outright, the seal Waste of life. immediately sinks, and the boat is rowed for the place where it sank ; but I do not think they recover many seals thus killed, and every sealer stated that they seldom expected to get a seal when killed RELATING TO SEIZUEES IN BERING SEA. 187 outriglit. It is almost impracticable to take a seal in the water unless it is wounded so that it is stunned, when it goes into a "flurry," simi- lar to that of a whale when wounded. The boat then being pulled alongside, the seal is gaffed and dragged into it. The skill of the hunter has a great deal to do with the number of seals secured of those killed or wounded, but the most expert does not ^^^ get more than half he hits and the average for hunt- ™^*' ers in general would be about three in ten. It is impossible to distin- guish the sex of a seal in the water, unless it is an old bull. I am un- able to state anything as to the proportion of iemales taken, but the seal-hunter shoots every kind of seal he sees. In my opinion open-sea sealing is very destructive, and unless prohibited will result in the extermiuation of the species at no very sar™^'^'""" °'"'^^' distant day. I also believe that it would be utterly useless lo protect the rookeries on the seal islands and not protect the seal herd while in Bering Sea. C. A. Abbey. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of Ayjril, 1892. [l. s.] Sevellon a. Brown, Notary Public in and for the District of Columbia, U. 8. A. Deposition of L. G. Shepard, captain U. S. Revenue Marine. pelagic seizure. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss : L. G. Shepard, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 45 years of age; a resident of Washington, D. 0., and am cap- tain in the U. S. Revenue Marine Service, chief of divi- Experience. sion Revenue Marine, Treasury Department. In com- mand of the revenue steamer -R«.s7i, I made three cruises Cruises in Bering to Bering Sea in the years 1887, 1888, and 1889 for ^'''■ the purpose of enforcing existing law for protection of seal life in Alaska and the waters thereof, and also to protect other Government interests in Alaska. Pursuant to orders received from the Treasury Department, I sailed from San Francisco June 4, 1887, arriving at Una- laska on the 15th of that month. On the 18th I commenced cruising in Bering Sea. I hereby append to and make a part of this affidavit a table, marked A, giving the names of the vessels seized ggi^ure of vessels by me in Bering Sea while violating tlie law of the United States in relation to the taking of fur-bearing animals (all these vessels so seized were unmistakably engaged in seahng), together with the date of the seizure in each case, the nationality, rig, tonnage, hail- ing port, master, and managing owner of each vessel, the longitude and latitude in which each vessel was seized, the white men, Indians, and Chinamen on board at the time of seizure, the number of sealskins and the wea^jons on each vessel. In the lengl^'^Imwr.Fck.'^w. cases of the Challenge, A^ma Beck, W. P. Say ward, p. sayward, iMphin, Dolphin, Lilly L., Grace, and San Jose the vessels were j^oslissi!^'^"^^' towed to Unalaska, and their sealskins and arms were -mTex^tFAien \i- taken from them, and they were sent to Sitka. The hert Adamx,' Annie, Ellen, Albert Adams, Annie, Alpha, and the Kate and it^^^j^sr.^''^' "'"^ Anna were disarmed and the sealskins taken on board 188 TESTIMONY the Rush at tlie time and place of seizure, and they too were sent to Sitka, All these vessels reported there, except the Ji]lle)i and ^an Jose, going to San Francisco, and the Albert Adams, to Victoria, British Columbia. I again sailed from San Francisco, the 3rd of July, 1888, and entered .^ Bering Sea about the KJth of the same month. Owing ering ea. ^q ^^^3 jr^^.g-g ii^im^jer of vcsscls scizcd iu 1887, Very few sealing vessels entered Bering Sea to take seals in ] 888, and I made -., . . ,„„ no seizures. I only saw two vessels in the sea during No seizures in 1888. ,■, , /. i • i j-i ^ •, .-. ^^- , • that season, one oi which, the Juaniia, oi victoria, British Columbia, was engaged in taking seal at the time we sighted juanita ^^^^ which was August 5, in latitude 54° 38" north, longitude 160° 54" west. In 1889 I again sailed from San Francisco for Bering Sea on June 1, and arri\ed at Unalaska June 16. Began cruising in the sea eight days later. I hereby ap- pend to and make a part of this affidavit a table marked B, giving the names of the vessels seized by me in Bering Sea while violating the laws of the United States in relation to the taking of fur-bearing animals, together with the date of seizure, nationality, rig, tonnage, hailing port, master, managing owner, latitude and longitude in which seized, and the white men and Indians on board at the time of seizure, the number of sealskins and weapons on each vessel seized. In nearly every case of those vessels named in Table B, they had boats out en- gaged in sealing. All of them were ordered to go to Sitka, but none of them reported there, all goingto their homeiiorts. The Blade Diamond, the Minnie, and the Fathfinder -were each placed in Black Diamond. charge of a Special United States officer, who iirotested Miomie. in vaiu against the noncompliance with the instruc- Pathfinder. tious givcu to procccd to Sitka. The Mimiie in spite of the officer on board continued sailing in Bering Sea until August 17, and secured during that time 478 sealskins. I hereby ajipend to and make part of this affidavit the number and names of vessels fitted out for sealing boarded and ex- seizures m 1889. ^milled by me iu Bering Sea or the waters of Alaska Territory during the sealing season of 1889, together with the date of such boarding, nationality of the vessel, rig, tonnage, hailing port, master, owner, latitude and longitude, white men and Indians on board, seal skins and weapons found. The last three columns of said table are incomplete, from the fact that the officers boarding failed to get definite statements on these points. They were not seized, because evidence was wanting as to their having actually sealed in Bering Sea. During these three years I had frequent conversations with the masters and crews of sealing vessels in relation to open-sea sealing. From these conversations, and also fi^om my own observations, I make the follow- ing statement in relation to iielagic sealing: The weapons used by seal hunters are rifles, shotguns, and spears. The Indians capons. ^g^ spears, and a canoe contains two Indians, the fore- most thus armed. The white hunters use principally shotguns, but in some cases the rifle. A boat contains a hunter and a rower and a steerer. Whenever a seal comes within gunshot range, the white hunter fires at it. If killed outright, the seal sinks almost immediately and in nearly every case is lost. When so wounded seal sinks If kiued. ^^^^^ .^ -^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^^ j^ g.^^g j^^^^ ^ " flurry," aiid the boat being pulled up rapidly, it is gaffed and dragged on board. Tlie gaff' used by seal hunters is about 5 feet in length. It is very hard to estimate the numl)er lost of those shot, but I should judge an expert hunter would lose certainly from 40 '^^^ ^' to GO per cent, and a hunter not particularly expert RELATING TO SEIZURES IN BERING SEA. 189 would lose from 80 to 85 per cent. I examined the skins taken from seal- ing vessels seized in 1887 and 1889, over 12,000 skins, and of these at least two-thirds or three-fourths were the ^^es taS.^^''* ^^ skins of females. Of the females taken in the Pacific Ocean, and early in the season in Bering Sea, nearly all are heavy with young, and the death of the female necessarily causes the death of the unborn pup seal; in fact, I have seen on nearly every vessel seized the pelts of unborn pups, which had been taken from their mothers. Of the females taken in Bering Sea nearly all are in milk, and I have seen the milk come from the carcasses of dead females lying on the decks of sealing vessels which Avere more than 100 miles from the Pribilof Islands. From this fact, and from the further fact that I have seen seals in the water over 150 miles from the islands during the summer, I am convinced that the female, „m®"1?'®^ feea iso „, *.. 1 ■ 11 , ' t ji 1- miles Irom islands. after giving birth to her young on the rookeries, goes at least 150 miles, in many cases, from the islands in search of food. It is impossible to distinguish a male from a female seal in the water, except in the case of a very old bull, bieln water!""'"**^'' when his size distinguishes hiin. Therefore open-sea sealing is entirely indiscriminate as to sex or age. I . indiscriminate kiii- consider it necessary for the preservation of the seal ^°^" herd which resorts to the Pribilof Islands, and for the prevention of their early extermination, that pelagic sealing should cease in all waters which they frequent. tion necessary!^" ^ ^ I do not know and I never heard of any other place along the^ Ameri- can coast or islands where the fur-seals haul up, and it is my opinion that the fur-seal pup of the Alaskan lands! ^^ ^ °^ ^^' herd is born nowhere else but on the Pribilof Islands. It is my belief that a pup born in the water would lands!^ "'^ ^"™ °" ^^' drown, for I am convinced from statements made me by the natives and those thoroughly familiar with seal habits that a pup for the first weeks of its life is unable to swim. It is my opinion that should pelagic seahng be prohibited swim!°° ^"^'^ cannot in a zone 30, 10, or 50 miles about the Pribilof Islands it would be utterly useless as a protection to seal life, because female seals go much farther than that in search of food, and because fogs are so prevalent about those islands that ^^^ "'^^ ^^^' it would be imx)ossible to enforce any such x)rohibition. L; G. Shepard, Captain U. S. Revenue Marine, Chief of Division, Eevenue Marine. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Colombia; U. S. A., this 27th day of April, 1892. [L. s.] Geo. Y. 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OS t> cc o CJ rt' 00 c^ irj 1 -* o CO CQ r-1 rc CO C5 CO CO CO C^l ST. t> CO cc .-H a 1-^ ; 5^ bf. i a o h a; > pi J i C XL C < 1- < j r- I. a > s- ■> a ■C c c c ^ c c c -1 C c c ■1 O o -2 ■€ ri A- 1— en -2 ci CC a'^ P c c 1— 1 — '-* a '^ PP3 P fig -iss'e's s'sfl s 9 = SPSS a 55 o •joqtanj;^ IH C^ M -* o laced in charge of Copper Island, of this gTouj), and so remained constantly for ten years, until 1881, without once leaving my post of duty. In this position the habits of the seals, the condition of the rookeries, the best methods of obtaining seal-skins for market, and, in general, everything in and about the business of my employers on the island, received my careful and constant attention. The management of the sealeries upon Copper Island, under Russian occupation, was left wholly to the native chiefs and ignorant laborers of the Russian- American Comi3any. The work of kill- ing the seals and curing the skins was done by them in ^,^^}}}^3.,f!^^^ ^^^ a very unsystematic, careless way; but even then it was understood that, as the seals are polygamous, the surest way to secure an increase of the herd was to kill off surplus males and spare the females, and this was systematically practiced, resulting, as far as I am aware, most satisfactorily. After the exinration of tlie fi-anchise of the Rus- sian American Company, in 18671 think it was, and their abandonment of the island and the execution of the lease to Ilutchinsou, Kohl & Co., iu 1871, several different parties visited the island, killed seals inj iidiciously, and inflicted great inj ury upon and'tsTi^*^*^^'^^ ^^^^ the rookeries. They were restrained to some extent by the natives from indiscrinunate slaughter, but I have no doubt they killed more male seals than they ought to have done, and perhaps also some females. Upon my arrival at the island, iu 1871, the na- tive chief told me that the seals were not as plentiful as ^'^'^''-'''^^ "i' *" ^^'^ • they had been formerly. I announced that we intended to secure 6,000 skins that year. They protested that it was too many, and begged that a smaller number be killed for one year at least. We, however, got the 6,000 skins as proposed, and an almost constantly in- creasing number in every subsequent year as long as I ^gf]"^"^ secured in stayed on the islands, until in 1880 the rookeries had so develoi)ed that about 30,000 skins were taken, without in the least in- juring them. This is proved by the fact that the in- crease for the next ten years allowed still larger num- ^ jten'^mrtd isyo™'^''^ bers to be killed, amounting, I think, in one of the years of the second decade of the lease to about 40,000 skins. In order to secure uniformity in the methods pursued, respectively, upon the Pribilof Group and Commander Islands the nniformityinmeth- respective lessees of the two interests sent Capt. Dan- oris on rnbiiof and iel Webster, an expert sealer of many years' experience Commamicr Lsiamis. in the business, and who was at the time in the service of the Alaska Commercial Company at St. Paul Island, to assist and instrnct me through the summer of 1874 in the best manner of handling seal droves, salting skins, and, generally, in the conduct of the bnsiness. In work- ing under his direction I found that the methods pursued by the re- spective parties upon the differerent sealeries did not differ in any essential feature. The main object in both places was to sele(;t good skins for market and spare all female seals and enough vigorous balls to serve them. When the supply of bulls is more than enough I have no doubt the number of offspring is diminished. The bulls, when overnumerous, fight savagely for the pos- i-^f^^^^^ "^ ^"^^' ^^' session of the cow seals and unintentionally destroy many young in their conflicts. 'The healthiest condition of a rookery is, no doubt, when, under the laws of polygamous reproduction for thi.s species, the proportion of the sexes is proi)erly balanced. I believe one 196 TESTIMONY I?oolceries on the is laud, location of. Driving tlrivinsr. and of thus driving of tlio business. No injury drivini!'. from re- bull capable of serving at least fifteen or twenty cows with most desir- able results. The best methods of managing seal rookeries are as well understood and as carefidly practiced as any other branch of husbandry, and the same methods have been pursued with such excellent results through a long series of years that there can be no doubt about their correctness. Coijper Island is some 30 miles long and from 1 to 3 miles wide. The rookeries lie on the easterly and the village and killing grounds on the westerly side of the island. Between the rookeries and the killing grounds a con- tinuous ridge, ranging from a few hundred to 2,000 feet in height, runs the whole length of the island. Over this ridge, at a point where it reaches about 000 or 700 feet in height, all the seals are driven; the journey requiring from live to twenty- four hours, depending upon the weather. The practice them has been pursued ever since the earliest history Many of the seals are repeatedly driven and redriven over this trail in a single summer, but I have never seen any injury to them fiY)m the exertion to which they are in this way subjected. The statement of an expert that the virility of the seal is sapped and his powers of reproduction in any way weakened by such rediiving is not borne out by the facts. On the contrary, the steady and rapid increase of the herd at Copper Is- land, already pointed out, again proves the old adage that in this mat- ter, as in others, " theory is everywhere good except in practice." I append hereto a statement showing the number of seals killed an- nually upon Copi)er Island fiom 1871 to 1880, inclusive. This statement shows that 3,658 skins were taken in 1871. This number were shii)ped that year, but the number actually killed was in fact more than 6,000. 0. F. Emll Keebs. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Puhlic. The following table shows the number of far-seals taken for their skins on Cop|)er Island, of the Commander group, from 1871 to 1880, inclusive, under the direction of C. F. E. Krebs, for Hutchinson, Kohl & Co.: Xiiniber of seals IdDrd on island from 1871 to 1880. 1871 3,658 1872 14,964 1873 14, 661 1874 15,480 1875 •- 20, 440 1876 15, 074 1877 11, 392 1878 20, 070 1879 25, 166 1880 30, 014 Total 170, 919 Note. — There w^ere in fact about 6,000 killed in 1871, of which only the uuiiibers as above stated were shi])ped. In 1870 and 1877 more could have been taken, but the seal-skiu market was depressed and they were not wanted. I certify that the above table is the one referred to in the foregoing tlepositiou of C. F. E. Krebs. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Puhlic. RELATING TO THE RUSSIAN SEAL ISLANDS. 197 Affidavit of JoJm Malowanshy, agent of lessees of Commander Islands. management 3 pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Jobn Malowansky, being' duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a resi- dent of San Francisco, Cal., and an American citizen, tliough a Eus- sian by birtli. I am a mercliaut by profession, and am agent for the Eussian Sealskin Company, and was formerly, for many years, tlie agent for Hntcliinsou, Kolil, Phillipens & Co., the former lessees of tlie Eussian seal islands. During the years 1809, 1870, and 1871 I resided on the Commander Islands, in the pursuit of the sealing business, of which I had charge. I was there again in 1887 as the agent 5:perience. of the company. I formerly lived in Kamchatka, and frequently vis- ited the Commander Islands between 1871 and 1887. I have also been a dealer in furs. I am well acquainted, from long experience and ob- servation, with all matters i)ertaining to the sealing business and the present condition of the fur-seal trade, esx^ecially on the EuSvSian side of the Bering Sea. When our lease of the Commander Islands took eftect in 1870, the annual catch of seals would not exceed 15,000 without injury to the herd. There was no maximum limit in our lease as to the number we were allowed to kill, but under the method adopted by the comi)any in taking seals, only young males with mer- chantable-sized skins were killed. Under this Sytem the increase on Com- seals increased so rapidly that in 1887 we had no trouble in STS'lrissI:""'" ^""" obtaining 45,000 skins per annum without injury to the herd. In 1887 I began to notice a diminution in the -^ • i^ot , „ , p. .ji-iT 1-, T Decrnase since 1887. number ot seals arriving at the islands, which was due to the indiscriminate killing by sealing vessels in the open sea, some 50 or CO miles distant. While we still obtain about the usual number of skins, many are taken from the younger animals than formerly, and smaiier skins taken consequently are somcAvhat inferior in quality. It is often difficult to entirely prevent poaching on the islands, al- though in my judgment it has not been of sufficient poachino- importance on the Commander Islands to have any perceptible influence in the diminuition of the herd. In 1891 the schooner J. H. Lewis was caught near the islands by the Eussian gunboat Aleut and found to have 410 skins on seizure of the j^ // board. I made a x)ersonal examination of these skins, xewu'inisoi. and found that from 90 to 95 i^er cent were those of ^^ female seals. I called the attention of the English cent of skins on bo-mi commissioners, Sir George Baden-Powell and Dr. G. ^'^"^^ "^ females. M. Dawson, to this fact when they visited the islands caiua attention of in 1891, showing them the skins. I opened a few bun- British commission- dies of the skins for their inspection and offered to show all of them, but they said they were satisfied without looking at any more than those already opened. I remember that a schooner from A'ic- toria was also seized at the islands about three years ago by the Eus- sian authorities with 33 skins on board, which were nearly all taken from female seals. ,^ I have no doubt that in oT)taining the skins found on the J. H. Leicis the i)oachers must have killed IVom 1,500 to 2,000 seals, ^vi^teofufe. as when vitally shot seals will usually sink beloie it is possible to capture them. 198 TESTIMONY I have frequently noticed in tlic liaiTior of refropanlowsky tliatthe natives in killing- liaii-isoaLs are only able to obtain one animal out of every four or five of tliose killed, and that they frequently wait about four days I'or the bodies to be washed ashore. Dui'ing the killing season on the Commander Islands we frequently find in the bodies both bullets and shot, I know it to bo the custom of seal hunters to shoot seals at sea when they are at rest upon the surface of the water, and that those generally obtained are females and constitute but a very small portion of those killed and lost. Sealing on Eobben Island, in the Eussian group, was prohibited for a period of five years for the purpose of encouraging the benTsiand!""*'"''^'*^ iucrease of the herd, but their propagation was inter^ rupted by the frequent attempts of poachers to raid the rookeries, and I believe that 4,01)0 or 5,000 seals were killed by the P^^.^^^ marauders while we were attempting to promote the growth of the herd. There are many fines imposed at the Commander Islands for killing Drivin andkiiiino^ female scals, cvcu by accideut, and I am quite certain nvinganc i in„. ^^^^^^ ^^^ decrease in the nuniber of seals theieon is not owing to the methods employed in killing. When a female is discov- ered in a herd while being driven to the killing ground she is carefully turned ba<'k and slowly driven to the water's edge, sometimes the work of several hours. Special precautions are taken not to frighten or molest the animals on the rookeries. Even fires are not permitted to be made Avhere it is thought their light or sight of the smoke might alarm them. My observation has also been that while male seals are sometimes timid about coming ashore, the females being about ^_peiagic birth im]H,8- leady to pui), hanl up on the land, even in spite of unusual or unfavorable conditions. Pups if born in the water are sure to drown. It is a matter of actual observation that they must first learn to swim, and do not leave the Pupa learuing to g})Qj.e uutil thcv are four or five mouths old. I have often seen the mother seals push their jnips, when several weeks old, into the water and watched them flounder about awk- wardly and scramble ashore, seeming delighted to get back. The seals of the Commander Islands are of a different variety from those of the Pribilofs. Their fur is not so thick and .litr.TenuvomthoPri- bright aud is of a somewhat inferior quality. They '•''"*• form a distinct herd from that of St. Paul and St. George and in my opinion the two do not intermingle. I was present as interpreter when the English Commissioners were taking testimony on Bering Island. They examined Testifies as to state- junoHg otliiTs wlicu I was present, Jefim Suigeroft", tnonts made to r.iitisli •• • n -f, ■ t i n i i • j.i i j. -i coi.iinissiouer by Je- cliiet ou Eeriug Island, he being the person selected cidet^'^'*'"^"'*' ""*''' ^*y them there from wliich to procure the testimony relating to the habits and killing of seals. This Snig- eroff testified that he had lived on the I'ribilof Ishmds for many years and knew the distinctive characteristics of both herds (Commander and Pribilof) and their habits and that he removed from thence to Ber- ing Island. He ])<)inted out tliat the two herds have several different characteristics and stated that in his belief they do not intermingle. He also said that the j)n])S could live on land at least seven or eight days without sustenance and that those born in the water would-imme- diately di'own. He further stated that the seals had rapidly decreased RELATING TO THE RUSSIAN SEAL ISLANDS. 199 since sealing vessels had appeared, but tliat before tlie inroads of these seal hunters there was no trouble in obtaining the full quota of the best grades of skins, as the herds had previous to that time been noticeably increasing. The driving grounds on Copper Island are very rough and hilly and much more difticuU' to drive over than those on the ^^-^^.^^^^ Pribilof Islands. The drives are always carefully '^'^'°°' made, slow, with a chance to rest, and foggy days are selected. I have never been able to discover any injury to the herds from these drives, nor do I believe there is any. The killable seals herd by themselves, and until recently we did not drive from all the hauling grounds, but this we have had to do in the last three or four years, because the seals were getting scarce as the result of hunting them at sea. It is an act- ual fact beyond dispute that female seals were much more numerous on the islands in 1883 than they were frorn'motoisss""^'' in 1870. The increase was gradual each year and was so marked that the natives often spoke of it to me, but from 1885, which was about the time the sealers appeared in the Abaters, the decrease in seal life was rapid and the natives com- sj^e isss!'^'^ '^^"'^ menced saying " no females," " no females," until now we are confronted with depleted rookeries and probable extermination. John Malowansky. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Deposition of JSf. B. Miller^ assistant in scientific department of U. S. Msh- Commission steamer A Ibatross. ROOKERIES ON COMMANDER ISLANDS. ]Sr. I>. Miller, an assistant in the scientific department of the United States Fish-Commission steamer J^?irt/ro.ss, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I visited the lieef rookery '^renence. and Northeast Point rookery on St. Paul Island, Pribilofs, and the Village rookery of St. George Island, Pribilofs, and took annml)er of photographs on each. On June 1, 1892, 1 visited the North rookery of Benng Island, Commander Islands, where I also took ^ . ^ , , . a number of photographs. This rookery is alow, tlat, s.ription of Nroiu rocky reef extending fr(un the base of a bluff about 40 i'>"i«"y ""• feet high, seaward to a distance of about half a mile. The width along the bluff is about \h miles. It is composed of loose mnsses of rough volcanic rock from 1 to 15 feet above the high-water mark, with scat- tered shallow pools of water between the rock piles. Kone of the rocks appeared to be worn, as from the action of seal lli])]iers, although I ex- amined some of them with that idea in mind. There was no soil on the breeding space of the rookery, which occui)ies the greater portion of the wedge-shaped point. The higher masses of rock are mostly at the outer end, the rookery being lower towards the bluff. About the center of it, near the bluff, are three or four shallow lagoons or pools of small extent. The west arm of the rookery is a long and compara- tively smooth sand beach, with but few rocks on it, over which the bachelors are said to haul. Between the nearest lagoon, about 50 yards 200 TESTIMONY distant from the l>lTiff, and tliobaiilv itself, is an areaof seaiit soil, on wliicli a scattciin00 to 800 feet in height along its whole length with the exception of one jioint. This is about the center of the rookery, where there is a small hill of hard-packed sandy soil about (50 feet high, back from which a very steep ascending ravine leads to the summit of the ridge, an elevation of about 700 feet. The drive from Polatka rookery leads up over this lat^a^ro^IkTr/™'" ^'''" s^^'^ liHl aud througli the ravine; over the ridge, I was informed, the rest of the 2 miles is on a descend- ing grade to the other side of the island, where the killing ground is located. The rocks of this rookery also did not have the appearance of being tlipper-worn. There were no signs of vegetation on the entire lookery, and no soil apparently, except on the sandy hill at the mouth of the ravine. I estimated about 250 fur-seals on Polatka rookery, about 30 of them bachelors. I saw no cows, and think they had not yet arrived, as 40 codfish were landed on the decks of the Albatross, where she lay within 500 yards from the shore, in an hour. I think if feeding cows had been about the rookery, the fish would not have been found so close to it. From an elevated position on Polatka, I obtained a good view of the rookery next above it, called Pest- Pestohanni rookery cliauni. Tlic character of this is similar to Polatka, scHptlonV/""''' ^ but has a sand beach adjacent to it where the bache- lors doubtless mostly herd. The drive from here, as I was shown it, leads up a shallow stream a short distance, and then over the mountain side to the ridge, a height of fully 800 feet, from whence it continues down to the ojDiJOsite side of the island. Both of RELATING TO THE RUSSIAN SEAL ISLANDS. 201 tliese drives on Copper Island are exceedingly liard androugli; I know of none on the Pribilof Islands to comi)aie with them. The seals of the Comniauder Islands ap])eared to me sliffhtlv differ- „ , ^ , , . „ ,, n -T •! r' .• 1 mi ' • Commander Island ent from the Pribnot lur- seals. Ihey are grayer m seals differ piivskaiiy color, and of a slighter bnild throughout the body. •io™i^'i^^;i^"^'^ ^'"''■ The bulls have not such heavy manes, or fur capes, the hair on the shoulders being much shorter, and not nearly so thick. The younger seals have longer and more slender necks apparently. I noticed this difference between the seals at once. iS[. B. Miller. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of June, 1S92. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander, U. S. Navy. Deposition of Thomas F. Morgan, agent of lessees of Commander Islands. HABITS. District of Colu:mbia, City of Wasliington, ss: Thomas F. Morgan, of Groton, Conn., being duly sworn, deposes and says: During the season of 1891 I was the agent of the Eussian Sealskin Company, of St. Petersburg; spenence. that I was on Bering Island at the time that Sir George Baden- Powell and Dr. George M. Dawson, the British representatives of the Bering Sea Joint Commission, were upon said island investigat- ing the Eussian sealeries upon the Komandorski Islands; that I was present at an examination, which said Commissioners held, of Sniegeroft', the Chief of the natives on Bering Island, who, prior to the cession of the Pribilof Islands by Eussia to the United States, had resided on St. Paul, one of said Pribilof Islands, and that since that time had been a resident on said Bering Island, and duiing the latter part of said residence had occupied the position of native chief and as such superintended the taking and killing of fur-seals on said Bering Island; that during said examination the Commissioners, through an interpreter, asked said Sniegeroff if there was any difference between the seals found on the Pribilof Islands and the seals found on the Koman- dorski Islands; that said Sniegeroff" at once rei)lied that there was difference and on further questioning stated that such difference consisted in the fact that the Koma- Testifies as to state- ,,.,-,, , ,. •i-,i 1 nient.smaue toliiitisli dorski Island seals were a slimmer animal in the neck conunissiouers by and liank than the Pribilof Island seals, and further jT/.tf '"^' "''"^^ that both the hair and fur of the Komandorski Island seal were longer than the Pribil of Island seal; said Commissioners asked said Sniegeroff the further question, whether he believed that the Pribilof herd and Komandorski herd ever mingled, and he replied that he did not. Thomas F. Morgan. « Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of April, 1892. [L. s.] Sevellon a. JJuown, Notary Fiiblic in and for the District of Columbia^ U. iS. A. 202 TESTIMONY Deposition of Gufifave Nichaum, vice-president of Alaslca Commercial Company and employe and partner of lessees of Commander Islands. management. State of Calteornia, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Gustave Niebaum, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a resident of San Francisco, oO years of age, and an lamis*^''*'^ ^^^^ ^^ American citizen, becoming so by reason of tlie cession of Alaska. I was formerly a resident of that Terri- tory and shipmaster for the Eussian American Company jirior to the transfer of Alaska to the United States. I was from 1S80 until 1891 vice-consul of Russia at the port of San Francisco, and Experience. -, , ■, n ^ ■, , ' . am now, and have been for several years past, vice- president and director of the Alaska Commercial Company and a part- ner of Hutchinson, Kohl & Co., the former lessees from Eussia of the Commander and Eobben islands. I was instrumental in Eussia in obtaining the lease for the last-named company and had familiarized myself with the sealeries upon these islands in this connection. In 1871 I visited the islands and directed the policy and practice to bepursued under the lease. In this pursuit I of course became conversant with all the details of the business. Un- der the Eussian regime upon the Commander Islands pSoisTs. ''^''°'^' prior to 1808 the number of seals taken annually did not exceed about 5,000, the skins of which were dried for market. Following the surrender of occupancy of these islands by the Eussian Ameri<;an Company in 1868, the sealeries were left open to all parties and various expeditions visited them unre- ^^catciies in 18G8, to gtrictcd by auy Governmental control. Their catches amounted in 1808 to about 15,000, in 1809 to about 20,000, and in 1870 to about 30,000 skins. In 1871 the Eussian Government executed the lease to Hutchinson, Kohl & Co., and it was found necessary to restrict the Huuiiinson, Koiif & killing for this year to about 0,000 skins, because the stTktiU^ofkiiihi ".'''' rookeries had been largely depleted by the excessive killing, unwise methods, and heedless husbandry. The result of improved methods showed themselves at once, and the rook- eries steadily increased in size and number of occupants. We were thus enabled to i)rocure an almost constantly increas- o/se^aTs"ou ^si.ands!'*'^ i"g" iiumbcr of skius from year to year during the whole term of our lease. We were unrestricted as to the numbers to be taken, and after the first two years of the lease were urged by the Eussian authorities upon the islands to take more than we wanted in view of the condition of the sealskin market. I revisited the islands on various occasions subsequentto 1871, and my observationsconlirmed the fact that we were moving in anagemen ,. ^^^ right direction to secure an increase of the rookeries. The experience of the whole term of the lease proves conclusively that our policy in conducting the business was a wise one and that our manner of handling, managing, and killing the seals was in every respect what it should haxc been. This |)olicy was predicated upon the custom of the Eussian American Company observed during many years and stiengthened by my own actual expericTu-e in conducting the business of taking seals upon the Pribilof Islands in 1807-'08 and 1809, and more particularly during the season of 1808, when there vvas unrestricted EELATING TO THE RUSSIAN SEAL ISLANDS. 203 sealing done by various parties regardless of the future of the rookeries. The pernicious efl'ects of the methods pursued by them were at once observed, and measures immediately taken by me, aided by the natives, over whom I had complete control, to correct their practices and bring them within the reasonable customs already jiroved eflicacious iu pre- serving the rookeries from annihilation. The various ^^^ ^^^^ ^ parties took that year about 230,000 seals, of which about ^^^ 140,000 were killed under my direction. Upon the Commander Islands, as I have already said, the increase iu seal life was constant for many years, but in 1890, we noticed a decided disturbance in the rookeries and a considerable decrease in their popu- ig^o^*^''®^^^ noticed m lation. This we subsequently attributed, when the facts were ascertained, to pelagic sealing in the adjacent waters. There were occasional raids made upon the islands by i)oachers j^^.^^ during our twenty years' lease, but they were generally unsuccessful in killing any considerable number of seals, and their raids had no appreciable effect upon the rookeries. My first ideas of the areas of seal rookeries were gathered on the Prib- ilof Islands. Afterwards, upon going to the Commander Islands, I was struck with the comparative insignificance of the rookeries upon the latter groui); yet we have been able of^rook'eries mi Coni*^ to secure the catch, as shown by the appended state- ^Pf^^f"^ '^"'^ PribUof raent, not only without detriment, but, as 1 believe, with positive benefit to the rookeries. I cannot think, therefore, that the same methods pursued under my direction upon the Pribi lot group worked any other result, and in this conclusion I am borne out by the testimony of every one conversant with the matter. The history of sealing upon Eobben Island substantiates the conclu- sion in regard to the other groups. From information gathered from various sources, 1 learn that the Ptobben ^^^i^^S isiamf "" Bank was first visited and exploited by whalers about 1852 or 1853, and that in two seasons they obtained some 50,000 ro 60,000 skins, almost completely " cleaning it out." I understood for several years thereafter the occasional vessel which touched there found the rookeries practically deserted. In 1870 the expedition in the bark Mauna Loa went to the island and secured about 15,000 seals. There was at this time no restriction ui)on the killing. In 1871, in August, I think it was, the lease being already in force, I visited the island for the first time, having previously sent a guard ship there to protect the rookeries. It is an insigniti- i^'j^eof isimd cant affair, being only about 2,000 feet long and 200 feet wide. The rookeries were also very small, and contained at that time of all classes about 800 seals, as I ascertained by a careful count, and, in addition, a small number in the waters adjacent. I prohib- ited all killing from that year until such time as seemed prudent to resume, so as to give the rookeries opportunity to recuperate, leaving strict orders to the guard sliip to protect them against molestation. Two years afterward it was evident that the rookeries had sufticiently recovered to warrant us in commencing sealing on a small scale, know- ing that the killing of the useless male seals would accelerate the increase of the herd. From this time forward the herd showed a steady and healthy growth, enabling us to secure catches as per ap])ended statement until 1873, when our guard was assaulted by the combined force of eleven marauding schooners and driven away. The rookeries were again badly dei)leted by these poachers. The following year the Russian Government stationed 204 TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE RUSSIAN SEAL ISLANDS. a military force on the islands, which was removed every &11, but so early that inaranders came there nearly ever year after it had left and killed all the seals they were able to obtain, so nearly destroying the rookeries that we found it inexpedient to continue sealing after 1884 during the remainder of our lease. I am satisfied that the seal herds respectively upon the Pribilof Russian and Alas- S'^'^up, thc Commandcr Islands, and Eobben Bank tan herds do not m'iu- havc cacli their owu distinctive feeding grounds and ^^*'' peculiar rounds of migration. No doubt they are of the same si^ecies, but there is a marked difterence in the fur of the Difference in fur skiiis from the rcspectivc placcs, which can be distin- guished by experts. G. NiEBAUM. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of April, A, D. ]892. [L. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Puhlie. The following table prepared by Hutchinson, Kohl, Philipeus & Co., of San Francisco, lessees of the right to take fur-seals upon the Com- mander and Eobben Islands, shows the number of seal skins secured annually from these resi)ective islands from 1871 to 1891: Tear. Commander Islands. Eobben Islands. Total. 1871 3,614 3,614 1872 29, 356 29. 356 1873 27, 710 2,694 30, 404 1874 28, 886 2,414 31.300 1875 33, 152 3,127 36, 279 1876 25, 432 1,528 26, 960 1877 18, 584 2,949 21, 533 1878 28, 198 3,142 31, 340 1879 38,748 4,002 42. 750 1880 45, 174 3,330 48, 504 1881 39, 314 4,207 43.521 1882 40,514 4,106 44, 620 1883 26, 650 2,049 28. 699 1884 49, 444 3,819. 53, 263 1885 41, 737 1,838 43, 575 188ti 54. 591 54, 591 1887 46, 347 46, 347 1888 47, 362 47, 362 1889 52, 859 52. 859 1890 53, 780 53, 780 1891 5,800 5,800 776, 467 State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: I, Clement Bennett, a Notary Public in and for said city and county, residing therein, duly conmiissioned and sworn, do hereby certify tbat the above tabulated statement is that to which Gustave Niebaum refers in his aflidavit, of which this is made a part. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my offi- cial seal, at my office in the city and countv of San Francisco, State of California, this 29th day of Apiil, A. D. 1892. [L. S.J Clement Bennett, Notary Puhlie. TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. Deposition of G. II. Anderson {scaler). Master. HABITS. PELAGIC SEALING. TlOREITOEY OF ALASKA, Butch Harbor, Unalaslca Bay., Aleutian Islands, ss: C. H. Anderson, a citizen of the United States of. America, forty- eicht (48) years of age, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a master- mariner by occupation, and reside in San Francisco, ^^ erience Cal. I have been sailing in Alaskan waters since 1880. s;pcrience. For (7) seven years I cruised in the Unalaska district, whicli embraces the Shumagin and Sanuak Islands, the Aleutian chain, the Pribilofs, Bristol Bay, and the eastern coast of Bering Sea as far as St. Michaels. I have made (4) four or (5) live trips from Unalaska to Attn and return, and (8) eight or (9) nine between Atka and Unalaska, chiefly in spring and fall of the year. The main herd of the fur-seals bound for the Pribilof Islands moves through the passes of the Fox ^j. ^^^.^^ Islands of the Aleutian chain, Unimak Pass being the ^^^^ ^°°' eastern and the Four Mountain Islands Pass the western bounds through which the seals move in large numbers. A few occasionally go through Morzhovoi Pass on their way north, and in the passage south in the fall gray pups often stray into Unalaska Bay as far as Captains Harbor, doubtless thinking it is one of the passes through the group. I never saw a fur-seal in the water between Atka and the island Attn. The natives along the northern shores of Bristol Bay have no knowledge whatever of fur-seals, nor do those of St. Michaels appear to be any better informed. The seals first pass into Bering Sea early in May and keep on arriv- ing as late as the latter part of July, but most of them I think enter the sea during the latter part of June or early in July. I do not know at what times they leave, but have observed that it depends on the mild- ness of the winter how soon they begin to depart, lean not di wStinguish the sex of seals in the water. Neither do aWe fn water!"^'"'*^' I know the usual times of the arrival and departure of the various categories to and from the seal islands. Do not know through which passes the bulls, bachelors, and females usually move; but the westernmost passes are those most frequented by gray pups m the fall on the way south. I think the Commander Islands seals are a different body of seals altogether from those of the Herdsdouotmingie Pribilofs, and that the two herds never mingle. I think the Commander Islands herd goes to the southward and westward towards the Japanese coast. I never knew of fur-seals hauling out to rest or breed at any place in the Aleu- AkuUa'uisiaud"!^ "" tian chain, or anywhere in fact, except the well-known rookeries of the several seal islands of Bering Sea. I have noticed a great decrease in the numbers of the liir-seals since 1887, both on the rookeries of St. Paul Island, which jy^^n-a e are much shrunken, in the area covered by seals, and in tlie waters of the Pacific and Bering Sea. On tlie rookeries, gi-ound formerly hauled over by seals is now grown up with a scattering vege- 205 206 TESTIMONY tation of recent growth. In the sea seals are much Seals more t.uud. ^^^^^^.^ ^.j^^j^^ .^^^^-^ ^^^^^ ^^ .^^ ^.^^^ .^^ possiblc at the ap- proach of a vessel, while formerly they were usually quite curious, and would sport and ])lay about the vessel when come up with. I believe libi ^^'^'^ decrease and timidity is due to the indiscriminate tion of"peiagw*'seai- slaughter of the seals by pelagic sealers, and am of ing uccessaiy. ^\^q opinion that if such seaHug were absolutely sui)- pressed the species would again increase. C. H. Andersen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of June, 1892. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant Commander, U. 8. Navy. BcposH'ion of Ruth Burdul-ofsM, native Aleut sealer. PELAGIC , SEALING. Personally appeared before me Euth Burdukofski, Avho, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 64 years of age, a nati^•e Experience. Alcut, being boru on Bering Island, and do now reside, and have since the age of 17 resided, at Unalaska. In my early life, dm-ing the time of the liussiau American Company, I uSka. "" hunted seals in my bidarka in and off the bays of Un- alaska Island. In the spring, as early as February or Time of arrival of jMarch, the big bulls first came. The latter part of ®*^''*^''' March came the "holluscliickie," or younger bachelor seals- these in turn were followed by smaller males, and last of all in early June came the mothers or "matkie," which were in haste to reach the laud to be delivered of their young. In the fall of the year, chiefly during November, when the wind com- ing from northerly directions blow them toward these TonnK seals cap- ^si^ores, was the tlmc to ffo out and capture the young tured m the fall. " => ^ .j urdu- Confirmation of kofski, and fi'om my knowledge of the tacts know the BurdukoLkL^ ^'""^ same to be true. His Paul x Eepin. mark. Witness : J. Stanley Brown. Attested : EUDOLPH TJrnmann, Iiitetyyeter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of June, 1892. [SEAL.] C. L. Hooper, Notary Fublic, District of AlasJia. Deposition of Charles J. Hague^ master mariner. HABITS — PELAGIC SEALING. iLiULiUK, Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alasl'a, ss: Charles J. Hague, a citizen of the United States of America, 53 years of age, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Alameda, Cal., and am a master mariner by occupation, ^^penence. I have been cruising steadily in Alaskan waters since the year 1878. I have sailed principally about various parts of the Aleutian Islands, as far west as Attn, to which island I have made about twenty trips from Unalaska, mostly in the spring and fall of the year. I do not re- member ever having seen a fur-seal in the water between the Four Mountain Islands and Attn Island. The main body of the fur-seal herd bound to and from the Pribilof Islands ^'sration. move through the passes of the Fox Islands, Unimak on the cast and the West Pass of Umnak on the west, being the limits between which they enter Bering Sea in any number. I do not know througli wliat passes the different categories move, or the times of their movements. Barely see fur-seals in the Pacific between San Francisco and the im- mediate vicinity of the passes. I think the fur-seal n(>r(isofComn,ai.d- lierds of the Commander and Pribilof islands are sep- er ami Prihiiot is- arate bodies of the fur-seal species, whose numbers do i^^^^i" •!" ^""^ '"'"J-'i^- not mingle with each other. In the latter part of September of 18G7, in the brig Kentucky, nmking passage between Petropaulowski and Kodiak I observed the Commander Islands seal herd on its way from the rookeries. They moved in a compact mass or scliool. after the man- ner of herring, and were making a westerly course towards the Kurile Islands. 208 TESTIMONY The sealvS which I have observed on their way to the Pribilof Islarifls do uot move in large schools; they stra.njile along a few at a time in a sort of a stream, and are often seen sleeping in the Ateutian'ilirimds. °^ Water and playing. There are no fiir-seal rookeries in the Aleutian Islands that I know of; in fact, I have never heard of any in the region besides those on the several well- known Seal Islands of Bering Sea. I believe there has been a great Decrease decrease in the numbers of the fur-seal species; I do not believe there are now one-tenth as many fur-seals frequenting the Pribilof Islands as there were ten years ago. Nine or ten years ago, when lying off the Pribilof Islands in the fall, the young- seals used to play in the water alxmt the vessel in large numbers ; in going to the westward in the month of May many seals were always to be seen between Unalaska and the Four Mountain Islands. In mid- summer, when making j)assages between Unalaska and the Pribilof Islands, used to see large bodies of fur-seals feeding — ee mg. tliey wcrc invariably to be met with most numerously about 60 miles north-northwest true from Unalaska, and from there up to the islands a continuous stream of seals was to be seen moving to and from the feeding grounds. When last I visited the rookeries three years ago, in 1889, 1 noticed a great shrinkage in the area covered by seals on the rookeries. While at anchor off St. Paul Island the pups playing about the vessel were very few, and while making a passage between Unalaska and the Pribilof Islands, during the breeding season, did not see a dozen in the open sea during the whole trip, where formerly I met hundreds. In going from Unalaska to Atka and returning during the last of May and the first x>ai't of June of this year (1892), I did not la^irseaihig"*" ^° ^'^' scc a siuglc fur-scal in the water. I attribute this great decrease to the indiscriminate slaughter of the species by pelagic sealers, and their wasteful methods of securing skins. I think that a close season at the Pribilof Islands for Close season for several vcars and the absolute suppression of pelagic several years. .. " -i, .i r> i • i x- j-i sealing wdl cause the fur-seal species, or such oi them tiot'neiessar/™'"^'' as frcqucnt the Pribilof Islands, to increase, though slowly, to their former numbers. Ohas. J. Hague. Sworn and subscribed to before me this 13th day of June, 1892. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander^ U. 8. Navy. Deposition of Ivan Kruloff, Aleut Sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Personally appeared before me Ivan Krukoft', who, being duly sworn, de])0ses and says: I am 46 years of age, a native of the Aleutian Islands, and have lived in the Village of Makushin all my life. At this village we see no seals in the spring, but late in tlie Indian sealing. ^^^^^ .^ ^^^^ Octobcr, wc go out ill our bidarkas and catch with spears and sometimes guns the young pups which were born . on the seal islands in the summer and are now going Migration. goutli. We do uot usc ucts. There are no old seals KELATING TO THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 209 with these pups; they are the young- pups that are driven in by the strong' north Avinds. We go out as far as tlie cape at the mouth of Makusliin Bay and find the pups here and there; they are never to- gether in great nunibers. I never knew any old seals of any land to haul out on the shores in this vicinity, Ak'utialfisiamL^. "" nor have I ever heard any old men say they ever saw any old seals haul out. It is harder to find the pui)S now than it was a few years ago. There does not seem to be so many of them as there „ . '^ Decrease of pups. used to be. Ivan Keukoff. [In Russian.] Attested : Innokenti Shayashnikoff, Intoyreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of June, 1892. J. Stanley Brown, United States I'reasury Agent. Dejjosition of S. Melavidoff and David Salamatoff, native residents of UnaJasla. HABITS. Personally appeared before me S. Melavidoff and David Salmatoff, who, being duly sworn, depose and say: We are natives of Alaska, are now and have been for the past twenty years residents of Ilnalaska. The only seals taken by the natives of this place are the this season's pups that go throngh tlie passes during tlie period be- ^.^ ..^ tween the last of October and the last of November. ^peii*^"ce. The northerly winds bring them in the direction of this harbor, and the natives go out in their bidarkas and spear and shoot The only seals taken them for food. Sometimes we find old male seals with ^^' '^l'!'''''V'i.r I'm^' them, but we dare not attack them in the bidarka. The 's^^nLsdo'uot'iKuirup mothers are not with them, and there are usually no "' \i'i»it>- seals of older age with them. They are the weaker of the pups, the stronger ones going on through the passes. iSTo old seals haul out on shore here. I, S. Melavidoff, am 53 years of age. I, David Salamatoff, am 67 years of age. S. Melavidoff. D. Salamatoff. Attested: EUDOLPH UeNMANN, Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of June, 1893. [SEAL. J C. L. Hooper, Notary ruhlie, Dist. of Alaska. 271G— vol II 14 210 TESTIMONY Deposition of Arthur Newman^ agent of lessees on Aleutian Islands. HABITS. Tliuliuk, Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alaslca, ss: Artliur Newman, a 'citizen of tlie United States of America, 51 years Experience ^^ ^^^^ being duly sworii, deposes and says: I Lave lived in the Aleutian Islands the greater part of the time since 1809. For eight years I was agent for the Alaska Connnercial Cojnpany at Ohernofsky, and for ten years I acted in the same capacity at ITmnak; for three years I was an officer of a supply tender making- trips between San Francisco and Unalaska. I have made four trips to the westward as far as Attn, at different seasons of the year. I ob- Mi"Tation scrvcd that the fur-seals usually commence to move through both tlie East and West Passes of Umnak into Bering Sea about the last of May, the majority enter in the latter part of June, w^hile very few are to be seen moving north after the middle of July. The seals going north tlirough these passes are mostly females and young bachelors; very few bulls go that way. The natives first reported fur-seals moving south through the same passes about the 1st of October. The majority pass into tlie Pacific between the 20th of Oc- tober and the 1st of November, while the last ones are usually observed about the 25th of November. The seals moving south sexTu wittr!*'"^"'^'' ^^'^- S'l'^Y P^^ps, and medium-sized seals, the former in the majority. I can not distinguish the sex of fur-seals in the water. Seals leaving the Bering Sea via the western passes are generally Mi.^^ Ht'nisuouotniiu"lc. seals being seen between Amchitka and a point oO miles east of the Semichi Islands, Do not think there are now as many fur-seals as there were thirty years ago, but do not j)g^j,e»se know the cause of the decrease. Sealing schooners do not regularly visit these islands. J^ast August (18!)1) three of them came in here to get water, but only stayed a few hours each; they had been to the Commander Islands and were going south. liis ELIAII X riJOKOPIEF. mark. 216 TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. Subscribed uud swoiii to bL'toie me this 28tli day of May, 1892. Z. L. Tanner, LieKfcnaiif-GoriDtKoulcr, U. 8. Navy I, Peter Sliaislmikoff", hereby swear tliat I have faitlifully and truly interpreted the Ibregoiug- affidavit of Eliah Prokopief. Peter yHAisHNiKOFF, Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of June, 1892. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander^ U. S. Nary. Dej)osition ofFilaret TroTtopicf^ agent and storel-eeper of AhisJca Commer- cial Company, on Attn Island, and fur-hunter. HABITS. Territory of Alaska, Attn, Chiehagof Harhor, Attn Island, Aleutian Chain, ss: Fihiret Prokopief, a native of Attn Ishiud, Ahiska, 23 years of age, being' duly sworn, dei)Oses and says: I am the agent Experience. and storekeeper at this ])lace for the Alaska Ccmimer- cial (Company, which ])osition I liave held for the last tAvo years. My occupation is that of a hunter, principally for the sea- olter and fox; never for the fur-seal. I used to hunt, before I was , ^ made agent, about the Attn, Agattu, and the Semichi No seals m vicinity, tiit ^ ^ x- i-xi j. tj- Islands. 1 never saw but one fur-seal m the Avater. It w.is a young male which was killed in this bay in September of 1884. I do not know of any fur-seal rookery or other places Ai^uli rnYsUudI ° " where fur seals liaul out on the land to breed or rest in the Aleutian Islands, nor where the old bull fur-seals spend the winter. I do not know at what times or by what routes the seal herds move to and from the Bering Sea; have heard lof mui 'comiiiamier old liuuters Say the Commander Islands herd use to ^^f-^''^^- pass close to the western shores of these islands on their way north. FiLARET PROKOPIEF. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of IVIay, 1892. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander, U. 8. Navy. I, Peter Shaishnikoft", hereby swear that I have faithfully and truly interpreted the foregoing affidavit of Filaret Projikopief. Peter Siiaishnikoff, Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of June, 1892. Z, L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander, U. 8. Navy. TESTIMONY TAKEN ON OR NEAR KADIAK ISLAND Deposition of Isaac M. Lenard, sea-otter hunter, residing at Bell'ofsJcy, Alasla. PELAGIC SEALING-. Isaac Lenard, being duly sworn, deposes and saitli : I reside at Belkof- skv, Alaska Territory. I have been a sea-otter hunter for forty years, and have occasionally raided the Eus- sian seal islands. When on a raid we would watch for Raids on Russian a favorable opportunity to make a landing, and then inlands.- kill male and female fur-seals indiscriminately. Prob- Destruction of pups. ably for every 500 marketable skins secured, double that number of pups were destroyed. I think that a Protection by a close season between the months of February and No '^'o^*^ «''''«o°- vember in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea should be estab- lished in order to prevent the extermination of the fur-seal species. I. M. Lenard. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United iStatcs Treasury Agent. Deposition of Andrew Anderson, sea-otter hunter, residing on KadiaJc Is- land. PELAGIC SEALING. Andrew Anderson, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at St. Paul, Kadiak Island, Alaska Territory. I am a sea-otter hunter by occupation, and am now master ot Experience. a hunting schooner. While engaged in hunting dur- ing the past eighteen years, I have killed more or less fur-seals. I usually first fall in with fur-seals off" Cooks Inlet , ^r. ,, -r ■ 1 r. . ^ T -r 1 i- -I i -1 1 AppearoffCook sln- .c^yv^ui, .r'^ nrSt ot Juue. 1 have noticed a perceptible let about June ist. and gradu/'l decrease in seal life for the past few years and attribuv • o t • • •CJ.^ i seal islands in Bering Sea. In my opinion, it the seals ^j>rohii.i(ion neces- are uot harasscd and hunted at sea they will increase, and to preserve them from extermination pelagic hunt- ing must be stoi)ped. F. F Feeny. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1S02. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of William Foster, seal hunter, residing on KadiaJ: Island. PELAGIC SEALING. William Foster, a resident of St. Paul, Kadiak, Alaska, being duly sworn, deposed and said : I am a hunter. Have been Experience. in Alaska eighteen years. Have been from Icy Bay to Unalaska. I have never hunted fiir-seal until last Waste (.1 iiie. year. Froui iiiy own experience, aiul wliat I havc becii Appear oft Cooics told by otlicr huuters, about one-half of the seals killed off ung^ June iL:""^ '"^1"^- Tl^^ scals ap]>ear ott Cook's Inlet about May 1st. They ai)pear olf Unga about the 1st of June. A seal if shot dead will sink almost immediately. In my opinion, Decrease Seals and all other fur-bearing animals are decreasing and the cause is pelagic hunting. I do not know of Pr^biiorisLiHL ^ "" ^'"y rookery outside of the seal islands of the Bering Sea, nor have 1 heard of any other. I have never seen Kone born on kelp. ^^^^^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^ ^.^^j^^ ^^^j^^ ^^^^ j ^^ ccrtaiu they can not TAIiEN ON OE NEAR KADIAK ISLAND. 221 live and thrive on kelp beds. In my opinion, in order Prohibition necee- to preserve tlie fur-seals, all pelagic sealing should be ^^^^' stopped. Wm. Foster. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Ayent. Deposition of Eilivard Niglil Lairson, srahr (Jniiifer), residing on Kadial Island. PELAGIC SEALING. Ed\Yard Kighl Lavrson, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I re- side at St. Pauls, Kadiak Island. Alaska, and have ^ J1jXT)G 1*1(311 CG lived in the Territory for the past twelve years. I am a sea-otter hunter by occui^ation and am well acquainted with the l!^orthwest coast from San Francisco to Unalaska. In the years 1878 and 1879 I was employed as a fur-seal hunter on board the schooners Favorite and Onward^ respect- pavonte m%. ively, both of Victoria, British Columbia; and in the o»«a/d,'i879.' years 1884 and 1885 I was engaged in the same capac- ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ity on the schooners Teresa and ISan Biego, respectively, sanikego, 1885. both hailing from San Francisco, Cal. In the Victoria vessels we started in to hunt fur-seals off Cape Flat- tery in February both years, following the seals along ^^^^^ ^^^^^^.^^^ ^^ the coast as far as the Fair Weather ground. In the capf^Fiatteryiul-Yb- American vessels hunting began at Sand Point in ^"'''"y June, and, worlcing on with tlie main herd from that . ^^^'^^^^ ^^^^ ^°i^' vicinity, we followed the seals through Uiiimak Pass into Bering Sea. Breech-loading firearms were used exclusively. My own success as a hunter was a catch of 80 per cent of ,,j,„„,,t so per cent all fur seals killed. I have killed females in milk in of those killed. Unimak Pass, and even out in the Pacific Ocean, 200 j,j]'j^|p"'s females miles from the land. We can not distinguish between the sexes of fur-seals in the water at sea, nor do we try to. On the contrary, evervthinc in sight is taken if possible, ex- ^ .. ... cept large bulls, whose skins are worthless. To secure a fur-seal it is best to shoot it through tlie body, as it will fioat longer than if shot tlirough the head. Male fur-seals siidc g^.^jg gj,,,.;,,,, almost instantly when shot dead, while a i)regnant ' ' ^' female will fioat for several minutes. In order t(» prevent the extermi- nation of the fur-seal species I am of the opinion that a close season in the Korth Pacific Ocean and in Bering ™ir''''"''- "'"'''''"^ Sea should be established and enforced from April I to November 1 of each year. I never saw a pup seal in the water nor on beds of kelp, and I do not believe it possible for i^^xa„ic birHi im- them to be raised there. I know of no rookeries in po.s.sihh;. the North Pacific other than those on the seal islands riSfishuX!" "" of Bering Sea, and have never heard of any others from a reliable source. Edward Nighl Lawson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13tli day of April, 18!)2. JosErii MlRR.VV, United States Treasury Agent. 222 TESTIMONY Deposition of William EoJicle, Imnter {mai^ter), residing on Kadialc Island. HABITS. William Eolide, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a resident J. .. ^^ of St. Paul, Kodiak, Alaska, and am captain of a liunt- xpeuence. ^^^ ^^^^^ trading' schooner. I have resided in Alaska six years, and in all that time followed the calling of a hunter. Beginning at Cooks Inlet, in the spring, we find seals inteurMaj" ^""^^ oft' the iulct in May traveling westward along the coast towards the Bering Sea. I never hunted fur-seals, but I have a knowledge of their habits and movements, ^_ Pelagic biithinipos- ^^^^ j ^g^gj. g^^^, ^ p^^p g^^l in the water, nor on a bed of kelp, and I know a pup seal could not live and thrive on a kelp bed. I know of no place where fur- isiaudi"^'"'^^'"'*^"' seals haul out on land except the seal islands of Bering Sea, nor have I ever heard of such a place. W. EonDE. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Peter Titchenoff, storelceeper for Alaslca Commercial Com- pany, residing on KadiaJ: Island. PELAGIC SEALING. Peter Titchenoff, a resident of St. Paul, Kodiak, Alaska, being duly sworn, deposed and said: lam a native of Alaska. Experience. ^^^^ ^^ ycars old. I am storekeeper for the Alaska Commercial Co. I am acquainted with the coast from lo^^keiienTong'Tfoas*?! Sitka to Kodiak. I do not know of any rookery along the coast nor have I ever heard of any. Peter Titchenoff. Subscribed and sworn to before me this loth day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of John C. Tolman^ United States deputy collector on Kadialc Island. PELAGIC SEALING. John C. Tolman, being duly sworn, do])oses and says: I am TJ. S. deputy collector. IJesiiU-d nearly two years at Ko- Experience. ^j^^ j^ Capacity of dcputy collector. The seal are taken off Kodiak Island about the 1st of June. The hunters use shot- guns and rifles exclusively lor taking seal. I think that fi-om what 1 have been able to learn, about half the seal shot are lost, the hunters being unable to secure them before they sink. From prSinaut^L^^^^ wliut I liavc becu able to learn the majority of seals iiuiiscrimiuatokiii- takcii arouud Kodjak are females. Hunters use no "*^' discrimination in takbig seal, but kill everything that pokes its head out of watei- near the boat. Sealers report that seals are not as pk'ntii'ul as in former years. Scarcity of seal ecreaae. ^^^ ^^ attributed to no other cause than pelagic hunt- TAKEN ON OR NEAR KADIAK ISLAND. 223 mg anil the iiuliscriiviinatc sliooting of seals in the open sea, both in the North Pacific and Bering- Sea. I have never known ^^ .^ ^^^i^h any fur-seal to hanl out on the coast of Alaska any- where except on the Pribilof Tslanrls, In my opinion, pelagic hunting should be stopped altogether in order to give the seal proper protection. I have resided in pj^jt^ption Wrangel the last year and a half. I have never seen a fur seal in any of the inland waters of Alaska, nor have I ever heard of any being in the inland waters. John C. Tolman. Subscribed and sworu to before me this 9th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Nicholas William Andersen, hnntcr, Prince William SoUnd to Sennali Islands. HABITS. Nicholas William Andersen, a resident of Afognak, being duly sworn, deposed and said: I have been in Alaska twenty years; I have been a hunter eighteen years ; I have never hunted seals; I Experience have been along the coast from Prince William Sound to Senuak Islands. Seals are first seen at Prince Wil- Pif.'^ce Vimrm soumi liam Sound about May 1. I do not know, nor have I about May i. ever heard of any place where seals haul out or breed p^pa born onjy on except the seal islands of the Bering Sea. I have never I'ribiiof islands. " seen young seals born at sea, nor on kelp; nor do I be- lieve they can live on kelp beds. If seals are shot dead „„Yfl.*pi*' ^^^*'^ ™' they must be picked up at once or they will sink. I or the preservation of seal life pelagic hunting should be sary?^'''*'°° °^*'^'' stopped. N. W. Andersen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Dc;position of Peter C. Muller, sealer {master), residing at Afognalc. HABITS. I, Peter C. Muller, a resident of Afognak, being duly sworn, depose and say : That I have been in Alaska eight years. My occupation is hunter. I am captain of a hunting schooner and start the season off Cook's Inlet. The first seals are seen about May. I have never been hunting seal, and have no experience ou^Cookrnjet.^ ^^'* as to how many are saved; can not say whether the seals are increasing or decreasing in numbers. I have ^^^^^ ,,j„j, „p ^„,,^ never known or heard of any i)lace where seals haul on tii.> islands, and out except seal island. I have never seen any pups ""'^ ^"™ *"* ^®'^" born on kelp. Peter 0. Muller. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. TESTIMONY TAKl-.X IN COOK'S INLET. Deposition of Nicoli A2)oJ{c]iee, Peter Ahanlonl; StrpJian LanfjiraJic, Tllflim Monin, Denis Mal.zof\ Wasj/ri/on Ojl-eir, Pavel Of l:cu\ and Pavel liingchook, native fur hunters, residing at Fort Alexander, Cools Inlet. habits: decrease. Kiroli Apolvchee, Peter Abankook, Stei^liaiiLaTijiwalic, Tyfym^ronin-, Denis Malzolf, Wasyryon Ofkew, Pavel Oi'kew, and Pavel lliugcbook, be- iiigduly sworn, depose and say : Tliatwe are natives of Alaska, and reside attlie settlenientknownasFortAlexander,onCooksIn- xpenence. j^^^ Alaska Territory. AVe are, by occui)atioii, Inmters of fur-bearing animals, excepting the fur-seal, and have been engaged in this pursuit the greater part of our lives, chiefly in this region. Fur- seals usually appear in the vicinity of Cooks Inlet early coo*kl\niet?'May i"? * in the mouth of Afay. We are positive that the ma- jority of fur-seals do not enter Cooks Inlet, but pass across its entrance, following tlie coast of the mainland. We have occasionally observed a few seals which had strayed viciuity"*^'^' ^""®'° into the lower bays of the inlet, but they have only been seen at long and infrequent intervals. There are no fur-seal rookeries in this part of Alaska. Fur-seals were formerly observed in this neighborhood in great num- ^ bers, but of late years they have been constantly dimin- ishing, owing to the large number of sealing vessels engaged in killing tliem. We have never seen fur-seal pups about Pups born only on tliis part of tlic coast, aud have no knowledge of any rribiiot Islands. bciug boru elsewhere than on the rookeries of the seal islands in Bering Sea. ISTicoLi Apokchee (his x mark). Peter Abankook (his x mark). Stephen Langwalic (his x mark). Iyfym jNIonin (his x mark). Denis IVIalzoff (his x mark). Wasyryon Ofkew (his x mark). Pavel Ofkew (his x mark). Pavel Eingchook (his x mark). Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Maxwell Cohen, agent of Alaska Commercial Company, at Fort Alexander, Cooli Inlet. pelagic sealing. Maxwell Cohen, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at Fort Alexander, Cook's Inlet, Alaska Territory, and am by occupation the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company at this place, where I 224 TESTIMONY TAKEN IN COOK's INLET. 225 liave resided for the past twenty-two years, during- which time it has been my duty to collect and otherwise handle furs and skins of all de- scriptions for the aforesaid conipiiny. I have observed that fur-seals first appear iu the neighborhood of Cook's Inlet iu small schools about the middle of April, coming from Expenence. the southward, and increase in numbers until the Mi'^ration. latter part of May, traveling along the coast of the mainland from the eastward to the westward, but never j^;^Jl^'^'^^f^\ ^*, -f^?^ entering Cook's Inlet above Anchor Point. They cross '"^"'""^-r" the entrance of the inlet and appear off the mainland again in the vi- cinity of Cape Uougiass. Seal hunting commences about the region of Prince William Sound, Alaska Territory, early in Ajjril. Native hunters secure about one-third of all fur-seals ^^««f«^of'^*e. killed at sea, while in my belief white hunters secure even a less num- ber in proportion to those killed. In pelagic sealing no distinction is made by hunters as to the sex of the seals, the killing ^ . . being done indiscriminately. It is not possible to dis- "' "'^•"ramate. tiuguish between the male and female seals at sea even if a hunter so desired, and this is the reason wlsy pelagic seal hunting will soon result in the total extermination of the species. I do not know of^ and have never heard of, fur-seals landing at any point but the seal islands of Bering i>^i{^-lli isiamii '■*" ''^ Sea. I have noticed in recent years a great decrease in seal life, which I attribute to the fact that they have been so persistently pursued and systematically slaughtered bypelagic fur- ^crease. seal hunters. After twenty-two years' experience in Alaska in the fur business I have no hesitation in saying that if the fur-seal species is to be saved from extinction all iJclagic seal hunting must cease, as it is absolutely necessary that the female sary°'"''""'" ^'^^^^' fur-seal should be allowed access to a rookery, in order safely to deliver her young. M, Cohen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of A])ril, 1892. Joseph Murray, United states Treasury Agent. Deposition of Metry Monin, Xicoli Koojool; tStephan ToochyJc, Alexy Ma- liatjalx, Tchan Ivanoff, Alexander Kamlooh, Peter Ghardshool-, titephan Apavelooli^ Alexy AbaJcee, Si)ncon Tanapee, ^ieoli Kasluif/aJx-, Telcitn Kool'etr, Pavel Abanynf/aic, and I'eler Abangac, native fnr-huntcrs at Fort Alexander, Cook Inlet. HA15ITS. Metry Monin, Nicoli Xoojook, Stephan Tooch^k, Alexy Mahagak, Tekan Ivanotf, Alexander Kandook, Peter Charashook, ^ en nee Stephan Apavelook, Alexy Abakee, Simeon Tanapee, ^peiunct. Nicoli Kashagak,Tekau Kookew. Pavel Abanyngaw, and Peter Aban- gac, being duly sworn, depose and say: That we are natives of Alaska, and reside at the settlement of Fort Alexander, Cook's Inlet, Alaska Territory. We are, by occupation, hunters of fur animals, excepting the fur-seal, and have been engaged in this pursuit all our lives, chielly in this neighborhood. The fur seals Uvsually a])pear about Cook's Inlet early in the month of TMay. They ^^^l^,^Z\^^T were formerly i'onud iu tl:is region iu great numbers, 2716— VOL II 15 226 TESTIMONY but of late years tliey liave been constantly diminisbingr, owing to the niiniber of seabiia: vessels eueaeed in killing them. They do not enter Cook's Inlet, and there are no fnr- Ko rookeries on seal rookeries in or about this part of Alaska. We ^"''^''^' have never seen fur-seal pups about this part of the Born only on tiie coast, and luive uo kuowledgc of any being bom outsidc ^'^^""^'■'*- of the rookeries on the seal islands of Bering Sea. Metry Monin (his X mark). NicoLi NoojooK (his x mark). Stephan Toochyk (his x mark). Alexy" Mahagak (his x mark). Tekan Ivanhoff (his x mark). Alexander Kamlook (his x mark). Peter Chaeashook (his x mark). Stephan Apavelook (his x mark). Alexy^ Abakee (his x mark). Simeon Tanapee (his x mark). NicoLi Kashaoak (his x mark). Tekan Kookew (his x mark). Paa^el Abanyng^aw (his x mark). Tetek Abangac (his x mark). Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray^, United States Treasury Agent. Bcjmsition of Alexander Shylia, native fur-lmnter at Fort Alexander^ Cooli In Jet. pelagic SEALTNG. j Alexander Shyha, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I am chief of the native settlement at Fort Alexander, Cook's Inlet, Alaska Ter- ritory, and am by occupation a hunter of all fur-bearing animals found in this vicinity excepting the fur-seal. I am a native of Alaska, and have resided all my life in the Territory. My occupation as Experieuco. a huuter has taken me along the coast and to the sea a distance of from 20 to oO miles from the coast. In former years I found great numbers of fur-seals, but within the last Decrease ^^^^' years I havc obscrvcd that they have greatly dimin- ished in numbers, so that now I do not find any off Cape Elizabeth and the adjacent region, where formerly they abounded. 1 have never seen or heard of any fur-seal rookery out- sil^TlTin^sea"*" ^^^"^ «^' Bering Sea. The fur-sea^ls usually appear oft this part of the coast about the month of May, but they do not enter Cook's Inlet. The disappearance of the fur seal is due to the killing by pelagic seal hunters, Avho appear ia5c"'eX£'" *" ^'*'' "^ ^'""Se numbers oft' this part of the coast, and t}\e scarcity of the fur seals is in proportion to the number of vessels engaged in seal hunting, 1 have never seen a fur-seal pup Birih of pups ^" *^"® region, and know that they are not born outside the rookeries on the seal islands in the Bering Sea. Ills Alexander Calynac x Siiyha. mark. Subscribed and SAvorn to before me this Sth day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United iStates Treasury Agent. TAKEN IN cook's INLET. 227 Deposition of John Andrew Bradley, resident of Coal Point, CooJc's Inlet. PELAGIC SEALING. Joliu Andrew Bradley, being duly sworn, deposes and saitli : I reside at Coal Point, on Kacliekmak Bay, Cook's Inlet, ^^ ^^.^^^ Alaska, and have lived in this immediate vicinity ^penence. for the past fonr years. I have traveled extensively along- all the jS^orthwest Coast during the past twenty- two years, and am well acquainted with it. I have had no personal practical experience in fur-seal hunting, but at the same time have a fair knowledge of the in- dustry. It is not possible to make any distinction between males (other than large bulls) and females of the fur-seal species at sea, and there is none attempted. Full-powered bulls f^re, however, readily recognized at sea by their much larger size and darker fur; they are seldom taken their pelts being comparatively valueless. The slaugh- ' ter is therefore indiscriminate, the object being to se- .^indiscriminate km- cure all the skins possible. Fur-seals sink almost in- stantly after being struck, and unless picked up immediately can not be recovered. It is my honest belief that for every fur-seal skin obtained by l)e]agic sealers, at least live other seals' lives are ta- rive-sixths lost ken I believe that the decrease in fur-seal life, which has been constant of late years, is due principally to the jje^rease number of vessels engaged in hunting them at sea. I have never seen any but a few straggling seals in Cook's Inlet, and these only on rare occasions. I have never heard of any fur-seal rook- eries in the Korth Pacific other than those on the seal islands of Bering- Sea; and am positive that none exist in the vicinity of Cook's Inlet. A Captain Erratt, of San Francisco, last co^ok's'"inkt.''*'^ °^""' year induced parties of that place to fit out the schooner Lily L. on the face of his positive statement that a fur-seal rookery existed in the vicinity of Cook's Inlet. The enterprise was a total fail- ure, however, no rookery being found, although a long and diligent search, was made for it. It is my opinion that for the proper preservation of fur-seal life, all pelagic hunting ^^^Prohibition necea- should be stopped absolutely. John A. Bradley. . Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Ayent. De^position of John Duff, agent of the Cooper Coal and Commercial Com- imny, at Coal Point, Coolch Inlet. HABITS. John Duff, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at Coal Point, on Kachemak Bay, Cook's inlet, Alaska, and have lived in the Territory for the last five years. I am the agent for the Cooper Coal and Commercial Company at this place, and have no personal knowledge of finr-seal life. At Afognak, where I was for two years engaged in fur trading, handling skins and furs of all desciiptions, I observed that the fur-seals i.'irst appear oft- a f- first api)eared oft' that part of the coast in small num- ossu.-i'k Jshuid .Ti.out bers about the latter part of of the month of April. i"tt.i partoi Apni. 228 TESTIMONY They were most numerous towards the middle of June, passing in schools trom the eastward to the westward, Ibllowinj; general trend of the coast. 1 have traveled extensively through the Territory from Sitka to the Yukon Kiver, and am positive that no fur-seal rook- pdwioflsiands!' °° ^^^^8 cxist iu the region other than those on the seal islands of Bering Sea. Neither have I ever heard any reliable information of the existence of other fur-seal rookeries. John Buff. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April, 1892. Joseph Mueray, United States Treasury Agent. Frederick SMbhy, miner, residing at Coal Point, Cool's^s Inlet. HABITS. Frederick Skibby, being duly sworn, deposes and saith : I reside at .^^^ Coal Point, Kachemak Bay, Cook's Inlet, Alaska, and xpenenco. havc lived iu tlie Territory for the past seven months, No seals enter in- exclusivcly at this place. I am a coal miner by occupa- land waters. tiou, and luivc uo knowledge of fur-scal life. I have _No rookery in vi- ncvcr sccu a furscal in the waters of Cook's Inlet, ""'■^' and do not think any fur-seal rookery exists in this vicinity, as otherwise I believe I should have heard of it. Fred Skibby. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of James Wilson, agent for the Northern Paclcing Company at Port Kenai, Cooks^s Inlet. HABITS. James Wilson, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at the settlement known as Fort Kenai, Cook's Inlet, Alaska, and have lived in the Territory for the past twenty-three years, (;hietly in this region. I am at present agent for the Northern Packing Com- xpenence. pauy at Fort Kenai, and have no practical knowledge of fur-seal life. There is a hair-seal rookery in the northern part of Cook's Inlet, on Kalgin Island, about latitude 00° 30' n(n'th. I have ^^ , , . . never known fur-seals to come up into Cook's Inlet, No iur S('als in in- , , , -r^ • , -i •/• j.i j. i- i land waters. abovc Aiichor Poiiit, and am positive that no mr-seal rookery exists in the region: neither have I ever heard xvo rookery on coast. ^^ fy^y.^^r^^ rookeiies iu the northern hemisphere other than those on the seal islands of Bering Sea. James Wilson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. TAKEN IN cook's INLET. 229 Deposition of Ivan Alexandroff and Feodor Balatitoff, priest and chief, respectively, of natives at ISoldovoi, Coolc's Inlet. habits: decrease. Jolm Alexandroff and Feodor Barastoff, being duly sworn, depose and say: We are respectively the priest and chief of the natives at the settlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Inlet, Alaska, and have lived in the immediate vicinity all onr lives. We are, by occnpation, Imnters of all fur-bearing animals, excepting the fur- seal. We have had no experience in hunting fur-seals, E^p«>™ce. because we are informed that it is nnlawful. Our occupation does not take us below the entrance to Cook's Inlet, in a line from Cape Eliza- beth on the peninsula to Cape Douglass on the main- ^ land opposite. In the latter j^art of June and the first iniet^i'anor'^ part" of part of July a few straggling fur-seals are seen about J'^neaudiirstofjuiy. the entrance to the inlet, bnt the actual time of their appearance is un- certain. Fur-seals were formerly nnich more plentiful, however, but of late years are becoming constantly i^^crease of seals. scarcer. This is, we think, owing to the number of vessels engaged in hunting them at sea. We have never heard of, and have no knowledge of, fur-seal pups being born else- Pribnof^isbnuis!"^ °" where than on the rookeries of the seal islands in Bering Sea, nor do we know of any rookeries other pribuof i!^iamis'? °° than those above mentioned. Xo fur-seals are ever seen in Cook's Iidet above Anchor Point. We believe that Prohibition neces in order to permanently preserve fur-seal life i)elagic ^^^^' hunting should be stopped. Ivan Alexandroff. his Feodor x Barastoff. mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Ivan CanetaJc, Michaeler Balashof, Nicoli Inloo, Sacar Ba- lashof, Nicoli, N'icoli, Hcicar Eolyak, and N'icoU Inloo, jr., natice fur hunters on Goolcs Inlet. PELAGIC SEALING. Ivan Canetak, Michaeler Balashoff, iSIicoli Inloo, Sacar Balashoff, Nicoli Nicoli, Sacar liolyah, and Mcoli Inloo, jr., being duly sworn, de- pose and say: We reside at the settlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Inlet, Alaska, and have lived in the ^''p^"^"''''- immediate neighborhood all our lives. We are, by occupation, hunters of all fur-bearing animals, excepting the fur-seal, Avhich we do not hunt because we have been told it is unlawful. In the latter ^ ^^^ ^. part of June and the lirst part of July, while engaged of jmTe'^aboVcooks in hunting, we have observed fur-seals about the en- ^"'''*- trance of the inlet, passing to the westward; but have never seen any above Anchor Point. They were formerly much more p,, ^ca e plentiful than now, which is owing, we believe, to the number of vessels engaged in kilbng them at sea. We have never known of fur-seal pups beingborn elsewhere than on the ^om only on Pri- rookeries of the seal islands in Bering Sea. Neither buof islands. 230 TESTIMONY RooVeriea only on liavewc aiiy knowledge of tlie existence of any fiir- Pnbiiot Islands. j^^.-j] rookei'ies other tljaii tliose above nicntioiied. We rrohibitionueccs- ])elieve tliat, iu order to perniaiieutly])reserve fur-seal **^^' life, all pelagic Imiiting slionld be stopped. Ivan Canetak (his x mark). MiCHAELER Balashoff (his X mark). NicoLi Inloo (liis X mark). Sacar Balashoff (his x mark). NicOLi NicoLi (his X mark). Sacar Kolyah (his x mark). NicOLi Inloo, jr. (his x mark). Subscribed aud sworn to, before me, this 9th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray^, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Elias Esaiossen^ miner, at Soldovoi, Cooks Inlet. HABITS. Elias Esaiossen, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith: I reside at the setttlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Inlet, Haa never seen fur Alaska, and liavc livcd in the immediate neighborhood eeals in inlet above « ' t • t j i Anchor Point. lour ycars. I am a miner and prospector by occupa- tion, and have no knowledge of or exi)erience in fur- the inlet above seal life. I have never seen fur-seals in the waters of Anchor Point, aud am positive that no fur-seal rook- re^on™"^*''^ '" *''^ *^^y ©xists iu the regioii, nor have I ever heard of any other rookeries than those ou the seal islands of Ber- ing Sea. Elias Esaiossen. Subscribed aud sworn to before me this 9th day of Ajjiil, 1892. Joseph Murray, United iStates Treasury Agent. Deposition of Vassili Feodor, native fur hunter, Cookh Inlet. habits. Vassili Feodor, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I am a native of Alaska, and reside at the settlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Inlet, Alaska, where I have lived all my life. 1 am by Experience. occupatioii a liuntcr of all fur-bearing animals except the fur-seal, which I am told it is nnlawful to kill. I have observed „. „ while engaged in hunting sea-otter, that fur seals first Appenr ofl Cape "Tk. r, • ^ j- ^ i j. • ii • • •< •■ f-\ Eii/.abeih about mid- appear Oil tJus part ol the coast in the vicinity oi Cape die of April. Elizabeth, about the middle of the month of April, aud are most numerous about the middle of June. They move across the mouth of the inlet from the eastward to tbe westward in schools. I have observed a few scattering fur seals in the lower part of Cook's Inlet, but only at long and irregular intervals; I have An^'JioTrofnt!'^""^ ucvcr sccn a fur-seal in tlie waters of Cook's Inlet above Anchor Point. Fur-seals weie formerly much more Decrease. numcrous than of late years, and are each year becoming constantly scarcer. I believe this decrease is due to Cause. the number of vessels which are engaged in hunting TAKEN IN COOK'S INLET. 231 tliem at sea. I have never heard of tur-seal pups l)0- ing- born anywhere except on a rookery; and I have no r,,^, ,,„,„ „„,^ ^„ knowledge of any fur-seal rookeries in Alaska other looktnos on Piibiiof than those on the seal islands of Bering Sea. I think ^''^■""^'*- fur-seals wonld increase if all hunting at sea Avas stopped. his Vassilt X Feodoe. iiuirk. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of A. J. Guild, seuler and miner, at CoolvS Inlet. PELAGIC SEALING. A. J. Guild, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at the settlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Inlet, Alaska, and have lived at settlements along the coast between Sitka and Cook's Inlet for the past eleven years. I am a miner by occuijation, but . formerly followed the sea. I w;;s for two seasons '-^^^penence. employed by parties in Port Townsend, Washiugton, as a sea- man on board of sealing schooners clearing from that place. Their hunters were all natives, who came from l^Teeali Bay, Washington. Fur- seals were first met off Cape Flattery as early as the . ^. „ first part of the month of January, and increased in Fiatt.iy first part of numbers until the early part of June, diminishing again January. towards the latter part of the month. Their migratory movement is from the southward to the northward, following the MioTUion general trend of the coast line. They first approach ^"^'' ^"°' the coast en masse about Cape Flattery, but I have known of stragglers being seen as far south as Coos Bay. The vessels in which I sailed followed the seals up the coast of Vancouver Island as far north as Clayoquot Sound, at which point we left them in the latter j^art of Jnly, owing to their scarcity. Other and larger vessels followed them to a greater distance, generally going up into Bering Sea, and keeping along with the main herds. The native hunters used spears exclnsively in hunting the seals, and secured fully two-thirds of all struck. I am of the opinion that with firearms not more than one-third of by^ilthl's wfthspe^^^^^ the animals shot are actually secured. Of the skins one tiiini with fire- taken in this region fully nine-tenths are pregnant and '"Kiilety per rent milking females, but I never saw a young pup in the |^ei'„|"gg'* °'" ™'"''"S water. Large bulls were never taken, their skins be- ing practically valueless. Among all other fur seals at sea no distinc- tion is possible and none is attempted. The killing is indiscriminate, the object being to secure all the pelts .^^i^'i^^'crinnnato udi- possible. Bulls are, however, readily recognized at sea by their larger size and darker far. Females are most plentiful about the Vancouver coast from the mid- dle of May to the end of June, very few others being secured during that period, the males having mostly gone north previously. Pregnant female seals, being heavy and stupid, and sluggish of move- ment, are more easily approached, and in consequence a greater pro- portionate number of them are secured. 232 TESTBrONY Fur-seals sink almost invariably in less tlian tlircc minutes after be- ing killed, and giavid cows nmcli qnicki'r. They should be appioaclied from the lee side quietly, and picked up as soon after being- struck as possible in order to secure them. I aiu Decrease decidedly of the opinion that fur-seal life has consid- erably decreased ot late years, and believe it is due principally to pelagic sealing. I have never lieard of, nor have no knowledge of fur-seal pu])s being born elsewhere in PribUof isi™ .1"''' ""^ W»e northern hemisphere than on the rookeries of the seal islands of Bering Sea. Neither do I know of any other rookeries than the aforesaid. It is my opinion, that-for the proper preservation of fur-seal life all pelagic hunting should ^jn.iubaiou Dcces- ^^^ pi^ohibited and stopped absolutely, as I think the female seal should have access to a rookery in order safely to deliver her young. A. J. Guild. Subscribed and sworn to before this 9th day of April, 1802. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition ofEohcrt MichaeJsen, miner and pros2Jector, residing at SoJdo- voi, C'OoA'.v Dilet. HABITS. Robert Michaelsen, being duly sworn, deposes and saith : I reside at the settlement known as Soldovoi, on Cook's Iidet, Alaska, and have lived in the Territory for the i)ast ten years, chictly at settlements along the coast between Sitka and Cook's Inlet, I am a miner and prospector by occui^ation, and have never had any ex- Experience. pericncc in sealing. I have become well ac!kan''coast'.' "^ known fiir-seal pups to be born in the water, nor have I ever heard of pups being b(u-n in the water or any- bomluwiten'^'^ °"' where else on Alaska. Have never known of nor have 237 238 TESTIMONY I seen any ftirseal in the waters of Disenchantment Bay or any otlier inlet in this part of Alaska. They do .^^ersf'"' '" '"'""^ not freqnent these places. That is all I have got to say. Atenas-Koo, his X mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, Uniied States Interpreter. A. W.. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 18th day of AjDril, 1892. A. AA^. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Gonastut, Yahntat Indian sealer. pelagic sealing — decrease. Gonastut, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 30 years old. I was born at Kodiak and live at Yakutat and belong :!.per!eiice. ^^ ^^^ Yakutat tribe of Indians. Am a hunter by oc- ^^inaiscriminatekiii- cupatiou. Have killed a few fur-seal. I kill every- "^' thing that comes near the boat and use no discrimina- tion, as the sex can not be told in the water, except it be an old bull, which is told by its size. Ha", e used shotgun and rifle in taking seal. I lose about 50 -per cent when I use the shotgun, and more are lost when rifle is used. I always shoot them in the head when possible, , , but if not possible I shoot them in any part of the body Do not liaul up ex- , , , . ^ " ^ -^ cept on Pribiiof Is- that IS exposcd. 1 liave never known any lur-seal to i^"'^"*- haul up on tlie land in any part of Alaska, except on isTo pelagic birth. the Pdbilof Islands. Never have heard of any pup seals being born in the water. Have never seen any fur-seal in the inland waters of southern Alaska, but have heard of pups being seen in the bays during the prevalence of storms on the coast in winter time. Seal are becoming very scarce this last three or four Decrease. years, aud Indian hunters can hardly kill them )iow. Too many schooners are hunting seal and Indian hunters have to go a long way in their canoes in order to get any, and they Protection. seldom kill one. Seal m ill soon be no more unless the Great Father stops the schooners from hunting. That is all 1 have got to say. Gonastut, his x mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to betbre me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Ay eat TAKEN IN YAKUTAT BAY. 239 Dc/position of Jacob HartUsnul', Yalcutat Indian hunter. PELAGIC SEALING. Jacob Haitlisnnk, beiiio- duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at and Lave lived in Yakutat all my life. I belong' to the Yakiitat tribe of Indians. I am now a very old man. I am by occupation a hunter. I have hunted sea-otter, but have never killed a fur-seal in my life. Never have known of a fur- No pelagic iiirtb seal pup being- born in the water or anywhere else in Alaska, nor have I ever heard of fur-seal being hauled out on the land in Alaska. I have traveled co^Jt""* ^'""^ ""^ "° fi-oni Icy Bay to Sitka Sound and meet many Indians belonging to other tribes of Indians, and they never have told me that they had ever seen any fur-seal hauled out on the coast of Alaska or on any of the rocks adjacent thereto. I have have heard that fur-seal do haul out, and that the pups are bonfon is^iLds"'^ ^^^ born on the Pribilof Islands. It is reported to me by Indians who hunt fur-seal that they are becoming very Decrease. scarce. They have noticed decrease in the last four years. I think if the schooners were prohibited from Piotectiou. sealing they would become plentiful on this coast again. That is all I have to say. his Jacob x Hartlisnuk. mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Sam Hayiliahtla, hunter. PELAGIC sealing. Sam Hayikahtla, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Yakutat, and have lived there all my life. Am 49 years old, Ha\'e been hunting all my life. IsTever heard of any fur-seals being hauled up on the laud on any part of the coast of Alaska where I have traveled. Nor have I ever heard of pups no reiagic birtii. being born in the water, or on the land in any part of Alaska, excei)t on the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea. I tiavel from Icy Bay to Sitka, and have never heard Indians of other .. , , , ^ i -1 ,1.1 11 ,. 1 1 1 T ^ AcYcr licard of fur tribes say that they had seen lur seals hauled out on seals ixim in wat.r, the land, nor have I ever heard them say that pups ;;;;V,ast.''''^' ''"'"' ""' were born in the water. Fur-seal are getting very scarce along this coast and Indian fur-seal hunters have great trouble in getting any now, while in former years they got plenty. If the Great Father does notsto]) schooners from liunt- protection. ing' seal ah>ug the coast of Alaska and in Bering Sea, 240 TESTIMONY the seal will soon be jione and tlie Indian must starve that makes his living- by hunting them. I am told tlie white hniiter kills mostly cow seal with pnp. That is all I have to- say. his Sam X Hayikahtla. mark. Witness to his mark: Peteii Church, Zrnited ^States Intcrprelcr. A, W. Lavender. Subscribed aud sworn to bcfoie me this 18th day of April, 1S02. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Dei)osition of KinJwoga, Ycdutat sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Kiukooga, being duly sworn de[)Ot;es and says: I was born at Yak- ^ . ntat and haw lived there all my life. I am about 40 years old, I think. By occupation I am a hunter. Have Do not haul up on killed a fcw furscal in my life. Have never known any "Nopeia'Tic birth fnrseal to haul out ou the land, nor have I heard of any being hauled out on the land from people of differ- Indiscriminate kill- ent tribcs wliom I have met. Have never seen or heard ^""' of a fur-seal pup being born in the water. Hunters use no discrimination in hunting seal, but shoot everything that comes jiear the boat. Have traveled from Icy Bay to Wrangel and have never seen any seal in the inland waters in my life. A few fur-seal pups have been killed in the bay within my remembrance, in the winter seasons, _- driven there by the storms on the coast at those times. Seal are getting very scarce on the coast the last three or four years. The reason of the scarcity is, I think, that there are too many white hnnters scaling in the open waters. Indian hunters can not „ , ,. get any more in canoes on account of the few seals that are left, are so far from the land. All sealing in open waters by white men should be stopped. I have no more to say. KiNKOOGA, his X mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United ^States Tnterj>reter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United IStates Treasury Agent. Deposition of Nechantal-e, Yahiitat Indian sealer. PELAGIC SEALING — MIGRATION. Nechantake, being duly sworn, d('i)oses and says: I was born in Yak- ^, . ^, , ntat and liave lived there all my life. 1 belong to the do not haul up oil Yakutat tribe of Iiuliaiis, and aiii a vcry old luau. Am *^"'^'^- by occuiiation a hunter. Have never known any fur- TAKEN IN YAKUTAT BAY. 241 seal to be hauled up on the coast of Alaska from Icy Bay to Wraugel. I have been up and down betweeu those places many times. Fur-seal are not as plentiful ou the coast as they used to be. The Indians kill but very lew now. In former years they used to get many of them, but the last few years they have become verv scarce -^ and the Indian hunters take very few. I think the reason of the seal becoming- so scarce is that there are too many white men liuiitiiig seal in the Bering- Sea and the Pacific Ocean and it should be stop])ed. Have never seen any fur-seals in the sounds or inlets between this place and Wrangel rotccuou. at any time of year. In early days a few pups used to Fixr-seaisneverscen be driven into this bay in the winter by the storms on at wnmsei any timo the coast. I have no more to say. " -^ '^"'' Nechantake, his X mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this IStli day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of W. Eoherts, sealer {master). PELAGIC SEALING. W. Roberts, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside at Takutat Bay, Alaska, and I am by occujjafion a mariner, I have been engaged in the business of catching seals in the Xorth Pacific j^^., • Ocean and Bering Sea for four years, three years as ^i'e"encB. sailor, one year as captain, two years off the coast of British Columbia, two years off Southeast Alaska and Bering Sea. I have found that seals appear off the Farralone Is- lands about Christmas, off British Columbia in March, i^irst appearance of ,..-,- ,_,..,'_, " seals off coast. oft lakutat Bay April loth. Have used both ritie and shotgun in killing- seals, but now use shot- c-un only, having found that for same number of sliots ^ „ iLore seals are taken therewith. When rifle is used ritie. less than one seal for five shots is secured; many shots w«s<''of iite. miss, but of those seals hit about one half are secured. If shot in the head a seal will usually float and is taken. If shot through the body it usually sinks, or escapes to die later. When shotgun is used about one seal is secured for five shots, those not secured generally sink at once or are badly wounded and escape to die. Of seals shot dead about one-half sink at once and one-half are taken. In the trip just made off this coast, I have taken eighty-one seals, of which three were bulls, three were bachelors, two were yearlings, about fifty were females pregimnt, rest fe- ^^^tyrilnaLcZt males barren. This is a fair average. It is harder to take an old seal than a young one, the older ones being more on the alert and are not less active when pregnant. YearUngs are rarely taken in North Pacific. The ag-e or sex of a seal in the water can not be distinguished, except that when close the apparent size is an indication of age. 2716— VOL II 16 ing 242 TESTIMONY No discriiniiiation is shown in takinj? seal. The object is to take cvei y one ])Ossil>le. Diuiii.u' past four years have not imiisciiminatekiu- noticed luuch chaugc iu uiunber of Seal. Pups are not born in water. In some cases females far advanced in pregnancy haul up on coast to give birth; but other- wise seals do not stop, except at Pribiloft Islands. I have been in Bering- Sea but a part of one season. Of the seals ^ ^. , , taken about one-third were makis, one third females Proportions caught .,, i^ • -, ^ i t iu Bering Sea. witli youug. onc-tiurd barren aiul yearlings. Xursiii'^cowstaiveu ^ havc takcu uursiug females when as much as 100 loomiiesiiom islands, mllcs from Pribih)ft' Islauds. From my knowledge and from conversation with ^^ciose season ueces- q^Jj^j^. v^ealcis, I belicve that for the proper preserva- tion of seal life, sealing should be absolutely prohibited every two or three years. W. Egberts. Yakutat Bay, Alaska, May, 1892. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of May, A. D. 1892. Giles B. Hakber, Lieutenant, U. /S'. ^T. Deposition of Rondtus, YaTcutat Indian sealer. PELAaic sealing-. Eondtus, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I was born at Yaku- tat, and belong to the Yakutat tribe of Indians. Am Experience. about 28 ycars old, and a hunter by occuj)ation. I have hunted fur-seal, otter, and bear. I use a shot- gun to hunt for seal. Have lost very few seal, as I always shoot them near the boat. Everything in shape of a seal that indis( trinnnate kiu- comcs ucar tlic boat is killed. I use no discrimina- tion. I have never seen nor heard of a fur-seal puj) being born in the water, or on the rocks, on any part No roiagic birth. ^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Alaska, but have heard that seal are born on the Pribilof Islands. Seal are getting very scarce along- the coast, caused by the indiscriminate slaughter of seals in the open waters. Most of the seals taken by me have been cows with pni)s. It would be a good thing for the Indians if the schooners were prohibited from sealing in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean ; if it is continued the Indians who depend on fur-seal for a living must starve. Years ago a few seal puj)s were diiven into the bays by the storms on the coast during the winter season. That's all I know. Eondtus, his x mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United iStates Interpreter, A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, ]89.2. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. TAKEN IN VAKUTAT BAY. 243 Deposition of SchJcatatin, Yalcutat Indian scaler. PELAGIC SEALING. Schlcatatii), being' duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in Itakutat and I liave lived there all my life. I belong to the Yakutat tribe of Indians and am now a very old Experience. man; am by occupation a hunter. Yes; I have killed fur-seal. I used the bow and arrow for killing them. Xever knew any fur-seal j)ups to be born in the water or anywhere .1 ,r- i ■ else in Alaska. Have heard that they are born on the "^ '*^ ''^^ Pribilof Islands. Have never known anv fur-seal to dd not haul up ou , T 1 T . . 1 1 ^' XI • 1 1 Alaskan coast. come up on the land in Alaska or on any ot the islands adjacent theieto, but Imve heard that tliey do haul out on the Pribi- lof Islands. I have traveled from Icy Bay to Nnchuk and back along the coast as far east as Lityu Bay, and fur-.seais "iu^'inhmd have never seen any fur-seal in any inland waters "'»tt>s. wherever I have traveled. I thinlc the Great Father should stop all schooners from hunting seal in Bering Sea and the „ ^ ^. Pacific Ocean, so the seal would become plentiful again and the Indian hunters would again have a chance to kill them. That is all I know about seal. SCHKATATIN, his X mark. Witness to his mark : Peter (JnuKcn, United states Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United states Treasury Aycnt. Deposition of Showoosch, Yalutat Indian sealer, pelagic sealing. Showoosch, being duly sworn, disposes and says: I was born at Sitka; am a very old man ami I belong to the Yakutat tribe of Indians; have been a hunter all my life, hunting sea-otter and seal in the summer and bear and fox in the winter. AVhen Exiuiidice. I was a young man 1 killed fur-seal ott Yakutat Bay, using a spear altogether. I haven't killed any seal lately, as they are getting very scarce. The majority of ' '"'''' ' seal killed by me have been cows; have killed a few small males. Have never known or heard of any ])n])s being born in the ^.^^ .1 <'" anywhere m Alaska. Once in a wliile a tew ]»u)»s are (.Iriven into the bay by the hard gales blowing from the southeast on 244 TESTIMONY the coast during the month of December. I think the Great Father slumhl stop all sealing' by schooners in tlie North Pacific Ocean and the seal would again beconie plenty, so the Indians could again kill plenty of them. That is all I know about seals. Snowooscn, his x mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 18913. A. W. liAVENDER, United States Treasury Agent, Deposition of Slceenong, Yalcutat Indian hunter, PELAGIC SEALING. Skeenong, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Copper liiver. I am an old man and belong to the Yakutat xptneuce. tribe of Indians, but have lived here but one year. I hunt the sea-otter and land game in seasons. Have Decrease. heard all the Indians with whom I have come in con- 1 .r- 1 ti ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ *^^^ ^^^ ^^'^^ ^^^ becoming very scarce of o pe agic ir . ^^^^ years. Have never known or heard of a fur-seal pnp being born in the water. Have heard that the fur-seal haul up „ . , , on the Pribilof Islands, but never have seen, or have Do not haul up on _ -, n ,. it- tit Alaskan coast. 1 cvcr heard 01 any lur-seal being hauled up on any part of the coast of Alaska, or rocks adjacent thereto. Never have seen any fur-seal in Disenchantment Bay, Protection. ^^ anywhere else in the inlets of Alaska. I think the schooners should be stojiped hunting seal in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, and if they are not stopped at once the Indians wdio hunt fur-seal on the coast of Alaska for a living will be- come very poor and probably starve to death. That is all I have to say. Skeenong, his x mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1893. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of StahJcan. pelagic sealing. Stahkan being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Yakutat a?:d am now a very old man. Have hunted seal and Exponence. gea-ottcr all my life during the summer season, using TAKEN IN YAKUTAT BAY. 245 tli^ spear and arrow. I Lave never known any fur-seal x<>ver know fur . 1 I ii 1 T 1 1 ii • J. i- seals to liaiil np ou to nam up on the land anywhere around this jiart or Alaska coast. Alaska. Nor have I ever known any fur-seal pups to be born in the water or anywhere else in Alaska, nor ^^■P'^^^s^'^^nrih. have 1 ever heard any Indians with whom I have come in contact say that they had ever known any fnr-seal pups to have bet'U born in the water, nor had they known any fur-seal to haul up on the huid in any part of Alaska. That is all I have got to say. Stahkan, his X mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United ^States Interpreter. A, TV, Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Thunic, native otter hunter. pelagic sealing. Thunk, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am so old that I have lost my eyesight. Was born in Yakutat and have lived there all my life. Never killed any fur-seal in my life. Spent all my life hunting sea-otter. Have never known Fur seal do not haul any fur-seal to haul up on the land around these bays ^p*'^'"^^*- or in any other part of Alaska. Have never known or ;n"o pelagic Luth. heard of any fur-seal pups being born in the water. Neither have I heard of any fnr-seal hauling up on the land anywher^ around this part of Alaska. Had there been any seal hauled up on the land it would have been told to me by people of diflerent tribes with whom I have come in contact. I have no more to say. Thunk, his x mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscriljcd and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United Slates Treasurij Agent. Deposition of Tironglcical-, Yalutat Indian scaler. PELAGIC SEALING. Twongkwak, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Was born at Ta- kutat; am about 30 years old, and belong to the Yaku- tat tribe of Indians. Hunting is my occupation; have -xpenenco. hunted sea-otter and seal; have killed mostly jjups in the faU of the 24() TESTIMONY TAKEN IN YAKUTAT BAY. ,-. ^, , year, (lii veil in by t ho scvorc wcatlier outside. Never Do not liaul up oil ■' ' „ -^ 111 XT 1 1 1 theiiiiid. Jiave seen any lur-seal liaiil up on tlie laud nor have I ever heard of auy seal hauliuii' up on tlie hiud. Have js Ijeiuii" Ijoru in the water uor anywhere else in Alaska. Have heard all the In- Decrease. diaus of different tril)es say that seal are becoming rrotection. Very searee in the last three or four years. They also say that unless the schooners are stopped from sealing in Tiering Sea and the Korth Pacific Ocean the seal will all be gone, and none will be left for the Indians or anyone else. The seal have beeimie so scarce of late years that I don't know much about them. This is all I know. TwoNGKWAK, his X mark. Witness to his mark: Peteu Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of YaJil-aJi, Yalutat Indian liunter. PELAGIC sealing-. Yahkah, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Taku- tat. I am about 35 years old and belong to the Yaku- Experience. ^^^ ^^.-^^^ ^^^ Judiaiis. Am a huuter by occupation. I Never heard of pe- go fioiii Icy Bay to Sitka Souud and come in contact lagic birth. \i\i\\ the peoi)le of different tribes of Indians, and have xever heard of ucver secu uiysclf uor heard other Indians say that they Reals haniiiig up on jj-^^j^ gg^^jj furscal luips boiii ill tlic watcr. Hav<' nev^er Alaskan coast. , , . iii- -,■,■, • seen or heard oi lur-seals hauling up on the land in any part of Alaska. When I was a small boy, a few pup seals used to .^ be driven into the bays by hard storms on the coast. The seal, like the sea otter are becoming very scarce. I think if the schooners were prohibited from taking seal in Bering Sea Protection ^"*^^ aloug the coast of Alaska, the seal would become plentiful and the Indians could kill them once more in canoes. I don't know anything more about seals. Yaukah, his X mark. Witness to his mark: Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn, to before me, this 18th day of April, 1892. A. AV. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. rnSTIMONY TAKliN AMONG NATIVES OX OR NEAR EYXN CANAL AND CHATHAM SOUND. Deposition of George, the son of Klotz-ldotz, Ghileat Indian trader. PELAGIC SEALING. George, the ?on of Klotz-klotz, being duly sworn, deposes and snys: I belong to the Chilcat tribe of Indians and reside at (Jhilcat; am about 35 years okl. I trade with the interior Indians and up the coast through Lynn Canal, and down the coast as Experience. far as Wrangel and Stikeen. Xever killed a fur-seal do not haul up on in my life. Have never heard of fur-seal hauling upon Alaskan lami. any land in Alaska, nor have I ever heard of seal pups ^^ pengic bhth. being born in the water or on the coast of Alaska. In my dealings witli the ])eo])le of other tribes with whom E come in con- tact they would have told nie had they known of any fur-seal having hauled up on any part of the Alaskan coast visited by them. Know nothing more about seals. his George x Klotz-klotz. mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Kasl-an, Chik-at Indian trader. PELAGIC SEALING. Kaskan, being duly sworn, d('])oses and says: T belong to the Chil- cat tribe of Indians. ' I liave tiiuU'd with other tril)es up Lynn Canal and as far north as the Yukon River, Experience, and down the coast as far as Wrangel. Have never killed or seen a fur-seal in inv life, nor have I ever Fur seal )i of JSflcholi (ladoirrn, Indian. PELAGIC SEALING. !N"icholi Gadowen, being duly sworn, deposes and says: T ain second chief of the Killisnoo Indians; am 50 years old; born at Killisnoo and 250 TESTIMONY liave lived there all my life; niii by occiiiintion a lierrinjf fisherman. Have never killed a fur seai in my life. In the winter Experience. 11-^ j_i season many years ago pup seals used to frequent the Smmd ^^ Cbatiiam f^Quud, driven in by the heavy southeast gales prevail- ing at that time; but the last four years there has not been* a fur seal seen in any part of Chatham Sound that I have been able to learn of. I visit the different parts of the sound with my tribe _, * , , when thev are. making oil and have never knoM'U any Do not Luul on ,. i j." i 1 >i 11 1 • j_ n coast. lur seal to haul up on tlie land or rocks in any part of Alaska that 1 ever visited, nor have I ever heard of No pthigic birf 1. .^^^y ^^^^^^ ^^^,_^j being born in the water or anywhere else in Alaska, and had they ever been born in the Avater or on the islands or rocks of Alaska some of my tribe M-ould have known it and it would have been rex)orted to me. 1 have nothing more to say. his NicnoLi X Gadowen. mark Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United Suites Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Albert Keetnuclc, trader in oil, etc. TELAGIC SEALING. Albert Keetnuck, being duly sworn, i • j.i i t i i x- in inland waters, nor ever heard ot any being- there, nor have 1 heard ot or beard oi them iiauiing gg^^jj j^^j^y ijjmi ^^p yn the land, aiiy island, or rock on or up ou coast. jv. .1-1 4. i' \.i ^ t i • a' i • on the coast ot Alaska, in my business ot making herring oil, which I dispose of to the people of the different tribes along the coast, I should have heard of seal being hanled np on any island or rock along the coast of Alaska, had there been any, for it is customary for the people of one tribe to tell the people of another all they know. I have no more to say. Tchet-Chak, his x mark. Witness to his mark : Peter CiiURcn, United, States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Anna-tlas, chief of Takou Indians. HABITS. Anna-tlas, chief of the Takon tribe of Indians, being dnly sworn, deposes and says: Have always been chief of this tribe. Have never been seal hunting in my life. Myself and tribe go to Experience. ^^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^ ^,^^ ^^ Wrangel and 'trade Avith the Killis- 1100 Indians for oil. Have never seen a fur-seal in all my travels np and down the coast. Have never heard of fur-seal ou^colsu" ""* ""''"^ "'' lii^iding np on any part of the coast. If seal had been hauled np on any x>M't of the coast I should have been told of it by tlie people of other tribes with whom I have come in contact during the long years of my life. That is all I have to say. Anna-tlas, his X mark. Witness to his mark : Peter Church, United States Interpreter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent, TESTIMONY TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA Dejjosition of Adam Ayonl^ce^ native sealer at SitJca. PELAGIC SEALING — MIGRATION. Adam Ayoiikee, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about GO years old; born at and reside in Sitka. Am by occuijation a hunter. Hunt seal in summer and deer in winter ever since I was a small boy. Seal are first seen and taken by me each year off Sitka Sound, about the middle of April. Have followed them as far north as Cape Edward, w here they disai)pear about J une 30. They are constantly on the advance up the coast. When I was a boy, seal were speared among the islands in Sitka Sound, but now the few that come along the coast we are obliged to go far out to sea in order to get. Have always used a shotgun and rifle in taking seal since a young man, I rarely lose any seal I shoot, as I never shoot at them unless they are very close to the boat. Most all seal that I have killed have been pregnant cows. Have taken a few male seals from 1 to 4 years old, I think. ^'f}y , prtgnaut «/ 7 COWS tilllOCi Have never killed an old bull. The sex of seal can not be told in the water. I shoot everything that comes .^indiscriminate kiu- near the boat. When a seal is killed dead, he will sink very quick, which is the reason 1 never shoot them unless they are so near tlie boat that I can secure them. Seal are always shot in the head when possible. I have noticed that seal havedecreased very rapidly in the last three years, owing to too many schooners engaged in sealing j^f^creasn along the coast of Alaska and Bering Sea. Have never known of pups being l)orn iii the water or any- , ..^°* I'.fJT" '" "''■^**''^ where else on the coast outside ot the Tribilof Islands, j,,,^ ^g.,,^ ^i^ „ot Have uever known of fur-seals liauling up on the land haul up on tbe Aias- on the coast of Alaska. Have seen them haul uj) (m ''*''H,;,',Tupouriibiioi the Pribilof Islands. If pelagic sealing was sto])])e'iof Is- jjgygp known auy seal pups to be born in the water, ^ nor on the coast anywhere outside of the Pribilof Is- Do not haul up out- tttt "^i txtt i„ side Pribilof Islands, uinds. Havc ucvcr kiiowu scal to haul up anywhere outside of the Pribilof Islands. Chaelbs Campbell. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this oOth day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. DexjoHiiion of Simeon Chin-lcoo-tin, sealer. pelagic sealing. Simeon Chin-koo-tin, being duly sAvorn, deposes and says: I am 60 years old; was born and reside at Sitka, and am by Experience. occu])ation a scal liuiiter; haAc been engaged in that business since 1 was a small boy. About the middle of ,,. ,. April the first seal are seen and taken by me off Sitka Migratu)!). OT 4j.j_i-j- ,1 -1 T. , ■• Sound. At this time the seal are advancing up the coast. In early days the spear Avas used in taking seal, but now the shotgun and rific are used exclusively. No seal were lost when struck with spear. Fifty per cent are lost when killed with shotgun, and a larger proportion are lost when rifle is used. JMost of preguarAYemaies.*'*^' tht"' Seal's killed by uic liavc bccu females with young. They sleep more and are less active and more easily captured. The few male seals taken by me I do not know their ages. Quite a number of yearlings are taken, the majdrity of which are females; have taken a few bulls in mv life; sex of the seal can ^nidiscrmiimitckiii- ^^^ ^^^ ^^^|^| j^^ ^^^ ^^.^^^.^^ uuless it be an old bull. All seal are shot that come near the boat regardless of sex. TAKEN AT OR NEAR 8ITKA. 257 When seal are shot dead they almost instantly sink and aie hard to secure: have noticed the seal are decreasin'!!' very fast -^ the last fonr years; too many schooners are hnntiug them in the open waters of the l*acific Ocean and Bering Pnp* not bom in Sea; have never known or heard of pnp seals being born Z^}:V:^ ""^ '?■, K""' • ill ^ j-i 1 1 1 • ti 1 1 anywhere in Alaska. m the water, nor on the land anywhere in Alaska; have never known of any seals hauling up on the land on this w?Me tbaTon Prlw coast elsewhere than oji the Pribilof Islands. I think lof islands. that if the schooners were prohibited from hunting seal in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea the seal ^™*«^«t'o^- would soun become plentiful along the coast. his Simeon x Chinkootin. mark. Witness to his mark : George KASTROMETrNOFF, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of April, 1892. A. W. XA VENDER, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Peter Church, sealer, PELAGIC SEALING. Peter Church, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Sitka; am 22 years old, and am by occupation a hunter. Have been engaged in sealing the past four j^ears Experience. in the North Pacific Ocean, always in the capacit}^ of a hunter. Have first taken seal off Sitka Sound the middle of April. Followed the seal uj) tlie coast as far as Yakutat, where they disappeared the last of June. Have always used Migration. shotgun and rifle. I think about 50 per cent of the seals shot with shotgun are lost, and a greater proportion are lost when shot with a rifle. Most of the seals taken bv me have „,??;;f tlillT^"''"^ '"" been tenia les with young. 1 think the leniale seal is less active and more easily a]iproached. A few male seals have been taken by me, their ages ranging from one to five years old. Killed three large bulls during my life. The sex of the seal can not be dis- tinguished in the water. I shoot everything that comes near enough. If seal are instantly killed they will sink very quick, and are harder to secure under those conditions than they would be if badly wounded. Have noticed that seal are becoming very scarce on the coast the last few years. The cause of the scarcity of the seal, I think, is that too many schooners in the North indiscriminate kiu- Pacilic Ocean and Bering Sea, and the indiscriminate fug. killing of females with pup in the water. Never have Pi,p3 not born in known any pups to be born in the water, nor have I water. ever known fur-seal to haul up on the land anywhere do not haul up on on the coast of Alaska. I think all pelagic sealing ^''"'^• shcmld be stop^ied, so that seal would have a chance Protection, to increase. Peter Church. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2Gth day of Ai)ril, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. 2716— roL II 17 258 TESTIMONY Dcimsition of John G. Clement^ sealer^ one season on Mollie Adama. PELAGIC SEALING. Jolin'C. Clement, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside at Sitka ; am 1*5 years old. Have hunted seal one season on the Experience. schoouer MolUc Aiien rifle is used. Most of the seals killed are cows with pup. A few males are ,u£kmed*'°°''°* ^*'' killed averaging from 1 to 4 years old. Have killed but one old bull in my life. A few yearlings are talcen, the majority of wliicli are females. Can not distiiiguislt sex of seal in the water. Hunters use no discrimination, and killed everything that comes near the boat. When seal are shot in the head and instantly killed they will sink at once and are hard to secure under those conditions. -^ Have noticed that seals are decreasing the last four years, cause, I think, by too many white men hunt- j,_^^ not i( ing seal in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and IJering watMwouiantiarouiid Sea. Havenever known anypnps tj be boru in the wa- -^i'^"^'^- ter or on the land around the coast of Alaska. IS^ever no not haul up ex- known any fur-seal to haul up on the land or on tlie lZis."" ^'"^''"^" ^" coast elsewhere than on the Pribilof Islands. Tliink if all pehigic sealing was stopped in Bering p. . ., Sea and tlie North Pacific Ocean seal would again become plentiful. his James x Gondowen, ^^ mark Witness to his mark. George Kastrometinofp, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. 260 TESTIMONY Deposition of W. P. Griffith, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Sitka, Alaska, May IS, 1892. W, P. GrifliMi, being" duly sworn, deposes and says lie is American buiii, and has been engaged in scaling during the present season on the schooner /yf>r«rfor,ot'Viincouvei', British Cobnubia, Kxiuiieuce. ^^^ capacity of liunter. To the best of his knowledge and 70 per cunt taken fu- bclicf about sevcu of cvcry teu seals killed in pelagic males. sealing are females. That in pelagic sealing twice as Waste ofufe. many seals are lost as are captured. W. P. Geiffth. Sworn and subscribed before me this 18th day of May, 1892. [SEAL.] (JHAS. H. ISHAM, Deputy Clerk, United States Dist. Court of Alaska. Deposition of E. Hofstad, sealer and mate of sehooner Clara. PELAGIC SEALING. E. Hofstad, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Sitka My x^resent occupation is that of a seal hunter. Am Experience. ^^^ prescut mate of the sealing schooner Clara, of Sitka. Have hunted seal in the North Tacitic Ocean iov the past three years. Have seen and taken the lirst seal off the west coast ^,. .. „ of Vancouver Island in Aiu'il. The seals then are on Migration. ^ the advance up the coast. 1 now use shotgun exclu- sively for taking seal. I think that 66 i^er cent of the seal shot with shotguns are lost. AVhen rifles are used a still larger Most au pregnant pcr ccut is lost. Most all scals takcu are lemales females. with youug. 1 tliiulv tlic fcuiales sleep more on the water and are less active and are more easily taken than the male. A few male seal are taken. 1 would say they are generally o or 4 years old. A few yearlings are Icilled, mostly females. About live bull seal are killed out of every hundred taken. The sex of seal can not be distinguished in the water unless it be an Indiscriminate kill- ^^]^^ huU. No discrimination is used in taking seal; '""■ everything tliat comes near the boat is killed. When seal are killed dead they sink very quick, especially if killed wiieu they first put their head above water, as they do not have a chance to take breath. Most all seal are shot in the head when it is possible to do so. Seals have decreased very fast the last three years. Decrease. rjijjp decrease is caused, 1 think, by the indiscriminate killing of seals in the water. Have never known a pu}) No pelagic births. ^^ ^^ ^^^^.^^ j^^ ^.^^ Avatcr or aiiywherc else on the coast Do not haul out on of AUiska. Havc ucvcr known fur-seal to haul out on '""'^" the land anywhere on the coast of Alaska. Have uever been in Bering Sea. 1 think that the only way the seal can ever become plenty again is to stop all pelagic sealing in Protection. -r> • tj „ , Bering Sea. E. Hofstad. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Ayent. TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 261 Dej^osition of Percy KaMktday, sealer. PELAGIO SEALING. Percy KaMktday, beinf^ tluly sworn, deposes and says: Am 48 years old ; was born at and reside in 8itka. Have hnnted seal every snuiiner since I was a small boy. Have never been Experience, to Beriug Sea. Tlie seals first make their appearance about tlie middle of April off vSitka Sound, and dis- appear about July 1. Tliey are then on their way up ^'s^-'**"'"- the coast. The sjiear and arrow was used to take seal when I was a boy, but now I use the shotiiun and rifle. At least 50 per cent are lost when shot with shotgun. When rifle is used a larger proportion of seal are lost. Most of the seal I have taken have been pregnant cows. When the females are with pup they cows'takM p''*'°"""* sleep more, are less active in the water, and more easily approached than the male seal. But a very few young male seal are taken by me along the coast. If a seal is killed when its head first comes above Avater, it sinks at once. Under those conditions tliey are hard to secure. Seal are always shot in the head when possible, but never miss a shot at them if only a small part of the body is exposed. Have noticed that seal are decreasing- very fast the last few years along the coast, caused, 1 think, by pelagic hunt- ^^ecrease. ing. Have never known of a fur-seal pup being born no pelagic birth. in the water, or along this coast. Have never known afur-sealtohauluponthelandanywhere on tlie Alaskan Do not haul up on coast. Think the seals are most all killed by the pelagic *'"'"^^*' seal hunters in the waters of the ISTorth Pacific Ocean, so far from the land that the Indian Inmters have no chance to get any in canoes, as he only goes a short distance from the shore. And unless this pelagic hunting is stopped in tlie JSTorth Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea the seal will soon all be gone, and the Indian ^^''**'''*i°°- hunters will have to dig clams in order to keep from starving. his Percy + Kahiktdat, LL- mark. Witness to^s mark: George Kastrometinoff, United )>)tate.s Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Philip Kaskeraroff, sealer. pelagic sealing. — MIGRATION. Philip Kashevaroff, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Am 47 years old; born at and reside in Sitka. Am by occuiKvtion a mariner. The last year I spent liunting seal on the scliooner Allie Alger. First seal were seen off Sitka Sound in Experience. May by uw. We followed tlie sesils as far as Sand Point on linger Island. The shotgun was used altogether for taking seal. 262 TESTIMONY About tliree seal are secured out of every ten shot. fum/des"*^' pregnant rpj^^ majority of Seal are cows with pui). A few males are takeu, about four or five years old. In the wiuter time some youug seal frequent the inside passage. The sex of the seal can not be told in tlie water unless in the case of an jndiscriminatekiiiing.^^j^^ bulL which is told by its sizc. We usc no discrimi- nation in shooting seal. Everything is killed that comes near the boat regardless of sex. If a seal is shot and killed instantly he will sink very quick. I think the seal are about as i^lentiful Decrease. aloug tliis coast, but mucli more scaice farther w^est. The cause of this scarcity is too much pelagic hunting, Kever have No peiaoic birth. seeu or heard of pups being born in the water or on Do not haul up on the coast outside of the Pribilof Islands. Have never ^'*'"^' heard of tur-seal hauling u]} on the land or on the coast elsewhere than on the Pribilof Islands. Last year I was not in Bering Sea, but was on the Eussian side. Have taken cow seals full of milk 30 miles from Coi)per Islands. Did not see any big bulls on Attn Is- lands. I think if sealing in Bering Sea was stopped and the indiscriminate killing of cows was stopped, seal would again become plentiful along the coast. When I was with the Eussian Company I spent six yeais looking for rookeries, but was unable to find any i)lace where fur-seal hauled out elsewhere than on the Pribilof Islands. Philip Kashevaroff. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Mike Kethusduclc, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Mike Kethusduclc, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Am 50 years old; was born at and reside in Sitka; am by occupation a hunter; have hunted seals every season since I was a small l)oy ; have first seen seal oft' Sitka Sound about April 15. Thevall disappearbythelastof June. When " ' ■ I first began hunting, s^jcars and arrows were used for sealing. Now the shotgun has come into general use, and a few seals are taken with a rifie. Fully one half the seal shot with shot- guns are lost, and a nuicli larger proportion when the na^tUuraleJ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ uscd. jS'ouc werc lost wlicu struck with a spear. ]Most of the seals taken by me Avere females with pup; think the fenmle is more gentle and more easily takeu; have taken a few male seal from one to four years old. A very few yearlings have been killed by me, mostly females. The sex of the seal can not be dis- tinguished in the water. Everything is shot that comes Decrease. ^^^^^^, ^^^ i^oat, rcgardlcss of scx. Seal have decreased very rapidly along this coast in the last three or four years. The de- crease is caused, I think, by schooners using shotguns and rifles and killing mostly femah* seals; have never known any No pelagic buth. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^;^,j^ • ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Alaska ; TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 263 Senls do not haul out on Alaskan coast. Prohibition. have never known any fiir-seal to liaul out on the hmd on the coast of Alaska; have heard that they do haul out on the Pribilof Ishinds. If pelagic seal hunt- ing- was stopped in the waters of the Paciiic Ocean and Bering Sea, seal would become plentiful once more. his Mike x Kethusduck mark. "Witness to his mark: George Kastkometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent DeposUion of Charlie Klananecl; sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Charlie Klananeck, being duly sworn, deposes and says: T was born at Sitka, and am now a very old man. Have lived at ^yrangel twenty years; have been a hunter all Experience. iny life. A long time ago I hunted seal with a spear, but of late years have used the shotgun. Wheii seal were struck with a spear none were lost ; a great many are lost when the shotgun is used. Hunters always kill all seal that come near the boat, regardless of sex. Seal are becoming very scarce on the coast. Tlie rea- son they are becoming so scarce is that hunters shoot them with guns, and kill cows with pup. Have never known of fur-seal pups being born in the water or on the coast of Alaska around here. Have never seen any fur-seal hauled out on the land in any part of Alaska. I think the seal are hunted so much by schooners that they have no chance to get their food or anything else, and unless this is stopped seal will soon all be gone, and none wiU be left for the Indians. his Charlie x Klananeck. mark. Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter, A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of IVFay, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Ayint. Indiscriminate kill- ing. Decrease. Xo pelagic birth. Do not haul up on laud. Protection. Deposition of John Kowineet, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. John Kowineet, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Am 48 years old; born at and reside in Sitka; occupation, a hunter. ^^^ erience. Have hunted seals every season since I can remember. ^^ "^ 2G4 TESTIMONY First seen and taken seal off Sitka Sound ; about tlie mid- Migration. <^11g of April eaeli year they make their api^earauce. They are then working northward and westward. In early days I used spear altogether. Of late years the shotgun and rifle have been used exclusively. About GO per cent of the seal are lost when shot with shotgun. When rifles are used a ranch larger propor- tion is lost. Most all seal killed by me have been cows na^t"femaiesl''^'"'^" Avith pups. Think COWS are much morc plentiful on the coast; sleep more and are more easily captured than . . , the male seal. Have not killed a bull seal for three Indiscriminato kill- -ri ii /. t j.ij^i ing. years. 1 have taken a lew yearlmgs, mostly females. I always kill every seal that comes near the boat; hunters use no discrimination. If seal are shot dead, they sink at once aud it is hard to secure them. Seal are shot in the head when it is Decrease possiblc to do SO. Havc uoticed that seal are decreas- ing very fast the last few years. I think the cause of the decrease is that there are too many schooners hunt- ing seal in Bering Sea and along the North Pacific coast, o pe agic ir . jj^^yg nevcr known any pups to be boru in the water, or anywhere else on tlie coast, but haveheard that they are born on the Pribilof Islands and nowhere eLse. Have coast °°* ^^^^ "^^ °° never known any seal to haul i\]) on land or on the coast of Alaska, but have heard that they haul up on rrotcction *^^ Pribilof Islands. I think if all vessels were stojjped from hunting seal in Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the seal would again become plentiful. his John x Kowineet. mark. Witness to his mark. George Kastrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of George LacheeTc, sealer. PELAG-IC SEALING. George Lachcek, being duly sworn, deposes aud says: Am 40 years of age; born at and live in Sitka. Am by occupation Esperience. ^^'•^ huutcr iu Slimmer and deer hunter in winter. Have hunted seal every season since a small boy. Have .^ ^ always hunted off Sitka Sound. The seal generally igra ion. makc their appearance about April 15 of each year. They are then advancing up the coast and disappear entirely about July 1. In early (lays spear and arrow was used exclusively, but now the shotgun and rifle are used instead. About 50 per cent of the seals are lost when shot with shotguns; a much larger i^er cent are lost when shot with a rifle. Most all seals that I have na^dlvMi'iaL'.'f.^'™^^'^*'^ takcu wcrc cows with pup. Think cows are less active and require more sleep than the young male seal, A few male seal have been taken by me from one to four years old. TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 265 Have never killed but few old l>idls in my life. The only seal that can be distinguished iu the water is the old bull, which can be told by its size. Everything in shape of seal that conies near the boat are killed if possible, regardless of sex. Seal, when instantly killed, will always sink quick. 1 always shoot seal in the head when possible. Seal are not nearly as plentiful as in former years; have noticed ^ the decrease in the last three or four years. Think the cause of the decrease is the great number of schooners sealing in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Have ^. , . ,. , T T ,, 1-1 • J.-I i X] Ivo pelagic birth. never heard ol ])ups being born in the water or on the land along the coast of Alaska. Have never known of ^^ , , . ^ x iir fiCiils (lo not fur-seals hauling up on the land on the coast of iiaui up on" the Aias- Alaska, but have heard that they haul up on the Pribi- ^^^ '^"''***- lof Islands. I think if schooners were prohibited from sealing in the open waters of Bering Sea and the North Pacitic p tg *• Ocean, seal would again become plentiful along this coast. liis George x Lacheek. mark. George Kastrometinoff, United /States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Capt. A. W. Lavender., special Treasury agent on St. George Island. pelagic sealing. Personally appeared before me, Cajit. A. W. Lavender, Avho l)eing duly sworn, deposes and says: 1 am 49 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Scotland, South Dakota. I -^. ■ am now, and have been for two years past, employed ^penence. as special agent of the Treasury Hepartmeiit, assigned to duty as agent in charge of St. George Island. While in Unalaska in September, 1891, awaiting transportation to San Francisco, I had an opportunity to ex- amine personally the seal catch of the steam-sloop C/,].,;„t; ^,..,| j,, |.|,j, ^^r^^i y^,]^^^^^ possible. If licad Is not exposed, we shoot them in the most exposed part of their body. When a seal is killed instantly, he will sink at once, and is hard to secure under those conditions. Have noticed a decrease in seal along the coast, and it is the general opinion that they are decreasing very fast. There can be but ing. TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 267 one reason for the decrease, and tLat is they are hunted too much iu the open waters. Have never known pups to be born in the water or on the coast of Alaska or on the islaiuls ad- No pelagic birth. jacent thereto, and I have spent 5 years on the coast of Alaska. Have never known or heard of seal hauling eoSTt.""* ^^"^^ ^^ "° up on the islands or main coast of Alaska, other than on the Pribilof Islands. Have seen a few pups in Cordova Bay late in December, where they were driven by strong southeast gales prevailing on the coast at that time. Think if all pelagic sealing pj.j,4ggtion was stopi^ed the seal would become plentiful again. If they keep on hunting them they will soon be exterminated. J. D. McDonald, Witness : A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of James McKeen, sealer (master). PELAaic sealing. James McKeen, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Sitka and am by occui)ation a seaman and seal-hunter. . Have been engaged in catching seals the last five years, ^penence. most of the time as captain of a schooner. Have seen and taken the first seal oft' Cape Flattery. When seal are taken off ,.. ^. Cape Flattery, Indian hunters were employed, who used spears. Farther west, the shotgun was used. I^o seal are lost that are struck with spears. With a shotgun about 50 per cent are lost. About all the seal taken are females with young. Mostly females with Very few young male seal are seen on the coast. A few youug taken. yearlings are caught, mostly females. Sex of seal can not be told in the water. We use no discrimination . iniiiscriminatfi kiu- and kill all seal that come near the boat. Seal are not ^°°' shot in any particular place; shoot them in the head j)ggj.gase if possible, if not, in the body. Seal are not as plenti- ful on the coast as formerly. Have noticed the decrease in the last three years ; caused, I think, by the indiscriminate kill- ^^^^ pelagic birth ing of female seal. Have never known any pups to be " born in the water, or elsewhere outside of the Pribilof j^^ j^^t haul up (n Islands. Have never known any fm-seal to haul up on coast. the coast anywhere, outside of the Pribilof Islands. I think that all pelagic seal hunting iu Bering Sea should Protection. be stopped, or the seal will soon become exterminated. James McKeen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of April, 181)2. A. W. Lavendeij, United IStates ISpccial Ayent, 2G8 TESTIMONY Deposition of Martin Shigay, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. " Martin Siiigay, l)ein£;' duly sworn, deposes and says: Am about 58 . years old. IJoru at and reside in Sitka and am by occu- xpenence.. patiou a liuuter. Have bunted seal every summer and deer every winter since I was a small boy. Have never been in Berin«;^ Sea. Have bunted seal oft' Sitka Sound, wbere they first make their appearance about April 15, and remain in j-reater or less igra ion. nuuibers till the last of June. In early days I used the spear, but now I use the shotgun and rifle exclusively. When I used a spear none were lost that were struck. When shotgun is used nearly 50 per cent are lost; when rifle is used a still larger percentage is lost. The last three years about half the seals I have killed pi^/kHied"'^^''^ ^^ '"^ were females witli pup. A few male seals and yearlings have been killed by me. Have killed but four large bulls lu.iisrriminate kill- jj^ ^^^q jg^g^ j'q^j. years. 1 cau uot tell the sex of a seal in the water, bvTt shoot everything that comes near the boat in shape of a seal. Seal have become very scarce the last few years. Too many white men are engaged in killing No pclauic birth. "^ i -vt i i i x- i • i • +1 seal. In ever known or heard of pups being born in the water, but have heard of them being born on the Pribilof Islands. Never knew of any fur-seals to haul up on the land ,}lV"rt^'T-l "'' °" along the coast of Alaska. I think that if schooners were stopped from sealing in Bering- Sea and the North Protection. Pacific Occau Seal would again become plentiful. his Martin x Singat. mark. Witness to his mark : George Kastrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. njc- Deposition of JacJc Sitlrt^ sealer. pelagic sealing — migration. Jack Sitka, T)eing duly sworn, deposes and says: Am 50 years old* Was born and reside in Sitka. Am a hunter by occupation. Have hunted seal every season since I was a boy. Seal first make their appearance about Ai)ril 15 off Sitka Sound, and disappear about July 1. Allien I was a boy the spear and arrow was used Experience. ^.^^ Sealing, but HOW the shotgun and rifle are used exclusively. No seal were lost when struck with s]iear or arrow. Fully 50 per cent of seal shot with shotgun are lost and a much larger |)er cent are lost when shot with a rifle. Most of tlie seals feSiliiieT""'''"* taken are cows with young. I think they are taken because they are more tame and less active and more easily approached. A few male seal aie taken, their ages being from TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 2G9 one to fonr years. A few yearlings are taken. A very few old bulls have ever been taken by nie; the last three or f(»ur years have taken but three old bulls. Hunters use no dis- .^lu-iiscriminate kiu- (ainiination, but shoot everything- that conies near them. Their sex can not be told unless in the case of an old bull, which is distinguishable by its size. When seal arc shot as soon as they put their heads above water, they sink iinnicdiately and are hard to secure. Always shoot seal in the head wlien possible. If not i)()ssibleto shoot them in the head, then I shoot them in the most ex])oscd part of their bodies. Have noticed a large de- D^j-rease crease in seal the last three years, caused I think, by pelngic sealing in Bering Sea and tlie North Pacific Ocean. Have never known pups to be born in the water or any wliei-e ^^^ p,.iagic i.irih. else on the coast. Never known fur-seals to haul up on Do not Haul up ou the land. Have heard that they do haul up on the ^""'^' Pril)ilof Islands. I think the schooners slumldl)e pro- hibited from sealing in the North Pacific Ocean and ^^^'^''t"^"- Bering Sea. If that was done, seal would become i»lentiful along the coast. his Jack x Sitka. mark. Witness to his mark: George Kastrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this y ™6 hnve been females with pup. I think the female is more gentle, sleeps more, and is more easily cai)tured. A few male seal have been taken by me, ages ranging from 1 to 4 years old, I shonld think. Some yearlings have been taken, a majority of which were females also. Very few old bulls have been killed by ine. Sex of seal can not be distinguished in the water, except in the case (»f an old bnll, which can be told by its size. No discrini- indiscnmiuate kill iju^fjon is nscd iu taking seal; everything that comes near the boat is shot at. If the seal are instantly killed they sink at once and are hard to secnre. Seal are always shot in the head when possible. Have noticed the seal have eciease. bccn decreasing along the coast the last four years. Think the cause of the decrease is that there are too many schooners No i,cia..ic birth t^"8'»ged in pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Have never *" seen or heard of pups being born in the water or on the land on the coa^st of Alaska. Have heard that pnps are all born on the Pribilof Islands. Have never known or heard Ai^skan^oast^. "^ °° ^f scal lianliug np on the land on the coast of Alaska. Have heard that they do haul up on the Pribilof Is- lands. Think if sealing by the schooners in the open waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea was prohibited, the seal Protectiou. wouUl again become plentiful along the coast. his ,^^., James x Unatajoi. Witness: mark. George Kostrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, 1802. A. \V. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Rudolph Walton, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Kudolph Walton, being duly sworn deposes and says : I am 25 years of age; born at Sitka; am at present on the police force. Experience. ^j^^.^ hunted scal tlircc scasous, 1881), 18110, and 1801, around Biorka Island. Have seen and taken seal from the middle of A])ril to the middle of 3Iay. They are on their way igia ion. north at that time. I use shotgun and rifie to take seal. Majority taken About 50 per ccut aic lost wlicn shot with shotgun; preiiiiaiiT Itinaks. 1. . • i . ^m^ when ritle ]s used a much larger per cent is lost. The majority of seal taken are cows. Cows are more easily captured because they have pups. A few yearlings are killed, mostly females. Sex of seal can not be distinguished in the water. No discrim- Iiuh.strmiiuate kill- . .. ■ -, ■ , , .. ,, i -n i ^i .l iiijr. Illation IS used 111 seal hunting; all are killed that come ^ near. Seal are decreasing on the toast. Have no ticed they have decreased rapidly the last two years. The decrease, I think, is caused by the indiscriminate killing of female seals. Some seal when shot and killed dead sink at xo pda-ie birth. oucc. Ilavc ucvcr kuowu a pup to be born in the water. I have never known of a pup seal being born TAKEN AT OK NEAR SITKA. 273 Oil the rocks of the coast anywhere. Have heard they _, are born on the Pribilof Islands. Have never known coa^t.""* ^^"^ "^"" fur-seal to haul up on the coast on anywhere else out- Ptotectio side of the Pri])ilof Islands. Think that all pelagic seal-hunting- should be stopped in Bering Sea in order to keep the seal from being exterminated. EuDOLPH Walton. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of April, 1891. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury agent. Deiiosition of Charlie ^Yanlc, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Charlie Wank, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I ain 30 years old. Was born at and reside at Sitka. Am by occu- pation ai seal hunter. Have been catching seal most Experieuco. all my life. First seal are seen and taken by me off Sitka Sound. When I was a boy seal came in to the sound very close, but now I have to go a long ways to get them. Seal do not stop off the sound long, but are constantly on the move north and west. The spear was used in early days, but now ^'gi'^tion. seal have become scarce and shotgun and rifle is used exclusively. Wlien the spear was used no seal were lost. Xow a great many are lost when shot with a shotgun and rifle. Most all seals taken are females with young. They are less active, takln^pregnauf™'^*^'' sleep more, and are easier captured. What few male seals are taken are 1, 2, 3, and 4 years old. Quite a number of year- lings are taken, mostly females. The sex of seal of same age can not be distinguished in the water. The only seal that can be distinguished is an old bull. We use no discrimination in seal hunt- ing; everything is killed that conies near the boat. .^^lu-iiscrimmatc kiu- Pelagic hunters have become so plentiful and seals have become so wild that we are obliged to take long shots at them. When seal are killed dead they sink almost instantly. All seal are shot in the head when it is possible to do so. Have noticed ^ the seal are decreasing very fast, particularly the last four years, caused by the indiscriminate killing of seal by schooners in the waters of the Xorth Pacific Ocean and Bering ^^ i .r- . b' th Sea. Never have known of pups being born in the " ^"^ '^°"' water, nor elsewhere on the coast of Alaska. Have never known of any seal to haul up on the land or on the coast of Alaska. Have heard that they do haul up on the ti.o coaft.'"''"' "^ "" Pribilof Islands. Think if all pelagic seal hunting p ,. ,. was stopi)ed, the seal would increase along the coast and become plentiful once more. his Charlie x Wank. mark. Witness to his mark: George Kostrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. 2716— VOL II 18 274 TESTIMONY Deposition of P. »Sf. WeittcnhiUer, scaler (master). PELAGIC SEALING. P. S. Weittenhiller, beino- duly sworn, deposes and says: I have re- sided at Sitka the past nine years. Am now owner Experieuca. of the Sealing* schooner Clara and have engaged in sealing this season. I first took seal off Sitka Sound during the month of March. Have done my sealing all this year be- tween Cape Edgcumbe and Cross Sound. My hunters use shotgun ex- clusively. They carry a rifle with them in the boat but have not used one this season to my knowledge. I think as near as I can estimate, about 33^ per cent of the seals shot are lost. Out of 60 seal taken so far this season 46 are females with pup and 14 were males, tnken^'^°* females Quly 1 yearling seal has been taken this season. It is my opinion that female seal are more easily captured and appear to be more tame than the male seal, and I think sleep more. Only 1 old bull was taken this season among the males. I should think the male seal taken this year were between 2 and 3 years old. The sex of a seal can not be told in the water except it is an old bull. Hunters use no discrimination, but kill everything that comes near the ^Indiscriminate km- ^^^^ Huutcrs shoot all scal in the head when it is possible to do so and take their chances of its sinking before they can reach them. From what I krow seals have been decreasing very fast in recent years. Think the decrease is caused by the indiscriminate killing in the North Pacific • birth ^cean and Bering Sea. I have never known any pups X o pe agic 11 . ^^ ^^ born in the water or anywhere else except on the Pribilof Islands. I have never known any fur-seal to haul up anywhere ^ ^^ on the land on the coast of Alaska. I have never been coasl.'"' '*" "^' "" in Bering Sea. I think sealing should be prohibited Protection. f^j. fy^^j. qj. ^yg, years iu ordcr to give them a chance to multiply and become as plentiful as they formerly were. P. S. Weittenhiller. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Michael Woosl'oot, sealer. PELAGIC sealing. Michael Wooskoot, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 60 years old; born and reside in Sitka, Alaska. Have Experience. becu engaged in hunting seal for a great many years in the North Pacific Ocean around Sitka Sound. First seal are seen and taken by me about the middle of April of each year. There are more or less of them on the coast till the 1st Migration. ^^ j^^^^ ^^,.^,^^ ^^.^^,^ ^^ ^^^^ scasou they are plentiful, but towards the last they become scarce. During the above-mentioned period the seal are on the move to the westward. Many years ago, when heal were plenty, the spear was used, but now so many schooners are en- gaged in sealing that the shotgun and rifle has to be used in order to TAKEN AT OR NEAR SITKA. 275 secure tliem, as they have become very wild. When the spear was used very few seal were lost. About 50 per ceiit are lost when shot with shotgun. A larger per cent are lost when killed with a rifle. Al- most all seals taken are females witli pup; they are less ., ^ „ _ . . 1 T •14-1 r\ -u- Almost all taken active, sleep more, and are more easily taken. Quite a pregnant females. large number of yearlings are taken, mostly females. During my life I have taken over 100 bull seals. The sex of seal can not be told in the water. iSTo discrimination is used in^iscrin,ij,at km in seal liunting; all seal are killed that come near the ^^^^^'^^^^^^ boat. The only seal that can be disting-uished in the water is an old bull. When a seal is shot dead he sinks at once. Seal are always shot in the head whenever it is possible to do SO. Have noticed the seal are decreasing very fast, owing to so many schooners hunting seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Have never known or ^, i. „• i- heard of pups being born in the water nor on the coast " ** ^'^ ''^"^ '''^^''' of Alaska outside of the Pribilof Islands. Have never known of any fur-seal to haul out on the land on the coast of Alaska. Have heard of them hauling out on the Pribilof Islands, Aiask"n S.""* ''" but have never been there. I think if all pelagic seal pj.^^e^tj.j^ hunting was stopped seal would soon become plentiful on the coast. bis Michael x Wooskoot. mark. George Kostrometinoff, United States Court Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7tli day of April, 1892. A, W. Lavender, United States Treasury Ayent. TESTIMONY TAKEN IN OR NEAK DIXON ENTRANCE. Deposition of Johnny Baronovitch, native sealer at Kasan. PELAGIC SEALING. Joliuny B;u()ii()vitoh,beiiij>diily sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Kasan, and luive lived here all my life. My busi- -xpeuence. ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ol" liiintin,!;' and tisliin*;-. Have Imnted fur- seal in a canoe in May oif the Prince of Wales Island. Always used the shot.!;un for takiuo; seal. A very few are lost when shot with tlie shotgun, as we shoot them close to the boat. Most all the seals taken are females with pup. I used no dis- cowrtakon"""''''* crimiuatiou, but kill everything that come near the boat in shape of a seal. Never stopped to ask if it is female or not. A few old bulls have been taken by me. _^indiscninniato kill- rp],gj.(j j^j.^ j^q^ nearly as many seal on the coast as there was two or three years ago, and they will soon be all ^ gone unless schooners are all st()i)i)ed from hunting seal along the coast of Alaska. 1 have never known any ^. , , , pui)s to be born in the water or on the land in this part or on coast. ot Ahiska. iSor have I ever seen or heard ot any lur seal being in the iidaiid waters of this part of Alaska. I have never heard of any fur-seal hauling up on the land in any part of Alaska. 1 think if the schooners were all st(>]>ped from hunting Pr tecti n scal, they would become identiful once more, an years old. We kill everything that comes near tlu^ boat, and nse no discrimination, l)ut shoot them regardless of sex. Seal are getting very scarce. I think the cause of the scarcity is too many people hunting seal. I have never known any i)ups to Majority taken cows. Indiscriminate kill- Decrease. 278 TESTIMONY Not liorn in water \)q bOlMl ill tllG Wilt CI' Ol' Oil tllO laiul. ISTor Lave I IvllOWll of any seal liaiiliii,^; up on the land anywhere in Alaska. Do not haul up on 1 havB iievei' seen any fur seals in the water around Aiaskau coast. Aiiiiette Island. I thiiilv schooners should be prohib- Protection. ited lioiu hunting seal in the North Paeitic Ocean to give them a chance to increase again. Edward Benson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1892. A. W. LAVENDini, United States Treasury A(jent. lUff. Deposition of Charlie Dahtlin, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Charlie Dahtlin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in . Shakaii and have lived here all my life. Am a very ■.xpeiK'iK c. ^j^ man. Have been a hunter all my life, hunting both seal and bear and all kinds of land animals, and have killed a great many of all kinds. Have hunted seal oft" the west coast of Prince Edward Island for a number of years. When I was a boy spear was used; now the shotgun and rifle are exclusively used for taking seal. None were lost when the spear was used. When the shot- gun is used sometimes they are lost. A few more are Majority taken lost whcii rifle is uscd. Majority of seals taken are pregnant females. ^.Qy^,^ ^i^]^ p^p Qiice ill a whilc we take au old bull. A few yearlings arc taken also. All seal are killed Indiscriminate kill- tluit couic iiear the cauoc, whether it is male or fe- male. I make no ditierence. In former years there Decrease. were lots of seal, but now there are very few. Too many schooners hunting them all the time in the water, killing the mother seals as well as others. Have never known of any pups being born in the water or on the land on the water.^ """^^ ^""^ "' coast of .Vhiska. J have never heard of any or seen any fur-seal hauled up on the land anywhere around Prince Do not haul up o„ Ed^vard Island or anvwhere else on the coast. If the COJlSt. *■ schooners arestopjied from taking seal off Prince Ed- ward Island the seal will become iilenty, and the Indians can kill them Protection '^^ they did along time ago. Now the Indians can get very few. his Charlie x Dahtlin. mark. Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. TAKEN IN OR NEAR DIXON ENTRANCE. 279 Deposition of William Duncan, resident of New Metlakahtla. PELAaiC SEALING. William Duncan, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 60 years of age; I have resided in British Columbia thirty years and at New Metlakahtla live years, and have always been with the Tsimsheau ludiaus, both in British Columbia and xpenence. Alaska. The Tsimsheans are great hunters of fur-seal. The Indians left their homes in March and remained away until May. Their hunt- ing lodges were on some small islands outside of Dundas Island. From what they tell me the majority of seals taken by them have been females Avith young. The Indians pr^^iant\maiei ^ " report to me that the seal are very much scarcer than they were in former years, and I know that they don't bring in as many skins as they did in former years, although skins are bringing a much better price than they used to. I have never known of any fur-seal pups being born ,vater'^ """^ ^"'^'^ "* in the water or on the land in British Columbia or Alaska, but have heard they are born on the Pribilof Islands. The Indians have always reported to me when they re- turned from hunting that the seal had all gone north ^'sration. to have their young. I have never known or heard of any fur-seal hauhng up on the land in British Columbia or Alaska d„ ^^^ j^^^i „^, ^^^ outside of the Pribilof Islands. My connections with '-'last outside of I'nb- the Indians have been such that had there been a fur- '^"^' seal rookery in British Columbia or Alaska I certainly should have known it. The Indians have always hunted seal with a shotgun, and I am sorry to say that they have killed a great many more tliau they secured. There can be but one cause for tlie scarcity of seal, and that is the indiscriminate killing .^ in'^iscnnunate kiii. of them in the water, and unless that is stoj)ped the seal must soon be exterminated. The sea-otter, which were plentiful on this coast at one time, are now scarcelv seen at all, and the indiscriminate slaughter of them in the water has almost entirely exterminated the animal. Some few remain in the far north, but they are very hard to secure. William Duncan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Dchon, sealer. pelagic sealing. Echon, being duly sworn, deposes and says : Am about 50 years old and was born at Shakan. Have lived there all my life. Am a hunter by occupation. Have hunted seal ^^pe"'''"^^. in the summer time and land game in the winter. Have hunted seal off Prince of Wales Island in the spring. In former years I used to catch seal with a hook by paddhng up close to them when they were sound asleep and hooking them. Can't use the hook now, as the seal have become very wild since they are hunted so much by schooners. 280 TESTIMONY Now I usetlio sliotgnii oxclusivoly ior Inldiij; seal. Very seldom 1 lose one, as 1 always shoot tlioiii close to the boat. 1 never examine tliem to know Mlicthcr tlie\' are men or women seal. I . imiiscrimiuate kill ^..^^^ j^^f ^^ql fjj,. (liiiv.ieiicc ill the water, and shootevery- thinji' without knoMinoitio]i of scals killed by me wci'e '^^^^' cows with pup. Have killed a very few old bulls and TAKEN IN OR NEAR DIXON ENTRANCE. 283 some yearlings. I shoot eveiytliiug in shape of a seal that comes near the boat and use no diserimination. Tliere are too indiscriminate kiii- many schooners huntin.u- seal oft Prince ot Wales is- mg. land, and it is hard for indians to get any in canoes. Have never known pups to be born in the water or on No ])eiagic i.irtii. the land anywhere on the coast of Alaska. Have never known any seal to haul u}) on the land in Alaska. I ^^^do uot i>ani up on have never seen any fur-seal in the inland waters of Alaska wherever I have traveled. I think all schooners should be stopped from hunting seal off Prince of Wales Islands, p.^t^.tion. so the seal would become i.lentiful once more and the In- dians could catch them again. his Johnnie x Johntin. mark. Witness to his mark : J. M, Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United ^St((tcs Treasury Agent. Deposition of James Klonaclcet, sealer. PELAOIC SEALING. James Klonacket, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Klinquan, and have lived at Howkan a great many years. I am now a very old man and am a hunter by occupation. Have hunted fur-seal for twelve seasons oft' Prince of Wales Island. Have ,,,„.,„,, always hunted seal a month and a half betore the small birds hatch, and they batch about June 1. The seal all j^jgration. go north about this time. I use the shotgun for taking- seal, and sometimes I lose one or two out of ten that I kill. When I first began to hunt seals the females were plenty, but jy^^^.^^^^ now they are not so plenty. The majority of seals killed the last few years have been young males two and three years old. I have killed a few old bulls. They were not plentiiul when I first began to hunt, then they got plenty, anil now they are nearly all gone. Fe- male and male seals look the same in water, unless it be an old bull, which I can tell by its bigness, and I shoot ev^erything that comes near the canoe. Seal used to be plentiful,but now they are nearly all gone. They aretoomuch hunted bythewhite men with schoon- ^^ , • , ■ ., "^ TT , Y 1 1 • ^1 ,1^0 pelagic birtli. ers. Have never known any pups to be born in the water or on the land anywhere in Alaska or British Columbia, and I don't know where they are born. I don't know of any fur-seal hauling up on the land anywhere in Alaska or British ...fo.'land^''"""'^'"' Columbia, and I don't know where they do haul up. liis James x Klonacket. mark Witness to his mark: A, W. Lavender. H. K. Gould, Interpreter. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of .May, 1S02. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. 284 TESTIMONY Dejyosifion of Edicard Maitland, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Edward Maitlaiid, being; duly sworn, deposes and says: I was l)orn in British Columbia. I reside now in KewMetlakalitla. Am 31 yearsold. I have been a liunter all my life. Have hunted seal in xpeneuco. aeanoe; my lodge was on Dundas Island, and I hunted in Queen Charlottes iScmnd ami Dixons Entranee. Always used the shot- gun for takhig- seal. About 50 per cent of the seals shot with shotgun are lost. Most of the seals taken by me have been females nTfrt-iivci?^"""* ^^' with pup. I have never taken a big- bull in my life. Have killed small bulls and some yearlings. It makes no dif- ferenee if a seal is a male or fenuile; Ave shoot everything that comes near enough. I have never known any pups to be born in No pe ajiic u . ^^^ water, or on the land on the coast around this part , , , of Alaska. I have never known any fur-seal to haul Do not haul up on , ■ » i i t i Aia.skuu (oast. Up ou the land anywhere m Alaska. 1 have never seen any fur-seal around Annette Island anywhere. Edward Maitland. Witness to his signature: J. M. POTTEK. Subscribed and sworn to before me this lOth day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Frederick Mason, sealer. pelagic sealing. Frederick Mason, being duly sworn, deposes ami says: I am 32 years old. Was born in IJritish ( 'olnnd)ia, and now reside at New Metlakahtla. Am a hnnter by occni)ation; have hunted fur-seal in Experience. cauocs siiu^c I was a boy. The seal first make their apitearance in ^larch off Prince of Wales Island, and leave about the middle of 'June. My hunting lodge has always been on Nicholas Bay, and 1 have hunted in Queen Charlotte Sound, Dixons Entrance, and off Prince of Wales Island. I always use the shotgun fin- taking seal, and lose ab(mt 25 per cent of what 1 shoot. The seals killed kiued'^'*^' iVMuai.H by me wcnvabout half males and half females. Have killed but one old bull in my life. 1 have killed quite a number oi' yearling seals, but never examined them as _^in(ii8crirainatekiii |^,, ^^.^_ J'At'ry tiling that coiiics ucar the boat in shape of a seal is shot; I can not tell the sex of a seal till after it is dead. Tiiere are not near as many hunters hunting seal as there used to be, for tlie seal are diH-reasing very fast. 1 know be- cause I am hunting seal all the time. There are too many schooners hunting seal off the Prince of Wales Island and Dixons Entrance and if they ar(i not sto])ped they will soon be all gone. I Protec.ioii. have never seen a puj) bcnn in the water, nor have I ever heard of a pup being born on the land around No pelagic birth. tliis i)art of Alaska. I have never seen oi' heard of a fur-seal being hauh'd up on the land anywhere in this TAKEN IN OR NEAR DIXON ENTRANCE. 285 part of Alaska, nor do I believe that old fable that is Do not haul up ou told by some of the old iiieu that fur-seal oucedid haul '^''''''^• up here, or any other part of Alaska outside of tlie Seal Islands. I think if the schooners were iirohiblted from taking seal, they would become plentiful, as they were years ago. his Frederick x Mason. mark. Witness to his mark : David Leask. A. W, Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United /States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Amos Mill, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Amos Mill, l)eing duly sworn, deposes and says: E was born in \h\t- ish Columbia; I am about ">() years old, and now reside in New Methi- kahtla; have been a hunter all my life; have hunted fur- ^^ ,en,.nct" seal in canoes ; my lodge is on Duudas Island, and I hunt ^^i'"" "'^^• oft' Prince of Wales Island, in Queen Charlotte's Sound and Dixon's En- trance; have always used the shotgun for taking seal; about 20 per cent of the seals I shoot with shotgun are lost; most all the seals killed by ine have been females with pu].; the fe^^fes km.r""""' seal hunting commences in IMarch and ends about the middle of June; the seal are constantly going iiigration. north during that time; I shoot all seal that come near the boat, regardless of sex; have never killed but two old bulls in my life; I have killed a few young bulls, higr and plenty of yearling seal; never examined them as to sex; I have never known any pups to be born in the no pehigic birth. water or any ou the land in this part of Alaska; I have never seen any seal hauled out on the land anywhere , , , around this partot Alaska; I have seen a tewlur-seals ,,„a.st. in the waters near Prince of Wales Island in the months of May and June. liis Amos x Mill. uiark. Witness to his mark: David Leask. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United IStates Treasury Agent. Indiscriminate kill 286 TESTIMONY Deposition of Mattheio Morris, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Matthew Morris, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Kasan and am 22 years old. Am a hunter by occupa- Experience. ^\^^^^ .^ud have huntcd fur-seal in canoes oft" Prince of indiscrimiuite kill- ^^ '^1*^^ Islaud. Always usc the shotgun for taking seal. ing. '' ' I lose very few, as I always shoot them close to the boat. Shoot everything that conies near the boat in shape of niaK'ken!''"""**'''' ^ scal, and use^lo discrimination. Most of the seals taken by me have been cows with pup. First taken the Migration. Seal oft' tliis islaiul in May. Since the schooners have Decrease. Commenced to liunt seal they are becoming very scarce and the Indians have to go a long ways to get the few No pelagic birth. tliat they do. I havc never known any pups to be born Do not haul np on 11' the watcr, or anj' fur-seal to haul up on the land in coast. this part of Alaska. I have never seen any fur-seal in the water anvwhere around in the inland waters of rrotcction. Alaska. T tlnuk all the schooners ought to be stopped catching seal, so the Indians could catch them again. hi.s Matthew x jMorris, mark. Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9tli day of May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Ban Nathlan, sealer. pelagic sealing. Dan Nathlan, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born on Queen Charlottes Island. Am 25 years old and now Experience. rcsidc at Howkau. Am a liuuter by occupatiou. Have hunted fur-seal since 1 was a boy. This is the first year I ever liunted on a schooner; am now on the schooner Ad- ,^ , venture. When I was a boy I hunted seal in Dixon's Entrance and oft" (^neen Charlottes Islands. Always hunted during Ai^ril and May. In June the seal all leave, going north. Have always used the shotgun for taking seal. Sometimes I lose two and someti mes tliree seal out of ten I shoot. About one- femi^es."^^ ^"■'^*''"* lialf of tlic scal of the seal I have taken were females with pup. Have taken a very few yearlings. Once in a while I take an old bull, but not often. The male seals that I have killed are two and three years old, I think. We shoot j^n.iiscriminate kill- everything that (•( )me.s near the canoe, regardless of sex. The sex can not be told in the water unless it be an old bull. The last four or iive years seal have been growing scarcer every Decrease Y^ar, owiug, I think, to too many white mcu huntingseals in schooners off Queen Charlotte Islands and in Dixous TAKEN IN OR NEAR DIXON ENTRANCE. 287 Entrance. I think if the schooners are not prohibited Protection. from huiitiijj;' seal they will soon become as scarce as the sea otter now is. There have only been two seal killed by the four canoes hunting' off Cape Muzon this season, which shows plainly enough that the seal are most all gone. I have never seen any ,. ,.,.,, 11 -iij^ iiiT t Ivo pelagic birth. pup seal born m the water or on the land anywhere around British Columbia or Alaska. Have never seen any fui'-seal haul up on the land anywhere in Alaska, eo?s"t"°* '"'*"' "'' °" or British Columbia, or on Qiieen Charlottes Islands. liis Dan X Nathlan. mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United i:itates Treasury Agent. Deposition of Joseph Keisliladtl<, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Joseph Keishkaitk, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in British Columbia; am 60 years old, and now reside at Kew Melakahtla; am a hunter by occupation; have Experience. hunted fur-seal ; hunt in Dixons Entrance and Queen Charlotte Sound. The seal make their appearence the last of March and disapi)ear the 1st of June, and I hunt them dur- Mioration ing that time. Use the shotgun for taking seal, and lose about 25 per cent of those I shoot. Think about n.Ss^taken^"''"* ^^' half of the seals taken by me have been cows mth pup ; the rest are yearlings and young males two and three years old. Have never seen an old bull in my life. Everything is killed i„,ii3„immate kui. that comes near the canoe in shape of a seal. We can- ing. not tell a male from a female in the water. Seal are _ not near as i^lenty as they used to be; too many hunt- ers are catching them and indiscriminately killing them. I have never known any pups to be born in the water or on the land around this part of Alaska. I am a verv old man, and I have never „ , . , . .. ,-„, - , \ n No pelagic birth. even heard ot, 1 have never heard of or seen any .seal hauled up on the coast of Alaska anywhere. Have ^^ * v, i ^ „ 1 • . 1 , 14 Do not haul up od never even seen any lur-seal m the waters around An- coast. nette Sound or in any of the inland waters. I think if Protection, the schooners were prohibited from taking seal they would become plentiful again. his Joseph x Neishkaitk. mark. Witnesse to his mark : David Leask. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United tStates Treasury Agent. 288 TESTIMONY Depoaition of Ntlia-ah, sealer. PELAfilC SEALING. Ntkla-ali, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I was bon at Howkan. Am very old ; al)ont (JO yeais old, I have been a liun- xpenenco. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^.^^ Ilave hnnted iur-seal every season since I was old enougli, in a canoe. The seal always come here before the birds bej>in to sing very much, and they are all gone igra ion. whcii the sahuon berries get ripe, which I think is be- tween the months of JNIarch and July. Have used a Hudson Bay shot- gun since I can remember for taking seal. I very rarely lose a seal, because I shoot them close to the Ijoat. I think about na'luv niaies" ^'^' *' ^''^^^ ^hc scals takcu by me are females with pup. Have never taken but a few old bulls in my life. Have taken a good many yearlings, but never examined them as to sex. When I was a young num vocals were much more plentiful than they are now. The last three years, since the schooners began hunting seals, they have become very scarce. It is hard for the Indians ecic.iso. ^^ ^.^^ .^^^^^ now, and this year they nave killed buttMo. About the tinu; the wild .uecse are tlyiug north the seals are most plen- tiful. I can not tell the difleience between a male and a female seal in the water, aiul I shoot every seal that comes near the indisciimiuate kill- j^..,j|, p^ j think if the schoonc] s are not stopped from hunting seal the seal, like the sea-otter, will soon be ,.,.,, all gone. I have never known or heard of pups being- No iciMmcbntii. 1 • i1 i J.1 1 1 1 • -o -i- 1 born m the water or on the land anywhere m British Columbia, (^ueen Charlotte Islands, or Alaska. I have never known or heard of fui-seal hauling up on the land anywhere Do not haul up nu jjj British Coluuibia, Queen Charlotte Islands, or Alaska. NtivLA-ah (his X mark). Witnesses to his mark : A. W. Lavender, H. li. Gould, Interiyrcter. Su])scribcd and sworn to before me this 12th day of May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United states Treasury Agent. nifi. Deposition of Peter Olson, fur hunter. PELAGIC SEALING. Peter Olson, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Howkan, and have lived at Kasan since I was a boy. xpenence. Havc bccu a huutcr all my life. Have never hunted fur-seal; always hunted on the land; a great many of our jieople hunt fur-seal along" the coast of Prince of Wales Islands and out in Dixon's Entrance. I have never seen any fur-seal anywhere in in^nian(i''wifJrs'^ ^*'''^ tlic iulaiid watcrs, nor have I ever heard of any being around the inland waters of this part of Alaska. I have land ""'^ ''""^ "^' "" u i been cows witb pup. I never sbot but two old bulls cws^ithpup! '"' in my life. Have shot a few yearling seals. Tbe young male seals I bave killed were between two andtbree years old, I tbink. Tbe last five years fur-seal bave been growing very scarce, and it is bard to get any now. Tbere are too decrease. many wbite men witb schooners bunting them off Dixons Entrance, and unless it is stopped the seal will soon be all gone. Have never known or beard of any fur-seal pu])s being born in the „ ... , J.1 1 J • i' A 1 1 Ti -i.- 1 Pups not born in water or on tbe laud in any part ot Alaska or British water. Columbia. I bave never known of seal to baul out on .p,^ . , „ , , -r»-j'i/-i ■'-'*' ^'^^ haul out on the land anywhere m this part or Alaska or British Co- land. lumbia wherever I bave been. his William x Clark. mark. Witness to bis mark : J. W. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11 tb day of May, 1.S02. A. W. Layexdek, United states Treasury Aycnt. Deposition of FranJc, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Frank, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born on Queen Charlotte's Island, and am now a Aany old man. Don't know my age. I bave hunted fur-seals, and when I was a young man there were lots of seals around Queen Charlotte Kxperience. Islands, but now they have become scarce. Tbe liu>t 293 294 TESTIMONY few times I was out after tliem I did not see a seal* They luive been srowiug scarcer every year since tlie white man began hunting tliem in schooners. I always hunted seals in Dixons Entrance, and off Prince of Wales and Queen Charlotte islands in March and June. The seal -,. ,. disapiiear in June towards the north. When I was a " ' young man the Indians used the spear for taking seal; now they have learned from the white man to use the shotgun. About three out of ten are lost that are shot. I think the schooners ought to be prohibited from hunting seal, so the Indians could again get them again. Now they are obliged to go a long way in the canoes, and often go many days without see- ing a seal, and come back tired. I have never known of pups to be born in the water or on the laud anywhere around opeagic ir . Q^ggjj Charlotte Islands or other parts of British Columbia and Alaska, where I have been. I have never known any seal to haul up on the land on Queen Charlotte Ian!" ""*''"'"'"** "° Islands or any part of British Columbia or Alaska; nor have I ever heard of any seal having hauled up anywhere in British Columbia or Alaska. Thank (his x mark). Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United /States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Luke Franlc, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Luke Frank, being dnly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in Howkan, and have lived there all my life; am by oc- Experience. cupatlou a huiitcr, and have hunted fur-seal six years of my life; have always hunted in Dixons Entrance and off Prince of Wales Island during the month of May and June each year. The seal all disappear about the first of Migratiou. June, goiug north. There are seal in Dixons Entrance in March, but the wind blows so hard that it is impossible for us to hunt them in canoes; have always used the shotgun Mv-uant Luau's^^^ """^^ ^'^^' t'llvlng scal. I losc about two out of ten that I ^"*' ' shoot. I thiidv the seals taken by me are about half females with pup, and the rest are one and two year old males and yearlings; never examined the yearlings as to sex. I can not tell the sex of a seal in the water; use no discrimination, but kill everything that comes near the boat. Since the white men have ludisciiminatekiii \)qqi^ huutiug the scal with schooners, they have be- come very scarce and it is hard for the Indians to get any in their canoes. And all seal hunting in the Decrease. waters should be stop[>ed for a few years to give the seal a chance to become jjlenty again. Kever knew any fur-seal to TAKEN AT NICHOLAS BAY. 295 be born iu the water or on the hind around British >j ,i.,„i^. ^ji^ti^ Columbia or Alaska. Never knew any fur-seal to haul " up on the land in British Columbia or Alaska. Have never killed an old bull in my hfe, nor have 1 seen one the last few years. his Luke x Frank, mark. Witness to his mark: J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasxiry Afjent. Deposition of King KasJnva, sealer. PELAGIC sealing. King- Kaskwa, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Howkan, and reside there. Have lived there all my life, and am now a very old man ; about 65 years old. Kxpeiieuce. My occupation is that of a hunter. Have hunted fnr- seal thirteen years or more. Have always hunted tliem in Hixons Entrance and off Prince of Wales Island between March and June. Hunt them until the last of May, when the seal dis- ^i^r^tion a])pear, going north. I always use the shotgun for killing seal. I lose about four ont of ten that I shoot. Fifty per cent kuka About 50 per cent of the seals taken are cows with pup. p^'^s"^"* temples. Have killed a few old bulls, and have taken a few yearlings every season. We can not tell the difference between a male and a female in the water, but kill everythin g that comes .^in'^iscriminate kiii- near the boat. When I was a young man the seal were very plentiful around here, but since the schooners began hunt- ing them they have become very scarce. The white Decrease. hunter destroyed the sea-otter and will soon destroy the seal. I don't like to see the schooners around here hunting- seal, for they kill everything tliey see, and unless they protection are stopped the seal will soon be all gone. The sea- otter is already gone. Have never seen fur-seal pups ^opeiag'c birth, born in the water or on the land in British Columbia or Alaska. Have never seen any fur-seal hauled up on the land anywhere, nor have I ever heard of any being hauled up on the land either in British Columbia or Alaska. his King x Kaskwa. mark. Witness to his nnirk: J. M. Potter, A. W. Lavender, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. JItii Kasoou. Sealer; experience. 296 TESTIMONY Dcposiiion of Jim Kasooli, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Jim Kasooli, being duly swoiu, deposes and says: I was born at Hovvkan and luive lived tliere all my life. Am about 45 years old. I am by occupation a hunter. Have lumted far seal for eight years. Always hunted in Migration. Dixoiis Entrance and off Prince of Wales Islands in May and June. In June the seal all go up north. They come in March, but it is too stormy to hunt them. I always use the shotgun for taking seal. Sometimes I lose two prSuant ftmai'^es!^"' and three out of ten that I shoot. About half of the seals killed are females with pui^. Have killed some yearling seals, but never killed an old bull. The young males I killed were between two and three years old. Seals have been growing scarce the last five years, since the white man began hunting them with schooners, and if they are not stopped the seal will soon be all gone. I have never known seal pups to be born on the land or in the water in this part of Alaska. I never knew fur-seals to haul oat anywhere on the land in Alaska, Do uot" kaui'up'on uor have I ever heard of any being hauled out. laud. liis Jim X Kasooh. mark. Witnesss to his mark : A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this nth day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Robert Koolco, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Robert Kooko, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in Victoria, British Columbia; moved from Victoria to Experience. Howkau, Alaska, when I was a small boy. Have hunted fur-seal for three years in Dixons Entranceand off Prince of Wales Island in the month of May. The seal all leave there by the first of June; think they go north. I have used the spear and shotgun. When a seal is struck with a si^ear we never lose him. About 50 per cent are lost when shot with a shotgun. The majority of seals taken by me were na^tiemiTis*^^"^'^^^ females with j)np. Have taken some yearling seals, but never examined them as to sex. Have killed one or two old bulls in my life. The males I have killed have been one and two years old, I think. I kill everything that ing^^ecreMe!**^ ^^" couies near the canoe, regardless of sex. Seal have become very scarce the last three years, and what few there are are very wild and hard to get at. I think the reason that seal have become scarce is that they are hunted too o pe agic IT . jjjmjjj ^^u J iqq many females killed with pup. I have TAKEN AT NICHOLAS BAY. 297 never known any pups to be born in the water. Have never known any fur-seal to haul out on the land anywhere around ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ this part of Alaska. I think the schoimers should be iand.°" "" "^* "" prohibited fiom hunting seal off" Prince of Wales Is- Protection. land so they can become plenty again. , Egbert x Kooko. niiu'k. Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Charles Martin, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Charles Martin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at Klinquan and reside there; am 30 years old, and my Y.-s.^w-viu occupation is that of a hunter. Have hunted fur- ^penence. senl ever since I was a boy; always hunt in Dixons Entrance and around Prince of Wales and Queen Charlotte's islands. I use the shotgun for taking seal. About 50 per cent are lost that are shot with the shotgun. About half w?a pups.^""'''^''*"''^ of the seals killed by me, I think, were cows with pup. Have never killed an old bull, but have killed a few yearlings in my life. Never examined the latter as to sex. Since the white man with schooners has been hunting seal they have been grow- mg scarcer every year, and unless they are stopped the seal will soon be all gone. The Indians now have to go a long way and suffer great hardsnips in order to get any. I have ^^ ^eiao^ic wrtu never known any fur-seal pups to be born in the water ^ " or on the land around this part of Alaska or British Columbia. I have never known any seal to haul out on the land any- where around this part of Alaska or British Columbia, ^^l''""^ *^^"' ""* "" and I never heard of any hauling out in Alaska or British Columbia. his Charles x Martin. mark. Witness to his mark: J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Naslitou, sealer. PELAGIC sealing. Nashtou, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I was born at Kas aau ; am 00 years old; and have been a hunter all my life; have hunted fur seal outside of Prince of Wales Island Experience, and in Dixons Entrance during the month of May every 298 TESTIMONY year for a long time. The seal first come into Dixons Entrance in March. Mio^raiion ^^^^ wcathcr is bad (luring that month, and I do not hunt them in canoes. The seal are constantly on the move north. Ilave always used spear and shotgun for taking seal. None 1 lost Miien 1 used spear. About 20 per cent are lost when ^onci.aif cows with j. j|i^,,| ^^.j^], shotguu. Aboutlialf tlic seals taken by meare cows with pup. I have taken a few old bulls in my life, but not many. Have taken quite a number of yearlings. The male seals taken are between two and three years old. The sex of the seal can not be told in the w^ater. Hunters use no discrimination, .^nuiiscriuuuate kill- ^^^^^ j.^ everything they can. When I was a young man seal were very plentiful off Prince of Wales Island and Dixons Entrance, but since the schooners have begun hunt- Decrease. ^^S seal they have become very scarce, and Indians now are obliged to go a long ways to kill any, and sometimes they will hunt for days without getting a seal. I have never known any ])Upsto be born in the water or on the land opeagic ir . jmy^yiiere around this part of Alaska or in British !)<> not iiaui upon Columbia. Have never known any fur-seal to haul up *""*'**^' on the land anywhere in British Columbia or Alaska. I think that all sealing should be stopped for a number of years, so that Protection ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ becouic plenty again, for the wliite man has almost exterminated the seal. Nashtou (his X mark). Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter. A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1S02. A. VV. Lavender, United iStates Treasury Agent. Deposition of Smith yatcli, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Smith Xatch, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was bor,! at Kas aan and have lived there all my life, and am now a Experience. vcry (»ld man, about 80 years old. Have been a hunter all my life. Have hunted fur seal every season for a great nmny years in Dixons Entrance. When I was a small boy fur- seal used to come into Clarence Straits, but it has been a good many years now since any fur-seal have seen there. Always hunted fur-seal Migration bctweeu Marcli and June. They make their appear- ' '"'" '""■ aiice in March in Dixons Entrance, but at that time of the year the weather is so bad we can't hunt them. May is the best time to hunt them, because the weather is always good. They all dis- appear in June and go north uj) the coast — 1 think, to have their jjups. Wlien I was a boy I used a shotgun for taking seal, bought from the Hudson Bay Company at Port Simi)sou, and have always used a shot- gun for sealing. [ think about two out often seal shot n,!?ieswuhpup.''^*" are lost. 1 think about half the seals killed by me are females with pup. 1 think there are a few more males killwl in April than females, but in May there are more females killed. I cannot tell a male from a female in the water, and it makes no differ- ence; I shoot everything that comes near the canoe in .^Indiscriminate k.a- ^^^^^^^ ^^^ .^ gg.^|^ gjj^^.^ ^1^^ ^^.j^^^ ^^^^^ ^^,.j.j^ ScboOnerS began to hunt seal, the last five or six years, seals have TAKEN AT NICHOLAS BAY. 299 become very scarce, and it is hard for the Indians to get any now. They have to go a long way and hnnt a long time in order to get one or two seals, and unless all seal hunting is stopped in the water the seal, like the sea-otter, will soon be all gone. Have never known any pups to be born in the water or on the •'^" peiag>c birtb. land in British Columbia or Alaska, nor have I known ^^^o^""* ^^'^'^ "i'"" any seals to haul up on the land anywhere in British ""'^ ' Columbia or Alaska. his Smith x Natch. uark. Witness to his mark: J. M. Potter, A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1892. A. W. La\t:nder, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of- Ahel Byan, scaler. PELAGIC SEALING. Abel Eyan, being dnly sworn, deposes and says: I am 22 years old Was born in British Columbia and reside on Dundas Island. I have hunted fur-seal every season since I Expeiieuce. was a boy, between March and June. Always hunted in Dixons Entrance and off Prince of Wales Island. The majority of seals taken by me have been females with pup. Oiice in a great while I catch an old bull. A few yearlings „,a/Js' wlti pup!^" *''' have been taken and the majority of males are two and three year olds. Shotgun is exclusively used by me for taking seals. Lose about 20 per cent of those killed with sliot gun. Decease Have noticed the seal are getting scarce the last few years. The cause of the scarcity is, I think, too many schooners hunt- ing them off Prince of Wales Island, and unless they are stopped the seal will soon be aU gone. I have never known or heard of ,, , ■ , • ., , . V ■ ji j_ j_i 1 T JSo pelagic biitli. any pups being born m the water or on the land any- wliere around this part of Alaska. Have never known ^.^,^!°j"-'* ''•'*"^ "i' "" any fur-seal to haul up on the laud anywhere around '"'"' ' British Columbia or Alaska. I do know that where Indians formerly went out and brought back lilteen seals thev scarcely bring back one now, and unless something is done to prohibit the i.,.,,.^.,-, schooners from hunting seal off Queen Charlotte's and Prince of Wales islands there will be no seals left for the Indians. Everything in the shape of a seal that comes near the boat IS shot. Hunters use no discrimination, but kill ._ r""ii''<»'""''ito u.ii. everything that puts its head above water. bis AuEL X Eyan. mark. Witness to his mark : J. M. Potter, A. W. Lavender. Subscribed and sworn to before me tliis lltli day 6f May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United iStates Treasury Agent. 300 TESTIMONY Deposition of Thomas Skowl, chief of Kasaah Indians, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Thomas Skowl, being duly sworn, dei)oses and says : I am c.liief of the Xasaan Indians. Was born at Kasaan and have lived there all my life. Am 4S years old. Am a hunter by occupation and have hunted fur-seal the past fifteen years. Always hunted seal in Dixous Entrance and oil' Ti.os Skowl chiH- I'l'inceof Wales Island, andlumted them each year from of Kasaan inped at Victoria, British Colum- bia, on the sealing schooner May Belle, Smith, master. May BeUe,i9a2. I shipped as an able seaman and did service in the stern boat as boat steerer. She also carried ten canoes, each being manned by two Indians, who used the spear in hunting. We sealed along the coast from Destruction Island as far north as Triangle ^^^^j^ Island, off the Vancouver shore, and captured but one female seal. On the 18th of April I left the May Belle at Clayaquot Sound, and returned to Victoria on the 5th of May on the steam schooner Maud, The seal captured by us along the coast in 1890 were aU gravid females. I do not know the sex of those taken by our coaatcatch in i89o. Indians on the coast in that year. We did not capture Pregnant cows. any gravid seals in the Bering Sea. Nearly all the Nearly aU taken in seals taken in Bering Sea were cows in milk. We Bering sea nursing, captured a few young seals in the sea of both sexes. ^^^^^ 318 TESTIMONY In 1890 our liunter in tlie stern boat secured GO seals, aud lost over 200 s imt of In i^t?i>ls that he Wdunde 1. Tlieludiansmake a sure work dianTunter*8 ami ol" it, and secuie nearly every seal that they spear, methods. They do not make so much noise in approaching a sleep- ing seal as the white hunters do. When an Indian in a canoe is ap- proaching a bunch oi" seals asleep on the Avater he does not remove his paddle liom the water, but dexterously and noiselessly moves it in the water, because the least sound Avould awaken the seals. The hunter who uses a gun not only disturbs the seal he shoots, but awakens and disturbs the others, who then make their escape. In 1891 I noticed that there was a considerable decrease in the num- ber of seals seen in the water; also that they were ecrease. morc sliy and wakeful as compared with my observa- tions in 1890. A cow seal that's heavy with pu^) is sluggish, and sleeps more soundly than the males, and for that reason they are more readily approached. I have never known a black pup to be captured on the coast. Seals do not haul out upon the land along the Do not haul up on coast, uor givc birth to their young on the kelp or in ^*4lto oTon S'''' tlie water. I have never heard the Indians or white sealers say that there is a place on the coast where seals haul out and breed. A great many seals that are shotwould sink before we could secure them. Sometimes the water above the sinking seal would be so discolored by the blood that it was impossible to see it and secure it with the gaff-hook, which all sealing boats oarry for that purpose. If pelagic sealing is continued, especially with guns, in a few years the seal herd will become commercially destroyed. Nearly every seal captured causes the death of either an unborn jiup, or the death of a young pup by starvation on the islands. All pe- Protection by a lao'ic Sealing should be prohibited after April 1 of each close season neces- ° --^ ^ j.- -i ii^ i, aary. year uutil such time as the young pups areable to sub- sist without nourishment from their mothers. It is practically impossible to distinguish the age or sex of seals in the water while approaching them while at a reasonable gunshot distance from them, excepting in the case of old bulls. Old bulls and male seals ap- pear to enter Bering Sea before the cows leave the coast. Our last catch of seals on the coast were almost exclusively gravid females. bis Henry x Brot\t^. mark . John McLeod. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of May, 1892. fsEAX,.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. De2)osition of Thomas Broivn [Ko. 1), sealer {hoat jyiiller). PELAGIC SEALING. D03IINI0N OF Canada, Victoria, British Golumhia, ss: Thomas Brown, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My ago is 31 years, my residence is Victoria, British Columbia; occupation, seaman. I went sealing in 1889 from San Francisco, Cal., (I do not remember the name of the vessel) Cai)t. Scott was master j TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 319 we sealed as far soutli as San Diego, Cal., tlien went along the coast to Farallone Islaiids, opposite Sau Francisco. We had five boats, three men to each boat, and one stern boat, all white men; we used shotguns and rifles ; the seals were very plentiful that year; most all the seals that we shot and secured were rearms use . females and had young pui^s in them, and we would sometimes skin them. If we didn't get to a seal soon after it was shot it would sink, and we lost a great many; probably got about one out of five of all the seals shot. We sealed as far as Queen p^l^anffemaks""""'' Charlotte Islands and got about 195 seals in the two months' sealing. We did not enter Bering Sea that year. In 1890 I went sealing again in the schooner Sea Hon^ Madison, mas- ter; had five boats and three men to each boat; I was boat puller; we were sealing about three months and ^" ^''"' got about 400 seals, most all females. This year the seals were wilder than the year before; I think it was because they were being hunted so much. We did not capture as many in proportion to the number shot as we did the year previous, and did not save more than one out of six that we shot. We did not enter Ber- feSir^^^^'"""^*^^ ing Sea, and returned to Victoria in April. Our catch was fully 80 per cent females. I do not think that seals give birth to their young on the kelp. In 1891, in the month of February, I sailed from Victoria, British Co- lumbia, on the schooner Thistle, Nicherson, master, on a sealing voyage. We had seventeen boats and three ^'«"«i89i. men to each boat; all white men. I signed as boat puller. Commenced sealing off Cape Flattery and all the seals which we caught were preg- nant females. I did not see as many seals as the years previous; I left the vessel in April at Victoria, British Columbia. The seals upon this voyage were more shy than in 1889 and more difficult to capture. During the trip of 1891 I don't think we Wasteonife;mostiy got more than one seal out of six that we killed; many p'^®""^"* ^^ *^^- were wounded and others were shot dead and sank before the boat could get to them. The seals are decreasing in num- ber rapidly, and in order to prevent the extermination Decrease. of seals the hunting of them should be prohibited until after the mother seals give birth to their young. Sealers should be no- tified of a closed season before they go to the expense ciose season neces- of fitting out. '^"y- Thomas Brown. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Deposition of Christ Clausen, sealer [master). pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Columhia, ss: Christ Clausen, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Victoria, British Columbia; occupation, master mariner, and 320 TESTIMONY Ex eri n e ^™ ^"^ jeaps of h^q. I AYCiit scal luiiitiiig in 1889, xperence. ^^^ mate of the Biitisli seliooner C. H. Tupper^ Capt. Kelly, master. She carried scAeii boats and white hunters, who used mostly shotguns. Sailed from Victoria in February, 0. J. rup7>er, 1889. ^^^j commenced sealing off the California coast and hunted seals all along tlie coast to Unamak Pass, and went into the sea the 2d of July and caught seals around the eastern jtart of Bering Sea until the latter part of September, and then returned to Victoria. We had very poor hunters and only caught 600 that season, 400 of which we took in the sea. In 1890 I was navigator in the British schooner Minnie^ and was equipped with canoes and Indian hunters, who used Minnie, 1890. gpears chiefly. Sailed Irom Victoria and hunted along the coast up the Unamak Pass and entered Bering Sea about the 10th of July, and hunted off the Pribilof Islands until about the 1st of September and tlien returned to Victoria. My catch that year was 2,600, of which about 2,000 were caught in the Bering Sea. In 1891 I went as navigator in the same vessel and with the same . crew, and they used spears in hunting. "We sailed *"'"*' ^ ■ Irom Victoria and hunted along the coast over the same course we did the year before, and went into Bering Sea through the Unamak Pass, about the middle of July, and caught only about 400 that season, none of which were taken in Bering ings™"^ ""^^ °^ ^^"^ ^^^- ^"® were warned out of the sea before we lowered any boats and returned to Victoria. The Indian hunters, when they used spears, saved nearly every one they struck. It is my observation and experience that epear*^^^^ ^^'^ *^^ ^^^ Indian, or a white hunter, unle • very expert, will kill and destroy many times more tiiau he will save, if Waste of uie with ii(j ^ges fireariiis. It is our obiect to take them when asleep on the water, and any attempt to capture a breeching seal, generallj^ ends in failure. The seals we catch along the coast are nearly all pregnant females. It is seldom femafes.^ ^^ '^'^^^^"* ^^ capture ail old bull, and what males we get are usually young ones. I have frequently seen cow seals cut open and the unborn pni)s cut out of them and they would live for several days. This is a frequent occurence. It is my experience that fully 85 per cent of the seals I took in Bering Sea, mnkm^^femaks! "^^"^ wcre fcmales that had given birth to their pups, and their teats would be full of milk. I have caught seals Prohibition of shot- of this kind from 100 to 150 miles away ti'om the gun necessaiy. Pribilof Isliiuds. It is mj^ Opinion that spcars should be used in hunting seals, and if they are to be kept from extermination the shotgTin should be discarded. (Jhr. Clausen. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D, 1892. [SEAX,.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. take:; at victoria, British Columbia. 321 Deposition of Louis Culler^ sealer {boat-piiUey), pelagic seali]n'g. Province of British Coluimria, City of Victoria, ss : Louis Culler, beiug duly sworn, deposes aud says: I am 28 years old, and reside at Port Towuseud, State of Wasliingtou. I ^ am by oceupatiou a civil oiiiiiueer. In 1S88 I shipped at Victoria, Britisli Columbia, as a boat-puller ou tlie q^^^^. „„^ ^,^,,^j.^ sealing sclioouer Oscar and Hattie, Gault, master, im. Sbe carried seven boats, eacli being manned by three white men, who used shotguns. We sealed along the coast liom Cape Flattery up to the passes leading into Bering Sea, capturing about 1,400 seals before entering the sea. We entered the sea '^''''*^^ " '°'''*- through the Unamak Pass, and captured seals therein, Ent ereci Bering sea. after Avhich we returned to Victoria. In 1889 I shipi)ed at Victoria as a hunter on the sealing schooner Magf/ie Mac. She carried seven boats, each manned Maggie Mac, i8S9. by three white men, who used shotguns in hunting the seals. We sealed along the coast from Cape Flattery up to the Aleu- tian Islands, and captured 340 seals before entering ^ , , ^ T-x . CI TT^ T J. 1 • J.1 xi 1 Catcli off coast. Bering Sea. V\ e caught more seals m the sea that year than we captured before entering therein. After Entered Bering sea. sealing there awhile we returned to Victoria. In June, 1891, 1 shipped as a hunter on the sealing schooner Otto, ^^^^ ^gg^ Kiley, master. There were two newspaper correspond- ents aboard. King Hale, representing the New York Herald, and Mr. McManns, of Victoria. The Otto carried three sealing boats, each manned by white men, who used shotguns, and two canoes, manned by Indians, who used sjiears. We sailed \\\} along the coast toward Bering Sea and captured five seals, all being gravid females. I noticed these seals particularly, because xmxT^lm^ilf^' ^"^''°' there were but few of them. I kejita memorandum of the transactions of the voyage, and noted in my book the number of seals taken and their sex. We entered the sea through the Unamak Pass, and captured therein about 40 seals, nuSi^g c^ows"""^"'" most all of which had milk in tlieir breasts. After taking these seals we returned to Victoria, British Columbia, about the 2r>th of September. My observation of the seal-liunting by white hunters in 1888 is that they do not secure more than 2 or 3 out of every 100 shot. The innnber of shots fired by a hunter ^^fl ^ i"^"^ <^°'^* in an ordinary day's sealing is something enormous, aud the waste of seal life in the water is dreadful to waste of life. contemplate. My observations and experience in 1889 were about the same as in tlie previous year, except as to the number of seals seen, which was much smaller. There was a percep- tible decrease in the number of seals seen by me in the ^c<=rease. year 1889 as compared with the year 1888. The i)roportion of loss of seals shot by white hunters in the Otto was quite as great in 1891 as by the hunters in the year before stated. I have never seen any black pups in the North Pacfic Ocean. The seals do not give birth to their young in the water, nor upon the kelp. ^ftTror^n keip" "* If the present practice of seal-hunting be continued, it 2710— VOL II 21 322 TESTIMONY will be a matter of a short time Avhen tlie seal herd will be commercially destroyed. T think there should be what is called a selson'^nec'esM^y.''^"^'^ closc scasoii ill seal huii ting in the water, to extend from the 1st of April till such time after the cows have given birth to their young and have reared them to an age at which they can live without sustenance from their mother. The Indian us^umters.***^ "^°*^'""^ huutcrs sccuie at least eight out of every ten of the seals that they spear. They do not make as much noise, nor frighten the seals as badly as hunters who use guns. Louis Cullee. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of May, 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Bcposition of Alfred Dardean, sealer (boat-j}uUer.) pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, Br i fish Colnmhia, ss: Alferd Dardean, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Victoria, British Columbia. My occupation for the last Experience. (-^.q years lias bccu that of a seaman. I went sealing MoiiieAdam>.;i\neT- "i the schoouer Moll ie Adams (afterwards changed to wards the i-j-i'-'j/ar- E. B. Marvin) SbB boat-puller. We left Victoria, British rMU89u,inBc.nngSea. Columbia ou the 27th of May, 1890, and commenced sealing up the coast toward Bering Sea; entered Bering Sea through the Unamak Pass about Julj^ 7 and sealed around the eastern part of Bering Sea until late in the fall. We caught over 900 skins before entering the sea and our whole catch that year was 2,159 skins. Of the seals that were caught oft' the coast fully 90 out of niaufs.^^^^"^""'""**"*' every 100 had young pups in them. The boats would bring tlie seals killed onboard the vessel and we would take the young pups out and skin them. If the pup is a good, nice one we would skin it and keep it for ourselves. I had eight such skins my- self. Four out of five, if caught in May or June, would be alive when we cut them out of the mothers. One of them we kept for x)retty near three weeks alive on deck by feeding it on condensed milk. One of the men finally killed it because it cried so x)itifully. We only got three seals with pu])s in them in the Bering Sea. Most all of them were females that had given birth to their young on the islands, and the milk would run out of the teats on the deck when we would skin 'cma es ec( mg. ^],em, ^Ye caught female seals in milk more than 100 miles off the Pribilof Islands. We had seven boats, and a stern boat and three men to a boat. Our hunters used shotguns, and were good hunters. They lost a good many seals, but 1 do not know what proportion was lost to those killed. Some of the hunters would lose tour out every six killed. We tried to shoot them while asleep, but shot all that ^ ^. . . , came in our wav. If we killed them too dead a great many would sink before we could get them and were lost. Sometimes we could get some of these that had sunk with the TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 323 gaff hook, bat could not save many that way. A good many are wounded and escape only to die afterwards. Hunters talk about the seals increasing from year to j)ggj.gj,gg year, but 1 know they are decreasing, and if they keep on killing them the way they do now there will not be any left in a few years. his Alferd X Dardean. mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this the 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. De])osition of George Dishow, scaler. PELAGIC SEALING. George Dishow, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside at Vic- toria, British Columbia; am by occupation a seal ^_ . hunter; have been engaged in the business six years, '^p'^"™''"- Was on the Triumph^ Favorite, Penelope, two seasons on the JJmbrina, and one season on the American schooner Walter Rich' hunting seal in the Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and on the Eussiau side of the Bering Sea. First found and taken seal off Cape Flattery in January and followed them up the ^^svation. coast into Bering Sea, which they enter about June 20. I use a shot- gun exclusively for taking seal. Old hunters lose but very few seal, but beginners lose a great many. I use the Parker i^^,.„.,, p,.oportion shotgun. A large proportion of all seals taken are tateu" females with females with pup. A very few yearlings are taken. ^^"^^ Never examine them as to sex. But very few old bulls are taken, but five being taken out of a total of 900 seals taken by my schooner. Use no discrimination in killing seal, but . indiscnminate kiii- ill *^ shoot everything that comes near the boat in shape of "' a seal. Hunters shoot seal in the most exposed part of .yfiM^^ioT'^an^ywhere the body. Have never known any iDups to be born in on'tsi.ie Piibiiof isi- the water, nor on the land on the coast of iVlaska any- ■^"'^^' where outside of the Pribilof Islands, Have never known fur seal to haul up on the land anywhere on the coast except on the Pribilof Islands. Most of the seals taken in Ber- hanruirou b'nri "x- ing Sea are females. Have taken them 70 miles from ;;;\',|,°" Piiijiiof is- the islands that were full of inilk. I think a closed season should be established for breeding seal from Jan- esSIr^'^ "'''"'"" '''°' nary 1st to August loth in the North Pad tic Ocean and Bering Sea. George Disnow. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1st day of May, 1802. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. 324 TESTIMONY Deposition of E. M. GrcodcaJ', scaler {)naster). PELAGIC SEALING. Province of British Columbia, Victoria, ss: E. M. Gj-eeuleaf, beiug duly 8\vorn, deposes and says: I have resided in Yiotoria, British Columbia, since 1884. My occupa- Experieiice. tiou is that of a Seafaring man and have a commission as master mariner. Was shipping agent in this port for three years. In ]891 I went on a sealing cruise as master of the schooner Mountain Chief] leaving Victoria on May 12. ^^Mountain Chief, I Avcnt to the mouth of San Juau lliver, on the coast of Vancouver Island, opposite Neah Bay, and contin- ued sealing along up the coast almost as far nortli as Kodiak Island. ]My vessel then sprung a leak and I was compelled to return to this port, which I reached about July 1. We captured G3 Mostly females; all geals.all of wliich wcTC females, and all were pregnant. With regard to pregnancy I may note that the seals taken off the coast of Vancouver Island were not as far advanced as those taken farther north. I had six canoes, with Indian hunters, who used both spears and shotguns. Indians lose a less number of the seals shot at and wounded or killed than white hunters. When they use spears they get nearly all they wound. When they use ei^M struck. °"* "^ shotguiis they do not get more than one out of eight killed or wounded. I was interested in the schooner Sarah W. Hunt that made a voyage from New York to the South Atlantic in 1882-83, leaving iu September of 1882, 0)1 a sealing venture. The intention was to visit the Georgian and South Shetland Islands. Since then I have been interested in the sealing business, and am well acquainted with it and the men engaged in it and the methods they emi>loy. I am acquainted with the hunters and masters who sail from this port, and board all incoming and out- N ri all taken ofl §^^^8 A'csscls of that class. Thcsc men all acknowl- PacfflcM)ast pregnant edge that nearly all the seals taken oft' the Pacific females. coast are females, and that they are nearly all with young. The seals are found olf the coast of California iu January of each year, and the sealing fleet goes along with them as they proceed n orth ward, never losin g track of them and fishing every iforatffu Jam^an^''''■ S<^*>tl day. By the latter part of June fleet and seals have arrived in the vicinity of the Aleutian Island grasses. Pregnancy is now far advanced and young ones taken from their dead mother's womb have lived several days on the decks of the ships. Those that I caught last year — the pups,. I mean — were thrown overboard. In conversation with boat-steerers and boat-pullers I have frequently hoai'd them state that hunters would sometimes fire from 75 to 100 shots without bringing in a single seal. The hunters would claim they secured nearly all they fired at or killed, but it is knoAvn that this is not true. It is iiui)<)ssible to say what proportion of the seals fired at are killed or wounded, but taking the run of hunters, good and poor, I should say that the best get about 50 per cent of pcr^^cent and inmrest tliosc shot at, whilc the poorcst do uot get luorc than lout of 15. Qjjg Q^i^, of fifteen fired at. I have also learned by con- Miikingcowskiiied versatiou with Bering Sea hunters that they kill seal 20 to 200 miles from co^-g 20 to 200 luilcs froui the breeding grounds and that these cows had recently given biith to young. I have TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 325 observe:! in the skins that tlie size of the teats sliows either an advanced state of pregnacy or of recent delivery of yonug. To my knowledge, and fi-om conversation with others, I can state posi- jjecrease tively that seals have decreased rapidly in numbers off the Pacific coast in the last five or six years. A schooner used to secure from 700 to 1,400 skins for a spring catch, whereas now, with all the improved appliances of arms and vessels, the largest catch is less than 500. The boat-steerer is supposed to be the most intelligent and compe- tent man on the boat, as he has charge and bears the same relation to the boat that the captain does to a vessel. A very large number of shots are thrown away. In the case tiol"'*^ °^ ''°^'"''" of the Thistle, in her voyage of 1891, she brought in but 9 skins, while her hunters had fired away 260 pounds of shot. She had poor hunters. E. M. Greenleaf. Subscribed and sworn to before me, at my office in Victoria, British Columbia, this 20th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1892, Wit- ness my hand and seal of office. [l. s.] Levi W. Meyers, United States Consul at Victoria, British Columbia. Deposition of Arthur Griffin {sealer), boat puller and stcerer. pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, ss: Arthur Griffin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is 24 years, and am by occupation a seafaring man and re- side at Victoria, British Columbia. On February 11, Experience. 1889, I sailed from Victoria, as a boat-puller, on the sealing schooner ^In'e?, Buckman, master. She carried ^'■'«'. i^so. six hunting boats and one stern boat, and had a white crew, who use shotguns and rifles in hunting seals. We began sealing oft" the north- ern coast of California and followed the sealing herd northward, cap- turing about 700 seals in the Xorth Pacific Ocean, two- thirds of which were females with pup; the balance nanrcows^*'^ v^'^s- were young seals, both male and female. We entered the Bering Sea on the 13th July, through the TJuimak Pass, and cap- tured between 900 and 1,000 seals therein, most of which were females in milk. We returned to Victoria ^^S"^' """""° ^"^ on 31st of August, 1889. On January 10, 1890, I sailed from Victoria as a boat-steerer, in the schooner AS'eft ii'ow, Magason, master, and proceeded to „ ^. ,,_, San Francisco, where we fitted out for sealing; from there a month later we went sealing. Our vessel carried a white crew, five boats, each boat manned by three men. We captured about 300 seals from San Francisco to Cape Flattery, by the use of shotguns and rifles. We returned to Victoria about April 1, I went out sealing again the same year on the U. B. Marvin, McKiel, master. I shipped as a boat steerer. We had a white ^ „ „ • ,onn crew and seven boats, and used shotguns and rifles 326 TESTIMONY coMB^^^^ pregnant ^i^ije Imutiiig- the scals. We captured between 900 and 1,000 on the coast, most all of which were females femakJ."'"^ ""'^'"° ^^^^h pups. AN^c entered the sea on July 12, through Unaniak Pass, and captured about 800 seals in those waters, about 90 per cent of which wei-e females in milk. A good huuter Mill olten lose one-third of the seals he kills. A poor Waste otiife huutcr will losc two-thirds of those he shoots. On an average, hunters will lose two seals out of three of 2o^lf KufnX*from ^hosc they shoot. We captured females in milk from rookories. 20 to 100 milcs froui tlic rookeries. Seals do not haul 1)0 not iiani upon ^"t upou thc hiud aloug the coast, nor do they give ^°^^^- birth to their young on the kelp. We seek to shoot Not born on kelp, the scals whilc tlicy arc asleep on the water, because Proiiibition uccos- ^ ^^'^^ ^^^^^ wliilc brcechiug is more likely to be lost. Baiy. Seals ought not to be killed in the water during the months of April, May, June, July, and August. Arthur Griffin. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Deposition of James Harrison, sealer {boat puller). pelagic sealing. Dominion op Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, ss: James Ilarrison, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at T, Victoria, British Columbia, and am bv occui)ation sea- taring man. I have had experience iri the seal-hunting business. First went out sealing as boat puller along the Northern Trinvi h 1891 Pacltlc coast about tlie 2Gtli of June, 1891 ; sailed from '"""^'' ' Victoria, British Columbia, in the schooner T>-inw/<, Whidden, master; we had two boats and one stern boat, three men with each boat; we commenced sealing right oft' the coast; went as far south as the Calilornia coast and then hunted north to the west ^, , „,.. coast of Vancouver Islands: caught 500 skins during ^ astc of life. ,, 1 1. 11 £• j_i ' J /. 1 * the sea.-^on; almost all of them were pregnant females; Mostly pregnant fo- out of a hundred scals taken about 90 per cent woultl "'"^*^^' be females with young pups in them; I can't tell a male from a female while in the water at a distance. On an average, 1 think the hunters will save about one out of three that they kill, but they wound manv more that escape and die Entered Bering Sea. aftcrwards. We entered the Bering Sea about the 1st of June, and caught about 200 seals in those w^aters. ^^Mostiy milking rj^j^^,^. ^^,^,^,^ luostly motlieis that had given birth to their young and were around the lishing banks feeding. The hunters used shotguns and rifles. In the Bering Sea we killed both male and female, but 1 do not know the proportion of one to the other. I returned and was discharged at Victoria, British Columbia, about the last of August. TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 327 T sailed ajiain a1)out February 12, 1892, in the same vessel, and the same master; we carried two boats, and tliree men to j^^^^^j^ iggo each boat; all white men in the boats, but we had six- teen Indian canoes with two Indians in each canoe, and the Indians used shotiiiins, but did not capture any seals, and returned to Victoria, British Columbia, the 1st of April, and I was discharged at the custom- house at Victoria, British Columbia. Seals were not as plentiful along the coast this year as they were in 1891. I thinlc that for the proper preservation of the jj^crease seals all pelagic hunting should be prohibited until the mother seals have given birth to their young. sa^?'"''''''"" """'"' James Harrison. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.I ■ Levi W.Myers, United /States Consul. Deposition of James Rayivard, sealer {boat steerer). pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Vieioria, ss : James Hayward, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is 32 years; I reside at Victoria, British Columbia; occupa- t,^„„,,v„,„ tion, seaman. I went on a sealing voyage in 188/ as boat steerer on the American schooner Vanderbilt, Capt. Myers,master. She carried six boats, and white hunters, who used shot- yanderuit iss? guns and rifles. I joined her here with five others about the middle of May and sealed along the coast to Bering Sea, and entered those waters in the fore part of July and was ordered out of the sea by a revenue cutter, but ij,g sS"^ ""^ '"" ^" "' kept on sealing until September, and then returned to Victoria, British Cohimbia. Our catch that year was 2,000, or there- abouts. In 1888 I went in the American schooner Chas D. Wilson, Turner, master, as boat steerer, hunting otter and seals. She ^^^^^ ^ wiUon isss carried four boats, with white hunters, and they used ' • ' • shotguns and rifles. Left Victoria the 13th of ilay and went towards the mouth of the Columbia River and hunted along the coast to Slui- magin Islands. We caught over 100 otters and a number of seals. We did not go into the Bering Sea that year. In 1889 I did not go out hunting. In 1890 I went in an American schooner (I can not give her name) as boat steerer. She carried five boats and had white hunters, who used both shotguns and rifles. Sailed from Victoria the latter part of April, and went over on the Russian side of Bering Sea and sealed in those waters and caught almost 1,800 seals that season, apart of which we caught along the coast before we went into Bering Sea. In 1891 I went as boat steerer in the American schooner City of San Bieqo, George Weston, master. Slie carried five boats, and white hunters, who used shotguns and rifles. We jg^J''' "-^ '''"" -^*'^'' left Victoria in April and went to the mouth of the Columbia River, but fished only one day and caught only one seal. 328 TESTIMONY We then went directly north of Sitka and commenced sealing off that coast, and were warned not to go into the American intlB"rhig'sca.*° ^° P'^^'t ^^ Erring Sea, and then went over to the Eussiau side, near the Copper Island. I "was nnder monthly pay, and did not keep track of the nnmber of seals killed and cap- tured. Most of tl^e seals killed on the coast are pregnant females, while Waste of life those wc killed in the Bering Sea after the 1st of July were females that had given birth to their young on mSg^cowF''''* °'" the seal islands and come ont into the sea to feed. Have canght them loO miles off from the shore of the seal islands, and have skinned them when their breasts ema es eec mg. -^-g^.^ f^jj ^f milk. Scals travcl vciy fast and go a long way to feed. I do rot think we got over one-half that we killed and wonnded. Have seen six ont of seven killed sink and were lost before we conld get to them. This happened last year in a boat I was in. I jj^^^.gjjg^ think the seals are not near as plenty as a few years ago, and they are mnch more shy and harder to catch now than they were when I first went ont sealing. I think this is caused by hunting them so much with guns. James Hay ward. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D 1892. [seal.] Levi W. Myers, United JStates Consul. Depoisition of Victor JackohsoUj scaler (master). PELAGIC SEALING. Victor Jacobsou, being duly sworn, deposes and saj^s: I am 31 Ex erience years of age, by occupation a seal-hunter. I reside xpenence. ^^ Victoria, British Columbia. I am a British sub- ject. Have been engaged in sealing for eleven years, ten j-ears as master. Am now master and owner of schooner Mary Ellen and owner of schooner Minnie. I have sealed fi"om Columbia Mary Ellen a,na Mm- ,, . , ,, , ^, , ...141.- nie. Kiver along the coast, north and west, to the Aleutian Time of entrance of Ishiiids, passagcs, and iu Bering Sea. The female females into Bering scals go tlirough the passcs froui the Pacific Ocean into Bering Sea between ,) une 25tli and July 15th. Females killed previous to this time I found with pups, but none with pups after Killed nursino^ that latter date. I have killed female seals with milk cows 200 miles from 200 milcs froiu tlic Pribilof Islands. I think of the ""^^Pemntage of fe- scals takcii by me that three in five are females, and males taken. nearly all witli pup. Seals are diminishing along the coast, and unless pelagic sealing is stopj)ed in the Pacific Ocean the seal will become exterminated. In order to prevent the entire extermination of the fur-seal, 1 think all i)elagic sealing in Prohibition in Paci- ^^^*^ Pacific Occau Oil the coast of the United States, tic and close season in British Columbia, and Alaska, should be stopped ; also Boring Sea necessary, j,^ Bering Sca uiitil the females have brought forth their young, about the loth of July, after which all vessels should be allowed to enter Bering Sea and take seals without restraint any place TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 329 outside of the leg'al jurisdiction of the United States. I have never known fur seal to haul out upon any part of the coast of the United States, British Cohimbia, or Alaska, isS"^'""^^*""^^" except the Pribilof Islands. All parts of the coast have been visited by the seal-hunters, and if seal hauled out any place it would have been known by the hunters. I have >r^t bom in water never known the fur-seal to give birth to their young in the water. Victor Jackobson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of June, 1892. [SEAL] 0. L. Hooper, Notary Public, Bistrict of Alaslca. Deposition of James Jamieson, scaler {boat-jniUer and mate). pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, ss : James Jamieson, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 23 years old, and am by occupation a seaman ; I reside at Espericuce. Victoria, British Columbia. In March, 1887, 1 joined the ^^^ Ta lor iss? British sealing schooner Alary Taylor, McKiel, master, """^ "'^'"' at Victoria, British Columbia. We went on a cruise for seal ; I was a boat puller. She carried live sealing boats, manned with three white men each. There were three Indians with us part of the season. We used breech-loading shotguns and Winchester riHes. We began to seal when about 20 miles off Cape Flattery. We worked toward the northwest and captured between GO and 100 seals on the coast, about two-thirds of which were females, with pup; the balance were yearlings consisting of male and female; pregnTnt frmaics.'' * after which we ran into Barclay Sound for supplies, from which place we worked to the northward toward the Bering Sea. We captured about 80 seals while en route to the sea; about two-thirds of these were females, with pup, the balance being yearlings about one-half male and one-half female. In the latter part of January we entered the Bering Sea through the Unamak Pass, and commenced sealing there. We t -n ■ <.„ IT ; ,-./wv 1 ■ T J n ,1 1 In Bering sea. captured about 800 seals at a distance from the rook- eries on the Pribilof Islands of from 20 miles to 200 Three-fourths of miles; about three-fourths of the catch in the sea was miikinL"feniaiMf2o'to female seals in milk, the balance consisting of year- 200 miles from 'rook- lings and male seals. We returned to Victoria, British Columbia, some time in August. In January, 1888, I joined the Mountain Chief Jacobson, master, at Victoria, British Columbia. I was nuiteon tliis vessel. She carried ten canoes, each manned by two Indians, ig^?""'"'" ^'"^•''• who used si)ears while hunting the seal. We began sealing along the coast, and captnred about 85 seals, after whicli we sailed into Barclay Sound, when I left the Mountain Chief and joined the German schooner Aclele as a cook. Hanson was ^^^^^ ^ggg captain of the Adelc. We proceeded up the coast and took on sixteen Imlian sealers and eight canoes. We then sealed Theresa, 18S9. 330 TESTIMONY along tlie coast towai^d tlie sea, capturing about 100 seals en route. In the latter part of June, we entered tlie Bering Sea, enng ea. ^^^^ proceeded to take seals in those waters. Captured about 700 in the sea. We arrived back to Victoria on the 22(] of Se])teuiber. in January, 1889, I shipped as a boat-steerer on the British sealing schooner Theresa, Lawrence, master. She carried six boats, including the stern beat. Our crew and hunters were white men, and were equii^ped with Winchester rifles and breech- loading shotguns, with which to capture seals. We began sealing off the Columbia Elver, and then worked up along the coast capturing about 380 seals before entering Victoria, British Columbia, in Ax^iil. In January, 1890, I shipped as a boat-steerer on the sealing schooner MolJie Adams, McKeil master. She carried six boats and Moiiie Adams, 1890. ^ ^^^j^-^^ ^^,^^^^ ^^.j^^^ ^^^^^^ shotguus and riflcs. We sailed as far sontb as Cape Mendocino, when we met the herd and proceeded to take tbem, up along the coast, capturing about 400 seals, and then returned to Victoria, British Columbia, where we fitted out for the west coast and the Bering Sea. About the last of April I again sailed on a cruise for seals on the same vessel, having the same crew. Sealed up along the coast to Northeast harbor, capturing GOO skins, which we transferred to the American steamer Mischief and ship- to^h^SM!'/.''''^*' V^^^ *^ Victoria, British Columbia. We then sailed through the Unamak Pass into the Bering Sea, when In Bering Sea. wc at ouce began taking scals. Captured"^ 1,000 seals in that sea, and after remaining in those waters for about two months we set sail for Victoria, British Columbia, on the 1st day of Septem- ber, and arrived at Victoria on the 21st of the same month. In January, 1891, 1 shipped as a seaman on the British sealing schooner „ , Mascot Lawrence, master, for a cruise for seals on the west coast. Our vessel carried one stern boat manned by white men, and eight canoes, with two Indians to each canoe.. We began sealing oft" Barclay Sound and caught three skins only, all of which were females with pup. We theuran into Clayquot Sound, when I left the Mascot and joined the British schooner Ven- ^ <'"'«'^ 1^91- ture. Smith, master. I shipped as a seaman and hunter on the British schooner Venture. She carried an Indian crew and six canoes. The Indians used spears, and breech-loading shotguns while hunting the seals. After securing our Indian hunters we went to the Bering Sea, and proceeded along the coast. We captured 5G . ^ skins. We entered the sea through the TJnamak Pass eiiug ea. ^^^ ^^^ latter part of June, and commenced to catch seals. We captured GIO skins while in the sea. In the latter part of July we were ordered out of the sea by the TJ. S. S. ing sca.*^' "" ° '^^ Thetis. We returned to Victoria. In February, 1892, Minnie Ty8on,i892. ^ jf>i"f^<^ the British Sealing schooner Minnie, Tyson, master, at Dodge's Cove, in Barclay Sound. I shipped as cook. The Minnie was equii)ped with three sealing boats, all manned with white men. We caught five seals along the coast. We then re- turned to Victoria, B. C, about the 20th of April. In hunting along the coast, I think about 80 per cent inSm-metiuant.*'*'"* ^^ thosc Ave cauglit wcrc fsmalcs, and most of them were carrying their young. We seldom caught any old bulls, but caught a few of the younger males. I have seen the unborn young cut out of the mother seal and live for a week without food. We used to skin some but threw most of them overboard. TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 331 Nearly our whole catch in the Bering Sea, after the catohinBerino-soa first of July, each year were females, and nearly all of mostly miikmo cows. them in milk, and had evidently given birth to their ^fjii'^^p^'lj."^ ^""^'^^^ young but a short time before. The milk would run out on the deck as we skinned them. The Indian hnnters with spears wonld not wound or lose but very few seals that they struck, but the ordinary white hunter will, on an average, lose over half tha'^t he kills and wounds. We try to take the seals „ ™j^ '>""t^^ ^"^-^^ when asleep on the waters, but the hunters are usually paid a certain sum for each seal taken and they try to kill everthing without reference to age, sex, or condi- .^^^^AiscvUnm^te kiu- tion. I do not think that they haul up on the land on the coast and I have never known of anyone taking a ^^.^^^"^"^ ^'^''^ "i' °" young seal on the coast that was born that year, nor do we catch any cow seals on the coast that have' given birth to their young that year. James Jamiesox. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d dav of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Deposition of J. Johnson, sealer {sailing master). PELAGIC SEALING. J. Johnson, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside on Doug- las Island, Alaska. I have spent six years of my life sealing. I have been sailing-master of the schooner Expeneuce. 8an Biego, the Fenelope of Victoria, the Ada under the German flag, the lioscoe of San Francisco. Have pmeiope!'' been either master, mate, or hunter on all these ves- 4/"' sels. Have first struck the seal off the California coast below San Francisco in January, and followed the seal to Bering Sea, which we entered about July IGth. '^^" ^^^' Have always used a shotgun for taking seal. About 40 per cent shot with shotgun are lost. When the rifle is used, a larger per cent is lost. A large majority of the seal taken on the coast are cows with ljup. A few young males are taken, fem,;;!;*"*^ pregnant the ages ranging from 1 to 5 years. Once in a while an old bull is taken in the North Pacific Ocean. I use no discrimina- tion in killing seal, but kill everything that comes near the boat in shape of a seal. Always shoot seal in the .^^Tn'^i««i"'iJiatc idu- back of the head if j)ossible. Sometimes seal are shot in the shoulders and wound them ; then they can not get away. I never have seen a pup born in the water, nor have I ever ^^.^ peia-^ic with. seen one born on shore outside of the Pribilof Islands. Never knew any seal to haul n[) on the land on the coast elsewhere than on the Pribilof Islands. Tlie maiority of seals killed in Bering Sea are females. I liave killed female seals 75 miles ,, . „ , irom the islands that were lull ot ludk. If hunting kuied. 332 TESTIMONY is not stopped on the islands in Bering Sea and tlie TO ec ion. North Pacllic Ocean the seal must become extermi- nated. J. Johnson. Subscribed and sworu to before me this 14th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavendek, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Francis Rohert King- Rall^ journalist. pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, ss: Francis Robert King-Hall, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am j,^ ^^ ,.^^ a subject of Her Britannic Majesty, late of the Eleventh !.xponcnce. Hussars, a sou of Sir William King-Hall, K. C. B., admiral in the British navy. I am 35 years of age, a journalist by profession, residing in New York City. In 1891, as a correspondent of the New York Herald, I was detailed to investigate into the meth- ods of pelagic sealing. 1 proceeded to Victoria, arriving about the 25th of June, and procured passage on board the seal- ""' ^^° ■ ing schooner Otto, 85 tons burden, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Her managing owner was Walter Borns, of Victoria, British Columbia, and her captain was John Riley, a British subject, who liad had several years experience in pelagic sealing, having entered Bering . Sea as long ago as 1883, as mate of the schooner Favor- avonte. ^^^^ ^^^ j-^^^ ^^i ^yg j^f^, Victoria, the crew consisting of the captain, mate, 4 hands before the mast, a cook, and a Patago- uian boy, it being the intention of the captain to pick up Indian hunt- ers on our way out. The Otto had no difficulty in get- theOMo^^*^^^^^^'^"^ ting her clearance papers for hunting in Bering Sea, although the Queen's order in council had been pro- mulgated, and Lieut. Hadley, of H. M. S. Pheasant, informed me, when I met him in Bering Sea, that he had, by orders of Commander Tur- ner, requested Collector Milne, of the port of Victoria, to warn the Otto and not to give her clearance papers for hunting in Bering Sea. We had nuich difflculty in getting Indian hunters, putting in at sev- eral villages along the Vancouver coast. Most of the hunters were absent, having been employed i^revious to our arrival. At the village of Hesquiat I met Father Brabant, a Belgian priest, who had lived for twenty-seven vears among the Indians of the west lagfcSrir' °^ ^"^ ^^'^^^- 'J-'lii'Ough him I obtained the Indian view of the present condition of the Alaskan seal herd. I found that by the use of the spear very few seals were lost, and that the In- „ f ,. dians of Vancouver had at one time a law among tiiem- hibitedby luiiiaus sclvcs prohibiting the useoT guns m taking seals. He amoug themselves. j^jg^^ ^„[,| jj^^ ^^.^^^;^ jj|g ^^^.^^ knowledge that the Uchuck- elset Indians had a few years ago cauglit off the coast 1,600 seals in a season, and that uom^ they coukl catch hardly any; that the white men's guns were not only destroying the seals but driving them further from the coast. At every village (and we st()])ped at over nine on Vancou- ver Island) I interrogatecl tlie Indians to the best of my ability, and Decrease ^^^^ ^^ agreed there were very few seals now compared witii the great numbers which were found formerly, and that this decrease began five or six seasons ago. We finally picked TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 33 o up two Iiidiau hunters and two canoes, besides wliich we liad a sealing boat and two other ordinary boats. On Thursday, July 30th, we left Vancouver Island, making toward Bering Sea by way of the Fair- weather Ground and Portlock Bank, which are the late spring sealing gr( (unds. The first seal sighted was August 4th, longitude 136° 32' west, latitude 52° 40' north. During the days following August 4tli, the canoes were lowered, but their search for seals was fruitless. On August 14th, before entering Bering Sea, a seal was speared by the Indians off Marmont Island, which was bearing NW. ^ W. 35 miles. We entered the sea at 6:30 p. m. on the 22d day of July [August] and at 9 o'clock 5;^^^^.^^ ^^^ j^^j . the following morning we got our first seal in the Ber- 22, i89i. iug. It was shot by one of the white men in a boat. (.^^^^1^ j^ ^^^ ^^^ We were at this time about 25 miles west by north of Northwest Cape on Unimak Pass. On the same day 4 other seals were shot, and 3 not recovered. Two sank, and the other escaped badly wounded. The following day the captain shot 2, losing 1, and the other boat brought 1 seal on board. " On the 25th of August we were 125 miles southeast of St. George Island. The Indian hunters were out all day, and brought in 3 seals, the white hunters getting none. The captain informed me that day that the previous year he had taken in this locality 148 seals in one day, and that one of his hunters got 38 and lost 40, which he shot. The next day the two boats and canoes were out, and the captain brought back 1, but had shot and lost others, 1 of which sank. The other boat reported that they shot 7, but all sank before tliey could get them, the water being so colored with blood that it was imjwssible to see the bodies sufficiently to recover them with the gaff. The two Indians brought back 10 seals, all speared. Out of the number taken on board 4 were full of milk. On the 27th the Indians brought in 2 seals, and the captain 1, which were all they had seen. On the 29th 17 seals were taken; the captain got 3, having lost 4, killed or wounded. The other boat brought in 3, having lost 2, and the cook shot 1 from the schooner's deck. Out of these, 7 were females, which covered the decks with milk Avhile they were being skinned. On August 30th, tlie two boats got 3 seals, and both reported hav- ing hit and lost several others, but they were unable to tell how many. The following dav we spoke the British schooner Osmr ^ , „ ... 7 Tj jj- 1 "1 1 • /I J- /-1 li- 1 11 Oncar and Hattie, and Hattie^ and Jier skix)i)er, Capt. Gait, boarded us isdi. and reDiained to dinner. In a conversation I had with him he states that his season's catch was 1,510 skins, seasons catch. That on the i)roclamatiou forbidding the taking of seals in Bering Sea becoming known, the schooners which had escaped being warned by the U. S. S. Thetis at Alitak Bay at once made for the Prib- ilof Islands, to catch all they could before receiving the official warning. This statement accounts for so many vessels having been warned near the islands which previous to the modus vivandi being declared they had refrained from approaching, because they feared being seized. The same day, after a chase of an hour, we were seized sej^cj by the U. S. S. Mohican. The total catch of seals at the time of seizure was 48, and at least 20 were females, the majority of which were in milk. All the setils were taken from 120 to 180 miles from St. George Island. I am convinced that at the -vvasteoiiife very least Avhite hunters lose 50 per cent of the seals they hit, and jirobably the majority of those wounded will ultimately die. All killing of seals in the water nnist of necessity be indiscriminate 334 TESTIMONY slaughter, as it is impossible to tell tlie sex oi- the exact age of a seal until it has been taken into the boat, wliereas on land careful discrimi- nation can be made. Granting that open-sea seal hunting is to be allowed, the use of the gun should be absolutely prohibited, and a close time Protection. established whicli sliould extend from the beginning of the year until all gestation is finished. Farther to ijrotect the nursing female seals, it will be necessary to prohibit sealing within a zone ex- tending at the very least 100 miles from the rookeries, in order that the females may be unmolested while feeding, and even under sucli re- strictions there is no doubt many pups would die of starvation tlirougli the death of their mothers, which Avould be killed outside the protected zone. This method of ijroteetion I suggested to several owners and captains of the sealing vessels at Victoria, who all approved of tlie plan, naturally, to a certain extent, from selfish reasons. In my own opinion, however, the most perfect method of protecting the Alaska seal is to kill only the young bachelors, and as this discrimination can be made on shore alone, it naturally restricts all killing to the Pribilof Islands. Francis E. King-Hall. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, this 2r)th day of July, 1892. [seal] Sevellon a. Brown. Tlie above statement is made by me on oath without regard to any international question, as I regard both the Canadian and American pelagic sealers equally destructive of the seals. Francis E. King-Hall. July 25th, 1892. Bcjyosition of Andrew Laing, trader and sealer (mate). pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, ss: Andrew Laing, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 42 years of age: residence, Victoria, British Columbia; occupation, Experience. trader. I wcut out as trader on the W. P. Sayicard, ,Z-^-^"'-'l7^ii^^^'' o^' '•y^iic^^ I ^vas part owner, in the vears of 1882, 1883, ihau, except . ^^^^^ ^^^_^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ Favorite,iss8. as umtc ou the -Favor//*?, my boat having been seized the year before by the revenue cutter Rush, but was finally released, .so that I went in'lier again in 1889 and 1890. My vessel carried In- dian liunters in all Iter trips previous to this year (1892) Crews and weap- r^^^f\ tlicy uscd cauoes and spears in hunting seals ex- clusively. Prior to 1880 I nor my vessel had ever been in the Bering Sea hunting, bat had cruised along the coast each year from tlie Columbia Elver to Kodiak Island, and then returned to Vic- toria and had caught seals in greater or less numbers each year: but in 1880 and each year thereafter, excei)ting 1891, I have not only sealed on the coast but have also been iii the Bering Sea liunting seals. My vessel went to the Bering Sea in 1891, bur I did not go with TAKEN AT VK^TOEIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 335 licr. The year I was on the Favorite she carried In- clian hunters also, who used spears. It is now the iM^gsJTisjt practice to hunt ah)ng- the coast early in the season from the Columbia Kiver to the Bering- Sea, and enter those waters the fore part of July. Indian hunters will j^^^^ gel """^"''"^ not stay out over ten days at a time when we are on the coast, so we have to come in and out quite often. This year I have changed my crew to white hunters, who use shotguns and rifles. When in Bering Sea we are usually from 50 to 150 miles from the Pribihjf Islands. I did not pay any ^.^'to' to^foo^iles particular attention to the sex of the seals we caught from the islands. on the coast or in the sea any further than we got a; number of the yearlings and 2-year-olds on the coast, and that I have seen young live pups cut out of theii- dead mothers and they would walk around on deck and bleat for three or four days, and then die of starvation. In the Bering Sea I have noticed that in skinning seals milk would run out of the teats of fe- i^f''Zy^.^''^l\^''l^o males who had given birth recently to their young on m2e3 from islands. the islands. I have caught this class of females from 75 to 100 miles fiom the'Pribilof Islands. I know of no place along the eastern coast where fur-seals haul out on land, and I do not believe there is any outside of the Pribilof Islands. Fur-seals do not give birth to their thfids^ ^^ ""^ young in the water, neither will the pup seal live if ^^^^^^^^ .^ ^^^^^ born in the water. I can not say as to seals appearing off the coast in less numbers each year, but I think ^■y^^'^^^f^^l^ l^^^^ some arrangement should be made for their protection sary. by a closed season during the time they are carrying and nursing their young. Andrew Lainq. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D. 1802. [L. s.] • Levi W. ]Myers, United fStates Consul. Dejjosition of Rohert H. McManus, newspaper correspondent. PELAGIC SEALING. The undersigned, Robert H. McManus, of the city of Victoria, Prov- ince of British Columbia, Dominion of Canada, being t^^..,,.,- .„,, duly sworn, saith: I am about 49 years ot age, and have for some years past followed the calling of news]iaper corre- Vspondent and writer. In 1889, at the time tlie British sealing schooners were seized in the Bering Sea by the United States revenue cutters, I devoted some attention to the sealing industry. Being acquainted with Mr. Walter Borns, througli his being a boarder in my family, and who is largely identified with the sealing industry, I was by him earnestly solicited to accouqiany him on a sealing cruise on board his schooner Otto last season. Some time previously I had a severe attack of rheumatic gout, and was at the time of solicitation by Mr. Borns X)artially convalescent. I was advised that the voyage would tend towards the recovery ol" my liealth and the inducement of an opportunity 336 TESTIMOKY to gain by personal observation all that could be learned of tlie seal bimtiiig question, wliicli I avouUI be enabled to turn to pecuniary ac- count as a newspaper correspondent, determined my acceptance of the proposal, altliougli the i)ecuuiary olfer of Mr. Bonis was merely trivial. I was very weak and feeble, and bad to be assisted on board the ves- sel. Mr. F. King-llall, correspondent of the ISTew York Herald, Avas, Avith my consent, taken on board as a passenger. The Otto cleared from the Victoria cnstom-house on the 23d June, ^^^^ ^ggj 1891, bnt owing to thediftieulty experienced in obtain- "' ■ ■ ing a crew of Indian hunters, did not sail from the harbor till the 2d July, and then Avithout any Indians; and set sail finally for the Avest coast, Vancouver Island, on the 5th July. At the last moment the owner, Mr. Borns, was prcA^ented by some business engagement from accomi)anying the vessel, and before leaving requested me to "keep my eye opeued" about his interests. We set sail for the Bering Sealrom the northwest coast of Vancouver Island on Thnrsday, the oOth July last. AVhen off" the coast of Queen Charlotte Islands, some seals AveieobserA'cd,Avhich the captain informed me Avere fur-seals; the one seen by me belonged to the hair-seal species, as I kiiCAv by the bronze color as it floated past the A'essel. It is said that the fur-seals haA^e some undiscovered breeding gronnds iu the vicinity of the Prince of Wales Islands group; again, that the fur-seals bring forth and rear their young on the large floating beds of kelp found in those Avaters; anotlna^ theory is that the seals migrate in the spring from the coast of California to the Bering Sea in herds, each herd,"like the bees, haAing a recognized leader; should this leader hap]>cnto fall a A'ictim to the hunter, the herd becomes disorganized and disperses over the AA^ters of the North Pacific Ocean. HoAvever, be the theory correct or otherwise, the presence of fur-seals ontside of Bering Sea at that time of year was rather remarkable, i, e., if the seal observed by the crcAV were of the fur-seal species. Twenty-five miles off" Kadiak Island, Gulf of Alaska, when going on deck after breakfast, on the morning of the 14th August, I observed some dark object in front of the schooner, and called the attention of the captain to it, Avho said it was a log or a piece of kelp. I maintained it was a seal, and so it pro\ ed. The Indian hunter went out in his canoe iu pursuit and killed the seal with his spear, in sight of the ves- sel. It was a medium or half-grown seal. On the evening of Satnrday, the 22d Angust, Ave entoh"-. ^''''' ^""""^ entered the Uninmk Pass; Aveather. mist and rain, and on Sunday morning, the 2od, were in the proscribed waters. The hunting outfit of the Otto was rather limited : One seal-hunting boat, which 1 Avill designate the first boat; one pleasnre aiuuve!p Jails' ^°'^*^ boat, heavy and clumsy, tlie second boat; and one In- dian hunter and one cancemauin a canoe. Thefirstboat^ was manned by the skipi)er as hunter, an acknowledged expert of' tAvelve years' exi)erience, armed with a No. 12-bore double-barreled shot- gun by Greener, of Birmingham, and one Winchester repeating rifle, and a crew of two white men as i)ullers and steerers. The second boat was manned by tAvo SAvedish seamen, one as hunter and the other as puller, of no ex]ierience whatcA'crinthe business, armed with a No. 10 bore double-barreled shotgun. The canoe, one Indian hunter, and one canoe- man, armed Avith tlie VanciuiA'er Island Avest coast spear and a single- barrel muzzle-loader shotgun, this latter, I Avas informed, merely to give the quietus to the harpooned seal should occasion require. The TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 337 ammunitioa used: Curtis & Harvey's ISTo. 6 grain, size 14, in kegs; charge, 6 to 7 drams, and from 15 to 21 buckshot. The following is an extract from my note book during the nine days' hunt in Bering Sea, from 23 to 31 August, in the wa- ters about 40 to 50 miles from the entrance to Una- h,3'^'t'*^fj "^ °iS^ ^Sel- laska harbor, and 40 to 50 miles off Akutan Island, extrac"from!°^ ^*' Aleutian chain, or from 150 to 200 miles from thePrib- ilof Islands. Sunday, 23 August, wind light; misty; rain. 7:30 a. m., sighted seals to west. Second boat lowered; killed one seal in sight of vessel. First boat and canoe lowered; out all day, returning to meals. Eesult of day's hunt: Second boat, one seal. Seals sporting round vessel; a great many shots fired by boats. Monday, 24 August, clear weather ; calmer sea. Boats and canoe out aU day from 7 a. m. (returning to dinner). Eesult : First boat, one seal ; reported having lost two. Second boat, none. Indian canoe, one seal. Total, 2 mediums; a great deal of firing heard. Tuesday, 25 August, rain in morning. Boats and canoe out at half past 9 o'clock; out all day (returning to dinner). Result: First boat, two seals reported, wounded and lost five; seals said to be shy and wary, and not so numerous as formerly; attention called to cow seal being skinned (which I had taken for a young bull). The snow white milk running down blood-stained deck was a sickening sight. Indian canoe, one seal. Total, 3 seals; 2 mediums and 1 cow. Wednesday, 26 August, cloudy morning; seals floating round schooner. Boats and canoe out all day. Result: First boat, 1 seal; second boat, none; Indian canoe, 10 seals; total, 11 seals; 8 cows in milk, and 3 medium. Skipper in first boat blamed the powder. Second boat said it was too heavy and clumsy for the work. Skipper reported having wounded and lost 7, and the men in second boat ditto, 16 in all. Skipper said seals not so numerous as formerly, more shy; also blamed the powder. Evidently a great deal of shooting and very few seals to correspond. Thursday, 27 August, seals to all appearances very scarce, species being exterminated, so to judge from the skipper's remarks. Weather fine and clear. Boats and canoe out; returned at noon, consequence of rough sea. Result: First boat, 1; second boat, none; Indian canoe, 2 seals; total, 3 seals. Again in favor of Indian spear. Powder blamed again. Tired of such excuses. So tar have not found one word of truth in anything I've heard previously about open sea seal-hunting. Friday, 28 August, rain and heavy sea in morning; cleared in after- noon; boats and canoe out in afternoon; returned at 6 p. m. No skins, although a great deal of shooting going on. First boat reported hav- ing wounded and lost three seals; blamed powder. Poor jjowder. It takes, judging from the number of shots fired, about a hundred to se- cure one seal. Saturday, 29 August, ship's cook brought down from deck a large cow seal at 40 yards rise. Boats and canoe out all day; fine, clear, balmy weather; Aukatan Island in sight. Result: First boat, three seals; second boat, three seals; cook, from deck, one; Indian canoe, ten; total catch, seventeen seals, greater proportion cows in milk; horrid sight, could not stay the ordeal out till all were flayed. A large num- ber reported as wounded and lost. According to appearances, slaughter indiscriminate. Sunday, 30 August, fine clear morning; hazy towards Akutan. At 6 o'clock a cry " Here's the cruiser" to the eastward. Boats and canoe 2716— VOL II 22 338 TESTIMONY off at 7 o'clock ; at 8 o'clock T could see deck of the steamer bearing down on us about 8 miles off. Boats recalled. The Indians returned about 9 o'clock, greatly excited; went out again when the steamer sheered off towards Unalaska harbor. Eesult of hunt: First boat, two seals; sec- boat, one; Indian canoe, seven; total, ten seals, seven of which were cows in milk. Several, as usual, reported wounded and lost by the boats. The great superiority of the Indian spear evident. Monday, 31 August, cai^tured by the U. S. S. Mohican 3:30 p. m.; no hunting. The total catch on being analyzed shows a favorable comj)arison be- tween the experienced and inexperienced hunters; when the class of boats and arms are taken into consideration, and the extraordinary num- w te f lif ^^^^ reported as wounded and lost, dispels any faith in the oft reported assertion that only one in ten es- cape from "the unerring rifle in the hands of the experienced hunter." The number, two-thirds of the catch, captured by the Indians, gives the verdict entirely in favor of the primitive weapon difn^sp'ear?*'^ "^ ^° of the aborigiucs as against the modern breechloader. The spear used by the Vancouver Island Indians for Description of spear, seal hunting is 10 fcct loug in the shaft, tapering off toward the ends, and thus well balanced. At the point the shaft forks off into two prongs, on which the spear-head or har- poons tit easily, being attached to the shaft by a cod line, which runs up to the butt, where it is caught in a bight and held round the thumb of the right hand. On being projected the shaft separates from the harpoons and floats on the water unheeded till the seal is secured. But few are missed. Any that escape wounded only suffer from a flesh wound of 2i inches in depth. Once the harpoon j)ierces the skin bi'yond the barbs the only possibility of escape Lies in the chance of the line breaking. This system of capture is both economical from a business standpoint, as well as that of being almost, if not entirely, less destruc- tive to seal life, as compared with modern arms of pre- centTff^cftch miMin^ cisiou. It may safely be asserted that over three-fourths cows. " of the catch of forty-eight were cows in milk. This, Females feedin ^^ ^ distaucc of 200 milcs from the rookeries, shows ^™ ^ ' ' that the nursing cows ramble all over the Bering Sea in search of their chief fond, the codfish, which are to be found on the banks along the coast of the Aleutian Islands. During the migratory journey nortli in the spring the cows with young become the easiest victims to the hunter, owing to being more fatigued, and consequently sleep more than other class of seals. From all information I could glean from the skipper, Avhen I pointed out the circumstance of cows in milk being killed so far from the islands, leads me to understand that had the cruise of tlie Otto been a month or six weeks earlier, the proi)ortion of nursing cows in a catch would be still greater than that herein exhibited. Egbert H. McManus. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of March, 1892. Joseph Murray, Treasury Agent. TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 339 Deposition of Thorwal Mathasan, sealer (boat-puller). pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Columhia, ss: Thorwal Mathasan, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My name is Thorwal Mathasan; my age is 39 years; occupation, seaman ; I reside at Victoria, British Columbia. I went Experience, sealing in 1891 in the Oscar and Hattie, Cault, master, as aboat-puller,fromVictoria, British Columbia; sealed ,g^/;«'- '»«'' ^»"'«. up to the last of January; we had six boats and one stern boat, with three men to each boat and two men with the stern boat; we used shotguns and rifles, and sealed along the west coast to the Bering Sea. We caught over 1,000 seals off the ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ coast, most all females, and a great number of them had mostly females, a young pups In them. We generally tried to kill them g^at part being preg- while asleep in the water, but fired at everything that come around us. A good many would sink when we shot them and would go down like a stone and were lost, and nearly all the wounded ones would get away. Those that we would kill we would try to get up to them before they would sink and get them with the gaff hook, but we could not get many that way. We ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ carried two gaff" hooks to each boat. It takes anywhere from one to twenty shots on the average to secure a seal, and, I think, we got about thi-ee out of five that we killed, but we may not have got as many, for pcror hunters wouldn't get more than one out of five. Entered Bering Sea in July and was chased out by the cutters. Did not catch any seals in the American waters in the Bering -^^^i^^ ^^^ : ti^g ^f Sea, but went over across on the Eussian side and enterinf. sealed there. The whole catcli for that year was about ^^^.j^^^ ^^^^ 1,500 seals. Those tliat we killed on the Russian side was about in the same iiroportion as to females as those killed on this side. I know of no place on the coast where the seals g^^j^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ haul upon the land. I think the seals are not so plen- upon coast. tifiil on the coast as last year. Decrease. I went sealing again on the 28th of January, 1892, in the same ves- sel. Captain Gault. Went down to the Yaquina Bay. On the 17th of February one of our small boats cap- jgg^''"*'' "'"^ s:auie, sized and we lost the captain, three hunters, and one sailor. We went into the Yaquina and got a new captain and went down to Clayquot and completed our crew and went out sealing again, off" the coast, and returned to Clayquot the forepart of April; then I left the vessel. Our whole catch was 33 seals during ^^^^^ the voyage the three months we were out. Seals did not seem to be near as plentiful as last year. Decrease. Th. Mathasan. Subscribed and sworn to before mo on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. 340 TESTIMONY Deposition of John Morris, sealer (mate and master). PELAGrIC SEALING. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, ss: John Morris, being duly sworn, deposes and says : My age is 34 years, my occupation seaman, and my residence is Experience. Victoria, British Columbia. I have had six years' ex- perience in sealing, both in the North Pacific and the Bering Sea. In February, 1882, 1 went sealing from Victoria, British J ,aoo Columbia, in the schooner Omvard, McCoy, master. I Omoard, 1882. , . , ' , ^^^ i /i • j. n ■, shipped as mate, u e had sixteen canoes, all manned by Indians — two Indians to each boat. The Indians used spears while hunting seals. We began sealing ofi' Cape Flattery; sailed and sealed to the northward, and captured about 800 seals along naSSi'"^"^^^^" the coast. There were not over ten males in the whole lot. The females had pui>s in them and we cut them out of their mothers and threw them overboard into the ocean. They secured about all of the seals they speared. We returned to Victoria, British Columbia, about the last of June. About the last of April, 1883, I sailed from Victoria on a sealing Onward 1883 voyagc in the Onicard, Morris, master. We had eight- een canoes, all manned by Indians, two to each canoe. They used si)ears as weapons and captured about 400 seals while I was ^ . , on her. They were all females with pup excepting Pregnant females ,, ti-i ij. iiii i taken. the yearliiigs, which were about one-hali male and one- Aifred Adams. ^'^^^ female. I left the Onward at Clayquot Sound andjoined the J.//mZ Adams and returned to Victoria, British Columbia, on account of sickness of the owner and master. About the 1st of January I sailed as master of the Alfred Adams Alfred Adarmissi ^^ ^ scaUug vovagc ; we had about eighteen canoes, with two Indians to each canoe; they hunted with spears and captured about 750 skins along the coast. taken^''''* females ^jj ^^^ ^^.^j^ captured wcrc pregiiaut females except the yearlings. We returned to Victoria about the last of June, 1884. In February, 1885, 1 sailed from Victoria, British Columbia, on the „ , ,00- schooner Seventii-six, Potts, master. We had three Seventy-six, lS8o. , , i ,, ^ ', i u -<- i i a,-j- boats and tliree men to each boat; had a white crew. We began sealing off Cape Flattery and caught abcmt 20 seals, all of All taken re<^nant "^^i^^ wcrc pregnant fcuiales. We usedrifles and shot- females'! ^° P''®s°^'i guns in hunting the seals. We returned to Seattle in the month of June. Prior to this I had never been in BS^Sel^blforeiss* ^hc Bering Sea, and with but fcAv exceptions sealing vessels did not visit those waters. In the month of February, 1887, I sailed from Victoria, British Co- lumbia, in the schooner Blael; Diamond, I, Morris, mas- ^^Btaci Diamond, ^^^.^ ^y^ j^^^^^ tweiity-four cauocs, each manned by two Indians. The Indians used spears in hunting the seals. They lost very few of the seals they speared. We captured on this trip about 900 seals, but did not enter the Bering Sea. We returned to Victoria, British Columbia, in June. The seals are more shy now than formerly, because they have been hunted so unmercifully with guns. Seals are scarcer now than in former years. With the present increasing fleet of sealing vessels the Protection neces- seal herd will sooii become exterminated unless some ^^^' restrictions are placed upon pelagic sealing. TAKEN AT VICTOEIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 341 Pelagic sealing in the l^orth Pacific Ocean should not be permitted for at least six weeks after the females have given birth ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ to their young. gested. John Morris. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Deposition of Morris BFoss, furrier, and vice-president Sealers^ Association of Victoria. pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, ss: Morris Moss, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I have resided in British Columbia thirty years. Since 1S80 have made ^^ erience my home in Victoria, British Columbia. My occupa- ^penence. tion is that of purchasing raw furs. Of late years raw fur-sealskins have been the principal furs handled by me. .1 have bought from 10,000 to 20,000 per year, and am vice-president of the se.^,ij in,iustrvbe. Sealers' Association of Victoria, British Columbia, gimiini.; aud deveiop- The sealing industry, as regards British Columbia, '"'■"*^o*- started in about 1872; at that time Indians only were employed to do the killing, which was done by spearing. The fleet was small, not numbering over half a dozen vessels, and the trade was inthe hands of three or four men. In 1883 the American schooner Han Diego, of San Francisco, entered the Bering Sea, '^"'^ ^''^"' ^^^^■ aud after taking about 2,200 sealskins brought them to Victoria and sold them. This gaTe impetus to the trade and the following year Vic- toria schooners entered the sea. iSTew vessels were subsequently added to the fleet and other firms embarked in the business. ^ ; , • bs In 1886 three Victoria vessels were seized, since which ' '^'^'^'^'^^ '° ^ ^• time there has been trouble over the Bering Sea sealing industry. Since that time the fleet has been gradually increasing until now. Pre- vious to this time (1880) but few white hunters were employed and the Indian hunters used spears only. By so doing they secured all the seals struck, and did not scare the by^gu^gunr^^''"^'*''^ balance; of late years, however, all the Indians carry and use sliotguns in addition to their spears. About flfty-six schooners have cleared from Victoria this spring. Thirty of them carry white hunters and the balance Indians. There are two great herds, or armies, of fur-seals that frequent the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. They are quite jj_^,,jt3 distinct from each other and do not intermingle. The ,j/\y. one army appears off the coast of California in the hit- ^^^"^ '°°' ter part of December and gradually work their way northward and are joined by others coming, apparently, from mid ocean. They appear to travel in two columns, the outer column containing an army only of bulls, and the inner one mostly cows and yearlings. These colunms are not continuous schools of seals, but rather small i)arties scattered along. The column traveling along the British Columbia coast head for the Pribilof Islands j their natural breeding ground. The other 342 TESTIMONY ariuy j)roceeds alon' -f ness lose fewer. It is generally conceded that the Indian hunters in the use of the spear seldom lose one they kill or wound. I have no Bary"**^''^'°° ^^^^^' doubt iu uiv owu miud that unless some restrictive measures are taken, the seals will either be eventually exterminated or become so scarce it will not pay to hunt them. The fleet has increased greatly in the last few years, and will continue to do so as long as there is money in the business. It is very important that if the fur-seal is to be preserved it must be protected from indiscriminate slaughter in the oi)en sea, or it will soon be exhausted. I would suggest that either schooners a ciofe leason.^""^' ""^ sliould not be allowed to approach within a radius of 50 miles of the breeding grounds, or else they should not be allowed to enter the sea until the female has had proper time to give birth to her young, and to give it nurse until such time as the young seal is able to exist without it, say the 1st day of August. This is the general opinion of prominent owners of schooners who have given an unprejudiced opinion ujion that subject. Morris Moss. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Deposition of Will ParJcer, sealer {hunter). pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Golumhia, ss. Will Parker, being duly sworn, deposes and says : My age is 40 years, residence and citizen of Victoria, British Columbia; icxperionce. occupation, huutcr. I went sealing iu 1890 in the Wal- TAKEN AT VICTOKIA, BEITISH COLUMBIA. 343 ter Rich, Capt. Cooper, master. Left Victoria in Jan- ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^gy^ uary.and went oft" the coast of Lower California and commenced sealing, working our way up the coast, following the herd towards Bering Sea. I left the vessel at Victoria in Change of fla- April, because she changed her flag from American to British. She carried six boats and a stern boat. The hunters were all half-breeds except myself. We had caught but very few seals, and when I left her we had only about fifty skins. We got ^^^^ ^^^^ a little too far down the California coasL and got out of the run of seals, and for twenty-one days saw none whatever. In 1889 I sailed as hunter in the British steamer Ariel, Buckner, master. Left Victoria the latter part of January and ^^^^ ^ggg commenced sealing about 30 miles oft' the Columbia ' ' . Eiver and sealed along the coast towards Bering Sea, enSf. *'""* arriving there about the middle of July. We were all (,^,^^^4^ ^,^^^^1, white hunters and used shotguns and rifles and caught about 500 before entering Bering Sea. In the Bering Sea we hunted around the fishing banks and so far oft' the seal islands that we seldom saw land. We caught a great many seals on what is called Southwest Bank about 100 miles from Unalaska, and I think it is more than 100 miles fi-om the Pribilof Islands. We g^Cat^ch ^n^^Benng caught about 1,100 in the Bering Sea, and our whole islands. catch for that season was about 1,700. In 1888 I sailed as hunter and interpreter in the British schooner Alfred Adams, V\'OTt\\,miiiiter. She had Indian hun-^ .„ ^ .. •^ , • s , ' /. r» 1 mi 3 Alfred Adams, 1888. ers and carried ten canoes of 2 men each. They used spears and shotguns. I joined down the coast, at San Juan, in May. Hunted off Cape" Flattery for about a month, and when it was stormy we would run to harbor, for Indians do not like to stay out when it blows. We caught about 300 seals off the i^Sjttgfe^"'* coast, and landed them at Victoria in June, and then started direct for Bering Sea; ran into a school of seals at Portlock Bank, off' coast of Alaska, and caught between 300 and • « • , 400. We went through Unamak Pass the 4th of July eutlrinf. ' *™' and sealed in those waters until about the 14th of Au- gust, at which time we left the sea and came to Victoria. Caught only about 700 seals while in the sea, for it was a stormy, Most ofcatchiu the bad season. We caught most of the seals that were seafromsotoeomiies taken by our vessel in Bering Sea from 30 to 60 miles fr«"itiieisiaud8. off to the southwest of St. Paul Island. In 1887 I sailed from Victoria as hunter and interpreter in the British schooner Ada, Gordon, master. She carried seven ca- ^^^^ noes and one boat, and Indian hunters, who used spears. She left Victoria the latter part of April and made one trip out for three days, when a storm drove us back into harbor, f, <. ♦ h We caught 395 seals in the two days and a half that we were out; caught them about 35 miles west of Cape Flattery. Fit- ted out and left the coast for Bering Sea the 20th of June and went direct to Unamak Pass. The weather av as bad and we did not stop to seal, and only saw a very few seals. We entered Ber- ijcringSoa; time of ing Sea the ICth of July and sealed off' Akatan Pass enteriiig; vessel and until we were seized by a revenue cutter on the 25th •^'"^s" seized. of August with 1,897 skins on board, and all caught in Bering Sea. In 1886 and 1885 I did not go hunting. In 1884 and 1883 I sailed as cook on the British schooner Thornton, Nelse, master. Thornton, 1883 and She carried Indian hunters and did not go into Bering ^^^- 344 TESTIMONY Sea, but sealed off the coast. The Indians used spears and sometimes would have an old musket. There was hardly ever a sealing scliooner that went to Bering Sea during these years or prior to Be^LVsTaSoremf 1^85, aud there were only four or five that sailed from here in the sealing business, and these carried Indian crews, who hunted with spears and seldom went far from the coast. In 1882 and 1881 I sailed as cook in the British schooner Onward, Onward 1881 and ^IcCoy,master. She Carried Indian huntcrs and scalcd 1882. ' along the coast. Did not go into Bering Sea. Seals ^ ^^ , , were almost exclusively taken on the coast during these In those «aya seals iittij. it tt taken almost exciu- ycars and by Indian hunters, armed by spears. I do withes ear *^°'^* ^"*^ ^^^ kuow of any sealing schooner that went to the Bering Sea until Captain McLean went there about nine Favorite. years ago in the Favorite. Indians were the principal hunters until about six years ago, and they scarcely ever used anything but spears and would save most all the seals they killed, but since it has become the practice to hunt seals witli guns a good many are killed, -err ^,.^ wounded, and lost. Green hunters bang away and TV^aste of life o «/ wound more than they kill and will shoot six or seven before they get one, and sometimes more. Good hunters will do much better. I used to get most of the seals I killed, but I have killed five Seals ainkino- dead ill succcssiou and lost the whole of them. A female seal will sink much quicker after she has given birth to her young than before. We are more sure of getting a sleep- ing seal than one that is breeching. My observation on this coast is, that the young seals are nearest to land and the cow seals have a course some farther out. The bulls are still farther out and much more scattered and shy. The seals lay around off the coast of California and north of there igration. mitil caiiy in February, when they commence to work slowly along up the coast and enter Bering Sea in June and July. Their habits in this respect are well known to the hunters. The catch along the coast for the last six or seven years, since paUy^'fen^aiel! ^"°"' the rifle aiid shotgun have come into use, is principally females and the grown ones have pups in them. The catch of young seals is much less in proportion to the number caught than they were when Indians used to take them by sx)earing. I have cut the young seal out of its dead mother and kept it alive for several weeks by feeding it on milk, but it would eventually die. I have known them to live days without eating anything. I have put pups cut out of dead seals to the breast of dead female seals when milk was running out of their teats, but they would not touch it. The seals taken in Bering Sea are nearly all grown. We get but very few young seals. I think we catch in Bering Sea in^s'ei.*'^'''^" ^" ^'^^ more males in proportion to females than we do on tha coast. We catch a good many females in Bering Sea that have given birth to their young on the islands and were in milk. ,.• . . , I have caught plenty of cow seals in milk a hundred Nursing C0W3 taken n n-iTii ii j. 100 miles or more from milcs or morc irom the islands, but seldom get any ^^'*°*'^* that have a pup in them in those waters. Seals were Decrease. much less in numbers off the coast in 1890 than they were about 1885. They have either been destroyed or driven off. We had no trouble in making a season on the coast, weather permitting, of from 700 to 1,300, and now 500 is a good catch. TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 345 Since tlie use of rifles and shotguns Lave become common seals are mucli less in numbers and are more sliy and timid. They ought to be prohibited from killing seals in the saf™*^''*'"" ''^*'®'" water for a few years at least, or there will not be enough left to make them worth hunting. William Parker. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.J • Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. Experience. Deposition of Charles Peterson, sealer {hoat-puller). pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, ss : Charles Peterson, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 36 years old and am by occupation a seafaring man; my resi- dence is Victoria, British Columbia. In April, 1880, I went seal hunting from Victoria in the schooner Mouii- j • yyi • J? T iz J. r\ 1 • 1 MoHntmn Chief, lam Chief, Jacobson, master. Our schooner carried isse. ten canoes, each manned by two Indians, who hunted with spears. We began sealing oft" Cape Flattery and sealing off coast. captured about 300 seals along the coast, most all of Females taken. which were females and yearlings. We did not cap- ture over 50 males, all told, on this voj age, and returned to Victoria in July. In the spring of 1887 I went on a sealing voyage from Victoria, as a boat-puller, in the schooner Alfred Adams, Dyre, mas- .,, , ., ,„™ , ^o,, ' . , , . •/ ,, T T Alferd Adams, 1S87. ter. She carried one stern boat and two Indian canoes. We had a white crew, but the canoes were manned by two Indians each. We began sealing ofl" Cape Flattery and sealed ^^^^^ off coast right up towards the Bering Sea, capturing 16 seals *®*"^so along the coast, all of wliicli were females with pup. Females taken. We entered the Bering Sea about the 15th of August Entered Bering sea. through the Unimak Pass and captured therein 1,404 .„ ,. . ^ ^ n ^ • ^ ■ ■^^ /-\ ,^ J. ' Pregnant females. seals, most oi which were cows in milk. On that voyage we caught female seals in milk over 80 miles from the rookeries, where they had left their young. Our best hunters would ^asteofiife secure half of the seals shot, but t\ie poorest ones would not get more than one out of twenty, the average being one secured out of five killed. I have seen the deck almost flooded with milk while we were skin- ning the seals. It is impossible to distingnisli the male seal from the female when they are in the water at a ^.i^'in water.'"^""''''*" reasonable gunshot distance. About 90 per (^ent of all the seals we captured in the water were female seals, j^^'^r*^ ^^^^ '^'^°* ^^ After remaining in the sea about fifteen days our ves- sel was seized and we returned to Victoria. vessel seized. In April, 1890, I went sealing in the Minnie, Jacob- j. oi • 1 i- .L 1 .Li Minnie, 1890. son, master. She carried lourtecn canoes, manned with Indians, two Indians with each canoe, who used spears. We caught 346 TESTIMONY Females taken ^^^ seals aloiig tlic coixst, all of wliicli were females exceptinjj^ 20. We returned to Victoria in June. Minnie 1891 ^^^ January, 1891, I left Victoria on a sealing voyage in the schooner ]\ii)inie, Dillon, master. We carried two boats manned by white men and ten canoes, each manned by two Indians, who used shotguns. We captured 250 female takenf^"* females g^,.^|j^ ^^^lj ^^^^^ ^^j, ^j^^ coast and then returned to Vic- toria, after which we sailed again in a short time on the same vessel with the same crew for the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, capturing about 250 female seals while en route to the Bering Sea also a few male yearlings. We entered the sea ring enng ea. _^^^^ secured about 10 scals, all of which were females in milk. After remaining there ten days we started back to Victoria. The practice of taking seals in the water before tliey have given _ birth to their young is destructive to seal life, waste- sary" ^'^ ^'^^ nt^tes- f^^j^ ^^j gij^^^lj be prohil)ited. Seals do not haul out upon the land along the coast and give birth to their 00^*1 °°* ^'^"^ "^ ''^ y'>^i'iSj nor do they breed on the kelp. If ever there was such an occurrence it must have been a premature birth caused by some accident to the female seal and would result in the death of her young. Previous to 1885 only two or three sealing vessels had ever gone to the Bering Sea to hunt seals and the sealing from Vic- f ■'^eri'^''*"''' *^*''°* toria prior to 188G was confined to the coast, and the "'^™^'^^' crews were Indians Avho hunted Avith spears. Seals were caught by them with spears and but few were lost; but since the shotgun has come into use a great many are destroyed and lost. O. Peterson. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23rd day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Levi W. Myers, United States Consul. DejJosition of Edwin P. Porter, sealer (boat-steerer). pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, B. C, ss : Edwin P. Porter, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is 25 years; residence, Victoria, British Columbia; occupa- xpenence. tion, scaman an(l seal-hunter. I went out sealing as Peneiope,i8S7. boat-stccrcr Oil the British schooner Penelope, Captain Steel, master; I think it was in the year 1888 when I went in her. s aiin off coast ^^'*^' ^^'^'^ ^^ ^' boats and white hunters. They used ea ing o coas . gimtguus aiid lifics, sliotguus chicfly. We left Victoria about the last of January and cruised along tlie California and Oregon EnteredBerin Sea ^^^^* ^"^^ caught about 1,000 scals bcforc wc entered enng ea. -ggj,j|j„. g^,.^^ ^y^ entered the sea about the first week in July and caught about 1,100 more. We left the sea about the latter I>art of September. We caught some off the Copper Island, but most of them were taken from 30 to 100 miles south and southwest of the Pribilof Islands. TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 34? In 1889 I went as boat-steerer on the British schooner ^^^ ^^^^ Ariel, Capt. Euckiiam, master. She had six boats and four canoes. Carried both white and Indian hunters. White hunters used shotguns and rifles. Indians used spears chiefly. We left Victo- ria in February and sealed over about the same course as the year before and entered the Bering Sea in July. We took Entered Berin-sea about 500 skins before entering the sea and caught " ^^ ^"°° ®*" about 1,600 more around the southwest banks, from 30 to 75 miles from St. Paul Island. We were ordered out of the sea about q^^^^.^^ ^^^ the 1st of September by the revenue-cutter Eush. In 1890 I did not go sealing. In 1891 1 sailed as boat-steerer in the British schooner jj^y^na i89i ?7mfor»ia, Captain Cam i)bell, master. She carried seven _ m nno, boats and had white hunters, who used shotguns and rifles. Left Vic- toria in March and sealed along the coast. I left her g^aun^ off coast. before she went into the sea. Her whole season's catch was about 900, but do not know what portion of them she caught before entering Bering Sea. This year I went as boat-steerer in the British steamer Thistle. She had six sealing boats and ^^^^^^ ^^^^ two wlialing boats, and carried white hunters, with shot- guns and rifles. She left Victoria in February and sealed off the Cali- lornia coast. I left her in March. She had only 79 ^ ,. , . . " Sealmj; on coast. skins. My experience in four years sealing is that nearly all the seals taken along the coast are pregnant females, femXsf ^" ^'^^^°*°* and it is seldom that one of them is caught that has not a young pup in her. In the forepart of the season the pup is small, but in May and June, when they are taken off the Queen Charlotte and Kodiac Islands the unborn pup is quite large, and we frequently take them out of the mothers alive. I have kept some of them alive for six weeks that were cut out of their mothers, by feeding them con- densed milk. The seals we captured in Bering Sea were fully 80 per cent females that had given birth to femSs.^ ^^"^ "^""^ their young. A fact that I often noticed was that their teats would be full of milk when I skinned them, and I have seen them killed from 20 to 100 miles from the seal islands. We try to kill the seal while sleeping on the water, but also fr^'l^nd"" "" ' ^ " ^ shoot at them when they are breaching. An ordinary hunter will lose about four out of every six he kills. Some do not do near as well, while others do better, ^vasteofiiie The percentage of loss to those killed is less on the coast than it is in the Bering Sea, for the seals are more fat and do not sink as quick, but a great many are wounded and lost. The Indians, when they use the spears, lose but very few. They get up close to the sleeper and scarcely ever miss getting it. I know of ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ no place on the coast where seals come up to land, and coast. I am positive there is none. Seals are not near as l)lentiful as when I went out in 1888, and I believe the Decrease, decrease is due to their being hunted so much with shotguns and rifles. Edwin P. Porter. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.l Levi W. Myers, ^ •• United States Consul. 348 TESTIMONY Deposition of William Short, sealer (boat-puller). pelagic sealing. Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, ss : William Short, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 26 years old and reside at Victoria, British Columbia and am by Experience. occupation a painter. On January 14, 1890, 1 sailed as MaggieMac 1890. ^ boat-puller from Victoria, British Columbia, on the British sealing schooner Maggie Mac, Dodd, master. She carried six sealing- boats that were manned by three white men each, who used breechloading shotguns and rifles. We began sealing off Cape Mendocino and sealed south as far as Farallone Islands, Sealing ofif coa.st. ^^j^^^^ uorthtoward the Bering Sea. We captured 1,120 seals on the coast before entering the sea. On the 12th of July we entered the sea through Unimak Pass. Lowered the EnteredBenng Sea. ^_^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ _^^^^ Capturcd about 2,093 SCals lu those waters, and then returned to Victoria on the 19th of September. In July, 1891, I sailed out of the port of Victoria, British Columbia, as a hunter on the British sealing schooner Otto^ O'Reily, «o, 1891. niaster. She carried one stern boat, manned with three white men. We proceeded up the coast for the purpose of procuring our 1 ndian crew of sealers. Failing in this we returned to Victoria on the 1st of August. While cruising along the coast our m^e'L^taler^"'^"* ^'^ principal catch was female seals with pup, the balance being principally yearlings, abouthalf male and female. In some instances we ran upon schools of seal and shot live or six, all of which would be lost; in other instances we would secure about one-half of those wounded. One half of all seals shot on the coast are lost. I do not know of any place on the coast where the seals haul out upon the land to breed; nor do I know of any instances where co?s't."°* ^'^""^ "^ ''° tlie seiils give birth to their young on the kelp. Fully Mcstiy pregnant 90 per ccut of all scals sccurcd by us in the Bering Sea fenia es ta -en. wcre COWS, iu uiillv. We scldom captured a bull, one of which we shot over twelve times, and afterwards it escaped. There are not so many seals lost in tlie Bering Sea as there are on the coast. We. caught seals all the way from 50 to 250 miles from the rookeries, on the Pribilof Islands. We caught female seals, in milk, near the 72 Pass, in the Bering Sea. The 72 Pass is about 230 miles from Decrease. ^^^^ Pribilof Islauds. I noticed a decrease in the num- ber of seals off Cape Flattery when there in 1891, as compared with tlie other season. In my opinion, it is a shame to kill the female seal before she has given birth to her young. Pelagic seal- stnunive ^''^^'"^ ''"" ^°S i'-i the North Pacific Ocean before the middle of June is very destructive and wasteful and should be iii(ii3cri.ninatekiii- stopped; scal huutcrs shoot all seals that they can, because they are paid so much a skin, whether large bi > hi 4"ater*'"^^^^' o^ Small, male or female. It is impossible to distin- a e in wa er. guish the scx of the scal in the water, except the old Protection unncces- qucs. I think pelagic scaliug iu the sca should be pro- *'^'^' hibited until such a time as the pup may have grown to the age at which it; may be able to live without nurse from its mother. W. Short. TAKEN AT VICTOEIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 349 Subscribed and sworu to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United iStates Consul. Deposition of Fred Smith, sealer. PELAaiC SEALING. Fred Smith, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Was born at and reside in Victoria. Have been a seal-hunter for the ^^ erience last three years on the Winifred, Sea Lion, and Mascot, ^penence. British schooners, and the American schooner Challenge. ^J;^Jf{^chaUenff'^^^' Have hunted seal in Bering Sea and the Pacitic Ocean. "*"" ' '" *"''^' Have seen and taken seal off Cape Flattery in March. They are con- stantly advancing up the coast. I followed them into Mi.Tation Bering Sea where they arrive about July 1st. Always '^"^ '*'°" use a shotgun exclusively for takiug seal. I think about one-third of the seal shot with shotgun are lost. A very large majority of the seal taken in the North Pacific Ocean are cows with pup, and the majority of seals taken in Beriug Sea are pS'auUelu.aie". "™ cows with milk. But a very few yearlings are taken, and once in a while an old bull is taken. The male seal taken are between two and four years old. Hunters use no discrimination, but shoot everything that comes near the boat. Whea Jji'^i«<^"D"i^'ite kin- a seal has his nose out of water and you shoot him, he will sink at once, and if you shoot a seal and he turns his nose out of the water, he will sink immediately and is hard to secure under those conditicms. Have never known any pups to be born in ^^ peia-k birtii. the water nor on the coast elsewhere than on the Prib- ilof Islands. Have never known any fur seal to haul ^o iiot V'TIt'F *T ,.,-,-, t ,, ; i,j_i cent ournbiloi Islands up on the land anywhere on the coast except on the Pribilof Islands. I have taken female seals 80 miles off* the Pribilof Islands that were full of milk. If seal are not pro- tected in the North Pacific Ocean and given a chance to raise their young, they uuist soon be exterminated, for most of the seal killed in the Pacific Ocean are cows with pup. F. Sunxn. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3d day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Joshua Sticlcland, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Joshua Stickland, being duly sworn, dei^oses and says: I reside in Victoria, British Columbia ; I am by occupation a seal- hunter; have been in the business two years on the Experience. British schooner, ?7w6rl//rf. First struck tlu^ seal off the Columbia Kiver about February 1, FoUow the seal up the coast 350 TESTIMONY into Bering Sea, which they enter early in Jnly. I use the shotgun ex- ^. ^^.^^ clusively for taking seal. About 25 per cent of seals igra ion. ^^^^ ^^^ j^^^^ Most of the seals taken are females with ^Most^v pregnant fe- p^p. Qut of 111 scals last year I killed but 3 bulls. ^'^^^ * ^"' A very few yearlings have been taken by me. A few male seal have been taken by me from 2 to 4 years old. Hunters use no discrimination, but shoot everything in shape of a seal that comes near the boat. Have never known or heard of pups No pelagic birth. being bom in the water or on the land anywhere out- no not iiani np ex- side of the Pribilof Islands. Have never known of fur cept on Pribiloi Is- tit j.i i i j.i j. i lands. seal hauling up on the land on the coast anywhere ex- ,. . . , cept on the seal islands. Have killed cow seals that Nursing f em ales -t ^ n ,. .„ .y^, -in ,-, -r~^ ., ., „t . '" killed. were full of milk over 40 miles from the Pribilof Islands. Protection Froiu May 1 to September 15 I think seal ought to be protected in Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, If not they will soon be exterminated. Joshua Sticexand. Subscribed and sworn to before mc this 1st day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of John A. Sicain, sealer {hoat-puller). pelagic sealing. Dominion of Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, ss: John A. Swain, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside at Vic- Ex erience toria, British Columbia. I am a seaman by occupation xpenence. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^j ygrjrs old. I wcut Sealing in May, 1891, as Thistle, 1891. boat-puller in the steamer Thistle, Nicherson, master. She carried seven boats and one stern boat, all white crew, and three aiin off coast ™^^ ^^ ^'"^^^^ boat. We bcgau sealing off the Columbia eamgo coas . jj,iyei.^ r^iid thcii scalcd uoithward up the coast to Bering Sea, and captured about 320 seals in the Xorth Pacific Ocean, . „ , most all females, and nearly all had young pups in jeregnant females ,, . ," -, -^ t ,■-,,- '^ ■, taken. them. A great many seals are lost in hunting them by sinking befoie the boats can get to them, and a wasteofiife. great many are badly wounded and escape. Our hunters used shotguns and lost a great many; I think Entered Bering Sea. we would savc two out of fivc that w^e killed. We entered the Bering Sea in June through Seventy- two Pass and caught about 100 seals, when we were ordered out of the ^ , , , , , sea. They were all females that had given birth to Only females taken, ii • ^ their young. In February, 1892, 1 again shipped in the schooner Geneva, O'Lery, Geneva 1892. mastcr; shc Carried seven boats and one stern boat, and three men to each boat; I was boat steerer. We commenced sealing as soon as we got outside of the cajie, and captured -o ^ , , about 270 seals along up the coast. Most of the seals Pregnant females , , ^ , n -i -, -, in taken. caught wcrc prcguaut females, and when we would skin them the milk would run out of them on the deck. Do not haul np on 1 am surc tlicrc is no place on the coast where they *^^^ haul out upon the laud and give birth to their young TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 351 nor do they give birth to their young on the kelp. I do not consider it right to kill the mother seal before she has given birth to her young pup; I do not think they should be sary."*^''""" °^''^" killed until six weeks after giving birth to their young. The hunter tries to shoot the seals in the head or through the heart. I left the vessel at Clayquot and arrived at Victoria on the 1st of April; the vessel is out now. John A. Swain. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 22d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, United StaUs Consul. TESTIMONY TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. Deposition of A. B. Alexander^ fishery expert on the U. 8. Fish Commis- sion steamer Albatross and United States revenue steamer Corwin. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Jefferson, ss: Personally appears before me A. B. Alexander, who, being- duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 37 years of age, a citi- xperience. ^^^^ ^^ Gloucester, Mass., and have been for six years and still am an employe of the TJ. S. Fish Commission as a fishery ex- pert, being detailed for service on the Fish Commission steamer Alba- tross. On ]\[arch 29th I was detailed ior tem]>orary service on the United States revenue steamer Corwin, and am still so engaged. Daring my service on the Corwin I have cruised as far north as Yakutat Bay. I have visited, with but few excejjtions, all the ports and native vil- lages from Dixon's Entrance to and including Yakutat Bay. I have personally conversed with the Indians, owners of vessels, seal hunters, both native and white, and others engaged in the sealing business. 1 have been in canoes and boats, and personally observed the taking of seals by all methods jiracticed on this coast, and have thus sought to familiarize myself in every way with the aquatic habits of the seal, their- habitat, method (»f capture, and all matters of interest connected with the sealing industry. There are two methods of taking seal in the water practiced on the ,, ., , , . . northwest coast: white men employ firearms exclu- Metliods of huut- . - 1 -1 j^i , • T T ■ n ing. sively, M'hile the native Indians generally use spears. , ^. ,, J The most expert of these spearmen are the Neah Bay Indian method. t t i i i x j.i n j.i Indians, and as seal hunters they surpass all others. An expert white hunter, even with the best of firearms, can not com- pete with them, for when he approaches a group of sleeping seals, all in close proximity to one another, he can not expect to get more than one of the number. The noise of his gun will startle all others within a radius of a quarter of a mile or more, thereby destroying all chance of catching another seal asleep. It sometimes happens, however, that a skilled hunter will capture two or three out of a group, but such cases are exceptions rather than the rule. It is difterent with an Indian hun- ter who uses a spear; he silently approaches the sleeping victim and noiselessly hurls his si^ear at it with a deadly aim, and the only thing heard is the hard breathing and slashing of the seal as it fights for liberty. The si^ear which the Neah Bay Indians use is double pronged, which in tlieir hands is a formidable weapon. The shaft is 12 and^mo'^thodof^uam'^! feetloiig, and made of cedar ; the prongs are hard wood, one 30 and the other 18 inches long, about 4 inches apart 352 TESTIMONY TAKEN IN THE STATE O^ WASHINGTON. 353 at the ends, and pointed. Tlie prongs and shaft are scai'ijed together and hekl in place by a serving of small cotton line. The long prong is a continuation of the shaft, but the short one projects off at a slight angle. The spearheads are made of bone and steel, with a single barb at the sides and a socket in the butt, into which the ends of the prongs are fitted In the middle of the spearhead is a hole, into which is bent a lanyard made of whale .sinew, which is sewed with cotton twine to prevent it from chafing. To the lanyard is fastened the spear rope, which in early years was also made of whale sinew, or other durable material, but now cotton line is used as a substitute, it being much easier procured, and answers the purpose equally as well. The spearheads are held in position by the spear rope, which is hauled taut and fastened to a whalebone becket at the end of the shaft. In throwing the spear, two fingers of the right hand are placed over a small flat handle, the other hand acting as a rest upon which the sx)ear is balanced. Wlien the spear is thrown the long prong is held uppermost. The reason for this is that if it should i^ass over the back or head of the seal the short prong will be sure to strike it. As soon as a seal is struck the sjiear- heads slip from the prongs and the rope from the becket. ISlo notice is taken of the shaft, as it can be picked up after the prize has been secured. As an illustration of this method of taking seals, I give in detail one of my experiences: On the afternoon of April 23d I went out in one of our canoes, managed by two Keah Bay Indians, father and sou. The weather being pleasant and sea smooth, sail was set, and with ihe as- sistance of paddles we made good speed in a southwesterly direction. Two men usually go in a canoe; one handles a spear and the other a steering paddle. Ko great importance is attached to the man who steers, as it requires no special skill to keexi the canoe on the course de- sired; but to the skill of the one who stands in the bow and throws the spear depends the success of the hunt, and if he should be so unfor- tunate as to miss several seals in succession his dusky partner in the stern thinks himself justified in using strong language. All seal- hunting canoes carry a small sprit-sail nuide of drilling, which can be set and taken in very quickly with little or no noise. Oars and paddles are both used; the former when a long passage is to be made, the lat- ter when among seals. The spearman always Jceeps a lookout for seals, and stands upon one of the forward thwarts, with one hand resting against the mast to steady himself. In this position he commands a good view on either side and ahead. It is not to be understood, how- ever, that the man in the stern keeps no watch, for his eyes are ever on the alert, but his lower position ])revents him from seeing any great distance. As soon as a seal is siglited the sail is taken in, rolled u]), and placed where it can not make a noise by thumping against the side or on the thwarts. The gaff ar.d killing club are placed in a handy posi- tion, and the spear examined to see if everything about it is strong and in good working order. If the seal is some distance away both the men paddle, but if close by only the hunter at the stern paddles, the direc- tion being indicated by a wave of the hand from the man in the bow. Silently the sleeper is approached," all unconscious of its danger. If the coveted prize should show signs of uneasiness, no risk is taken, and the hunter throws his spear when within 40 or 50 feet of it. He seldom misses the mark even at this distance, but will always approach Tiearer if possil)le. At the end of an hour we saw our first seal about a (luarter of a mile ahead. The canoe was kept off uiuler its lee, the sail taken in, and everything put in readiness for action. Cautiously we paddled 2716— VOL n 23 354 , TESTIMONY towards the prey, care being taken not to make the slightest noi^e. We had approached within about 40 feet Avhen the seal began to groAv restless, as if it was dreaming ofdanger. The hnnter stood braced, si^ear in hand, and with trne aim he hurled it with all his force at the sleej)- ing object. In an instant the scene of repose was changed into one of iuteuse excitement and pain. A^'ilh a jump the seal instantly disap peared below the surlace, but not to escape, for when once a spear be- comes fastened to an object it seldom pulls out. Soon it came ui) to breathe and renew its d esi)erate struggle for liberty. It stood in the water facing us, with its body half exposed as if taking in the situation, and with a kind of low, piteous growl, as though it realized its end was near, it renewed the contest. It fought madly, ia. In my opinion, fur seals born on the Cop- i^^'^'of imth''^^ *" P*^^' Bering, or Bobbin islands will naturally return to p ace o )u 1. ^^^ rookery at which they were born. The same thing is true of those born on the St. Paul or St. George No seals over mot islauds. No vcsscl, to my kuowlcdge, has ever met a in midoceau. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^.^^^ -^ ^^i^iocean lu thc Xorth Pacific. I have crossed said waters on three different occasions, and each time kept a close lookout for them. The greater part of Birthplace of seals ^| ^ g^, ^]^ ^jj^^l^ ^^.^ ^\^^(^ jjj ^T^^ Nortli Pacific Occau are seen in^orth racilic. , , , . ■. -i . -r-. ■ i~i -»*- l o jji born on the islands m Bering Sea. Most ot them leave there in October and November. If the weather is mild, they stay longer, but when the snow falls they leave the rookery and take to the water. Here they swim around for some days, and if it grows . milder and the snow melts a great many will haul up igration. again, but if the weather remains very cold all leave and start for the south. The breeding cows and full-grown bulls leave first, the old bulls per- haps a month or more before the young males and cows. They travel along the coast, following the Japan stream on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, those fi-om the Pribilof Islands on this side, and those fi^om the TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 359 Commander Island on the Asiatic side. On the American side, some of tbem travel as far south as Lower California, and on the Asiatic side as far south as Japan and perhai)s farther. On the American coast they are found as early as January oft' southern Cal- ifornia, in limited numbers, and are more plentiful u^^fo^t!"^^^^^' further north later in the season. They gradually work towards the north, and about March are "bunching" oft Grays Harbor and the Columbia Eiver, and are found in large numbers a little later about Cape Flattery and Vancouver Island. They are found close in- shore to 40 or 50 miles off. After June very few remain along the coast. A few stragglers may be seen about that time; the most of them start in earnest for the rookeries about that time, in the Bering Sea. The cows are at this time heavy with young, and are slow and sluggish. In May, the bull seals commence to haul up on the rookeries, and the cows come three or four weeks later. The bulls choose such ground as they mean to hold through the summer, cows"^'*^"^ ^"^'^ ^'"^ fight savagely, and the strongest wins. Each has his own family, and should a stranger approach there is war. On the rook- eries one may see all classes of seals apart from each other, the bulls and breeding cows in one place and rookeriea" °^ ^'"'^^^ "" the young in another. The pups are born on the rook- eries, and remain with their mothers, li\dng wholly upon their mother's milk until they can go into the sea and care for them- g^^^^ feedino- selves. There is nothing on the beach for the old ones to eat, and they go several miles from the rookeries out to sea to obtain food. When the pups are born they can not swim and the mothers take them to the water's edge, .^P^ps and their laab- where one can see thousands paddling and struggling in the siu-f. The noise made by the mothers crying for their pups, and the bleating of the pups in answer, make a constant roar. The cow i s 3 years old before she bears young. Tbe pups are about 45 days old before they can go into the water, but they nurse the mother as long as they stay on the island. They are called " black " and " gray" pups; black be- fore they shed their first coat and gray afterwards. As they grow older the gray turns darker, except upon the neck and head; but the color of the hair does not affect the fur, which can be seen by liarting it. The thickness and length of the fur determines the value of the skin. They Uve on fish and seaweed, ^""'^ "^ '^^^'■ and if they are driven or hunted too hard on the islands are liable to migrate to some other i^lace. If they are managed right they may be driven like sheep along the beaches. They do not run fast on shore, unless alarmed, when they give a man a good race to catch them. The people on the islands pick out the young males for killing. One blow over the nose crushes the skull and kills them, ^.^j.^ They are then skinned and the bodies are left on the ' '"^' field or eaten by the natives. Seal meat is very good eating, but rather dry, as the fat must be all cut away to make it eatable. The seals are found on St. Paul and St. Ceorge. and on Bering and Copper islands in Bering Sea. They are also in small fouId^Jniaud.^'' '""' numbers on Robbin Island in the Okhotsk Sea. Sev- eral years ago they were plentiful off Cape Horn, and about twenty- five years back 1 saw some near Cape Good Hope, and also off New Zealand; but whether they are to be found there now I do not know. The best skins come from Bering Sea, and the farther north the better the skins. When the seals are asleej) on the water ggaiggiee in they lie on their backs with the fore flippers sticking ^ * eepmg. 360 TESTIMONY up and lieltl close to tlie liead. Tliey always lay witli tlie liead toward the wind, the Hippers being s]Head out and acting as sails to keep them steady in the water, makiug it hard tor a boat to approach them when they are awake, because the noise of the oars is carried to them. If a boat comes upon them froui the windward they will take the scent and dive, and if from leeward, they readily see it, and do the same. On the United States Pacific coast and Vancouver's Island, in fine weather, they are found, as I have said, 40 or 50 miles w^er^^*^ '^"""'^ "' ^'^ offshore ; but during bad weather they approach nearer the coast. On the Jai)an coast, about ISTovember or earlier, depending on the weather, they are seen in great numbers among the islands off the Nemoro group, and I have also seen several off In- neboi-Saki, but do not know whether they are to be found off' that coast in the spring or not. Steamers and schooners going north keep close inshore, and in returning too far off" to see seals, provided they travel that coast, as T believe they do, many having been shot off the Kurile Islands in the si)ring and summer months. Seven or eight years ago, Avhen seals were hunted almost wholly by Indians with spears, a vessel hunting in the vicinity of Cape Flattery was sure of getting several hundred skins in about three months, from March to the end of May, but at the present time a vessel is doing well if she gets a much smaller number, because the skins hviug much higher prices. The records of " catches" in the last three Decrease. ^^^ ^^^^^, ycars Avill couflrm any person who examines tliem in the belief that the seals are decreasing in the Pacific Ocean on the American side. I have ]io reason to doubt that it is the same on the Eussian side. At present they are hunted vigorously, and with better methods than formerly. The hunters have had more experience and understand their habits better, but notwithstanding this the catches are decreasing off the coast. If a vessel hunts seals from January to May along the coast and pays expenses it does well at the present time, and very few do it. Nearly all would lose money Sealing in the Pa- jf tlie hunting was couflncd to the Pacific Ocean, but cific does not pay. , , , -, * . i t. • t, j_ i i j.i i they depend on the Bering Sea catch, where the seals are more plentiful and occupy a more limited space as a feeding ground. It is not easy to tell a bull seal from a cow, or either from a year-old pup, when they are in the water, and the hunters must Waste of Ufe. ^j^^^^ ^^ ^^j ^^^ ^^,^1^ ^1^^^ ^^^^ jf ^^^^ g^^ ^j^^^^ ^j^^y are fortunate, for at the best many are lost. Some hunters rarely miss a seal they fire at, but many are wounded, and a seal with a charge of bullets and buckshot in hiin must be in very vigorous health to recover. Some hunters never miss a seal during the season, but if others get one out of four they wound they are doing well. The work of seal hunting is carried on about as follows : The hunter and boat's crew leave the vessel at daylight, usually carry- How clrried^on^'''^' ^^'^ ^*^^ ^^^^^ '^^^^ '^ shotgun, though some of them have two shotguns with about fifty rounds of ammunition for each gun. If a breeze is blowing they go under sail, or, if it is calm, the boat is rowed. The hunter has charge of the boat, no mat- ter if he is not an expert boatman. If a sleeping seal is seen, the boat is run within about 100 yards of it, and tlie sail and mast are lowered with the least eepingsec s. possible iioise, as the seals are easily awakened. The boat steerer cautiously i^addles toward him, being careful to keep to the leeward, and with ordinary care the boat can come within a few feet of him before he is aware of it; then, if the hunter is cool, the seal TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 361 is sure to be captured. Should the seal be only wounded, he will dive, unless hit in the flipper or nose. If he is not killed so dead as to be unable to dive, ten to one he will get away, for it is uncc^rtain where he will come uj), and the boat may be a long way from him when he reappears. In such case the boat usually remains still, with boat puller and steerer standing ready to follow him as soon as he is seen; but he very often rises out of range and gets away. An experienced hunter and boat's crew will get at least seventy-five per cent of "sleepers" and perhaps more ; but the sleepers form but a small part of the seals hunted. The noise of firearms will awaken every seal within the distance of half a mile, and put it on the alert. The boats stay out until dark, if the weather is fine, and the five or six usually carried by a sealing vessel cover an area of five or ten miles on either side. If the seal is "finning" the hunter will probably spend ten or a dozen rounds of ammunition, provided he wounds it , . ^„ with his first shot before he takes it in, which he often °^ fails to do. If it is "breaching" — that is, jumping clear . „ of the water — the liunter will most likely try a rifle-shot ^^^'^ ™^ at it, as there is a bare chance that he may hit it. If he wounds it and it escapes it is all the same to liim, except that he has one less skin. To be a good hunter a man must be a crack shot on the start, and then it will take him at least two seasons to learn the motions of the seal, so as to be considered an expert, tirasof?^' quaiifica- He must understand how to approach the seals under aU circumstances so as not to arouse them, and must also have a good boat steerer, as a great deal depends on him. Perfect quiet must be kept in the boat, or the seal will be awakened; and the boat steerer must understaml the seal's habits as well as the hunter, in order tc» know where to head his boat and where to keep her. A crew new to the business sometimes makes a good catch, but it is generally at the expense of a large proportion of seals that are killed and lost, or wounded and escape. The vessels engaged in the sealing fleet: sizec- sealing business range from 15 to 150 tons burden, or veseis aud equipmeu-. more, large vessels being in favor because they can *'"*''®°^- carry more boats, with less expense in proportion to size, than the small ones. The principal ports from which sealing vessels sail are Victoria, British Columbia, San Francisco, Cal.,Port Townseud, Wash., and Yokohama, Japan. The fleet from Vic- ggp**""® p"^"''^ °^ ^''^^' toria comprises sixty vessels or more, and one will travel the world over without finding better or faster schooners than some of them are. Next to Victoria in numbers comes San Francisco, all under the American flag. Yokohama formerly sent out twelve or thirteen vessels under different flags. I have seen vessels operating from tliat port flying the Dutch, German, French, Russian, American, Englisli, and Japanese flags, engaged at otter and seal hunting. About seven or eight vessels are from Paget Scmnd. The Victoria and Paget Sound fleet attends only to sealing, while the vessels from San Fran- cisco and Yokohama engage in otter-hunting and sealing combined. Tlie vessels carry from one to sevenboats each, and each boat except the one carried at the stern is manned by three men. In going upon the hunt the hunter stands forward, the boat puller sits in the center of the boat, and the boat steerer in the stern. The boats are from 18 to 20 feet long and carry usually two pairs of oars, three or more paddles, a short seal-club to kill the seal with (if he is alive when they get him along- side), a gaff with a long staff to hook him up if he sinks, a fog horn, a 362 TESTIMONY compass, an ammaiiitioii box for tlie liunter, a water-beaker, a box for Ibod, a small sprit sail and mast, and at least one shotgun. Vessels that are manned by Indians do not carry hunting boats as a rule. The Indians furnish their own canoes and spears, and often a shotgun or rifle, or both. A vessel, say, of 70 tons, will carry six boats, five of them hunting boats, and one at the stern. The owner furnishes guns, ammunition, boats, food, etc., and engages the captain and hunt- ers. The captain employs the boat pullers, steerers, and the crew, though in some cases the hunters engage their own pullers and steerers. A vessel of this size would carry twenty-one men, all told, including a captain, mate, cook, five hunters, nine men for the boats, one spare man, ^ and a boy. The master's wages range from |75 to 1100 '^°'^^' per month ; but some of them get wages only, while others have wages and a "lay," that is, a share of the profits. Good hunters get from S3 to $3.50 per skin for every one they bring- on board; but each hunter has his price and makes terms with tlie owner, which he keeps to himself. The crew receive $30 j)er month, and have some- times a private agreement with the hunter to 10 to 25 cents additional out of his own pocket for each skin brought on board ; for, as I have said, much depends upon the steerer, and each has his favorite. The mate gets from $15 to $50 per month, the use of the stern boat, and $1 for every skin he brings on board. The cook receives from $50 to $80 per month, according to the number of men he cooks for. Tlie first vessels leave about January, and from then giulamiroutls taken! ^^^^^^^ March they are becoming fewer in port every day. They go to some of the bays and inlets upon Vancou- ver'slsland, oft Cape Flattery, or down along the California coast. Many hunt in a circuit from Cape Flattery to the mouth of the Columbia River on the south, and to the north end of Vancouver's Island on the north, as the head hunter or captain may determine. Some think, by going south and following the seals up as they move northward they will catch more; while others believe they can do better by staying ^^^ close to Cape Flattery. Those vessels which carry In- dian hunters go to the Indian villages, and some of them take as many as fifteen canoes if they can get them. Of late yerrs the Indians are learning the prices of skins, and claim more than the owners can aftbrd to pay. They always want to ship on a first-class schooner, unless they own it,^ when any rattletrap will do. When they start for Bering Sea they usually leave a part of their canoes behind, taking about one-third less than they used in the spring catcli. The vessels furnish them flour, biscuits, tea, coffee, sugar, and a little meat, when they cannot get fresh seal meat. They have two men to each canoe. The head man of the canoe receives the money and pays his assistant. Each canoe is usually provided with a ('oui)le of steerers, and either a shotgun or rille. The most skillful hunter among ludians on board is called " captain," and it is his duty to tell his men when and where to lower their canoes for hunting, and to transact all business between them and th(», captain of the vessel. Seven or eight years ago the Indians were paid by the length of the skin, but now they are paid by its grade. In tine weather the boats leave the vessel at daylight and hunt until dark, taking about one day's provisions with them; and should they get lost in a fog they have a hard time until they are picked up by some vessel. When the boats (;oine alongside the vessel, at night, the skins are counted on deck for eacli boat; the mate takes charge of them and salts them down in the hold, and the crew of each boat gets TAKEN IX THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 363 credit for tlie skins it captured. The work continues until tlie spring season is finished, when some go to Victoria to refit, and others in Ban- dy Sound, and send their skins to Victoria by steamer, with ordfers for supplies to be sent to them when the steamer returns. Others go on without coming into port to Sand Point, or some other place on the coast, where there is a store, and take supplies before entering Bering- Sea. They do not like to go into Victoria, because they usually have trouble with their crews. The work is hard and dangerous. The pay is small, and many run away when they get a chance. There are very few sailors among the crews, the most of them being green hands. Of course each vessel carries two or three sailors in case anything hap- pens to the rigging or sails. When they arrive in Bering Sea later in the season, they start in to work in earnest. The water is full of them and you can hear them firing all around. The vessels enter the g^^^^^s ^*^*' *™*''*^ sea about July, but get the most of the seals in August ^^"^^' , or early Se])tember, when the weather gets bad; but they usually have a good catch by that time, if not interfered with. When the hunting is finished they return to the home port, the crew is paid off, the ves- sel is laid up. and the owner takes charge of the skins and either sells them in the home port or ships them to London. As I have said before, the pups are not able to take care of themselves until they are several weeks old, and the cows must go off into the water to get food for themselves. It stands to reason that if the mothers are killed while away from the ^hUe^^eiUnir!^'^^^^ island, and the pups are left there alone, they will surely die; and it is a fact that many mothers are killed in Bering Sea. If no seals were killed between the 1st day of April and the 1st day of September they would increase; cw^eason^'^^ ^^ '^ but it would take international agreement to make kill- ing of seals an offense during this season. It is not alone in Bering Sea that the pups and cows are destroyed. Keep all escIi sion from vessels out of these- waters, and let the same number Bering sea not of vessels as are now afloat hunt seals in the North ^"^"'^s^- Pacific, and in a few years there will be none in Bering Sea. If the present number of vessels engaged in sealing is permitted to continue in the business from two to five years longer I think the seals will be exterminated or nearly so. I am certain the seals are doomed to extinction unless some immediate action is taken to protect them from the slaughter that is now going on. The sealers care nothing about ])reserviug the seals, and say that the uu^csl'protecteT'''''" smaller the catch is tlie more valuable the skins Avill become in the market, and the higher tlie prices paid for them. In their whole conduct of tlie business they are controlled by the desire to kill as many as i^ossible in order that they may enhance the value of future catches. William Brennan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of June, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] D. A. McKenzie, Notary ruhlic. 364 TESTIMONY Deposition of James Dalgarduo, sealer [master). PELAGIC SEALING. James Dalgarduo, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am a na- tive of Scotland and am 58 years of age; have resided Experience. in the United States forty-five years, and have been a naturalized citizen forty years; I am a resident of Port Townsend and have resided in this vicinity for the past forty years, during Avhich period I followed the business of fishing and piloting. I have been in the seal-hunting schooners for a period of eight years, either as master or owner of the schooner, and I hunted in the vicin- ity of Cape Flattery, say 30 miles oft' the cape in each direction. The first six years 1 employed Indian hunters from Caj)e Flattery and they used spears exclusively, as the opinion then was that the sound of fireaj?ms would tend to drive off' the seals as well as waken the sleep- ing ones, thus making it more difficult to secure them. During two of the eight years I employed mixed crews, some In- dians and some whites; some using rifles and some using spears. The catch was in round numbers from l.oOO to 3,000 skins i^er year, these figures representing the lowest and the highest numbers ever taken by me in any one year. From 75 per cent to 80 per cent mc^e^a!*^^ pieguantfe- ^j' .^jj ^j^^ ggr^|g takcu wcrc mothors iu youug, and when cut open on deck we found the young Avithin them. It is my experience that very lew, if any, seals were lost by the hunters Waste of life ^""^^^ uscd the spcar, but fully 75 per cent of all those killed by the rifle were lost. I have cruised up and down the coast of Vancouver Island, but never found a place where fur-seals hauled out upon shore, nor have I ever heard Pribuof LsLX!^ °" of aiiy fur-seal rookeries in the i^forthern Hemisphere, except those in Ijcriug Sea. I have never seen seals o^sibfj" ^"*'' """ ^*^^'^ "^ ^^^ water or on beds of kelp, nor do I believe ^'^^"^ ' ' a young pup could live if brought forth at sea. It was while the seals were asleep on the water, as a rule, that the Indian hunters succeeded in cai^tufing them with the spear. Success with tiie .^^,^^}^ |^jj|g |g ^^iQ rcasou thev lost but verv few of what they killed. Were I engaged at present in sealing I should jjrefer the spear to the rifle or shotgun, and I believe its use is not near so destructive to seal life. James Dalgarduo. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Thomas Frazer, sealer. pelagic sealing. Thomas Frazer, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native of England, and am 50 years old; have been seventeen Experience. ycars iu thc United States, of Avliich I am a citizen. I am a resident of Port Townsend, and have resided in this vicinity duriug the past seventeen years. My occupation is that TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 365 of seaman, and I have hunted seals off Cape Flattery for sixteen years. In 1891 I was a hnnter on board the James G. 8wan, of Port Townsend, and we went along the coast and jg^'J'"** ^- '^''-'"'• Aleutian Chain to the island of Senack. We left is'eeah Bay about May 13, and commenced sealing along the coast of Vancouver, and we finished off Four Mountain Pass. V\q, made a catch of 128 skins. The U. S. steamer Thetis spoke us on July 3, and our captain, Thomas Powers, said we had 218 skins; bat at that time we had only 118 skins aboard ; we took the otliers after being warned by the Thetis. We had seven boats, but ,«^^™^^^y *^^ ^'^^ \re had only four white hunters; ten hunters were na- tives from i^eeah Bay and Vancouver. We used both shotguns and spears, as occasion required. When we see plenty of seals in sight we use the spear, and when we see only one or two we use the shotgun. Off" Cape Flattery there is hardly a dozen large males taken out of every thousand large seals whose skins are called first class; all the males taken here are small ones. There is no Avay by which hunters can distinguish sex while the seals are in the water, nor do we aim to do so; the killing is always done in an indiscriminate way. .^indiscrimmate tm- The seals are not so numerous off Cape Flattery as ° they used to be some years ago, and it is my opinion it ecrease. is owing to the constant hunting by so many schooners. I am of the opinion that in order to save the seal fi*om extermina- tion all pelagic hunting in Bering Sea should be pro- esfa^i-?'^'*'"" ''®"^" hibited. Thomas Frazer. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Dejyosition of Chad George, scaler. PELAGIC sealing. Chad George, being duly sworn, deposes and says: T was born at jSTeah Bay, and have lived there all my life; am 27 years old ; have been a seal hunter ever since I was a Experience. small boy. Have spent three seasons in Bering Sea. For the last eight years I have been engaged as hunter. Spent the three sea- sons in Bering Sea on the schooners Alfred Adams and Alfred Adams Lottie. We first find the seal off' Cape Flattery in Jan- Lottie. nary. I followed the seal up the coast into Bering Sea, where we arrived the last of June. Have always '^" '""' used spear for taking seal, and but very few arc lost. Most all the seals taken by me were females Avith pup. Most of the seals killed in Bering Sea have been cows witli milk. Have f^Ssf "^^ i^''^"""' never taken a bull seal off" the coast of Washington, but have taken a few farther north. A few young males are taken off the coast of Washington. Can not distinguish the sex of seal in the water, bat spear everything that comes .^^"-""o-iniinato kiU- near the boat, regardless of sex. Seal have decreased ^ on the coast very fast the last four years. The reason 366 TESTIMONY of the decrease is too much liuntinj? and indiscriminate killing. Have No eia ic birth riGver kiiowR or licai'd of pnps being born in the water iopeagic IT . or any sv hoi e else on the coast outside of the Pribilof Do not haul out on Islauds. HavB never known any fur-seal to haul out Siofisiami "''''" on the hind or on the coast elsewhere than the Pribilof Islands. Have killed seals 200 miles from the Pribilof Ivslands that were full of milk, I think that all i^elagic sealing should be stopped for five or six years, and the seal would Protection. become plenty again. Chad George. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent, Deposition of Iforman Hodgson, scaler. HABITS. Korman Hodgson, being duly sworn, deposes and saith : I reside at Port Townsend, State of Washington, and am a fiir- Expenence. ^^^j hunter by occupation. I have engaged in that pursuit four seasons, in the years 1887, 1888, 1889, and 1891. I sailed in vessels clearing from Port Townsend two seasons, and in others from Victoria, British Columbia, for two seasons. We lirst fell in Avith fur-seals moving north early in the month of February, about 50 miles off the coast in the region of Cape Mendocino, California. They were very scarce then, but as we traveled up the coast we found them more numerous. They were most x)lentiftil off the mouth of the Columbia Kiver in the early part of the month of March. The mi- Migration. gratory movement of the fur-seal is from the southward to the northward and westward, following the general trend of the coast of the mainland. The main herd is most compactly massed be- tween 40 and 60 miles off shore, but some of the seals scatter and straggle over an area a long distance on each side of that. The males are generally in advance of the females on the passage north. Females are found in the greatest numbers off Baranoff Island about the middle of the month of May. We followed the main herd up the coast as far as the southwestern end of Kadiak Island, Avhere we usually left them oh account of their diminished numbers. We would then go to Sand Point, Popoff Island, about the 25tli of June, refit and repair the vessel and .^^ take on board fresh supplies, and then start for Ber- and"'ieaving Beriiig iug Sca. which Avc generally entered about the 10th of ^^^- July. We remained in the sea until the first ijart of September, when we would leave it on account of bad weather, return-- ing in a direct line to Puget Sound. I think the duration of the winter season has a direct bearing on the northward migration of the fur-seal species, as I have «i^^A",'^?iJ'fti„T?"**^^ observed that they move that way earlier after an open affects migration. • x i-i n mi a j- wmter than an unusually severe one. The first season and the last two our hunters were all white men; but on my second cruise we carried mostly West Coast Indians from Yancouver Island as hunters. The Indians used spears jirincipally, while the white hunters employed breech-loading firearms (lifles and shotguns) exclusively. Indians using spears recover more than 90 per cent of all fur-seals struck, while the white hunter secures TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 367 on an average about 60 or 65 per cent of all fur-seals shot in the season. With whites, their greatest losses occur during the waste of ufe. earlier part of the season. More fur-seals are lost in „ , .„ ^ A 1 • 1 1 Ml T 1 J- 1 ^ Greater with fiio- proportion whicli are killed by means of a shotgun arms, than with a rifle. Of the seals secured in a season Mostly females- fully 70 per cent are females, and of these more than 00 principally pregnant percent are pregnant and milking cows. The males """^ ^"^^^^s co^-^- taken are about equally divided in numbers between yearlings and bachelors from the ages of 2 to 5 years; bulls are seldom shot. It is impossible to distinguish positively between females and males (otlier than large bulls) in the water at sea, and no effort is made to do so. Full-powered bulls are readily recognized by their great bulk and darker fur. The killing of fur-seals is therefore abso- lutely indiscriminate, as the object is to secure all the slaughter? '^'™'°''*^ skins possible, irrespective of sex, age, or condition. All fur-seals sink rapidly after being killed, and females heavy with young go down soonest; a great deal depends on the way a seal is shot, how- ever. If the seal be shot with the head down, as in the act of diving, its momentum sends it under for a moment or two, when p„ition wh- it will quickly rise to the surface and float until the air in its body escapes, which generally occupies anywhere from five to ten minutes. A seal shot with its head up almost always sinks in- stantly. Fur-seals shot when sleeping occasionally go down at once, but the rule is for them to float for three or four minutes. They should be approached from the leeward, and if shot in the back of the head may almost invariably be recovered. I do not believe it possible for fur-seals to breed or copulate in the water at sea, and never saw nor heard of the action taking place on a or^nSipm!pos^We! patch of floating kelp. I have never seen a young fur- seal pup of the same season's birth in the water at sea nor on a patch of floating kelp, and in fact never knew of their being born anywhere save on a rookery. I have, however, cut open a gravid cow and taken the young one from its mother's womb, erks™ °^^^ °° '^°"^^' alive and crying. I do not believe it possible for a fur- seal pup to be successfully raised unless born and nursed on a rookery. 1 have seen fur-seals resting on patches of floating kelp at sea, but do not believe they ever haul up for breeding purposes anywhere except on rookeries. I have never heard of, ro^CTies"^ "''^^ "° nor have I any knowldge of, any fur-seal rookeries in the Xorth Pacific, other than those on the seal islands PiSf Ts'LnTs ?' "" of Bering Sea. While in Bering Sea we cruised around the Pribilof Islands in all directions, often coming within view of them, but never landing or making any attempt to proportion ..r fe- do so. The proportion of females taken to males was maUsiakeumiseriug about 70 per cent, more than two-thirds of these being ^''''• nursing cows, while the remainder were two-year-olds and yearlings. On first entering the sea an occasional pregnant cow would be taken, but this Avas uncommon. Of the males taken in the Bering Sea the numbers of yearlings and very young bachelors was about equal; no bulls were ever taken. I observed that nursing cows range from 00 to 80 miles from the Pribilof Islands to feed, and were always most numerous in a southerly and westerly di- ^^™^'''^ feedmg. rection from them. After leaving Bering Sea our course was direct to Puget Sound, only scattering specimens of fur-seal life being observed en route; most of these were young males. I have not personally noticed any decrease in the numbers of the ^crease. 368 TESTIMONY fur-seal species, but tliink that tlie constant and indiscriminate slaughter of them must tend largely to tliat end. It is my belief sarv"^^^'*'"" ^^^'^^ ^^^'■^^ "^ order to preserve fur-seal life from extermina- tion all pelagic hunting should be stopped and Bering Sea closed. Norman Hodgson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United /States Treasury Agent. Deposition of 0. Holm, oivner of schooner Challenge. PELAGIC SEALING. O. Holm, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Whatcom, Wash. I am part owner of the sealing schooner Chal- Experience. Itngc, and was on board of her last season in Bering Sea. We arrived in the Sea sometime in July. When we first entered Bering Sea we went direct to St. Mathews Islands. As near as I know, seal were taken last year from 00 to 100 miles from the Pribilof Islands. Most all the seals taken in Bering femrie*s ^^ "^^^^'^s Bca wcre females with milk. But one old bull was taken, and two young males, but no females with pup. The shotgun was exclusively used by our hunters. I can form no idea as to the amount of seals lost. Some hunters lost more and some less. It ranges all the way from 10 to 75 per cent, according indiscriminatokiii- ^q stories told by huuters. Hunters use no discrimi- nation in shooting seal, but kill everything that comes near the boat. They could not discriminate if they wanted to, as the sex can not be told in the water. I have never known No pelagic biith. ^^y gg^j pups to bc bom on the water, or on the land Do not haul up ex- auywhcre, except on the Pribilof, Islands. Have never lamis."" " " ' ** known of seal to haul up on the land anywhere, except Protection ^^^ ^^^^ Pribilof Islauds. I think that all pelagic seal haunting should be stopped for a number of years, and give the seal a chance to increase, and if this is not done they will soon become exterminated. O. Holm. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3d of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. ing Deposition of Alf YoJiansen, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Alf Yohansen, being duly sworn, deposes and says: Experience. I reside in Seattle; am a hunter by occupation; have hunted seals two seasons; one season on the Sdn Jose, as hunter, and now as hunter on the schooner Adventure. Begin to hu»t TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 369 seal off San Francisco in February, and followed tlieninp the coast as far as Sliumakin Islands, wliicli we reached the last of June, The seal all disappeared from there at this time. The ^^'S'-^''"''- shotgun is used altogether for taking seal. About 33^- per cent of the seal shot are lost. We use no discrimination in killing seal, but shoot everything that comes near the boat. Quite a num- ber of yearlings were taken. About 50 per cent of the .^la^n^crimmate kai- seals taken by me have been cows with pui>. jSlever killed but one old bull in my life and that was near onciiaif pregnant Kodiak Island. Took quite a number of young males, *'^''"'*^^''- I should think two and three year olds. Hunters always shoot a seal in the head when they can do so. If we can't shoot them in the head we shoot them in the chest if possible. What seals we have seen this year are very wild and hard to get at. The cause of their being- wild is the indiscriminate shooting of them in the w^ater. I have never seen any pups born in the water, nor have I ever heard i o-- i,- ft- of any fur-seal hauling up on the land anywhere in "peagic Alaska. I have not seen a fur-seal within 5 miles of the land along the Alaskan coast. 1 think there should be a closed season established some part of the year, so they could have a rest, as the constant hunting of them in the open waters is soon going to destroy them. Alf Yohansen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Dexmsition of James E. Lennan, scaler [master). PELAGIC SEALING. James E. Lennan, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I reside at PortTownsend, State of Washington, and am by occupation master and pilot of steam vessels in the waters of the Pacific Ocean coastwise to the Bering Sea. I have had eight- Experieuce. een years' experience in tlie waters of Alaska, and am well acquainted with the Northwest Coast from San Francisco to Attn Island, including Bering Sea and its coast line. I have sailed as mas- ter of trading and supply vessels for a number of years in Alaska, and in the year 1887 was master of a seal- ^'=''°°"*^'' • ^^^^• ing schooner clearing from Victoria, We had eight canoes and sixteen West coast Indian hunters, who used spears and shot- „ . ^^^^ guns, the former almost entirely, however. Of all the '^'^"'1""*'° • fur-seals struck in the entire season by both imple- secured more than ments more than two-thirds were actually secured, tlie ^^^ituspe!^. "»^*iy greater proportion of losses .resulting fi-om the use of the shotgun. We left Vancouver Island on the 1st of June, and on tlie 9th of the same month, when oft" Baranofi Island, put over the hunting cnnoes for the first time. We stayed with the main herd of the seals until tlie2- CI TJ.1-1T Cows m milk taken milk. In 1891 I again went to Bering Sea. I think I froTu so to loo miies noticed fewer seals that year than I did in 1889. Seals f'"'"i«i^>"''s- along the coast are not near as plentiful now as they were when I first began to hunt them. I used to catch 9 or 10 seals in one day; but they are so shy, and so scarce now, ""'^as®. that a canoe does not get that many in a month. White hunters in numbers, commenced to hunt them around Cape Flattery, Avith guns about six years ago, and since that time the seals have decreasedvery rapidly. TH03IAS Lowe. Subscribed and sworn to before ine on this 27th day of Aiu'il A D 1892. 1 J • . [l. s.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Puhlic in and for the State of Washivfjton, Residing at Fort Angeles, Wash. Beposition of N. B. Miller, assistant scientist on hoard the Albatross. HABITS. K B. Miller, being duly sworn, deposes and saith: I am an assistant in the scientific department of the U. S. Fish Commis- sion steamer Albatross. I have made five cruises in J^xpurionce. Alaskan waters, viz: In the year 1888, along the coast 372 TESTIMONY from Unnlaska to Middleton Island; in the year 1889, throngli the in- land ])assages of southeastern Alaskai as far north as Chilkoot Inlet; in the year 1890, through the Bristol Bay region and the Aleutian Is- lands as far west as Unmak Island; in the year 1891, to the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea; and in the month of April, 1892, in the Gulf of Alaska from Kadiak Island to Prince William Sound, going into Cook Inlet as far as Coal Harbor. I have never seen nor tbo s'c'afisianlis^^ "" lizard of any fur-seal rookeries in the northern hemi- sphere other than those on the several sealislands of Bering Sea; and have never seen fur-seals in great abundance save on and near the Pribilof Islands. N. B. MiLLEE. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of April, 1892. Jo.sErn Murray, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Nelson T. Oliver, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. J^elson T. Oliver, being duly sworn, deposes and says: T am a native of IsTew Bedlbrd, Mass., and I am 58 years old. I am xpeiience. ^ resident of Port Townsend, where I have lived for the past twenty years, I followed sea-faring life from the time I was 15 years old until 1888. I accompanied Capt. Ja(;obs on board Moibe Adams, 1888. ^^^ ^^j^^^^-^ Adams, scallug s(-hooner, in February, 1888. We left Port Townsend in February and cruised along the coast from Grays Harbor to Kyoquot Sound. Our crew were all white men, of whom twelve were hunters armed with shotguns. We returned to Port Townsend in May, and in the three months' cruise we made a catch of 700 seal skins. Not being hunters of exi)erience, our men lost about two-thirds of all the seals shot. Good hunters would not lose to exceed 25 per cent. In the beginning of the season we killed mostly yearling seals, but as the taken^oa"coast. '"'^^ scasou advances we got almost all mothers in young in the vicinity of Cape Flattery or from the Columbia Elver to Vancouver. Sex can not be distinguished while the seals are in the water, nor do the hunters trv to do so, for they .^nidiscriiuiuatekm. ^^^l everything they can shoot. I am not able to say ^ Avliether the seal herd is decreasing, but it is reason- able to sux)pose that where they are hunted and har- assed at all times by so maTiy hunters they are sure to be driven from their usual haunts, if not totally destroyed. JSTelson T. Oliver. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 2d day of May, 1892. Joseph Murray, United States Treasury Agent, TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 373 DejJosition of Z. L. Tanner, lieutenant-commander, TJ. S.^Uity. pelagic sealing. State of Washington. Fort Totvnsend, Jefferson County, ss: Z. L. Tauner being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a lieutenant- commander in the U. S. Navy. I liave made five cruises in Alaskan waters in command of tlie Fisli Commission Exp'^-ience. steamer Albatross, now temporarily in the service of the United States Revenue Marine, as follows, viz: I left San Francisco July 4, 1888, for the north, via Esquimalt and Departure Bay, where we called for coal. Arriving off the west end of TJnalaska Island on the 21st, commenced exploring the coast in the interest of the tisheries, soundings being run from shore to the 100-fathom line. Arrived atllin- liuk, Unalaska Island, on the 23d, and sailed on the 28th. Explora- tions extended to the Fox Islands Passes, the Sannaks, and to the Shumagin Islands. Called at Sand Point (or Humboldt Harbor), Eagle Harbor, and Yukon Harbor, in the latter group. Eesuming the work of exploration, it was carried to Mitrofania Bay, where we called, and thence to Ivadiak Island, stopping at old Harbor and Port Hobron. The extensive banks off the south coast of Kadiak were examined and a call made at St. Paul, the most important settlement in tbat region. Leaving the latter place, the workof ex])loration included tlie Portlock Bank, and thence to Middleton Island, where a landing was made. Soundings were then carried in the direction of the reported position oi the Pamplona Rocks, for which an unsuccessful search was made. Thence we proceeded to Departure Bay, Puget Sound, the coasts oi Washington and Oregen, and to San Francisco, arriving October 21. I left San Francisco on the 21st of May, 1S89, and was engaged in deep sea exploration on the coasts of Oregon and Washington until July 7, then made a trip to southeastern Alaska through the Inland Passages,visitingFortTongass,NewMetlahcatlah (Port Chester), Ivarta Bay, Port Wrangell, Sitka, Pavlof Harbor, Glacier Bay, Hoonyah, Chil- kat, Chilkoot and Juneau. Returned to Tacoma on July 28th, calling at Victoria, Port Townsend and Seattle en route. I sailed for the North on on the 5tli of May, 181)0, via Departure Bay, British Columbia, and commenced the examination of the region from the Sannaks to ITnimak Pass on the 21st, arriving in Unalaska on the 23d. The work of the season included the exploration of the northern coasts of Unalaska, Uniniak, the Alaska Peninsula, and the northern shores of Bristol Bay to the Kuskowim River. The Slime Bank and Baird Bank were devel- oped in Bristol Bay. A survey was made of the lower Nushagak River, the entrance to Port Moller, and Herendeen Bay. Deep-sea explora- tion was extended to 58^ 43' north and longitude 175° 30' west, ]iass- ing near the 100-fatliom line, 70 miles to the westward of the Pribilofs. Left Bering Sea August 26th, arriving in San Francisco September 2Gth, via Departure Bay, Port Townsend, and the California coast, where we were engaged in deep-sea exploration from the 21st to the 25th. I sailed again for Bering Sea July 10, 1801, g^.^^^^ ^^^ ^^_^,^^^^ having on board the United States Commissioners to Sea'*w'ith"unit'ea the Seal Islands. We arrived at Unalaska July 25th, states commissioners and were at the Pribilof Islands from the 28th to August lOtli. Left the sea on the 13th of August, and reached San Francisco September 15th, via Departure Bay, Esquimalt and Puget Sound. On the lOth day of 374 TESTIMONY Marcli, 1892, I sailed from San Francisco for Alaskan waters, via Port Townsend and Seattle. The cruise had special reference to the migration of the fur-seal herd and their relation to the localities visited by us; in other words, we were to ascertain whether there were fur-seal rookeries in Cooks Inlet or Prince William Sound, whether they hauled out or attemi3ted to haul out there, or, in fact, anywhere in Alaska outside of the Pribilot Islauds, The following places were visited in the order named: Port Graham, with its tributary settlement of Fort Alexander, having a population of 120, all Aleuts except one white man, the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company. The men are hunters. Chesloknu Bay, with its village of Soldovoi, having a mixed population of Aleuts and Kenai Indians, numbering 103, and four white men. The natives are hunters. Coal Point, population 11, all white, occupied in holding possession of coal claims. Some of them having had many years ex- perience in the Territcny, were able to give much valuable testimony. St. Paul, Kadiak, popuhition 380, 65 of whom are white, the remainder Creoles and Aleuts. The native men and nearly all of the whites are hunters. Wood Island, near St. Paul, has a population of 193, includ- ing three whites, the natives being mostly hunters. Owing to a severe winter and late spring, the men were still at home, and we were able to procure affidavits from 35 whites and 55 native hunters, who had prac- tical knowledge of the subject in the regions in which they were in the habit of hunting. The regular work of the Alhalross is deep-sea ex^do- ration, the discovery and development of fishing grounds, and, not in- frequently, purely scientific investigation in normal ocean depths far outside of the range of economic species. I have been engaged in this work nearly fourteen years, during which time it has been a part of my duty to acquire information concerning the seal and its life. This has been done not only from personal expe- rience and observations, but by questioning ])ractical men, such as intelligent mariners, fishermen, and hunters. Pelagic sealing has been a frequent subject of conversation and argument with me since my first northern cruise in 1888, and I have reached the following conclu- sions : First. Pelagic sealingis wasteful, as alarge percentage -nrsfe^fuL*^ sealing (,f gg^ls killed are lost. Opinions on that point, vary- ing from 30 to 70 per cent. Sex indisfinguisii- Sccoud. Tljc scxcs cau uot bc distinguished in the rrhniuaTe'^kmiiig.''''^' ^atcr, cxcept old males, and both sexes and all sizes are killed indiscriminately. Third. Of the seals killed, from GO to 70 per cent are females, which durin g their northerly migration are heavy with young, mak°8 taken!'"'"'* '^^ ^^^w of movcmeut, aiul require an extra amount'of rest and sleep, thus largely increasing their liability to suc- cessfid attack. -, ,, . Fourth. The female killed, the death of the unborn Death of pups. ,. ,, , .,. ■, , ', , pup tollows, entailing a double loss. Fifth. Seals killed in Bering Sea alter the birth of the pups are largely ,. , , , mother seals, and the farther they are found from the i oiiialcs feeding. • i i xi x xi x ■^^ i mi " islands the greater the percentage will be. The reason for this seeming paradox is very simi)Ie. The young males, having no family lesponsibilities, can afford to hunt nearer home, where food can be found if sufficient time is devoted to the search. The mother does not leave her young except when necessity compels her to seek food for TAKEN IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 375 its sustenance. Slie can not afford to waste time on feeding grounds already oecui)ied by youn.i;er and more active feeders; hence she makes the "best of her way to richer fields, .JeTklued'^''^^'"^ farther away, gorges herself with food, then seeks rest and a quiet imp on the surface. Under these conditions she sleeps soundly, and becomes an easy victim to the watchful hunter. Sixth. A double waste occurs when the mother seal is killed, as the pup will surely starve to death. A mother seal will give sustenance to no pup but her own. I saw sad ovfn pnplf °nTyf '''"" evidences of this waste on St. Paul Island last season, where large numbers of pups were lying about the rookeries, where they had died of starvation. ^"^ ^''p^- Seventh. The number of seals on the Pribilof Islands is decreasing. I saw positive proof of this on St. Paul ecrease. Island last season. Eighth. Pups can not swim at birth, hence the female can not give birth to her young in the water without sacrificing its life. I have seen thousands of pups learning to ^.ft"J'^ °""^ ^°™ ^'^ swim at thp rookeries on St. Paul, and their early efforts were quite as awkward as those of a boy when taking his first dip. Their trouble seems to be to keep i heir heads above water. Xinth. The present practice in pelagic sealing is to shoot them from a boat with a shotgun and secure them with a short- shootino- seals handled gaff. If killed instantly, they are apt to sink, ' °° "^ ^®^ ^' unless picked up immediately. If wounded, they may Many sink. be gaffed in their "flurry." Tenth. Pelagic sealing should be suppressed as far as practicable. A protected zone around the islands, extending 100 miles from them would not be effective, even if the saf™*''"°'' °^'*''" limits were resi^ected. Eleventh. The preservation of the rookeries requires the suppression of pelagic sealing, at least iu Bering Sea, and in the suppression of pe- immediate vicinity of the jjasses. lagic sealing neces- z. L. taxner, '^^y- Lieutenant- Commander, IT. S. Navy. Sworn and subscribed before me, James G. Swan, a notary public in and for the State of Washington, residing at Port Townsend, this 9th day of May, A. D. ] 892. [SEAL.] Jajies G-. Swan, Notary Fiiblic. TESTIMONY TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. Dejjosition of Boivachup, MalcaJi Indian., scaler. pelagic sealing. , State of Washington, Count}/ of Clallam^ ss: Bowa-cliup, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am a native Maknb Indian, and reside on the reservation at Xeah Bay, State of Wasli- inj^tou, United Stiites of America, and am about 40 years of age. I iiave been engaged in se;il hunting ever since I was a boy. Until about ten or twelve years ago I used to seal along the coast in large canoes from 10 to 18 miles from Gape Flattery and in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. At first I was a paddler, and after- wards I became a spearman. In those days there were a great many seals in the water, and they would go in bands of 15 or 20 together. About five or six years ago I commenced to hunt in smaller canoes that were taken out to sea in schooners. I hunted with spears all of the time. I have never killed any full-grown cows on the coast that did not have pups in them, and 1 have hunted all the way from the Colum- bia Eiver to Barclay Sound. I do not know of any place along the coast where seals haul out upon the land, nor have I ever heard of such a place, and I have never killed any full-grown cows ^_ Pelagic birth impos- ^y]^^ ^^j.^ j^ j^^Q]-^ ^e^ln do uot givc birth to their young in the water nor on the kelp; if they did they would be drowned and die. I was in the Bering Sea in 1889 on the schooner James G. Sican, but did not use shotguns. Most all the seals we caught James G. stmn,mo. ^^^,^ ^^^^^ giviug milk, and I have never been there Rookeries only at siuce. All tlic scals aloug the coast go to the Pribylov pribiiof Islands. i^i.^j^tis to breed. The cows leave here in June and the ^^^f'l^e coast in June yearliugs somctimc in the middle of July. Seals were " ^' very plenty in the straits and around the cape until about six years ago, when the white hunters came in schooners and with shotguns and commenced to kill them all off, and now there is none in the straits, and we can not get but one or two where we used to get eight or ten. They are very shy and wild and are decreasing very rapidly. A good many of the seals that I have caught in the last three or four years have shot in them, and some have been badly wounded. I have seen white hunters shooting 376 TESTIMONY TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 377 seals out in tlie sea, aud they lose a great inauy more than they get, and we sometimes capture some of those that tliey have badly wounded. BowA-CHUP (his X mark). Witnesses : John P. McGllnn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Puhlic in and for the ISfate of Washington. Deposition of Peter Broivn, Maliah Indian chief sealer {master). pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Peter Brown, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am the native chief of the Makah Indians; am about 55 years old, and reside on the Neah Bay Eeservatiou, in the County of Clallam and State of Wash- ington, United States of America. I am acquainted with the habits of my people and the methods adopted by them in hunting the fur-seal. I am the master and one-third owner of ExpeHem°e.''^^°'^'' the fishing schooner James G. Sivan. I have been en- gaged in hunting seals with speais, more or less, all of my life. For- merly, in the winter time, used to hunt them in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, and in the si)ring and summer time we hunted them in canoes and with spears from 10 to 30 miles oif and around Cape Flattery. About ten or twelve years ago we commenced carrying our canoes on little schooners and followed up along the coast towards Kadiak. I have been a part owner in a schooner for about seven years, and have owned the James G. Sn-a)i for about three years. She T„„jg., q swan is about 59 tons burden. The other schooner was not so large. My people commenced using guns in seal- ^. , . hunting about three years ago, but they always carried spears iu isso. " spears, and but few of them ever use guns unless em- X)loyed to do so by white men. About six or seven years ago I commenced to notice a decrease in thenum- Decrease. berof seals arriving in the straits and around the cape. I tliink more than one-lialf of all the seals caught on the coast are cows that have pups in them. Cows caught in the lat- ter part of May and June have black pups in them, ma/ef '"' ^"'*'^"'''°* ^° which we sometimes cut out and skin. 1 hunted in Bering Sea in 1889 (that being the only year I ever went to that sea) and hunted seals with spears about 70 miles southwest otf tlie islands, and onr catch was nearly all cows that had given birth to their young and liad milk in their teats. In hunting with the spear we don't lose many that we hit. I never hunted with guns, but have caught a great many seals that had shot in them. I know of no place along the coast where seal 5 haul out upon tlie land : nor have I ever heard of such i)lace ; coas"t.^'*"^'°" °"^ "° nor neither does any of my people know of such a x)lace. 378 TESTIMONY Cow seals can not give birtli to tlioir young in tlie water, or on tLe kelp and have tlieiii live. I have never seeu, nor known po^sibFe.*' ^'"^^^ "" of any pups, along the coast, that were born in the same year, and I liave never known any cow seals to be caught along the coast that had given birth to their young, and in whose breast there was milk, and it is very seldom that we catch a full-grown cow that does not have a pup in her. White hunters came in here about live or six years ago and com- menced shooting the seals with guns, since which time ecreaae. they havc bccu rapidly decreasing, and are becoming- very wild. When we hunt seals with spears we creep upon them while asleep on the water, and spear them. A few years ago my people would catch from eight to ten thousand seals each year, now we get only about one thousand or less. I can not tell the difference between the male and female seal while in the water, excepting it be an old bull. In early times none of my tribe ever went any farther out to sea than from 10 to 30 miles oft' Cape Flattery, and close inshore a few miles up and down the coast. They had no other way of hunting, except to go from here in canoes. About fifteen years ago the post trader induced some of them to put their canoes on board ot a small schooner and go out from 50 to 75 miles oifshore, and to hunt along the coast from Columbia River to Barclay Sound. In the last five or six years some of my tribe have bought and now own four little schooners, and use them to carry their canoes and provisions when they go any distance from home. About seventeen of my people have been in the Bering Sea and, with the possible exception of two or three, none of them were ever there be- fore 1887. In 1887 the British schooner Alfred Adams, from Victoria, British Columbia, came here and emj^loyed some of my tribe to Luieim!^'^^* ^"'^ so to the Bering Sea hunting seals, and the schooner Lottie, owned by the Indians, also went fi^om here in that year. In 1889 and 1891 some of my i:>eople went on schooners, as hunters, to Bering Sea. At no other times have any of them been in those A ea off ca ie ^^^crs. The furseals appear oft' Cape Flattery and in "Eiauery'aLont last^of the Straits of Sau Juau de Fuca about the last of De- ibout midiUeof junT ccmbcr aud go and come until about the middle of June, but yearlings and 2-year olds remain considerably later. Seals used to be very numerous along the coast about Cape _- Flattery, and no decrease was ever noticed in their num- bers until soon after the white hunters came around here — about seven years ago, and commenced shooting them. Since tliat time they have decreased fast and have become very shy. I think they will all be killed off if they keep hunting tliem with guns. The spears with which my people hunt seals almost 8ao™**^*^*^°° ^^'^^^ exclusively is similar to the harj^oon used by us in killing whales, only it is smaller. It has a handle about 14 feet long, that will come off when the harpoon sinks into the seal, and the iron head is secured to the boat with a line about 70 feet long. In throwing the sj^ear we use both hands, and if we hit are almost sui-e to get him. his Peter x Bkown. mark. Witness : John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 379 Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27tli day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Lanclis Callapa, Malcah Indian, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Landis Callapa, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 45 years old, and am a native Makali Indian. I reside on the reservation at the ^eah Bay Agency, county of Experience. Clallam, State of Washington, United States of Amer- ica, and am, by occupation, a hunter and a iisherman. I Irave been en- gaged in hunting seals all my life, and have always used the spear, and went in canoes. Formerly we went around the cape in canoes, but for the last fifteen years 1 have fre- °^^ seamg. quently gone out on small schooners, from 10 to 80 miles around the cape, up and down the coast from 100 to 200 miles. We take our canoes on the vessel and use tlieni after we get to the sealing grounds. On my last sealing cruise this spring we caught five seals; two of them were females and had pups in them; three of them were young and smaller seals and had black whiskers. None but full- grown cows have white whiskers, but young cows and young bulls have black whiskers. About half of all the seals captured along the coast have white whiskers, and are cows with pups in them. Most all full- grown cows that are caught have pups in them. Once, late in the season, I caught a full-grown barren cow ^^o^suy pregnant fe- with white whiskers. I can not distinguish male seals from female at a distance in the water, unless it be an old bull with a long wig. I know of no place where seals haul out upon the land to breed on this coast; nor do I think that they give birth to their ^.^ , ,. .1 11 ^x T 1 -ii T • -11 7 1 -No hauling out on young upon the kelp. Once 1 killed a cow m muk,tlie coast. only one of the kind I have ever known being caught None bom on kei p. on the coast. Seals used to be very plentiful around Decrease. the cape and in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, but they have been rapidly decreasing during the last five or six years. We were out sealing a short time ago and captured but five seals. A few years ago, during the same period of time, we would have caught about sixty. They are wilder now and more difficult to catch, and will soon be destroyed if guns are used in hunting them. Seals appear oft" this coast the latter part of December, , Appear on coast , '■ '■ 1x1 -111 i?Ti/-K J. latter part ot Deceni- and are gone by the middle of July. Cows aijpear to ber. leave earlier than the younger ones. I scarcely ever see an old bull along the coast, and it is seldom we ever catch one. liis ,^., Landis x Callapa. Witness : mark. John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. 380 TESTIMONY Deposition of Circus Jim, Maliali Indian, sealer, pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Circus Jim, being- duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 35 years old, and am a native ^lalcah Indian. I reside on the In- Experience. diau reservation at jSTeali Bay, in Clallam County, State of Wasliingtou, United States of America. I am by occupation a hunter and fisherman. I have been engaged at hunting seals for about seventeen years. In early times, and until within the last ten years, I hunted seals with spears in canoes. During the last ten years I have been sealing up and down the coast in schoon- ers, but used spears all of the time. When we used canoes exclu- sively I used to hunt and capture seals about 30 miles in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. Seals used to be plentiful in the straits, but for the last five or six years they have become very scarce in the straits, so that now we can not find any more there. We used to hunt seals in canoes for about 20 miles out. in the ocean, oft" Cape Flattery and up and down the coast, between Greys Harbor and Barclay Sound. Seals were very plentiful along the coast six or eight years ago. I used to be out on the water hunting seals in a canoe for a couple of days at a time, if the weather was tine. Three Indians would go in one canoe. One would handle the vspear, the other two would paddle aud steer the boat. I was the spearman. Usually we found several seals at a time asleep on the water and would creep upon them, sometimes as near as 20 feet, but more frequently not closer than 40 to 50 feet. I wonld then throw the spear at them g l^iccess with tiie j^^^^^ almost always secure all that I hit. Very rarely I would hit aud secure two seals at a time. I would then get a seal on each barb of the s])ear. We use smaller canoes now since we began to use schooners in which to carry our canoes aud hunters to the sealing waters, and but two In- dians go in one of these smaller canoes. A great many years ago we used to catch about one-half cows and one-half young seals. I nevei caught anv seals along the coast that had given birth to their cowsTiong^corst °^' yoimg aud that had milk in their breasts. I never 1 e captured any barren cows. I first went sealing m the James Q. Swan, -^ '^ . o, • ^i t /-i ci • -i oon i j. 1889. Bering Sea m the James Q, Swan in 1889, and went Lottie 1891. again "on the schooner Lottie in 1891. While in the sea I caught a great many cow seals that were giving Mostly milking milk. Most all the seals we caught in the sea were giv- seais caught in Ber- jng milk. I liave bccu out Sealing this spring along the ^"" ^^''" coast in the schooner James G. tSwan. We have been ^^Tames G- Swan, q^^ three tiuies. Our schooner carried 15 canoes, each one manned by two Indians, and we secured ten Pifty per cent preg- seals iu all, tivc of which had pups in them. I know this nant cows. • j^g^j^^^gg j gj^^ ^^q pnpH whcu wc cut the caTcasscs open. We dry the meat of the seal and use it for food. The other five seals Avere smaller and probably male and co?s't.°''* ''''"^ "^'"' female. Seals do not haul out on the land along the coast to breed, nor do thev give birth to their young on wfteroronkeip." '"^ the watcr, or on the kelp. I never caught any little black pups along the coast. I used to catch a great many gray ones on the coast, but caught but one this year. We hunt TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 381 the seal not only for its fnr, but we use every part of it. We eat the meat, make oil out of the blubber, and after cleaning the stomach use it tor holdiuff the oil. Seals are now very scarce and wild „ , ., » j^ T 1 T J.1 x- XT • • XI i. Decrease; cause. along tlie coast. I believe the cause or this is tiiat white hunters have been hunting them so much with „,!'^''"^"^°^ °^*'^^" guns. If so much shooting at seals is not stoioijed they will soon be all gone. his OiKCUS X Jiiir. mark. Witnesses: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of x\pril, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clarence P. Bkown, Notary Public in mid for the ^tate of Washington. Deposition of James Claplanhoo, Malcah Indian, sealer (master). pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : James Claplanhoo, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am about 43 years old, and a native Makah Indian. I reside on the Neah Bay Eeservation, county of Clallam, State of Washington, ^ United States of America. I am, by occujjation, a hunter and fisherman. I own the schooner Lottie^ which is of about 28 tons burden. I bought the said schooner about seven years ago. I have been engaged in hunting seals about twenty-four years. In my early years I hunted seals in canoes and with spears in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, and about 80 miles oft' Cape Flattery. I killed seals for food and for their skins, getting about $3 apiece for each skin. About fifteen years ago Willie Gallick, who had a trading post here, had three or four schooners, and employed Indians to go sealing and sail liis vessels. They would put their canoes and spears on board the schooners and go out and hunt about 20 or 30 miles off tlie coast, as far south as the Columbia Eiver and north to Barclay Sound. A few years later some of the Indians owned, or partly, an interest in the schooners. About six years ago the ^uyed Adams i&%q Britishschooner J.//refZ J.f?rtms camehere, and her mas- "'"*' ter engaged Indian hunters to go sealing in the Bering Sea. Until three or four years ago fused nothing but spears in himtiug seals; now I sometimes use a gun. Seals generally appear off Cape Flattery about tlie 20th of Decemljer, but during FiSriTecembS the last four or five years there have not been near as many coining to the strait or on the coast as in former years. 'I'here are a few in the strait, but we do not hunt them now, and can not secure more than one-sixth as many in a season as we used to a few years ago. In spearing seals I use a hari)oon with either one or two barbs, sim- ilar, but smaller than that used in taking whales. The harpoon has a handle about 12 or 14 feet long, and a strong line, about 70 feet h)ng is attached to the barb, the other end of which is fastened to the canoe. We throw the spear at a seal with both hands, and when the spear or 382 TESTIMONY xiarpoon hits a seal the barb ber-omes detached from the handle but is securely fasteued in the body. Tlie handle floats upon the water and is afterwards secured and is used auaiu. I lose but ^^success with the ygry few seals that I hit with the "harpoon. When white men or traders began coming in here with schooners they offered us large inducements to go cruising for seals and we commenced going farther from land but did not notice any decrease in the nuud^er of seals each year, until about six or seven years ago, when vessels with white hunters and armed with shotguns began to appear in considerable numbers off the coast. Since that time the decrease has been very rapid. We often take seals that have been wounded with a rifle or shotgun, and in their bodies there are a large number of shot. When sealing along the coast it is seldom that I have seen or captured an old bull. I have caught quite a large number of gray pups or yearlings, and they are about equally male and female. About ,, ,, ,„ ,, one-half of all seals that I have caught in the strait Ahout half caught, ., . „ ,, '^ .,, pregnaut females. or Oil the coast wcre lull-grown cows with pups in them, and I have never caught a full-grown barren Appear about Jan- ^o^, iior ouc that had givcu birth to her young, and uary 1 near Cape was ill milk. About the Ist of January seals begin Flattery. ^^ appear around the cape and slowly make their way nor-tli and are gone by the middle of July. The grown cows are the first to go, and leave before the middle of June. Young seals remain to the last. In hunting with guns, I usually get about two out of five that I shoot; sometimes I would wound one and it Waste of life. "vvould get away and it Avonld probably die; sometimes I would kill the seal dead and it would sink iu the water almost as quickly as a rock, and unless we were quick to reach it, it would be lost. Sometimes we fish them up out of the water with a gaff hook, and would secure a few that way. In 1887, about the 1st of June, I went into the Bering Sea in my own schooner, the Lottie, and hunted about CO miles off the ^^a^''■HTuXf'''^ the islands and secured about 700 seals, most all of 1891, m Bering Sea. • -n mi i .:i -n • whi(;li were cows in milk. These cows had milk in their breasts, but had no pups in them. I returned to the Bering Sea in my own boat, the Lottie, in 1889, and also in 1891, and sealed all the wav fi'om 100 to 180 miles from the St. George and St. ^Mo«tiy milking fe- p^^^^^ island s. Tlic catch of these two years were of about the same character as those caught in 1887, and _ ^""'"'.Y T^^ "" were mostly females that had given birth to their young and were in milk. I know of no place along the coast Pelagic hirtii un- wliorc scals haul out upoii tlic land, nor do I think "°^^"' that they give birth to their young in the water or on the kelp. I am acquainted with the different tribes of Indians along the coast of Yancouver Island, and have never heard them say that seals haul out upon the land on the coast or in Barclay Sound. I am unable to tell a male seal from a female M'hile in tlie water, unless it be an old bull with a long wig. Seals used to be very plentiful, and I never noticed any decrease in their number until white hunters com- menced coming here and killing them with guns, about six or seven yeaxs ago. Since that they have decreased very rapidly and have got very shy. Our tribe used to have no diffi- culty in catching 8,000 to 10,000 seals, and now we can not get a thou- sand. We eat the meat of the seal and depend largely upon it for our subsistence. James CLAPLANnoo. TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 383 Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27tli day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Frank Davis, MaTiali Indian, sealer. PELAGIC sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Frank Davis, beinji' duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about GG years old,^a native Indian of the Makah tribe, reside on the Neah Bay Eeservation, in the County of ClaHam, State of Waslnngton, and my occupation is that of a hunter and fisherman. 1 have been engaged in seal-liunting for about seventeen years. Experience I have always hunted in canoes and with spears, and years ago would kill a great many seals. 1 was up in isgg. ■^''"°s Sca in the Bering Sea sealing in 1889 and have not been there since. All the other years I have been seal-hunting along the coast, between Grays Harbor and Barclay Sound. A few years ago seals were very i)lentiful in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. It is not now so. They are so scarce in the straits that we do not liunt for ._ them there any more. In all of my experience in seal- ing on this coast I liave killed but one cow seal that had milk in her bieast and that had given birth to her pup. I do not know what be- came of the pup. I have killed a very few barren cows, along the coast. Nearly all of the full-grown cows along the coast have pups in them, but the seals I caugTit in Bering Sea were most all cows in milk. The cows seem to disappear from the cows.'' "^ ^^ ^°" coast sooner than the youug seals do. The seals first appear off the cape about Christmas, and I have caught youug seals as late as July. Seals do not haul AppearotTCaiieFMt- out upon the land along the coast and breed; nor do terv about ciiii'stmis. they give birth to their young in the water nor on the co!il't anybnid."'' "" kelp. One time, when hunting along the coast with a No pelagic birth. spear, our canoe took 100 seals in five days, but we can not catch as many now. They are very shy and wild, so that if we get two or three now in five days we would be doing very well I have caught only eight seals this year. Before the white man came here to hunt seals with the shotgun and riile, five or six years ago, they were not so wild as they are now, and by this time in a year I would have had a lumdred or more seals. When I get seals now a great many have shot in them, a thing I never saw before until about six or seven years ago. his Frank x Davis. mark. Witness: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27tli day of April, A. D 1892. [SEAL.J (ILAIJENCE P. r>i;OWN, Notary Fuhlic in and for the iState of Washington. 384 TESTIMONY Deposition of Jeff B avis, MuTiali Indian, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Jeif Davis, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 24 years of age, and am a native Makah Indian, and reside on the reservation at the Neah Bay Agency, in the county of Clallam, State of Washington, United States of America. I am a hunter and fisher- Experience, man. Since 187G I have been engaged inhuntiug seals most of the time in large canoes, each canoe carrying three Indians, who used spears, i sat m tiie middle of the canoe and was known as the paddler. Tlie one who sat in the stern steered the canoe, and the one in the bow was the hunter. Years ago, in* the winter time, seals were plenty in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, and I have hunted and helped to catch them up the Straits as far a Pysht, which is about 37 miles from Cape Flattery. Of later j^ears they have quit coming in the straits and we do not hunt for them there any more. I also used to hunt seals in canoes up and down the coast from Cape Flattery. In those days there were a great many seals along the coast. They traveled in little herds of from ten to fifteen each, and we could sometimes creep up on them when they were asleep on Success with the j-j^g water and spear one or two before they got away. ^^'^^^' We usually secured all that we hit Avith the spear. About 10 or 12 years ago we began to hunt seals in schooners, and ven- tured farther out in the ocean and sealed for greater distances up and down the coast. I have sealed as far south as the Columbia River and as far up the coast as the north end of Vancouver Island. I have hunted seals in the Bering Sea for one season only. I went there in the schooner James G. HSwan in 1889. Most of Ja>n,e-ja.snan,i88d. the scals that we captured there that season were cows giving milk. I do not know where their pups were. I never caught any gray pups in the sea. I liave been Mostly milking fe- out Sealing Oil the coast this spring in a schooner that ^^^^^- carried ten canoes, with two hunters to each canoe. We were out three days and caught 5 seals. If we had been out that long six or eight years ago with the same crew, we would have taken between 00 and 100 seals. Seals are wild and Decrease. ^j^^ ^^^^^ ,^^^ havc becoiue vcry scarce. I think the reason for this is that they have been hunted so much by white hunters who use firearms. I have never killed any cows giving milk along the coast, and I do not think there is a place along the coast coSi.'"'* '"'""^ "^' "" where seals haul out and breed. They do not give birth to their young iu the water or on the kelp. Most of the Nopeagic ir i. >^(.f^ig caught ou the coast are females with pups in them, the balance are mostly young seals, both male and female. I never saw a black pup on the coast, and this year 1 have seen but very few yearlings. Jeff Davis. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clarence P. Brown, Notarij Puhlic in and for the State of Washington. TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 385 DejiositioH of Ullaluih, Makah Indian^ sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam.^ ss : Ellabusli, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am" about 30 years of age, and am a native Makali Indian, and reside on the Neali Bay Eeservation, in the county of Chillam, State of Wash- ington, United States of America. I commenced seal- Experience. ing in canoes along the coast and in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, about fifteen years ago, and have always hunted seals with spears until recently. Three Indians usually go with each canoe. About ten years ago I went hunting in the j/i«tini882 schooner Mist, owned by a white man. We cruised for '* '^^ seals along the coast, between the Columbia liiver and Barclay Sound. I have caught 9 seals this year, 5 of which had pups in themj the small ones did not have pups in them. The seals appear in ^^ ear in straits of the Straits of San Jaun de Fuca the latter part of De- sauJuanJieFucaiat- cember, and are all gone by the middle of July. In the ami^^re"ai?*^.'oTi''by months of January and February the pups in the cows middle of juiy. are so small that you will not notice them unless you cut the belly oi)en. All full-grown cows that I have au fuii-grown cows killed along the coast had i)ups in them, and have "^^ ^^^' never killed but one that had given birth to their young and were in milk, and have no recollection of having killed a barren cow. The younger ones do not have pups in them, and are about one-half male and one-half female. The full-grown cows leave this vicinity for the north earlier than the younger ones do. I catch more young seals in May and June than I do earlier in the co^sl'"'** ^^"^ "^°" season. Seals do not haul out ui^on the land along the coast and give birth to their young. I have never known pups to be born in the water nor on the kelp. No pelagic birth. About two years ago I begun to hunt with guns, but always carried a spear. Since I have been hunting with guns I lose a great many seals that I shoot. I kill some dead and „„^^*'*'' "^ ^^^ ''''^^ they sink like a rock. Some that I shoot are wounded and get away and probably die. I have caught a good many seals that had shot L; theih. Seals are not so plentiful now as they were a few years ago. They began to decrease about five or six years ago. A good many years ago I used to capture ecrea.se. seals in the Straits of San Jaun de Fuca, but of late years, since so many schooners and white men have come around liere shooting with guns, that only a few come in liere and we do not hunt in the straits any more. I used to catch forty or fifty seals in one day, and now if I get six or seven I M^ould have great luck. I have to go a long dis- tance to get seals now. Seals are wild and afraid of an Indian. Tliey have become so since the white man and the trader began to shoot them with shotguns and rifles. In a short time there will be no seals left for the Indian to kill with the spear. In hunting with the spear I get almost all the seals that I hit. .p^^r?""" ""'^^ **** Once, in the month of June, I caught a seal tliat had a pup in it. I carefully cut the pup out of its mother 271G— VOL n 25 386 TESTIMONY wim ^"^^ placed it in the water and it drowned. I have apcanno swim. ^^^^^^^ ^.^^^ pups out of the Hiothcr Seal and tried to rear them, bnt in two or three days it would sicken and die. Ellabush (his X mark). Witness: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Snbscribed and sworn to before me on the 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washin(jto7i. Deposition of Alfred Irving, Mal'ah Indian, sealer {master). PELAGIC SEALING. S'J'ATE OF Washington, .County of Clallam, ss : Alferd Irviui;-, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about M] years old, and am a native Makah Indian, and reside Experience. on the ISTeah Bay Keservation, State of Washington, United States of America. My occupation is hunting and fishing, and I am one of the headmen of my tribe. I am master and one-half owner of the schooner Mary Parler. I have been en- gaged in hunting seals ever since I was old enough. Formerly my tribe hunted in canoes and used s]iears exclusively, but in the last two years a few of them have used shotguns. Previous to about ten years ago we seldom went more than 20 miles out to sea and sealed about that distance off Gape Flattery. Since that time some of our tribe have owned three or four small schooners, and those that go out in them put their canoes and spears on the schooners and are carried tTom 50 to 75 miles off Cape Flattery and along the coast from Colum- bia River to Barclay Sound. In the earlier years when I went hunting we would not go out of the Straits of San Juan de sat^ juTii ° le'^'^Fuca ^uca duriug tlic wiutcr nioutlis and early in thesi)ring. about 1st of Jaimaiy, Thc scals commcncc to appear in the Straits of San Juan miliioTjSy. '"''"''* de Fuca about the 1st of January or the last of Decem- ber and come and go to the middle of July. The gen- eral course seemed to be to the north, and by the middle of June the grown cows were most all gone, but the younger ones used to be quite plentiful until about the middle of July, when they would also dis- appear. I have always used spears in hunting seals, and seldom wounded or hit one that I did not get, until in 1891, which year^ spearf*'''^ ^' ' * ^*' aud the oulj* ouc, I weut to Bering Sea and used the Waste of life shotguu part of the time. I found in the use of the shotgun that a gicat many of the seals that were killed m^ei^u Beriu^'sel!'" ^^^ wouuded wcrc lost, and that those that I secured in the Bering Sea were nearly all females that had given birth to their young and were in milk. Our vessel captured about 4G0 seals at a distance of about 100 miles from the Pribyjov Islands, most aU of which were cows in milk. We used shotguns and secured about TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 387 two seals out of five that we shot. About oiie-lialf of those caught along the coast were full-grown cows with pups in them, a few were mediuui-sized males, and the rest were feSs"ak.nrcoTsr* younger seals of both sexes. I have never caught a full-gTown cow in the straits or along the coast that did not have a pup in her. I am intimately acquainted with the coast from here to Bar- clay Sound, and I know of no place, nor have not heard of any place, where seals come to land, nor co?l°°* ''^"^ "^ ""^ neither do I believe it to be possible for them to have p^j^^j^, ^j^.^^^ ^^ their young in the water or on the kelp and have their possible'.*' ^ ™' pups live. Seals are not as plentiful now as they were Dg^rease before white men commenced hunting them with guns around here some six or seven years ago. They are more shy now and it is much more difficult for the hunters to creep up and spear them than it was a few years ago. If they keep on killing them with the guns there will be none left in a little while. ^ His Alferd X iRvma. mark. Witness : John P. McGlinn. 0. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th dav of April, A. D. 1802. [SEAL.] ClAKENCE P. BROWN, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Islilca, Malcah Indian, sealer, pelagic sealinc State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Ishka, being duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is about 60 years. I am a native Indiaii of the Makah tribe, and reside on the reservation at the Neah Bay Agency, in the State of AVashington, United States of America. I am by occupation a fisherman. I have hunted seals along the coast ever since I was old ^^ erience enough to do so. I have always used spears while hunt- ^i*®"*'^*'*'- ing the seals in canoes. I have hunted seals in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, 40 or 50 miles oft' Cape Flattery, until about seven years ago; since then I have frequently gone as far south as the Columbia Kiver and to the northward to the far end of Vancouver Island, and fully one-half of the seals we catch are cows with young in them. I have been out seal i n g once this year and we cap- aant'cowsf '^^^^ ^"^^' tured three seals; one of which, in dividing them up, became mine. The one I got was a fidl-grown cow with a pup in it. In the months of January and February the pups in the cows are so small that one will not notice whether the cow is pregnant or not unless he cuts her open, but later on in the season it may be observed without cutting them open. I have never killed a cow on the coast that had given birth to her pup and was giving milk, ^ ^ ^ , 1 T „i^i c<,„iiDo uot haul upon nor have I ever seen a pup born the same year. Seals coast. do not haul out upon the lan.d along the coast and ^j-^^y^i"™ ^ ^^**" breed, nor do they give birth to their- young in the "' **" *^ ^" 388 TESTIMONY water or upon the kelp. I think a pup born in the water or upon kelxJ would sink and die. Years ago we could see seals all over the water. Pelagic birth impos- '^^^y **^'^ "^t SO plentiful uow. They have been grow- siiiit'. " ing- less and less ever since the white man came in and Decrease began to huut them with guns, about six or seven years ago, and so many vessels went into the business. ISHKA (his X mark). Witness: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and SAVorn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL,.] Clarence P. Brown, notary Fublic in and for the State of Washington. Dcjpositlon of Sehvish Johnson, Maliah Indian, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Selwish Johnson, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 30 years old; am a native Makah Indian, and reside Experience. ^^ ^^^^ -g^y.^ ^^ ^j^^ Indian Reservation, State of Washington, United States of America. My occupation is that of hunting and fishing. I have been engaged in catching seals ever since I was old enough to do so, and have always hunted with a spear. In former years we used to liunt in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, and in the summer around Cape Flattery, but for the last few years we have had to go farther to get them, and now we hunt from Columbia Eiver to Barclay Sound. We put our canoes and spears on board of a schooner, and go out from 10 to 00 miles off Cape Flat- . . tery. Have been out this season, and caught thirteen pregnaut cows" ^"^^ seals arouud Cape Flattery, seven of which had i:)ups with the ^^ them, the balance being young seals, about one-half spear. each of male and female. We lose but very few seals that we hit with a spear. In all of my experience as Sex inrtistinguish- a scal huutcr I have cai)tured but one or two old bulls. able in the water. j ^^^^ uiuiblc to distinguish a male seal from a female _ , , , ^ seal while at a distance in the water. I have never Do not haul out on , • -ii i j-i i. ii coast, oi give birth to caught a COW 111 milk aloug the coast, nor a small j)up ^oung iuVater or on ^j^^^- J^.^^J j-^ggjj |j^,yjj ^|j.j|. ygj^j._ g^,j^|g ^^ ^^^ j^.^^^2 ^^^^ ^^' upon tlie land and breed, along the coast, nor give Decrease. birth to their young in the water or on the kelp. About six years ago 1 noticed the seal herd began to decrease, and they are getting less each year ever since the white hunter came about here and coinmenced killing them with guns. They kill and wound a great many that they do not Waste of life. get. I have speared a great many seals that had shot in them. They are very scarce now, and very wild TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 389 and difficult to catcli. If liuuted with guns tliey will Appear off cape all soon be destroyed. Seals appear off Cape Flattery and'jImJaryrandaro in December and January, and nearly all of them are goneby Juiy'i. gone by the first of July. Hia Selwisii X Johnson. mark. Witnesses : John P. McGltnn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1S92. [SEAL.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of WasJmigton. Reposition of James Lighthouse, Malcah Indian sealer. PELAGIC sealing. State of Washin(^ton, County of Clallam, ss: James Lig]ithouse, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a na- tive Indian of Makah tribe, and reside at Neah Bay, on the Indian Ke- servation, in the State of Washington, United States of America. I am about 55 years of age, and my occupation is that of hunting and fishing. I am the owner of the schooner Experience. C. C. Ferhins. I have been engaged in sealing and fish- q^ c?. FerUns. ing ever since I was old enough to do so. I have al- ways hunted seals with the spear, and have never used the gun or been in Bering Sea. I have always sealed in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, and around Cape Flattery, and up and dowii the coast from Barclay Sound to the Columbia Kivcr. I commenced going North to Barclay Sound about ten years ago. Seals are not nearly so ^ plentiful now as they used to be. About seven years ago white men commenced to hunt seals in this vicinity with guns, since which time they have been decreasing in numbers and have be- come wild and hard to catch. I am intimately acquainted with the bays and coast from here to Barclay Sound, and I know of no place on the coast, neither have I heard of any, where seals haul out upon the land and give birth to their young, coasV* ^"^''^ "^ °° nor do I believe that they give birth to their young in the Avater or on the kelp. Of all the seals captured bv ^^o not born in tiio me, about one-half of them, I think, were cows with ^•'^teroron keip. pups iu them, and it is very seldom that I have ever caught a full- grown cow that was barren or did not have a pup in one-baif of seals her; nor have I, in my long exjierieuce, caught a cow taken are pregnant tliat was in milk, or tbat had recently given birth to '^""'^• her young. I seldom ever kill an old bull, for there are but very few of them that mingle with tlie herd along the coast. I am unable to tell a male seal from a female while in the water, unless it be an old bull with a long wig. Seals are not as plentiful and are more shy than they used to be, aud are more difficult to catch, be- cuuse they have been hunted so nuudi for the last five or six years with guns. 390 TESTIMONY My tribe used to hiiiit exclusively m canoes, and did not go mans* _ miles from tlie cape, but in the last ten or twelve years Hunting by Indians. .^ ^.^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^.j^^ liuuters put tlicir cauocs ou the small schooners, owned by some of us, and we go farther out into the sea, and from the Columbia Kiver to Barclay Sound, to hunt seals. Unless we use guns we will have to stop hunting them, for they are ■^ . ,., getting so wild we can not catch many. I know that a ^V^aate of life & o ^ *.' great many nmst be lost by the white hunters, for a great many that I catch have shot in them, and some are badly wounded. The first seals appear in the strait and on the coast about the last of Mio-r tio of I>ecember and feed along the coast, and seem to be igra ion o seas. ^Q^j^jj^g slowly to tlic uorth, Until about the middle of June, at which time the cows are pretty much all gone, but the smaller seals remain until about the middle of July. I seldom see an old bull, and when I do he is much farther from land, and it is early in the season. Formerly, we used to hunt seals for food and sold the skins to traders Prices of skin ^^^ ^"^ ^^" f*^ ^^ch, but for the last few years we have been getting big i)rices for the skins and we catch all ^indisciiniinate kiu- ^^^ ^^^^ without regard to size or sex. Ten years ago "' I seldom saw a white hunter shooting seals, but now Waste of life. the sca is full of them and they are banging away all the time, getting some but killing and wounding a great many they do not get. liis James x Lighthouse. mark. Witness: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clakence p. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Osly, MaMh Indian sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of CI all am, ss: Osly, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native Makah Indian, and reside on the Indian reservation at Neah Bay, in Clallam County, State of Washington, United States of America. I am about 28 years old, and am a fishennan and hunter by occupa- Experience. tiou. I liave bcon engaged at seal hunting along the coast for the last ten years. At first I hunted in large canoes, but soon commenced to go hunting in schooners. I have sealed all along the coast, from the mouth of the Columbia Eiver to the passes ^ , ^ ^^ , leadinginto theBeiingSea,and do notknowof anyplace Seals do not haul up ,, ^ . , i i i x j-i i i a ^„i.^ on coast, and are not OU the coast wlicio scalsliaul out upou the iaiKl. bcals born in water or on ^^^^ ^^^^ gj^^ ^^j^.^j^ ^,, |]jj^,jj^. youiig iu the watcr uor Oil the *^ ^' kelp. About six years ago I went to Bering Sea, as a Favorite, 1886. a huntcr, OU the sealing schooner Favorite, McClean, master. She carried one stern boat and ten canoes; TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 391 we captured about 4,700 seaLs, most all of vrLicli were catcL mostly preg COW seals giving milk, ilie iiiajonty ot the seals we caught in the Eeriug Sea were cows tliat had given birth to their youug. We captured these at a distance ot about 100 miles away from the Pribylov Islands. We used tlie spear more than the gun, and secured nearly all of them that we hit with it, but lost a great 1 -1 , -, . p I 4.1 Waste of life, many seals that we shot; we prefer to use the s])ear, because in so doing we do not lose so many nor fiighten them away. About four years ago I Avent to Bering Sea as a hunter in the seal- ing schooner C7(rt//cH^/e/', Williams, master. She carried „, „ ,„„„ boats and one canoe. There were three white men m each boat and two Iiulians in the canoe. We caught about 2,000 seals, most of Avhich v\"ere cows in milk. . catch mostly uura- The white hunters who used guns in the Bering Sea ""scows. were banging away at the seals sometimes all day long, and they wcmld lose a great many of those that thej' had shot. I do not think that they brought to the sch.ooner one-half of those that they killed, to say noliiing- of those that they wounded and g-ot away. I am unable to tell the sex of the seal while it is in the water, unless it be an old bull with a long wig. In 1889 I again went to the sea, in the school er James G. Swan. Seals were not so thick in the sea that year as they were about four years previous to that time. Seals are like- •^'"^'' ^- ^^«'^'i889 wise rapidly decreasing all along the coast. I have Decrease. never killed an old bull or barren cow along the coast, neither have I killed a cow in milk along the coast, or anywhere else than in the Bering Sea. Small black pups ai e not eeen in the water along the coast. Seals first appear off Cape Flattery about the 1st of January, and pass on up the coast and begin co-^t^^*^^'" "'"''*' "^ to disappear in June, the old cows leaving first, and about the last of June they are all gone. OSLY (his X mark). Witness : C. P. Be OWN. John P. McGlinn. Subscribed and sworn before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892 [l. s.] Claeence p. Beown, Xoiary Puhlic in and for the State of Washington, residing at I'ort Angeles, Wash. De])osition of Wilson ParJcer, Indian sealer. habits pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Wilson Parker, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native Makah Indian and live on the reservation atJSeah P>ay, State of Wash- ington, United States of America, and am by occupa- tion a hunter and fisherman. I have been engaged in gp^n,^,r'®"'^^ Indian seal hunting for about eighteen years; the first eight or ten years I used to go as a steerer-man in large canoes, three men in 392 TESTIMONY a canoe, and tlie Indians in tlie canoe used spears. Welinnted 10 or 15 miles oft' shore and about the same distance north and Seahng off coast. ^^^^^^^ ^^j. ^j^^^^^ Flattery. I used to hunt for seals in the Straits of San Jimn de Fuea, but of late years have not done so because the seals do not come into the straits any more. During the last eight Or ten j^ears I have been hunting seals in smaller canoes and were taken farther out to sea by schooners that Avould carry ten or fifteen small canoes, each canoe manned by twolndiaiis. I have sealed in that man- ner all the way along the coast from the Columbia Eiver to the upper end of the Vancouver Island and have never seen a co?rt.""*^ ^''"'^ "'^ '™ pl^ce along there where the seals hauled out upon the land. Seals do not give birth to their young in the "water nor on the kelp. I never saw any black pups in the water, but we used to catch a great many more gray pups than we do noAV, and I have never captured any cows along the coast that were giving milk and that had given birth to their young that year. I never have cap- tured any full-grown cows on the coast that were bar- bif In Sr!''^"''^'''*' I'f^"? ''"fl seldom see any old bulls and can not tell the sex of a seal in the water. Seals are very nuich more scarce than they were when I began to seal in schooners. I never see any more big herds Decrease. jjj^^ j ^^^^^^rj ^^^ ^^^^^ |^ -^ ^^^^^^j^ ^^^^,^ difficult to get tO them now than in former years. They have got wild and shy, because they have been hunted too nuicli with guns. I have lieen out seal- ing this year and caught 10 seals; 5 of them were full-grown cows that had pups in them. The rest were young seals about 2 years old, both male and female, excepting 1, and that was Migration. ^ ^.^^^^ ^^^^^^ rj,^^ ^^^.^_, g^,^^ appear in this vicinity about the 1st of January, and pass along up the coast in June and July. The cows most all disapi)ear in June and tbe younger seals a little later. „ . , . , . I have always hunted with a spear and never with Has not Liinteu in -, -, " , • -r, • c^ Bering Sea. a guu, and havc never been m Bering Sea. ^^ his Wilson x Parkee. mark. Witnesses: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] * Clarence P. Brown, Wotary Public in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Chestoqua Fetcrson, cleric of trader. pelagic sealing-. State oe Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Chestoqua Peterson, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 24 years of age, and am the son of Peter Brown, the chief of the Makah Indians. I reside at Keah Bay, Clallam County, State of Wash- Experience. iugton. United States of America. I am by occupa- tion a clerk in the trader's store here, and I speak the TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 393 Eiiglish language well, and can interpret the Chinook and Indian lan- guages. During the last eight yi ars I have been engaged in buyin*;: and liandling seal-lurs for my employer at Xeali Bay. I assort the furs into different classes and qualities and usually divide them into four grades — first, .second, third, and fourth. The first-class is composed mostly of the skins of fall-grown cows. I distinguish the skins of males from those of cows because the skins of the ccjws have white whiskers and those of males Wi 1 • 1 Classes of skins. ack whiskers. The second class I place the skins of younger seals that are 2 years old and over. They all have black whiskers, both male and fenuile, except perhaps a few seals, whose whiskers are beginning to turn white. The third-class I place the skins of all seals that are less than 2 years old, excepting the gray pups. The fourth-class 1 put the gray pups. The third and fourth classes are about half male and half female. About one-third of all the skins taken here are graded as first-class skins, and are mostly female skins. In former years the Indians would take a greater i)roportion of pujis than they do now. I know this be- cause of the skins that are offered for sale now. In the schooner James (}. Sicati this year the Indians captured ^'^''rease. 198 skins, and among the whole lot there were only 2 skins of pups. The seals taken far off" the shore are larger than those caught near the coast or in the straits. Tliere are not as many seal skins offered for sale now as in former years, and last James G.swan,i892. year our people caught less than one-eighth of what they used to prior to 1886. Chestoqua Peterson. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [sEAi,.] Clarence P. Brown, Rotary Public in and for the State of Washington, Deiyosition of John Tysum, Malcali Indian (sealer). habits. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, Comity of Clallam, ss: John Tysum, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am about 29 years old. I am a native Indian of the jNIakah tribe ; 1 reside on the reservation at the Xeah Bay Agcn<'y. I am by . Experience, occupation a hunter and fisherman. I have been en- gaged in huutinii' seals ever since I was old enough. In 1889 I entered tlie Bering t>ea in the schooner James G. ■^«^<'««-^«'««.'889. Swan. I was never there before, nor have I been there ^ ,. , ^. since. About two years ago 1 began to hunt seals with the shotgun, but I have always carried a spear in my canoe, and frequently use it. 1 have sealed np and down tlic coast in canoes between De- struction Island and the north end of Vancouver Island. In latter years I have gone seal hunting in schooners tlial carried Indian canoes. Generally each canoe is manned by three Indians, one of which carries a sx)ear. When a seal or a school of seals are sighted the canoe is low- 394 TESTIMONY ered and the Indians go toward tlie vseal and try to capture tliem, and at night we return to the schooner with our catch. The seals are placed on board tlie schooner and skiiiiiod, sometimes the carcasses are thrown ^ ^ into the sea, and sometimes tliey are saved for food. ijira ion. Seals ai)pear on the coast about the last of December, and they are nearly all gone up north by the middle of July. About half the seals caught along the coast are cows that have white , whiskers and have pui)S in them. A good many young Preguant females. , ,„ ,,. -i.r» ii males and lemales, irom 1 to 2 years old are cap- tured. They all have black whiskers. I have never killed any old bulls along the coast, but have killed a coSTt."''* ^'"""^ "^ "" very few large cows late in the season that were bar- ren. Seals do not haul out upon the land along the coast and give birth to their young; nor do they breed on Waste of life. ^^^ j^^j^^ ^^, -^^ ^^^ wuter. I gct luost all the seals that I hit with the spear. I lose about one-half of those I shoot with a gun. If I kill a seal right dead, it sinks almost as quick as a rock, and if it is slightly wounded they run away and are lost. I have captured a great many seals with the spear, and found shot . p, . „ ii' them. I have never captured any cows in milk Sea^ *°^ '° '^^"''^ along the coast, but when in the Bering Sea, in 1889, 1 sealed off about 90 miles from the seal islands and caught cows in milk there. During the last 5 or C Dtciease. yeais scals have decreased in numbers very rapidly. A great many of the white men are poor hunters, and lose Waste of life. ^ ^.^.^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^-^^ ^^^^^ .^j^.^^ ^j^^^^ ^j^^. ^^_ ^,j^^y ^j^^^^^^ and shoot, and shoot, and don't get any seals, and that makes them wild, so that an Indian can't get near them isr.i ion. "with a spear. The cow seals leave the vicinity of Cape Flattery sooner than the young seals do and are almost all gone in June, but I have killed young ones as late as July. bis John x Tysum. luai'k. Witness: John P. McGltnn. - 0. E. Gay. Subscribed aud sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D., 1892. [SEAL.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington. Dejiosition of WatJdns, MaJcah Indian scaler. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam^ ss: Watkins, being buly sworn, deposes and says: That I am a native Makah Indian, and reside at jSTeah Bay On the Indian Eeservation in ,the State of Washington, United States of America. My age is about 35 . years, and I am a hunter and fisherman by occupation. xpenence. ^ havc been hunting seals all my life, or since I was old ijnuthf"'^ "^*^'*"^'* "'^ enough. Previous to ten years ago I always hunted "" seals with a spear in a large canoe, and ti'om 20 to 30 Taken among the makah Indians. 395 miles aronud Cape Flattery and from GO to 100 miles up and down the coast. Each canoe carried 3 Indians, and I was the spearman, and generally secured about all of the seals that I hit, but would sometimes miss them and they would swim away. In hunting with schooners during the last ten or twelve years we would take ten or fifteen smaller canoes on board and go up and down the coast from the mouth of the Columbia Kiver to the upper end of Vancouver Island. We send but 2 men out in the small canoe. I have always used ^o guns used the spear in hunting the seals and none of the hunters Guns Mghten the that went with me ever used the gun. We do not like *®''^^- to use guns because it scares the seals away. I do not know of any place along the coast where the seals haul out upon the land and give birth to their young, nor can ^^^^^ ^^^ ^_^^^ .^ they give birth to their young in the water or on the water. kelp and have them live. Within the last five or six Decrease. years the seals are becoming fewer and fewer, and are wild and shy and very hard to catch. Most of the seals Pregnant females captured along the coast are cows with pups in them. I have never captured any cows in milk or that had given birth to their young that year on coast, and I do not recollect of ever hav- ing caught an old bull. The seals first appeared about no old buiis caught. the cape the last of December, and the grown females off coast December all leave for the north in June, but we kill some of the tiiuune. younger seals up to the middle of July, and then they leave. I have not caught any gray pups this year and have never hunted seals in the Bering Sea. So many schooners and white men are ,. ,. ,.*,, .,-, "^ ni ,1 1 l^ j_ J_^ !N o grav pups caiight. hunting them with guns all along the coast that they ^ ^ . ^ ,^ . 11 1 -ii T iM? Extermination. are getting all killed oil. Watkins (his X mark). Witness: C. P. Brown. John P. McGlinn. Subscribed sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal,.] Claeknce p. Brown, Notary Public in and/or the titate of Washington^ residing at Port Angeles, Wash. Deposition of Charley White, MaMh Indian, sealer. habits. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Charley White, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 40 years old, and am a native Makah Indian. I reside on the Indian Keservation at Neah Bay, State of Wash- ington, United States of America. I am by occupation a hunter and fisherman, and have been so engaged all my life. 1 have hunted seals in canoes all along the coast, between Grays Harbor and the northern end of Vancouver Island. Years ago we went out in the ocean in canoes, but in later i.iJ^uUilr^" °^ i"'^"'» years we take our canoes out on the ocean in schooners and then hunt seals from the schooners. Have never been any farther 396 TESTIMONY north til an Barclay Sound. I have always used spears in hunting the seals, and very seldom lose one I hit. While out hunt- prefemintfemaie^^^^ i"*^' thi« y*-'«i' we caught sixtccu seals: one-half of them were cows with pup, the remainder were yearlings and two years old, of both sexes. Seals begiu to apjiear on the coast the latter part of December, and they are almost all gone by the 10th of jj. ^^.^ July. Tlie cows appear to leave for the northward igra ion. earlier than the younger ones. Wliile out seal hunt- ing last year I captured a few seals that the white hunters had wounded and lost, and found a good many shot in their bodies. I have captured a good many seals lately that had buckshot in them. Seals do not haul out on land at Barclay Sound nor along the coast, ^^^^^f """^ ^°™ ^ nor do I think they give birth to theii' young iu the water or on the kelp. Seals were always plenty in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and ^ aio]ig the coast until the white hunter came here and commenced shooting them some six or eight years ago. Since that time they have decreased very rapidly. his Charley x White. ^^ mark Witness: John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 181»i>. [SEAL.] ClAKENCE P. BrOWN, Ifotary Fiiblic in and for the State of \Vashington. Deposition of Wis2)oo, Indian, sealer, habits. pelagic sealing. State op Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Wispoo, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native Indian of the Makah tribe, and reside on the reservation at Neah Bay. I am about 35 years old, and am by occujjation a hunter xponence. ^^^ fishemiau. I have hunted seals all my life, or since I was old enough to do so. I have sealed up and down the coast, between the mouth of the Columbia Eiver and the upper end of the Vancouver Island and Barclay Sound. I am familiar with the bays and inlets along the coast, and I do not know of coSt.^°* ^^"^ ^^' °^ ^^y place on the coast where the seals haul out upon the land and breed. They do not give birth to their pups in the water nor on the kelp. Sometimes daring a heavy storm a few seals will be driven on shore for a short time, but will not stay but a few hours. Until about eight years ago I used to catch seals in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, but for the last two Sealing in straits. ,-< at i i • xi x -j. or three years they liave been so scarce in the straits that we do not try to hunt them any more. About ten years ago I commenced hunting seals from schooners, using smaller canoes than I formerly did, and have always used spears in hunting e agic se mg. geals. About seveu or eight years ago schooners came TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 397 in with white men who used shotguns, and have gradually increased in number aud size of vessels, until now there are nearly one hundred sealing schooners engaged in sealing along the coast. Seals are not near so plentiful as they were seven or eight years ago. I think the cause of this is that they have been hunted so much by white hunters, who use shotguns aud rifles. ecrease. Most all the seals caught by me along the coast were cows that had pups in them. I never killed a barren takeu^''^* females cow or one that was in milk, and have never seen a black pup in the water along the coast, but used to capture a great many gray pups, but this year I have not seen one. Seals lirst appear off Cape Flattery about the last of December. The cows seem to leave first, and in July nearly all of the ^ig^'"**!""- seals have disappeared. I am familiar with the west coast of Vancou- ver Island, and have been in Barclay Sound, Clayquot Sound, and talked with the Indians there, and none of us know of any place along the coast where seals haul out upon the land and breed, nor have I heard any Indian si)eak of such a coSt°°* ''''"^ "p ^^ place. Seals do not give birth to their young in the water nor on the keli^. Many of the seals I have speared had shot and bullets in them. This was never seen before until about eiglit years ago, and now it is a frequent occurrence. WiSPOO (his X mark). Witness : John P. McGlinn. C. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAx,.] Olakence p. Brovs^n, Notary Fublic in and for the State of Washington. Deposition of Hish YuUa, Bfalah Indian, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss : Hish Yulla, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 00 years old, aud am a native Indian of the Makah tribe, and reside on the Neah Bay Eeservation, in the county of Clallam, State of Wash- ington, United States of America. I have been a hunter and fisher- man all my life. Years ago I used to hunt seals in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca in the winter time, and Experience, in the summer time I would hunt them in canoes from 10 to 20 miles off Cape Flattery, and of late years I hunt in a small canoe, and put it on a schooner and go up and down the coast between the mouth of tlie Columbia Biver and Barclay Sound. I have always used spears in hunting the seals. I have been out on the Pacific Ocean this year seal hunting, and caught three seals; they were large cow seals, and had pups in them. One and ar^fem^cs*^^ *^"^'^* two year old seals are about equally male and female. I 398 TESTIMONY have never seen a young black pup along the coast, nor give^birtii^o'pvpr on ^ Ijixvc uevcu kuowu the seals to haul out upon the coast. land along this coast and give birth to their young. I never killed a cow in milk along the coast. Within the Decrease. last fivc or SIX ycars seals have decreased in luimber very fast and are becoming very shy, and it is difficult to creep upon them and hit them with the spear. Years ago, the heads of seals along the coast would stick up out of the water almost as thick as the stars in the heavens, but since the white man, with so many schooners, have come, and began to shoot and kill them with the guns they have become very scarce. Almost one-half of the seals 1 catch are cow seals are pre/nanUemafes. and havc little pups iu them. The cow seids are the 'When seals leave A^'st to lea vc the coast, but the young seals stay longer coast. here, and are not all gone until in July. HiSH YuLLA (his X mark). Witness: John P. McGlinn. O. E. Gay. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1802. [seal.] Clakence p. Beotvn, Notary Fuhlic in and for the Slate of Washington. Deposition of Thomas ZoJnol'S, Malcah Indian, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of Washington, County of Clallam, ss: Thomas Zoluoks, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native Makah Indian and reside on the reservation at Neah Experience. ^^^^^ g^.^^_^ ^^. W^ashington, United States of America. I am 24 years old, and am by occupation a hunter and fislierman. I have been engaged in hunting seals ever since I was 9 or 10 years old. Until about 1880 I hunted seals in large canoes, in v.hich I always used the spear. In the last eight or ten years I have hunted for seals in small canoes carried on schooners, and sealed oft' Cape Flattery from 20 to 75 miles, and as far south as the Columbia Eiver and north up to the passage into IJering Sea, but have never hunted for seals in those waters. About One-third of cows oiie-thlrd of all the cows I caught along the coast were caught are pregnant, (.qws witli pups iu them; ucvcr cauglit any old bulls, and used to catch more gray pups than I do now. Most all the rest of the seals I caught have been 1 and 2 years old, and are about equally male and female. I never have seen or heard of a place along the coast Do not haul upon whcrc the scals haul out upou land. I neverhave seen oast- any pups born the same year, nor have I ever caught any cow seals on the coast that were in milk. Seals are much scarcer now than they used to be six or eight years ago. They used to go ten or fifteen in a bunch, but Decrease. ^^^^ ^^ scldom scc morc than two or three together. A great many that I have caught in the last tln-ee or four years have TAKEN AMONG THE MAKAH INDIANS. 399 shot in them, and many have been badly wounded. The seals first appear oil' the cape about Christmas, but do not come ^^pear off capo in the straits now lilvC they used to, and they are very Flattery about christ- shy and wild. They appear to be passing to the north- '"''^• ward, up the coast, and in July are nil gone. In hunt- ^^^ ,^j^,^^ mg with spears 1 capture nearly all that 1 hit. it so many white hunters keep liunting the seal with shotguns as they do now, it will be but a short time before they will all be gone. his Thomas x Zolnoks. mark. Witness: C. P. Brown. 0. Peterson. Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 27th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clarence P. Brown, Notary Fnhlic in and for the State of Washington. TESTIMONY TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. De]}Ositio7i of Charles Adair, staler {loat-j.tdkr). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : Charles Adair, having been (Inly s-svorn, deposes and says: I am by occupation a sailor. I reside in Port Town send. I have made two sealins; vovaces in the Korth Pacific and Bering Sea as seaman and boat pnller. In 1889 I went on the Ameri- james o . Sican.isso. c'Aii schooiier Jamcs G. iSican, and the other, in 1890, in Bosie oisen,is5o. the Eritisli schooner Ji'oiie Olscn, of Avhich Captain Mc- Lean was master. We left abont the 1st of March in the J«Mes (t. >SVa?«, the voyage being made about Cape I'lattery, the mouths of the Straits of Fuca and the entrance of Puget Sound, and Peia icseaiiii"- le ^^^'^^ gouc about six weclis. We caught about 185 males*" prii!dp"ify ta- scals, mostly icmalcs in young, and we killed them ^™- while they were asleep on the water. The first day I hunted we killed 15, and used rifles and shotguns, but we used the Waste of life shotguus mostly. We secured one out of about every five that we shot at or killed. The Bosie Olscn left Victoria about the 5th of March and went down to Neah Bay, down to Cape Flattery, about 80 miles south. W^e cruised around there about five weeks, and had about 275 seals, when we started north. Then we went to Queen Charlotte Sound on up to the Bering -„ . „ ^. „ Sea. We entered the Bering Sea through Muckawa entering. ' Pass about the 1st of July, and commenced hunting- seals wherever we could find them, among which were 30 to^fso^miies^troni a great nuiuy COWS giving milk, wliich we killed from islands. 30 to 150 miles from the islands. We had a row on . . board because some of the hunters were green hands enced! '^^' "^'^^^®"" and the men would not go out in the boats with them. They took the hunters out of our boats and put them into the other boats that made no catch, and then we kicked that they should put the green hunters into our boats, because everything they would shoot would sink on them and were lost. We cruised around there for awhile and finally the captain thouglit he would try the Boat uUer a of inlands. We got $30 a month, and 25 cents from the oa -pu er, payo. j^^j^^^j^g r^j^^ 25 cciits for cacli skiu off the boat. W^e Eaidmgtheisiands. rcfused to go Oil the isUinds Oil thosc teiiiis, as we did not care to take the risk unless he gave us $1.25 a skin. The captain would not give us that, so we crnised around again and at lastwecame to terms, the captain agreeing to give us $1 a skin. Wcthen 400 TESTIMOlSrY TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 401 went over toward St. Paul Island, but were driven away by a revenue cutter. We cruised around in tbe sea till tlie latter j)art of October, when we started for lionie. Our entire catch for that females, percent- season was 1,270 skins. 1 think we got on an average age of. about two males to ten females. An experienced waste of life. hunter would get one out of every three that he shot or euwd."**"^' ®^p®"" killed, and a green hunter would get about one out of Hunter, inexperi- every seven or eight that he shot or killed. ®^*''''^- Charles Adair. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of April, A. D. 1892^ [seal.] C3le]ment Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Charles J. Behlow, furrier, San Francisco. pelagic catch. State of California, City and County of 8an Francisco, ss: Charles J. Behlow, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside in San Francisco, State of California, and am by occupation ^^ erience a fur merchant, and have been so engaged permanently ^i'*^"*'''*'*^- for tlie last thirty-live years, during which time I have been constantly handling large quantities of raw fur-seal skins from all different loca- tions, and can readily distinguish the respective quality, size, age, and sex. On May 7 of this year 1 examined 355 salted fur-seal skins, ex-steamer Umatilla from Victoria, thf 'z7™a°i7l!»fi892'. °^ and found the same to be fresh skins taken off the animal within three months. They were killed in the North Pacific. On examination 1 found they were the skins known as the northwest coast seals, and belong to the herd which have their jf^rthwest coast rookery on the Pribilof Islands. The lot contained 310 seals. skins of the fur-seal cow (matured). From the shape ■Njeariyaiipregnani. of the *skin most all of these c;ows must have been heavy with- imp, and same cut out of them when ca])tured. Eighteen skins of the fur-seal male (matured). Twenty-seven skins of the fur- seal gray pup, from 6 to 9 months old; sex doubtful. On June 2, I examined 78 salted fur-seal skins, ex-steamer Walla Walla from Victoria, and found the same to be fresh skins taken off the animal within three months. They thf¥aHrL«a?892! were killed in the North Pacific. On examination I found they were the skins known as the North- west Coast seals, and belong to the herd which have their rookery on the Pribilof Islands. The lot contained Northwest Coaat i\Q skins of the fur-seal cow (matured). From the shape "^*Neariyaii pregnant. of the skin most all of these cows must have been heavy with pup, and same cut out of them when captured. Five skins of the fur-seal male (matured). Seven skins of the fiu'-seal gray pup, from 6 to 9 months old. Sex doubtful. On June 7 I examined 2C8 salted fur-seal skins ex-steamer Umatilla from Victora, and found the same to be fresh skins taken off the animal within three months. They were killed in the North Pacific. On examination I found they Nrr'uiw'oat^Coast were the skins known as the Northwest Coast seals, ^^^^^ ^^ )re''nant and belong to the herd which have their rookery ^^'^^^'^ pre^nan . on the Pribilof Islands. The lot contained 212 skins 2716— VOL n 2G 402 TESTIMONY of ttie fur-seal cow (matured). From tlie shape of tlie skin most all ol these cows must have beeu heavy with pup aud same cut out of them when captured. Eleven skins of the fur-seal male (matured). Forty- five skins of the fur-seal gray i)up, from to 9 months old. Sex doubtful. On the same date I also examined 124 salted fur-seal skins ex-Uma- ''Umatiiia " 1892 **'^^' ^^'^^^ Victoria, and found the same to be fresh skins taken oft" the animal within three months. They were killed in the Korth Pacilic. On examination I found they were the skins known as the j^orthwest Coast seals, and be- ^mithwest Coast i^ug to the herd wliich have rookery on the Pribilof Islaiuls. The lot contained 93 skins of the fur-seal cow (matured). From the shape of the skin most all of these cows must A- 1 „n „.o„„.^. have been heavy with T)up and sanie cut out of them ]Siearlj- all pregnant. i tti-jv i • x- xi x- ^ i when captured, inlteen skins ot the fur-seal male (matured). Sixteen skins of the fur-seal gray pup, from 6 to 9 months old. Sex doubtful. 1 notice on examining seals caught this spring that there is a lack of the larger size of productive animals, and the lots isidn^ "^^'^^^^'^ dimin- most'y coutaiii the skins of the medium-sized seals, running from 2 to 3 years of age. Chs. J. Behlow. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 24th day of June, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, ► Notary Publie. Dc2)osition of Charles J. Behlow, furrier y ISan Francisco. pelagic catch. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Charles J. Behlow, having been duly sworn, deposes aud saj'S: I re- side in San Francisco, State of California, and am by occupation a fur merchant, and have been so engaged permanently for the last thirty-five years, during which time I have been constantly handling large quantities of raw fur-seal skins fi-oin all dif-" ferent locations, and can readily distinguish the respective quaUty, size, age, and sex. On July 13, 1892, 1 examined 1,312 salted fur-seal skins, ex-schooner Examined catch of -E^'^^^m and Louise from the jSTorth Pacific Ocean, and the'sL-iiooncr Emma fouud saiiic to bc frcsli skius takcu off the animal with- and Louise. ^^ f^^^^, inouths. They were killed in the North Pacific. On examination I find they were the skins knowu as skins. ^^"^^^ "'^^ the Northwest Coast seals, aud belong to the herd Avhich have their rookery on the Pribylov Islands. The ceSfcmaris"'' ^''^ l^** coutaiued four skins of the fur-seal, large bulls (breeding bulls), 123 skins of the fur-seal, male (mostly matuied), 98 skins of the fur seal, gray pup, less than one year old, sex doubtful; 1,112 skins of the fur-seal, cow (mostly matured). From Mostly pre-Tiant thcsluipe of tlic skiu most all tlicsc cows must have been heavy with puj), and same cut out of them when cap- tured. Charles J. Behlow. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of July, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic, TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 403 Be-position of Charles J. BeJilow, furrier, pelagic catch. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Charles J. Behlow, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in the city and county of San Francisco, State of Cali- Experience fornia; I am by occupation a fur merchant, and have been so engaged permanently for the last thirty -five years, dirring which time I have been constantly handUng large quantities of raw fur-seal skins from many difierent localities, and I can readily distinguish the respective quality, size, age, and sex. On the 26th instant I examined fifteen salted fur-seal skins ex-schooner Rose Sparlis from the Korth Pacific Ocean, and found Examined catch the same to be fresh skins taken off the aminal within of the Rose sparks. two months. They were killed in the North Pacific, and that they are of the skins known as the Northwest Coast seals, and belonged to the herd which have their rookery on the Pribylov Islands. The lot contained : 2 skins of the fur seal (matured) ; ^^.^^^^ ^^ ^^.^^ ^ 2 skins of the fur-seal gray pup under one year of age the catch, (sex doubtful) ; 11 skins of the fur-seal cow (matured), ■nos.ny females. And from the shape of the latter most all of these cows must have been heavy with pup, and some cut out of them when cap- tured. Chs. J. Behlow. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of July, A. D. 1892. [sEAL.j Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of Charles J. Behloiv, furrier, pelagic catch. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : Charles J. Behlow, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, and I am by occupation a fur merchant and have been so en- gaged permanently ior the last thirty-five years, during ^penonce. which time 1 have been constantly handling large quantities of raw fur- seal skins from many different localities, and I can readily distinguish the respective quality, size, age, and sex. On the 29th instant I examined 2,170 salted fur-seal skins ex-schooner Fd. F. Webster, tliat were taken by said schooner off' the Examinati on of coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean. I found them to bo catch of the jEd. e. fresh skins skinned off tlie animal within four months ^''«'"'«''- last pastj and that they are of Lhe class of skins known as liussian seals, 404 TESTIMONY and they belong to tlie herd having its rookeiy on the Commander Islands and the Eobbius Bank. The lot contains 320 skins of the fnr-seal male (mostly matured) ; 105 skins of the fur-seal gray pup under one year of taSrcatch"""""' age (sex doubtful); 1,7-15 skins of the fur-seal cow (mostly matured). From the shape of the latter most y emae. ^^ ^^^ these COWS uiust liave been heavy with pup, and the same cut out of them when captured. I find the skin in this lot to run much larger in sizes than those known as the Northwest seals that are now taken on the American side. The greater i^ercentage of these 2,170 salted tur-seal skins are of the laige breeding cows with fully develo^^ed teats. Some years ago the catch of the Northwest seals taken in the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea (on the American side) contained a great number of the large breeding cows as above described; but of late years, on examiniug the catches, I find very few; and this year Old k of bre( i' ^^'^'^''^l^y ^^^y? pi'oviug couclusively that the old stock of ing cows almost tx- productivc COWS is aluiost exterminated. The herd to terminated. which the 2,170 scals above referred to belong, and Russian and Alas- kuowu as "Eussiau scal," aud have uo connection what- kauherdsdonotmin- cvcT witli the scals taken Oil the coast of North Amcr- ^^*^' ica or in the Bering Sea, and known as the Northwest seal, the herd that have their rookery on the Pribylov Islands. Chs. J. Behlow. Subscribed aud sworn to before mo this 30Mi day of July, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. DeposUion of William Bendt^ fitter-out of sealing vessels, and managing owner of the schooner Bowhead. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: William Bendt, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of saloon Experience. kccpcr and lodgiiig-liouse keeper. I have been engaged in fitting out sealing ^ essels and sending them to the North Pacific and Bering Sea for eight or nine years. I fitted out the schooners Fowler, Laura, G. R. White, and others. I am now the man- aging owner of the schooner Boichead. I furnished my ou^ti?''"""" '""'^ """'' vessels with rities and. shotgn US, and each vessel car ried from three to seven boats, Avith three men to the iiiii(fi'''ft-om^ Pribuof boat, a hunter, Doat-puller, and steerer,and when in the isianiis. Bering Sea we take seals from 10 to 150 miles from the Decrease ^^^^ islaiids. Thcrchas been a great decrease of seals in the last few years from what there was in former years. Prohibition neces- They are also getting shy aud scared from being hunted ^^^^' so much, and they are now very hard to catch. If they do not protect them in the Bering Sea it will be but a few years before they will be exterminated. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 405 There is very little m the sealing business now, the cost of fitting out a vessel being I'roni $5,000 to $0,000, and you have to take the risk of having your vessel confiscated. I sent my vessel this year over to the coast of Japan. There were some seventy-odd schooners fitted out last year from Victoria and they all got good catches, while from here there were only from ten to fifteen schooners fitted out, and thej- did not do as well. From my knowledge of the business I am certain that the fur-seal will soon be exterminated if it is not X)i'otected in the Ber- ing Sea. We might kill some in the Pacific Ocean, if there did not too many vessels go out to hunt them, I know of none, nor neither do I believe there is any place where the fur- PHbTior'i^Luas.^' °" seals haul up to breed on land along our shores or in the Bering Sea, except on Pribylov Islands, and further I do not believe it possible for the female to give birth poSl!" ''""*^' ""' to its young in the water and have it live. W. Bendt. Sul>scribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Martin Benson^ Healer, and master of James G. Sicar and Leo. PELAGIC SEALING. Martin Benson, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I have been engaged in sealing five years, as master of the James G. Sican and the Leo, in Bering Sea and iSTorth Pacific Ocean. I began ^j-pej-ience. to take seal oft' Cape Flattery about March 1. Fol- lowed the seal north and entered Bering Sea about Migration. July 20. The seal are constantly on the move up the coast from the time they first make their appearance oft" Cape Flattery. The spear and shotgun have Ijeen used by me. But few seal are lost that are struck with spear. About 60 per cent are lost when shot with shotgun and a larger proportion are lost when rifle is used. Seventy- seventy-five per five ]>er cent of the seal taken on the coast are cows cent cows with pup with pup. And the larger proportion of those killed *'*'^®"- in Bering Sea are also cows. Have killed cow seal, with milk in them, 05 miles from the Pribilof Islands. I think cow seal are tamer than young male vseal. A few male seal are taken, ages ranging from 1 to 5 years. Once in a while we catch an old bull in the Pacific Ocean. The sex of the seal can not be told in the water unless it be an old bull, which is told by its size. I use no discrimination in hunting, but kill everything that comes near. When seals are shot when tliey first put their . . . heads above water they sink at once and are hard to ^^ isciimma secure. Alwaystry to shoot seal in tlie head. If head is not exposed, we shoot them in other parts of the body. It is oidy a question of three or four years, if this indiscriminate Decease, slaughtering of seals is not stopi)ed, they will become exterminated. Kever have heard of or seen any pups ^ftoroi""aii.vu'ilcrc- being born in the water or anywhere else on the coast eiso outside riibiiof outside of the Pribilof Islands. I have never heard of 406 TESTIMONY Fur seal do not any furseal lumliiiii- up on the coast elsewliere than on haul up on coast else- ,i t^ -i -i f. , i V xji- i ■ t • i -i • where thim ou Prib- tlic I'l'ioiJot JshiiHls. It pehigic sealni<>' IS stoppetl IH iiot Islands. Bering Sea for a nuniber of years seal would become Protection. plentiful again; if not stopped they will soon be exter- minated. Martin Benson. Subscribed and sworn to befin-e me this 14th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Dejposition of Thomas Bradley, scaler {hoat-pullcr), PELAGIC SEALINa. State of California. City and County of San Francisco, ss: Thomas Bradley, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a seaman. aggie oss, . j^^ ms4^ I sliippcd on the Magpie Boss as a boat-puller for a sealing voyage to the North Pacific and Bering Sea. We left Victoria about May, going north, and sealed all the way to the Bering Sea. We had about sixty before entering the Bering Sea, nearly all of which were females with young pups in them. We entered the Bering Sea the middle of May and captured 300 while Mostly pregnant in there. Most of these were mother seals with their ^'^''^^^' breasts full of milk. We had six boats, lour men to a boat, two boat-pullers and a steerer and hunter. We Rifles used. killed thcni with rifles. We used to shoot at anything we ran across, and got about a third of what we killed Two-thirds lost. ^^ wouudcd. I do uot kuow how many miles off the seal islands we were when we caught them, as I did not know" the distances. Thos. Bradley. Subscribed and sworn to before ine this 15th day of April, A. D. 1S92. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of Thomas Broion {No. 2), scaler. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Thomas Browm, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a laborer. I made a seal- ing voyage to tlie Xorth Pacific and Bering Sea on d^AmMBerfagfel'. the Alexander, of whicli Captain McLean was master. We sailed from Victoria in January, 1885, going south to Cape Blanco, sealing round there about a month, when we bore north TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 407 to the Bering- Sea, sealing all the way up. We had 250 seals btfore en- tering the sea, the largest percentage of which were fe- q^^^^^^^ p^^t f^. males, most of them having young- pups in them. I males, mostly preg- saw some of the young pups taken out of them. We "'^''*- entered the sea along about the 1st of May and caught between 600 and 700 seals from 30 to 150 miles off the seal islands, and four out of five were females in milk. 1 saw the milk running on ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^,^^ the deck when we skinned them. We had six boats, miies from PribUof three men to a boat, a boat-puller, hunter, and steerer. inlands. They used mostly shotguns, using a rifle for long range. We got on an average three or five out of every twelve killed and wounded. It depends a great deal upon the weather. paUy'S! ^'''°"" There were lots of seals in the water at that time. Thos. Brown. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of April, A. U. 1892. fSEAi,.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of John G. GanfiveU, lieutenant, Revenue Marine. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : John C. Cantwell, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: 1 am a second lieutenant in the United States Eevenue-Ma- rine Service. I have been on duty in Bering Sea dur- 18^4^4886 ^MdisgT ^° ing the summer mouths of the years 1884, 1885, 1886, and 1891, and have frequently been on shore at the Pribilof Islands and in the waters adjacent thereto. Have always made it a careful study and paid particular attention to tlie number of seal, both on the Pribilof Islands and in the waters of Bering Sea. ^^ erience Whenever opportunity afforded have visited the rook- ^penence. eries for the purpose of i>hotograi)hing and sketching the animals and studying their habits, numbers, etc. I have boarded a large number of vessels fitted out as sealers and engaged in sealing, and have con- versed with their masters and crews on the subject of pelagic sealing. From information gathered from these and other sources, and by com- parison of testimony given by the seal hunters, would ^ast© of life; say that at least 66 per cent of seals killed or wounded mostly pregnant i\^ escape and are never recovered, and that 75 f>er cent ^^^^'^^' of seals shot in the l^orth Pacific Ocean are females heavy with young, and that 80 per cent of seals shot in Bering Sea from July 1 to Sep- tember 15 are females, most of which have given birth to their young and are mostly caught while feeding at various distances from land. Have observed carefully the areas occupied by the seals on the rook- eries and hauling-out grounds, especiallv at ISTortheast Point and the reef on St. Pauf Island, in 1884, 1885, 1880, and 1891, and on both rookeries the areas formerly occupied by grmu'ids^Vecreasmg?'^ seals have greatly decreased, so much so that at first appearance it seemed, in 18*41, as if the hauling-out grounds had been entirely deserted. Subsequent examiinition disclosed the fact that this was not strictly true, there still being a small number of male seals left 408 TESTIMONY on those gromuts. Have also observed that the seals are much more. scatterod on the breeding- rookeries tlian in former years (1884, 1885, 1880); also tluit the number of seals in the Avater has proportionately decreased, and that they have grown very much more shy and difficnlt to ap])roach. Without presuming to be absolutely correct, would estimate the number of seals present at St. Paul Island during the year 1891 to be about 10 per cent of the number there in former years of observation (188-4, 1885, and 1886). I have also observed seals, presumably fishing, at distances vary- Femaies feeding. j^^. ^.^,_^^^ ^^ ^^ ^-^ ^^^jj^^ ^^.^^^^ ^^^^ island, and am of the opinion that most of the seals seen at distances more than 10 miles from land during the breeding season are females. I did not observe any unusually large number of dead pups on the rookeries in my visits to the islands until the year 1891. Dead pups. During the moutli of 8ei)tember of tliat year, in com- pany with Mr. J. Stanley Brown, I visited the Starry Ateel and eastern rookeries on St. George Island and saw more than the average number of dead pups and a great many living pups, evidently in very i^oorcon- dition, and either dead or dying from starvation, differing in this respect from the condition in which they are ordinarily found at this time of the year. Subsequently in ISIovember, 1891, 1 visited the Polovinia rookery on St. Paul Island, and in the course of one hour's slow walking, covering perhaps li miles of ground, estimated the number of dead pup seals to benot less than 1,000. I consider this number enormously in excess of the normal mortality. I was informed at the time Autopsies. ^^jj^|. ^i^p stomaciis of de;id puj^s had been examined by the medical officers at the island and no traces of food were found tlieiein. From ijersonal observation I am of the opinion that fully 90 per cent of them died of starvation great emaciation tira*^^*^ ^™™ starva- being apparent. It will be necessary to prevent at once further open-sea or coastwise killing of seals, both Prohibition iieces- in Bering Sca and the northern Pacific Ocean, if t\my ^''"•^ are to save them from extinction on the Pribilof Is- lands. The present system of taking seals on the islands in vogue and prac- ticed by the lessees under governmental supervision Management. ^^^ ^^^ ^^ opiuiou, tlio bcst that cau bc dcviscd for build- ing up and perpetuating this great industry, and if the i^elagic hunter and his destructive methods were banished from the waters of the Bering Sea and North Pacific it would be but a few years when these islands would again be teeming with seal life. The weapons used by pelagic hunters are rifies, shotgans, and spears. I have heard of nets being used, and have seen one on board a sealer (the Eliza Edwards, Bering Sea, 1891), but know nothing of it, further than mere hearsay. The other weapons I have seen in use. J. C. Cant WELL, Second Lieutenant, U. S. B. M. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13tli day of April, A. D. 1892. - [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 409 Deposition of James L. Carthcut, sealer (master), 1877-1887, PELAGIC SEALINa. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: James L. Cartlicut, beiiij;- duly sworn, deposes mid says: I am 79 years of age. I reside in the city and county of ISaii Francisco. My occupation is that of a master mariner. I was engaged Experience in hunting the fur-seals in the ISTorth Pacific in 1877 to 1887, and during the latter part of the time in Bering Sea. I usually left San Francisco in February or March of each year and sealed*^ along the coast, following the herd north on ^. ^_^^.^^ their way to their breeding grounds on the Pribylov '^'^ '°°" Islands iu the Bering Sea. I usually entered the sea about the 1st of July and came out in September. About 85 per cent of my catch of seals along the coast of the North Pacific were females, and most all of them were cows in pup, and I used to kill most of them while asleep on the water. I lost a great many that were kiUed by ^^^^^ ^^ ^.^^ their sin.king before we could get to them. I think on an cipaii v female,' and average I got one out of every three killed, but some ™°«^^y preguai^t. of my hunters did not do as well. It is difficult to get more than one breeching seal ont of six killed. It is tlie custom for hunters to brag about how many seals they get out of the number killed, and in trying to outdo each other they generally exaggerate the facts. During the months of March, April, May, and June the seals in the North Pacific are traveling leisurely towards the passes into Bering Sea. About 80 per cent of the seals I caught in the Bering Sea were mothers in milk, and were feeding around the fishing banks iust north of the Aleutian Islands, and I got ^ Feeaing lemaies so ;. 1 /. -/A j_ i-i-/i •! J? XI 1 to 2o0 nales from most of my seala from oO to 2o0 miles irom the seal pribiiof islands. islands. 1 don't think I ever sealed within 25 miles of the Pribylov Islands. They are very tame after giving birth to their young and are easily approached by the hunters. When the females leave the islands to feed they go very fast to the fishing banks, and after they get their food tlie> will go to sleep on the waters. That is the hunter's great chance. I think we secured more in proportion to the number killed than we did in the North Pacific. I ;pij.^.^j.^^ hunted with shotgun and rifle, but mostly with shot- gun. Seals were not nearly as numerous in 1887 as they were in 1877, and it is my belief that the decrease in numbers is due to the hunting and killing of female seals in the water. I do not think it possible for seals to exist for any length of time if Decrease, the present slaughter continues. The killing of the fe- Dead pups, males means the death of her born or unborn imp, and it is not reasonable to expect that this immense drain on the herds can be continued without a very rapid decrease in their numbers, and which l)ractically means extermination within a very few years. If the seals are to be saved there must be no sarv"^'^'*'"" "'"'*^" killing at any time in the waters of Bering Sea, and it is also very impoi-tant for their preservation that no females be kille^l in the North Pacific. They must be protected in both of these waters or thev will be exterminated. I have never known of „ ,. ^ , ; , ,. j_ 1 1 1 Ji i. J. Haulms out only on seals hauling out on land anywhere on the coast excex^t pribuof islands. 410 TESTIMONY at the Pribylov Islands. I went sealing for Ciglit years San ixego sGizediD jn tlic scliooiicr Scoi Dicgo. SliG was seized by the revenue cutter in ISS'.J in Bering Sea, about 120 miles from the seal islands and north of Uualaska. She was taken with her cargo of about oS4 seal skins to Sitka and forfeited by the court. The year follo\\ing 1 went in tlie schooner Sylvia JIandy, a new and elegant vessel. She was also seized in Bering Sea, eefzfflssT. -^ ''"'*'' about 170 miles from St. Paul Island and 17 miles from Uualaska She was taken to Sitka and condemned with her cargo of nearly 1,700 skins on board. These seizures, Avitli the cost of litigation which followed, broke uj) the firm of L. N. Handy & Co. and myself, and we had to quit the business, as I perceived the Gov- ernment was condemning American vessels for sealing and releasing British vessels for the same offense. They treated us very ba.dly. I am still in hopes we will be paid by it for our losses. In the Sylvia Handy 1 had also 20 seal skins which I had bought from a native hunter whose wife was sick and he wanted medicine for her. I gave him med- icine and bought his skins to accommodate him. There could be no doubt but they were legally caught, but they were taken from me and finally sold. The judge (Dawson) of the court afterwards told me they should not have been condemned, and had he known it sooner he would not have permitted them to have been taken from me and sold on ac- count of the Government. Most of the sealing fleet is now absent from this port in the hands of sealers of experience, having been so engaged for several years. So far as I know, their views, if they could be ob- tained, would be in harmony with my own opinions as herein expressed. Jaivies L. Cathcut. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Gth day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal,.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Charles Challall,- sealer, 188S-1S90. pelagic SEALINa, State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Charles Challall, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco; my occupation is that of a sailor; I have Experience. ^^'^^^ Sealing u]) the coast and in Bering Sea three sea- sons, commencing in LS88 and ending in 1890. In 1888 vanderbiit 18 88 ■ ^ ^^"^ ^^ *'^® VanderUlt. We did not go into the Ber- white. i88y;' jiaviii- iug Sca that year. In 1889 I went on the White, and ton, 1890. jj^ 2..,j(^ J ^^^^^ yj^ ^j^^ HamiUon. They were all sealers. We generally left San Francisco in March or April, and we sealed along the coast up to Queen Charlotte Sound. The largevSt catch Ave ever made between San Francisco and Queen Charlotte Sound was in 1888 Decrease wlicu wc cauglit 300 scals. There was much less number of seals to be seen in the North Pacific and Bering Sea in 1890 than in 1888. We were hunting in the Bering Sca most of the time oft' Seventy- two and Unamak Pass, and we caught the seals as they Females feedin- ^^^^ goiug to and from the Pribilof Islands to feed on the fishing grounds. We caught a great many seals on TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 411 tlie fisliing banks just north and close by the Aleutian Archipelago. Most of the seals we killed going- up the coast were females heavy with pup. I think 9 out of every 10 fema"es*kiiied'^''^'^' were females. At least 7 out of 8 seals caught in the Bering Sea were mothers in milk. The vessels I went out in liad from 4 to 6 boats each. Each boat had 3 men, a hunter, and 2 pullers. The average hunter would get 1 out of every 3 that he shot; a poor hunter not nearly so many. There are 21 buckshot to a shell. I think a great many seals are wounded by hunt- ers that are not taken. The gunshot wounds more seals than the rifle. I think the aim of the hunter is to kill the seal rather than wound it. When they are in school sleeping we get a good many. We did not get as many we shot at in the Bering Sea as we did on the coast. If we got 1 out of every 3 that we wounded in tliG Bering Sea we were doing pretty well. I do not know of any place prfbiSlfishinds!^ "" where the seals haul up on this coast except on the seal islands. Chas. Challall. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of Daniel Claussen, sealer. - PELAGIC SEALING. Be it remembered, that on the 26th day of February, 1892, at my ofQce, 434 California street, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of Califoriua, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, duly appointed and commissioned to administer oaths, etc., personally ap- peared Daniel Claussen, who, being first duly sworn, testified as fol- lows: Daniel Claussen, having been duly SAvorn, testified as follows: By the Notary : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Daniel Claussen; age, 32; I reside in San Francisco and am by occu- pation a seal hunter. Q. Are you a citizen of the United States'? — A. I am; yes, sir. Q. What State are a resident of? — A. California. Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Bering Sea, and for how long? — A. I have been engaged in j, . • sealing in the Pacific and in Bering Sea for the last six 'xpuneuoe. years. Q. Do you know of what sex the seals were that you have taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea! — A. Mostly female. Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. About 80 per cent. Q. What i)ercentage of the cows you have taken ^^ostiy pregnant fe- were with pup? — A. About 70 percent. maos. Q. Is it not a fact that you destroy a large percentage of seals that you do not catch ! — A. Yes, sir. Q. W^hat is that percentage? — A. We catch about 7 ,„ , , ,., \ . n -i,x Waste of life. seals out oi 10. 412 TESTIMONY Q. When does sealing commence in tlie Pacific and wlien does it end? — A. Scalini>: coiimicnces in tlie Pacific about the 1st of January and ends about the 1st of July. Q, When does sealing commence in the Bering Sea and when does it end? — A. Sealing commences in the Bering Sea about the 1st of July anerii(g Sea, except at the Pribilof Islands. If the seal life is to be preserved Protection nece.s for comuieicial piuposos, tlic scals uiust be protected, ^^^^' not only in the Bering Sea, but in the water along the Pacific coast li-om the Aleutian Passes to the Columbia Eiver. Wash. C. Coulson, Capiain, U. S. Revenue Marine. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, A. D., 1892. [L. S.] Cleihent Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition ofLeander Cox, marine engineer, sailing since 1871 between San Francisco and Bering Sea. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Leander Cox, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 52 years of age. I am by occupation a marine engineer. I reside in .erience ^^^^ Fraucisco. I flrst wcut to the Bering Sea in xperuntt. 1871, aiid luivc bccu going there annually since 1874, During the winter time I have been eniployed as engineer on a pas- senger vessel running l)etween here and Victoria, British Columbia, making occasional tri])s south to San Diego, Cal. I saw but very few seals between here and San Diego, but north from here to Victoria I have formerly seen huge herds of them slee])ing and playing on the water during the winter antl spring months. In May Migration. ^^^^ Juue they congregate about the passes to enter the Bering Sea, and I liave seen tliem in great numbers at this time. During my annual eruising in Bering Sea and to and from the Pribilof Islands I have carefally noted the number and ax)peai'ance of seals in TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 417 the water and on the breeding rookeries from tlie deck of my vessels and have also repeatedly visited the hauling grounds from year to year, and it was about 1884 and 1885 that bare spots began to appear on the rookeries, so much so that myself and ro^kerSL!'' "" ''"'*''* °^ the other officers often spoke of it and discussed the causes therefor. The decrease in number of seals both on the Pribilof Islands and in the waters of the Bering Sea and ^^orth Pacific has been ^^^^.^^^^ ^^^^^^^ very rapid since 1885, especially so in the last three or four years, and it is my opinion that there is not now more than (uie- third of the number of seals in these waters and on the islands that there were ten years ago. I attribute this decrease to ^^^^^^ ^^ ufeprin- the terrible slaughter of female seals now going on in cipaiiy i^imaie. the sea. I believe the days of the fur-seal are pretty much over, and if the remnant is to be saved, they must ^J^"^^'^^*'"" necea- be protected in the waters of the jSTorth Pacific as well as *""'' ' in those of Bering Sea, from the rifle and shotgun of the hunter. I am of the opinion that'it will take careful nursing for some years, under the most favorable circumstances, to restore the number of seals to anything like what it was prior to 1878. I was in the employ of the Alaska Com- mercial Company, the former lessees of the seal islands, and their in- structions were to use the utmost care in taking their j^^^^^^,^^,,^ quota of seals, so that there might be no diminution in ' " number fi^om year to year, and I personally know those instructions were rigidly enforced. Prom my experience, observation, and conver- sation with seal hunters, 1 am of the opinion that fully 75 per cent of their catch are females, and that a vast m^^niy^teniai J' ''*'''' number of the seals killed by them are lost. I am not now, and never have been, in the employ of the present lessees of the seal islands. Leander Cox. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Gth day of April, A. D. 1802, [SEAL.] . CLE3IENT BENNETT, Xotary FuhliG. De-position of John Balton, sealer [hoat-j^uller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and county of San Francisco, ss: John Dalton, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 32 years of age. I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a sailor. I made a sealing voyage to the North Pacific ^^ erience and Bering Sea in 1885, on the ^chooneT Alexander, ^p "'^'i''^- of which Capt. J. F. McLean was master. I was a ^^JZ^'f!''' ^^^^' ^ boat-puller, we lett Victoria m Janimry and went south to Cape Flattery and Cape Blanco, sealing around there about two months, when we went north, sealing all the way u]) to the Bering Sea. We had between 100 and 300 seals beibrc entering the sea. Most all of them were females with pups in them. We en- tered the sea to the best of my recollection about June, ^^g^iy females. and caught about 900 seals in there, two-thirds of which 271G— vol II 27 418 TESTIMONY were motlicr seals witli their breasts full of luilk. I saw the milk flow- ing^ on the (leek wIhmi we skiiiiiod them. We had six boats, each boat having a hunter, a boat-puller, and stcerer. We used shotguns all the _ .,., time; we had riHes, but we did not use them. When it was rough weather, we got one out of six that we killed or wouiuled, and in smooth weather we could get on an average one out of three and sometimes three out of five. The waters were full of them at that time. We caught them from 50 to 6.0 miles off the seal islands. J. Dalton. Snbscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of Ax)ril A. D. 1892. [L. s.] Clement Bennett. Notary FubUc. Deposition of Joseph Dennis, sealer, pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : Joseph Deiinis, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I re- side in San Francisco. r\ly occupation has been that of seaman for the last three years. 1 was on the Vanderhilt in 1888, xpeucnce. ^^_^^ being the only sealing trip I ever made. We randerbiit, 1888. Sealed from San Francisco to Queen Charlotte Island, antl caught between 500 and GOO seals, nearly all Mcstiy pregnant fe- fenialcs lieavv wltli vouug. I have seen alive young pup taken out of its mother and kept alive for three or four days. We sealed from 10 to 120 miles oft' the coast, but was never up in the Bering Sea sealing. We hunted coasu!n"oialir'birt'h.' i'><>«tly wltli sliotguus, and captured about one-half that we killed and wounded. I never knew or heard of seals hauling uj) ah)ng the coast or giving birth to their young in the water. Joseph Dennis. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.J CLE3IENT BENNETT, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of Ricliard Dolan. pelagic sealing. State of California, City ear before. This scattering of the herd is un- questionably in large part due to the fact that expert hunters first aim to kill the leader of tliese small herds, when the remaining members be- coming confused and scattered fall an easier prey to the sealer, or losing their way wander oft" in their frightened condition to new grounds away from the usual path to the islands where they are killed by Indians or sealers alongshore. My information and observation is that a very large i^roportion of those killed along the coast and at sea from Oregon to the Aleutian -^ . .^ „, , Islands are female seals with pu])s: I think not less Ma lonty of females ,, n- j_ mi j_- /> /> i i i -n t with pup. than Do per cent. The i^roportion ot temale seals killed in the Bering Sea is equally large, but the destruction . to seal life is much greater, owing to the fact that when a mother seal is killed her suckling pup left at the rookery also perishes. Impregnation having also taken place before she left the rookery in search of food, the foetus of the next year's birth is likewise destroyed. I also found that females after giving birth to their young at the roolceries seek the codfish banks at various points , „ ,. at a distance of from 40 to 125 miles from the islands tor lood, and are frequently absent one or more days at a time, when they return to find their young. I have noticed that the females when at sea are less wild and dis- trustful than the bachelor seals, and dive less quickly in the presence of the hunter. After feeding plentifully, or when resting after heavy weather, they appear to fall asleep upon the surface of the water. It is then they become an easy target for the hunters. About seven years since I was on the revenue-cutter Gorwin when San Dieao seized ^^^'^ scizcd the Sealing schooiicr San Diego in Bering 1885. ' Sea. On the schooner's deck were found the bodies of some twenty seals that had recently been killed. An Majoritv of femaio examination of the bodies disclosed that all of them, skins on boani. ^^,jj-|j |j,^|. .^ single exccptiou, were females, and had their young inside or were giving suck to their young. Out of some r>()(> or GOO skins on board I only found some 5 of the number that were taken from males, I have also been present at nu- merous other seizures of sealing vessels, some eighteen in number, and other seizures aud '^'"''"fi" tl'e scvcral thousaiul skins seized I found on Bkins aboard. '" examination that they were almost invariably those of females. There certainly was not a larger proportion of males than five to the hundred skins. This great slaughter of mother seals certainly means a speedy destruction to seal life. I have myself observed, and liave so learned from others, that for the last ten or fifteen years there were more seals at the islands than there were twenty-two years ago when I first visited the Pribilof Islands; an Mana-emeut iucreasc duc, witliout (loubt, to the very careful pro- tection and fostering of the seal herds afforded by the Alaska CommcTcial Company, then lessee of the islands. J. U. Douglass. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 421 Subscribed and sworu to before me tbis 22d day of April, A. D. 1892 [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublio. DejJosition of Peter Duffy, sealer (boatpuller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of Ban Francisco, ss: Peter Duffy, having- been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am by occui)ation a seaman. I reside, in San Francisco. I was in the Bering Sea in 1884 and 1885, on board tbe Experience. Sea Otter, of which Captain Williams was master. I was g^^ ^^^^^ .^ Bormennet, Kotary I'uhtic. Deposition of Efhoard W. Fmiclce, sealer. PELAGIC sealing. Be it remembered, that on the 26th day of February, 1892, at my ofiice, 434 California street, in the city and county of San Francisco. State of California, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, duly aj)- pointed and commissioned to administer oatiis, etc., personally ai>peared Edward W. Funcke, who being first duly sworn, testified a*5 follows: Edward W. Funcke, liaving been duly sworn, testified as follows: The I^OTARY: Q. What is you name, age, residence, and occu])ation ? — A. yiy name is Edward W. Funcke 5 age, 27; residence, at San Francisco j occupation, seal hunter. 428 TESTIMONY Q. Are you a citizen of tlie TJiiited States? — A. No, I am not. Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. California. . Q. Have yon been engaged in catching seals in the "experience. Pacific and Bering Sea, and for how long? — A. For the last five years ; yes. Q. Do von Icnow of what sex the seals were that yon tak^iraVefemaks"''* ^''^^'G taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea?— A. About 90 per cent of them were females. Q. What percentage of the skins yon have taken were cows? — A. About 90 per cent. Q. What percentage of the cows you have taken pieguant.^" ^'''" '"'''* ^crc witli pup ?— A. About 60 per cent were with pup. Q. When does sealing coinmence in the Pacific, and of"sefiTirg"fason/"'^ wlicn docs It cud? — A. Sealing commences about the 1st of January and ends about the middle of July in the Pacific. Q- What percentage of seals are taken compared to Waste of he. those you dcstroy iu doiug SO? In other words, how many do you actually get of those you shoot? — A. About 30 per cent. Q. Is it not a tact that when you first started in the business and was inexperienced in hunting that you, like all other beginners, de- stroyed a much larger proportion than you now do? — A. Yes, a little more in proportion. Q. Are the seals you shoot at mostly asleep on the water or awake, and if awake, do you shoot at them while breeching? — A. Yes; we shoot at them while they are breeching, but if we get a shot while they are asleep we shoot then. Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your • vit(i- <^'Pi^*i^"' ^^i^t it ^^ possible for them to be born in the water? — A. I do not think it is possible for them to be born in water; no, sir. Q. Do von know of anv place where seals laud out- auds. '"'^'''^' "^ '"'■ side of the seal islands?— A. No, sir; I do not. Q. lias there been any decrease in the quantity of _, seals as comparedto previous years? — A, There is a decrease of about 20 to 30 per cent less. Q. To what do you attribute that decrease? — A. I attribute it to them being overhunted. Q. Do the ])ups perish with the cows that jou kill? — A. Invariably they do; yes, sir. Q. Is it your opinion, if sealing continues unrestricted, that they will soon be exterminated? — A. Yes; I think they will. Q. In your opinion is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in Protection iieces- ^^'^ I^CTiug Scu to prcveut the herd from being exter- sary. miuatcd ? If so, for what months in the year ? — A. Yes, Close .sea.soji. SIT; I think it necessary from the 1st of July until the middle of September. Q. Do you generally shoot seals with a rifle or a shotgun; and if the latter, with buckshot (u- fine shot? — A. We shoot nearly eapoususe . ,^jj of tlicni with a sliotguu, using buckshot. Q. Judging by the direction that seals were traveling during your experience, where do you suppose was their destina- igra ion. tion? — A. Well, they were bound toward the Bering Sea, I should judge. Q. Do you think of anything else that is of value in regard to this TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 429 seal question that I have not asked yon; anything yon wonld like to say, yon can give yonr opinion about? — A. Well, in my o])ii)ion i think that American vessels should be allowed the same i)rivilege as other nations in the matter of hunting in the Bering Sea. e. w. funcke. State of Califoenia, City and County of San Francisco, ss : I, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, do hereby certify that the witness in the foregoing- deposition named was by me duly sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; that saul deposition was reduced to writing, and when completed was carefully read over to said witness and by him subscribed in my presence. In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and afiBxed my seal of oftice this 2Gtli day of February, 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of John Fyfe, sealer {hoat-i)uUer). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : John Fyfe, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a sealer. I made a sealing voyage to the North Pacilic and Ber- Experience. iug Sea on the schooner Alexander, of which David Alexander, isss. McLean was master. I was a boat puller. We sailed from Victoria about the latter part of January, 1885. We went south and sealed between Cape Blanco and the Columbia River for two months when we went north and sealed all the way up to the Bering Sea. We caught about 160 seals before entering the sea. Over Sixty per cent cows. 100 of them were cows. We entered the Bering Sea about April and we got 795 in there, the largest part of Majority taken in which were mother seals in milk. When we were skin- ^^'^^ ^"'^ '"''"^'"s ning them the milk would run on the deck. We had six boats on. board, each boat having a hunter, two boat-pullers, and a steerer, four men to a boat. We used rifles. We had j;jpp,.ts secure ono experienced hunters onboard and we got one out of out of three. every three killed or wounded. We killed some of them from 50 to 100 miles off the seal islands, and were very rook some so lo loo tame. When wo shot the seals dead they would sink and we would not get them. John Fyfe. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, A. 1). 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, I^^otiiry Fuhlio. 430 TESTIMONY Deposition of FrauJ: ^^. Gftffitcy, sealer {master). PELAGIC SEALINGr. State op California, City and County of San Franciseo, ss. : Frank ]M. GaffiK^y, having- been duly sworn, deposes and says: 1 aui 31 years old, an American citizen and master of the Experience. sclioojier Jlancoch; owned by Lynde & Hougii, of Sau Francisco. I am now, and have been since 1879, en- Voyago to Gaiapa- gaged in fisliing and seal limiting. In 1885Imade avoy- n^ira'"1n, im"'" ''>8C to the (lala])agos Island as master of the schooner Dashinff Wave, arriving there on the 30th day of Angust, and remaining until the 8th day of December of the same year. I obtained at this time on those islands about 1,000 fur-seal skins which were sold in London at an avei age [)rice of about 7 shil- uo*t nd-rate! ^*^^^^ '^° Hugs cach. Tlic scals upou this group do not migrate. T observed the birth of pups during frequent intervals during all the time I was there, and from the size of those a little older it was apparent that they are born at all seasons of the year. They live in deep caves under the cliffs, seldom going into the sun. Many of those obtained by me were ])ulle(l out of these i)laces with long gaffs and killed. We slaughtered old and young of both sianiili'ur. '""'""*'' sexcs. Thcse scals are browner and in other respects quite different from those obtained in Alaska, yet they arc the true fur-seal. During the past winter I have made a second voyage as raa.ster of the schooner Haneorh to the southern waters, in search of jilSf in^'^ii.''" '" seals. 1 arrived at llees Islet, off the coast of Southern Chile (latitude KP-lo' south, longitude 75° 45' Avest) and remained therefrom December 1st to December 17th, 1891, but obtained only one seal. I learned that seal still breed there in considerable numbers, Ixit the Chileans are accustomed to visit this islet at an earlier time than the date of my visit while the pups are young, and to kiU all La \i>ifa 1880 ^'^^'-^ ^'''^ obtain. In 1880 Captain 3[ills,of the schooner La Mnfa, visited this islet and ol)tained a small catch, and I am credibly informed and believe that more than 12,000 seals have since been obtained there. On my return voyage I touched at Juan Fernandez (latitude 24° 21' south; longitude 70° 10' west), but got no seals though ishlud. ^''*''"'*"'^"'' there were a few seen about there in ihe water. On December 25, 1891, I landed at ]Massafueros Island Massafuiros Island, (latitude 34° 11' soutli ; longitude 80° 50' west) and got 19 fur-seal skins. There were, I should think, about 200 or 300 seals on the island when I arrived there, but as they went into the water and did not come on shore again during my stay, I could not secure them. The pups at Massafueros are born in October, 1 think. They were old enough to sA\im when I was there. A few days later [touched at St. Felix and St. Amlu'ose Islands (lati- tude 20° 10' south; longitude 80° west) and saw two fur Ambrle'isiamis. ^'' ^eals. Fiiidlay's South Pacific Directory states that there were formerly large herds of fur-seals on these islands. 1 touched also at Guadalupe Islands, but found nothing. Thelnter- ^ , , -r , , national Comi)any have had the lease of these islands Guadalupe Islands, n i.t r •/• nii lor several years j)ast, and, as I am informed and be- TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 431 lievej obtainod some skins tliere as late as last year, but upon the occa- sion of my recent visit, the ishuid was deserted by both seals and men; only a few "oats remained. I have been sailing to the Alaska coast, chietiy to tiie Shumaiiim Banks, in the codfish trade since 187!), and as master of a vessel since 1883. 1 have made in all some twenty- live or thirty voyages usually between April and October. I have found fur- seals always plentiful in the water, in the spring and ^_^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ early summer, oft' the Alaskan Peninsular, along the seals within son'iiics fishing banks, from 20 to 30 miles distant from land, of Aia.skau Peninsula. but have seldom seen them at much greater distance than 30 miles. F. M. Gaffney, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. DepositioH of Thomas Gibson, scaler. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Thomas (xibson, havmg been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a sailor and seal hunter by occupation. I reside in San ^,^^,^^5^,^^^ Francisco. I have been engaged in sealing for ten seasons. IVIy first voyage was about 1881, when I went ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ out in the iSan Dicf/o, of which Capt. Baynard was master. We sailed from this port; I shipped as a hunter; we started in to seal off the coast of California and worked our way up to the Bering Sea. We got that year 1,200, of which 1 got 100. We had five hunters that trip. The next trip I made was in 1882, when I went out in the American schooner LooJwut, of which Capt. ^.^^^._^^^, ^ggg Kelly was master, leaving here about the latter part of March, and we sealed all' the way up to the Bering Sea. We got about 500 before we entered the Bering Sea, and got about 000 iii the Bering Sea. In 1883 I went out in the American schooner -.r -, T .• 1-1/1 j_-«»7- J.1 J-. Mary dc Leo, 18»d. Mary de Leo, ot which Cai)t. Wenworth was master. We left here in the latter part of March and worked our way north to the Bering Sea, sealing on our way, getting 500 seals before entering the Bering Sea. We got 200 more in the Bering Sea, when I got lost while hunting in a small boat, and was picked up by j^q;^,;^^^^,,,, igs3 the Mollie Adams, imCi she brought me back to Port Townsend. The Mary dc Leo returned here later, and I never learned how many seals she got altogether. In 1884 I went out in the American schooner Ahjer, leaving Port Townsend about the latter part of jNIarch. Capt. Ray- ^j^^^ j^g^ mond was master of her. We sealed on the coast, work- ing our way to the Bering Sea, up to which time we got about 300 seals and we got about 250 seals in the Bering Sea. 1885 I ^j^^^giggg, went in the English schooner (irace, I do not remember the captain's nam(». We left Victoria about the latter part of March, taking the same route we caught about 400 in the North Pacific and about 200 in the Bering Sea, and then returned to Victoria. ^j„e, seized 1886. In 1880 1 went in the American schooner AUjcr, leaving 432 TESTIMONY Seattle about the latter part of jNFarcb, and went north catching in tlie North Pacific about 800 seals, and then we entered the Bering Sea and caughtaboutljOOO more, wheu we were seized aiul sentto Sitka. I stayed in Sitka afew days, when I worked my way to Seattle, arriving there about Activeissi December. Then, in 1887, 1 went in the En glisli schooner Active, of wliich Captain Johnson was master. We left Victoria about the middle of March and went as far as Cape Cook, and caught about 200 seals, when she was lost and I was lauded on Cape Cook, and came right down along the coast to Clockouc Sound, and from there went down to J3artlett Sound and joined the English ^ ,„„„ schooner Seatcard about a month or tAvo after sailing from \ ictoria. Captain Lyman was master. He had 400 seals before I joined her. We went along the coast, catching 250 seals, and entered the Bering Sea, getting about 300 more, and came home about the 1st of September. In 1888 1 went out in the English t^choonev Bosa Lee, leaving Victoria about the latter part of March, going along the coast i!o>:a Lee, 1888. ^^^^ catchiug about 200 scals in tiie North Pacific ; then we entered the Bering Sea and got 100 more. I did not go out the next season, which would be 1889. In 1890 I went out in G. G. WJiite, 1800. ^j^^ ^^ q ^Thite, of wlilch Captain Hagman was master. We left San Francisco about the latter part of jNIarch and went to the coast of Japan, having caught 550 seals. Then we went into the Ber- ing Sea and caught 25 seals, when our hunting boat was blown ashore on the Russian Islands. The Eussian authorities gave us a house to live in and some clothes, and later on they sent us home. I did not know what had become of the schooner G. G. Yfhite until I returned here. The vessels that I went out in had from three to six boats, and 3 inen to the boat — 1 hunter and 2 boat-pullers. I did not pay much attention to the sex of seals we killed in the North Pacific, but know that a great many of them were cows that had pups in tlieiu, and we killed most of them while tliey were asleep on the water. centT)Tt'iiMe'^caiFght 1 Ivuow that fuIly 75 per cent of those we caught in tlie females in milk. Bering Sca wcrc COWS in milk. We used riHes and shot^-uns, and shot them when feeding or asleep on the water. An experienced hunter like myself will get two out of three that he kills, but an ordinary hunter would not get more than gelf rout'oTi! kX-ci; one out of every three or four that he kills. I have never an inexperienced, 1 iieard of uor know of scals being born in the water, ^^ " ' "^ ■ r^i^^i I luiNC never known of any place where they haul Not born in water, up ou land cxccpt tlic Seal ishiuds. I havc killed uaui up only on is- uiotlicr scals ill milk from 40 to 100 miles off the lands*, seal islands. There has been a great decrease in the number of seals to be seen in the North Pacific and ni.^es*^fn.nr4o'"to 100 Bering Sea since I first went out to hunt them, and if miles from i.siand3. thc large ficet of vcsscls goiiig to thcse waters annu- Decreaso. ' ^^^^ continucs to liunt ill tlic futiire as in the past few years it is bound to exterminate the seal. Thomas Gibson. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Gth day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Kotary Fuhlic. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 433 Deposition of George Grady, cooJc on sealing vessel. PELAaiC SEALING. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : George Grady, having been duly sworn, deposes and says:* I am 28 years of age. I reside in San Francisco. My occupa- tion is til at of cook on board of \ essels. I went to the Experience. Bering Sea in 18S0 upon the Laura, from Victoria, as zawa i8S9 a cook. We had three snnill boats and caught 1,400 seals on that voyage. We caught some a little ways from Victoria, and on the way up to the Bering Sea, but the most of them, about 1,200, we caught in the Bering Sea. 1 was told by the men that they were nearly all fi'males, and I niSlif flmafei"" ^'''^ thought so too, from the milk that I saw in their breasts when they were on the deck. I saw over a hundred little pup seals taken out of the seals, which they threw overboard, p^^ Our hunters used rifles and shotguns. I have heard "^^' the hunters say that they lost more seals then they got. . I also heard them say, if they got all the seals they shot at, tliey would have been home three months ahead of time, with a great deal larger catch. his George x Grady. mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13tli day of Ajiril, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] . Clement Bennett, Kotary Public. Deposition of James Griffin, sealer [h oat-puller). PELAGIC SEALING. James Griffin, being duly sworn, deposes and says: lam 22 years old, and live in San Francisco. I hunted seal last vear in the schooner La Nymplia as boat-i)ulIer. First seal seen and taken were oft' Cape Flattery, about April 15, zaKympka, isoi. and followed the seal into Bering Sea, where we arrived about July. The shotgun and rifle were both Migration. used. About 7.5 per cent are lost when shotgun is used. Have never seen but three seal killed by rifle secured. If you shoot a seal in the throat it is hard to secure him although each boat carries a long gaff to hook them out of the water. About nine out of ten seal killed in a season are females with pup. But a , xino out of ton /. 1, XI j-1- • £• 1 Killed females with very few males were taken, their ages ranging from 1 i,„p. to 4 years. But one old bull was taken in the sea- son. Every seal is shot that comes near the boat, regardless of sex; hunters use no discrimination. Have never heard of pui)s being born in the water or anywhere else on the ^vlt^r or^lisewhelo coastoutsideofthePribilof Islands, Havenever known but on rribiiof is- seal to haul uj) on the land along the coast, except on ''""^^" the Pribilof Islands. Have killed female seal 90 miles I'o not ''•"'l"i' ^x- from the seal islands that were full of milk. I think ws"" 271G— VOL n 28 434 TESTIMONY tliat |)olagic sealing' should be stopped. Eight months kiUwi.*^'""" *"''"'"'''' ill a year is too mueh to hunt any animal, and the seal will soon become exterminated if this pelagic seal- Pi'otection. ing is allowed to continue. James Griffin. Subscribed and sworn to belbre me this 14th day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United iStatcs Treasury Agent. Deposition of Joscijli Grymes, sealer {hoat-jmller.) pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco^ ss. Joseph Grymes, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in Victoria. My occupation is that of a seam.in. I xpeuenoe. made a sealing voyage on the schooner Triumph in 1890, Tmimph, 1890. as a boatpuUer. We sailed about January, from Vic- . ^ ^^j. toria, British Columbia, and sailed along the coast emcri 11,5 and loaving. Until the latter part ofJuue and went into the Bering Sea, and sealed as near to St. George Island as we could. Catch in sea. ^^^^ caught about 300 or 400 seals in the sea. Our in- tention was to make a raid, but were driven away by a revenue cutter. We left the sea about the latter part of July. We used shotguns and rifles, using the shotguns mostly. The catch was nuScows"'"'™* ""^ mostly females. Those we got in the ^^orth Pacific were females in pup, and those taken in the Bering Sea Waste of life. . . ^ ^ ",, ^im , , i i j. were cows giving milk. The hunters would get on an average one out of every four they killed. Joseph Grymes. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.j Clejvient Bennett, Notary Puhlic. Depositions of Charles H. Hagman et al., sealers, pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of 8an Francisco, ss: Be it remembered, that pursuant to the request of W. H. Williams, esq.. United States Treasury agent, in the city and county of San Fran- cisco, State of Caliroinia, on February 1, 1892, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary ]uihlic in and for said city and county of San Fran- cisco, duly appointed and commissioned to administer oaths, etc., per- sonally ai)])eared Charles H. Hagman, Alexander McLean, Gustave Isaacson, I<'rank Jolmson. IF. Ilariuscii, and Daniel McLean, witnesses wdio api)eared then and there to depose and testify in the matter of the seal flsheyieSj who, being first by me duly sw-orn, were then and TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 435 there examined and interrogated by W. H. Williams, esq., and did de- pose and testify as follows, to wit: Charles G. Hagman, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: Mr. Williams: Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Charles G. Hagman; age, 47 5 residence, San Francisco j occu- pation, seaman, Q, Are you an American citizen? — A. I am. Q. Have you ever been engaged in the business of catching seals in the Pacific or Bering Sea! — A. Yes, sir. Q. For how long a i3eriod'? — A. About eiglit years. ^^ ^^. Q. Have you been master of a vessel thus engaged ? — xpenence. A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you any experience as to the habits of the fur-seals? — A. Not any more than they seemed to emigrate in the winter, and go north in the summer. That is all I know of their habits. I have never seen them out of the water. Q. What time of the year do you generally start out sealing in the Pacific, and up to what time do you continue? — A. From the 1st of February, as a general thing, until about June, on the coast. Then we used to go in the Bering Sea. I have not been there for four or five years. Q. What time of the year are the seals all out of the Pacific, having gone to the Bering Sea? — A. They generally leave in June. You don't see but very few after June. f.^f"'il""* "^ ^^'''^'' '' . m J line. Q. According to your experience, what percentage of animals that are shot at are actually taken by the boats?— A. Most all of them; very few escape. Maybe secured?' ''^^ '^'"* ""* out of the whole year's catch of a coui)le of thousand a dozen may sink. It is a rare occurrence that they sink. Q. Are the seals shot at asleep on the water or awake? — A. Both. Q. Do you ever shoot at a seal when awake or breeching? — A, Yes, sir. Q. What sex are the seals taken by you or usually killed by hunting vessels in the North Pacific or Bering Sea? — A. Mostly females. The biggest percentage, I think, are females. n,,S"^ pregnant fe- Q. What percentage of them are cows ? — A. I couldn't tell you. Q. Out of a hundred seals that you would catch ordinarily, what part of them would be cows? — A. I am under oath, and I could not tell you exactly. All I can say is, the greater portion of them. Q. What percentage of the cows are taken with pup? — A. All the large ones have — all the grown females have. Very seldom you find a barren one. Q. In your opinion, are any of the pups born in the water, or any- where outside of the seal islands? — A. It has never come under my observation. I have never seen a seal on shore. I have never seen tlie seal islands yet; that is, St. George and St. Paul, I have never seen. I have seen the Coi)per Islands, on the Kussian side. Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of animals in the last few years? — A. As I have not hunted on this coast for several years, I am unable to say. When I was there I saw no difference. Q. If you i^eople are allowed to kill females still, is tlnn-c aiiydanger of exterminating them, do you think, supposing you go on and kill 436 TESTIMONY them promiscuously? — A. I would be afraid that we would thin them out. I will not say exterminate them, but tliiu them out. Q. Do you think it is necessary to protect the seal in the Bering Sea! — A. Certairily I do. Q. In the North Pacific?— A. In the North Pacific ^Protection neces- j ^^,jjj ,^^^ ^.^y. ^^^^ j„ ^j^^ Bering Sea I think it is abso- lutely necessary. Q. Are seals generally shot with a rifle or shotgun with buckshot? — A. Both. Q. If the cow seals are to be protected in the Bering Sea, what months do you consider it would be necessary to prohibit any being takeu? — A. I would not like to answer that. Q. Do you think of anything else that is of value in regard to this seal question that I have not asked you; anything you would like to . say, you can give your opinion about? — A. I think they should look out for those i)oachers — these jieople that go there late in the fall and steal them off the rookeries. There has been cases of that kind. I think that is decidedly wrong, both for me and the seals. That is what started the Government to look after them so well, finding out that they had been clubbing the seals on the islands. Deposition of Alexander McLean, ftealer {master). AlexA-Nder McLean, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: Mr. Williams : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Alexander McLean; age, 32; residence, San I?rancisco; occu- pation, master mariner. Q. Are you an American citi/en? — A. I am. Q. Have you ever been engaged in the business of catching seals in the Pacific or Bering Sea? — A. I have. Q. For how long a ijeriod? — A. Ten years. Q. Have you been master of vessels thus engaged? — A. I have been nine years in the sealing busiiuiss. Q. What time of the year do you generally start out sealing in the Pacific? — A. I have varied always from the 11th of January until the 11th of February. Q. When do you call the season's catch over? — A. About the 11th of September; probably a month later. I usually get back about the 11th of September. Q. What time of the year are the seals all out of the Pacific, having gone to the Bering Sea? What months? — A. To my knowledge they would go into the Bering Sea after the 20th of June. after June '>o ^*°'^'' ^^' ^^^^'o^'^l'"?:? to your experience, what percentage of animals that are shot at are actually taken by the Lose one out of teu. boats ? You cau ouly estimate it? — A. That is a very hard question for me to give you a proper answer to. I do not think they lose any more than one out of ten. Q. What percentage of those shot at and are not taken perish? — A. Outside of that? Q. Yes. — A. I can not answer that. Q. Are the seals shot at asleep on the water or awake? — A. With me they are principally asleep on the water. Of late years they shoot them a great deal when they are awake. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 437 Q. Do yon slioot at seals when tliey are awake or breeching? — A. Yes, sir; when they couie within range. Q. Of what sex are tlie seals taken by you or usually killed by hunt- ing vessels in the North Pacific or Bering Sea? — A. Principally fe- males. Q. V/hat Avould be your judgment as to the percentage? Out of a hundred that you kill, how many of them would be females?— A. Say I would bring 2,000 seals in here. feSs?"^'*"^'"'"""* I may have probably about 100 males; that is a large average. Q. Lots of times there are not nearly as many? — A. Ko, sir; not near as many. Q. What percentage of the females taken are with pup ? — A. That depends on the season you are killing them in. When tliey are getting heavy in pup in the latter part of the season, the 1st of June, when you take a seal then you take two for one. You take the pup with them. That is, when it is a female. This is before we go into the sea. I have beeu into the sea for severnl years. For tlie last two years 1 have not goue in there; that is, while this restriction act has been put on. I have not interfered with the business. Q. Your experience is that all of the adult females that you shoot during the forepart of the season up to Julv are with pup ?- A. You may take it all the way from April, May, ^H^f^ vreg^^^nt fe- and June; from April all the female seals that you kill are with pup. Q. Up until about the 1st of July? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Until they go iuto the Bering Sea? — A. Yes, sir. • Q. In your opinion, is it feasible that pups can be born in the Avnter and live? — A. I don't believe they can be born in the water at all and live. I have heard several people express themselves differently. I think myself it is impossible. Seals ^,^^^ ^"'^ ""' have got to haul up on land to breed, and leave their pups on shore. Q. Do you know any place where these seals go to land, except the seal islands on the Am jrican side? — A. S'o, sir; not anyplace that I know of. There have been lots of reports of ])laces, but I have been to these places and could not find any y.-^l]^^]^ "i' only on is- seals there. Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of seals in the last few years over what it was a few years formerly? — A. I have noticed a decrease since I have been in the business; I have Decrease, made a catch from 3,500 coming down to 1,500, a little less than oue-half. Q. You do not consider there are nearly as many seals now as there used to be in the water? — A. I^To, sir; not now. I have been in the business for ten years, and I think in another ten years there will be a great deal less. Q. To what do you attribute this decrease? — A. I think it is on ac- count of killiug those female seals when they have ihi])s, and the bus- iness is getting so that so many vessels are going into it, and tliey are killing those pups off. A seal has not got a chance to go to work and increase. Q. Killing the females, of course, destroys the pu]) and the female, and makes one less breed? — A. Yes, sir; when you kill the female seal you kill the pup with her, Q. Did you ever kill any seals later in the season that were giving milk ? — A. Yes, sir. 438 TESTIMONY Q. The mother seals? — A. Yes, sir. Q. JIow far from the ishiiuls liave you killed those niifesfrora islands^ ''^ motlicr si'als tluit were ill milk?— A. 1 have killed them as far oft" as 150 miles off the land. Q. Is that in the Pacific or Bering Sea? — A. Both in the Pacific and Bering Sea. Q. They were evidently the mothers that had young? — A. Yes, sir; they had their young. Some of the seals had left their • emaessea mg. young ou the ishiuds and were going away, and were through with thein or going to feed. Sometimes a seal goes a long way off the islands at a certain time. It depends where the feed is. A seal does not think very much of traveling a hundred miles; they travel very fast when they want to. Q. If sealing continues as heretofore, is there any danger of exter- minating them? — A. If they continue as they have been, since I have been in the business, I will give them another ten years: after that the sealing business will be about finished. It will not justify anyone to fit out ii-om here or anywhere else, and people that look after the sealing interests, I do not think they will benelit anything by it, if they don't protect the seal life at present. Q. Do you think it is absolutely necessary to protect the cows in the Bering Sea to keep them from being exterminated? — A. I do. Q. Is it often necessary to protect them in the North Protection neces Pacific?— A. That is a question that should be inter- Bary. l national. Q. What I want to get at is, is it your idea that in order to protect and keep up this supi)ly of yonng seals that it is necessary not only to protect them in the Jiering Sea but to protect the cows as they are in the North Pacific, nearingthe ground, or as they are coming ont? — A. Yes, sir; in the way it is here, the Pacific Ocean is a large ocean. The seals are sj)read all over, and it would be iinpossilde to go to work and exterminate them from these waters to decrease them as long as they keej) them out of the Bering Sea. That is where the body of the seals get into. For 40 miles within the passage they can not handle the seals at all, because you don't see them. They are traveling too much. You may see a herd once in while, but very rarely. Q. "Whereabouts in the North Pacific do you find them the most numerous? — A. You can start from San Francisco, and you carry them all the way up from tlie time you lea\'e here until yon get up to those passes; all the way up 150 miles to 30 miles in the shore. In scmie places you come in closer than that, according to the point of land that you come into. Q. Are seals generally shot with a rifle or shotgun? — A. They used to shoot them with rifics; now they shoot them all with shotguns. -,.,.,„ , ,, Q. In yonr opinion do the seals on the Russian side Bian herds separate intermingle witii tiiosc (Ui the Pacitic Side, or are they ^^^^'^^- a separate herd ? — A. They are a different herd of seals, altogether. Q. If the cow seals are to be protected in the Bering Sea, what month do you think it would lie necessary to prohibit any being taken '! Would you pioliibit tlicin being taken at an\ time or all times? — A. I think if they are prohibited at all they should prohibit them for abont two months, iiiiiicipally July and August. Q. How about Sei)tember? — A. They are through breeding then, and the ])nps are ashore. There are only two montlis that they can inter- fere with them there for breeding juirposes that I know of. The sea TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 439 sons get later every year. There are breediug- dates, etc. Ten years ago they never used to be any later than August breeding there. Now they are getting later than that, and are getting on to September, because the world is changing, the climate is — the seals change accord- ing to the climate. Q. In your view of the case they should be protected intheBering Sea all the season?— A. Yes, sir; I think .J/"'''^'*^"" °^*^'- it would be advisable to jirotect them in the Berings Sea altogether. Q. You are an old sealer; perhaps you know some things that I don't. If there is anything you think of tliat is interesting I should like to know it ? — A. No, sir; I should like to give my opinion as far as it is right, and beyond that I would not do it. I am interested in sealing, and want to protect the seals. I wish to say that I would like to see the seal islands jjrotected from raids, and also the Bering Sea. Bepofiition of Gusfave Isaacson, sealer {master). GusTAVE Isaacson, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: Mr. Williams : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Gustave Isaacson; age, 46; residence, San Francisco; occupa- tion, hunting seals. Q. Are you an American citizen ? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you ever been engaged in the business of catching seals in the Pacific or Bering Sea? — A. Yes, sir. Q. For how long a period? — A. I have been principally occupied in otter hunting at the beginning of the seasons; at short intervals I have been sealing. Q. For how many years? — A. Since 1872; but principally from the other side, the Okhotsch Sea side; since 1S8I on this side. Q. Have you been master of vessels thus engaged? — A. Yes, sir; for eight years on the Japan side and one year on this side. Q. Have yon any experience as to the habits of the fur-seals? — A. Only following them u]) hunting. I have been listening to your ques- tions to Capt. McLean, and I have the same idea, ex- cept as to the i)rotection. I think thev ought to be Protection neces- protected everywhere they can, both outside and inside the sea. Q. What time of the year do you generally start out sealing in the Pacific and up to what time do you continue? — A. In the middle of January or Febrnary. Q. What time of the year are the seals all out of the Pacific, having gone to the Bering Sea ? — A. About the latter part of ^ , . , ^ ., % . Seals out of Pacific June. about latter part of Q. According to your experience, wliat percentage '^""''• of animals that are shot at are acta all v taken by the one secured out of boats?— A. I think about one-tliird is lost, *^'"'''"- Q. Are the seals shot at ash'op on the water or awake, generally? — A. Mostly asleep. Very often they are shot at while traveling, breeching. 440 TESTIMONY Q. Of what sex are tlie seals taken by yon, or nsnally killed by the liuntiiig vessels in the iS'orth Pacitie or Bering Sea? — Mostly females and a T7'ear do you generally start out sealing in the Pacific, and up to what time do you continue? — A. We start out about New Year's. Q. What time do you come in again? — A. About the middle of Sej)- tember or October. Q. What time of the year are the seals practically out of the Pacific, having gone to the Bering Sea? — A. About the middle of June. Q, According to your experience, what percentage of animals that are shot at are actually taken by the Ixiats? — A. That depends a good deal , ^ on the man that shoots them. Some fellows will miss Some secure but one „ j_/>i> i l^ ■ n i n r- out four or five; aver- tour out ot fivc aud auother may miss three out ot five age, three out of five, r^^^^ crlpplc thcui. I think on a general average we will get about three out of five. Q. Are the seals shot at asleep on the water or awake, usually? — A. Most asleep. Q. Of what sex are the seals taken by you or usually killed by hunt- ing vessels in the North Pacific and Bering Sea? — A. Cows altogether; nothing but cows. I never caught a bull in my life, and I have got about 1(),0()0 of them. Ei-btv per cent of ^^- ^^' '^a* percentage of the cows taken are with those ta"ken pregnant pups? — A. You cau safcly say about four-tifths of *'°^^^- them. You get about 800 out of 1,000 seals. Kg pehigic birth. Q- I'l your oi)inion, are any of the pups born in the water or anywhere else outside of the sea islands? — A. No, sir; I don't think it. Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of animals in the last few years? In other words, do you find them as ijlenty now in the last year or two as you used to? — A. Of course not. Decrease. rpj^^y .^^.^ j^^^ ^^^ plentiful, that is sure. In 1880 we got 2,100 seals. Now you couldn't get 300 in the same time. Q. To what do you attribute this decrease? — A. Too '^*"^*'' many in the business, I sui)pose; too many after them. Q. Would you attribute it to the killing of the females and thereby TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 443 there are not nearly as many born? — A. Certainly; it lias got all to do ■with it. Q. Then really the killing of the females you attril)iite to the de- crease"? — A. Yes, sir. Q. If sealing conti tines as heretofore is there any danger of extermi- nating the herd? — A. At this rate; yes, sir. Just keep at it and it will be only a few years before it will do away with the whole business. Q. Do you think it is absolutely necessary to protect the cows in the Bering Sea? — A. You ought to protect them, certainly; in order to keep the thing going they ought to be pro- gary.'*^" ^""' ^'^^^^ tected. Q. Is it necessary to protect the cows in the Pacific? — A. They kill the biggest half in the Pacittc, so that they ought to be protected there. B. Are they generally shot with a rifle or shotgun? — A. A shotgun exclusively, you might say. Q. In your opinion do the seals on the Russian side intermingle with those on the Pacific side, or are they a separate herd? — A. ISTo, sir; they do not come over this way. They are not a dif- R,^ssiaD mui Aias- ferent breed, but they keep over by themselves. At kanhoriisdouotmia- least I don't think so. They follow their own stream s^®- along there. There is so much water there where there are seals, and so much where there are not. They are by tliemselves. Q. Kow, then, if the cow seals are to be protected in the Bering Sea, what month, do you consider it would be necessary to prohibit any be- ing taken? — A. Say from the middle of June until the end of the year: something like that, the first of December. Deposition of Daniel McLean, sealer (master.) Daniel McLean, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: Mr. Williams : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Daniel McLean; age, 43; occupation, master mariner; resi- dence, San Francisco. Q. Are you an American citizen? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Haye you ever been engaged in the business of catching seals in the Pacific or Bering Sea? — 'A. Yes, sir. • Q. For how long a period? — A. Eleven years. Q. Have you been master of vessels thus engaged? — A. Eleven years. Q. What time of the year do you generally start out sealing in the Pacific, and up to what time do you continue? — A. I start out about the 15th of December and stay out until about the 1st of October. Q. What time of the year are the seals practically all out of the Pacific, having gone to the Bering Sea? — A. About the 15th of June. Kot all, but the'body of them. ^/^^T.'^-T,?;'''.!''"***' ^-^ Aft, • Ij HUOtlL l«)m fJ MilC. Q. According to your experience, what percentage of animals that are shot at are actually t.iken by tlie boats? — A. That is according to the amount of ammunition that we use. About one third are taken. ke^^nrelhl:^- Q. Are the seals shot at asleep on the water or awake, usually? — A. Most asleep. Q. Of what sex arc the seals taken by you, or usually killed by hunt- ing vessels in the North Pacific and Bering Sea? — A. Females. 444 TESTIMONY Q. What percentag'e of tlip-in are cows? Suppose you catch 100 seals, Ninety per cent, to- ^"^"^^ muiiy malcs would you luivc among tliein'? — miles, mostly with A. About 10. ^"''^' Q. What percentage of tlie cows taken are with l>up? — A. The females are mostly all witli pup, that is, up until the 1st of July. Q. In your opinion, are any of the pups born in the isi^X^'"'"*'"^^'"" water or 'any where else out of the seal islands?— A. I have never seen any. Q. Have you ever found any seal pups in the Pacific that were younger than those born the year previous? — A. No, sir; I have never seen any. Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of eorease. auimals iu the last few years? — A. Yes, sir. Q. To what do you attribute the cause? — A. KjII- iug off the females. Q. If sealing continues as heretofore, is there any danger of exter- minating them? — A. Yes, sir; they will all be exterminated in three years, and there will be no more sealing. Q. Do you think it is absolutely necessary to pro- ^ Protection neces- ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ Bering Sea?— A. Yes, sir. Q. It is alvSO necessary to protect them in the Pa- cific? — A. The Pacific is a large 0(;ean, and they do not go in large bauds. They go singly and in pairs, so that there is not a chance to kill so many of them in the ocean. In the Bering Sea they are in bands, and they go onto the islands and are concentrated in a small place. Q. Are seals generally shot with a rifle or shotgun? — A. With a shot- gun. Some with a rifle; mostly with a shotgun. ^ . ^ ., Q. In vour opinion do the seals on the Eussian side kan seaia do not miu- intermingle with those on the Pacific side? — A. ISTo, sie- sir; I do not think so. They are different seals in my opinion. Q. If the cow seals are to be protected in the Bering Sea what months do you consider it would be necessary to prohibit any being taken? — A. From the loth of June until the season finishes; that would be the first snow. The pups do not leave the islands on tlie first snow, but when the second snow come-^ they leave the islands. They ought to be protected until the second snow; that is, in November. Q. Did you ever. kill any cow seals that were in milk, that had given birth to young and were in milk?^A. Yes, sir; I have, in Bering Sea. ^ ^^ Q. How far from the seal islands were they? — A. from 20 "to 60 "miles Sixty luilcs; all the way from 20 to 60 miles; oft' St. fiom islands. Gcoige aiid St. Paul. Q. Do you know of anything else that would be interesting in regard to the question? — A. I think the seals ought to be protected. I think the custom-house should not clear any ship-; either in the British Colo- nies or the United States for sealing in the Bering Sei; that is, if they want to protect them. I would like to see the islands protected from raids, and the Bering Sea also. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: I, Clement Bennett, a notary public iu and ftn^ said city and county do hereby certify t'.iat the witnesses in the foregoing depositions named, were by me duly sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ; that said depositions were taken on the 1st day of Feb- TAKEN IN SAN FEANCISCO. 445 ruary, 1892, at my office, rooms 12 and 13, 234 California street, in the city and county of San Francisco, in tlie State of California, and were reduced to writiug l>y ine. In witness whereof, 1 have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal of office this 9th day of February, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clejient Be:^nett, Isotary Fublic, Deposition of Martin Hannon {sealer). PELAGIC SEALING-. Martin Hannon, being- duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at Victoria, British Columbia. I am by occupation a seal hunter. Have been engaged in sealing the last three Experience. years on the British schooners Triumph^ Waiter Blrhy Borealis, niid ?7w&r<««, and the German schooner yl^7e/e. T'j^^'"ipf'' Waiter First find and take seal in January oft" Columbia River. brL'a, AdeiV^' ^'"^ They are then advancing up the coast. We follow them until they enter Bering Sea about July 1st. I use Migration. the shotgun exclusively for taking seal. About 65 per cent of the seal hit are lost. A large majority of seals Largemajoritypreg- taken are females with young. Only two old bulls """* *''"''''^''- were taken by me last year out of the 100 seals taken. But very few yearlings are taken. Paid no attention to sex. A few male seals are taken between two and four years old, I think. Majority of the seals taken in Bering Sea are females feSs.'^^ nursing with milk in them. Have killed them full of milk 100 miles fi'om the seal islands. I use no discrimination in sealing, but shoot everything that comes near the boat regardless of sex. Have never known of any pups to be born in the water or on the land outside of the Pribilof Islands. Have never known any fur seal to haul up on the land ^° i''^^'"^'' ^''^''• elsewhere than on the Pribilof Islands. I think a ^J'°"*iii'^^"*"^p'T closed season should be established between Blay 1st iiotr*' Indiscriminate. and September loth in North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea,which would give them a chance to increase. Protection. Martin Hannon. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of William Hermann (scaler). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: William Hermann, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am by occupation a seal and otter hunter. My present resi- dence is in San Francisco. I have been engaged in Experience. seal and otter hunting eleven years iu the Okhotsk Sea 446 TESTIMONY and the jSTortli Pacific. I use a sliotiiuii when I am luintiug seal and Usesflrearms ^ ^^^® ^"^^ ottei' lumtin.^-. I lumt witli a ISTo. 8 bore shot- gun, and use Xo. 1 sliot. Many seals are wounded and lost, depending largely on the skill of tlie hunter. I ^ " '"■ think I get pretty nearly all that I kill, but other hunters have been with me that I know lost a greater portion of those they shot at. Probably n fair avei-age wonhl be, taking all the hunters Mosti • >re<'naiit or ^*^8"t't^'6i"> ^*>'*i scal sccured to two lost. Nearly all the iniikhig\ows'!"^" °' seals killed in the water before 'the middle of June are cows in pu}), and after that, mothers giving milk. After rtniaie feeding. thc youug is a fcw duys old the mother travels out to the fishing banks to feed. It is difficult to tell the sex Sex undistinguish- of a scal wliicli vou shoot at iu the water, but you can ible HI water. , ,, V. ■ i i i o i ^ tell a young seal Irom an old seal. Seals are not as DecK ise plentiful now as they were a few years ago. I think they are decreasing on account of their being hunted so nnich. W, Hermann. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1st day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, N'otary Fublic. Deposition of Andrew J. Hoffman (sealer). PELAGIC sealing. P>e it rememlfered, thnt on the 24tli day of February, 1892, at my ohico, 4:34: California street, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, duly appointed and commissioned to administer oaths, etc., personally ap- l)eared xVndrew J. Hoffman, who being first by me duly sworn, testified as follows : Andrew J. Hoff3IAN, having been duly sworn, testified as follows : The Notary : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Andrew J. Hoftman; age, 24; residence, San Francisco; occu- pation, seal hunter. Q. Are you a citizen of the United States? — A. I am. Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. The State of California. Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Bering Sea, and for how long? — A. 1 have been engaged in Experience. '. , /• 4.1 i j. j. sealing tliere tor three years last past. Q. Do you know of what sex the seals were that you have taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea? — A. The seals that I have taken were princi])ally females. Q. Wliat i^ercentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. About 95 i)er cent of tluMn Avere cows. Q. What percentage of the cows you lia\e taken were with pup? — A. About the same amount were with i3up. of" catch we^rrVrTg- Q. Whcu docs Sealing commence in tlie Pacific, and nantcows. Avhcii doesitcnd? — A. Sealing commences there about the 1st of January and ends about the 1st of June. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 447 Q, Wliat percentage of seals are taken compared to tliose yon de- stroy in doing so; in other words, how many do you actually get out of those you slioot ?-A. We get about onhorsiiot.'''' ''°' 75 per cent of them. Q. Is it not a fact that when you first started in the business and was inexperienced in hunting, that you, like all other ^^y^^^^^^-f^ beginners, destroyed a much larger proportion than you now do? — A/ Yes, sir; it is. Q. Are the seals yon shoot at mostly asleep on the water or awake? Do you shoot at theni while l)reechiiig ? — A. About 50 per (;ent of them are asleep, that is, according to what are shot at, and we also shoot at them while breeching. Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opinion that it is possible for them to be born in the water?— A. No, sir; I have never seen any born in ^^^^l^ ''""' "^■ the water, and I think it is impossible for them to be born in the water. Q. Do vou know of any place where seals land out- -^Ha"! up only on • T n .1 1-1 1 a \ -ST i^ Pnbilof Islands. Side of the seal islands? — A. :No, sir. Q. Has there been any decrease in the quantity of seals, as com- I)ared to previous years? — A. Well, for the length of j^^^^^^^^ time that I have been out there is not much differ- ence. Q. If there is a decrease, to what do you attribute it? — A. To the amount of seal hunters and hunting that is actually ,. ^__ villus©- going on. . Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill? — A. Yes, sir; they do. Q. Is it your opinion if sealing continues unrestricted that they will soon be exterminated? — A. Yes. sir; it is. Q. In your opinion, is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in Bering Sea, to prevent the herd from being extermi- nated? If so, for ^vhat months in the year?— A. Yes, saS""*""'''"' "''''' sir; from the 1st of June until the 1st of August, in order to protect the herd. Q. Do you generally shoot seals with a rifle or shotgun; and if the latter, with buckshot or fine shot? — A. Mostlv with buckshot and a shotgun. shofm^sTlyred."'^- Q. Judging by the direction that seals were travel- ing during your experience, where do you suppose was their destina- tion? — A. I couldn't say as to that; I know they traveled southward to a more milder climate. Q. Do you think of anything else that is of value in regard to this seal question that I have not asked j^ou; anything you would like to say, you can give your opinion about? — A. Xo, sir; I think of nothing else in regard to this that I have not already said. Andeew Jackson Hoffman. State of California, City and County of S((n Francisco, ss: I, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, do hereby certify tliat tlie witness in the foregoing dep- osition named was by me duly sworn to testrfy the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but tlie truth; that said deposition was reduced to writing, and when conii)leted was carefully read over to said witness, and by him subscribed in my presence. 448 TESTIMONY 111 witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and afSxed my seal of olUee this 2Gth day of February, 189L*. [SEAL.] Cle^iext Bennett, Jsotary Ihihlic. Dc])ositlon of James Kean, scaler. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: James Kean, havino- been (Uily sworn, deposes and says: I reside in Victoria, British Columbia; my occupation is that of a Experience. seamau and seal hunter. I lirst went seal hunting in 1889 on the schooner Oscar and Hattie. She had six ^Oscar and Hattie, -^^^.^^^ .^^^^ .^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^.^^^^ ^^.^^^ gj^^ was armed with shotguns and rifles. I shipped as a hunter. TVe left Victoria the latter part of February and went off south to the Columbia Eiver and commenced sealing off there and fol- lowed the herd along the coast up to the Bering Sea, enTe'rim^ ^'"'' *™^ °^ arriving there sometime in June. We caught some- where about TjOO seals before entering the sea, of all nu^e^^°"*^ ^^^*^° ^^ kinds. There were a good many females among them; there was a good many more of them than males, but the exact number I do not know. The old females had young pups, in them. I saw them taken out, and a good many of them skinned. We entered the sea and caught about 1,000 in there. We sealed all over on this side of the Bering Sea, sometimes being over 150 miles off the seal islands, and sometimes we were closer. I did not pay any at- Nursing females tcution to tlio proportlou of femalcs, but I know we tsken. sonie over 100 skiuued a great many that were giving milk, because nules trom islau.ls. ^^^^ ^^^^jj, ^^.^^^^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^.^. brcastS OUto the dCCk when they were being skinned. We killed mother seals in milk over 100 miles from the seal islands. We generally shoot them when they are asleep on the water. In 1890 I went out in the Walter Rich. She had eight boats, three Walter Bich 1890 ^^^^^ ^^ '^ boat. Wc luul shotguiis uud riflcs, using the former almost altogether. We left Victoria about; the latter part of ]\rarcli, and came down off the Columbia Biver and com- menced sealing as tlie previous year, sealing along the coast to the B Tin Sea- time of ^^^'^^^& ^^''^1 arriving tlicre, I think, about the 1st of entcrinf. ^*' ™^ ° July. We cauglit bctwecu 300 and 400 seals on the coast, and (JOO in the Bering Sea. We sealed on the Scaled from ]o to 150 American side of the Bering Sea around the Pribilof miles from isto,i«. j^j^^,,^!^^ aiiywherc from 10 to 150 miles off. The cap- Proportionoffe- t^-g of j^OO was alxmt the same in proportion to sex HI (lies tSikcii as the year before. We sold our skins in Victoria. In Wages. 1889 I received 84 for every skin I got, and in 1890 received $3 for every skin I got. I think I got lialf of what I killed Waste of life ^^^^ wouudcd. I do uot think that the green hunters get more than one out of every four or live that they Decrease. ^^^'- '^'^'^ seals wcrc uot near as plentiful along the coast and Bering Sea in 1891 as they were in 1890. They wanted me to sliip this year on a sixth lay, that is, every sixth skin was to be mine, but I thought the seals were so scarce it would not pay TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 449 me to go. It is the common conversation among us hunters that the seals are getting so scarce it does not pay for us to go and hunt them unless they will give us a better price per skin, and a great many of the old hunters would not go out this year on that account. James Kean. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, l^otary Public. Deposition of James Kennedy, sealer (boat- puller). pelagic sealing. State of California. City and County of San Francisco, ss: James Kennedy, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am now residing in San Francisco. My occupation is that ^^ ^^.^ of a sailor. I went to the Xorth Pacific and Bering ^penence. Sea on the schooner Maggie Ross, of which Captain -j^iaggie Rois, i884. Olsen was master, in the early part of May, 1884. I shipped as a boat puller. We sailed from Victoria, British Columbia, and bore due north to the Bering Sea. When we arrived there we had some seventy-five to eighty seals, the greater part of which were females, some of which had i)ups in them. We entered the Bering Sea about the latter part of July and captured 2(30 seals from j^.^j „ ^ 20 to 100 miles off the seal islaiuls. A large propor- iug of. " *^ ' '^^ *'"' tion of them were females nursing their young, and Females in miik 20 their teats were large and full of milk. We had four to loo miies from\is- boats aboard, each boat having a hunter, steerer and ^''^'^^^■ boat-puller, and used rities. On an average we got one or two out of every six or seven that we wounded or killed. In waste of life 1888, I made a fishing voyage to the Bering Sea, and while in there heard the captain and officers discussing about the decrease of seals on the islands and in the water. I heard it discussed on our return at the different i^orts we put in at, and also in Victoria on our arrival, and all said the seals Avere decreasing. James Kennedy. Subscribed and sworn to before me this loth day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, notary Public. Deposition of James Kiernan, sealer [master). arctic and antarctic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: James Kiernan, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : I am a master mariner by profession, and a resident of Call- !,,_.„„_ forma. I haA^e been engaged in seal hunting since 2716— VOL II 29 450 TESTIMONY . 1843. My first voyage was from Newport, E. I., to tlie icsca ng. gast coast of Soiitb America, at Lobos Island, off the tenos'''isS'^'r?,ta; inontli of the river Platte, at Castillos Island, and on •toiiia, iind' j-aiki'aiid the east coast of Patagoiiia. Afterwards I went to the SancLs"""' '^'"*""** Falkland Islands, to the South Shetland Islands, and to the west coast of Patagonia. In those days we Destruction of rook- ]^[\]^,^\ tlie seals on land with clubs, but all those rook- pines. eries have since been destroyed through the constant hunting of the seals. Afterwards I came to California and made my first seal-hunting voyage in the North Pacific in 1SG8 and Arctic sealing. |^ ^^^^^^^^ rcceiit ycars in Bering Sea. I have given much attention to the study of seal life as well as to the methods of hunting in the sea and the consequent effect of this upon the possible extermination of the seal. I usually commence the voyage near the coast of California in the earlj^ part of January and continue along up the coast, following the herd on its way to its breeding grounds until the latter j^art of June, hunting all the way and enter- er^erin^ ■AZ\\fJ^L°g. ^^S Bering Sca about the 1st of July, and remaining in those waters until about the 10th or 15th of Septem- ber. My experience has been that the sex of the seals usually killed by hunters employed on vessels under my command, th?sf knie'dcows.*^ °^ both in the ocean and Bering Sea, were cows. I should say that not less than 80 per cent of those caught each year were of that sex. I have observed that those killetl in the North Pacific weremostly females carrying their young, femaies^^in jfortirp"* ^ud wcTC generally caught while asleeep on the water, cific and nursiiig fe- while tliosc takcii ill the Bering Sea were nearly all maesin eiing oa. jj^Q^j^gj, seals iu milk, that had left their young and were in search of food. My experience convinces me that a large per- centage of the seals now killed by shooting with rifies ^ ^ " ^' and shotguns are lost. My estimate would be that two out of every three killed are lost. Formerly the killing was done by spearing, and in later years it was learned that shooting them was a swifter method of killing. At the start the hunters were inexijerieuced and a large i)roportion were lost. Many are shot while asleep ; some while breeching, but such are more diffi(!ulr to kill. I never have known of seals being poSJ." ^'''"' ^' born in the water. In fiict I do not believe they are, except by accident, in which cases they would certainly die, as young seals have to be taught to swim by their mother, just as children have to be taught to walk. My knowledge being from long ex- Decrease pericncc, is that the seals are becoming gradually scarcer in the northern waters, particularly so iu later years. The cause of this decrease I believe to be the indiscriminate slaughter of the mother seals. They are hunted too much, and hence mother seals are becoming scarcer, which, if not checked, will lead to their early extermination. Constant shooting has frightened them and made them Avild, so that they have to be shot at great distances unless found asleep. Much dejiends for successful hunting, upon the weather, as it is difficult to get accurate aim when both the hunter's boat and the seal are in motion. A i)oor hunter does not secure iinmen''^ "'''"'*' '^ "'f>ie tliaii ouc out of cvcry five shot or aimed at. Good hunters do better. I think many of the mother seals go from their breeding grounds on the islands many miles into the Pacific Ocean in search of food, often to a distance of 150 to 180 miles. They travel very fast, and it is on these excursions that many TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 451 of them are killed. The mother does not leave the rookery in search of food until she has dropped her young- and become pregnant again, hence when she has been slain, it means the loss of ^^^^.^^^^^^^ three, as the young pup will unquestionably die lor lack of sustenance. There is no way, in my judgment, of preventing the seals from being totally exterminated, except by effectually pro- hibiting the hunting of them, both in the ocean and Bering- Sea during their breeding season, say from geason'^nec^ssary?^''^^ February until October, on the principle of the gam- ing- laws on the land. The last vessel I went out in was the Sophie Sutherland, duriiig- the season of 1891 I went as ^^^,.^ Sutherland. sailing- master. The vessel was warned out oi the Bering Sea by the revenue cutter Bush. She met us near Akatan Island, eastward of Unalaska. We then left the Bering Sea at once and returned to San Francisco. I have often conversed with many other persons, who like myself were engaged in sealing, and they agreed with me in the statements herein made as to the destruction and dis- appearance of the seals in the northern waters. My view of the matter could, 1 have no doubt, be corroborated by hundreds of persons experi- enced in sealing, if they be found. At this season of the year, however, they are absent from the coast hunting and fishing on the ocean. Jas. Kiernan. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of April, A. D. 1892. CLE3IENT BENXETT, Notary Fublic. Deposition of James Lafi'm, shipplnri ayeiif, and 'managing oicner of sealing vessels. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: James Laflin, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 60 years of age. I have resided in San Francisco the last forty-two years. I am by occupation shipping- agent '^pentnce. for the last fifteen years, and tit out all the whaling fleet that leave this port. All tlie men go through my office. Have fitted out forty- seven whalers this year and have three more in port to be fitted out, I also fit out sealing schooners — about twelve to fourteen each year. 1 have also owned one-third interest as managing owner in two sealing- vessels. I handle and pay off over 1,600 seamen each year in the whaling fleet alone. I also hancile and ship a great many men on the sealing- vessels. I often converse with the masters of the ves- sels relative to the fur-seal, and thev tell me that they are scarcer each year, and that it is much harder to make a voyage than it used to be. I have often heard them say that they only get two or tliree out of a school, and when they kill them, if they do not get tliem right away, they will sink and are lost. Further, that they lose a good many that they kill, and that a good ^^ste of ufe many have ])up.s in them, and that when the boats come aboard loaded with seal and they get through the skinning of them ttiey would have a big pile of pups on deck. 452 TESTIMONY From my experience in dealing with tlie people interested in sealing, ^ and from uiv own personal observation, I know the Decrease. , t"^ . /.j-i>- o i -^ • seals are decreasing very last in Bering Sea, and it is a common remark among seamen who shij) on sealing vessels that they do not care about going, tor there is nothing in it, and seaun^'"'^^''^^*'"^^* °^ ^"^^ tliosc will sliip that are hard up and can get nothing else to do. It is very imi)ortant that the seals Protection neces- bc protected in the waters of the North Pacific and ^^^' Bering Sea fi'om being killed by hnnters, or they will be so near exterminated in a short lime that it will, pay no one to hunt them. James Laflin. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of April, A.D. 1892. [e. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Deposition of Isaac lAehes, furrier. pelagic sealing and general seal-skin industry. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Isaac Liebes, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside in San Francisco, Cal. I am, and have been for the last Experience. tw^entythrcc vcars, by occupation a fur merchant, dur- ing which time I have handled inoie raw fur-seal skins than any other individual in the United States or Canada, and more than any firm or corporation except the lessees of the sealeries of the Pribilof and Com- mander islands. I claim to be thoroughly acquainted with all kinds o± seal skins, and from all the ditiereut localities, and can readily dis- tinguish one from the other. I am also thoroughly familiar with the mode of capturing the seals, both on laud and in the water, and in handling, packing, and shipi»ing the skins. INIy business as a manu- facturer of furs has also made me equally familiar with the dressed and dyed seal skins. Tlie greater part of the raw seal skins which have passed through my hands were from seals captured at sea, and it is with this feature of seal hunting that I am more especially familiar. I speak iVom personal observation and experience in describing the marine sealing Ueet, and the business of marine seal hunting. The sealing fleet is comprised almost exclusively of small schooners, carrying from five to thirty men, some of the crew auff ouoft (ff^^*' ^^''^ being exchisively white men and some of them mixed, white men and Indians. Tliey are fitted with the nec- essary boats, guns, spears, gaiis, water butts, and other implements required for seal killing and to enable the hunters to remain away from the vessel in their boats for se\eral consecutive hours. The vessels leave port, the most of them going out either from Victoria or San „ ,. ,, Francisco in tlie earlv spring, and commence their sea- Seahns on coast be- , y a t \ i'm I^ ■ * -i ii ^ 4- ginsiu Apdi or onriy SOU s work oti Cape J' lattciy 111 April or the early part part of May. of May. They then follow the seals upon their north- Time of entering ward passage towards I)ering Sea and finally, in June Bcnug Sea. ^^. ^^.^^-jy \^ July, iiito thosc watcis, killing every animal possible as they go. They formerly commenced their voyages still TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 453 furtlier soutli aloug the California coast, but as seals have become scarcer, tliey do not, in the last year or two, get many south of the Oregon coast. Of the class of seals taken I can say, from personal observation on board sealing" vessels, as well as from knowledge gained in buying and handling the skins from seals killed in the Pacific, that in the spring 95 per cent of them are cows heavy with percentage of cow. pup; 4 per cent are pups less than 1 year old, born the pups, and maiTs previous summer, and 1 per cent males, most of the **^^°- latter not exceeding 2 or 3 years old. The number of waste of life, seals actually secured to the number killed does not exceed about one in four, or about one is taken for every three de- stroyed, varying, of course, with the skill and experience of the hunters. The average market value of seal skins taken in the water as com- pared with that of animals projjerly selected on the seal islands, either of Alaska or Siberia, is about one- pe^oteskinl^^'^^ °' third. The former are mostly pregnant cows, the fur of which is thin and poor, compared with the males, and the skins are riddled more or less with bullets and buckshot, making them practically unfit for first-class garments. Of late years most of the catches of northwest skins are sold at a certain price per skin, without particular examination. The dealers, knowing the location from which the skins are obtained, make an av- erage price, and owners and hunters are, therefore, less ijarticular than they were in former years as to the class of animals they capture. They kill everything they see without .^^discriminate kiu- regard to age or sex, their only object being to swell the total number of the catch to the highest possible figure. I have noticed in examining the skins of the northwest or " Victoria catch "during the last two years that they average much smaller in size tlian they formerly did. The st^^g';''*'''**''^ ^'"^^ "^ large breeding cows, of which this catch used to contain a considerable percentage, are now almost entirely absent, showing conclusively that the old stock has been exterminated, and the supply n^ion which they are now drawing is comprised of younger animals. The i)ractice of using shotguns charged with buckshot is working havoc in the seal herd. The shots scatter, and many „ -^-u r, . , T T T XI J. j-i. 1 T "i? Havoc With shotgun. animals are wounded and escape that aiterwards die ot their wounds. This is conclusively proved by the fact that many skins known to the trade as "stinkers" are brought in and offered for sale; so called because they have been taken by i^assing vessels from seals found dead on the surface of the water. It is well known that seals which are killed at sea and sink beyond the reach of the hunter's gaff rise to the surface after decomposition sets in. Naturally, those thus X)icked up aie but a small part of the number that actually perish in the water, in consequence of their wounds. If all the „ • * ^ , ' , , i ,. 1 j-1 T T • Superiority of spear. seals Avere taken as they were by the Indians in former years, by spearing, their destruction would be nothing near as great as it is. If the spear dart touches the animal but lightly he goes oft' with a slight wound and ([uickly recovers, while if it fairly pen- etrates hi.s body his capture is reasonably certain, for the spear is attached by a line to tlie canoe, and the seal can not escape. Unfor- tunately, a great majority of the seals are now killed with guns instead of s])ears. The idea of capturing seals in the water, when they are farther oft" 454 TESTIMONY shore thnii tlio Indian canoes can safely follow tlicm, originated in San Francisco. A single schooner was tilted out and met laS'le'kiin'i st'iJtld ' ^'^^^' sncccss. ShcAvas afterward joined by others, and " ' linally by a small lleet, nearly all American vessels. I feel confident that this entire seal-hunting business would have re- mained in the hands of San Franciscans, and been controlled from this port under the Anu'rican flag, had it not been for the acti(m of our Cxovernment in discouraging and forbidding the participation of American vessels in the taking of seals. AVhen it became known that British vessels then engaged in the trade were receiving protection and privileges denied to American sealers, steps were at once taken to Transfer of Anieri- pl^ce many of the American fleet under the British can v(-ssois to the flag. If tlic busiiicss had bceu kept iu Sau Fraucisco ''"■ I do not believe it would have reached its present proportions. But if it had we should still have the pleasure of deriving the benefit from it which now goes to the Canadians. I am very well accpiainted with the class of vessels engaged in sealing. The most of them are of less than 100 tons sef "ml' ouoiT'^^^ ^ '^'^ burden, and a fair estimate of their average value would be, 1 shrmld say, about $4,;")0() iier vessel, for both the American and British fleet, and about $2,000 would cover the average cost of an entire outfit for a season's work. The total value of the Canadian sealing fleet is not, after all, as much as the sealers would lead us to sui)i)ose from their representations. The quantity of northwest or "Victoria" seals that were dressed and dyed in the United States for home consumption, and of^kSs ""^°"""P""° never reached the London market, I estimate as fol- lows: 1880, 0,000; 1890,4,500; 1891,2,100. These es- timates are made up from memoranda I have been accustomed to keep from time to time of the number of skins offered for sale, and Avhich did not go forward to London as shown by the trade sale catalogues. I have known of several ex])editions that have been fitted out for the "Fiiiure of ox )ecii P'"P'^*^<^ of following and capturing the seals after they tions to*' luint^'seais Icavc the Pribilof islands and are making their south- hfmis '^^' '"^^ ^^^ *^ *^^"" tiourse. All these expeditions have proved utter failures, Avhich is accounted for by the fact that the female seals at that jyeriod of the year are not heavy with young as they are in the spring, nor as fat as at a later period, and the hunters can not easily get within gunshot distance of them. They are much less likely to be found asleep at this season, and traveling seals are difficult to slioot and still more difficult to take in before they sink. The hunters have an idea that tlie sleeping seals are buoyed uj) by an inflated internal air bladder. Whether this is so or not it is certain that a "sleeper" is more likely to be secured after it is shot than a "traveler." Males and cows do '^^'^^ "^^^^ ''^^^^^ ^^ merchantable size do not intermin- not mingle in herds off glc, I bclicve, to any cxtcnt witli the cows caught off ''''•'"'*• the coast of North America. They make their north- ern passage separate from the others, and further off' shore. As they are more constantly on the alert than the females, the sealers have met with little success in hunting them. It is only the cow, heavy with pup, which, in consequence of her condition, is Jess active and alert, that falls an easy prey to the hunters. 1 have never known of any pu]) seals being caught in the water (exeept those in embryo) that were less than several months old, nor are any Kotborn in water ^^^^ ^^'^^ offered to the trade, showing conclusively to orn m wa er. ^^^ mind that thcy are not born at sea. The Indians TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 455 frequently offer "black i>ti[)s" for sale, bat oiily such as tliey have removed i'roiii the womb of the mother seal. The breeding- seals, as far as I can learn from extended inquiry, do not come upon laud, except at their regular rookeries, and there are none of those out- side of the Bering Sea islainls and Robben Bank. thSinds'. ""^^ "^ Young seals are sonietimes driven for a few hours by stress of weather into the isdets about the Straits of Fuca and vicinity. The seals to which I have thus far had reference are known to myself and to the trade as the X(u-thwest Ail4?8eai'/hi«iri"ai Coast seals, sometimes also called "Victorias." This and differ ivom othur herd belongs solely to the Pribilof Islands, and is ^^'^'^^' easily distinguishable by the fur from the fur-seals of the other north- ern rookeries, and still easier from those of the soutli. All expert seal- skin assorters are able to tell one from the other of either of these dif- ferent herds. Each has its own characteristics and values. Owing to the decrease of fur-seals on our own coast marine hunters have, during the last few years, turned their attention nautin.' be, in "■ to the Asiatic waters, and are now hunting them transreired to Asiatic there. These Asiatic seals have their breeding grounds ^^'^*'''''*- on the Commander Islands and Robben Banks. Last year several ad- ditions were made to the Asiatic tleet and large catches were secured in those waters, including the fitting out of still further expeditions this season for the same business. The distance is so great from this coast, and typhoons are so ]ia])le to be encountered, that much larger vessels are fitted out and equipped with more boats to each vessel tlian on the American side of the Pacific. Unless restricted, they will in a very few years, by the destru(;tion of the breeding seals, dei)Iete these rook- eries, as they have those of Alaska. In fact, two years ago last year this depletion had already become apparent, and last year the Russian ofiticer in charge ordered the ^''f^f^i- "u Russian catch to be reduced, I feel convniced, and it is the opinion of others familiar with the business, that it will be impossible for the company having the privilege of sealing there to take this year even, the oO,(>0(> to whicli the (^uota is now reduced. I find in handling the skins taken in J3ering Sea that the teats of those from the cow seals are much larger and more t^.«. ,. .'^ ,, -^-y .. Difference in condi- developed than trom the ones taken m the iSorth tion ot xorthwest Pacific before they have given birth to their ycmng; »" seals from the Shetland Islands. I have very often cut a seal ojien and found a live young one inside. I was codfish- ing in the Bering Sea in the schooner HancocTcin 1891. Seals feeding. Whcic 1 (Ishcd there were no seals that came around ^ that part of the sea. From Avhat 1 learned when hsh- ing in the Bering Sea there are not nearly as many seals there as there were ten years ago. Caleb Lindahl. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 0th day of April, A, D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 457 Deposition of E. W. Littlejohn, sealer {master). PELEGIC SEALING. E. W. LiTTLEJOHN, being' duly sworn, deposes andsaitli: I reside at San Francisco, Cal. 1 am a sea otter and seal hunter by occupation, and am now master of the .schooner Pearl, which is engaged in sea- otter hunting. I have had eight (8) years experience in this pursuit iu the waters along- the Alaskan coast. In the year Expeneuce 1885, six hundred (600) fur-seals were caught during tlie month of March oft' tlie Finalloii Islands (California). i„^i|^^l^ "*^ ^''^*"™" In subsequent years we ha^•e had to go farther north each year in order to secure a good spring catch. My experience has been \hat fully 90 per cent of all sealstaken were fe- g^ ^^^, ^^^^ ^,^^^^ males, and of these two-thirds (g) were mothers in milk, females, of which It is impossible to distinguish the sex of fur-seals at t.vo.thmis nursh.g. sea (excepting large bulls), and no effort is made to do so, the object being to secure all the skins possible; hence the kill- indiscriminate km- ing- is indiscriminate. I have observed a very great ing. decrease in fur-seal life since 1885, and believe it is Decrease. almost entirely due to the large number of vessels en- gaged in pelagic hunting. I never saw pups born in Not bom in water. the water, nor do I know of any fur-seals hauling up nauiuponiyon ia- on the land anywhere save the rookeries on the various laiuis. seal islands in Bering Sea. I believe that in order to preserve fur-seal life it is necessary to absolutely stop Protection neces pelagic hunting and maintain a close seasoii against ^^^^' killing for skins on the Pribilof Islands. E. W. LiTTLEJOHN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, 1892. Joseph Murray, United tStates Treasury Agent. Deijosition of William II. Long, scaler {mate and master). pelagic saeling. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: William H. Long, being duly sworn, dei)0ses and says: I am by occupation a seaman, and bavefollewed the sea for the last fifty years. I have been mate and master of ves- Experience, sels. For the last four years I have not been to sea. In 1885 I was hunter on board the schooner Lookout: Lookout, isss-iss?. in 188G I was mate of her; in 1887 I was master of her. I was engaged during these years in seal and otter ^A^ppcarance of seals hunting in the Bering Sea. Tlie seals ap])ear oif the coast outside of the heads in the early part of January. They are trav- eling all the time north, and from that time on to June they are trav- eling- towards the Bering Sea. I used both shotguns and rifles. I know that a large proportion of the seals taken were ^^^^^^ proportion mothers in pup, or mothers giving milk, but I paid no taktrn pregnaut or particular attention to the percentage. In killing seals "uis"'^,) ^^jj^g ^^ ^^^^^^^ rj.j^^ average hunter will lire ten times to get one seal. 1 think on an aver- ,^ ^ ,.,.. age he gets about one seal out of every three killed. Waste othlo. -nT .1 i i -^1 1 • x 1 ]\lotlier seals heavy with young are much easier taken, for they are usually asleep on the water. When a seal is shot dead it ^ ,. . . , almost instantly sinks, and it is only secured by stun- ning it. It is impossible to- tell the sex oi a seal m the ^ water. The seals were much less plentiiul the last year I sealed than the first. I attribute this decrease to tlie hunting of them in the water, and the increased luunber of beats and men engaged in the business in the last few years. I sary"^^''""" ^*^*^*^ thiuk if Something is not done to protect seals in the North Pacific and Bering Sea they will become exter- minated in a very few years. William H. Long. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1st day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL. J Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Charles Lutjens, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Be it remembered that on the 26th day of February, 1802, at my office, 431 California street, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary ])ublic in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, duly ai)pointed and commissioned to administer oaths, etc., personally ap- l)eared Charles Lutjens, who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: Chakles Lutjens, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: The j^OTARY : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation ? — A. My name is Charles Lutjens; I am 50 years of age; I reside in ExpeTfeucc.*''^^^"^' tliis citj^, and am by occupation a seal hunter. Q. Are you a citizen of the United States? — A. Yes, sir. Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. The State of California. Q. Do you know of what sex the vSeals were that you have taken in the Pacific and Bering Seaf — A. Principally females. Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. , About JK) per cent. 90 per cent of seals /-\ w^i , • jl- j.i i ^ i taken are females, 70 Q. vV hat percentage of the cows you have taken ^''^ nan"* °^ '''"'^^' werewitlipup? — A. About 70 per cent, I should say. pregnan . ^ Whcii docs Sealing commence in the l*acit:c and Commencement and whcu docs it ciid ?— A. 1 1 comiuences about the 1st of end of sealing' season. Januai'y aiid ciuls about the last of June. Q. When does scaling commence in the Bering Sea and when does it end? — A. Sealing commences in the Bering Sea about the 5th of July and ends about the middle of September. Q. What percentage of seals are taken compared to Waste ot he. those you destroy lu doing so; in other words, how TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 459 mauy do you actually get out of those you sboot? — A. I Kshould say we get about 80 per ceut of tliose we slioot. Q. Is it not a fact, that when you first started in the l)nsiness, and was inexperienced in huiiting, that you, like all other beginners, de- stroyed a much larger proportion than you now do? — A. There is no doubt about that. Q. Are the seals you shoot at mostly asleep on the water or awake? — A. Asleej). Q. Do you shoot at them while breeching! — A. We shoot at them anyway we find them. Q. Have you ev^er seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opiuiou tliat it is impossible for theia to peia-u- biriii im- be born in the waer! — A. Seals can iiot bo bom in the possible. water. Q. Do you know of any place where seals land out- outside of the seal islands? — A. IsTo, sir; I know of no . p"^ "p ""'y »" place. Q. Has there been any decrease in the quantity of seals as com- pared -to previous years? — A. There has been a de- i- i- ■^ Decrease. crease. Q. To what do you attribute the decrease? — A. To the hunting of the seals in the Bering Sea. Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill? — A. Certaiuly. Not alone that, but they geiierally leave, while they go into the Bering Sea, a pup on shore, which also dies, ''"* ^"^^' from not being able to get auy sustenance. The seal which is killed in the Bering Sea may be with pup, and also has a juip on shore, which make the killing of three seals to one. Q. Is it your opinion, if sealing continues unrestricted, that tliey will soon be exterminated? — A. Yes, sir; they will get less and less, and will soon be exterminated if all seal- Protection neces- ing is not stopped in, the Bering Sea and on the ®''^'■•^• islands. Q. In your opinion, is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in the Bering Sea, to prevent the herd from being exterminated? — A. It is absolutely necessary. Q. What months in the year do you think they should be pro- tected? — A. The months when thev are in the Bering- Sea, from July 5th to November 1st. close season. Q. Do you generally shoot seals with a rifle or a shotgun? — A. A shotgun principally. " Weapons Q. What kind of shot do you use, buckshot or fine sliot?— A. Buckshot. Q. Judging by the direction that seals were traveling in the spring of the year, during your experience, where do you supjjose was their destination? — A. The Bering Sea. Charles Lutjens. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : I, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, do hereby certify that the witness in the foregoing deposition named, was by me duly sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and that said deposition Avas reduced to writing, and when completed was carefully read over to Siiid witness, and by him subscribed in my presence. 460 TESTIMONY 111 witness whereof I have hereuuto subscribed my name and affixed my seal of office, this 2Gtli day of February, 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic, Deposition of Tliomas Lyoyis, sealer [hoat-'puller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : Thomas Lyons, havino- been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a seaman. Experience. ^^^ ^^^^ ^,^^^ ^^ February, 1887, I left the port of Vic- toria, British Columbia, on a sealin<>- voyage to the ISTorth Pacific and Bering Sea. I went on the schooner Triumph, of which nump , . Capt. Cox was master. I was engaged as a boa^t-puller. We went first south as far as Cape Blanco, sealing around there for about two months, when we started north to the Bering Sea. We were sealing' all the way up and succeeding in capturing 138 seals before . entering the Bering Sea. The majority of those were cowsf"iimstiy preg^ COWS, the largcst portiou of wliich had pujos in them, """t- I know that from the fact of seeing them taken out and Beriiis Sea, time of throwu ovcrboard. We went into the Bering Sea about entering. ^^^ 2Gth Or 28th of Juuc, and while in there we caught Nearly all taken 389 scals, nearly all of which were mother seals in milk, nursing seals. which fact I kuow from seeing the milk flow on the deck while we were skinning them. We took them a good ways from the islands, but do not know how many miles. We had six boats, and a hunter, boat-puller, and steerer for each boat, and used shotguns. ^ , ^,... The hunters would get on an average two out of every six that he wounded or killed. Seals were quite plenti- ful at that time, and there were lots of them destroyed that we (Ud not get. Thomas Lyons. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of William McTsaac. sealer {hoat-steerer and puller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : William Mclsaac, having been „ • a„„ Catch in Bering Sea. nearly all of which were caught m the Bering Sea. We caught them around St. George Island. I think out of the 1,100 we cauaht there were 000 females. Out , Fifty-four per cent .. ,^ , i>/\r\ J.1 '" ii\i\ j-1 ^ 1 1 • , • 1 itMii;i!es, (il which two- ot that 000 there were over 400 that had pups mside thinis pregnant. of them, and w^e threw them all overboard. We had eight boats, each boat having- a boat-puller, steerer, and hunter. The hunter used rifles and shotguns. I do not think our hunters got one-half of those they killed or wounded. Tliey would sink before Ave could get our boat up to them. I have given \^^ the sealing business becn.use decrease. the slaughtering of the female seals is making tiiem so scarce that it does not pay. Something, certainly, Protection neces- should be done to stop the killing, or tiiere will be '""'■^' none left in a very short time. Jas. Maloy. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Waste of life. 464 TESTIMONY Bqwsition of Patricic Maroney, sealer (boat-^pulle?-). PELAGIC SEALINGr. State of California, City and Couniy of San Francisco, ss: Patrick Maroiioy, liaviii^i>- been duly .sworn, deposes and says: 1 re- side in San 7'rancisco. My occupation is tlnit of a sea- Experience, man ; I nnide two voyapes to the North Pacific and May Ellen 1889. Berin»>' Sea. In 1889 I went out in the May Ellen, of which Capt. Alex. McLean was nuister, and in 18U0 Lizzie Ellen, 1890. ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ -^^ ^^^^ jj^^-^ ^jf^^^^ j ^.^^ ^ boatpuller OU both voyag'es. We sailed from San Francisco about Christmas, in 1889, and hunted alonj;' tlic coast up to about July. AVe took 130 seals off the coast and put them ashore with Mr. Morse, and then went on seal- ing toward the Bering Sea. Along- about the 1st of Bering Sea, time of j^^jy ^y^ entered the Bering Sea and caught about 123 seals when we came back to Victoria and I left the ves- catch mostly pies- scl as Capcaiu McLean got into some trouble. The big- rant and nursiug ie- a;Qst ])art of our year's catch off the coast were females with pups in them, and those we caught in the Bering Sea Avere mostly all females with milk in their breasts. Weapons. ^^ ^^^^^ shotguus with No. 12 shot. When we had to shoot at long range we used rifles. Mostly all the seals we shot at were sleepers. When they were wounded we had to cliase them, and then sometimes would not get them. The next season, 1890, en?erin|- ^'''' ^""^ "^ ^^^ 8"^* ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ "P ^etweeu 100 and 200 seals, and then we entered the Bering Sea about the 18th or 19tli mSe*!'^ """"^' ^^" of J^^ly? ^^^^ I caught 90 seals, mostly all females. There were six boats on the vessel. Some of the boats would come in without a seal, after being out all day long shooting, but they would wound a great uumy. On an average, taking all the boats f life together, they got one out of every hve or six that they killed or shot at. We wounded a great many that we Hunted from 40 to could uot gct. Wlicu wc werc iu Bering Sea we hunted 200 miles fro„> islands. ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ishiuds. hi.s Pateick X Maroney. mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, A. D. 1892- [SEAL.] CLE3IENT BeNNETT, Notary Public. Deposition of Henry Mason {sealer), pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Henry Alason, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 43 years of age and reside in San Francisco. My occu- Exporience. 1891. i)ation is tluit of a scal hunter. I went sealing on the Umbrina in 1891. We sailed from Victoria on the 8th TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 465 of April, and sealed aloug the coast up to Akutau Pass. We cauglit about 300 seals in that vicinity. Mostly all were females and a great many of them had pnps in them, takiu.^^'* lemaies We cut the seals open and saw the young- inside. We caught a few seals in the Bering Sea and then were j^g'^leT'^ ""* "^ ^^""^ ordered out and sent back to Victoria. Those that were caught in the Bering Sea were mostly females and had had pups and were in milk. In 1890 I went sealing in the schooner Argonaut. She sailed from Victoria about '■?°"«'' - the 8th of April, and sealed along the coast up to the pass in the Bering- Sea. We caught about 350 seals that year. Most all the seals we caught in the North Pacific were females. A good many ot them also had pups takeu"*'^ females inside. Then we went into the Bering Sea sometime Bering sea, time of in July or August. We caught about one-half of our ^'^^''""s- catch in the Bering Sea. I did not pay particular attention to the sex of the seals we caught in the Bering Sea. We hunted with shotguns and shot them mostly when they \vQTe asleep on the water, or any chance we could get. I was a boat-iiuller and the hunters shot at everything in sight. I do not think they would get .^^discrimiuate kiu- more than one seal out of every six or seven they shot, and sometimes only one out often. When the seals were shot they would sink to the bottom. You have got to hirrry up anth g^^^^ sinkin"- pull to them quickly after shooting, or they will sink. A great many were shot that we could not get, as they sunk before we got to them. H. Mason. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Cleiment Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of William Mason, sealer {hoat-puller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: William Mason, having been duly sworn, dej^oses and says : I am a seaman by occupation, and I reside in Victoria, British Columbia. I made a sealing cruise in the British Experience. schooner Maylnlle, Capt. Hanson, during the season of Mayheiu i89i 1891, leaving Victoria in the latter part of January, I was a boat-puller and got 130 a month and 2.") cents a skin. We com- menced sealing- on the coast of Oregon, and followed the herd along the coast up to the Bering Sea. We got about 275 seals along the coast and then went into the Bering ..Jteri'n.? ^^^' *""^ "' Sea in the latter part of May or fore part of June, and sailed around in the American waters. We cruised around the Pribi- lof Islands from 5 to 100 miles off. We caught about 300 seals in the sea, and was then ordered out by a revenue cutter (.,,t<;i, i„ sea. which I believe was the Hush, in the latter part of August, but we did not go. We sesded around for sev- eral days and caught about 250 more, and arrived at Victoria in Octo- 2716— VOL II 30 466 TESTIMONY ber, I noticed in the seals that we caught along the coast that a great Majority cauKht fc- i«auy of theiu wcrc females and had pui^s. I think males, and in jjering most of thcui wd'c fewiales. I know that iu my boat Sea musing. ^^^ catc'h was most all females and they had pups in them. They were usually shot when sleeping on the water. About two-thirds of those caught in the Bering Sea were females that had big- teats and were giving milk. We could tell that when we were skiu- w ofiif ning them, because the milk would run out on the decks. Our hunter was a good one. His name was Joe Williams. I think he got one out of every three on an average. He used a rifle a good deal and was a fine shot; some of the hunters in the other boats would shoot at the seal and not get any at all, and come in at night Avithout any, or maybe one or two. There was one hunter from Nova Scotia that did not kill any scarcely. The hunter in my boat last year got $7 a skin. This year they only Wages of sealers, ^-^^utcd to pay uic $18 a moiith and 25 cents a skin, and only wanted to give the hunters one skin out of every six. The hun- ters say the seals are getting scarcer all the time, and Decrease. ^^^^ l^ ^^^^^ uotpay to gouiilcss they get more for a skin. William Mason. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of April A. J). 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary. Deposition of G. E. Miner, sealer {hunter). PELAGIC SEALING. G. E. Miner, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am a seal hunter . ^ by occupation; have been engaged for the past five xpenence. years In Sealing, always as hunter. Shotgun and rifle have been used by me for taking seal. Am at i^resent hunter on the schooner Henry Dennis. First hunted seals off the Faralone Islands „. ^. in February, and followed them up the coast into Bering Sea, which they enter about the 10th of July. I thiidv the seals are constantly on the move u]) the coast. 1 think about 33 per cent of the seals shot with a shotgun are lost. I use .... ..,,.,, no discrimination in shooting seals; shoot everything Indiscriminate kill- ,, , .1 i x i n xi i ^ i ^1 ing. that comes near the boat, and all other hunters do tlie same. A large majority of the seals killed in the I^Torth Large majority of Pacific are COWS witli pup, and in Bering Sea, cows and nurl^ng.^""'^"""" ^^ith milk. Few ycarliiigs are killed every year by me. Of the male seals killed a majority are 4-year-olds. I have killed but a few old bulls. If a seal is killed instantly when he first puts his head above water he will sink at once. I think seals are Decrease "^^ ^^ plentiful as they used to be, caused, I think, by the indiscriminate killing of females with pup. Have No pelagic births, "^vcr kuowu of pups being born in the water, or any- where else on the coast of Alaska outside of the Pribi- Do not iiaui up on lof Islauds. Havc iicver known seals to haul up on the Alaskan coast. ^.^j^g^ of Alaska outsidc of the Pribilof Islands. Have TAKEN IN SAN FEANCISCO. 467 killed seals 250 miles from the Pribilof Island, witli milk, I think if all sealing was prohibited from January 1, to x\ngust 15, pj^t«ction in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea it would give sufficient protection to the seal. G. E. Miner. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 21st day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent. Deposition of Eddie 3Iorehead, sealer (boat-puller). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Eddie Morehead, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 21 years of age; I reside in San Francisco; my occu- pation is that of a longslioremau. I have been em- Experience. ployed on a sealing vessel as a cabin boy and boat- vanderuit, isss. puller; I made one voyage on the Vanderbilt in the North Pacific in 1888; we did not go in the Bering Sea. We left in the early part of March; she was lost on that voyage in a storm, going ashore at company's harbor. We caught between 500 and 600 seals. We commenced shooting along the coast of California, following the seals to the Aleutian Islands. We had six small boats on board, each boat having three men, a hunter and two men to pull. They shot both with rities and shotguns. The rifle was considered the best to use, as the shotgun would wound more. We shot at every- iniigeriminate thing in sight. We killed more females than males, and we lost a good many that we killed. I never saw ^S""*^ ^'^"'^ ^" nor heard of any young pups being born in the water. The shooting was all done from the small boats. Ed. Morehead. Subscribed and sworn to before me this dth day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Deposition of Frank Moreau, sealer. PELAGIC SEALING. Be it remembered, that on the 26th day of February, 1892, at mv office, 434 California street, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, before me, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of Calihjruia, duly appointed and commissioned to administer oaths, etc., personally ap- l^eared Frank Moreau, who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: Frank Moreau, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: The Notary: Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is Frank Moreau; age, 32; residence, Sau Francisco; occupation, seal hunter. 468 TESTIMONY Q. Are you a citizen of the United States? — A. I am. . Q. Wliat State are you a resident of"? — A. Kentucky; I was born there; I am now residing in the State of Cahfornia, Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Bering Sea, and for how h)ng ? — A. For five or six years I have Experience. i _l t • i *" been catchnig seals Q. Do you know of what sex the seals Avere that you femaks.*'''^''" """^"^ havc taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea?— A. Mostly females. Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. I should judge about 90 per cent. , ^ Q. What percentage of the cows you have taken Seventy-five per ^ -.i m a a i, j. rr- j. ^ -j-i cent of which preg- wcre Willi pup ? — A. About 7o per cent were with nant. p^^p_ Q. When does sealing commence in the Pacific, and when does it ^ , , end? — A. It commeuces about the 1st of January and Commencement and ■• • t , .1 ■• . n t ending of sealing sea- ClldS about the laSt 01 JUUC. ^"°- Q. When does sealing commence in the Bering Sea, and when does it end? — A. It commences about the 1st of July and ends about the 1st of ]S[ovember. Q. What percentage of seals are taken, compared to those you destroy in doing so ; in other words, how many do you actually get out Waste of life of thosc you shoot? — A. About 75 per ceiit. We lose about 25 \)ev cent. Q. Is it not a fact that when" you first started in the business, and was inexperienced in hunting, that you, like all other beginners, destroyed a much larger ])ro[)i)rtion than you do now? — A. Certainly; there is no doubt about that. Q. Are the seals you shoot at mostly a4eej) on the Avater or awake? — A. They are mostly asleep, Q. If awake, do yoii shoot at them while breeching? — A. Yes, sir; we shoot at them anywhere, either while they are breeching, or heads up or any way. Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opin- ion that it is possible for them to be born in the water? — A. They are not „ ^ , . born In the water. A seal can not swim when it is Not born m water. „ . , first born. Q. Do you know of any place where seals land outside of the seal islands? — A. I do not; no, sir. Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of animals in the last few years? — A. There is no doubt but what there Decrease. . , '' IS a decrease. Q. To what do you attribute that decrease? — A. From the killing of k^eals, both by hunters and others. Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill? — A. Certainly. That is, if the cows happen to be with pup. Q, Is it your opinion, if sealing continues unrestricted, that they will soon be exterminated? — A. There certainly will not be as many in a few years as there are now. Q. In your opinion is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in the Bering Sea to prevent the herd from being extermi- Protection neces- natcd? — A. Certainly it is. ^^'^' Q. What months iu the year do you think they Close season. ouglit to be ] )rotected ? — A. Well, from about the middle of June to the 1st of October. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 469 Q. Do you generally slioot seals with a rifle or a shotgun'? — A. A shotgun. jS^iuety per cent are killed with a shotgun. Q. Do you use buckshot or fine shot? — A. J3uck- -I i_ W ©SipOIlS. Q. Judging by the direction tliat seals were traveling in the spring of the year, during your exijerience, where do you sup- pose was their destination? — A. The Bering Sea. '^^ ^^°' Q. Do you think that the Bering Sea should be cioseofBerin€jpositio7i of John O^Brien, sealer (boat-puller.) pelagic sealing. State op California, City and County of San Francisco^ ss: John O'Brien, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 40 _, . years of age: I reside in San Francisco; I am bv occu- Expenence. •' . mi t i t "x j.i pation a longshoreman; I made a sealing voyage to the Aiexander,iss5. ^oi'tli Pacific and Bering Sea on the schooner Alea>- ander, wliich sailed from Victoria in the latter part of January, 1885. I was a boat-pnller. We sailed south as far as Blanco, sealing around there for two or three months, when we headed north Sixty per cent of "^^o the Boiiiig Sca, liaviug caught 250 or 300 seals coast oatcii females, bcforc eutciiug the sca, of whicli 60 per cent of them most N pregnant. ^y^re femalcs, luostly all of them having pups in them. Boring Sea, time of ^XQ entered tlic Bering Sea the latter e^nd of May, and caught about 700 seals in the Bering Sea, mostly all of them being females in milk. I saw the milk flowing mStiy\ur° in^gtowi! <>n tlic dcck wlicii they were skinned. We had 6 boats, each boat having 3 men, a boat-puller, steerer, and TAKEN IX SAN FRANCISCO. 471 hunter. We used shotguns, using a rifle to shoot at long range. It depends a great deal upon the weather as to the amount of seals ob- tained by tlie hunters. After a heavy blow you see the seals lying on top of the water asleep, and you can get very close to them, and on an average you would get 2 o/3 out of every 5 or 6 you ^^^^^^^^i^^ kill or wound, while in rough weather you would not get 1 out of 5 or killed or wounded. I could not tell liow far off we caught them from the seal islands, as I did not know the distances. At that time there were lots of seals in the water. John O'Brien. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Deposition of John Olsen, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and Count}/ of San Francisco, ss: John Olsen, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in Seattle, Washington. My occupation is ship carpenter. Experience I helped to build the schooner Labrador, in 1890, at Vancouver, and went sealing in her in 1891. Captain ^^brador, isoi. Whiteleigh was commander. We left Vancouver for Victoria, on the 29th of March, and fitted out the vessel, leaving Vic- toria on the 8th day of April. She carried four IG-foot boats and one stern boat 11 feet. She carried two men to the boat, one to pull and one to hunt. We commenced hunting outside of Cape Cook, about 5 miles from shore, and hunted from there up to Unamak Pass, in the Aleutian Islands and entered tlie Bering Sea about the 5th of June, and was ordered out of the sea Bering sea. the 19th of June. In going up the coast to Unamak Time of entering. Pass we caught about 100 seals, mostly females with young, and put their skins on board the JJanube, an pre|naiit"c*ows."'''^*^^ English steamboat, at Alatack Bay, and after we got into the Bering Sea we caught 220. We had 200 at tbe time the lieutenant ordered us out of the sea, the remainder we caught after. After entering the sea we got one female with a very large pup, which I took out alive and kept it for three or four days, when it died, as it would not eat anything. All „,o^uy uursing^'cow's'! the others had given birth to their young and their breasts were full of milk. I do not believe mothers give p^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ j^ birth to their young in the water. W^e went to Four water. Mountain Pass, when we went out. We caught these Killed nmsingoows mothers, full of milk, from 50 to 150 miles off the seal 5o to iso miies^from islands. I shot twenty-eight myself. We used shot- guns, using buckshot, and I have known twenty shots Wastoof ufe. to be fired at a seal before we got her. When we shot at " sleepers" we got a good many more than when we shot at "breech- ers" or "rollers," and we secured on an average about one out of every 472 TESTIMONY three killed and wounded. The percentage of loss of those killed and wounded is fully as great as I have stated. I know of islands "^ °°^^ **" no place where they haul up on land except the Pribilof Islands. John Olsen. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of April, A. D. 1892. [L. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Charles W. Reeil, sealer (master). HABITS — SEALS IN PACIFIC. State or California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : Charles W. Reed, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 53 years old and am an American citizen, resident of Experience. g^^^ Fraucisco, and by occupation a shipmaster and pilot, and a member of the San Francisco Pilot Association. Between the years 1872 and 1880 I made four voyages, as master of a schooner and in charge of expeditions engaged in the sealing ol^isiamir ^''^''^'''" industry, to the Galapagos Islands. These islands are ^"^ *'''""'■ situated on the equator, longitude about 90° west. In the first voyage I remained upon the islands about seven months, and at subsequent times from three to five mouths at each voyage, covering diflerert seasons of the year. I have thus seen and carefully observed the seals resorting to these islands at all times of the year. The beaches occupied by them are overhung by high cliffs and indented with caves • and crevices into which the seals go, when not in the water, to avoid the tropical sun. The young are born in these caves and are unable to swim until several weeks old. They do not migrate, but may be found on and about the islands at all times of year. With this exception their habits do not vary, as far as I know, ftom those of fur-seals in Alaskan waters. They are Domestic nature. ^^^^ particularly timid, and may be as easily managed as sheep or cattle. I have no doubt they could be propagated on the rookeries and their reproduction reassured under proper management. I captured on the first voyage about 3,000 skins and as _ jndiscriminate kill- j^^uy morc iu the three later voyages, slaughtering old and young indiscriminately, but I am now credibly in- formed that the rookeries are again building up and increasing in numbers. The skins obtained from this herd are quite distinct from those from the Guadalupe, Santa Kosa, and Santa Cruz, and other islands to the northward of the Galapagos group, being much shorter and lighter furred and correspondingly less valuable, as might be ex- l^ected in animals bred in a tropical climate. Chaeles W. Eeed. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic, TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 473 Deposition of Adolphus Sayers, sealer {master). pelagic sealing. State op California, City and County of San Francisco^ ss: AdolpLus Sayers, having beeti duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a seaman. I reside in San Francisco. I was engaged in sealing in the Bering Sea and is^orth Pacific, in the Experience. City of San Diego and the Adeline, in the years 1887 cuy of san mego, and 1888. I w^as master of the Adeline. We com- Adeline, \mA96%. menced to seal from the Cordell Banks off the coast of sealing off coast. California right up to the Bering Sea. On the voyage of the City of San Diego, which lasted about eight months, we got about 1,900 seals. The hunters had rifles and shotguns, but as we entered the Bering Sea the revenue cutter Concin took away our rifles and left us the shotguns. The shotgun Entered Bering sea. is not as fatal as the rifle, but it ruins the skins of the seals. I was a boat-puller when I was on the City of San Diego. I can not tell from the appearance of a seal in the water whether it is a male or female, but most all of the seals we killed in the water were females. Sometimes we opened them and found young i^neTftoni *liands.^*^'' l)ups inside, and sometimes they were mothers that had given birth to their young and their breasts were full of milk, and we often killed them 100 miles or more from the seal islands. A seal never bears but one pup at a time. An ordinary hunter, on an aver- age, will not kill one out of four breaching seals, and sometimes he will not get one. The sleeping seal is the most easily killed, and we got about one out of three killed and wounded. ^^^ of We. I know that the seals are rapidly decreasing, and I Decrease, believe it is caused by killing females in the water. Adolphus Sayers. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of C. M. Scammon, officer Revenue Marine. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: C. M. Scammon, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am Gl years old and a resident of Oakland, Cal. I am and have been an officer in the United States Eevenue Marine Corps since 18(i3. In 1865 and 1866 I was in command of the Western Union Telegraph Company's fleet of vessels when it was expected to establish a telegraph line to Europe via Bering- Straits. In this capacity and later as conmiander of vessels under the United States revenue-cutter flag, I repeatedly passed through Bering- Sea, touching at the seal islands. I am the author of tlie work entitled "The Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast of Xorth America," published by J. H. Carmany & Co., San Francisco, 1874. In prepar- ing Chapter iv of part 2 of that work, relative to fur-seals, I consulted 474 TESTIMONY every accessible antliority n])()ii tliat subject and added tlie result of my own observation and experience. (Since then eighteen years have elapsed and many new facts liave been brought to light concerning them, confirming for the most part what was then written, yet modi- fying to some extent the conclusions arrived at. The nomenciatnre and technical terms of seal-hnuters have changed somewhat. We hear of "cows" instead of "clap- Technicai terms. n^.^t^'hcs," " bulls " instead of "wigs," and "bachel- ors" or "holuschuckie" instead of "yearlings." At the time my book was written the regular migratory habits of the animals were not as well understood in respect to the routes of migration as they are now, and naturalists always commence their description with the arrival of the different classes of seals at the northern breeding grounds, begin- ning with the "bulls" in the early spring, following them with the "cows" and "bachelors" at a later date, and then taking up the birth and development of the young. This, I think, resulted from our igno- rance of where thev spent the winter months. Now it Migration. -^ ^^^jj kuowu that tlic Pribilof seals work their way down to the coasts of California, Oregon, and British Columbia, and go north again in the spring; and that the Commander Islands herd migrates down the Asiatic coast, the two herds keeping apart from eacli other. I held this opinion many years ago, as is shown by my letter to the honorable Secretary of the Treasury, written August 30, 1869, as follows, and later observations and reading have coutirmed my conclusions: "San Francisco, Cal., ^^ August 30, 1869. "Sir: Wlule on the station at Puget Sound frequent opportunities oifered to observe the habits of the fiu' seals. "I have long been of the opinion that those seen off the mouth of Juan de Fuca Strait were a portion at least of the great herds that make their annual visits to the islands of St. George and St. Paul, Bering Sea. " Since my return to this city I have gathered further information which convinces me that beyond question the seals pass- igra ion. ^^^^ ^^^^ uiouth of the Strait during the months of March, April, and a part of May resort to the above-named islands to bring forth their young, as nearly all the females (and no others are caught) taken by tlie Indnms at this i)oint have ftetuses in them that to all appearances would be brought forward on their arrival at their north- ern summer haunt. " From personal observation, as well as from the most reliable infor- mation, it is quite certain that there has been taken by un mg. ^j^^ ludians of Vancouver Islands and Washington Ter- ra^e'L^tiken!""^''* ^*" i^i^o^T duritig the last spring about 5,000 fur-seals, and almost invariably each animal was with young, so that in taking the number of adults above mentioned there were actually desti-oyed near 10,000 seals. " IJaving every reason to belie\e that vessels will be fitted out to take seals off the strait the coming season, I have thought it weU to make this report to the Department. " I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, "CM. SCAiVOION, " Capt., U. 8. E. 8. "Hon. Geo. S. Boutwell, '■^ 8ecretury of the Treasury, Washington, D. 0. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 475 Tlie certainty that tlie seals canglit iu tlie Xortli Pacific arc in facta portion of the Pribilof herd, and that all are born and reared for the first few months upon the islands of that p^^oais in xorthem gronp, naturally leads the observer to regard them as quite domesticated and belonging upon their island home. The more orderly way to describe them, therefore, would be to commence with their birth upon the island and the beginning of their migrations rather than at the end of some one of their annual rounds away from home. I gather, too, from further research that the nature of their food and the source whence it is obtained are better understood ^^^^.^^ than formerly. It is well known that the bulls eat nothing during the rutting season and while taking care of their harems on the islands. The cows, however, go and come at will after the pups are dropped, and may be found in large numbers with the mammary glands distended with milk many miles from the breed- ^^^^^^^^ j^ ^^^^^ ing grounds. The pups are not able to go with their mothers and drown if by mischance they are thrown into the sea be- fore they are three or four weeks old. Tliey stay with the bulls on the breeding grounds until about six or seven weeks old before learning to swim. Tbe fur-seals of the north, ^J^^;^ learning to unlike the hair seals, do not seem to like the severe cold weather and ice of the north, for they migrate to the southward upon its approach, while those inhabiting the tropics, as at the Galla- pagos Islands, leave the islands perhaps, but do not go, so far as is known, to any great distance. I have no doubt the northern seals of the Pribilof Islands spread over a ^,^^1"^™ plcilic^. '"^ very wide extent of the I^orth Pacific in winter. They are occasionally seen far off' from land, but are much more numerous within soundings. Their food is mainly fish, and they are naturally found where that is most abundant. Seal-hunters say and statistics show that where fish are most plentifnl, as in latitude 55° to 50° north, in Bering Sea, on the Shumagin Banks oft" the Alaskan Peninsula, and off the entrance to the Straits of Fuca, there the best catches of seals are made. Up to nearly the time my work was published, little was known about marine seal fishing. It was mostly confined to the Indians. A few vessels were engaged in the trade from Victoria, but cut no figure in commerce. The price of skins was comparatively low, and no great inducements were offered to go into the business. It was when ])ri('es advanced, and white hunters acquired the skill of following the move- ments of the seals and in shooting from a boat, that the real danger of the extermination of the species became apparent. The records of the Pribilof Islands show that not many seals were left on the rookeries about 1840 to 1845, and very few then appeared in the vicinity of the British Columbia coast. As those rookeries increased so the " Vic- toria catch" increased, and amounted to about 5,000 skins in 1800. (Marine Mammals, p. 154.) Tlie annihilation of many rookeries formerly existing in different parts of the world has heretofore been accomplished by wasteful, and sometimes wanton, destruction on the other rdokeries"" "' land. Now, the only known rookeries of any size are guarded, and the vandals can not reach them: but they seem to have found methods of destruction almost as effectual as a protection neces- seal club, and they kill as cruelly and wastefully as saiy. they formerly did on laud. Other animals of less use tf mai a to mankind than the seals are protected by a close '^^ 476 TESTIMONY season, or some otlier restriction, to save tlieni from slaufj,'iiter wlien breeding, but nearly all tbe seals killed in the water are mothers Avith young. Bering Sea seems to be peculiarly adapted to the wants of the fur- seals. Its climate is moist, the sun rarely shines in summer, and the ' water abounds in fish. Here also pelagic seal hunters find their best opportunity. They can stay about where they please under cover of the fog and defy any guard- shij) to detect them. The range of the seals is very broad, and it is impossible to watch every square mile. The only way to stop the destruction of the rookeries is to stop pelagic sealing. If it is cruel and wasteful to destroy a whole species of useful breeding animals, it is Just as cruel and wasteful, in proportion, to kill a few of them. Why should any be killed ? I do not believe any partial measure of protection will stop the deple- tion of the rookeries. If vessels may be fitted out with necessary** ™*^^'^®^ the paraphernalia for seal hunting, and skins brought into port and sold with impunity, the hunters will man- age by hook or crook to evade any restriction. C. M. SCAMMON. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, A. D. 1892. [l. s.j Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Peter Simes, sealer (steivard). pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of Sax. Francisco, ss: Peter Simes, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of steward. I made one seal- Ex erience "^§ voyage ill 1890 ou the British schooner Umhrina, umbrina, 1890. of which Capt. Campbell was master. We sailed Sealing off coast. f,,^^^ Victoria, British Columbia, April 8, and went right up the coast until we got to Sand Point, sealing all the way up. We caught 280 seals going up. When we got there we met one of the cutters, and it gave us orders not to go in the Bering Warned off. gea. We laid there a week and returned, sealing all females 'teken.^"*" the Way dowii. We had 315 skins when we arrived here. Mostly all of them were l^raales heavy with pup asleep on the water, and we killed them with shotguns. We got back in the second week of July. The captain, mate, and myself went out several times with the stern boat, and we killed 15 the first time we went out. I think we went out that way three or four times, and we usually got about one out of four killed. I recollect one day when ^®'^° "^' Ave were hunting bad weather set up, and we did not get any seals. In good weather we got more seals than we did in bad weather. Peter Simes. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of April, A. D. 1892. [seal.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. TAKEN IN SAN FKANCISCO. 477 Deposition of James Slocm, sealer. PELAGIC SEAEINGr. State of Calipoenia, City and County of San Francisco, ss : James Sloan^ having been duly SAYorn, deposes and says : I reside in San Francisco. I am by occupation a seaman. I made three voyages to Bering Sea. My first voyage was on ^iJ^M^i^i mi the Flying Mist, of which Oapt. Saddler was master; the next was on the Penelope, of which Capt. Littlejohn was master, and my next was in the schooner Arctic, of which Capt. Brassey was master. We sailed from here on the Flying Mist on the ITtli day of April, 1871, and caught altogether on that voyage about 875 seals, of which a large majority were either females with pups or with their breasts full of milk. I saw it ^E teS^*^* ^^" flowiug on the deck when we were skinning them. We had six boats, four men to a boat; two boat pullers, steerer, and hunter. We used rifles for shooting. On my next trip, in 1881, I sailed from Yokohama, Ja])an, on the Penelope, leaving there about pg„ei„,g ^^^^ March, under the British flag, going to the Okhotsk '"^ "^''^ Sea, seaUng there about a month; but we only caught ^"f^^'-'i Bering sea. two seals, and then went to Bering Sea, entering it about the 22d of May. We caught 767 seals in Bering Sea that year, from 30 to 150 miles off the seal islands. The most of them were fe- males, for the reason that they are not as cute and g^^^^'^y females tak- wild as the males. A great many of the female seals had their breasts full of milk, which would run out on the deck when we skinned them. My orders were to kill them indiscriminately, everything I ran across. It is impossible to tell a female from a male in the water, indiscriminat* km- unless it is an old bull. We had six boats on board, ^"g;,^ mdistiner. Q. Do you generally shoot seals with a ritle or a shotgun, and if the latter, with buckshot or fine shot"? — A. I generally shoot them with a shotgun loaded with buckshot if asleep; if awake we generally shoot them with a rifle. Q. fludging by the direction that seals were traveling during your experience, where do you suppose was their destination? — A. I can not tell their destination, but I should iudge they went ^,. ,. south in the fall from 15 to 500 miles offshore, and in "^ ' the si)ring they travel to the northward from 5 to 100 miles olfshore. Q. In order to preserve the seals, do you think it absolutely neces- sary to stop all killing in the water of the Bering Sea? — A. Yes. sir; I think it absolutely necessary, in order to protect the seals, to stop all killing of cows in the Bering Sea? ti.mnece.sL'ry."^''^ Q. Do you think of anything else that is of value in regard to this seal (piestion, that I have not asked you; anything you would like to say; you can give your opinion about it. — A. I have no more to say than what I have already said. Capt. GUSTAVE SUNDVALL. Capt. George Ball, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: The IsToTARY : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupa- ^ GeorgeBaii.seacap. tion? — A. My name is (Jeorgc Ball; age, 42; residence 271G— VOL II '61 482 TESTIMONY at preseut, San Francisco, Cal. ; occupation, master and hunter of seals. Q. Are .you a citizen of the (Jiiiied States'? — A. I am, Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. I am a native of Connec- ticut and a resident of the State of California for the last twenty-seven years. Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Ber- Peiagic seaiii,.' "^^ ^^'^' '^'^^ *^^" ^^**^^' loug?— A. 1 liavc bccu engaged in sealing in the Pacific and Bering Sea off and on for a number of years past; constantly during the sealing season for the last few years. Q. Do you know of what sex the seals were that you have taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea? — A. Yes; I have taken both male and fe- male seals, but 1 suppose the greater per cent that 1 ^Ninety per cent fe- ^^^^ ^^^.^.^ ^^^^^j^j ^^ ^^^^^^ qq p^^. ^^^^^ femalCS, Or even more, Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. About 90 per cent, for the simple reason that the bulls are not migra- tive. Q. What percentage of the cows you have taken were with pup? — „ , „ , A. About 90 per cent of the cows taken were with Nearly all pregnant. ., ^, . , n -i ,-, , • •.-, • , -, imp ; there may be one in a hundred that is either with- out pup or has had one. Q. When does sealing commence in the Pacific, and when does it end? — A. Sealing practically commences there in Jan- eaing season. uaiy, uud it i)ractically ends between the 2r)th of June and the 5th of July. The latest I c\"er hunted was about the 5th of July, and with very indifferent success. Q. When does sealing commence in the Bering Sea, and what date does it end? — A. Sealing commencos in the Bering Sea about the 5th of July and ends in Nov^ ember, with heavy weather; that is, it is ended about October or the last of November by reason of the bad weather not permitting any hunting of seals. Q. What percentage of seals are taken compared to those you destroy in doing so; in other words, how many do you actually get out of those you vshootf — A. If we get three seals out of every five Waste o I e. ^^ coiisidcr it doing very good work, and so I believe do all hunters, even the best of the hunters. Q. Is it not a fact that when you first started in the business and was inexperienced in hunting that you, like all other beginners, de- stroyed a much larger proixntion than you do now? — A. Undoubtedly we did destroy a much larger proportion than we do now. Q. Are the seals you slioot at mostly asleep on the water or awake; and, if awake, do you shoot at tiiem while breeching? — A. Mostly they are asleep, espe(;ially wliih', they have their pups; but there is a good deal of shooting done wliile they are awake and breeching, but with less chance of getting them, to be sure. Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opinion that it is possible for them to be born in the Not born in water, ^.^^er ?_A. No, sir; they are not like sea-otter, they being born in the water. A seal is just as helpless in the water, until they are about six weeks or two months old, as a child. Q. Do you know of any place where seals land outside of the seal islands? — A. The seals are found only on certain is- uianda. "° ^ •"* lauds, wlicre they migrate from year to year for the purpose of breeding, tlirowing their pups. TAKEN IN S/N FRANCISCO. 483 Q. Has there been any decrease in the quantity of seals as comijared to previous years? — A. There has been a decided de- ^ crease. Vessels that used to get with experienced hunters 3,000 or 4,000 in a season, now get with experienced hunters less than half of that number. Q. To what do you attribute that decrease? — A. I attribute the decrease to the indiscriniiuate slaughter killing.'' "*'"'°''*^ of the seals. Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill !— A. Certainly, they do. ^""^^ '"'*• Q. Is it your <>itinion, if sealing continues unrestricted, that they will soon be exterminated ? — A. They will, in my opinion, not be entirely exterminated should sealing continue there as usual, but it will make the business of seal catching so unprofitable that no one will desire to engage in it, 1 tliink. Q. In your opinion, is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in in the Bering Sea, to prevent the herd from being ex- terminated? If so, for what months in the year?— A. ,J™*'^'^"*'° ''^•=''^- It is my opinion that it is absolutely necessary to pro- tect the cows in the Bering Sea during the entire year for a period of years. Q. Do you generally shoot seals with a rifle or shotgun, and if the latter, with buckshot or line shot? — A. We use both, but principally with a shotgun loaded witii iSTo. 2 shot, heavy buckshot. Q. Judging by the direction that seals were traveling during your exi^erience, where do you s'njipose was their destiiia- ^^..^atj^^ tion? — A. In the fall of the year they leave their rook- '"^^ **"^' eries and travel to a warmer climate, traveling from 5 miles to 100 miles offshore. Q. Do you think of anything else that is of value in regard to this seal question that I have not asked you, and if any- thing you would like to say, you can give your opinion tiJnTecSslTry.^™'^*'' about it? — A. Well, I think it is proper for the interests of sealing in those waters tliat the Government should take immediate action in the protection of seals in the Bering Sea. Geo. Ball. William Henson, having been duly sworn, testi- „.,,. „ " ° "^ ' William Henson fied as follows: sealer. The Notary : Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My name is William Henson; lam 30 years old; I reside in this city; I have been occupied in seal hunting for about eight years. Q. Are you a citizen of the Ignited States? — A, Yes, sir. Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. The State of California. Q. Do you know of what sex the seals were that ^ostiv pres^ant fe- you have taken in the Pacific and Bering Sea '. — A. males taken. Two-thirds of them are females. Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. Two thirds, I should say. Q. What percentage of the cows you have taken were with pup? — A. At least 00 per cent were with pup. Q. When does sealing commence in the Paiiific and geaiing season. when does it end? — A. Sealing commences in the Pa- 484 TESTIMONY cific about the 1st of January and ends about the last of June. Q. WLen does soaliiij^' coiiiMuMK'e in tlie Hciiny' Sea and when does it endf — A. It comnieiices in the Ueiini;- Sea about the 1st of July and ends about the 1st of November. Q. What percentage of seals are taken compared with those you de- stroy in doiui;- so; in other words, how many do yoTi actually get out of those you shoot! — A. We get about two thirds of those we shoot. Q. Is it not a fact that wIk'u you first started in the business and was inexi)erienced in hunting, that you, like all other beginners, de- stroyed a much larger proportion than you now do? — A. Yes, sir. Q. Are the seals you shoot at mostly asleep on the water or awake; and if awake, do you shoot at them Avhile breeching'? — A, We take the sleejiers first, and we also shoot at tliem while breeching. Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opinion that it is possible for them to be born in the x^fiter! °"^ ^"^ '"^ water?— A. I think it impossible fov seals to be born in the water. ^ , , . , , Q. Do vou know of any ijlace where seals land, out- Land only on islands. . i ,. , i' i-i im. ri i • Side 01 the seal islands? — A. I do not; no sir. Q. Has there been any decrease in the quantity of seals as com^tared to previous years? — A. 1 think there has been a Decrease. decrcasc of scals as compared to jnevious years of about 25 per cent or more. Q. If there is a decrease, to what do you attribute if? — A. I attribute it to the extermination by inexperienced hunters. Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill ? — ups> OS . ^ Yet^, sir; they do. Q. Is it your opinion if sealing continues unrestricted that they will be soon exterminated. — A. I am of that oi>inion; yes, sir. Q. In your opinion, is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in the Bering Sea to prevent the herd from being exter- ^jrotection neces- luiuatcd ; if SO, for wliat months in the year?— A. I think it ne(;essary to ])rotect the cows in the Bering Sea from the first of July to the last of November, in order to protect them from being exterminated. Q. Do you generally slioot sciils with a rifle or shotgun, and if the lat- ter, with buckshot or tine shot? — A. We generally shoot the seals with buckshot if we are close enough; if not, we shoot them with a rifle. Q. Judging by the direction that seals were traveling in the spring of the year during your experience, where do you sup- igia ion. pose was their destination? — A. They go north during the siH'ing of the year. William Henson. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: I, Clement Bennett, a notary public in and for said city and county, do hereby certify that the witnesses in the foregoing depositions named were by me duly sworn to testify tlie truth, the whole truth, and noth- ing but the truth; that said depositions were reduced to writing, and when completed were carefully read to said witnesses and subscribed in my presence. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 485 In witness whereof I liave liereunto subscribed mj^ name and af- fixed my seal of office, this 25tli day of February, 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of Z. L. Tanner^ Commander, U. 8. Navy. HABITS, Z. L. Tmnier, beini>' duly sworn, deposes aud saitli : T am a Lieuteuant- Commuiider in the United States Navy, eoinmaii(lin,i;- the Fisli Commission iSteamer A?t/(/^ros,s'. 1 have made five cruises in Alaskan waters, embracing the entire region from Fort Tongass to the Kuskokwim Kiver, including the eastern portion of Bering Sea. I have never seen aud have no knowledge i,,,,.,,,,.,,.. -.f of any fur-seal rookeries in the region other tlian those rooi<.nes oisewin-re on the Pribilof Islands, and have never seen fur-seals |J^'^;;,"" P"'^""*' ^'*- in any great abundance save on and near said islands. Z. L. Tanner, Lieutenant- Commander, U. S. Navy. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of Ai)ril, 1892. Joseph Murk ay, United States Treasury Ayent. Deposition of W. Thomas, master mariner. PELAGIC sealing. W. Thomas, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a seaman by occui)ation and at ])reseiit captain of the steamer Elsie. Previous to taking command of the Elsie 1 was in command of the steamer Karluk doing business in Alaska most of that time. The hun- ters follow tlie seal from south of vSan Francisco, Experience. where they begin to take them in h^ebruary until they enter Bering Sea. The seal are constantly on the ad- Mitrratkm. vance up the coast from the time they tirst a|)pear. The white hunters use shotguns altogether for taking seal. I have always understood that o.> per cent of seals shot with shotguns are lost. Hunters use no discrimination in killing seal, but , , 1 •,, ii • ii J. ii 1 J. "^ 11 IiKii.sciiniiiiate kill- kill everything that comes near the boat, regardless inj;. of sex. 1 have heard that seal have been decreasing the r, last few years, caused, I think, by pel;igi<; sealing. Have never known any ])ups being born in the water No pelagic buth. or on the land on the coast of Alaska outside of the Pribilof Islands. 1 have never known myself of fur- ^ ,, ,. , seal hauling u]) on tlie coast ot Alaska outsnle ot the oncoiwt. Pribilof Ishinds, but have heard there were ii few one season hauled on On mnak I sliind. 1 think that iillpehigic ProtecUoj. hunting should be sto])ped for a few years to give tlie seal a chance to increase. W. Thomas. Subscribed and sworn to before me this uOth day of April, 1892. A. W. Lavender, United States Treasury Agent, 486 TESTIMONY Affidanit of Adolph W. Thompson, sealer (mate), PELAGrIC SEALING. State of California, Gily (ind County of San Francisco, ss: Adolph W. Thompson, having beeu duly sworn, deposes and saj^s: 1 reside in San Francisco. My occupation is that of a Exi.erieiue. nuistor niariniH'. 1 went sealing in 18!)0, when 1 was Aiiie Ai!jer, 1890. ,„.,te o\' thc Allic AUjcr. Wc sailod from Seattle in the Sealing ott' coast. hitter part of January, and sealed off the coast until July, and then entered tlie Bering Sea. The catch that season along ^^ ,„ . c. thecoast was IH) ])cr cent females, and the greater pro- Enterod Bering Sea. . . , ^ -• i • tut j. i j.i porticMi ot them were temales in pup. We entered the Bering Sea about the middle of July, and we got about 1,600 seals there. That was the l>est catch of the whole fleet for that season, tlie total catch, 1 think, being about 2,000. Those we killed in the Bering Sea were mostly females in milk. We never went mEtaken*'""*"**^^' nearer to the islands than between 25 and 30 miles. We killed most of them while they were going to or returning from the lishing banks. We used mostly se 8 o guns. ghotguus ill killing seals. We carried rifles, but did not use them much. The most of the seals that we killed were asleep on the water. The female seal has more curiosity than the male seal. We catch more seals after two or three days of rough weather, because they are tired, and when it is calm the next day they are tired and lie asleep on the water. We had seven boats on the Allie Alger, each boat having three men, a boat-puller, a steerer, and hunter. In 1891 I went out in the schooner G. H. White. We left here about the 5th of Februarv', and sealed along the coast and Sealing' off coast.^^^^' ^^^ uot cntcr the Bering Sea that season. We caught about 438 seals, and a large proportion of them were females with young ones in them. They were not nearly as i)lentiful that season as they were in 1890. The best hunter will fire about twenty cartridges, and they get ecrease. ^^^^^ ^^, twclvc scals, while a liuiiter of less experience will fire one hundred rounds and get nothing, but will Avound and dis- able them. If a seal is shot dead he will sink at once. Sin • w en i e( . y^^^ havc got to get to them at once, or else you Avill lose them. The object is to wound them so that they will flop ai«mnd on the water. On my first vovage I think we got two Waste of life. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^.^ ^^,^ ^^^.^^^ ^^^ killed. Tluit docs not take into consideration the unborn pup, or the pu]) of the mother that dies on the rookery. 1 have taken uid)orn pups from tlieir mothers and fed them on condensed milk, and kept them for (juite a time. I refer to cases where the mother is about ready to deliver her pup. I am satis- fied from mv experience that they must protect the ^Protectiou neces- ^^..^jg j„ Bering Sca. If uot theyVill soon be killed off'. It may also be necessary to protect them in the North Pacific, for the catch in those waters are nearly all females carrying their young. A. W. Thompson. Subscribed und sworn to before me this 12th day of April, A. D. 1892. [sEAL.j Clement Bennett, Notary Public. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 487 De].)osiUon of Francis Tuttle, lieutenant, United States Revenue Marine. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Francis Tattle, having- been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a first lieutenant in the United States ReveuueCutter Service, aud have been an officer in that service fur the last thirteen years. Am at jiresent in command of the rev- Experience, euue cutter Hartley at San Francisco. 1 made cruises to the Bering Sea in the United States Eevenue titenmer Rush during the years 1888-'89 and 1890. During the sealing season (.„ji^i^„ j^ ^^^.j^^ of 1888 the Rus/i cruised in Bering Sea and made fre- sea"""'"^ '° '"^'^" quent stojipagcs at the seal islands. 1 had an excellent opportunity to observe some of the seal rookeries during my first visit to the islands, and spent much time in studying the habits of the seals, both on the rookeries and in the adjacent waters. I was particularly impressed with the great numbers to be seen both on land and in the water. During the summer of 1889 the Rush was so actively engaged cruising in i)ursuit of vessels engaged in illegal sealing that our anchorages off the seal rookeries that season were short and infreiiuent; hence I did not have the opjiortunity to observe them as closely on land as the preceding year. During 1890 the Rush was not engaged in preventing sealing outside the shore limit, and we spent much time in full view of the seal rook- eries and cruising about the seal islands, and I also made frequent visits to the breeding grounds. The deserted appearance of the rookeries and the absence of seals in the water was very noticeable and was a matter of gen- eral remark among the officers of the vessel, who had «crease. been on tlie former cruises. Very lai-ge tracts of the rookeries which I had formerly seen occupied by the seals were entirely deserted, and the herds were much smaller than those of 1888. My attention was also called, by those conversant with the facts, to the grass growing on the inshore side of some of the rookeries, and to the three ditferent shades of grass to be seen, indicating the spaces that had not been occupied by the seals for several years, owing to dJsyrted"'^'^^'^'""*"" their diminished number, the darker shade showed where tlie growth first commenced, and a lighter shade for each succeed- ing year. There were three or four differently shaded growths, reach- ing down to the sand of the rookeries, and on that portion of the rook- eries occupied by seals they were not lying near as compact as in 1888. In our frequent i)assages during 1890, between the Aleutian group and the seal islands, we sometimes made an entire passage withimt seeing a seal. This was entirely difVrrrnt fiom the e\[)erience of the preceding years, indii-ating a great falling oil' of seal life. I have observed and learned that crews of vessels engaged in seal- ing kill all kinds without reg;ird to age, sex, or condi tion. I have seen among the skins taken tVoni vessels .^^"'li^criminate kill- we have seized, bull skins which 1 was told by experts were comparatively worthless, others so small as to be classed as pup skins. Among the Indian crews of the Vancouver Island sealing- vessels, I have seen tlie skins of unborn i)up seal; being of no c()ni- mercial value, the crews were allowed to keep tlieni. These unborn pups had been taken fnnn female seals killed while coming up the west coast of North America. 488 TESTIMONY In my conversation witli men engaged in .seal-linnting' in the ojieii water of the North Paeific and ]'>ering Sea, 1 have not been able to get snfficient information to form a reliable estimate of the average number saved out of the total number shot, nor of the percentage of females killed. As a rule, hunters are extremely reticent about giving information on the subject to officers of the (lovernment, but from the well-known fact that the female seal is miu-li more easily aipproached than the male ,, ,, , , ,, and sleei)s more iVciniently on the water ami is less Mostlyfemales tjiki'ii. ,. ', . ' '' -, i i -x i ,-, ^ active wlien carr.Mng her young, 1 Imve no doubt that the female is the one that is being killed by the hunter. Francis Tuttle. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of April, A. D. 1802. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of M. L. Washhurn, furrier. pelagic sealing. State of Califoknta, City and County of San Francisco, ss : M. L. Washburn, having l)een duly sworn, deposes and says: Ire- side at West liaiidolph, Vt., but spend most of my time Experience. ou the soutli shorcs of Ahiska. My occupation is that of a fur-dealer. I have l)een in Alaska for thirteen years; and for the last five years have been traveling in the early sum- mer months of each year, buying furs from Kodiak Island east to Prince Williams Sound west; occasionally I made trips as far east as Yakutat ,,. ^. Bav and as far west as GhignicBav. The seals appear Migration. • li ±_ i j^ • » '-i t • • \ in tliese waters late m April and increase in numbers until the latter part of May, and then gradually decrease in numbers until about the 15th of July, when they all disappear. I annually visit nearly all the settlements in this region, and many of the uninhabited islands, and have never seen, and in conversation with the various tribes of natives have never heard of fur-seals hauling coast ""^ ^'"'^ "^ "" **'^ shore of \\u^. mainlands or Xho, islands in this dis- trict, either for breeding or temporary resting place, since my residence in Alaska, and in only (me case have I heard of a young ])Ui) fur s(\il Ix-ing found in the waters of this , and jnevious ib .rs to that time had caught about 800 seals. Then 1 '"'^'^'^ '^'^'°° 490 TESTIMONY sealed in the Beriiifj Sea from that time to the 2Sth of August, caught about 2,L'(H) more, the whole cateh being o,0(K) for the year. lu 1887 I T „■ p ■ ^.,,oo^ was master of the sclioouer Lottie Fairfield, sailing Lottie Faifficld,lS87. „ ^^ -r-, . , i ji -.r».i t m^r -, irom San Irancisco on or about the 17th day of March, and worked northward to the Bering Sea, and captm^ed Entered Bering Sea. ggg ^^^^^^ j ^^^^^ entered tlic Bering Sea about the Cth of July, cruising there until the 2i)tli day of August, and took 2,517 seals more, the whole catch being ;i,4(H) for the year. In 1888 1 took the schooner Vnilmuiied on a fishing and sealing voy- age, leaving here on or about th(; 20tli of JNIarch, and cruised in the North Pacific U|) to the islandofKodiak, capturing 100 ^VnJauntcd, 1888, ^^^3,^^^^ ^^^^ ^,^ ^^^p y^,, ^,.,^. ^,^- jj^„,,_ j ^|j^^ j^,^^ ^^^^^^. ^.^^ Bering Sea that year. 1 did the same in 1889, my trip being the same as in 1888, and my ca])ture of seals was about the same. I then quit sealing, and I am now engaged in trading with tlie Gilbert and Marshall islaiuls in the South racilic Ocean. While master I was shootinresentation Avith the British side of this question, and com])ared his reports with the cash value estimates of the owners of vessels and the offers of builders and others to furnish vessels. In trying to arrive at the cost of onttit and tlie profits of sealing voyages I looked through the accounts of nearly one hundred A^oyages of sealing schooners. In attem]»ting to determine the sex of seals killed in the Bering Sea and the North I'acitic, and of the inunber of seals killed in excess of those actually secured by the hunters, 1 had intervicAAS AA'ith upAvards of 50 seal hunters, aside from interviews subsequently had with In- dian huuters. I found this ])orti()n of my Avork by far the most diffi- cult. Much discussion Inid already been had about the damaging effect of pelagic sealing, and the hunters were loath to tell how many seals were killed and not recovered, and Avere otten averse to making truth- ful reports about the sex of the animals killed; but by frequenting their haunts and cultiA'ating their company for long periods I suc- ceeded in getting accurate statements from a number of them. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 493 I found that at first the liuiiters were disposed to l)r:i,2: of their skill and to overstiiiuite their siK-cess in secnriui;- skins of seals shot at. The reason for that was that an impression prevailed among- many of tbem that I was about to enj^age in sealing enterprises, and that I was making inriuiries for the purpose of asuertaining their skill as hunters, with the view to engaging them. The practice in British Colund)ia is to pay the best hunters the high- est rate per skin. Men who could shoot fairly well, but ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ who used a shotgun, conld be secured lor a sealing voyage from $1 to ^l.M per skin, while hunters who shot with the rifle and were of recognized skill in some instances were paid as high as $2.50 per skin, and generally speaking as high as $2 per skin. The reason for this is obsious to those who have interested themselves in the sealing business. A seal killed with buckshot is so mucli punc- tured frecpiently that the pelt is of lesser value. It is not profitable^ for schooners to engage as hunters men who miss their chances of killing the seals and Idaze away indiscriminately with small results. Even though the hunter is only paid for the skin he recovers, the loss to the vessel by his failure to kill when an opportunity offers is equiva- lent to the proht it would have made on the skin if secured. For these reasons and on account of the general proneuess of men, who consider themselves experts in the use of any weapon, to brag, the seal hunters of British Colund)ia, as a ti^tirsMr class, grossly exaggerate the percentage of skins they recover, to the number of seals aimed at, wounded, or killed. I have heard nu^.n say that they killed and recovered 90 per cent of all the seals they flred at, but on examination of the accounts of the schooners on which they had been employed previous voyages, I dis- coverevl that more then' ten rounds of ammunition had been used for every skin that the vessel brought home. As a result of that investigation in the Bering Sea and North Pacific and the investigations made subsecpiently, I discovered : First. That 95 per cent of all the seals killed in the ^.^^^^ ^j. ,.j.^^ Bering Sea are fenniles. Second. That for every three sleeping seals killed or wounded in the water only one is recovered. Third. For every six traveling seals killed or wounded in the water only one is recovered. Fourth. That 95 per cent at least of all the female seals killed are either in i)up or have left their newly-born pup on the islands, while they have goue out into the sea in search of food. The result is the same in either case. If the mother is killed the pup on shore will linger for a few days; some say as long as two or three weeks, but will inevitably die before winter. All of the scliooners prefer to hunt around the banks where i„,^luho*ieiuaio!^ the female seals are feeding to attinupting to intercept the male seals on their way to and from the hauling grounds. Aside from the greater difficulty of killing and securing the skin of a traveling seal, aud the larger i)roportion of loss to the schooner, dur- ing the greater part of the sealing season, ami more i)arti('ulaily in the Bering Sea, there are few males to be found in the water. No other evidence of this is needed than tlie observation of the gen- tlemen who speml the season on the Pribih)f Islands and who all agree in reporting that the male seals remain there, Mai.s nmain ou is- while the females, as soon as they are delivered of their lamis (iuiing tueso-a- young, go forth in search of food. The male seal scl- """" 494 TESTIMONY dom sleeps in tlie water during tlie sealing season. When the nortli- ward migration begins in March, the male seals i)ursue their way with all diligence to the rookeries, and arrive there abont thirty days ahead of the coming of the female seals. It mast be plain fi-om this, that the Why fewer males Opportunities for slaying male seals that are traveling are killed. rai)i(lly through the water, must be far less than for killing female seals, who, making their way leisurely, feeding as they go, and resting freciuently because they are heavy with puj), otter a far more extensive target to the rifle of the hunter. The Fndians with whom 1 conversed in British Columbia, and who had had a varied and extensive ex]»erience of sealing, not only as seal hnnters for schooners, but when out in search of food, all declared, that the male seal seldom eat and never slept while on his way to the rook- eries. They declared that as with the salmon when on its way to the spawning grounds, they had neA'er found food in the stomach of the few male seals they had managed to capture. So far as I was able to learn, the terms "sleeper" and "traveler" as applied to seals, had their origin among the Indians. They declared, and in that they are borne out by all of the white hunters, that the seal, when it is desirous of resting in the water, inflates a bladder in its body, which keeps it afloat. \Vhcther this be so or uot, makes no Only sleeping seals flittereuce, but the fact is, that almost the only way the killed' by Indians. Indians have of killing seals is by i)addling noiselessly up to the sleeping animal as it floats on the water, and spearing it. Many of the schooners employ Indian hunters, who work much cheaper than the whites, who only use the spear, and never attemj)t to kiU a traveling seal. The reports of their catches show that all of their captures are females. It could not well be otherwise, for the male b^ii'diM™!*'''^ '^^"'"^ seals, in making their way to the rookeries, take a more northerly course, and go with all speed, while the females move towards the mouth of the Columbia, and other large fishing banks, following the runs of fish, or idly waiting until nature tells them that the period of gestatis. At the times when the male seals are on the rookeries, the large catches are made. A traveling seal is alert, cauti(ms, fio^*to cafchr^^ '^'^' ^u^it^k of hearing, and easily disturbed. A sleeping seal is at the mercy of anyone. The large proportion of traveling seals shot at and lost is due to the timidity of the animal; in fact, all the hunters admit that when there is much shooting going on, the seals are very dilliculttoget. The loss of sleeping seals, which I estimate as two lost for one saved, is due to the fact that unless the bullet or shot kills the animal instantly, it will immediately dive, and it is not easy to kill a seal instantly. The head of the seal aflords but a small mark. Even in the case of a sleeper, the motion of the water keeps it moving. The boat from which the hunter shoots is also moving, and while there are men, who, at a distance of oO or 00 yards, can shoot a small object under such circumstances, they are extremely rare. They are famous as experts, and they are highly rewarded for their skill. Certainly not one in ten of all the seal hunters can trnth- fully assert, nor do they attempt to do so when in a kinXn8*Sy.'^^^* confidential humor, that they kill 50 per cent of their seals dead. I was in the company of a number of them in Victoria in 1889, and heard them talking among themselves of their prowess. Some put forward TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 495 claims, which the others derided. Any estimate in excess of v'he one I liave aheady given called forth uncomplimentary remarks and charges of boastfuliiess. The disinclination of these men to state the absolute facts, and they alone know vvhat the facts are, in relation to the num- ber of seals shot and lost, has been intensified lately by the feelinj;- that it is necessary for them to make a good showing- to back up the claim that pelagic sealing is not absolutely destructive of the seal herd. In considering tlie number of skins taken durijig the past it must be borne in mind that the schooners have frequently been seriously inter- fered with in their work by the cruisers of the United States Govern- ment. Mr. Miln, surveyor of the port of Victoria, in his report to the Domin- ion Government, of which 1 was so fortunate as to se- cure a copy, stated that if not i nterfered with by cruisers of-^tais!"sri'K)oIu-r,'if a large-sized schooner would surely capture 3,000 skins "''t interiered with during the season in the Bering. Mr. Miln's estimate ^ cruisei.,. in that respect, as in many other matters, I found to be fair and honest. The destruction of seals in the North Pacific Ocean, as well as in the Bering Sea, is largely confined to females. This fact Destruction in Ber- can not be disputed successfully. I made an examiiui- ing sea largely cou- natiou of the reports of the gentlemen who handled fined to females. the ISTortli Pacific collection, up to and including the year 1889, and all agreed that the skins were nearly all from females. It may not be out of place to explain that the smaller value of the female seal, especially after the birth of her pup, is in a measure due to the wearing of the I'ur around the teats. The amount of merchant- able fur being reduced to that extent, makes it necessary for the han- dlers of skins to observe carefully whether pelts are male or female, as well as their general condition. They make a complete classification, and being experts in their business, are not likely to make mistakes. The large proportion of females killed in the North Pacific is due to the fact, as I explained before, that the males pursue their way to the hauling grounds with dispatcli, while the females are more leisurely in their movements and take frequent rests. I append, as a i)art of this affidavit, a copy of the rei^ort I made to the Alaska Commercial Company on this sul)ject in 1881), and which they used tor the purpose hereinbefore x^^^i^"""^ *" set forth, and I desire to add that subsequent inquiry has proved that the statements and conclusions in the report I then made, were correct. It must be taken into consideration that the esti- mates of the profits of sealing voyages, and other matters contained in that report, were based upon the value of skins in that and former years. Subse([uently skins have increased in value, and profits of large catches would therefore be proportionately greater, but tlie con- ditions of sealing have not changed since then, nor can they change, with the exception that the fleet of sailing vessels has largely increased, consequently the destruction of seals has been much greater in the last two years. There can be no question, that if the seals are not protected, and this tremendous slaughter that is now going on in the sea is not immediately stopped, there will be a total destruc- ^ary."^^''*'"" °''''^*' tion of the herd in a very short while. Theodore T. Williams. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th day of A]u-il, A. D. 1892. [seal] Cleme^'t Bennett, Notary rublic. 496 TESTIMONY To the President of the Alaska Commercial Gom/pany : I have made a tliorougli and accurate examination of tlie seal-hiint- inji" industry of I >ritisli Columbia which is carried ou in leM^r^'^ '^'*^"'* ^" Bering- Hea, in accordance with the followiug instruc- tions received from your company : " Exact account of Uritish ( 'olumbia fur-seal iudustry, to go back as early as i»ossibl(», and show the area over which the Scope of the report. ^^^^^ ^^^^^.^^ huuted before the existence of the Alaska Commercial Company (ISTO) and during the early years of the lease. " It should show the develoi)ment and exi>ansion of the business, in ac- cordance with the enhanced value of skins, caused by the operation of the company. "As exactly as i^ossible it should give — "Statistics of yearly catch and prices obtained for same at British Columbia, number of vessels employed, their value and cost of outfit, and any other details of the business possible. " To be of value it slumld be accurate, and not nu?rely api)roximate, as we desire to use the figures to base our estinuxte for bidding for re- newal of the sealing lease, an important factor, in Avhich must neces- sarily be the probability of the continuauce of illicit sealing and its con- sequent depletion of the seal herd. The profits to illicit sealers being greater or less, will, of course, increase or decrease their number. " There should also be a careful statement made and sworn to by com- petent men of the value of the vessels that have been seized and stranded at Unalaska or condemned elsewhere. All this should be prepared as honestly and correctly as possible, with no effort to ndni- mize values, but only to state honestly, as near as maybe, real values." STATISTICS OF YEARLY CATCH. 18S1. The first sealskins ever handled in British Columbia canght in the . ^ . Bering Sea were taken in 1881. Prior to that year no rag Sea betoro"is8r vessels Sealed iu the Bering. In 1881 the American schooner San Dinjo caught lOo seals in the Bering and c n- laoi i^old the skins to T. Lubbe of Victoria, British Colum- San Diego, 1881. ^^ _ , . „,, , . ' , . , t bia at $l).2o per skin. These skins were shipped to Lon- don, as are nearly all of the skins bought in Victoria, British Columbia, and the trade, therefore, bnuight no profit to Canada, T. Lubbe being an American. I have, however, included the record of this and all other collections made by American ships in the Bering Sea when sold in British Columbia, because they all figure in the rei)oits of the Vi(v toria custom house. In keeping the collection of the American and Caiuidian vessels from the Bering district, you can see at a glance the relative value of the Bering Sea collection to American and Canadian sealers. 188,-2. American schooner Stin Dirfjo; P>ering Sea eolhM-ticm, 327 seals, sold to T. Lubbe at Victoria, Bi itish Columbia, at $8 per SanDiego,m2. ^^^^^ ' ' 1883. American schooner SanDiego', Bering Sea collection, 908 skins; sold to T. Lubbe, Victoria, British Columbia, at $10 per SanIHego,lS83. ^^^^^ ' ' j r TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 41) 7 Bering Sea collection, sold in Victoria, Britl.sli Colnmbia; American schooner iSaii llierjo, 980 skins, at |8; American schooners Ottenind Alexander landed in Victoria Brit- Aie"amier!^Mui Aanj ish Colnmbia, 1,700 skins to be resliipped to PI. Liebes ^"^''-i^s^- & Co., of San Francisco, owners of the two vessels 5 British schooner Mary Ellen, 1,409 seals, sold at $7.50 per skin. Thns it will be seen that the British Columbia seal industry in tlie Bering- began in 1884. The Mary Ellen was owned l)y D. McLean, was of 03 tons, had a crew of twenty-one whites and was worth $0,000, in- cluding her outfit. 18S5. Bering- Sea collection: American schooner City of San Diego, 1,953 skins, at $7.(J0j American schooner Vanderhilt,l,2'i4: skins, at 17.00; American schooner Sart Die!/o,l,7:i(i,nt t^^S. S" at $7 39; American schooner Lookout, 1,100, at $7.50; Lookout. Favorite, iind British schooner Favorite, 1,383, at $7.00 j British ^"''^ ^'««". i«^^- schooner Mary Ellen, 1,773, at $7.00. I88G. Bering Sea collection: Americanschooner J^wir, 182, at $5.50; Amer- ican schooner Therese (since sailed under British liag), 2,000, at $0.50 ; American schooner Syltna Handy, 1,700, .d'^H^idyr^tftf at $0.50; American schooner City of San Diet/o, 1,000, ^^an iHegd, H\ien at $6.50; American schooner Helen Blum, no lecovd. Jr>wi i^iu.' The British schooners, On^^rf >•(/, 6Vfro/i«e, and TAorwto;*, were seized in the Bering with about 2,000 skins on board. The Caroline, though under the British flag, was owned one-half by an American named Beclitel, who furnished also the money for the out- fit. Bechtel is interested also in the British schooners Mary Taylor, Pathfinder, and Viva. The shii)S were put under the British flag in defiance of the British merchant shipping act, which tbrbids any partnership or beneficial interest in any British ship by a foreigner. to^BriUsh "fi"™!,'i" To secure himself in case of trouble Bechtel has mort- trarv to provi«T<.ns"IIr gages on the S(;hooners. The Thornton was owned half ih'pp'ng "01! ''"'''''''' by J. Boscowitz, an American, who owned and no w owns all or part of eveiy schooner registered under the British flag in the name of Captain Warren. This fact came out a short time ago in a lawsuit in Victwia between Warren and Boscowitz. The books of the firm being produced, it was sliown that Boscowitz not only owiu'd and shared a half interest, but had advanced moneys for Captain Warren's share, on which he collected interest. I append a didy certified copy of part of the evidence in the suit of Warren v. Boscowitz and Cooper, copied from the archives of the court in Victoria and ffilly certified to by Harvey Coombe, esq., deputy registrar of the sni)reme court of British Columbia, over the great seal of the Donunion of Canada. Besides the 2,000 skins taken by tlie seized sealers, the collections in the Bering Sea by British schooners were: 2716— VOL II 32 498 TESTIMONY tis h sclioouer Dolphin, 2,200 at $7.00 a a Alfred Adams, 1,455 u 7.00 u a Active, 1,338 u 7.00 a u Blade Diamond, 828 ii 7.00 a u Fa fh finder. 1,700 u G.C5 u u Sierra , 1,000 u 6.50 u ii Favorite, 3,4!)2 u ().50 u a Anna Deck, 1,142 u 0.05 a ii W. F. Say IV a rd, 1,000 a 0.5(» ii a Grace, 1,700 a 0.50 a a Mary Ellen, 3,559 u 0.50 u a Fen elope, 104 u 5.50 a a Mountain Chief, 030 u 0.50 The princix)al reason for the tliK'.tuatioii iii prices this year and m other years was tlie disturbed condition of the London of^ondo^u'L^™86.^'"'' market, caused by reports of large collections, and so greatly did the catch of 25,000 skins affect the market that tlie skins sold for less in London than was paid for them in N'ictoria, British Columbia, entailing loss on the XHirchasers. 1887. The seizures in the IJering Sea in 1886 stopped the American sealers from fitting i(iniondj 705 5.02} u Fathjindcr, 600 5.021 u Viva, 2,0(!0 5.02* u Favorite, 2,310 5.02^ ii Magf/ie Mc, 1,421 5.02.1 a Penelope, 1,051 5.02^ iC Mountain Chief, 781 5.02i Gernum si-liooiier ^ Ailele, 150 5.02^ Auierican schooner Anne, 1,010 5.()2j a u AYchster, 520 5.02i u u Olson, 500 5.()2i u li Walter A. Rich, 400 5.021 u a Aide I. Alger, 380 5.02J 1889. Beriiifj Sea collection, 1880, lauded at Victoria, and all shipped to England and United States. So far the average selling price at Yictoria has been $7.05. German schooner Adele, American schooner Allie I. Ahjer, Newton, J. G. ^wan, Henri/ Dennis, Pathfinder, Viva, Annie C. Moore, Afaggie 3fc, iSftpphire, W. P. Sayicard, Kate, Favorite, Penelope, Blaelc Diamond, Lily, u u u u u a tisli L schoone (» u Ariel, Minnie, Beatrice, Therese, Mary Ellen, The record of the collection as given at Victoria and veritied by the ])rincipal purchasers. The price paid for skins came from the account books of the purchasers and were veri- fied by current price lists published in the London fur market. 1,000 281 239 00 700 50 2,180 1,300 1,200 1,029 1,000 911 None 1,850 55 74 834 521 700 None. None. above is from the custom-house victoria's investment. NUMBER OF SCHOONERS EMPLOY KD SEALING IN THE 15ERING, AND THEIR VALUE. The second branch of my investigation was the number of vessels owned by Canadians engaged in sealing in the Bering Sea, their value, cost of outfit, etc. There are in the business: Twenty-floyed an expert shipbuilder or took the valuations of the underwriter's expert, not on the amount for which the vessel was insured, but his estinurteof what it would cost to replace her. In every case the \a1ue I have given, except in case of actual sale, is rather more than the vessel wnndd sell for in an ordinary bargain. In the course of my investigation as to the value of the trade to Can- ada, I secured a copy of a report made fi)r the J)ominion Government by A. R. Miln, esq., surveyor of the ])ort of Victoria. While Mr. IVIiln is naturally prejudiced somewhat in iavor of his Canadian friends in Estimate by A. R. pi'^^PiU'i^ff '■^ Tcport wliich will be made the basis of their Mill), surveyor of port claim Oil the I'liitcd Statcs Government, he is clearly ot Victoria. ^^j^ lioncst ollicial and has done his work generally cor- rect. His estimate of the total value of the Victoria sealing fleet is $200,000, or $27,150 in excess of my valuations. As his figures are certain t^:) be the ones adopted by the Canadian Government, I took special pains to correct my valuations thoroughly when they diflered from his. I found that in many cases he had taken the owner's valua TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 501 tion, whioli was far in excess of the real value, I append the real value as compared with Mr. IVIilii's estimates, and also a copy of Milu's re- port made August 17, 1889, sworn to before A. L. Belyea, esq.. Vic- toria, British Columbia, and forwarded to the governor general of Can- ada. As a vsealing schooner is only engaged one-third of her time in the Bering, the other two-thirds being spent in the west coast sealing, fish- ing, otter hunting, or some other business, only one-third of the fleet's value can jiroperly be said to be invested in the Bering sealing busi- ness. The actual cash investment of all the Canadas in this trattic is therefore cme-third of $130,750, or the insignificant sum of $45,585.33, and even that would not be lost if the traffic were stopi)ed. OUTFIT, ADVANCES, ETC. Both Milu's valuations and my own include the cost of the sealing outfit. The value of an outfit for sealing depends upon the size of the schooner, the number of men and boats "^*" ""*^*' she carries, and whether or not they are Indians. As you will see by one of the tables appended, there were this year 383 Indians and 261 white men employed on sealing schooners fitted out in Victoria, and where white men are employed, the schooner carries boats of American make, has her hunters armed with rifies and shotguns, and carries all told a crew of 4 men to each hunting boat. The men are engaged in this way: The hunter who shoots the seal has two men in his boat to row him, making 3 men actually in the boat, and a few hands are left on board the schooner to liandle her. Thus, a scliooner having a crew of 20 men all told, would have 5 boats and 5 hunters. The cost of the outfit is, for such a schooner : Five boats costing in San Francisco^ where tliey are all buik, $100 each $500 Five Marling rifles, at $35 175 Five shotguns, at $35 175 Two extra guns 70 Salt for seal skins 200 Five thousand rounds ammunition for guns and rifles 125 Provisions for twenty men four months, at $8 per head per month 640 Insurance, one-third of year 175 2,060 EXPENSES OF A TRIP. The expenses of a sealing trip in the Bering are, for r. J.1 1 • I- i CI Expenses of a frip, a four months' cruise: Captain, wages, at $100 $100 Ten seamen, at $35 per mouth ". 1, 400 Five ordinary seamen or boys, at $20 per numth 400 Paid to hunters, at $2 per skin, 1,600 an actual average 3, 200 5, 400 Total expense and outfit 7, 460 As the hunters are jiaid by the skin, the expenses would be more if the catch was larger. The expense of a six-l)oat schooner would be proportionately greater as it wr()fif of $4,440 on her trip, if the skins sold for $7.50 each, and he adds that she could catch 3,000 skins if undisturbed by a United States Keveuue cruiser, and if she could, two things would happen. Skins would drop to next to nothing in value and there would be no seals next year. There aie 24 Victorian schooners in the trade and 32 San Francisco „, ^ , , ,. and Puget Sound schooners, making a total of 50 schoon- Cima.iiiiii nmi Aincri- crs. At tlic rate of 3,000 skius to the schooner, they can vessels in tt.et. ^yould, if uudisturbcd, takel08,000 skins. As the seals they kill in the ]5ej'ing are nearly all females either in young or having ^ ^. ,^ , , iustpui)i)<'d, the loss of seal life would be 336,000. To tiou of seal lifvi.y said tliis uuist bc added 108,000 killed and wimnded seal fleet, if umestiiiu.t. .j,,^ ^^^,[^. p^^pj^ j^^^,^ cauglit, making a total of 072,000 seal killed with the present fleet. COST OF INDIAN OUTFIT. Where Indians are employed as hunters, the expense of the outfit and „ „^ ,. voyage is much less. The Indians hunt from their Costof Indian oilttit. i • i •^^ •J.^ • j. i _i> j^ own skin (;aiioes, kdl with spears instead oi hrearms, so that other seals are not frightened away, and feed themselves on seal blubber. They are paid $1.50 per skin and seal with two men to the canoe, one to spear and one to paddle. The cost of an outlit for a scho(mer carrying thirty Indians, Avhich is a common number, is fifteen skin canoes at $20, $300. The expense of the voyage is for the wages and board of a white captain and lour sailors, salt for seal skins and a little tea and crackers for the Indians. Indian sealing being so much cheaper and more profitable all the schooners would engage Indians were it not for the fact that these Siwash are an extremelv troublesome race and require prrfe/red"^''''"' '""'""* ^^'•' "^""^^t tact aud skill to manage. Only a few cap- tains can handle them to advantage and they are mostly cajitains who have Siwash blood in their veins. LOSING WOUNDED SEALS. The statement I made that the capture of 108,000 skins meant the ^ , „,.,. death of 720.00(> seals, needs some explanation. Tlie Waste of Ine. • ,. ,1.1 • 1 • ^1 t-. • \, 1 j •• seanng Ih'ct begins w(»ikin tlie Bering Sea about June and is all back liome by the end of September. JJuring this period there are but few seals in tlu; Avaters of Bering Sea, except females. The male seals are all at the breeding islands, either guarding their 95 per cent of seals I'^^eni^ Or Waiting tlic coiiiiiig of thc feiuales. Ninety- killed in uerii.ji: Sea fivc ])er cent of all the seals killed during summer and *'^"'"'*^'''' autumn in the Bering arc females. Thomas Mowat, esq., inspector of lisheries for British Columbia, in his report to the governor-general of Canada, says that only 1 per cent of the Bering collection are ]uii)s. The female seals killed in the Bering are either on their way to give birth to their young or have left their puj) on the islands, and, guided TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 503 by tliat instinct given by nature to all motliers, liave j-emaiea feedin gone tbrtli to search for food to sustain the life of the ^^^^^ ee mg. little one. In either case the death of the mother means the death of the young. In the list of skins ottered for sale in the London market there appears the classification "black pups." These are the skins ..^i^^j^ „g-,^j^^ of unborn seals torn from the wombs of their dead ^ "^^ mother. It is not a pleasant picture, but it can not be avoided. The soft-eyed seal mother, making her rapid way through the Bering Sea to reach the islands in time to bring forth her young, for she knows that the time of gestation is nearly at an end, with every instinct of her nature concentrated in the thought of her expected delivery, in that condition, of all others, most demanding the consideration of brutes, let alone of men, is slain by the ruthless seal hunters and her pup dragged moist from the womb that his skin may figure among the proceeds of the sealer's trip. There is something so revolting, so hideous in this slaughter that even the sealers themselves do not care to talk about it. So, too, is revolting the slaughter of the female seal that has given birth to her pup and gone out into the sea to find food to sustain the lives of both of them. She leaves her pup on shore, a hel])less, tiny thing, soft and pulpy, and only able to wriggle and bark. Nature has taught her to recognize it among hundreds of thousands by its plaintive bleat, and the eagerness with which she rushes to its side when she comes ashore shows how much she loves to fondle and care for it. If the mother is killed the pup will linger on for a time, ^^^^^ only to die of starvation in the end, or, because of weak- '^'^' ^'"^^' ness, be dashed to pieces in the first storm. Thousands of these orphan pups are found along the coast after a severe storm, dead, because they had not sufficient strength to exist in tlieir natural element. Had their mothers been spared till it was time for the pups to .take to the water and Uve on fish of their own catching, no storm that ever raged in the Arctic Ocean could disturb them. The seal pup can live a long time without food, which is a wise provision of nature, because the mother often has to go a very long distance to fisli , but after a few days, if the mother does not return, the pup's vitality becomes exhausted and it dies. WHAT HUNTERS LOSE. In attempting to ascertain exnctly the number of seals killed and lost by the Bering Sea hunters, I fouiul a wide diver- ^.,, ,, , , '' " ' ^\ hat liuiiters lose, gence of statement. It is greatly to the advantage of the seal hunter to have the reputa- tion of losing but few seals. He is ])nid by the skin, and the more he catches tlie greater his remuncnition, but that is not all. The hunter with the best reputation as a sure catcher is in the greatest demand, can secure employment in the best schooner and the laig<'st sum of advance numey. Besides sell-interest, there comes vanity to urge the hunter to n»ake the biggest reputation possible for himself. To use a common expression, the seal hnnters all brag about their sureness of aim. The best .shots use a rifl(^ and lire at a range ot from 50 to llT) yards. The poorer slK.ts de- of^llJI^Ir'Tklir ^"'"* pend on a shotgun loaded with buckshot, and AA'ill lire at a seal up to 50 yards away. The Indian hunters use spears, and paddle noiselessly up to the sleei)ing seal to ]»luiige the sjiear in its shoulder. They never attem])t to spear a seal that is awake. An In- dian hunter will paddle in among a lot of "sleepers " and spear them, 504 TESTIMONY one after tlie other, wliile a white liiiiiter who uses firearms alarms every seal in the iieijiiiborhood at the first discharge. The Indians lose about one-third of all they spear either trom failure , , ,. to kill when they strike or because the dead seal sinks Losses by Indians. • ^ t _o l\ j. -j. too quickly lor them to secure it. The white hunters do not get one-half of all they shoot. Some hunt- ers are very careful shots and will not fire unless the luHiters^ ^^ ^'"'"^ ''^^'^^ ^'^ ^^'^^^ within range, but the seal is likely to sink before the boat can get to it, or, if wounded, will dive like a flash to get away. A number of hunters have boasted that they secure ninety-five seals for one hundred shots, and some have madeafii- da\its of even more wonderfiil exidoits. They presume too much on public ignorance and crcchility. Only the head of a seal a|>pears for them to aim at. They are shoot- ing at a moving object from a moving boat, and it is 8eli*wfu\" buuet'''' "" absui'd to picteiid tliut 95 i)er cent of their shots are fatal, and that all the seals they kill are picked up before sinking. It is as absurd as though a hunter on land should boast of killing 05 per cent of all the birds he aimed at. There are a few good seal liuuters whose loss does not exceed 25 i)er cent, but they are as well known in the Xorth as champion baseball players in Amer- ica, and form but a small jnoportion of the 200 seal hunters who signed lor the tri]) this year. Fortunately it is not necessary to depend on the statements of the seal hunters. 1 secured access to the ship accounts of tifmateat'ofski'n!'"" scvcral scalcrs, and tbund that in every case the con- sumption of ammunition showed more than ten car- tridges used for every sealskin cajitured. I sj)ent considerable time among the Siwash Indian sealers, and, while they brag of their individual prowess, they admitted a loss of oO ])er cent at h^ast. On this subject I append a statement made by Captain Olsen,of the sealing bark Bessie Butcr, of Victoria: Captain Olsen, of the American schooner Bessie Hitter, of Astoria, reached Mctoria Sei)tember 27, 1889. In the office ot niSTrlhJxw tlJe American consul. Col. E. Stevens he said: "I took j.y'ter, as to waste oi 550 skius ill the Bering. Of these 27 were pups, 520 ^"''' *"*"■ females, and .'> male seals, which I killed oft" the island of Kod iak. Most of the female seals were with young-. I had a green crew and green hunters. They used shotguns and sometimes the rifle. They got about 1 seal for every o they aimed at. Some they missed alto- gether, and some of the wounde(l ones got away. There is great risk of losing a traveling seal. The sleeping se^d blow u]) an air bladder that keeps tliem from sinking, but the .seal when awake sink easily. Ilooks are used to grap])le lliem, but if tlie boat is some distance from the seal when it is killed it does not often get it. For that reason rifle shooting at long range liardly pays. I Mill get about $7.75 for some of my skins and 88 for others. JMy voyage will pay because I ran the boat on the clieap. I only had two men to the boat, and only paid my hunters $1 a skin, instead of $2, which is paid to first-class hunters. .Some very skillful hunters do not lose many skins. They will never fire unless a seal is at close range, and they generally kill. Of course they lose some from sinking. All the hunters brag about how few they lose, because they want the reymtation of being good hunters. The better reputation they ha\e the better chance they get. " If the Bering Sea was open many new men would come into the business, and the loss would be greater. Only a few men make sue- TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 505 cessfnl lumters. It is like bcinj? a clever rifle shot. If tlie best limit- ers lose ten or fifteen ill ii liuudred tbe otber kind lose teu times as many, if not more. Green bands will tbrow away a lot of ammunition, sbooting at everytbinfi: tliey see, wbetlier it is in range or not. You can not stop tbeni. Tliey will wound more tban tbey kill. If the motber of a young seal is^illed tbe pup is very likely ^^^^ to die. It will be so weak tbat tbe first storm will ""^ ^"^^' dasb it asbore and kill it, or it may die of starvation. I have seen Ijups bardly larger tban a rat from lack of nourisbment. A starved or neglected orpban jiup is nearly sure to die. At one storm tbe na- tives found over tbree bundred pups wasbed asbore in a little cove, and tbe water around was fnll of dead pups. It is certain tbat nearly all the dead pups were ori)hans. Tbe female seal when ^ , ^ ^. suckling her young has to go out into tbe ocean in search of food, and it is those females, or females on tbe way to tbe breeding grounds to give birth to the young, that we kill in tbe Bering Sea. We find some barren female seals — female seals too old to breed, or tbat for some reason have not bred. I have often wondered tbat there are not more barren seals. The males on the islands will secure twenty or twenty-five females, and tbe male being constantly engaged in fighting, it is likely tbat many of tbe females are neglected. A young seal does not take to tbe water naturally. He has to be taught to swim. The hair seal will pup any- i„,^»P^ "'^* *™p^'^ where, and the pups will go right into the water, but tbe fur seals are forced to go ashore to bring forth their young and forced to leave their young on land, while they go into the water to feed and batlie. I suppose that if everyone could kill seal in the Ber- ing in a few years tbe seals would all be dead excexDt tbe males, and in time tbe seals would be exterminated." VALUE or SEIZED VESSELS. In ascertaining tbe value of the vessels that have been seized by the United States Government for illegal sealing in the Bering Sea I got tbe record of actual sales in every ^^^aiue of seized ves- case where tbe vessel bad changed hands during the past six years. Many of tbe schooners were bought by their last own- ers at private sale, but others bad been sold at auction. Tbe seized schooners belonging to Boscowitz and Warren were all sold at auction in tbe year 1885 and were bought in by a party in the interest of Bos- cowitz for $1 each above the lien on them. No one bid higher tban that, for tbe excellent reason that tbe lien represented in every case tbe full value of tbe boat and outfit, and was given by Warren, in whose name tbe boats stood, to secure Boscowitz, who, being an American, could not legally own an interest in boats sailing under the British flag. I append a certified copy of tbe sale of these vessels at public auction in Victoria in 1885. T. T. Williams. Victoria, B. C, October ], 1889, United States of America, State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : I, Clement Bennett, a notary ])ubli(', in and for said city and county, residing therein, duly coniinissioned and sworn, do certify that on this 4th day of April, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, I carefully comx)ared tbe foregoing copy of a report of T. T. Williams 506 TESTIMONY with the orij^inal tliereof, now in the possevSsion of the Alaska Commer- cial Ocmipany of San Francisco, Califoinia, and that the same is a full, true, and correct transcrij^t therefrom and of the whole of said original report. In witness Avhereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my offi- cial seal at my oilice, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, this 4th day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Deposition of John Woodruff, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of Han Francisco, ss : John Woodruff", havini;- l)een duly sworn, deposes and says: T am 21 years of age. My occupation is tliat of a boatnuni. I xpenence. j^^^^ ^^^ ^_,_^^^ Fraucisco. I wcut ou a Sealing voyage last Southeriaini, 1801. year ill tlie schooner Soiitherhind. We left San Fran- cisco in March, sealing all the way ahuig the coast. We put in at Sand Point, staying there a week, and then Entered Bering Sea. went iuto the licriiig Sca. We wcre in there alxtut a OrtitriMi out. week and a half, aiul were ordered out by the lievenue Cutter 7i//.s7/. VVe caught a few seals in there. Wheu we first went in there we did not see many, but after we were in there a while we saw plenty of fhcm that had large breasts that were full of milk, and our catch Avere most all females; the average taken'i5o miks ilo'iii would b(^ ubout ouc male to ten females, and we killed ^®''""^^- <',ows in milk 150 miles from the seal islands. A green Waste of life. liuuter would get (uic oiit of evciy fivc or six that he shot or killed, and an exi)eiieuced hunter might kill three or four and get (»nc. A great many that we shoot sink. After we left the Bering Sea we hove to outside of TTnamak Pass, staid there about three days, and started home, killing a few young I)nps on the way down. Our entire catch for that trip was between 36ii and 37S seals. AVe landed most of them at Sand Point. The catch Ave made Irom there to San J^'rancisco Ave lauded here. I saAV a gooknnett, Kotary Public. TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 507 Deposition of George Zammitt, sealer. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : George Zammitt, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: T am 31 years of age. 1 rc^side in Sau Francisco. I am a machinist by occupation. I made a sealing voyage on the schooner Seventy-six about eight years ago. Cap- tain Potts was master of her. We did not hunt at all going up the coast. We left here and went direct to the Bering Sea. We went over to the Copper Islands, on the Eussian side, but were driven away, and we came back towards the St. Paul and St. George Islands and caught about 200 seals. We were driven away from there, and then the vessel returned to Victoria, British Columbia, and I left the vessel there. We only used riHes. We shot mostly females. I was boat- puller and did other work also. During the voyage we lost the mate, who was washed overboard, and we also lost two boats at the same time in a storm. We suiled from this city. We lired at all the seals we could, regardless of their sex. We got one out of every six or seven we shot at or killed. George Zammitt. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of April, A. D. 1892. [L. s.] Clement Bemnktt, JS'otary Fuhlic. Experience. Seventynix, 1880. Entered Bering Sea. Went to Copper Islands. 1 >riven away hy Ru.SMians. Caught 200 seals. Shot mostly females. Indiscriminate kill- ing. Waste of life. TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE GENERAL SEALSKIN INDUS- TRY IN THE UNITED STATES. Deposition of George Bantle, pacl-er and sorter of rmv fur sicins. general sealskin industry. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : George Bantle, having- been duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is 53. 1 reside in San Francisco. 1 am a packer and sorter of raw fur ^. skins, and have been engaged in that occui^ation for xpeiience. ^j^^ ^^^^^ twcuty years. My calling has made me a judge of raw seal skins, as I have handled in the last ten or twelve years from 10,000 to 15,000 annually. I can tell by examining a skin whether it was caught in season or out of season, and whether it was caught on the Kussian side or on the Difference between American sidc. A Eussian skin is generally coarser, Kusaian and Ameri- and the uudcr wool is generally darker and coarser than the skins of the seals caught on the American side. A Russian skin does not make as fine a skin as the skins of the seals caught on the American side, and are not worth as much in the market. I can easily distinguish one from the other. Difference between 1 call also tcll by examining a skin whether it has male and female. i „ , i t, /. -, *- , been taken nom a loniale or male. I have examined and sorted a groat many thousand skins taken from 1 aiif sealing schooners, and have observed that they are eary eraa e. ^^^^..^^.j^ .^]] (ejnj^jt^^^^ ^ fcw boiiig old bulls and yearliugs. A female seal has a smaller liead, and a larger belly, Avhen with young, than a male seal, and the fur on the belly part, where the teats are, in consequence of being worn, is not worth much, and has to be cut off after being dyed. G. Bantle. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of C. Francis Bates, member of the firm of Martin Bates, jr., d; Co., furriers. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of N'ov Yoric, ss: C. Francis Bates, being duly sworn, says: T am a member of the firm of Martin Bares, jr., & Co., and am the i)ersou described in and who veri- 508 SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 509 fied an affidavit on the 22d day of Jnne, 1892, relating to the vakie of the iiidnstiy of manufacturing seal-skin articles in the United States, and other matters. I have signed the firm name to the statement hereto annexed, which has been prepared from a careful examination of the firm books, and I knowit to betrueinallresi)ects. The seal skins therein >. , . referred to were all purchased at Victoria, British .suina'^ plircbaLd^Ify Columbia, and are of the class commonly known as ?™ f * Y,!m'""" *'""" . , 7 , 1 • • 1 • -• • 1 1 • 1 l*"^l to 1890. northwest coast skins, '. c, skins irom animals which were caught in the Pacific Ocean or in the waters of Bering Sea. The statement represents all of the skins of this class which were purchased by my firm between the years 1880 and 181)0, inclusive, together with the full prices paid for them. I believe these prices to represent the average value of northwest coast skins at Victoria during these years, except that the price paid for the small lot purchased in 1890 is, as I am informed, below the average for that year. I find, however, upon referring to my books, that this lot was composed of small skins, some of them in poor condition. During the year 1891 we purchased no northwest coast skins, and I am therefore unable to state, of my own knowledge, their value in that year, but I understand that in the fall of 1890 and in 1891 it was very much higher than in any previous year, owing entirely to the diminished catch of sealskins upon the Pribilof Islands by the lessees of the Grovermnent during those years. C. Francis Bates. Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1892. [SEAL.] GeOKGE KlSSENGER, Jr., Notary PuhUo (No. 99) City and County of New York. Xoue purchased in 1891. Dimiuisliert catcli on Pribilof Islands in 1890-'91. Staiemcitt by Martin Bates jr. cj- Co., of New York. Tear. Number of seal skins pur- chased in Vic- toria. Average price perskiu. Total price. 1880 4, 3.^.5 5, 303 8, 780 (i, ,893 11,. 527 13,430 16, 797 2, 990 3, 805 500 309 $11.10 9. 35 5.80 5. HO 5.38 5.27 4.89 4.72 4.35 5.74 5.70 $48, 342. 50 1881 49, 578. 28 1882 50, 907. 87 1883 40, 700. 10 1884 62, 052. 20 1885 70, 867. 90 1880 -■ 82,211.64 1887 14,141.75 1888 16, 535. 60 18.'^9 2, 900. 90 1890 -- --- -- 1, 735. 00 Total 74, 767 439, 979. 80 De'position of Max Heilbronner, Secretary of the AlasJai Commercial Company of San Francisco. sealskins purchased by alaska commercial co. State op California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Max Heilbronner, having been duly sworn, (U'poses and says: I am the secretary ot the Alaska. Commercial Company of San Francisco, and as such have custody of all accounts of said company. 510 TESTIMONY. Statement of skins punhiised by coin- paujl"ioml87itolS91. cluxsed and Kadiak and Uualaska and 1SJ>1, inclusive: The following tabulated statement prepared by me from those accounts shows the fur-seal skins pur- shii)i)ed to the coini)any by its agents at from miscellaneous sources from 1871 to Date. 1871 . . 1872 . . 1873 . . 1874 . . 1875 .. 1876.. 1877 . . 1878 . . 1879 . . 1880 . . 1881 . . 1882 . . TJnalaska. Kadiak. Mi.scel- laneous. Total. 516 700 444 1. 223 356 562 2, 500 2, 001 1,207 930 880 1,030 516 1,503 2,349 1,223 856 562 2, 500 2,013 1,331 941 939 1, 159 78 725 1,905 12 124 11 59 129 Date. 1883 1S84 1885 1.S86 1887 1888 1889 IS'.M) 1891 Total TJnalaska. 1,546 2, 183 1,389 2,821 4,687 1,757 3, 046 2, 679 2, 925 Kailiak, 106 35 96 223 494 95 543 471 Mi.scel- laueous. Total. 1,652 2,218 1,485 3, 044 4,687 2, 251 3,141 3.222 3.396 40,988 The district covered by the company's agency at Uualaska embraces the stations at Unga, Bolkottski, Sannak, Akoutan, Districts covered by coiuiiany'.s atrenciesat Unalasli:a and Kadiak . Moshro\'ia, Umnak, Atka, and one or two smaller posts. I am credibly informed by those cognizant of the business and believe that a large majority of the skins from this agency were captiued in the North Pacific. The dis- trict embraced by the Kadiak Agency includes the stations at upper and lower Kenai, Prince AVilliam Sound, and several trading posts on Kadiak Island, and witliout doubt all the skins from this agency were caught iu the I^J^orth Pacific. A large majority of all the skins from both places were pups a few mouths old. The skins under the head of miscellaneous were bought from different vessels which brought them to San I think they were all or nearly all caught in the Ils'orth Majority o: tliose of pups. skins Francisco. Pacific. Max Heilbronner. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, A. D., 1892. [L. S.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. Deposition of George Liehcs, furrier, of Sati Francisco. pelagic catch. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: George Liebes, having been didy sworn, deposes and says: My age is 25. 1 reside in San Francisco. 1 am a fuirier and dealer in dressed and raw furs by occupation. 1 have been engaged in that business for the last six years. I have been going to Victoria for the last two years for the purpose of buying both land and sea furs. In 1890 I examined 14,000 fur-seal skins that were brought down on a tender from Sand Point, Alaska. That was the entire catch of the Victoria sealing fleet u]) to that time, the middle of June. It was transferred at Sand Point so that the schooners Avhich had the catch on board could enter the Bering Sea clear of all skins, in case they might be overtaken and searched by revenue cut- Experience. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 511 ters. The proportiou of females in this . lot was over 90 per cent. It was very easy to distinj^niish amon'jcoasukto^!^''* the males from tlie females on accoiiut of the forma- tion of their heads, the belly being- swollen ont of shape, the teats showing signs of dev^elopment, and also showing that the seal had been full of young and had evidently been cut open and the young removed. There were also some black pups among the lot, which are the skins of unborn seals and have no commercial value. I am informed and believe that the reason of there being such a. large proportion of females among the propoHioi "of femai'ls! coast skins is because the male, which is powerful and strong, usually swims more rapidly and at a longer distance from the coast, and are so scattered and active and hard to catch that it does not pay to liunt them. The female heavy with young easily tires, and sleeps on the water, and is easily shot while in that condition. I also examined a portion of the catch brought to Victoria in 1891, and the same conditions as to females existed as in the Lavser proportion previous year, except that there was a larger propor- ".^t^j^^o^'isoi**'^""* ^" tion of yearling skins among them. I have also examined skins taken by hunters from the Bering Sea, and there is even a greater proportion of females than i^^..^^,,. proportion among those taken on the coast. It is easier to distin- otteniliies among Bei- guish the females in the Bering Sea skins, for the teats aVfontMliose^of toast! are fidly developed from the seals suckling their young j.gjj"jjigg feedin<^ and they are caught while in the sea searching for food. '^^^^ *^^ The fur on tlie belly of tliese female seals is very poor and thin, owing to the swelling and fever in the teats, caused by suckling. Oftentimes female skins are found with big bare spots round the teats, due to the same cause. 1 have made it my business to find out what proportion of skins of seals killed are really brought into the market, and from the information which I obtained from the sealers, hunters, and those ,., , , ,, ,. Ti niij_' 1 Only one secured ownnig the skins, I learned that on an average only out of six kiued. about one out of six killed Avas secured, varying with the expertness of the hunter. In former times the seals were shot with rifles, and only had one small hole through which the bullet entered. Now shotguns ^^^^^ ^^^^ are used, and the skins are frequently so perforated that they look more like a sieve than a skin, which reduces their commercial value over 50 per cent. In the imrsuit of my business I have had an opportunity to buy and examine fur-seals taken from the Commander Islands, and can readily distinguish them from the northwest ,,,,*^;rai'"hu'-t^''from coast catch and those taken from the Pribilof Islands, that of the northwest They are evidently a distinct and separate herd, as the ^;^^^'^ ^'''^"^"^ ^' foundation of the fur is much coarser, and at the same time does not cover tlie belly as thickly as on the Alaska seal and is of very nuich less value. The proof of this is that the Commander Island skins bring 30 per cent less in the market than the Alaska skins.^ From my knowledge and expcrieiu^e in the i)nrchase ami handling of fur-seal skins, I know that the skins taken from seals along the coast and those taken from the Pribilof Is- those ^of pt-fbiiof** is- lands belong to the same herd. In buying the skins lands belong to same taken from seals caught by hunters in the Bering Sc^a, the price is usually made for the lot as it runs without any limitation 512 TESTIMONY. as to yearliiift.s, tbe yearlings not averaging more than Prires paid for skiTis. [> p(ii^- eent, wluTeas the coast skins are always boniiht Proimrtion of year- f , i- •. ,• ^ i- ■ i "^ • " i lings. With a linutation as to yeai lings, one price being made for the skins and the other for the yearlings. In these lots the yearlings nsnally a\'erage 10 ])er cent. amiT'^irskius'^'^*''"^'* ^ herewith attach samples of dressed and dyed fur- >e 8 lus. ^^^j skins of the Alaska seals, labeled as follows: Exhibit No. 1, showing the teats on the belly of a virgin female. Exhibit No. 2, showing the teats on a cow heavy with pup. Exhibit No. 3, showing teats on a cow suckling pups. Exhibit No. 4, showing teats on a bachelor seal. Exhibit No. 5, showing the teats on a wig. George Liebes, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fublic. Deposition of Herman Liebes^ furrier, San Francisco. general sealskin industry and pelagic sealing. City and Connty of New Yorl; ss: Herman Liebes, being duly sworn, says: First. That he is 50 years of age and resides in the city of San Fran- cisco, California. That he has been in the fur business Expenenie. siiicc hc was 13 ycars of age, and established in his Purchaseii skins o\\n busiiicss ill Sau Fraiicisco in theyear 1804. That inS8'iu''l865*^'""'* he first began to buy sealskins in the year 1805. At that time he made his jnirchases from the Indians on n y oma e s ins. ^jjjj^r^igj-^^.j.jj ^,^y^^,^l ,)f Q,y American continent, who offered to him only the skins of female seals; that the price he originally paid for them was as low as 50 cents per skin ; that he offered the Indians a much higher price for male skins, and was told by them Unable to procure ^hat the male seals could not be caught, and that many ""^^ "^ ■ Indians Avhom he has I'trsonally seen kill seals, and from whom he has bought skins, luu e told him that male seals and the ^^ ^ young COWS were too active to be caugiit and that it Eeasons therefor. '' i ., ,. , i ■ -ii i • i ^i was only tlie leniale seals heavy with young" which they could catch. The males, for instance, as deponent was told by the seal hunters, come up to the snrface of the water after diving, often as much as a mile from the pla(;e they went down; whereas the females can when pregnant hardly dive at all. Dei^onent says that iVom his own observation of live seals during many years, anil from his personal insi^ection of the mSurfenl-iicskin"! sl^"''^' ^c knows the difference between the skin of a female seal and a male seal to be very marked, and that the two are easily distinguishable. The skin of the female seal shows the marks of the breast, about which there is no fur. The belly of the female seal is barren of fur also, whereas on the male the fur is thick and evenly distribntcd. The lemale seal has a much narrower head than the male seal, and this diUcrence is apparent in the skins; also that the differences between the male and female skins are so marked SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 513 that there is now and always has been a difiference in the price of the two of fioni 300 to 500 per cent. For exanii)le, at the j^.^.^^ last i?ales in London, on tlie 22d day of January, 1802, of maiT°an(i°^mrie there were sold 30,000 f(Mnale skins at a price of 40 ''^^^^■ shillings apiece, and 13,000 male seals at a price of 130 shillings apiece on an average. Second. That from the year 1864 down to the present day deponent or his firm have been large purchasers of sealskins on the western coast of America from the Indians and res- iiil^l'shR^Tse'r^^'^ ^^ idents ontlu! British coast; and deponent believes tliat he has handled nearly three-fourths of the catch from that time down to the present. That during tlie whole of this period he has purchased from 3,000 to 40,000 seal skins a year, and that he has personally in- spected and physically handled the most of the skins so bought by him or his firm. That from the year 1880 he has been in the habit of buying skins from American and English vessels engaged in what is now known as poaching, and that he has personally inspected every cargo bought and seen unloaded from the jioaching vessels, and subsequently seen and superintended the unpacking of the same in his own warehouse; that the most of the skins above mentioned as purchased by him have been bought from the poaching vessels, and that of the skins so bought from the vessels known as poachers, deponent says that at least 90 per cent of the total number of skins were those skin's^ bou^'ht^^from of female seals, and that the skins of male seals found P^^'^jjj^f ^^"^"^ °* among those cargoes were the skins of very small ani- mals, not exceeding two years of age, and further, that the age of the seal may be told accurately from the size of its skin. Third"! That the skins bought at Victoria from the poaching vessels are shii^ped by him largely to the firm of C. M. Lamp- son & Co., in London, Avho are the largest. sellers of mSu p'Srs a^^^ skins in the world and the agents ot deponent's firm, .onsigned largely to That he has been through the establishment of C. H. EoMon.'"^'"" "" ^*'" Lampson & Co., in London, very frequently. That he has frequently heard stated by the superintendent thereof that the great majority of the skins received bv them from what is called 'the "northwest catch," that 'is, the northwest ^^i'^^^l^^ „,*;,[ coast of Victoria, are the skins of seals caught by ves- those of ivmaies lu sels in the open Pacific or the Bering Sea, and that M^Spson & co. ^' a large proportion of said skins, amounting to at least 90 per cent, were in his, the said superintendent's, judgment obviously the skins of female seals. Fourth. That deponent has frequently requested the captains of the poaching vessels sailing from the port of Victoria and other ports to obtain the skins of male seals, and stated ,,Srr"o procure that he would give twice as much money, or even more, male skius. for such skins than he would ])ay for the skins of fe- male seals. Each and all of the captains so approached laughed at the idea of catching male seals in the open sea, and failure thereof, said that it was iniiKKSsible for them to do it, and that they could not catch male seals unless they could get upon the islands, which, except once in a long while, they were unable to do in conse- quence of the restrictions imposed by the TJnited States Government; because they said the males were more active and could outswim any boat which their several vessels had, and that it was only the female seals who were heavy with young which could be caught. Among the captains of vessels with whom deponent has talked, and who have 2716--VOL u^ 33 514 TESTIMC'NY. stated to liini tliat tliey were unable to catch anytbing but female seals, are the following: Captain Cathcart, an American, now about 75 years of age, who com- numded the schooner iSan l>ie(jo, and who subsequently commanded other vessels; Capt. Harry Harmson, Capt. George W.Littlejohn,Capt. A. Carlson, Gustav Sundvall, and others, whose names he does not now remember. Fifth. That by reasoTi of his long acquaintance with the business and his conversations with the captains of the vessels, '^^^^ ° ®' called poachers, and the hunters employed on those ves- sels — thatis, the j)ersons who actually shoot the seals — deponent is satis- fied that a large number of the seals which are shot are not caught, but are lost, and that the number so killed and lost is at least 25 to 30 per cent. Deponent further says that by reason of his knowledge of the busi- Decrease. ^^^^^ lic kuows that the uumber of seals has greatly Absolute prohibi- dimiuisliod withiu the last five years, and is of the tion necessary. opiulou that opcu-sca seal-fishing should be absolutely prohibited, and that if the same is not done the seals will within two, or at the utmost three, years be exterminated. This opinion is based upon the assumption that the present restriction imposed by the United States and Russia on the number, age, and sex of the seals killed upon the islands owned by them respectively are to be maintained. Deponent is further of the opinion that it would be necessary, in order to fully protect the herds, to prohibit, at least for a time, the killing of all female seals anywhere. 'J'hat one reason for deponent's opinion that the total number of seals in the Pacific and Bering Sea has diminished very rapidly is the fict — which deponent knows from the fact that he buys so large a portion of the poachers' catch — that there are now engaged on what is called "poaching" o/"p^oad!fnK ?es"sX about eighty vessels, and that about five years ago anil dimmiaWi catcii not morc than tcu vcsscls wcre engaged in poaching ; per ^ esse . ^^^ ^j^^^ ^^^ total number of skins brouglit in by the whole eighty vessels is now not very much greater than the number brought in five years ago by ten vessels. The poaching vessels a few years ago have been known to get as many as 3,00U or 4,000 skins, and deponent has bought 4,0(){) skins from one vessel, Avhereas no i^oach- ing vessel now gets more than a few hundred with the same size crew. One vessel last year sailing from Victoria made a catch of 1,900 skins, but tliis is now an altogether exceptional catch, and this vessel had a crew twice as large as poaching vessels formerly carried, and was equipix'd with from twelve to fifteen boats instead of five or six. One or two other poaching vessels also made large catches — that is, over 1,200 skins — but the average catch of the poaching vessels is not more than a few hundred each. This is true, eciuUnuMit^of^poVch'^ altliougli the poaching vessels are now equipped with iug vessels. mucli luorc experienced shooters, with better rifles, and with better boats than any of the vessels had five years ago. Many of the poaeliiiig vessels now have boats pointed at both ends, so that they can go backward or forward with equal ease; and the old poacher only had ordinary ships' boats. Deponent knows this to be true, because he has seen tlie boats and talked "svith the cap- tains of the schooners about them. Herman Liebes, Sworn to before me this 1th day of April, 1892. [l. s.] ' Edwin T. Rice, Jr., Notary PuhliG, New York County. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 515 De^wsition of Isaac Liches, furrier, San Francisco. general sealskin industry. State op California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Isaac Liebes, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at San Francisco, in the State of Calitbiuia. I aui by occu- pation a fur merchant, and I have been so engaged ^penence. permanently for the last twenty-three years, daring wliich time I have been constantly handling large (|uautities of raw fur seal skins; in fact more so than any other individual in the United States or Canada. I claim to be thoroughly conversant with all kinds of seal skins, and from all the difterent locations, and can readily distinguish one from the other. I am also thorouglily familiar with their mode of capture, handling, i)acking, etc.; also when the skin is dressed, dyed, and man- ufactured. Some eighteen years ago several thousand seals were taken on the Guadelupe Islands off the coa.st of Mexico, but their Q^adelu hunting being unrestricted, they were practically exter- seaiH^pra"^icau/ Tx- minated inside of three years. So much so that a ves- termmated- sel visiting these islands some four months ago was only able to secure 3 fur seals, and the captain states that he does not think that even these would have been obtained had it not been for the large number of caves on that particular island, which probably gave shelter to a few of the animals while the extermination was being practiced. The fur-seal belonging to this island does not migrate, the climate being sufticiently uniform all the vear round to make ^ , , .. '^ /■' ii XT 'mi • x> • J? !•-(? Guadelupe seal does it unnecessary lor them to do so. Their lur is ot a dit- not migrate. ferent nature fi'om the northwest skins, being much shorter and of a darker color. The Gallapagos Island rookery was much larger than Qgn^ ^^ os i the Guadelupe, and the animals have also become neariy'Txtmct. nearly extinct there by reason of unrestiicted hunting. Several vessels have visited the rookeries in the vicimty of Cape Horn and the Straits of Magellan, and tlie last vessel „^^^ ^^^^.^ returned from the latter ]>lace only last week with a straUs of °M°seiku catch of twenty-six skins, representing a seven months' popuiat'ed."^'^^^^ '^^ cruise. Heretofore some expeditious went from this port to the Shetland Is- lands, but their catches were so small that in thelast few ^, ,, „, ,, ,, ' , ,. , , , • ,1 J ■ ■ ■ , ■ ^ Soutli Shetland Is years no hunting has been done in that vicinity, it be- lauds seal extiuct. ing understood that the animal is extinct there. Isaac Liebes. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3d day of May, A. D. 1892. [l. S.J Clement Bennett, Motary Fublic. 516 TESTIMONY. Deposition of Sidney Liebes, furrier, San Francisco, general sealskin industry. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Sidney Liebes, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: My age is 22. I reside in San Francisco, and am by occui)a- Experience. tion a furiicr, liaving' been engaged in that business for the hist six years. 1 have made it my business to examine raw seal skins brought to this city for sale, and am familiar with the different kinds of seal skins in the market. I can tellliom an examination of a skin whether it has been caught on the Eussian oi American side. I have found that the Eussian skins were flat anil smaller, and somewhat different in color in the under ferior t'o Aiifsk\m. ^' '^ool ^^^^ thosc caught on the American side. In my opinion they are of an inferior quality. The Alaska skins are larger and the hair is much finer. The color of the under wool is also different. I have no difficulty in distinguishing one skm from the other. I am of the opinion that they belong kan"henis distLift^''^ ^^ ^^^ entirely separate and distinct herd. In my ex- Ninoty per cent of amiuatiou of skius offcrcd for sale by sealing schooners, FemaTesf'"'""*^'''*'''^ I fouud that ovCT 90 per cent were skins taken from females. The sides of the female skin are swollen, and are wider on the belly than those of males. The teats are very dis- cernible on the females, and it can be plainly seen where the young- have been suckling. The head of the females is also much narrower. Sidney Liebes. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1802. [l. S.J Clement Bennett, Xotary Fuhlic. Deposition of John N'. Lofstad, furrier, Sa7i Francisco. general sealskin industry. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss : John N. Lofstad, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 48 years of age. I reside in San Francisco. I am by Experience. occupatiou a dealer in furs and fur goods. I have been in the business for 28 years, during which time I have bought large numbers of dressed and undressed fur skins, and I am thorougiily familiar with the business. I can easily the'coiJpcrTsiamraiid distiiiguisli the CoppcT Island fur-seal skin in its un- Aiaskau ami North- drcsscd statc froiu that of the Alaskan and Northwest west skms ami IiorUs. , , . rr\, „ , • ■> t j.- i. i coast skills. They are of an entirely distinct and sep- arate herd, while those of the Northwest coast and Pribilof Island are of the same variety. I have bought and examined the catch of a great many sealing schooners during the last ten years, and ceS*8kKmafel' l^'i^^^ observed tliat 85 to 90 ]ier cent of skins taken were from female seals, which I could distinguish by a glance, from the shape of the skins, texture of the fur, and develop- SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 517 ment of tlie teats. My observation is that the skins taken from seals killed on the islands are a better ,^^';^]';,|»^„:r^^^^^^^ quality tluni those of the same herd taken ott tlie coast than those of coast. of California. This is owing- to their bein«j taken at that season of the year when the fur is in its prime, and also taken from the best grade of seals. Those that are caught off the coast are killed indiscriminately, and are largely females. Many of them having borne young for years, their fur is inferior to those of young bachelors. John N. Loestad. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th dny of April, A. I). 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Notary Public. IndiHcrmiinate kill- Deposition of Charles E. MeClennen, director of the George C. Treadicell Company, furriers. general sealskin industry. State of ISTew York, City and County of New ror/r, ss: Charles E. McClennen, being duly sworn, says: I am 36 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Albany, in the State of New York. I am a director in the Experience. George C. Tread well Company, the corporation referred to in the affidavit of George H. Treadwell, verified this day. I have been in the fur business for about eight years, and during that time I have handled many fur-seal skins in all their conditions. I have read the affidavit of John J. Phelan, verified the 18th day of June, 1892. I was present at the examination of seal skins therein referred to. While Phelan inspected all of these seal joXn'"'j'^^piJ|?].^;''i* ?^ skins I assisted him in the inspection of about three- i„%M'tkm "f skins. "^ fourths of them. I know that of those we inspected jointly none were improperly classed as the skins of female animals. Chas. E. McClennen. Sworn to before me this 20th day of June, 1892. [SEAX.] E. R. MoCarty, Notary Fuhlic [No. 57) in and for the City and County of New Yorl: Deposition of Dr. R. R. MeTntyre, superintendent of Ahisl-<( Commercial Company on the Pribilof Islands. COST OF PLACING SEALSKINS ON THE MARKET. State of Vermont, Orange County, ss : H. H. McIntyre,ofEan(loli)h,in said county, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native of Vermont, 48 Experience years old. In the years 18G8 and 1800 I was sjjccial United States Treasury agent assigned to duty in Alaska under par- ticular instructions to vi.sit and report u])on the seal fisheries of Alaska, and from 1870 to 1889, inclusive, 1 was superintendent of the sealeries for the lessees of the Pribilof Islands. In these capacities 1 518 TESTIMONY. first visited the seal islnnds in the siimiiier of 1800, and every year thereafter until and iucluvlino- 188tl, except the years 1883, 1884, and 1885. In 1871 and 1872 I staid there continuously for about sixteen months, and in each of the other years from two to four months through the sealing- season. I also visited London twice during my superinten- dency in connection with the sealing industry, and was at all times ac- tively at work in the interests of my employers. My duties as such superintendent demanded that I should be thoroughly conversant with all the details of shipping and transporting seal vskins taken, and the necessary expenses incurred by my emi)loyers. From my knowledge of such expenditures I herewith submit the following statement in re- lation to the cost of putting the annual quota of skins obtained on the Pribilof Islands up(m the market when a hundred thousand seals are killed, and I believe such statement to be practically correct : Maintenauce of island establishments $12, 000 Salaries of eniploy6s (exclusive of natives) 12, 000 Transportation to San Francisco 15, 000 Transportation, San Francisco to New York 20, 000 Transportation, New York to London 6, 000 Insurance, $1,400,000 at 1 per cent 14, 000 Commission foj selling, 2i per cent of $1, 500, 000 37, 500 Storage, coope rage, twine, salt, etc 15, 500 Interest on the plant, 10 per cent of $100,000 10,000 Annual rental paid to Government, per terms of lease 60, 000 Obligations of the lease for fish, fuel, medicines, etc 25,000 Supervision of business from San Francisco 2(i, 000 First cost of skins to natives 40, 000 Cost of 100,000 skins delivered in London, sold 287, 000 H. H, McIntyre. Sworn and subscribed at Randolph, this first day of August, A. D. 1892. Before me, [SEAL.] W. H. Du Bois, Xotary Public. Deposition of John J. Flielan, furrier. pelagic sealing-, State of New York, City and County of Neic Yorlc, ss : John J. Phelan, being duly sworn, says: I am 35 years of age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Albany, in the State of Kew York. xVt the age of 1 1 I entered the service of Experience. Mr. Gcorgc C. Trcadwcll, a wholesale furrier of Albany. I remained with him until the time of his death, and have since been in the em])loy of his son, ]\lr. George H. Tread well, who has succeeded to the business carried on by his father. It has always been a part of my occupation, beginning with the age of 11, to handle fur-seal skins, and during the last twenty years I have handled nearly every seal skin that eami; into the factory. I have for many years been in the habit of putting them through every process con- nected with their preparation for manufacture, except that of dyeing, with which I am not familiar. 1 have removed the flesh and blubber; I have washed the skins; removed the hair, or "picked" them, shaved them, and dressed them; and in this way I have constantly gone over and closely observed every part of their surfaces in all the stages or proc- esses through which they pass before they go to the dyer. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 519 As a rcsiil. of tbe work I Lave performed for so many years I am able to distil I guisli, witlioiit difficulty, tLe skin of a female seal from that of a male seal. There are generally several m ays in which I can tell them apart. One of the sniest ways consists in seeing whether any teats (;aii be fonnd. On a female skin above the age of 2 years teats can x^vactically always be discovered; when the animal is over 3 years old, even a person who is not an expert at handling skins can dis- cover two jnomiient ones on each side of almost every skin. This is because after the age of 3, and often even after 2, al- most all females have been in pnp. There are also teats ],ave"puim.^ "^^^"'^ "^"^ on a male skin, but they are only very slightly devel- oped. When the fnr is matted, as it is in salted fnr-s< al skins, the male teats can not be found, but the female teats of skins more than 2 years years old can be found under all circumstances. I have been able to test all my observations as to the teats on salted fur-seal skins by following these skins through the various processes which I have described. During these processes the skins become thinner and thinner, and the teats more and more noticeable, and at an earlj^ stage in the dressing they must be wholly removed. There are other ways of distinguishing the skins of the two sexes. I will state a few of them. A female seal has a narrower head than a :nale seal. By the word "head" I mean here to include the i)art of the body from the head down to the middle of the back. I bo- head'tbinmaiT""'" lieve all men Avho have handled the skins of both sexes have noticed this point. Then, again, when the whiskers have not been cut off, they geneially afford a safe means of distinguishing the sexes. Male whiskers are much more brittle and of a darker color than those of the female ani- mal. When the male seal is over 6 years old it begins to have a mane, and for this reason it is after that age called a wig. Finally, it is generally possible for me to tell the skins of the two sexes apart by just taking a look at them or feeling them. I su})pose I can do this because I have been at the business so long that I am an expert in it. The chief classes of seal skins which I have handled are the Alaska, the NortliAvest coast, and the Copper Island skins. I can always distinguish the skins of these classes. ca?^?ifinnstiy fVuKiVl! The l^Torthwest coast skins are most easily told bv the ^o femai<>s anumg , ,. x- j:- 1 J. • V • "^ • tlie other catches. very great propt)rtion ot lemales contained m any given lot. Among the Alaska and Copj)er skins I have hardly ever seen a female skin. While the Alaska and Northwest coast skins are taken from the same species or herd of seals, I am convinced that the Co])per skins are taken from seals of a different herd, gefis'*^'^' "* •'*'"^*'"''* "* I have noticed the difference in the skins, both in their raw state and during the processes of dressing. The hair of the Copper skin is shorter, thinner, and generally of a somewhat .darker color than that of the Alaska or ""^.^'rih?''""^' ^""'*" , , per o K i 1 1 s • ]> orthwest coast skins, and m most cases the diherence in shape is sufficiently marked to enable me to distinguish them by that means alone. The difference between the Copper and the other skins is still more marked during the processes of dressing. It is very .... much more dithcult to unhair a Copper skin, h urther- more, the pelts of the Copper skins are less porous than those of the 620 TESTIMONY. otlier sliins. While preparing skius for dressiniG: it is necessary to "work" them and open the pores in order to "Icisther" them, and it is during this process that I have noticed the fact that Copper skins are much less porous than the others. The pelt being harder and stifl'er and the hair more brittle we can hardly ever nnliair a Copper skin as satisfactorily as we can the other skins. I was sent to New York from Albany a few days ago by Mr. George n. Treadwell, with instructions to go through a certain lot of seal skins, which I understand he had recently bought in Victoria, and to find out how many of these skins were taken from female animals. I have spent four days in doing this, working about seven hours a day. There were several men who unpacked the skins and laid them before me, so that all of my time w^as spent in examining the (pSS.^^""^*'***'^ individual skins. The lot contained 3,550 skins. I found that, with the possible exception of two dried ones, they were taken from animals this year; they were a part of what is known as the spring catch. I know this to be the case by the fresh appearance of the blubber and of the skin as a whole. This affords a sure Avay of telling whether the skin has lain in salt all winter or whether it has been recently salted. 1 personally inspected each one of these skins by itself and kept an accurate record of the result. I divided the skins according to the three following classes: Males, females, and pups. In the class of pups I placed only the skins of animals less than two years of age, but without reference to sex. I found in the lot 395 males, 2,1G7 females, and 988 pups.. Leaving out of account tlie pujjs, the percentage of females was feSs:^'"*'"'^'^"'"* therefore about 82. The great majority of what I classed as male skins were taken from animals less than ;> years of age. There was not a single Avig in the lot. On the other hand, nearly all of the female skins were those of full-grown animals. On every skin which I classed among the females I found teats, with bare spots about them on the fur side. Such bare spots make it absolutely certain that these teats were those of female skins. With regard to the pup skins, I will say that I did not undertake to determine whether they were males or females, because they had a thick coat of blubber, which, in the case of an animal less than 2 years old, makes it very hard to tell the sex. All of the skins that I examined were either shot or speared. I did , „ , , , not keep a close count, but I am of the opinion that All shot orsiieareil. r . n% i. o j^-i ^ i. about 75 per cent of them were shot. The result of the examination is about what I had expected it would T^. , ., . be. The figures only confirm what I have always no- "Northwest coast ticcd ill a general way, that nearly nine-terths of the niaies.' "•''"''''^•^' *'' skius in any shipment of Northwest coast skins are those of female animals. John J. Phelan. Sworn to before me this 18th day of June, 1892. [seal. J Willis Van Valkenbueg, Notary PuhJic. Kitir/s Co., (Cert, filed iii N. Y. Co.) SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 521 Deposition of Charles W. Price, furrier, PELAGIC SEALING. State or Califoenia, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Charles W. Price, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 34 years of age and reside in San Francisco. My oc- cupation is that of a fur dresser and examiner of raw Experience. fur skins. I have been engaged in the dressing and examining of fur skins about twenty years, and I am an expert in that business. I liave examined and handled large numbers of fur-seal skins, both of the American and IJussian side, andean easily dis- tinguish one from the other from the appearance of '*''^^^ " the skins. The skins of the Russian side are mucli coarser than those of the American side, and the fur is a little darker; more of a cherry color. The top hair is darker. The seals on the Russian side are a distinct and diflerent herd from those on the American side and are not as valuable. The skins taken in the North Pacific and Bering Sea by hunters are of the same nature as those taken on the Pribilof Islands but are of less value, owing to the fact sSfissvaiutwe^' that they are taken at all seasons of the year. Part of them are stagy, some are full of holes from being shot, and the fur on the belly of quite a number of the female seals giving milk is of little value. I have handled and examined many thousands of skins pur- chased from hunters who had taken them along the coast and in Bering Sea. Fully 80 per cent of them Eighty per cent fe- were females, wliich skins were readily distinguishable. "i)ead pups. I visited the Pribilof Islands in 1890 and made a careful study of the conditions of seal life on those islands. I discov- ered late in the season a large number of dead pups lying upon the rookeries, which had the api^earance of having been starved to death. Charles W. Price. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of April, A. D. 1892. [l. s.] Clement Bennett, Xotary Public. Deposition of S. W. Saalburg, bookkeeper for H. Liebes & Co. , furriers. general sealskin industry. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: S. W. Snalburg, being duly sworn, de])oses and says: The following statistics relative to the number of salted iSTorthwest „ Coast seal skins purchased by the firm of H. Liebes & seals". '^' Co., of San Francisco, Cal., and prices paid therefor, have been gathei-ed by me from the books and records prices and number of said firm, covering a period from the year 1883 to igs^iija.'''"'* ^'^'^^^'^ 1892, inclusive. I held the jmsiticm of cliief bookkeeper and cashier for H. Liebes & Co. during said period of time, and know of ray own personal knowledge that the number of skins set forth below were duly purchased by said tivm at tlie average prices stated, and that payment therefor is regularly entered on the firm's cashbooks of the respective years. 522 TESTIMONY. Statintics of imccs. Year. Nunilier ofskiii.i. Amount paid. Average price. Tear. XmiiLer of .skins. Amount paid. .A.verago price. 1883 99 11,108 9,854 7, 503 17, 950 13,459 $430. 00 02,031.00 74, 184.75 37, 729. 25 99, 549. 50 74, 956. 00 $4.34 5.58 7. 53 4.99 5.54 5.57 1889 24, 480 30,011 11,174 1,322 $170, 221. 00 302.417.00 104,037.00 14, 506. 00 $7.20 *10. 08 1884 1890 1885 1891 *14. 74 1886 1892 *10. 97 1887 1888 127, 032 1, 006, 661. 50 'Kecent increase in price. S. W. Saalburg. Subs^cribed and sworu to before me tbis 24tb day of June, 1892. [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notarii Public. Dejposition of B. H. Sternfels, furrier. pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: B. H. Sternfels, baving been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 50 years of age and reside in San Francisco. My occupa- Experience. tiou is tliat of a fur uiercbant. I liave been engaged in bandliiig and purcbasiug fur for twenty-six years, and I am tliorongLly familiar with the fur seal skins in their raw and dressed condition. There are known to the trade in purchasing raw fur skins from the North Pacific and Bering Sea three ciassesof seal skins. (|i£fej.gjj^ Varieties— the Copper Island skins, the West Coast skins, which are those shot and caught by huiitei^ in the water, and, third, those taken from the Pribilof Islands. The most valuable are those taken from Pribilof Islands, and the next are le^vaiufbie''* *'^**'^ *^^ Coppcr Island skins, and those of least value are what is known as the West Coast catch. The latter, while of the same nature and from the same herd as those on the Pribilof Islands, are of less value because many of them are caught out of season. The skins are stagy and are full of hok^i"" ^"" "^ ''^"'* ^^o]eji from being shot. A number of them are cows in milk, nnd the fur on the belly is very much less valua- ble on that account. In buying tlie catch of schooners engaged in the sealing business, I have observed that fully 75 i)er cent of them were females and had either given birth to their young or m^M t'lker^^'*"*^*'' were heavy in pup when killed, which was easily ob- served by the width of tlie skin of the belly and the small head and development of the teat. B. H. Sternfels. Subscribed and sworn to before me this Sth day of April, A. D. 1892. [SEAL.j Clement Bennett, liOtary I'uhlic. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 523 De2Josition of George H. TreadweU., premlent of the George C. TrmdweU Company, furriers. GENERAL SEALSKIN INDUSTRY — PELAGIC SEALING. State or New York, City and County of Albany, ss: George H. Treadwell, being- duly sworn, says: I am 55 years of age, a citizen of tlie United States, and a resident of Albany County in the State of New York. I am tlie son of George C. Treadwell, of Albany, wlio, in the year 1832 tliere started a wholesale fur busi- ^^ ^^.^^^ ness of a general character. I became associated with xpenence. him in it in the year 1858, and upon his death in the year 1885 suc- ceeded to the business. It has been carried on under the names of George C. Treadwell & Co. and Treadwell & Co. In the early part of this year it was turned into The George C. Treadwell Company, a cor- poration formed under the laws of the State of New Jersey, of whicli corporation I am the i)resident. My father dressed and dyed a few seal-skins in 1832, and each year thereafter, and in 1804 this became a lucrative item of our business. Sincel870 the house has boughtannually i/London°^ ^°""''* from 5,000 to 0,000 salted fur-seal skins in London, all of which it has dressed and dyed in Albany. In this industry we have constantly employed during the last ten years about forty men and women, who receive average wages of $1.25 to $2 a day. Our "pickers" get an tokSor"^""^"* ^^^° average of $1.25 for each skin, and they handle about three a day. My i^ay roll averages about $500 a week. I understand that my concern and that of J. D. Williams, of Brooklyn, have heretofore been the only regular and recognized dressers and dyers in tlie United States. Until last year our house dressed and dyed skins only for its own use. In addition to dressing and dyeing, our house annually manufac- tures a large number of fur-seal-skin articles. I am deeply interested in the protection of the fur-seals. cat!;h^raoItiy femalea!! While the Northwest Coast catches have of late years placed upon the market comparatively cheap skins, and in that way perhaps benefited my particular business, yet I recognize the fact that such benefit can only be of temporary duration, for I have always noticed that these catches are largely composed of female skins, and I know that to kill female animals seriously impairs the herd. ^^ Besides, skins are being now i)ut on the market at such ''^'^^" '^^ p"''®*- irregular times and in sucli uneven quantities that buying them has become a speculative business. I believe that the whole trouble has been brought about by the Vic- toria and other pelagic sealers, who furnish the present cheap skins. Both in order to maintain the herd, and j„HouFto budue^ss!"' to restore the seal-skin industry to a sure footing, I should like to see all taking of seals in the water prohibited. In March of this year, I made a contract with parties on the Pacific •coast for their supply of northwest coast skins [i. e., skins taken in the Pacific Ocean) canght during the present year, and about a month ago I received the first consignnuMit under this contract. It was composed of the skins of the spring catch. Later ou I expect to receive two further shipments. 524 TESTIMONY. The first consio-nniont was placed in cold storag^e at the Central Stores in JS^ew York City. A short time since I consented, at the reqnest of the United States Government that this consignment be examined, in order to determine how many female skins it contained. To perform the ii i n,^ iuu\ and furriers. 70,000 sklUS, $2,100,000. The amount of silk consumed annually in the manu- facture in the United States of 70,000 fur-seal skins into articles and in the repairing of these articles, may be estimated at $150,000 to $200,000. All silk which is being so consumed at the present time is made in the United States. Working men and women are employed in the in- dustry of manufacturing seal-skin articles in the United States as follows : Wages paid. Silk consumed in making and repair of sealfkin aiticlcs. Working men and women employed and wages paid. «. Fur cutters (i. e., people who trim, repair, and prepare the general shape of skins) h. Nailers (i. «., people who stretch and nail skins into shape ou boards) c. Sewers and finishers (i. e., people who put the article into final shape) » d. Those who machine skins (i. e., remove the portion of guard hairs left by the " unhairers") Total $3. 50 to $4. 50 2.00 to 2.50 1.50 to 2. CO 2.00 The fur cutters represent skilled labor of a high order. They handle about eight skins a day. I^o account is taken of porters, clerks, salesmen, etc., employed in the large establishments. Dated at the city of New York, June 21st, 1892. Porters, clerks, balesmoii, etc< Jos. Ullmann. Martin Bates, Jr., & Co. Harris & Russak, By Alfred Harris. Henry Tread well. Estate of John Euszits, By E. J. Stake. ASCII & Jaekal. C. G. Gunther's Sons. SEALSKIN INDUSTEY IN UNITED STATES. 527 The foregoing: stuteineat is the one referred to in the annexed affida- vits of Henry Treadwell, E, R. McOarty, Xo. 52, notary public; lingo Jaekel, Frederick C. Schmidt, notary public; Franklin L. Gunther, Dau'l L. Tower, notary public; Joseph [Samuel] Ullmann, Alfred Harris, 0. Francis Bates, George Kissinger, jr., notary j)ublic; E. J. Stake, S. Steinheimer, notary public, IsTew York. Dejjosition of Samuel Ullmann, memher of the firm of Joseph Ullmann, furrier. general sealskin industry. State of Xew York, Citi/ and County of Xew Yorl; ss: Samuel Ullmann, being duly sworn, says: I am 34 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Xew York. The house of Joseph Ullmann, in which I am a part- ner, began business at St. Paul, in the State of Minnesota, in 1854. It has always been engaged in the wholesale fur business, and since the time when fur-seal skins first became an important article of commerce in this country it has dealt in large numbers of them. I have personally liandled seal skins for the last twelve or thir- teen years, and am familiar with the whole seal-skin trade of this country. The house of Joseph UU- ^penence. inann now does business at St. Paul, Leipzig, London, and New York. The books of the Xew York liouse show the following pur- chases of dressed and dj-ed Alaska fur-seal skins in London between the years 18S5 and 1891. All of these purchases were brought to this country: 1885, 11,818 out of a total skhrs^^importli*^-^bJ Alaska catch of about 100,000; 18SG, 12,646 out of a fi™ from i885 to total Alaska catch of about 100,000; 1887, 25,344 out of a total Alaska catch of about 100,000 ; 1888, 17,900 out of a total Alaska catch of abuit 100,090; 1889, 14,160 out of a total Alaska catch of about 100,000; 1890, 3,509 out of a total Alaska catch of about 21,000: 1891, 3,240 out of a total Alaska catch of about 13,000. I have signed the name of Joseph Ullmann to the an- (.o,.i.oi,o,, tes uexed statement, which I have carefully considered, ceciin.rsta'ttin™^ el- and to the best of my information and belief this state- ll^^J"^ ^° ^'^^ '^°° ment is correct, except that I know nothing about the silk consumed. I regard the figures given therein as conservative. I am of the opinion tliatthe nations interest«id should arrive at some agreement by which tlie killing of seals in the water will be stopi)ed. It is true tliat the Northwest Caast shouwfistopp'^-d."^ catches have of late years placed ui^on the market a certain nnml)er of good skins which could be jnirchased at prices far below those for whicli skins of the Alaska catch were sold. But I realize that this can not continue to be the case, for it is a matter of common knowledge amongst furriers that these North- Northwest catch west Coast catches are composed mainly of the skins of t-ompoaed mairiy of female animals, and I understand that the killing of fe- ^'''"•'^^^• male seals is rapidly impairing the value of the herd. Then, too, dur- ing the last few years buying fur-seiil skins has be- come a business of a very speculative character, be- toi^rtilfbusi^ess?'^ cause it is imx)ossible now to calculate at what times and 528 TESTIMONY in wliac qiiautities they will be pLujecl upon the market. It requires lioiii three ti) six moutiis to i)roperly dress and dye skins, and if while this process is going on further sales take place (as has been the case at fretiuent intervais in the last two years), the tendency is to unsettle the market, advance or reduce the raw material, and st^d*^ markJt ^""^ ^ ^''^^^ directly affect both dealers and manufacturers, sea y mar e . ^^^^^.^ ^^^^ happened of late years only. I ascribe the Decrease is caused present uusatisfactory condition of the business to the by pelagic sealing. j^j^^^i.^^^g Operations of the Victoria sealers, whom I furthermore hold directly responsible for the present diminished catch of Alaska seals upon the Pribilof Islands. Samuel Ullimann. Sworn to before me this 21st day of June, 1802. [l. s.J George Ktssingek, Jr., Ifotarij Public {^o. !J0), (Jity and (Jounty of New Yoric, Deposition of C. Francis Bates^ member of the firm of Martin Bates, jr., tfc Co., fM-riers, Xew York. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of N'eic York, ss : C. Francis Bates, being duly sworn, says: I am 67 years of ago. a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city xpeiience. ^^ Ncw York. Early in this century my father estab- lished a wholesale fur business in this city, and to this business I have succeeded. I have been engaged in it for the past fifty years. It is now carried on under the name of Martin Bates, jr., & Co. For many years we have been large purchasers of Alaska (or Pribilof Island) fur-seal skins, having bought in London and brought to this NumiKT of skins couutry between the years 1879 and 1891, 71,901 such inipoited by firm from skiiis. I am familiar with the value and extent of the 18,9 to IS 1. industry of manufocturing articles of fur-seal skins in this country,my house having until ^eiy recently been largely interested in it. This industry is one of great value to the United States. The fur-seal skin is in many resi^ects one of the most valuable furs that has „ , ^ ^ ever been placed on the market. I have read the Corroborates am-,, ,,. i -, ■ i^i ^ davit of Joseph Statement hereto annexed and signed the name oi my Tj^eirwinfialftVara^ ^^^ thcreto. I believe it to be in all respects correct. gmph of samue! uu [ havc rcad tlic hist paragraph in the affidavit of Samuel "''^°" '^" Ullmaun hereto annexed and agree with what is said therein. •&' C. Francis Bates. Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1 892. [l. s.J George Kissenger, Jr., Notary Fublic {No. 09), City and County of New York. 8EA.LSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 529 Deposition of Alfred Harris, ivitli firm of Harris & Bussalc, furriers, New Yorlc. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of New Yorlc, ss : Alfred Harris, being duly sworn, says: I am forty years of age, a citizen of tlie United States and a resident of the city of New York For twelve years prior to February 1, 1892, I was a ^^ ^^.^ member of the firm of Harris & Eussak, whicli still ^penence. does a large wholesale fur business in the city of New York. I am now associaied with this firm in its business and have charge of its manufacturing department. I am authorized to sign the firm name to the annexed statement, and the reason why I sign it, in- stead of one of the partners, is that I have a much more inti- mate Icnowledge of all branches of the business than anyone else. We are manufacturers of furs of all kinds, and a large proportion of our business consists in the manufacture of seal-skin arti- cles. Between the years 1880 and 1890 we handled firm^sbusfnes'lVn^^a! per annum on an average 12,000 fur-seal skins of the |u'J'igr|'a'''^''^®° ^^^'^ three catches. Between 1885 and 1890 we handled from 35,000 to 40,000 Alaska skins which had been dressed and dyed in London. Of this number we purchased ourselves in London and brought to this country about nine-tenths. I have signed the name of Harris & Eussak to the statement conoboratesaffida- ,°, 11-1T1 J? II iTiT vit ot Jos. Ulliuai), c< hereto annexed, which Ihave carefully read. 1 believe ai., ami agrees with it to be in all respects correct. I have read the last uef ^n'S-s.''^^''"" paragraph or section in the annexed affidavit of Sam- uel IJllinann, and I agree with everything contained therein. Alfred Harris. Sworn to before me this 21st day of June, 1892, [l. s.] George Kissinger, Jr, Notary Public {No. 99), City and County of New YorJc. Deposition of Henry Trcadwell, member of the firm of Treadivell & Co., furriers. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of New Yorh, ss: Henry Treadwell, being duly sworn, says: I am a member of the firm of Treadwell & Co., and the person described in and who verified an affidavit of the 1st day of April, 1892, ^-^'p^"'^"^^- relating to the difference in the skins of the various fur-seal catches and other matters. I have been in the wholesale fur business for over forty years, and took an active part in it until two years ago, when I retired from business, I have signed my name to the annexed statement, which I have carefully read, and vif"7jos'^''iri1mf^^^i believe to be correct in every respect. I have also read «' . and agrees with the last paragraph or section of the annexed affidavit samueruitoauu's."^ of Samuel Ullmann, and I agree with everything there- in stated. Henry Treadwell. Sworn to before me this 21st day of June, 1892. [L. s.j ^ E. E. McCarty, Notary Public [No. 52), in and for County of New York. 271G— vol u 34. 530 TESTIMONY. Ddposition of Emil J. Stalce, manaf/er of estate of John Enszits, furriery New YorA: general sealskin industry. State of Neav York, City and County of New Yoric, ss: Eniil J. Stake, being duly sworn, says: I am 28 years of age, a citi- zen of the United States, and a lesident of the city of Kew York. In 1851 John Euszits estahlislied in the city IS^ew York a large wholesale fur busi- ness, at the head of which he remained nntil his death in 1890. In 1859 he imported ll seal skins from London; his annual imi)ortations gradually increased nutil in the year 1887 he imported 10,804 dressed and dyed seal skins of all catches. His books show the folio w- c ^ i"S' pnrchases in London of dressed and dved Alaska Importation of seal n ■, , ■ -n j? i-i i t j. j. " ^t • skins since 1859. lurseal skius, all 01 wluch were brought to this coun- try: 1887, 9,000; 1888, 5,800; 1889, 6,800. These fig- ures fairly represent his average pnrchases and imjior- tations between 1880 and 1889. I entered the employ of John Euszits at the age of 14. Since the . age of 21 I have been familiar with every transaction xpenence. connected with the business, and upon his death I suc- ceeded to its sole management. There are now employed in this house in the manufacture of fiir , i„ .^3 of firm ^I'ticles about 140 men and women. If we were to lose Ros^SoflossV seS- the seal-skin industry, I do not know what would be- skin industry. coiuc of the busiucss as a whole. It would be very seriously crippled. I have signed the name "Estate of John Euszits," the name under which the business is now" carried on, to the annexed statement. I believe it to be correct in all respects. With regard to Persons em iioved ^^^ approximate number of i)eople stated to be em- inti"nn(histrvin\iK. ploycd iu the scal-skiu iudustry iu the United States wrthsta^ttMnentlifiast ^ ^^^^ ^'^^ ^^^s, that probably in the fall and winter a parasrapii of Samuel greater nuuibei', wliilc in summer fewer, are employed. tunumns affidavit, -g^^^ j belicvc thc uumbcr given to fairly represent the average number emi)loyed throughout the year. I agree with all that is said by Samuel Ullmann in the last paragraph or section of his affi- davit verified June 21 and hereto annexed. Emil J. Stake. Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1892. [l. s.] S. Steinheimer, Notary Fublic, Neiv York County ^ No. 529 Broadway, Neiv YorJc. Deposition of Hugo Jacclel, head of firm of Asch & Jaeclcel, furriers, Neio Yorl-. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of New Yorl; ss: Hugo Jaeckel, being duly sworn, says: I am 44 years of age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the city of New xpenence. York. I am the present owner of the business which, since the year 1878, has been carried ou in the city of New York under SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 531 the name of Asch & Jaeckel. I liave been in tlie lur business since I was 10 years old, and am now engaged in the wholesale manufacture of furs, I do a large business in fur-seal skins, and be- tween 1885 and'' 181)0 annually bought and imported firmTomisZto'isgo^ into this country from London from 6,000 to 8,000 dressed and dyed Alaska fur-seal skins, and a proportionate num- ber of fur-seal skins of the other principal catches. I have signed the name of Asch & Jaeckel to the annexed statement, which I have carefully read. I believe it to be in all respects correct. I have also read the last paragraph in the lUav/t'of'jo^ unufafn annexed affidavit of Sanuiel Ullmann, and agree with fia^MHna asrtfswjtii everything therein contained. The same is true of an pawsrain\''of samud affidavit verified on the 21st day of June by William uiiurauus. Wiex^ert, my present superintendent. Hugo Jaeckel. Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1892. [l. s.] Frederick C. Sch3iidt, Notary Fublie, New York County. Deposition of Franldin L. Gunthcr, member of the firm ofC. G. Gunthers tSons, furriers, New Yorlc. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of New York, ss: Franklin L. Gunther, being duly sworn, says: I am 39 years of age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the city of New York. For the jiast twenty-three years I have been with the firm of 0. G. Gunther's Sons, and in 1870 I became a ^^p""^""^*^- member of it. This firm has been in existence and done business in the city of New York under names very similar to its present name since the year 1820; it has always carried on a wholesale and retail fur business. It was one ot the first firms to introduce seal- skin garments into the United States, and since 1857 it has constantly been engaged in placing them upon the market. It has been in the habit of buying annually in London from 2,000 to 0,000 ,, . . * 1 1 i^ 1 1 • 1 .1.1 1 11 1 bU]iis iiiiiioited by Alaska lur-seal skins, and it has handled very many more, timi .niJH.aiiv. 1 have signed the name of the firm to the annexed nientsofjor'Liimlum statement, which I have carefully read, and believe to etai. be in all respects correct. Franklin L. Guntuer, Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1892. [l. S.J ^ Dan'l La Tower, Notary Fublie for Kings County. (Certificate on file in New York County.) 532 TESTIMONY. Deposition of G. G. Guntherh Sons, furriers, N'ew Torlc. INDUSTRY — DECREASE OF ALASKAN HERD DUE TO DESTRUCTION OF FEMALES BY PELAGIC SEALERS. Eelative to matter of depletion of seal lierds of the Pribilof Islands, this most deplorable fact is due in our opinion in great part, if not en- tirely, to the action of sealers in the indiscriminate killing of these ani- mals while in transit to. and from these islands for breeding pur- poses, the females being killed in much greater proportionate numbers, owing to their less aggressive nature and their being less able to es- cape. While on their way to these islands, the cow (female) seal is in a condition of pregnane}^, the period of gestation ending shortly after their landing. If intercepted and killed while in this condition the loss is obvious. In our opinion unless stringent measures be ■axy°*^*'"°" ^^*^^^' ad()i)ted on the part of those having authority on waters adjacent to these islands and on all contiguons bodies, the fur-sealof Alaska will soon be exterminated and this valu- able industry, alike of great im]>ortance to the people of Enrope and America, will have received its deathblow. C. G. Gunther's Sons. State of New York, City and County of N'eic Yorlc^ ss: Eranklin L. Gunther, being duly sworn, says that he is a member ot the firm of C. G. Gunther's Sons, furriers, of 184 Fifth avenue, New York; tbat the foregoing statement expresses the opinions of the mem- bers of said firm, and that same is true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Franklin L. Gunther. Sworn to before me this 2Ith day of June, 1892. [seal.] Dan'l La Tower, Notary FuMic for Kings County. (Certificate on file in New York County.) Dejjosition of Samuel Ullmann, memher of the firm of Joseph UUmanny furriers. New Yorl<. general sealskin industry. — PELAGIC SEALING. State of New York, City and County of New Yor]c,ss: Samuel Ullmann, being duly sworn, says: I am a member of the wholesale fur house which docs business in the city of New Yoik under the firm name of Joseph Ullnumn, and am the i^erson described in and who verified an affidaN it on the 21st day of June, 1892, relating to the value of the sealskin industry in the United States, and other matters I have signed the name of Joseph Ullmann to the statement hereto annexed, which has been i)repared from a careful examination of the books of the house of said Joseph Ullmann in the city of New York, and 1 know said statement to be correct and true in every respect. All of the seal skins therein referred to are of the class 8idn°s!"'"^^* ^''^'^^ known as Northwest Coast skins. In this term I mean to comprise all skins taken in the Pacific Ocean or in the waters of Bering Sea. The skins in question were x)ui'chased at SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 533 Victoria, Britisli Columbia, with tlie exception of 400, whicTi were pur- cliased in August, 1880, at San Francisco. Said books show the fol- lowing aSvSortment of portions of these skins, respectively, 1,835 and 1,07G in number, bought in May and June, 1888, together with the prices paid for eaeh grade per skin : ■I "{ May, 18S8. 885 Beriii j;- Sea seals .■ $4. 57 551 West Coast seals 5. 00 102 West Coast gray pups 1. 25 2 West Coast pups 2. 50 252 West Coast seals 5. 00 41 West Coast gray pups 1. 00 2 West Coast pups 2. 50 June, ISSS. 985 seal slcins 4. 80 18 sealskins 6.00 100 gray pups 1. 25 The skins marked I. formed one lot and represented the catch of a single vessel. The same is true of the skins marked II, The percent- age of gray pups contained in each of these lots, both of which were bought on assortment, is not an unusual one, I have for many years personally examined numerous shipments of Northwest Coast skins pur- chased at Victoria. I have had such experience in handling fur-seal skins as enables me, readily in most cases, but always upon careful examination, to distinguish a female skin skhTsmosTiv^lmaies* from a male skin, and I know it to be a fact that a very large proportion of the skins in such shipments are tliose taken from female animals. It is also true that a large number of skins in many of these shipments are rendered almost valueless through the numerous bullet holes which they contain. The ^"^i^t^oies. house of Joseph Ullmann has, of late years, been one of the largest single buyers of seal skins at Victoria, and my knowledge and ex])erieuce enable me to state that the prices paid by this house, as contained in the annexed statement, represent fairly the value of such skins at Vic- toria in each of the past five years. The rapid rise in the price paid for these skins in the years 1800 and 1801 can only be explained through the sudden de- crease, which in the years 1800 an(ri801, took place in ^^^^^^^^^^ ^° ?"*="• the annual catch on the Pribilof Islands, As soon as it became known in the latter part of the summer of 1800 that only about 21,000 skins had been taken that year on the Pribilof Islands, the price of skins rose rapidly at Victoria; and reference to the annexed statement will show that while in June we had bought at less than $7 a skin, in September of the same year we purchased at $11 a skin, these September pur- chases having been made at my direction immediately after the receipt of the information concerning the reduced catch on the Pribilof Islands. Our Northwest Coast purcliases of 1801 were made in open market. The still higher prices paid in that year were directly due to the so- called modus Vivendi between the United States and Great Britain, whereby the Pribilof catch was reduced to 7,500 skins, and sealing iu the Avaters of Bering Sea entirely prohibited. Sa:muel Ullmann. Sworn to before me this 21st day of June, 1892. [seal.] George Kissinger, Jr., N'otary Public, City and County of New Yorlc, Ko. 99, 534 TESTIMONY. 1887. 18S 9— Continued. Month Ximiber of seal sldus pur- cbased. Total price. Average price per skin. Month. Number of seal skins pur- chased. Total price. Average price per skin. Mav . 730 57 4,706 $3,910.00 295. 00 27, 138. 40 $5.35 5.17 5.76 An ""list ......... 499 630 $3, 507. 75 4, 882. 50 $7.03 All ""list October 7.75 October 1888. 1890. Mav 2,210 613 435 2,618 2,152 1, 828 2,615 1,366 20, 965. .50 5, 332. 50 3,031.50 28, 766. 00 23, 672. 00 20, 605. 80 30, 358. 90 16, 254. 25 1,835 1, 076 3.516 3,686 $8, 237. 95 4,831.40 20, 208. 75 20, 700. 74 $4.49 4.49 5.75 5.61 9.48 May 8 69 June Ha 6 97 September October September 10.98 11 00 October 11.27 Do...- 11.60 1889. Do 11.16 April ., 529 1,992 2.33 138 678 24 1,137 $3, 236. 00 13, 622. 20 1, 44U. 25 1,060.75 4, 860. 95 150. 80 7, 159. 00 $6.12 6.62 6.18 7.61 7.17 6.28 6.29 1891. May June May "Do 1,487 26 105 22, 232. GO 312. 00 1,715.00 i)o::::::::;;; 14.95 Do 12.00 August July 16.33 Jos. Ullmann. statement referred to iu annexed affidavit of Samuel Ullmann. George Kissinger, Jr., Notary Fuhlic. Experience. Deposition of Elkan Wassermanu, furrier^ San Francisco, pelagic sealing. State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss: Elkan Was.sermann, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 53 years of age. I reside in San Francisco, My occupation is that of a merchant. I have been engaged in buying furs for the last thirty years. I have examined and bouglit a great number of seal-fur skins during that time. Some were skins taken by hunters off the coast of California, and others from the coasts of JBriti.sh Columbia, Alaska, and Japan; and I have also bought skins iVom other dealers. Some were shot and some were speared. I have olten conversed with the hunters relative to the per- centage of the loss of seals to those taken, and some w^aste of life. tell me tlicy get 1 out of 5 or 6. From my knowl- edge of the sealing business I am satisfied that the seals will be entirely exterminated unless protected from the indiscriminate pursuit in the waters that has been going on for the last few years. E. Wassermann. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of April, A. D. 1892, [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, Notary Fuhlic. Protcctiou eary. neces- SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 535 Deposition of William Wiejjert, superintendent for Asch it Jaeclccl, fur- riers, New YorA'. general sealskin industry. State of Xew York, City and County of New Yorl; ss: William Wiepert, being duly sworn, says: I am 47 years of age, a citizen of tlie United States, and a resident of the city of Brooklyn, State of New York. I am, and liave been for the last six years, the superintendent of the manufacturing department of Experience the house of Asch & Jaeckel, which carries on a gen- eral wholesale fur business in the city of New York, and between the years of 1S80 and 188G I was the foreman of this establish- ment. Prior to 1880 I had already handled large numbers of fur- seal skins, and since the time when I entered the employ of Asch & Jaeckel I believe I have handled, assorted, and closely inspected at least 100,000 dressed and dyed fur-seal skins. During the past two years I have handled large numbers of northwest-coast skins {i. e., skins of animals taken in the Pacific Ocean or in Be- ring Sea). I have assorted all of them, and in doing so ^^sny^il^^iJ.^^"^ have specially noticed the fact that a very large pro- portion were skins of female animals. To determine this fact in the case of dressed skins I see whether there are any teat holes. I never call a skin a female skin unless I can find two such holes on either side. These holes can be easily distinguished from bullet or buckshot holes, of which there are generally a great number in northwest-coast skins. In the case of a shot hole it is always e\ ident that the surrounding fur lias been abruptly cut oft, while around jJi^J"''^' ^''°"' ^"^^®* the edge of a teat hole the fur gradually shortens as it reaches the edge and naturally ceases to grow at the edge. I have iust looked over an original case of ninety dressed and dyed uortl.iwest-coast fur-seal skins, which ,„aies'^^' ^'*'' ''°* ^'' have been lately received from London, and were still under seals placed on them in London. I found that of these ninety skins nine only were those of male animals. William Wiepert. Sworn to before me this 22d day of June, 1892. [SEAL.] Frederick C. Schmidt, Notary Public, Neiv York County. Deposition of C. A. WiUianis, head of the frm of C. A. Williams <£• Co. and meinher of the Alaska Commercial Company. pelagic sealing. District of Columbia, City of Washington, $s: C. A. Williams, being duly sworn, says that he is a citizen of the United States and a resident of the city i„^r,^^Vo ""ilaiiu" of New London, in the State of Connecticut, and is 63 years of age. First. That he was a mend^er of the firm of Wil- Expenouce. liams & Haven, whose business has of late been carried 536 TESTIMONY. ou by liini under the firm iinnie of C. A. Williams & Co.; tliat said firms have been and the latter still is engaged in the whaling and seal hunt- ing business, and prior to the forniatiou of said firm of Williams & Haven, upwards of forty years ago, the same business was carried on by dei)onent's father and grandfather, from the beginning of this cen- tury. That during the time said business has been in dei^onent's hands he lias employed u})wards of twenty-five vessels in the sealing business and has had as many as eight or ten vessels at one time engaged in that business. That deponent's vessels have taken ^Former sources of ggj^jg juring thc last forty ycars from the North Pacific, ^"^^'■^^ Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn, South Shetland Islands, South Georgia, Crozetts, Desolation Islands, Sandwich Land, and Gough Island. Tliat immediately after the cession of Itussian America to the United States, deponent dispatched the American bark Pern to the Bering Sea from Honolulu (where deponent at that time had for some years been residing), for the iDurpose of investigating the possibilities of seal fishing in that locality. That about the year 1870 deponent was associated with several other gentlemen ka^comni ercia"/ Co^ "^ fomiing thc Alaska Commercial Company, which puuy. company obtained, in the year 1870, a lease from the United States Government for a period of twenty years of the right to take seals on the Pribilof Islands, in the Bering Sea; those islands consisting of islands St. Paul, St. George, and Walrus Island. At the expiration of the said lease, in 1890, the United States Government invited bids for a lease for a second period of twenty years, and a lease was given to the Kortli American Commercial Com- pany, and in this company deponent has never had any interest. That during the whole of the period which deponent has been engaged in this business it has had his close attention. Deponent has talked at great length with the captains of his various ships, most of whom are now no longer living, and with officers of the Alaska Commercial Com- pany ; he has also inspected many thousands of skins of seals caught by his vessels, and has also seen many thousands of skins in the ware- houses of C. M. Lampson & Co., in London. The members of that firm at the present time are Sir George Lampson, Eniil Teichman, Nor- man Lampson, and Alfred Fraser. The firm of C. M. Lampson & Co. receive, handle, and sell a very much larger number of seal skins than all tiie other houses in the world together. The whole catch of the Alaska Commercial Company was annually consigned to that firm for sale at public auction in the city of London, and much consi'-ne™ ^nessles ^^^ larger proportion of all the other catches that have of i'ribi'.of cand Kus- been made by deponent's vessels in other parts of the deponlntr'^^' ''''^ ""^ woild liavc likcwisc bccu consigned to them; and the present lessees of the Pribilof Islands, deponent under- stands, still consign their catches to them, as do the Russian Seal Skin Company, who are the lessees of the Eussian Islands in the Bering Sea, known as the Commander Islands. Second. De])()neiit's views as to the history of the as?o's^Hng'bu.^\icIs Sealing business down to the year 1887 are best set set foitiiiu'stateiucnt forth ill \\ Statement inepared by him personally, and eiibmitted to Con- g^^i^,j,itj-yj ^o a Committee of Congress on merchant marine, hereto annexed and marked A. Before sub- mitting that statement to the committee, deponent submitted it to the firm of C. M. Lampson & Co., of London, who have been his correspond- ents, and in reply received from them a letter, the original of which SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 537 deponent now lias, and a copy of whicli is hereto annexed and marked B. Deponent thinks no modification of the statements made in those two communications is necessary in the light of subsequent events, ex- cepting in respect to the prediction of the Russian authoiitiesthatin con- sequence of the reckless and indiscriminate killing of seals by the Ameri- cans, the Pribilof herd would emigrate to the Russian Islands. That prediction has not been verified. There is no intermingling of the herds, and the skins of the two herds of the Pribilof and Commander Islands may be so readily distinguished .Alaskan and r«s- from each other that an expert would have no dfdculty terming'ie^ ^** ^^^ ^^' in at once throwing out fi'om the catch taken on the Commander Islands any skins of the Pribilof herd, and vice versa; and deponant understands from persons who liave had ^., . . ., , , , ^ . • .1 • X- -:• J.1 T • • Skins of the hprd long experience m the examination ot the living am- readily distinguish- mals that the two herds so differ as to belong to sepa- "^'''• rate species of the same genus, and can readily be distinguished from each other. Third. Deponent further says that, commercially speaking, the seal skins now coming upon the markets of the world are obtained principally from three catches, known as the Present sources of Copiier, the Alaska, and the Northwest catches. The "^"cipper skins. first includes the skins taken by the Russian Sealskin Company from the islands of Copper and Bering, known as the Com- mander Islands; also from Robben Island in the Ohkotsk Sea. The Robben Island skins differ from those of the Com- mander Islands. The Alaska catch includes the seals ^^*^^'' ^^'°^- killed upon the Pribilof Islands by the lessees of the United States, and the Northwest catch includes the seals caught in the open Pacific and Bering Sea, exclusively, by what ° ^^^ ^ ^°^' are known as poaching vessels, and are distinguished from the Alaska catch by the fact that they are all pierced by bullet, buckshot, or spear, and are almost all females; and the skins of these three catches, as deponent has before stated, are readily distinguishable from each other and are well recognized in the trade as distinguishable from each other and the differences between are clearly evidenced in the different prices which have always been obtained for the seal skins of the three catches; for instance, the skins of the Alaska catch now com- mand and have always commanded by 20 or 30 per AkllaTkins"''^ "^ cent a better price than skins of the same size from the Copper catch; and cihis difference is also recognized by the Russian Government, who lease the privilege of catching upon the Commander Islands upon terms 25 jier cent less than the terms exacted by the United States for the lease catch upon the Pribilof Islands. Fourth. Deponent further says that the skins of the aSTorthwest catch are almost entirely the skins of females. That the skins of males and the skins of females may be as nj^s?[y^frniaies!^***^^* readily distinguished from each other as the skins of the different sexes of any other animals, when seen before being dyed and dressed, and that the reason why the skins of this ^ ^^^ catch are almost exclusively females is that the male seal is much more active and much more able to escape from the boats engaged in this manner of hunting than the female seal, and that a large number of the female seals included in the Northwest catch are of animals heavy with young. A large number of I'omales are also caught on their way fi.-om and to the Pribilof Islands and their feeding 538 TESTIMONY. grounds before and after tLe delivery of their young on those islands. . Deponent is of the opinion that in addition to the seals asteoi u e. actually caught a very large number are killed and not caught; and he bases tijis opinion upon the declaration to him of large numbers of persons engaged in pelagic sealing. He is not able to state accurately what that proportion is, but considers that two-fifths would be a very conservative estimate: that is, of the orjpercen os . ^^^j^j ij^^jj^ijep killed three-fifths are secured and two- fifths lost. The method of sealing by the poaching vessels, that is, of shooting the seal from boats and catching them in the open water and then salting them down on the vessels, affords another Less price obtained explauatiou of tlic difference in the prices obtained for the skins ot the JNorthwcst and the other catches. That is, nearly all of the skins of the Northwest catch are in the first place marked with bullet or buckshot holes, and, in the second place, the curing being done on the vessels, where there are no proper facili- ties for such curing, the skins are inferior to those cured on the islands, where such facilities exist. Fifth. Deponent, by reason of his ex})erience in the business, his ob- servation, conversations with tliose physically engaged in catching and curing skins, and the custody of herds on the islands, feels justified in expressing the opinion that the numbers of the seal herds have, since the introduction of the open-sea sealing on a large ecrease o sea s. g^^jj^g^ Suffered scrious diminution. The killing of large numbers of females heavy with young can not, in deponent's knowledge, but have that effect; and the killing of females shortly after the delivery of their young can not but have the effect of causing the death of their offspring through lack of nourishment; and deponent is of the opinion that if no restriction be imposed upon such indiscrimi- ^^Protection neces- jjj^^g killing as lias becu goiug on in Bering Sea and the ]^orth Pacific since the year 18So by the poachers, the sealing industries of the North Pacific will follow the course of those industries that formerly existed in the southern seas; and that there is only a measurable time, say at the outside five years, when, if the present condition of things continues, the seals of Bering Sea will be as extinct as the seals of south sea islands. Deponent says that the most complete i^rotection to the herds would be ., , , , ., . the absolute prohibition of open-sea hunting; but that Absolute proliibi- ., ■■ ^n^ . , , A j? j.i i i • j.i tion the best piotec- it may be sufficient protection for the herds m the *'""• North Pacific if a close season can be arranged for all the seal north of the fiftieth parallel, north latitude, and zonemaflTiZ'^^. "" west of the one hundred and fiftieth degree of west longitude from the 1st day of May to the 1st day of November, Deponent regards it as important that the seal herrl should be protected as above indicated in the North Pacific, as otherwise they will be exterminated, even if sealing be prohibited in the Bering Sea. Sixth. Deponent further says that the number of persons who are , . engaced in the handling, dressing, and dyeing of seal Persons eniraicecl in , P ^ . „ j. t^ • i • • i j. ?> /^rw/A ly i the industry in cniit skius ill Great Britain IS about 2,000, many ot whom statci"'''''^^'"^^"'^'''^ ^^^^ expert workmen and receive high wages; and the number in the I'nitcd States is about 300. The num- ber of persons engaged upon the poaching vessels is about 10 to each vessel, and a considerable num})er of the persons engaged upon the Canadian sealers are American citizens. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 539 The amount of revenue derived by the TJuited States from the Ahiska catch can be estimated from the tbllo wing figures, care- i • n fully compiled by deponent, from 1872 to 1887, inclu- FiiitId°statt"^*from Sive ■ Alaska catch . The total number of skins dressed and dyed in London and shipped to the United States during those sixteen years, was ^^.^^ dressed and 825,000. The value of the same was £3,253,941, which dved in Loniion and at exchange of $4.80 would produce $15,018,916; the Ss!'^ *° ^"""^ duty upon which at 20 per cent ad valorem would be $3,123,783. The average duty per annum is §195,236. The average rental received by the Government and tax during these years from the Alaska Commercial Company was $317,500, making a total aver- age to the United States from the Alaska seal skins of 8512,736; and the total during the sixteen years above noted of $8,203,776, all of which, as deponent believes, will be lost to the United States in the fnture if the destruction is not prohibited. Deponent believes and says that if unrestricted pelagic sealing be allowed to cou- p^^g^jt „f nnre- tinue throughout the whole of Bering Sea, not only stricted pelagic seai- will the United States Government soon be deprived ™=- of a considerable anniml revenue, and over 2,000 English workmen of skilled employment, of wliich they now have a practical monopol3% but a portion of the civilized world will hereafter be deprived of a useful and valuable far-bearing animal; and a great and irreparable injury will thus be done to various legitimate industries which have been built up by the authorized lessees of Eussia and the United States and the firm of C. M. Lampson & Co., which industries are conlined to one lo- cality and which if fostered promise to continue in existence for an in- definite length of time; while in return for such injury there will be only a comparatively slight benefit of a few years' duration to a com- paratively small number of men. Tlie deponent resided in the Hawaiian Islands for a period of twent}^ years during the time his firm was engaged in whaling and sealing as above stated; durin.g that time he was igra ion. brought in contact wdth many masters of vessels and other seafaring men, who made frequent voyages between the Hawaiian Islands and Puget Sound, and he learned from them that during the months of No- vember and December they occasionally encountered schools or "])0(ls" of seals moving Irom north towards the lower coast of California; he himself in one of his voyages in the month of November saw such "pods;" and from these facts and his knowledge of the habits of the seals which frequent and have their home on the Pribilof Islands, he is satisfied that the herd of said islands confine their migration to the waters of the American side of the ocean, and that when they leave the islands they go through the passes of the Aleutian Islands to the coast of southern California and thence along up the coast again to the Pribilof Islands. The dej)onent was for more than ten years previous to the sale and transfer of Alaska to the United States engaged in whale fishing in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans, employing (juite a number of vessels each year in that business; that these vessels „ ,. ,. ,-,, -, ; 1 1 ,, -r> • f^ J. i. ^ 1 Sealing forbidden were permitted by the laissian dovernment to freely by Russia in uenng enter and pass through Pering Sea in pursuit of Sca beiore isgt. whales, but it was known to the masters of the deponent's vessels that the Eussian (lovernment did not ])ermit the taking of seals in any of the waters of Bering Sea, and the deponent was informed by the masters of his vessels and by others who resorted to Bering Sea dur- 540 TESTIMONY. iiig tlie Eussian occupation of Alaska that no taking of seals in tho waters of .said sea was attempted or peniiitted. A statement is attached hereto, prepared by deponent, giving liis esti- Estimate of females mate of tbc number of female seals killed by pelagic seTitn.- ^L itH'i liiniting in the past twenty-one years. years." C. A. WiLLTAMS. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, this 2d day of April, 1892. [l. s.] Jno. J. Cook, Motary Public, Exhibit A. Statements and statistics relative to the fur-seal fishery. [Submitted to committee of Congress on merchant marine and fisheries, 1888.] Examination of the earliest records of the fur-seal fishery sliows that from the date of man's recognition of the value of the fiu^seaP"'^^"***'^^^^ fur the pursuit of the animal bearing it has been un- ceasing and relentless. Save in the few instances to be noted hereafter, where governments have interposed for the purpose of ijrotectiug seal life, having in view benefits to accrue in the future, the animal has been wantonly slaughtered with no re- siaiv'hter^'^^'"^"'^**^ gard for age, sex, or condition. The matiu^e male, the female hea^n>- with young, the pup, dependent for life on the mother, each and all have been indiscriminately killed or left to die of want. This cruel and useless butchery has resulted in comi)lete extermination of the fur-seal from localities which were once fi^equented by millions of the species; and, so far as these localities are concerned, has obliterated an industry which a little more enlightened selfishness might have preserved in perpetuity to the great benefit of all ranks of ciA'ilized society. Nothing less than stringent laws, ernmint necesMrf ?^ ' "^^^h will powcr to cuforcc thcui agaiust all violators, can preserve for man's benefit the remnant of a race of animals so interesting and so useful. The most valuable "rookery " or breeding place of these animals The most valuable ^^^'^ kuowu to man is now in the possession of the rookery is in po.sses- dnited Statcs. How it lias bceu cared for in former states"* *^"* United ygQj.g^ aud brought to its present state of value of itsprc.-ervationthe usefuliicss, will be showu later on. But the matter que.-^iion. of Its preservation and perpetuation intact is the im- portant question of the moment, and that this question may be consid- ered intelligently the evidence is here presented of the he?ds*"'''*'°" ***"*''*''' wanton destruction that has befallen these animals when left unprotected by the law to man's greed and selfishness, which, it is fair to say, is all that could be expected from the unlicensed hunter, whose natnre seeks individual and immediate gain, with no regard for a future in which he has no assurance of per- sonal advantage. The following statistics are gathered from the journals of early navi- gators, and such commercial records as are now available are sub- mitted : KERGUELEN LAND. An island in southern Indian Ocean discovered about 1772. The shores of this island were teeming with fur-seal when Kergueien Land. -^ ^^^^ bccamc kiiowii. Betwecu the date of its dis- SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 541 covery and the year 1800 over 1,200,000 seal skins were taken by the British vessels fi-om the island, and seal life thereon was exterminated. CROZETTS. The Crozett Islands, in same ocean and not far distant, were also visited and hunted over and the seal life there was J. J. 1, 1 ,1 Crozett Island. totally exhausted. MASAFUERO. An island in southern- Pacific Ocean, latitude 38° 48' S., longitude 80° 34' W., came next in order of discovery, and from ,^ , ^ , , its shores in a few years were gathered and shipped 1,200,000 fur-seal skms. Delano, chapter 17, page 306, says of Masafuero: ^' When the Ameri- cans came to this place in 1797 and began to make a business of kilhng seals there is no doubt but there were 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 of them on the island. I have made an estimate of more than 3,000,000 that have been carried to Canton from thence in the space of seven years. I have carried more than 100,000 myself and have been at the i^lace when there were the people of fourteen ships or vessels on the island at one time killing seals." SOUTH SHETLANDS. In 1821-'23 the South Shetland Islands, a group nearly south from Cape Horn, became known to the seal-hunters, and in two years over 320,000 seals were killed and then? skins ^^^j^'"' Shetland is- shipped from these islands. SOUTH GEORGIA. Later still seal were found on the island of South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean, and from this locality was obtaiued over 1,000,000 of fur-seal, leaving the beaches bare of i.,^j"^'' Georgia is- seal hfe. CAPE HORN. From the coasts of South America and about Cape Horn many thou- sands of fur-seal have been taken, and of tlie life once so prolific there nothing is now left save such remnants ^^^ °™' of former herds as shelter on rocks and inlets almost inaccessible to the most daring hunter. This record shows the nearly complete destruction of these valuable animals in southern seas. Proi)erly protected, Kerguelan Land, 31as- fuero, the Shetlands, and South Georgia might have been hives of industry, producing vast wealth, training schools for hardy seamen, and furnishing employment for tens of thousands in the world's markets where skins are dressed, prepared, and distributed. But the localities were no man's land, and no man cared for them or their products save as through destruction they could be transmitted into a i)assing profit. The skins from the localities mentioned were marketed mainly in China, as exchange for silks teas, etc. : a portion went ^r ^ . t ^u „ ' T • " ,1 1 T-i 1 1 /• Tilai-kct for those to Lurope, and in 1 ranee and l^ngland were manutac- skins. tured into caps, gloves, and other small articles, being simply unhaired and dressed. Their commercial value in China was 542 TESTIMONY. about $5 per skin for first class, and soinotliing less in Europe. But Delano, chapter 11, page 197, says: " Haviii b<>l*l tlic Icasc of the ishiuds belonging to the ka commeroiai Con.- Ujiited Statcs, and are thus enabled to control and ^*"^' direct the business in fur-seal skins for the common advantage and benetit of all pai'ties in interest. These islands can hardly be said to have been -'worked" at all for salted seal skins prior to the cession of Alaska by Kussia to the United States, and the United States Government now profits by the industry to the extent SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 543 of the duty of 20 per cent collected on the "dressed skins" returned to tills country from the London market. From 1873 to 1887, inclusive, this return has been 121,275 skins. (3) The Pribilof group consists of the islands of St. Paul and St. George, and is a Gov'ernment reservation in that part PribUof islands of Bering- Sea ceded to tlie United States by Eussia, ^^'^ ^' together with and a part of Alaska. So exhaustive an afcount of these islands and their seal life has been given by Mr. H. W. Elliott, special agent of Treasury Department in 1874, asid since intimately connected with the Smithsonian Institution, which account has been made a part of TenlJi Census Report, that it would be intrusive here to attempt to supplement aught, and therefore only generalizations based on said report and such statements of life and procedure on the islands to-day are presented as may be pertinent in this connection. These islands are places of annual resort for the largest herd of fur- seal the world has ever known, and the only one of ^.^^ great importance now existing. After most careful ex- amination, Mr. Elliott estimated their numbers at over 1,500,000. After a thorough study of the induences which act for or against the increase or diminution of the life of this vast body, taking into account the kill- ing of 100,000 annually for their skins, Mr. Elliott says: "I have no hesitation in saying quite confidently that under the present rules and regulations governing the sealing interest on these islands, the increase or the diminution of the life will amount to nothing; that the seals will continue for all time about the same number and condition." It goes without saying that if new induences for destruction are brought in, seal life would be diminished in proportion to the eftectiveness of said influences. It is safe to say that these animals are all United States property and having been born on United States soil and reared in United States waters in the twenty-one years that uniters^Ites"^ ^^^ have elapsed since the cession of Alaska by Russia, and having the instinct of regular return to their home, which accords them a status in law, they would seem to be entitled to the protection of their Government while they are in the acknowledged boundaries of their country. The right to take 100,000 seal skins annually from these islands, under certain stipulated restrictions, is leased by the Govern- Lease to Alaska ment of the United States to an association of American Cominer c i ai c « m • citizens known as the Alaska Commercial Company. ^'™"^' The company pays a rental of -f 55,000 per annum and TeiTOsof. $2.62i per skin, a total of $317,500 per annum, for tliis right. They are also obligated to a certain care of the Aleuts inhabiting the islands and to a partial provision for their needs, both mental and physical. They pay to these Aleuts 40 cents per skin or $40,000 per annum for their services in taking the skins. They have also bailt for them a church and school-house, and maintain ..f^Sl!"*'"*' ^'"^ teachers and physicians on the islands. At the time of the cession of Alaska to the United States these people were living in huts, or more i)roperly holes in the ground, and had no ambitious or as])irations beyond suoixuting I'liproved condition ,,.,., . , . • ,. , 1 1 , • ' "^ " of natives. their daily existence in a paintul and laborious way. Now they are living in iVame liouses provided for (hem by the comp;iny, and have accumulated savings, invested in United States bonds in San Francisco, amounting on August 1, 1887, to $04,128.28. It is safe to say 544 TESTIMONY, that no laboring men within the boundaries of the United States are better paid or better cared for. As to the manner in which the 100,001) seals, which furnish the an- nual quota of slvins, are taken, Mr. Elliot says: " By ciassof seals killed, r^fg^.^^^.^ ^^ ^jjp habits of the fur-seal it is plain that two- thirds of all the males that are born (and they are equal in number to the females born) are never permitted by the remaining tliird, strongest by natural selection, to land upon the same ground with the females, which always herd together en masse. Therefore, this great band of bachelor seals, or ' hollus chickie,' is compelled, when it \dsits land, to live apart entirely, miles away frequently, from the breeding grounds, and in this admirably perfect manner of nature are those seals which can be pro]«erly killed without injury to the rookeries selected and held aside so that the natives can visit and take them, as they would so many hogs, without disturbing in the slightest degree the peace and quiet of the breeding grounds where the stock is perpetuated.-' In this connection it is i)roper to note that the Company are not al- lowed to take any seal in the water nor to make any use le^sel?*^"*""* °" ^^^ ^^ firearms in their capture. And it will at once be Ijerceived that if the seal in Bering Sea are harassed and captured by means of firearms, spears, or drag-nets the routine of their lives is interfered with, their habits broken up, seSsf result of.°^ °^ fcmalcs witli youiig killed, and such general disturb- ance caused that those not slaughtered will seek other hauling places and the United States thus lose their sole source of in- come from Alaska, as well as the control they now enjoy of a valuable trade, and the impoverished Aleuts, who have no other means of gain open to them, would become a burden on the nation instead of being the self-supporting and self-respecting citizens they sififs^Jf^il^gration'of iit)w are. Indeed, it was predicted by Russian au- Pribiiof heni to Cum- thoritics coiiversaiit Avitli seal life, at the time of the man er s an s. cessiou of the territory, that the reckless and indis- criminate killing of seal by the Americans would soon drive the Pribilof herd to the Russian islands, and that thus they (the Russians) would re- gain and retain all that was most valuable in the ceded territory. But the wisdom of Congress, appreciating the value of the islands as seal rookeries, was shown by legislative acts protecting the animal and by leasing the right to take skins under restrictions to a responsible asso- ciation of American citizens, with the result that at the expiration of a twenty years' lease the United States Government will, from its pro- ceeds, be fully reimbursed for the outlay for the pur- mS^irotJudn.'"''' ^^'^^'^ ^^ *^^ entire Territory of Alaska, and will also have its herd of seals intact, provided the Government will protect the seal in Bering Sea against unlicensed hunters and foreign marauders. Immediately upon commencing operations under the lease it was apparent that the interests of the (jovernment and those of the Company were so intimately interwoven that a policy of entire good faith between the contracting parties was the only one that could be pursued, and so well has this relation been sustained in the eighteen years elapsed since the lease was made that no word of complaint has 8ee''s"™with"*'tevms ''of everbceu uttered on the part of the Government against •®*'"'- the company, and no conqdaint of improper action that has been made by jiarties inimical to the Company has been in the least degree sustained, though twice, because of misrepresentation, the Com- pany has been subjected to most rigorous investigation by committees of SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES. 545 Congress. The Company has received just consideration at the hands of the Covernnient, and tliongh they have sufiered to some extent from complications of a political character, arising from the improper acts of crews of foreign and domestic vessels, wlio, in contravention of tlie laws of the United States, have entered upon the waters of the Territory and slaughtered maliciously the seals, yet they feel assured that the (Tovernnient will so assert and maintain its Lessors foci assmed rights and authority that no cause of complaint will ;:f„.|;['Jt''«"on of their continue to exist. Under Kussian rule there were many years of faulty management, and at one time much danger of extermination of seal life at these islands, but in time the Company came to regard seal life with so good an eye to preservation and perpetuatiini that their rules and regula- tions in regard to these points are still in force on the islands; but, while theyiiermitted free navigation throughout Bering Sea, they steridy prohibited any interference with seal life in the waters thereof, and so the United States Government will be forced to do if it would preserve and perpetuate its present splendid property. Until about 1853 the skins shipped by the Russian American Com- pany from these islands, over which they had absolute control, up till the time of the cession to the United .a^eirir-l^ir Russian States, went forward in the parchment (or dried) state AmuiiJan compaiiy. at the rate of about 20,000 per annum. About 1853 a small trial shipment of salted skins was shipped in the hands of Messrs. J. M. Oppenheim »& Co., London, who had for many years previous been the leading lirm who unluiired and of^theTkiM.*^""*^"'"" dressed fur-seals from Lobos Islands, Cape of Good Hope, etc. The first ex[)erience with salte(l Alaskas x)ioved a failure, the skins not having been properly cured; by degrees, however, the skins came forward in better condition, and in the year 1858 Messrs. Oppenheim contracted Avith the Kussian American Company for an an- nual supply of from 10,000 to 12,000 salted fur-seals at lO.s-. 10^/. per skin, delivered in London. This quantity was increased about the year 18G4 to 20,000 per annum, the contract remaining in force until the time when the territory was handed over to the United States Government. In addition to the salted fur-seals, Messrs. Oppenheim received annu- ally from the Russian American Company about 10,000 parchment fur- seal at a price materially below that of the salted skins. Messrs. Oj)- penheim shipped to the United States the first dressed and dyed Alaska seals about 1800, but their shipments only amounted to a few thousand skins per annum until 1865. From that year until 1872, when this firm was liipiidated, the quantity shii)ped by them increased from 2,000 to 3,000 per annum to probably 10,000 skins. Such was the state of the trade in fur-seal skins at the time of the lease by the United States Government to the Alaska „, . » ^,,. • - /I fii • ni 1 ii Stato or sealskin Commercnil Company. Skins were ot low value; there tra^ ii • i • ■ i I- xi j. oppenheini & Co., penhcim «& (jo., but ou thcu^ liquidation there was great iuann.^'''"" ^ ^"'''" danger that the business Avould fall into weak hands and be so badly done as to render the manufactured fur-seal unpopular. Eealizing this fact, Messrs. Lampson & Co. stepped in and by liberal inducements led Messrs. Martin & Teichmann to carry on the Alaska factory. After a series of diflflculties, such as strikes and trouble with the Difficulties met with. ,^oik peoplc, who wcrc determined that no more or better work should be done than of old, this factory has gradually succeeded, by continual im])rovement, in rendering the dressing and dyeing, formerly a most uncertain undertaking, a thoroughly reliable process. Tliese efforts on the island ancl in London combined largely account for the measure of success the Success company has attained. In addition, however, large expenditure has been necessary in all the European centers to keep the article before the public and in their favor. The laws of trade take these skins to London for market. Two public sales London trade sales. 'Yf.^^^^ ^^^ year, usually iu March and November. At these sales attend buyers from Eussia, Germany, .France, England, and America. The company sells the entire stock on hand, at each occasion, and has no further connection with the skins. Its rule is to meet the market, and it buys no skins for account, nor has it any interest in the dressing and dyeing. That this work is done so T«r,^>„ fi,« ,,.!T,Pi largely in London is the choice of the buyers, and as London the prmci- li i ix- .i.j.i a i i •, • -, -, • ''-r i pal place of dressing uiorc than halt 01 the Alaska skms sold in London are and dyeing. rctumcd as drcssed skins to America, the United States Goveinment adds to its revenue from the seal islands by the Revenue to United collection of 20 per ccut duty on the valuation of this state^^on imported rctum. It is estimated that 75,000 dressed and dyed 8^i"^- . skins were shipped from London to New York in 1887. To the intelligent inquirer as to the value of the system now in opera- „. „ ,^, tion for handling and disposing of\he annual quota of The Government , . ,. , i • i i i i , ^ • , ■, , could not carrv on the sKiiis iroiu the scal islaiids, 110 doubt cau remain that the 'islands^''"'"""" ^^ is the bcst, indeed the only one possible to pursue with success. The Government itself could not enter into business and follow details either with propriety or hope of profit. To open the sea and the rookeries to the taking of seal by any who _ , . ^ , choose to seek them would be simply to surrender the Unrestricted pe- , t 4. ^ , ,- t. j_t .1 lagic sealing would hci(l to acstruction. I>ut a danger meuaces the systciu destroy the herd. aiul tlic scals whicli the Government alone can avert, viz, the intrusion of foreign vessels with armed crews iu the waters of Bering Sea, with intent to kill seal in the water between the Aleutian chain Of islands and the Pribilof group. In this water the seal rest and sport aftcf their long migration; "here the females, heavy with young, slowly nearing the land, sleep soundly at sea by intervals, reluctant to haul out of the cool water upon the rookeries until the day and the hour which limits the period of gestation ;" n.m.^M!fVvrimr sel' ^^^^'^^ ^^'^^^^ ^^^^^ '^"^^ S]»ear aiul drag net, these maraud- ers desire to reap their harvest o± destruction and for SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN UNITED STANES. 547 their selfisli greed exterminate the animal which now, under the wise policy of Congress, plays so important a part in the ecouoniy and distri- bution of commerce. Three years of open sea would sufiice in these waters to repeat the story of the southern ocean and the fur-seal would be of the past, and a valuable industry would be obliterated forever. Let the sea be open to all comnu'rce that harbors no evil intent, but protect the seal life that swims in its waters and " hauls" on its shores. Let the sea be as free as the wind to all legitimate commerce, but protect the unique possession of seal life that harms none and benefits thousands. C. A. Williams. Exhibit B. [From C. M. Lainpson & Co. to C. A. Williams, August 22, 1889.] London, 64 Queen Street, E. 0., Avf/ust 22, 1888. Dear Sir: We beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 10th instant, inclosing draft of a paper to be submitted to Congress on merchant marine and fisheries. We have read the paper with a great deal of interest and consider that it places the matter in a thoroughly impartial way before its readers. It has been so carefally jirepaied Agrees with Mr. and goes into all details so fully that we can add but menVs to"congress^.^*'' little to it. There are, however, one or two points to which we beg to draw your attention, and which you will find marked in red ink on the paper. When speaking of the supply of fur-seal skins we oftuppiy."'^^ sources would suggest mentioning the following localities: (1) Cape of Good Hope. — From some islands off this cape, under the protection of the Cape Government, a yearly supply of from 5,000 to 8,000 skins is derived. All these skins come to the Lon- don market, part of them being sold at public auction, ^'""p* "^ ^"'''^ ^"^"'• the remainder being dressed and dyed for account of the owners. (2) Japan. — The supply from this source has varied very much of late years, amounting sometimes to 15,000 skins a year, at others to only 5,000. Last year, we understand, the '^^^^' Japanese Government passed stringent laws prohibit- ing the killing and importation of seals, with the view aneIeGove™?/eul''^' of protecting seal life and encouraging rookeries, and the consequence has been that this year very few skins have come for- ward. (3) Vancouver s Island. — For many years past, indeed long before the formation of the Alaska Company, regular supplies of , , , , fur-seals in the salted aud parchment state have come v^'^^^^^'^'- ^«^'^°'^- to the London market, killed mostly off" Cape Flattery. The quantity, we should say, has averaged at least 10,000 per annum. Tiiis catch takes place in the months of March and A])ril, and we believe that the animals from which these skins are derived are the females of the Alaska seals, just the same as those caught in the liering Sea. Had this quantity been materially increased we feel sure that the breeding on the Pribilof Islauds would have suffered before now; but fortunately the catcli must necessarily be a limited one. owing to the stormy time of the year at wliich it is made aud the dangerous coast, where the seals only for a short time are found. It must, however, be 548 TESTIMONY. evident tliat if tliese animals are followed into the Bering Sea and bunted down in a calm sea in tlie qnietest months of the year a practi- cally nulimited (juantity of females might be taken, and, as you say, it would be only a few y(^ars till the Alaska seal was a thing of the past. Yours, very truly, C. M. Lampson & Co. C. A. Williams, Esq., Mew London. Deposition of Joseph D. Williams^ furrier, New Yorlc. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of N^eiv York, ss : Jovseph D. Williams, being duly sworn, says: That he is 74 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the State of New York; that he has been engaged in the Experience. busincss of dressing and dyeing fur-seal skins contin- uously for fifteen years last i^ast, and prior to that time at intervals during the whole time he has been engaged in business, during a period of some fifty-odd years, he has dressed and dyed seal skins, and that his father was engaged in the same business before him; that for the last fifteen years he has had consigned to him by fur dealers from 8,000 to 10,000 seal skins annually, for the purpose of dress- ^.„^ , r ing and dyeing the same; that about 50 per cent of the Fifty per cent of*. ■ t t t • ,• -r-i • ■, ekins. sliUuS SO rcccivcd by him came from London m casks marked as they are catalogued by C. M. Lampson & Co., and are the skins belonging to what is known as "NorthwestcatcL." ^^^^ "Korthwcst catcli ; " and\leponent is informed and believes that the Northwest catch, as the term is used in the trade, means the skins of seals caught in the open sea and not upon the islands. Another reason for this belief is the fact that all of the skins of the Northwest catch contain marks sliowing that the animal has been killed by bullets or buckshot, the skins being pierced by the shot, whereas the skins killed on the American and Eussian islands are killed on land by clubs and are not pierced. That of the skins of the Nortlnvest catch coming into his hands for . . t h all treatiueiit probably all are the skins of the female females!^ ^ scal, aiid that the same can be distinguished from the skins of the male seal by reason of the breasts and of tiu^shed. '^**^ *^'^ <^^'onent is informed and believes, have secured the con- signment of skins to them during the period aforesaid by advancing to the owners of vessels engaged in what is now known as pelagic SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 555 6on1iiig sums of money, which is stated to be |15 per skin, as against shipments from Vi('t()iia of sneli skins, yecond. Tliat the seal skins wliich have been sold in London from time to time since deponent ti)st beervSons who have been on the Pribilof Is- lands, and he believes the same to be true. Deponent further says that this opinion is based upon the asvsumption that the present restriction imposed by Russia and the United States on the killing of seals in their respective islands are to be maintained, otherwise it would be nc^ces- sary to inipose such restrictions as well as to x)rohibiLpelat!ic sealing in order to x)reserve the herds. 558 TESTliMONY. Fiftli. Deponent is fuitlier of tlie opinion, from his long observation ,, , , ,, and liaiidlinji- of t]ie skins of tbe several catches that Alaska and ( opiicr , , . ,• i . i i t /^^ j^ i -i--, skins readily distiu- tlic slciiis ot tlic Alaska and Loiipcr catches are readily guishabie. distinguishable from each other and that the herds from which such skins are obtained do not in fact intermingle Avith each „ ^ , . . , other, because the skins classified under the head of Herds do not mingle. /-~, ' , , j. r- i > i Copper catch are not found among the consignments of skins received from the Alaska catch, and vice versa. Sixth. Deponent further says tliat the distinction between the skins of the several catches is so marlced that in his judgment he would, for instance, have had no difficulty had there been included among 100,000 skins in the Alaska catch, 1,000 skins of the Copper catch in distin- guishing the 1,000 Copper skins and separating them from the 99,000 Alaska skins, or that any other person with equal or less experience m the handling of skins would be equally able to distinguish them. And in the same way deponent thinks from his own personal experience in handling skins that he would have no difhculty whatever in separating the skins of the Northwest catch from the skins of the Alaska catch by reason of the fact that they are the skins almost exclusively of females, and also that the fur upon the bearing female seals is much thinner than upon the skin of the nude seals; the skin of the animal while l)regnant being extended and the fur extended over a large area. Seventh. Deponent says that tlie number of i)ersons who are employed in the handling, dressing, dyeing, cutting, and manufac- du^t'/y'in Loudou/^' turiug of scal skins in the city of London is about 2,000, many of wliom are skilled laborers earning as high as £3 or £4 a week. Deponent estimates the amount paid in the city of London for wages in the preparation of fur-seal skins for a manufacturer's uses, and ex(,'luding the Avages of manufacturers' em- ployes, prior to the beginning of the pelagic sealing in 1885, at about £100,000 x^er annum; and deponent fnrtlier says that in his judgment if this pelagic sealing be not iirohibited, it is a ques- th^tened! *"*'"" "^' tion of but a few years, probably not more than three, when the industry will cease, by reason of the exter- mination of the seals in the same way in which they have been exter- minated on the South Sea Islands by reason of no restrictions being- imposed upon their killing. Alfred Fraser. Subscribed and" sworn to before me this 1st day of April, 1892. Edwin T. Rice, Notary Fi(blk', Xew York County. Exhibit A. Salted Ahc^ka fur-Hcal sold in London. Tear. 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 Skins. it, 965 100, 8<)6 9t), 283 101, 248 90, 150 99, 634 no, 267 75,410 99, 911 Year. 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1880 1887 Skins. 100 036 100, 161 99, 921 100, 100 75, 914 99, 887 99, 719 99, 910 9U, 0-10 Year. 1888 1889 1890 isgi ".'.'.'-"-".' Total Skins. 100, 000 100, 000 20, 994 *4, 1.58 13, 473 1, 877, 977 * Food skins. sealskin industry in great britain. Exhibit B. Salted Copper Island fur-seal sold in London. 559 Tear. Skins. Tear. Skina. Tear. Skins. 1872 7,182 21,614 30, 349 34, 479 33, 298 25, 380 19, 000 28, 211 1880 38, 885 45, 209 39, 111 36. 500 26, 675 48,929 41, 752 54, 584 1888 46 333 1873 1881 1889 47 416 1874 1882 1890 95 486 1H75 1883 1891 17 0'5 1876 1884 1892 30, 678 1877 1885 Total 1878 1886 768 OOB 1879 1887 Exhibit C. Salted NortJiwest coast fur-seal skins sold in London, prior to pelagio sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Skins. Tear. Skins. Year. Skins. 1872 . . 1,029 1877 1882 11,727 1873 . . 1878 264 12,212 8, 9 !9 9,997 1883 2 319 1874 4,949 1,646 2,042 1879 1884 9, 242 1875 1880 Total 1876 1881 64, 3C6 Salted Nortliivest coast fur-seal sllns^ dressed and dyed in London (hut not sold there) taken prior to pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Skins. Year. Skins. Year. Skins. 1872 699 40 122 578 1,062 1877 772 2,434 2,397 4, 562 5,890 1882 1883 1884 11,159 1873 1878 6,385 1874 1879 10, 115 1875 •1880 Total 1876 1881 46, 215 Dry n'-rthicest coast fur-seal skins sold in London prior to pelagic scaling in Bering Sra. Year. 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 Skins. Year. Skina. 2,141 1,671 684 12, 495 14, 584 891 1874 2,772 1, 3.51 993 1,173 912 918 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 Year. 1880 . 1881 . 1882 . 1883 . 1884. Total. Skins. 686 3-Jl 390 785 42, 767 Of the slcins sold in 1871 aud 1872 a very large proi^ortiou wore the accumulation of the llussian American Company and sold by them after the purchase of Alaska by the United States. KECAPITULATIOK Salted skina aolcl in London Salted skin.s dressed and dyed in London. Dry skins sold in London Grand total. Year. 1872-1884 1872-1884 1868-1884 Skins. 64, .366 46, 215 42, 767 153, 348 5G0 TESTIMONY. ExniBlT D. Dry northwest coast ftir-seal shins sold in London after commencement of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Tear. Skina. Yoar. Skins. Tear. Skins. 1885 1,520 979 2,843 18P8 1,252 228 099 1891 1,083 1886 1889 Total 18S7 1890 8,604 Salii'd norihwcst coast fur-seal slcins dressed and driedin London (hntnot sold there) taken after the eoinmenccmoit of pel ay ic scaling in Bering sea. Year. 1885. 188(5. Skins. 16, 667 15, 087 Tear. 1887 , 1888. Skins. 3,580 1,930 Yiar. 1889. Skina. 2,017 Tot.il 39,290 In adilition to above it is estimated that from 25,000 to 30,000 skins have been dressed and dyed in the United .States. E. T. K., Jr., Notary Public. Forward. Salted nortlnvest coast fur-seal sMns sold in London after commencement of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. 1885. 1886 1887 1888 Skins. 2,078 17, 909 36, 907 3'J, 818 Year. 1889. isno . 1891 . Skina. 39, 563 38, ;U5 54, 180 Year. 1892 Tot.al. Skins. 28, 29£ 254, 068 * To date. RECAPITULATION. Dry skins sohl in London Salted skins, dressed .and dyed in London, but not sold there. Salted skins, dressed and dyed in United States, estimated... Salted skins sold in Loudon Grand total . Year. 1885-1891 188.5-1889 1885-1889 1SS5-1892 Skins. 8,604 39, 290 30, (100 254, 068 331 , 962 1873. 1874. 1875 . 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879 . 1880. Year. Exhibit E. Salted Lohos Island fur-seal sold in London. Skins. 6, 956 8,509 8,179 11, 353 13, 066 12, 301 12. 295 14, 865 1881 . 1882. 1883. 1884 . 1885. 1880. 1887 . 1888. Year. Skins. 13, 569 13, 200 12, 801 16, 258 10, 953 13,067 11,008 20, 747 Year. 1889, 1890, 1891 . 1892* Total. To date. Skins. 8,755 18, 541 15,834 4,800 247, 777 SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 561 Deposition of Alfred Fraser, member of the firm of G. M. Lampson & Co., furriers, London. London trade sales. Tables showiii;; number of skins s')lil and prices paid fjom 1808 to 1891. general sealskin industry. State of New York, City and County of Neio York, ss: Alfred Fraser, beiiig duly sworn, says: I am a member of the firm 0. M. Lainpson & Co., of London, and the person described in and wlio verified an attidavit on the 1st day of April, 1892, relating to the fur-seal industry. The tables hereto annexed marked A, B, 0, D, E, and F have been prepared by me from the printed catalogues of public auction sales in London of fur-seal skins and also from my private memoranda, and from my knowl- edge and information of the fur-seal industry I believe them to be correct in every ])articular. Said tables state all of the salted fur-seal skins of the Alaska, Copper, northwest coast, and Lobos catches, which, according to the said catalogues and memoranda, were sold at public auction in London between the years 1808 and 18!)1, together with the average i)rice per skin obtained during each of said years for the aforesaid skins. Alfred Fraser. Sworn to before ine this 5th day of July, 1802. [SEAL.] Fredk. E. Fisher, Notary Public, Kings County. (Certificate filed in ISTew York County.) Exhibit A. Salted Alaska fur-seal sold in London from 1S71 to ISDl. Tear. 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1870 1877 1878 Averasre Skins. Xiricepor sliiu . g. d. 9,965 21 8 100, 896 42 2 96, 283 44 10 101, 248 52 90, 150 52 6 99. 634 50 9 90, 267 34 4 75,410 :;9 11 99,911 09 2 Year. 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1 Averac^e Skins. lirice per skin. g. d. ion, 036 84 9 100,161 91 5 99,921 79 9 100,100 53 7 7.5, 914 82 9 99, 887 51 9 99. 719 57 2 99.910 69 3 99, 940 56 Tear. 1888 1889 1890 1890 1891 Total Skins. 100, 100, 20, 4, 13, 000 000 994 1.58 473 Average , price per slvin. 1,877,977 g. 78 67 146 98 125 d. 6 Exhibit B. Salted Copper Island fur-seal sold in London in the years 1S70 to 1SD2. Tear. Skina. Average price per skiu. Tear. Skins. Average price per skin. Tear. Skins. Avemtro price per skin. 1870 12, 030 9, 522 7, 182 21,614 30, 349 34, 479 33, 298 2.5, 380 19,000 «. d. 18 8 21 4 33 9 36 40 41 24 10 26 6 38 6 1879 28,211 38, 885 45, 209 39, 111 36, 500 26, 675 48, 929 41, 752 54, 584 s. d. 57 6 80 60 45 G 38 3 59 37 40 40 1888 46, 333 47, 416 95. 486 17, 025 30, 678 s. d. 38 3 1871 18.80 1889 50 6 1872 1881 1890 72 1 1873 18S2 1891 64 8 1874 1883 189'' 68 G 1875 .. .. 1884 Total . . 1876 1885 .... 789, 648 1877 1886 1878 1887 271C— TOL n 3G 562 TESTIMONY. EXIIIIUT C. Salted Xorthivest coast fur-seal skins sold in London in-ior lo })ela(jiG sealing in Berinj Sea. Year. Average Skins, price per 1 skin. Year. Skin.s. .Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. 1872 1,029 «. d. 9 9 1877 s. d. 1882 11,717 2,319 9, 242 s. d. 20 3 1873 1878 204 12,212 8,939 9,997 42 6 53 5 57 81 7 1883 25 JO 1874 4,949 1,646 2, 042 34 7 36 8 21 4 1879 1884 27 2 1875 1X80 Total . . 1876 1881 64, 366 Exhibit D. Salted Northwest coast fur-seal slcins sold in London after commencement of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. 1885 2,078 17, 909 36, 907 36,818 *. d. 26 1 28 8 30 11 30 10 ]88!> 39, 563 38,315 54, 180 s. d. 39 5 60 10 62 1892* Total . . 28, 298 .«. d. 41 7 1886 1S90 1801 1887 254, 068 1888 *To March 25. Exhibit E. Salted Lohos Island fur- seal skins sold in London. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. 1873 . .. 6, 956 8,509 8,179 11,353 13, 006 12, 301 12, 205 14, 805 s. d. {') n (*) (*) 14 5 , 35 6 42 41 1 1881 13, 569 13,200 12, 861 16, 258 10, 953 13. 667 11.008 20, 747 »•. d. 31 1 16 5 19 14 1 16 18 6 17 3 20 1889 1890 8,755 18,541 15, 834 4,800 «. d. 25 1,S74 1882 31 9 1875 1883 1891 33 11 1876 1884 1892f Total.. 25 4 1S77 1885 18S6 1878 247, 777 ]S79 1887 1880 1888 * Unknown. t To date. Exhibit F. Salted Alaska fur-seal skins sold in London in the gears 1S6S to 1S71 taken prior to the- leasing of the Frihilof Islands Year. Skin.s. Average price per skin. Year. Skins. Average price per skin. 1868 28, 220 121. 820 110,511 g. d. 24 8 25 20 8 1871 20.111 s. d. 20 7 1860 Total 1870 280, 662 SEALSKIN INDUSTEY IX GREAT BRITAIN. 563 Deposition of Arthur ffirschelj memher of the Jirm of liirschel & Meyer ^ furriers, London. general sealskin industry. State of jS^ew York, City and County of Xeiv Yoric, ss : Arthur Tlirscliel, being duly sworn, says: I am 39 years of age, a British subject, and a resident of London, England. ^^ erience I am and for the past twenty years have been a mem- ^penence. ber of the firm of Hirschel & Meyer, wliich transacts a general fur business at London, with branch establisliments at Paris, Leipzig, Moscow, Shanghai, and elsewhere. About one-tenth part of the firm's business consists in dealing in fur-seal skins, of which about 15,000 are annually bought by it. I am familiar with the character and extent of the fur-seal industry in London, and I believe that the following data relating to it are correct. A large capital, the amount of which, however, it would be- difficult to estimate, is invested in the busi- c^&l ''"'^ ^™' ness of selling raw fur-seal skins. Two firms own larg(^ warehouses, and one of them expensive cold-storage vaults, portions of which are used exclusively fi)r the purpose of storing fur-seal skins. About seven firms are engaged in the dressing and dyeing of seal skins, of which a very nnich larger amount is done in London than in any other city in the world. In this branch of the fur-seal industry there are invested about £80,000 in permanent plant, which would become entirely useless if the seal-skin industry were to come to an end. About 12,000 dressed and dyed Alaska fur-seal skins, which may be valued at £5 a skin, are annually manufactured into garments in London, and a very much larger propor- ga^euts l"f iondou." tion of Copper and iforthwest coast skins are so consumed. The seal-skin industry furnishes occupation to workingmen in Lon- don as follows: To about 000 dressers and dyers; to ^vorkmen employed, about 1,400 cutters, nailers, sewers, and other laborers engaged in manufacturing seal-skin articles. Many of those employed as above are skilled laborers, who, in any other employment, would be but ordinary laborers. Some of them have been engaged in this in- ,(>0() or 12,0(10 skins per year. In 1884 the skins of this catch began to increase largely in number, and the numbers .vesU'ateii iu^ssl!'"'^ which since that year have arrived in the London market are stated with substantial accuracy upon the lists annexed to the affidavits of my partners Messrs. Fraser & Teichmann. (4) Deponent says that what may be described as the fur-skin busi- ness has been built up, that is the product, the fur-seal skins, have been made an article of fashion and com-, ruiskin business; , , , T ,1 1 1 • T 1 • 1 T l>v whose ctlorta nierce, and the sales oi such skins largely increased, andbiiiit up. the methods of dressing and dyeing the same have been perfected almost entirely through the influence and joint endeavors of the Alaska Commercial Company, the North American Commercial Company, the Eussian Seal Skin Company, deponent's own firm, and the fii-m of C. W. Martin & Sons, and their predecessors in the city of London. That the business at the present time has attained the rank of an im- portant industry, in which there is embarked in the city of London a large amount of capital and u])on h.fl'uess! "^*'""* ° Avhicli there is dependent a large number of worlcmen and enii)loy(''s. The amount of capital from time to capital invested time invested in the business is correctly stated, de- m"' ^v:enheiui & Co. connected with the dressing- and dyeing of fur-seal skins as aforesaid and began a system of education of their own oper- atives, and that from that time until within a year ago the business of dressing and dyeing skins has been practically controlled by the firms of Martin & Teichmann & Co. and C. W. Martin & Sons, and has be- come an established and important industry, in which a large amount of capital is invested and a large number of persons em])loyed. The hrm of C. W. Martni & Sons has employed until the last two Persons employed Y^ars 500 persous, and employ at the present moment and wages paid bj' about 4G0 pcrsons, most of whoui are skilled laborcrs, ^'"*^""' receiving on an average at least 30 shillings a week, and most of whom have families dependent upon them for their sup- l)ort. Dei)onent estimates that the total number of in^^ondou. ®™^'^°^'®'^ pcrsoiis employed directly or indirectly in the business of dressing, dyeing, handling, and cutting fur-seal skins u]) to within the last tAvo years in the city of London was about 2,000. Third. That the business is carried on in the city of London, briefly, as follows: Messrs. C. M. Lampson & Co., and during the last two ^ , ^ , , vears one or two other firms, advertised the annual Ldudou trade sales. ", ,, „ ■, -, ■ i< -i • I i^ii sales or tur-seal skms, of which very much the largest number are advertised and sold by C. M. Lampson & Co. That at such sales merchants and furriers from all over the world are l)resent or represented, and make their purchases of fur-seal skins lor the ensuing season. After the sales the skins purchased are deliv- ered by the x>urchasers to my firm and others for dressing and dyeing. Most of the seal skins dressed bv my firm are likewise or^w"^""'^'^^'""^ intrusted to us to be dyed, but some of the merchants, notably Ivevillon Freres, of Paris, have the skins which have been dressed for them by us dyed in France, and this is true of one or two other tirnis, although Eevillon Freres are the principal firm Avho so do. This makes the number of furs dressed bj^ us larger than the number dyed. Fourth. Deponent knows of his own knowledge and from conversa- tions with the iiicrchants and dealers above mentioned stmiTsuppTy!'*^ ^ '''"'' tl^Jit it is a matter of vital importance to the continu- ance of the of fur-seal industry and the industries re- sulting therefrom and de]>endent thereon that the supply of fur-seal skins should be constant; that is, that the number of skins coming upon the market in each year sliould be known the year beforehand with apinoximate certainty, and that it should not vary greatly from year to year. That tliis is necessary in order that prices may be fixed and that those persons or firms who physically deal with the skins, such as deponent's firm, should know what i)r()vision they must make for the Supply reo-uiar to ^^"'^'n^'i^s of tlic eusuiug scasoii. That down to within Avitiiiu the past three a fcw ycai's last i)ast, thrcc or five years, the supjdy or Ave years. hasbceii regular, but that during the last three or five years, and notably during the last two years, the supply has fluctuated very largely and continually diminished and in consequence thereof business has greatly sulVcrcd. Fifth. That the skins which have come to the London market within Sources of supply, the last fcw ycais have been principally what are Alaska, Copper Is- kuowu as the Ahiska catch, the Copi)er Island catch cuiehJ^'."^ ^'"'"'''^"' and the Northwest catch. Small supplies are also SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 569 obtained from tlie Lobos Islands, Gape Horn, and Aus- ^ , -, , ^ ^ J -, ■ T , ,1 1- j_ ,' 1 I: Ml i-- 1 Lobos Island, Cape tralasia, but the skms .not lioni last three mentioned hoiu and Ausu-aiasia localities play an inconsiderable part in the business, ^•^i'^''- That the great majority of the skins coming- into the nuirket are known as the Alaska, the Copper Island, and the Northwest skins. The skins belonging to these sinerai catches are catalogued separately, sold sep- arately, and are of different values and necessarily, therefore, bring dif- ferent prices in the market. Sixth. That the difiterences between these several classes of skins are so marked as to enable any person skilled in the . ^ ^^^^^^ business to readily distingaiish one from the other. An tuo sevJi^rcatcher" essential point of difference between the skins of the Northwest catch and the skins of the Alaska and Copper Island catches consists in the fact that most of the Northwest skins xwH^^oot .v^t,. • rk * ■% "i I'lJi /~^ T 111 W tin U O D^ 1 II O are the skins of the temale seal, while the Copper and nx^stiv those of fe- Alaska skins are of the m ale seal. De];onent has made "^^ **">' ' ^ ^*^ ^'^ i"-'" no comjDutation or examination which would enable him to say specifically what proportion of the Northwest catch are the skins of the female seal, but it is the fact that the great majority, deponent would say 75 to 80 per cent, of the skins of this catch are the skins of the female animal. The skins of the male seal and of the female seal may be as readily distinguished as the skins of the difl'erent sexes of any other animal. The skins of the female seal, for ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ instance, show the marks of the breast and the lur are distinguished. upon the belly is thinner, and the whole of the fur is also finer, lower in pile; that is, the fibers composing the fur are shorter than in the case of the male seal. Another means of di.stinguishing the female skins from the skins ot the male lies in the fact that the skins of the female are narrower at the head and tail and are ijroportionately wider in the belly than the skins of the male seal. Another means of distinguishing the seals of the Northwest catch from the skinsof the Copper Island and Alaska cat(;hes consists in the fact that nearly all the skins of this ti,^"i"wnJ"''^c"fiJ^ catch have holes in them, which deponent nnderstands island aifd Aiasiia is caused by the fact that the seals from which they are NoitiJest™ *^°'^ °*" taken have been shot or speared in the open sea, and not, as is the case with the seals from which the skins of Co]>per Island and Alaska catches are taken and killed, with clubs upon land. The difference between the Copper Island catch and the Difference between Alaska catch are marked and enable any one experi- Copper i.sinnd and cnced in handling skins to distinguish the one from ^I'^^^a skms. the other. The Copx)er Island skins show that the animal is narrower in the neck and at the tail than the Alaska seal and the fur is shorter, l)articularly under tlie flippers, and the hair has a yellower tinge than have the hairs of the Alaska seals, so that before the skins are dressed the two may be readily distinguished from each other, and while depo- nent has made no such attempt he believes that it would be reasonable to say that if 1,000 Ci)pi)er Ishind skins were mingled among 1)0,000 Alaska skins itwould be possible for any one skilled in the business to extract 950 out of the J, 000 ('op])er Island skins and to separate them from the 99,050 of the Alaska catch, and viae versa. Both the Copper Island skins and the Alaska skins are the skins of male seals almost exclusively, althougii occasionally female skins are found among the Copper Island catch and less often among the Alaska catch. 570 TESTIMONY. Seventli. Deponont says that the presorvation of tlie seal herds i<)und ill tlie iiortlierii raciflc region is necessary to 8ar^"*^*^*'°" "*"^'^^ ^^^ continiiaiice of the fur-seiil business, as those herds are the principal sources of supply of seal skins left in the world; and from his general knowledge of the customs of that busi- ness deponent feels justilied in expressing the opinion that stringent regulations of some kind are necessary in order to prevent those herds from disappearing like the herds which formerly existed in large num- bers off the South Pacific seas. Sjieciftcally what regidations are neces- sary deponent does not feel himself in a position to state. Walter Martin. Sworn at No. 4 Lambeth TTill, in the city of London, England, this 23d day of Ajnil, 1892, before me. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul- General of the United States of America at London^ Engkmd. Deposition of Henry Poland^ head of the firm of P. R. Poland & Bon^ furriers, London . GENERAL SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. PELAGIC SEALING. Mr. Henry Poland, being duly sworn, doth depose and say: That he is 40 years of age and a subject of her Britannic majesty ; that he is thehead of the firm of P. E. Poland & Son doing buisness at 1 10 Queen Victoria street, in the city of London, and has been engaged in that business twenty-one years; that the said firm of P. E. Poland & Son are doing Inisiness as fur and skin merchants, and have been engaged in that business for over one hundred years, having been founded by depo- nent's great-grandfather in the year 1785, and having been continued Avithout interruption since that date from father to son ; that for many years last ]>ast de])onent's said firm have been in the habit of buying large numbers of fur-seal skins, in fact ever since skins of thatcharac ter have become an article of commerce, both on their own account and on commission for other i)ersons resident in the United Stiites and Canada and elsewhere; that by reason of having pnr- Expenence. , , i • i I -i i i i chased so many skins dei)onent lias a general and sub- stantial knowledge of the history of the fur-seal skin business, and ol the (iharacter and kinds of fur-seal skins coining ui>on the London market; tliat from about the year 1871) down to the Sources of supply. , ' , . , , • • i -• ' i i • • j. xi present time the principal fur-seal skins coming to the London market have lieen what are known as the Alaska catch, being the skins of fur-seals kilJetl upon the I'ribilof Islands, in the Bering Sea, the Copper Islands catch being the skins of fur seals killed upon the Kominandorski and Eoben islands of Eussia, and what are known as the iSorthwest catch. T'litil within two or three years ago a very con- siderable numl)er of skins also arrived on tlie London market, amount- ing perhaps to several thousand annually, which were known as Japanese skins. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 571 Tliat the three classes of skins above meutioned are easily clistingui st- able lioui each other by any person skilled in the busi- ness or accustomed to handling- skins in the raw state, ^i^^'"'-^ distmguisha. That deponent has personally handled the samples of the skins dealt in by this firm, and would himself have no difficulty in distinguishing the skins of the Copper Island ratch from the skins of the Alaska and ^STorthwest catch, by reason of tlie fact that in the raw state the Copper Island skins have a lighter color and the fur is rather shorter in pile and of an inferior (piality. The skins of each of the three classes have different values and command different prices in the mar- ket. Botli the Copper Ishmd skins and the Alaska skins are almost exclusively the skins of male seals, and the difference between the skin of a male seal and a female seal of adult age can be as readily seen as between the skins of different sexes of other animals. That the Northwest skins are, in turn, distinguishable nS'iSes.^'''" from the Copper Island and Alaska skins, first, l)y reason of the fact that a very large x)roportion of the adult skins are obviously the skins of female animals; second, because ■p^^j.^^,,^ ^^j^i^ ^i,^^ they are all pierced witii. the spear or harpoon or shot, in consequence of being killed in open sea, and not, as in the case of Copper Island and Alaska skins, being killed upon land by clubs; third, because the Korthwest skins are cured upon vesselsby the crews of wiiich they are killed, upon which there are not the same fiicilities for haying or salting the skins as tliere are upon land, where the Cop- per and Alaska skins are flayed and salted. The Japanese skins, which I think are now included ^^ aneseskm in the Northwest catch, are distinguishable from the • ^^^^^^^^ i°»- other skins of the Northwest catch by being yellower in color, having a much shorter pile, because they are salted Avith fine salt, and have plenty of blubber on the pelt. That the skins purchased by deponent's firm are handed over by it to what are called dressers and dyers, for the purpose of being dressed and dyed. ^Process of manufac- The principal dressers and dyers of the city of London at the present time are C. W. Martin & Co. and Ceurge Itice and skins are also dressed and dyed by other persons. The fnr-scal business has attained very considerable dimensions in the city of London, large amounts of capital being invested ^J>a'g<3 Lomion capi- therein, and probably in and about the city of Lon- don there are employed in the fur-seal skin business as many as 3,000 persons, most of whom are skilled hands, some of whom j .,i„„. L„ii)k)vt(i receiveashighas<£3or£Jaweek,andmany if not most of whom have families (lei)endent upon them for support. That the main- tenance of this business necessarily depends upon the preservation of the seal herds frequenting the northern sX'."^'^'^^"'" "*'*='"'■ Pacific regions from being overtaken by the destruc- tion which Avas the fate of the seals formerly found in large quantities in the South Atlantic and South Pacitic Oceans. That deponent is not in a position, by reason of ])oss('ssing expert knowledge or personal accpiaintance of killing seals, to i)ronounce a l)ositive oi)inion as to what steps are necessary, if any, to accomplish this result, but he would sn])pose it reasonable to say that a close time, which should be universal in its ap- plication, for a specified period in each year, during which the killing ot seals should be entirely ])vohibited, and the inqjosition of heavy peimlties, say a fine of £\,000, for any violation of the regulations pro- 572 TESTIMONY. vidiiig for such close time, would be effective to preserve the herds leferred to; aud dci^.juent would, under any circum- ^""'^' stances, increase the zone around the islands contain- ing the rookeries, within which scaling should be absoiutely prohibited, to a distance of 50 miles in every direction from the shore. Henry Poland. Sworn at 110 Queen Victoria street, in the city of London, England, this 23 day of April, 1892, before me. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deindii Consul- General of the United States of America at London, England. Deposition of George Rice, furrier, London, England. GENERAL SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. PELAGIC SEALING. George Eice, being duly sworn, doth depose and say: That he is 50 years of age, and a subject of Her Britannic Maiesty. Experience. ;,,, , , . "-^ ' i • j.i ^ • j- ^ ■ '^ -, Tliat he IS engaged in the business ol dressing and dyeing furs of various kinds in the city of London, at 32, 33, and 40 Great Prescott street, in the said city, and at Stratford, which is a suburb of London. That he has been engaged in the fur business, aud principally in the business of handling fur-seal skins, for twentv- seven years last past. That eleven years ago he established his present business of dressing and dyeing furs. That during the eleven years since the establishment of his present business he has handled and dyed large quantities of fur-seal skins, and has during those years and prior thereto personally handled hundreds of thousands of fur-seat skins, and that in the year 1891 he dyed upwards of 90,000 fur-seal skins. That by reason of his experi- ence in his business he has a general and detailed knowledge of the different kinds of fur-seal skins and of the differences which distinguish them, as well as the histoiy, character, and manner of conducting the fnr-seal skin bnsiness in the city of London, which is briefly as follows: The skins are consigned by the persons Avho take them in the tishing grounds to A^arious firms, the principal of which are C. liliion."""''"^""^ '" M. Lami)son & Co.,and Culverwell & Brooks, by whom the skins are catalogued and advertised for the sales, London sales. ^^,|^.^j^ ^^^^ j^^j^l .^^ Octobcr, January, or March in each year by (load. Bigg & Co., as brokers tor C. M. Lampson & Co., aud by Culvei'well & Brooks on their own account. These sales are attended by merchants and buyers from all over the world, who are present either personally or by proxy, and having made their ])nrcliases at such sales, the skins are transferred by them to the dressers and dyers. That for many years last ])ast the skins arriving fioooo. nc =1 i„. in the market have been in-incipally what are known Classes ol skina. r>. Skins distingiiisha- as readdy distinguished from each other as the skins of bio. the different sexes of any other animal. I should esti- mate the proportion of female skins included within Mostly females the Northwest catch at at least 75 per cent, and I should ^'^'"'"" not be surprised nor feel inclined to contradict an estimate of upwards of 90 per cent. My sorter, who actually handles the skins, estimates the number of female skins in the Northwest catch at 90 per cent. One means of distinguishing the skins of the Northwest catch from those of the other catches is the fact that they are , t , k • pierced with shot or spear holes, having been killed in pkrced wfthsUot.'"^ the open sea, and not as in the case of the Copi)er and and Alaska catches, killed upon land, with clubs. The differences between the Copper and Alaska skins are difficult to describe so that they can be understood by any person who has no practical knowledge of furs, but to anyone skilled in the business there are apparent differences in color between the Copper and Alaska skins, and a difference in the length and qualities of the hairs which compose the fur, and there are also apparent sliglit differences in the shape of the skins. The differences between the skins of the three catches are so marked that they have always been expressed in the different prices obtained for the skins. I have attended the skh!^*"'' °^ '^'""'^"'^ sales for many years, and am able to make this state- ment from my own knowledge. The average prices obtained at the sales of the last year's catch, for instance, were as follows: For the Alaska skins, 125 shillings per skin; for the Copi)er skins, OS shillings per skin; and for the Northwest skins, 53 shillings per skin. That the skins purchased by the deponent ar<' purchased on his own account and on account of others resident in Canada and the United States and the Continent, and he believes it is a fact that he is the largest commission merchant in the fur business. That the skins so purchased are consigned to various dressers and dyers, the principal of whom are the firm of C. W. ^ , „ M,.' p r-i 1/1 !>• 11 ,■,. ,„ London firms, artm & Sons and George liice, and deponent himselt is the landlord of a factoiy worked by Frederick Smith & Co., which is the oldest firm of dyers of fur-seal skins, and of late years they have also become dressers. 576 TESTIMONY. That the t'lir-soal skin biisiiios.s had bo(50ine an important industry in English capital. ^^^^ ^'i^Y ^^^ LoimIchi ill w liich a Inriic iiiiiount of capital was invested and a l;i!<^(' iiuiidjer of workmen employed, Labor employed. amountiiio:, including' the dressers, dyers, handlers, and [)ersons employed in the mannfaetories of tlie furriers, to about 3,000. it is difficult to make any coriect estimate of the number of peojile so employe- port. The wages paid in some cases are as high as £3 or £4 a week, and perhai)s tlie average wages of the whole number may be safely estimated at £1 per week. That many of these persons knoAV no other business than that in which they are at present engaged. That the continual existence of the fur-seal business is dependent, in deponent's judgment, upon the preservation of the seal eirabfe ^'^^ '^"^^'■^ '^'^ herds frequenting the N^orthern Pacific regions, and it is also a most important element in the industry that the supply of seal skins coming to the market each year should be regular and constant. That deponent further says that some regulations are necessary for the ])reservation of the seal herds frequenting the sary?*^'^*^"'^ ^'^'^^^ Northern Pacific region, because it is a well known fact that in the absence of any such regulations the seal herds which were formerly found in the South Atlantic and Pa- cific Seas have been practically exteriniuated. On the Lobos Islands and in New Zealand governmental regulations exist, and I am told, although I know nothing about whM?.'^''*'''^^ ^^^^' it' that regulations of some "kind have been made in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. W. C. E. Stamp. Sworn at the Skinners' Hall, Dowgate Hill, in the city of Loudon, England, this 14th day of June, 1892, before me. [seal.] Feancis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul- General of the United titates of America at London, Etujland. Deposition of E mil Teichmann, furrier, London. GENERAL, SEALSKIN INDUSTRY. Emil Teichmaun, being duly sworn, doth depose as follows: First. That he is 40 years of age, a native ot the Kingdom of Wurtera- berg, and is now a-naturali/ed .^^ubject of Her Britannic Majesty. That since the age of manlujod he has been engaged in the fur busi- ness; that from 1800 to 1808, inclusive, he resided in America in that business, and since 1808 lie has resided in England and done business in the city of London, and is now and has continually been during all these years engaged in one way or another in the fur business. That he is now a member of the firm of C. j\1. Lanii)son & Co., and has been a member of such firm for the period of twelve years last past. That prior to the time he became a member of such firm and fiom the years SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 577 1873 to 1880 he was a member of the firm of Martin & Teichmaiiii, who were then, and its successors C. W. Martin & Sons still are, the largest dressers and dyers of seal skins iu the world. That the firm of C M. Lampson & Co., of which deponent has been as aforesaid for the last twelve years a member, are what is known as commission merchants engaged in the business of selling furs of various kinds and also in buying furs upon commission. That the said firm of 0. M. Lampson & Co. has, during the time that deponent has been a member thereof, handled a larger number of skins of the fur seal than all the other firms in the world together, and depo- nent knows from inspection of the books of his said firm that for many years prior to the date when he became a member of the same they also handled during many years previously thereto a larger number of fur seal skins than all the other firms iu the world together. That during the time deponent has been a member of the said firm he has personally handled many hundreds of thousands of fur-seal skins, and he has a detailed and expert knowledge of the various kinds of seal skins, and the several differences between them which enable the several sorts of seal skins to be distinguished from each other. Second. Deponent says from his general knowledge of the business inspection of the catalogues of sales of C. M. Lampson & Co., and from the information derived from his predecessors in the firm, the chief of whom was the late Sir Curtis Lampson, who founded the house about sixty years ago, that fur-seal skins were formerly obtained ^, ^, ^. • -I 1 • j_i in ii T-» -ji 1 * ii a-- South Sea sealins. in large numbers m the South Pacific and Atlantic seas upon the San Juan Fernandez and Falkland Islands, upon Sandwich Island, South Shetland Island, Desolation Island, Coughs Island, and Kerguelan and Massafuero Islands, and at Cape Horn. There were also in former vears a considerable num- ^, . ber of skins obtained trom iiussian possessions m the North Pacific Ocean through the medium of a liussiau company, as hereinafter stated. The history of the Southern Atlantic and Pacific seal business shows that at the localities above enumeiated, and principally on South Shetland and the Kerguelan Islands, there must have been very large numbers of seals. The principal market for the skins of such South- ern Pacific and Atlantic seals was, as dej^ouent is informed, found in the Chinese i)orts, and deponent has been informed and understands that in couse(j[uence of the indiscriminate and universal killing of seals in the localities above mentioned, where no restrictions of any kind were then or are imposed upon the killing south*^sca seals" °^ of seals at any time without regard to age or sex, the seal rookeries in those localities were after a few years of such killing Ijractically exhausted. That about twenty years ago the South Shetland Islands were again visited, and for two or three years there were obtained from these islands a considerable number of skins, lau'risiauds"*^ ^'"'*' amounting iu the aggregate to perhaps 5i>,00U skins. At the end of a three years' catch of skins it was re- Kookeiics exhaust- ported that the rookeries were again exhausted, and the islands were not again visited for several years, not until five years ago, when deponent understands that a vessel was sent to those islands by the firm of C. A. Williams & Co., of New London, United States of America, and that that vessel was only able to obtain ut) skins. 2716— VOL n 37 578 TESTIMONY. The time durinii- wliicli rlepoiient lias been in the business the skins from all of tlic above iiicnlioiu'd localities have been practically intin- itcsiinal in nuinbor. Third. That for many years last past the skins of fur-seals actually coiniii"- into the markets of the world have been derived Sources or supply. ,. ,, ,. ,, liom the tollowing- sonnies: I. The Lohos l.slands sl-ins, which are the skins of seals caught upon ^ , T 1 :. , • the islands of that name, situated off the River Platte Lobos Islands SKins. t i i • ^ n i. -i ^^ j? xt mi and l)oloniiing to the Kepublic oi Uruguay. These skins are consigned by tlie persons having the contract to take them with the Republic of Uruguay to Boulcher, Mortimer & Co., of Loudon, by whom they are sold through Goad, Rigg & Co., and catalogues of the last-mentioned firm are published and have been inspected by deponent from time to time as published. The total number of skins derived from this source, as appears from an inspection of such cata- logues, are duriug the years 1873 and 1892 inclusive set forth accurately in the paper whicli is annexed hereto and marked Exhibit A. II. Ca^e Rom nkins. — Prior to the year 1876 a small number of skins ^ ^ , . ar(? suiiiiosed to have been obtained from this locality. Cape Horn skius. ,,,, ^^ ^.i-oi- ii j.i They are not classified in our books or catalogues, nor in the books of any other persons or firms, so tliat they can not now, from examining the books and catalogues, be i-eadily identified or separated from skins coming from other southern localities, but from the year 1870 down to the present time they have been so classified, and a large number have been sold by deponent's firm. A statement of the skins obtained from Cape Horn is hereto apjieiided and marked Exhibit B. The number of skins derived from this locality, as appears by that statement, fluctuated very largely in number, and I am informed that the reason for such fluctuation is that the seals from which the skins are obtained are killed mostly uixui laud, and that the weather in that part of the world is so severe that it is at times impossible to effect a landing upon or near the rookeries. So far as deponent knows, there is no protection of any kind for seals at Cape Horn other than that which is afforded by the dilliculty of landing in order to kill the seals, in consequence of the heavy weather. III. Cape of Good Hope. — From this locality a small but steady num- ber of skins have been obtained during many years si^s"^ "^ ^°°^ ^^^'^ ^'^^^ past. These skins are not consigned to deponent's firm, but to other persons in London whose catalogues are published, and have been examined from time to time by deponent; and dejionent is informed and believes from such examination of cata- logues that the number of skins obtained from this source have been for the last few years about o.OOO per annum. Deponent understands that the seals from which these skins are ob- tained are likewise killed mostly upon land, and he is also informed that some regulations for the i)rotectioii of seal life at the Cape of Good Hope by regulating the killing of seals in that colony of the Cape of Good Hope have been established by the Government of the said colony, but what those regulations are, if any such exist, deponent is not in a position to state. In ad(lition to the supidies from the above-mentioned sources, from 1,000 to 2,000 skins are obtained annually in Australasia, which includes ^ew Zealand, IV. The principal sources of 8iii)ply for the market at the present time, and for many years last x)ast, are the following : SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 579 (a) Wliat are known as the Alaska cateli, which are the skins of male seals, killed upon St. Pauls and St. Georges Is- ^jagj^a catch lands in the Bering Sea. {b) The Copper catch which come from the seals killed upon the Eussian islands of Copper and Bering, called the Com- ^^ er catch mander Islands, which are located in the Russian part ''^^''' of Bering Sea, and also the Robben Island, in the Okhotsk Sea, all which are also the skins of male seals. (c) The Northwest catch. These are the skins of seals caught in the open North Pacific and Bering Sea. Fourth. The history of the sealskin fishery coming from the North- ern Pacific regions is briefly as follows: In the early part of the century a Russian company ^i,^"'"*'"'''" ^^^i^ic was formed which obtained from the Russian Govern- ment a right to kill seals, both upon tlie Commauder and Pribilof Islands, and in and around the Bering Sea. Up to the year ISo.'^ about 20,000 skins were annually received in London from the com- pany in the parchment state. By the parchment state, I mean skins which were dried with the top or water hair left on. They were not, in consequence of this method of preservation by drying, in a con- dition to be unhaired, and they were after having been dressed in London largely returned to the Russian markets. In the year 1S53 a trial shipment of salted skins was made to J. M. Oppenheim & Co., in London, in pursuance, as deponent is informed, of suggestions theretofore sent out by Messrs. Oppenheim that an at- tempt should be made to salt the skins, but owing to the defective curing this shipment was a failure. By degrees, however, the curing by means of salting was improved, and in 185S a contract was made by tlie Rus- sian American Company to shij) to Messrs. J. M. Oppenheim «& Co. an annual su]>i)ly of from 10,000 to 12,000 skins delivered in London at 10s. 10(7. a skin. The quantity was increased in bSOI to 20,000 skins. This contract remained in force until the Alaska Territory became the property of the United States. In addition to the salted skins covered by the contract last referred to, Messrs. Oppenheim & Co. also received during these years about 10,000 vskins from the Russian American Com- pany per annum, which were dried in the old-fashioned way and not salted. Deponent was connected with the firm of Messrs. J. ]\r. 0])penheini & Co., at New York and London, from the years 18G0 to 1872 inclusive, and his late partner, Mr. Martin, and himself ultimately succeeded to the business of Messrs. J. M. Oppenheim, so far as it related to the dressing and dyeing of seal skins. Upon the cession of Alaska to the United States there was indiscrim- inate seal-killing u])on the Pribilof Islands for the season of 18()0-'7O. About the end of that season the Alaska Commercial Company was formed at San Francisco, as deponent is cwimany ^'^°"'°^'^'^*'''^^ informed, by citizens of the United States ftn- the pur- l)Ose of obtaining a lease from the United States of the right to kill seals on the Pribilof Islands, This company did obtain from the United States an exclusive license to kill seals on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea ibr a period of twenty years, under certain restrictions and regulations, whicli were, as deponent is informed, set forth in the contract between that com])any and the United States and in extracts of Congress in relation thereto, and in regulations of the Treasury ])ei)artiiient of the L'nited States made in pui'suance of such extracts of Congress. 580 TESTIMONY. A year or two thereafter Messrs. Hutchinson, Kohl, Philii)pens & Co., of Sau Francisco, which, as deponent is informed, was a firm formed by persons controlling the Alaska Commercial Company, obtained a lease from the Eussian Government giving them the exclusive right to kill seals upon Komandorski and Kobben lislands. That in 18!)() the Alaska Commercial Company, as deponent was in- formed, did not secure a renewal of the lease which they had thereto- fore enjoyed from the United States, but a similar lease was granted by the United States to the North American Commercial Company, which is a separate corporation and is controlled by different people from the Alaska Commercial Company. Fifth. From the year 1870 down to the present time deponent's firm have received and handled from the Alaska Comiuercial Company and from Messrs. Hutchinson, Kohl, Philippeus & Co., from Skins from islands the Nortli American Commercial Company, and the Ru.-,sra!'' ^^^^ ^^ Eussian Seal Skin Company, of St. Petersburg, which company have now succeeded to the lease of the Ko- mandorski and Eobben Islands formerly enjoyed by Hutchinson, Kohl, Philippeus & Co., all the skins of seals which have been killed u])on the Pribilof Islands and upon the Coj^per Islands. They have also re- ceived at least three-fourths of the skins included in what is (-ailed the Northwest catch until the year 1891, when the major part of tlie skins of the catch were consigned to Messrs. Culverwell, Brooks & Co., of London. A large number of the skins of this catch, amounting in one year to 40,000 a year, have been consigned to deponent's firm by the firm- Hermann Liebes & Co., of San Francisco. The total number of skins of the Northwest catch received by depo- nent's firm during the years 1872 and 1892, inclusive, are set forth with accuracy in an affidavit made by my partner, Alfred Fraser, in New York, a copy of which, dated April 1, and acknowledged E. T. Eice, notary public, has been received by me fiom him and I annex hereto a copy of the lists of Northwest skins attached to Mr. Fraser's affidavit, making the same a part of this deposition, and mark the same Exhibit C. I also append hereto as a part of this deposition copies of the lists attached to the affidavits of Mr, Fraser of Alaska skins sold in London by my firm during the years 1870 to 1892, inclusive, and to the Copper Island skins sold by my firm in London during the years 1872 to 1892, inclusive, and mark the same resijectively Exhibits D and E, and I re- fer to the affidavit of Mr. Fraser above mentioned for an explanation of all said lists and adopt the same explanation given by him as my own. I have carefully verified the ligiires contained in these latter and find them to be as accurate as any such statement cau be made. Sixth. The skins of the Alaska and Copper catches are readily dis- tinguished fi'om each other and command different ^^skins distinguish- pj-iees in tlie market, and I should have no difficulty and would undertake fr-om my knowledge of the various skins to se])arate Copper skins from Alaska skins should they ever be found mingled together, as, however, they are not. The Alaska antl Copi)er skins are distinguishable from each other partly by means of the different color. The (.'()[)[)er Island skins generally have a darker top hair and are more yellow on the cheeks tlian the Alaska skins. Perhaps a surer means of distinguishing the two is the difference in shape. The Copper Island skins are much narrower at the head than the Alaska skins, and this diffcience is very marked. In our ware- houses we have a different set of fi ames for the sizing out of the Copper skius fi'om those we use for the Alaska skins. Another differeuce SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 581 quite as important a.s tlie sliape is tliat the fur upon Copper Island skins is considerably shorter on the flanks and towards the tail than is the fur of tlie Alaska skins. All of these difterences are so marked, as I have before stated, as to enable any expert, or one familiar with the handling of skins, to readily distinguish Copper from Alaska skins, or vice versa, but it is true in the case of very young animals the differ- ences are much less marked than in the case of the adult animal. We receive practically no skins of very young animals from Alaska, but we do receive at times a certain number of the skins of the young animals from Copper. All the skins of both the Copper and Alaska catches are the skins of the male animals. Seventh, The skins of the Northwest catch are in turn readily dis- tinguishable from the skins of the Alaska as well as the Copper catch. The differences whicli I have enu- Northwest skms. merated between the Copper and Alaska skins are accentuated in dis- tinguishing the skins of the Northwest catch from the skins of the (Jopi)er catches, and we use a separate set of frames or patterns in our ))usiness for the Northwest skins fi'om what we use for the Copper or Alaska skins. Among what are classed by us as Northwest skins are included what are sometimes called Japanese skins, which are the skins of seals killed on the northern Asiatic coasts. These skins come uy)on the market generally by way of Japan, but sometimes by way of San Francisco or Victoria. The number of Japanese skins averages, deponent should say, about n.OOO a year, altliough there is a good deal of fluctua- ,/."li' i-j_ o , TT , Japanese SKins. tion m the quantity irom year to year, and deponent says that, like the other skins included in the Northwest catch, they are princi])ally the skins of female seals, not easily distinguishable from the skins taken from the herds frequenting the eastern i)art of the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, except by reason of their being prin- cii»ally speared instead of shot. The most essential difference between the Northwest skins, and the Alaska and Copper catches is that the Northwest x rthw st si^ins skins, so far as they are skins of adult seals, are almost fcuiaies, and riddled exclusively the skins of female seals, and are nearly "^'""'^ ^^•'*- always pierced with shot, T)ullet, or spear holes. The skins of the adult female seal may be as readily distinguish- able from the skins of the adult male as the skins of the (lifferent sexes of other animals, that practically the whole of the adult Northwest catch seals were the skins of female seals, but the skins of the younger aninials included Avithin this Northwest catch, of which we have at times a considerable number, are much more difficult to separate into male and female skins, and I am not prepared to say that I could dis- tinguish the male from the female skins of young animals. A certain percentage of young animals is found among the consign- ments received by us at the beginning of each season, which we under- stand and are informed are the skins of seals cauglit in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of America, but a much smaller percentage of such small skins is found among the consignments later in the sea- son, which we are inlbrmed are of seals caught in tlie ]'>('riiig Sea. I have been told that it is easier to catch the female seal at sea than it is to catch the male seal, but I have no personal knowledge of that point. I suppose, however, that there must be some foundation for the statement by reason of the fact tliatso small aprop(ntion of male adult seals are included in what is called the Northwest catch. 582 TESTIMONY. j,^^ 1 b in, Eiglith. Deponent says that what maybe termed the fur-seal business has largely been built up by the efforts of the Alaska Commercial Comi^any, the North American Com- mercial Company, and the Jirm of C. M. Lampson «& Co. Lar e amount of That it dcpeuds to a Considerable extent upon making EngHsh capital in fur- scal skius an article of fashion and of trade and that a seal business. Very large amount of capital is invested in the King- dom of Great Britain in the business. It is, in de]^onent's judgment, fair to estimate the amount of capital invested in the business in one \^ ay or another to have been at times as much as £1,000,000 and that there have been until lately dependent npon this industry, in the city of London, about 2,000 w^rkmeu!^ "^ ^^^^""^ Skilled workmcu, most of whom have families depend- ent upon them for support, and the amount of wages paid to those people deponent estimates on the average at about 30 shillings per week, making an aggregate of £150,000 per annum. iJeponeut further says that the continuance of this business depends very largely upon the maintenance of a steady and reg- sidns'desiiuibie.^^ ^^ ^^^'^1' supply of lur-scal skins in order that the trade may be able to calculate with approximate certainty the number of skins Avhich are to be received in each year. Deponent further says that the maintenance of this business, to his mind, obviously depends upon the i)reservation of the Protection neces- ^^,.^l herds resortiug to Bering Sea from the destruc- tion which has overtaken the seal herds which were formerly found in the southern regions, and that whatever is necessary to be done to preserving the seal herds in Bering Sea ought to be done; but deponent having no knowledge of the business of killing seals, and having no scientiiic knowledge on the subject as a naturalist, is not in a position to relate what laws or regulations, in addition to those already existing, are necessary, if any such are necessary, in order to accomplish this desirable result. Emil Teichmann. Sworn at 64 Queen street, in the city of London, England, this 25th day of Ai)ril, 1892, l)('lV>re me. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul General of the United States of America at London, England. ExniBiT A. Salted LoboH Island far-seals sold in London. Year. 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1S78 1879 1880 Skins. 6,950 8, 509 8,179 11,353 13,066 12, 301 12, 295 14, 836 Year. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 Skins. 13, 569 13, 200 12, 861 16, 258 10, 953 13, 667 11,068 20, 747 Year. 1889 1890 1891 1892 (to date) Total . . Skins. 8,755 18,541 15, 834 4,800 247, 777 New York, March 23, 1892. Tliis is the paper writinj;, iiiarTvcd A, referred to in the afiSdavit of Emil Teichmaiin, Bwoni before me this 2.")th day of April, 1S!)2. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul General, U. S. A., London, England. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Exhibit B. Sales of Cape Horn salted fur-seal sJcins. 583 Year. Skins. Year. Skins. Year. Skins. 1876 . .. 6,306 7,631 8,227 12, 180 17, 562 13, 164 11,711 1883 4,655 6,743 3,404 ; 909 2,762 4,403 3,021 1890 2,450 1877 1884 1891 3,114 1878.. .. 1885 1892 (to (late) 3,966 1879 1886 Total 1880 1887 113, 203 1881 1888 1882 1889 This is the paper writing marked B referred to in the affidavit of Eiuil Teichmauu, sworn before me this 25th day of April, 1892. Francis W. FKicioux, Vice and Deputy Consul- General, U. S. A,, London, England. Exhibit C. Salted Northwest Coast fur-seal skins sold in London prior to pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Skins. Year. Skins. Year. Skins 1872 1,020 1877 ." 1882 1883 11,727 1873 1878 261 12, 212 8, 939 9,997 2,319 9, 242 1S74 4, 949 1,646 2, 042 1879 1884 1875 1880 Total 1876 1881 64, 366 Salted Nortliivest Coast fur-seal skins, dressed and dyed in London {but not sold there) laJctn prior to pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. Skins. 699 40 122 578 1,062 Year. 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 Skins. 772 2,434 2,397 4,562 5,890 Year. 1882. 1883. 1884. Skins. 11,159 6,385 10, 115 Total 46,215 Dry Northwest Coast fur-seal shins sold in London prior to pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 Skins. 2,141 1,071 684 12, 495 14, 584 891 2,772 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. Year. Skins. 1,351 993 1.173 912 918 686 Year. 1882 1883 1884 Total Skins. 321 390 785 42, 767 Of the skins snhl in 1871 and 1872 a vci'y laruc ])roporHon were the ncciiimilation of the Rnssian Aniciican Company and sold by them after the pnrcliase of Alaslva by the United States, 584 TESTIMONY. EECAPITULATIOX. Salter! sldiis .sold in London, 1872-1884 64,366 Salted skins dressed and dyeil in London, 1872-1884 46,215 Dry skins sold in Loudon, 1868-1884 42,767 Grand total 153,348 E. T. R. J., Notary Puhlic. Nkw Yokk, March 30, 1S92. ExniBiT C. /)/•)/ Nortliwcsl Coast fur-scaJ nkins sold hi London after the commencement of pclaiilcscal- inf) in Ilcring Sea. Year. Skius. Year. Skiii3. 1885 1,520 979 2. 813 1 , 2.52 228 1890 .. 099 18,SG 1891 1,083 1887 Total 1888 8,094 1889 Salted Norllncent Coast fiir-scal slins dressed anddi/edhi London (hnt not sold there) talen after commencement of j^dagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Sldns. Year. Skins. 1S8j 10,007 15, (187 3, 589 1,930 1889 2,017 1 KSfi Total 1887 39, 2U0 1888 In addition to tlie above it is estimated that from 25,000 to 30,000 skius liave been dressed and dyed in tLe United States. E. T. R. J.,' Notary Puhlic. Salted Northwest Coast far-seal sVnis sold in London after commencement of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Year. Skins. 2,078 17, 1)09 30, 907 30, 818 Year. Skins. Year. Skins. 1.S85 18S9.. 1890.. 39, 563 38, 315 54, 180 1892 (to (late) *28, 298 JH80 J ,987 1891 254, 068 i.sgs * Of catch of 1891. UFXAPITULATION. Dry skins sold in London, 188.V18!)1 8,004 Sait(!d skins dressed and dyed in London, but not sold tluTe, 1885-18fe 39, 2!t0 SaltiHl skins dressed and dyed in the United States, estimated, 1885- 1880, say - 30, 000 Salted skins sold in Loudon, 1885-181)2 254, 068 Grand total 331,962 Ihiw York, March SO, 1S92. E.T.R.J., Notary Puhlic. This is the paper writinij marked C referred to in the afiddavit of Emil Teiclnnanti, Bworn before me this 25th dav of April, 1892. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul-General, U. S. A., L.otidon, England. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Exhibit D. Salted Alaska fur-seal sold in Loinlort. 585 Catch . 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 Skins. 9, 905 ino, 890 90, 2K3 101, 248 90, 150 99, 6:^4 90, 267 75,410 99,911 Catch. 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 188 1 1885 18SI> 1887 Skins. 100, one 100, 161 99, 921 100, 100 75, 914 99, 887 99, 719 99,910 99, 940 Catch. 18.88 1889 1890 1S90 1891 Total Skins. 100, 000 100, 000 20, 994 4, 158 l.'i, 473 1, 877, 977 Nkw Y()i:k, Marcli 33, 1892. This is tlio pri]icr iimrlccMl D. rofrrred to in the affiflavit of Emil IVicliinaii. sworu before me this 25tli day of April, 1892. Francis W. Frigout, Vice and Deputy Consul General, U. S. A., London, England. Exhibit E. Salted Copper Island fur-seal sold in London. Year. 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 Skins. 7.182 21, 014 30, 349 .•!4. 479 33, 298 25, 380 19,000 28, 211 Year. 188*) 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1880 1887 Skins. 38. 885 45, 209 39,111 36, 500 20, 675 48, 929 41,752 54, 584 Year. 1888 1SS9 1890 1891 1892 Total Skins. 46. 333 47.416 9,"). 480 17, 025 30, 678 768, 090 New York, 3farch 23, IS 02. Tbis is the paper writine, and the natural consequence Less ompioyinent ^f tliein'odnction havingdiminlshed by about one-half is lor labor. ' , i ,. , t t '' i> that only about one-halt the number ot persons are re- quired in the industry. That the increased price of sealskins two years ago, caused by the falhngoflin quantity, lias not been maintained although isiTin'^r^^u-umV^'""" t^''^ y^''^' t'here is perhaps even a fewer number of seal shins, which indicates, in the opinion of deponent, that the article when ottered at a liigli price is Avithin tlie means of only a very few persons and the demand for it will continue to decrease. That the trade has every interest to bring about a regular produc- tion, that is to say, the production to be approximately steady production alwavs the samc, as this w(mld obviate the frequent change in jnice and render business less speculative. Sealskins bnnjriit ill That thc Said fii'in generallv buys its sealskins at ^n^Pari": ^'^'■"^'^■>''' tlie London auctions in' their uiidressed state, and has them dressed in London and dyed partly in London and ]>artly in Paris. That the said firm can distinguish very readily the source of produc- tion of tlie skins when the latter are in their undressed diffinouishabief'^^'^'^ state; that for several years besides the skins of the regular com])anies, such as the Alaska Ooinpany (Amer- ican f'oncessionaire) and the Copper Company (Eussian concessi(niaire) the said lirm has Ixmght quantities of skins called Northwest coast, Victoria, etc. That these skins are those of animals pcSgircatdM-emaies cauglit ill thc opcu sca by persons who apparently de- ami pups'. ' rive therefrom large protits, and nearly three-quarters of them are those of females and pups, these probably being less difiicult to take than the males; that these animals are taken by being shot. That the .seals taken by the Alaska and Copper companies are males, T, , ,. . , the destruction of which is much less prejudicial to the Destruction of males ,. ,. , , -i , • i V • t ji t j. less prejudicial. j$et- prescrvatioii ot the race, and which inrnisli the best ter skins. skiiis, thcsc bciug finer and more furnished with down ; that they are killed on the islands with clubs. That every animal killed by ball or .shot bears the traces of such slaugh- piCTcii wiHiliiiot^ ^^ ter, which marks greatly depreciate the value of the skin. That the said firm has often been infu-med that in order to capture one animal the ])ersons engaged in the chase are frequently obliged to kill or wound three or four. That under these circum- wa.=teofiife. stauccs and in consequence of the destruction of the females, there is no doubt in the mind of deptment that the race is in great danger of being exterminated, to the i^rofit of a nauou^'^'^ "'^ exteimi- f-^^y individuals and to the detriment of an important industry which up to the present has supplied the means of livelihood to thousands of persons in Europe and America. That the said firm believes it to be everyone's inter- nMC'sllry^^™*'''''"™^ ^^* ^^''^^ *^'^ countrics interested in the question (Amer- ica and Eussia) should take measures to safeguard their rights from the point of view ot the capture of the seals, and that if not, if this pursuit in the open sea continues afi in the past two years, the said firm firmly believes that in a short time the seal will exist only as a souvenir and will be comx)letely exterminated. SEALSKIN INDUSTRY IN FRANCE. 589 That this industry, which has produced duriug t\Yeiit.y years nearly 25,00b,0()(> of francs annually, will have dasfrfio'iYatK^^ '"' disappeared, owing to this cause, to the detriment of a very great number of persons. Emin Hektz. Sworn before me this 23d day of June, 1892. [SEAL.] Augustus Jay, Second Secretary of the Lcf/ation of the United Slates at Faris, France. Depositon of Leon EeviUon, mcmher of the firm of Bevillon Frcres, fur- Tiers J Faris. general sealskin industry. paris market. pelagic sealing City of Paris, Republic of France, ss : L6ou Eevillon, being duly sworn, doth depose and say asfoHows: That he is 49 years of age and a citizen of the French Kepublic, and lives in the city of Paris, and carries on business at No. 79 Rue de Eivoli, in the said city, and is a member of the lirm of Kevillon Freres, which lirm is composed of Theodore Eevillon, Leon Eevillon, and Auatolo Eevillon. That the said firm of Eevillon Freres is engaged in the business of buying, dyeing, and selling sealskins; that they have Experience been engaged in the said business for upward of twenty years, and the said de])onent has been in the habit of purchasing fur- seal skins during the whole of that time; that he has personally handled many thousands of said fur seal skins and that he has a general and detailed knowledge of the history of the business of dealing in fur-seal skins in the city of Paris, and the character and diilerence which dis- tinguish the several kinds of skins which come on the market. That the said firm of Eevillon Freres have bought during the last twenty years upwards of 400,000 sealskins ; that nearly all of these skins have been dressed in London, where Lo^iuion. '"'^^''''^ there are special facilities therefor; that the firm of Ee- villon Freres have tried several times to dress the skins themselves, but in very small quantities. That all the skins bonght,by the said firm of Eevillon Freres are dyed in France, and therefore the skins pass under our eyes in the fol- lowing conditions: (1) in salt when we buy them in London; (2) dressed; (3) dyed. That deponent believes that the fnin of Eevillon Freres is by far the largest firm of furriers and fur- dealers in France; that the greater part of the skins p^^S"* '^'''^'''^ "* bought by Eevillon Fieres are made up into garments, cloaks and mantles, but that some of the skins alter having been dyed are sold to other manufacturers. That the sales of sealskins by the said firm of Eevillon Freres have amounted for the last twenty years to about 4,000,000 frances per year. That the number of persons employed by the said firm for the dyeing, scraping, manufacturing, lining, and for the sale of the sealskins, is 590 TESTIMONY. about 300, of which the g^rontcr i);ut are well paid, on account of their work being uik)m a very valuable sjx'cies of merchandise, and that there are about 500 or 600 persons employed in the industry in France, exclusive of salesmen, porters, etc. Fornir-i- 1 .'ht I'l''^* ^^^ tiic years from 1872 to 1877 we bought only oniy'ian.i catch'.*"^^ ' Alaslca sealskius (that is to say, those from the islands of rril)ilof) and tlie ('opper catch, coming from Russia, and a few shins coming from the islands of Lobos and from the South Seas. That later on, from the year 1878, we have noticed in North wesV"'c"oas°t the Loudou market sealskins called Victoria or North- ^^'"«- west coast skins, tlu^ quantity of which is variable, but which has continually increased until last year, when the total quantity was held at 80,000 skins. That we have often heard, and fromdift'erent sources, that these last- named skins are in the majority the skins of the female Mostly females. ^^^^ ^j^^ tliiniiess of the hair upon the flanks seems to confirm this assertion, although it is impossible for us to test the absolute truth of this statement for ourselves, for when the seals have been dressed the signs of the mammals disappear. At any rate the employment of these skins is much less advantageous Female skins less , i • i -i • j. i • „ advantageous to busi- to our busiiH^ss bccausc tlicre IS a gTcat predominance '"•■■'■'»■ of small skins, which are evidently tliose of young seals Predominance of whicli are 11 ot killed by the companies which have the small skins. coiicessious for the Alaska and Copper sealskins. Skins less vaiuahie, Morcovcr, thcsc Victoria or Northwest coast sealskins because riddled Viti'i are riddled with shot, which very materially depreci- ■■'''"*■ ates their value, while the seals of both the Alaska and Copper companies are killed by a bh)W of a club upon the head, which does not at all impair the quality of the skin as regards its ultimate uses. That the fact that the annual production of Victoria or Northwest , coast skins has increased in proportion as the Alaska Diminution ot prood , . , ,...,, j_ • t- j. j.t j. -x? ^^ skins due to peiagi.' skius has diminished seems to indicate that it tewer se'iiing. Northwest coast animals had been killed the quantity of Alaska skins would not have diminished. That we firmly believe that if the slaughter of the Northwest coast fur-seals is not stopped or regulated, the Alaska fur- if pelagic «';ii>''Ji gcals wiU disappear entirelv, as is the case with the not stopped, Alaska ^ en ^.i i t i " i x- i i n fur-seals will disap- scals 01 tlic Shetland Islands, from where hardly a ^'^'^^- single seal has been received during the last ten years. That the annihilation of the seals would be a very great loss for our country, for the fur of the seal can not be replaced by ^^Great loss to Indus- ^^y „tiier. It woiild also bc a great loss for the work- men who are specially trained for the work upon these skins. Leon Revillon. Sworn before me this 20 day of June, 1802. [seal.] Henry Vignaud, Secrefarii of the Lef/ation of the United States, at Fans, France. TESTIMONY RELATING TO HAIRSEALING IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC Deposition of James G. Joy, sealer {master). hairsealing in north atlantic. United States Consulate, St. Johns, NewfoandlaHd, June 20, 1892. Personally appeared before me, Thomas jST. Molloy, consul of the United. States of America for IS'ewfoundland, James Glavine Joy, mas- ter mariner of St. Johns aforesaid, who being duly sworn before me upon his oath says : I have been twenty-four years prosecuting the seal fishery on the coast of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Gulf of St. Experience Lawrence, nine years of which I have commanded a steamer. .,e i' • I am opposed to second trips to the seal fishery, as I HUeiv'tortestroy the consider they are calculated to destroy the species, as species. all the seals killed on such trips are old and mature seventv-flve per , , , _ _ ; ,. , , ,> 1 1 ceiit kilUHl on such seals and at least 7o per cent oi them are female .seals, trips females. 1 am now speaking of harp-seals, they are principally j^^,^^.^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ shot on the ice, but Avlien the ice packs they are killed' with bats. When shot on open or floating ice a large number of them escape into the water and die from bleeding. I should say that for every seal shot and captured three escape wounded, to die in the water. I have seen ten seals on -^.j^tg^f life one pan shot and wounded and all escaped. To kill and capture the seal, the bullet must lodge in the head; if it strikes any part of the body the seal will manage to get to the eilgo of the pan and escape into the water. I know from my own knowledge that the number of seals brought in on second trips is yearly decreas- ing, and that the fishery is being depleted by the pros- D^crea-se ecution of this trip. Apart from the number of old, mature, and female seals destroyed, the hunting necessary for their cax>ture prevents the male and female coming together as soon as they otherwise would, and makes the whole species more wary and more ditiicult to capture each year, so much so that even at a distance of from 4 to 5 miles, the smoke of a steamer blowing over s^^^^^^f.^^^ of seals. the ice in the direction of the seals will cause them imme- diately to leave the ice and take to the water. On the first trip a good many seals are shot in the water as at that season of the year, the month of March, they are fat Difference between and will float, but on the second trip in Ai)ril tlicy are hmitinfi on first and seldom fired at in the water, for if shot they immcdi- «'^<""d trips. diately sink; except you are very close to them and very quick you can not secure one of them. 591 592 TESTIMONY RELATING TO HAIRSEALING. „ , , The liood-seals are eeuerall y in families, male, female, Hood-seals. ^ o ^ .77 and .yoiui,u". Seals have been taken the past seasons on the east coast of Green- land with S. S. G. sliot in tliem; this kind of shot is only used by seal- eis on the Newfoundland coast. James G. Joy, Master Mariner, Attested. [seal.] THOS. IS". MOLLOY, Viiited States Consul. Affidavit of Richard Filce, sealer {master). hairsealing in north atlantic. United States Consulate, St. Johns, Neicfoundland, June 21, 1892. Personally appeared before me, Thos. N. Molloy, consul of the United States of America for Newfoundland, Richard Pike, master mariner of St. Johns aforesaid, who being duly sworn before me, upon Experience. ^-^ oath s;iys : 1 aui a master mariner. I have been en- gaged in the prosecution of the seal fishery on the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland for forty-four years, twenty years of which I have been master of a steamer. I can not speak of the percentage taken'^^on^^^8°eco^nd of scals taken ou a " sccoud trip," nor of the sex. Nearly ^'^'^ijediamers" and aH the scals taken are bcdlamers and old harps. The old "harp 8" taken. "sccoud trip" generally covers the month of April. Nearly all seals taken on the ''second trip" are shot on open and floating ice. Very few are shot in the water, How sealing is car- for if hit there is very little chance of their capture, riftu. oil • as they sink immediately. They are seldom or never fired at in the water, for unless they are very close there is very little chance of their being recovered. Fully one-third of the TIT" 4 f t * -f ^^ *' ^"^^^ '^' seals shot on the ice are lost, for when wounded they manage to crawl to the edge of the pan and into the water, and when once in the water they sink or die from their wounds. Seals shot in the water in the month of March can be recovered, as Difference between tlicy are. fat aiul in good coiidition, and float, but in .sealing in March and the hitter pait of Aiiril, wlicn sliot, tlicy slulv iuimedi- ^'^ ^^" ■ ately. I am strongly against " second trips," as in my trP)s''°^"^ ^^ '**^'^""'^ opii'ioii tliey are causing a rapid decline in the indus- R.ay)id decrease of ^^T? Hkcly to lead to the extermination of the species seals caused by "sec by thc killing of old aiid nuiture seals, and thedestruc- ond trips." \j^jy^^ caused by the use of firearms. Some of the men re.sid +• 11 J w J there, but not more, and that would clear them up, Practically depleted. '. „ ' . -it •, -,,-,■ except what lew young seals might live through this Lobes Islands; seals scasou. I havc ucvcr becu ou the Lobos Islands, but "*'*''• in passing the mouth of the Platte in September I have seen seals in the water a hundred miles from the islands. Extermination. — All these regions are particularly favorable for seal life: the raw, dami) atmosphere, absence of sunshine Climatic conditions v -ii-i.! tj.- n- j.j j. simiiarto those of the and Uninhabited conditions being most advantageous Pribiiof Islands. ^q ^bc cxistencc of the species. All these regions de- scribed are uninhabited excepting the Falkland Islands and Terra del Fuego, the latter being inhabited by the Indians, who only visit a few of the inshore rookeries. RELATING TO ANTARCTIC SEALING. 595 From liiindreds of thousands of seals resorting to these islands and coasts, the numbers have been reduced to a few liun- dreds, which seek the land in scattered bands and rush natid!"^* extermi- to the sea on the approach of man. Manner of sealing. — Wlien I first began sealing in ji„,mgj.„f ^ ^^ 1871 these rookeries had not been worked for twenty- ^""^^^ " ^^^ "'^" five or thirty years, and the seals had liad a chance to increase. The seals were then very tame, and were all killed with clubs. So tame were they you could go around among them like you could among cattle, and at one place they wouldn't get out of the way, so had to be knocked in the head in order to make room to set up a tent. Before 1880, how- ever, the seals had become wild from hunting, and we _. ,„ „ , T '. 1 -IT j_i .1 1 • 1 • Fireat-ms Since 1880. had to use guns, killing them on the rookeries and in the water, wherever we could get at them. Wa^te of life. — We killed everything, old and young, ^^^^ that we could get in gunshot of, excepting the black ^^ ^" ' *' pups, whose skins Avere unmarketable, and most all of these died of starvation, having no means of sustenance, or else were killed by a sort of buzzard, when the mother seals, hav- ^*'^^**'"" "f i'"p«- ing been destroyed, were unable to protect them longer. So too these birds ate the carcasses of the dead jjups and little traces were to be found of the bodies. The seals in all these localities have been de- stroyed entirely by this indiscriminate killing of old and young, male and female. If the seals in these regions had been protected and only a certain number of " dogs " (young male seals unable to Iiold their positions on the beaches) allowed to be killed, these islands and coasts would be again populous with seal life. The seals would certainly not have decreased and would have produced an annual supply of skins for all times. As it is, however, seals in the Antarctic regions are practically extinct, and I have given up the business pracuc^y Vxtincr^^ as being unprofitable. The whole annual catch for 7 vessels has not exceeded 2,600 skins for the last four years. Habits. — The "wigs" (the old male seals) are the first seals to arrive on the rookeries; coming about the middle of October. They fight for advantageous j)laces on the beaches and "^^^s^" [IjhHs]. never leave their positions after once being established. The females or " clap-matches " come a month later and are caj)- tured by the " wigs " who get as many as they can take [eowif^""'"**'^**^ " care of. We never killed the seals until the females had arrived. When I first went to these regions a "pod" or family consisted of a " Avig " and 12 or 15 " clap-matches," but this year everything was disorganized and not more " I'oJ^ " [harems]. than 2 or 3 seals were together; sometimes there being 1 " clap- match" and 2 "wigs." There were in 1891 about as many "wigs" as "clap- matches." This equality of numbers of the sexes on the rookeries is unnatural, as the seals are polygamous. The cause of the great falling off in the number of "clap- matches" is we used to kill a dozen females to one male, and so not only the males are in excess but the species has been destroyed by killing the producers, ^j^einaies principally The pups are born on the rookeries and are unable to swim till six or eight weeks of age. If one gets washed ^"^'*" oft" the rocks before that time it is drowned. A pup born in the water or on the kelp would certainly jjerish. I don't think a pup is weaned till he is four months old. I am also nalS** ^"^^^ "*" convinced that coimlation takes place on land before 596 TESTIMONY they migrate) the period of gestatiou being about eleven njonths. The seals leave the rookeries in March when ice begins to form around the islands and the snow commences to fall. The Terra del Fuego and Patagonian seals however never leave the rookeries or Migration. ^^^ watcrs In the vicinity, only going out into the in- land waters in search of food. About Terra del Fuego no ice forms and no snow falls that remains. The temperature remains about the same summer and winter. I think if ice formed there and there was much change in the temperature the seals would migrate northward to warmer waters. Seals always go back to the same rookery after a mi- gration and generally endeavor to get the same position on a beach. In all these localities the sky is constantly overcast, the sun never shines for more than an hour or two at a time, and tions**°"° condi- arouud the more southern islands fogs are very preva- lent. The temperature is always cold and damp, being about 40° F. during the summer. Killing seals without reference to age or sex is bound to exterminate the species in a very short time, and it seems to me sM™**^^'^'"" "^'^"^ t^^^ unless something is done in the northern sealing grounds the industry will soon be as unprofitable as it is in the Southern Hemisphere. J. W. BUDINGTON. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, this 5th day of May, 1892. [L. s.] Sevellon a. Bkown. Deposition of George Comer, sealer {mate). ANTARCTIC SEALING. District or Columbia, City of Washington^ ss: George Comer, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 34 years of age, and a resident of East Haddam, Conn. Since Experience. 1879 I havc becu engaged in sealing in the South- ern Hemisphere and was out every year except two seasons up to 1889. 1 visited on these voyages Cape Horn, South Georgia, the Islands of Tristan d'Acunha, Goughs Island, the Crozets and Kerguelen islands. I have observed the habits of the seals fre- quenting these localities, and I spent fourteen consecutive months on one island, called by us West Clift", located on the coast of Chile, about a hundred miles north of the straits of Magellan. On that cruise TieiTa del 3?uego ""^^ ''''^^^'^ three ycars away from home, all of which time and coasta of rata|o- was spcut about Terra del Fuego and the coasts of Pat- niaaud Chile. agouia and Chile. During these three years (1879 to 1882) our catch was 4,000 seals, 2,000 of which were taken the first year, and we practically cleaned the rookeries out. In 1885 to 1880, I South Georgia visitcd South Georgia as mate of a vessel. We had heard reports of the number of seals formerly taken there, but we did not get a seal, and only saw one. In 1887, while I was on Goughs Island, the vessel went over to South Goughs island. Georgia and took 3 seals. In the summer of 1887 we len liiandr* ^^'^^^" put six mcu ou Goughs Islaud, aud tlicu went to the Crozets and Kerguelen Island, commonly called Deso- lation Island. On oui" retmn, nine months after, the gang had taken RELATING TO ANTARCTIC SEALING. 597 about 40 or 50 skins. Years before the English had had the working of Goughs Island, and had run the business out, so there were practically no seal there. We put a gang on the Crozets, expecting to do well. They staid there five months and took three seals. The EngUsh at Cape Town liad recominended us to go there, because they said that formerly they had taken a great number of skins there. We went to Kerguelen Island, and there I had charge of the sealing. We staid about four months, and took 18 seals. Prior to this visit I had spent live months at Kerguelen IshMid, and we then took seals; that was in the winter of 1883 and 1S81, About 1850 this island was visited by an American, who practically cleaned off the seals. The captain I shipped with, Joseph Fnller, visited the island in 1880 and took 3,600 seals, practically all there were; and this was the increase for the thirty years from 1850. While I was at Cape ^.^ ,g ^f Good ho e Town I saw a gang start out for seahng on that coast; '^^""^ "" °^^' the rookeries I understood to be about 135 miles from Cape Town, They are in the possession or control of a company, as I was then informed, which has the exclusive right to take seals there. We did not dare to go to those rookeries, because sealing was prohibited, and we would not have been allowed to take tliem in the waters adjacent thereto. Argentina also claimed possession of Staten Land at Cape Horn, and since about 1882 or 1883 we have not ^^atenLand. been allowed to take seals at that point or in the waters near there, although the citizens of Argentina themselves have taken seals there every year, as I understand and believe. In the first part of a season we never disturbed the rookeries we M^'^ner of hunting, vivsited, always letting the seals come on shore; then we would kill them on land with clubs or rifles. During the latter part of a season the seals become very wild, and we used to shoot them in the water from boats. When we shoot them in the water we lose certainly three out of five we kill by sinking, and we ^^ »«te of liie. also wounded a great many more. Shooting seals in the water is the most destructive method of taking them as compared with the number of skins we have to show for our work. The shores occupied by all these rookeries I have mentioned are of much the same character; there is a narroAv beach line from which cliffs rise abruptly to the height of and'cuSonsiaudt 75 to 150 feet; through these are narrow crevasses in the rocks or small ravines, where streams flow into the sea; it is at such points the seals are to be found. The animals clamber up these rocks, often going where it is imj)ossible for man to go. Tlie climate of these localities is peculiar. The sky is constantly overcast, and during the summer the average temperature would be between 10^ and 45° F. Eain falls nearly every day, keeping the atmosphere constantly moist, but no hard storms take place, the rain falling in misty showei's. Dur- ing the fourteen months I passed at West Cliff, heretofore mentioned, I had an excellent opportunity to examine and study the seals which fre- quent that coast. Along the coasts and islands near Cape Horn snow does not fall to any extent, and never remains for any length of time. No ice forms along the shore. There is very little difference in the temperature of winter and summer. The seals inliab- ^ , ., ^ ^, iting these shores do not migrate, but always remain on or near the land, only going a short distance in search of food, and at all seasons and in every month of the year seals can be found on shore. Toward the latter part ol" October the " wigs," ..^.^ „ or full-grown males, begin to (;ongregate on the breed- ing rookeries. A "wig" weighs anywhere from 250 to 500 pounds, 598 TESTIMONY RELATING. TO ANTARCTIC SEALING. and must be four or five years old before lie has strength and endur- ance enon.uli to maintain a i)liice on the rookery. The battles for position between the rival " wigs" are most fierce, but at last thev all get their places, and await the coming "Clap matches." ^^. ^^^^ ,, ^^-^^^^ matclies," or females. About the 10th of November the females begin to arrive, and land on the breeding rook- eries. Each '• wig " gets about him as many " clap matches " as he can, the average number, I should say, being from ten to twenty. The "wig" never allows tli(>, "cla[) match" to leave his harem for some time, always seizing her and dragging her back if she attempts to go iuto the water. Almost immediately on landing the female drops her pup, it seldom being more tlinn a day after they come on shore. A " clap match" gives birth to only one pup, except in rare ^"^** instances, Avhen she has two. I never saw but one case where a "clapmatch" liad more than one pup at a birth. Within a few days after the birth of the pup the "clap match" is served by the " wig." After being served the " wig" lets her go into the water to feed, as she has to do in order that she maj'^ nurse her pup. The puj) Avheu born weighs about four or five pounds, and is covered with shiny black hair, beneath which there is no far. When four or five months old this black hair is shed, and new hair of a brownish-gray color comes out, and the fur appears beneatli it. A pup does not go into the water until he is three or four months old, and then he works in gradually from the puddles into the surf, and I have seen "clap matches" in stormy weather pick up their pups in their mouths and carry them out of reach of the waves. A pup born in the water or on a bed of wfter "or"on keip.° "' ^^U^ would ccrtainly be drowned, and during all my experience I never saw a black puj) seal on kelp or in the water. Until the pup sheds his black hair he is entirely dependent on his mothers' milk for sustenance. I have never seen a " clap match " suckling more than one pup, and it is my impression that a " clap match" would not nurse any pup except her own, for I have seen her throw other pups aside and pick out one par- ticular one from the whole number on the rookery. A black pup walks on all fours, raising liis body more from the ground thau an older seal, and appears to be more of a land animal than his elders. All seals can move very rapidly on land wlien forced to do so, and seem to have re- markable powers of lanil loijomotion when the formation of their flip- pers and body are taken into consideration. The young " wigs " or nonbreeding males, not being allowed on the roikeries, herd by them- selves, and never molest the harems. About the 20th of November we used to begin killing, and up to that time the "wigs" had never left their ]>ositions to feed or drink. I do not know how much longer they would have staid there fasting if we had not molested them. Young " wigs" go into the water, but during the breeding season hang around the rookeries, never going far from shore. If there had been strict regulations enforced, allowing us to kill only young "wigs," and not to disturb the breeding seals, 1 am convinced, and have no doubt, that all tliese rookeries would be full of seals to-day. It has nalroH ofthe'seli'iy"" becii the indiscriminate killing which has caused the practical extermination of fur-seals in the southern hemisphere. George Comer. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the District of Columbia, U. S. A., this 15th day of June, 1892. [l. s.] Sevellon a. Brown. TESTIMONY RELATING TO PRIBILOF N \TIVES. Deposition of T>r. H. 11. Mclntyre^ superintendent of Ala sin Commer- cial Gomimny on the Prihilof Islands {lS/'0-'8U,) condition of the natives. State of Vermont, Orange County, ss: H. H. Mclntyre, of Randolpli, in said county, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 48 years old and a na- tive of Vermont. I went to Alaska in 1S68 and to the ^penence. Pribilof Islands in 1869 as special United States Treasury agent, and was employed in actual service as superintendent of the seal fisheries of Alaska for the late lessees from 1870 to 1889, inclusive, and in these capacities I visited the seal islands of Alaska every year covered by the above dates except the years 1883, 1884, and 1885, and gained most intimate acquaintance with everything in and about the seal fisheries and with the inhabitants of the islands. It was my duty during all this time to see that they were provided with everything necessary to successfully carry on the seal-fishing business and with all supplies of every description required for the comfort and well-being of the in- habitants of the islands. In the matter of the preservation of the fur-seals these inhabitants should receive some consideration. Their ancestors Avere carried to the Pribilof group more than a century ,^^5^,^^®"'^'^"'^® "^ ^^^^ ago, and the majority of the present generation have been born and bred where they now live. They number at present about 350 people who know no other home, and few of whom have ever seen any other land than the islands on which they live. They are a simiile-minded, docile, good-natured people, far above the average aboriginal inhabitant of the country in intelligence, as indeed, might be expected of them in this generation, from the fact that tlie Aleutian blood in their veins is already very much mixed with that of a better quality from Russian and American stock. Very few, if any, thoroughbred Aleuts are to be found in Alaska at the present day. All are cimstianit devout Christians and earnest believers in the faith of '"^ '""' ^' the Greco-Russian Church, observing all its outward forms, and prac- ticin g, perhaps, as many of the virtues it inculcates as the average ad- herent of orthodox Christianity. Very little is known of these people under Rrissian regime in the early part of this centuiy. I f their traditions are t[) be riMied upon they were iiardly bc^tt er oft at this time than K„ssiaii Company. when in absolute barbarism. Their rulers were hard taskmasters and were themselves but meagerly supplied with such 599 GOO TESTIMONY articles as -would liave inaterially helped tlie natives if tliey eonld Lave „, . , ... liad tlieiii. They labored mider the disadvantage of Their dwellings. .... i , , .1 . t -, ■ j liviii,u' 111 a cold, biUTeii, treeless country and Jiavmg to depend for buildinii' material upon the driftwood tlirown upon their shores from the rivers emptying into Bering Sea. It was, therefore, impossible for them to nnikc much i)r(>gress, no matter what the teach- ing or tlie example set before them may have been wliile living, as they were, in tlieir damp, filthy subterranean houses; and more impossible for them to live otherwise than underground until they were furnished with fuel and building material. These were never sui)plied by the Russians, and the Americans ac- cordingly found them, upon the cession of the territory to the United States, living in miserable, unhealthy hovels totally unfit for humau habitation. Thesui)ports for the thatched roofs and turf sides of their houses consisted of the pieces of driftwood or the jaw bones of whales; light was admitted through the opaque medium of raw sea-lion skins, stretched and shaved ; the chimney was a hole in the roof, over which a skin was drawn to retain the heat after the fire went ^^'^*"*^' out; their fuel consisted of water-soaked splinters of driftwood, upon which was burned the blubber of the seal or whale, emitting the nauseous odors of burning, rancid, ill-smelling aniinal fats. The smoke from the fire left its greasy deposits upon everything about the iiremises and emitted a stench endurable only by a sense of smell long inured to it. For light in the long winter nights they had only a small burning wick supported upon the surface of an open vessel of seal oil. Their food consisted almost wholly ot seal meat, with rarely a meal of fish or fowl, oftentimes eaten raw in summer, and dried or partially dried and stored in the inflattd stomachs of sea lions for winter. A small quantity of rye was furnished them, but their facilities for putting it in edible form were of the most X)rimitive kind, and to this was added a limited quantity of tea and sugar, tobacco and rum. Their clothing was made of eir c ot ing. ykius Or of such coarsc cotton or woolen cloths as were iiu])orted in very limited quantities for their use. The work which was exacted from the natives under Russian rule Arduous labor un- ^^^ much harder than has since been put upon them. derthe Jtussiau Com- The islauds wcrc provided with no teams of any descrip- ^^"^ tion; the boats Avere rude affairs, built from pieces of driftwood, whalebone, whale sinew, and sea-lion skins; the storehouses, workshops and tools were ill constructed and inconvenient; all of the skins of the thousands of seals slaughtered each year were transported on the shoulders of the laborers fi'om the field to the warehouses, a great amount of labor expended on each skin in cleaning and drying- it, and all were again shouldered from the warehouses to the boats to be lightered to the vessels. In all this work men, women, Eemunerauon ^^^^ children participated, and each received the small stipend of a few kopeks per day or per skin, barely sufficient to pay for the tea, sugar, coarse clothing, and articles of domestic use supplied from the Company's store. Yet even this poor subsistence was furnished directly or indirectly from the seals, excepting a few edible roots and wild vegetables and an occasional fish or fowl at certain seasons of the year. There is absolutely no other source of subsistence at the seal islands. Since the occupation of the territory by the Americans such a change has taken place in the condition of the natives as occurs ASerfcau con Joi! ^ '^ i^ the transition from barbarism to civilization; and such a change as has brought about them those material RELATING TO PRIBILOF NATIVES. GOl evidences of civilization which require for their support and mainte- uauce a constant and assured income. The vilhiges as viewed from the exterior are indicative of their x)resent foJa^^etc'^'^^^^^^^^' plane of living and are such as may be seen in the prosperous mining and manufacturing sections of our country, compvis- ing attractive churches, well-designed school-houses, commodious store- liouses, and comfortable dwellings, all built in regular order and painted white. During the past twenty years the inhabitants have been con- stantly supplied with and become accustomed to the use of the same kind and quality of moral training, mental teaching, clothing, food, and medicines as are supplied to and habitually used by our most prosper- ous communities. If they must surrender these things it means for them a relapse into barbarism; and the ^^?^ffej-t of destruction destruction of the seal fisheries enforces the surrender. They have no other source of income and know no other business than that of seal-fishing. The income of the two seal-island communities, including only natives, has averaged from 1868 to 1889, inclusive, more than $40,000 per annum in cash, and, in addition, they have been furnished gratuitously with the houses thej^ occupy, nearly enough fuel to heat them, medicines and medical attend- ance, school-houses, school books, and teachers. Their moral and mental improvement have very nearly kept im^^rovemeBt. "'*^"*''*^ l)ace with the material comfort with which they have been surrounded. The children have learned to read, write, and speak English, and in general intelligence and household economy all have made remarkable progress. Is it true that people situated as these natives are acquire no vested right in the projierty whereon they have immemorially gained their livelihood, which the Christian nations of ti^^'sln the^afijerd. the earth ought to resi^ecf? If it is true, then the pre- cepts of Christianity bear still another and new interpretation. H. H. McIntyre. Sworn to and subscribed at Randolph, Vermont, this 1st day of Aug- ust, A. D. 1892, before me. [l. s.] Wm. H. Du Bois, Notary Fuhlic. DATA FOR MIGRATION CHART. Data compiled from affidavits hcrrn-'ilh appended relaUna to ihe lime ilie Jlasl-an herd, during its mif/ral'ion, appears, is in the tjreatest mimher, and disappears off various points along the coast. COAST OF CALrFORXTA. 38o NORTH LATITUDE. Name of deponent. Time of appeavauci' Manrirc Moss i December 20- C. H. Bellow ] January "William Brennan i do J. Johnson j do 30. Time of greatest niunber. Time of disappearance. CAPE FLATTERY, 48° NORTH. Jamos CIa])lanhoo J. Lighthouse EUabash Peter Brown Thomas Zohioks . AVatkins Osly Alfred Irvina . . Selwish Johnson . A. J. Guild John Tvsuu . - . Charlie" Wliito . Wilson Parker Chad, (ieortie .. Geo. Dishoil' ... Wm. Brennan.. December 20 Derember 20-30 . ...do December 30 December 25 December 20-30 . . , January 1 December 25-Jan. uary 1. December 20-30. . . I December 25 i December 20-!0. . . I December-J a n u- i ary. 1 January 1 June 1 December 20-30. ...do January 1 January ...do Marcl Cows,' July 15 ; smalls, July 15. July 15. Cows, June 15; smalls later. July 1-15. Cows, June; .smalls, July 15. June. Cows, June 15 ; smalls, July 15. July (cows earlier). July (cows earlier). Small'!. July. .Inly 15 (cows earlier). July 1. July 15. July 10 (cows earlier). Cows, June. QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND, 51° NORTH. J.Ncis-likaikt Amos M ill Jlarcli ...do . June. June 15. DIXON ENTRANCE AND PRINCE WILLIAM ISLAND, 54° AND 55° NORTH. Wm. Clark Arnold Henry Haldano . Luke Prank Frank Saqua Doujjlas . T(mi Hatclion... March . !March ...do.. ...do.. ....do .. June 1-10. June 1. Do. Do. June. June 1. 602 DATA FOR MIGRATION CHART. 603 Data compiled from affidnvUx herewilh appended relaling to the time the Alasl-an herd, daring its migration, appears, is in the greatest number, and disappears off various points along the coast — Continued. DIXON ENTKANCE AND PErNCE WILLIAM ISLAND, 54° AND 5j° NOUTH-Continned N.ame of deponoiit. Jim Kasoon King Kaskwa Jas. Klonacket Kobt. Kooko Fred. K.Mason Naston Sinitlinatcli Dan Natlilan Ntkla-ah Billy Williams Fred. Wilson , Walter Young Paul Young Hastings Yetlmow Abel Ryan Frank Schenklingwa.s 'i'hos. Skowl r Geo. Skultka Hilly Yeltacby Tiineof appearance. March ...do .. March ....do ., ....do .. March ....do ., April March . . . .do ...do ...do March Time of greatest number. May April and May May . May April 30 Time of disappearance. June. May 30. June 1. Do. June 15. June. Do. July. June 1. June. June 1. June. Do. June 1. Do. June 15. June. SITKA BAT, 57° NOKTH. Peter Church Anril 15 Geo. La Cheek . . do July 1. June 30. Mike Kethusduck do John KoTvineat do Philip Kaslievarofi" P. S. Weittenhiller Martin Sin o-ay April 15 June 30. Jack Sitka do July 1. Do. M. Thlkahdaynahkee Charlie Tlaksatan ....do A'lril in July 4. I'eter Treasheit Mav 11. Walton M. Wooskoot July 1. YAKITAT, 59° NORTH. Clias. Avory . . Peter Church April 1. Junc:20-:;i). PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, 00° NORTH, 147° WEST. Nicolas A nderson May 1 !Max. Cohen April 1 ill John W. Smith ilo Frank Korth do ( )laf Kavan Mav 1 N icoli Gregorofif Apiil 30 I'cter Adungnu do Pavel ShiiMcakiii do Anton Kalisliiiikoir ..do .. Avakoon Kalislmikoli' do Miron Aliniaii do Timof6 Chayha do.. . A fanasso Mai ick do 1 Alaska Koo-sclie ....do ' (iiorgi Agooklook do. (Jregory Aogav do Makar Chooiiioritsky do Yakoff Abakoo ... do Evan Choomoritsky do G04 DATA FOR MIGRATION CHART. r>nia compiled from affidiiritu lirreivilk appended rclaiitig to the time the Alaal'an herd, during its )ni(fraiiou, uppcurx, is in the yrealeat number, and disajipear^ oj)' various points along the coast — Coiitiimed. COOKS INLET, 59° NORTH, 152° WEST. JC^MIH- I.I' (lc]10)101lt. Tinieofajipearance. Time of greatest number. Time of disappearance. Nicoli Apolcchoe May 1 10 PcttM" A l>aiiko(.'k ("lo St(*pliiiii L;iu"'wa]ic' (U) r 329 Mascot 317 May Belle 317 Minnie 310, 317, 320 Mischief 330 Mollie Adorns 322, 330 Otto 333, 337 San Diego 413, 431 Sea Lion 323 Sea Oticr 421 Seaward 432 Thistle 325 Triumph 326, 434 Vanderbtlt 327, 427 Venture 330 Walta- Rich 313 Wilson 327 off St. George Island coast 316 Charts, Brown's 20, 44, 60, 167 Chatham Sound, no seals in 249, 250, 253 Straits, no seals in 247, 248 Chile, sealing off 430 Clapmatches defined 598 Clayquot Sound, seals in 231 Climate of Pribilof Islands 4, 61, 75, 80, 160 and Commander Islands 4 Close season necessary 322, 323, 335, 341, 426, 459, 468, 481 Columbia River, seals at mouth of 327, 330 Commander and Pribilof Islands rookeries, size of 203 seals, difference between 198, 201 Eobben Islands, seals taken from 204 climate - 4 SUBJECT-INDEX. 611 Page. Commander and Robben Islands, hauling up 12 berd 4, 78, 197, 215 rookeries 197, 404 Cook's Inlet, Barren Island, off 219 bair seal rookery on 228 seals off -■ 217,229 ■when seals appear 223, 224, 225 rookeries none 227, 230 Coos Bay, seals at 231 Copper island, catch 19G, 328, 548, 556, 570 drivinft- on 56 rookeries on 196 Cows, arrival of 25, 66, 81, 129, 133, 148, 422 bear pups at 2 years 519 description of 519, 548 feeding 1, 2, 21, 34, 39, 83, 103, 108, 129, 139, 140, 143, 144, 148, 158, 166, 180, 189, 208, 242, 355, 359, 363, 367, 371, 374, 400, 408, 410, 416, 420, 438, 444, 446, 448, 449, 451, 458, 461, 464, 471, 473, 475, 490, 503, 505, 506 habits of 21, 131 increase of 7, 151, 199 instructions not to kill 103 natives do not kill 90 not killed on islands 108, 128, 131, 133, 139, 149 nursing of pups 5, 33, 41, 62, 71, 89, 104, 110, 130, 133, 148, 375, 450 pregnant or with pup mostlv taken in pelagic sealing 39, 100, 139, 140, 146, 189, 211, 241, 243," 258, 261, 262, 264, 265, 266, 268, 269, 272, 273,278, 279, 282, 287, 291, 293, 310, 342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 356, 357, 364, 365, 367, 368, 369, 374, 377, 379, 380, 382, 383, 384, 385, 387, 388, 389, 391, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 400, 420, 445, 446, 448, 450, 453, 456, 457, 458, 460, 461, 463, 464, 465, 466, 468, 469, 470, 471, 474, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 482, 483, 486, 488, 489, 490, 502, 507, 508, 511, 512, 513, 516, 519, 520, 521, 522, 524, 527, 533, 534, 561, 588 protection of, by Alaska Commercial Company 86 skins not so good as those of males 590 Crozett Islands 541 Dead piips. (iSee Pups.) Decrease of seal life. {See Seals.) Disenchantment Bay, no seals in 238, 244 Dixon's Entrance, arrival of seals at 298 sealing in 277, 280, 281> 284, 287, 293, 294 sea-otter in 303 Dressing and dyeing of skins 552, 563, 568 Driving, American, better than Eussiau 99, 142 and redri ving 1, 2, 38, 49, 64, 72, 82, 137, 145, 159, 161, 182, 196, 199 killing 72, 105, 110, 111, 198 cautiously conducted. . . . 91, 97, 99, 104, 107, 129, 131, 133, 145, 155, 157, 181, 414 methods employed 21, 54, 5.5, 68, 89, 182 on Cojiper Island 56 St. Paul Island 150 Elliott, Prof. H. W., report, 1874, on increase 93 Extermination of seals. (See Seals.) Fair-weather ground, sealing off 221 Falkland Islands, sealskins from ,551, 593 Farallon Islands, sealing off 241, 319 Feeding grounds of cow's. (Sec Seals.) Female seals (See Cows.) Finners defined 355 Firearms. (Sec Weapons. ) Flag, change of 343^ 420 Flipperers defined 56 Fog about islands 11, 99 Food of seals 6, loi, 161, 355 Fort Konai (Cooks Inlet) 228 Four Monntaiu Pass, seals at 211 Fur-seal. (See Seals.) Galapagos Isl.and, sealing off 472, 515 Garbotch , rookery 13^ 415 Georgia Island, sealing off 324 Gough Island 596 Gray's Harbor, sealing off 317 612 SUBJECT-INDEX. Vage, Great East Rookery 13 Guadalupe Island, seals extermiuated at 430, 515 Hadley, Lieut. H. M. S. Pheasant 323 Harems. {See Seals.) Harris, Alfred, corroborates Joseph Ullmaiin 529 Hauliug lip, coast, not done on 12, 26, 27, 40, 61, 70, 202, 223, 245, 250, 251, 253, 254, 255, 258, 262, 264, 265, 266, 267, 271, 273, 274, 276, 278, 279, 281, 282, 284, 285, 286, 287, 289, 290, 291, 292, 296, 297, 299, 301, 302, 303, 304, 309, 311, 313, 315, 316, 323, 326, 329, 335, 339, 348, 350, 371, 377, 379, 380, 383, 384, 385, 387, 388, 389, 390, 392, 394, 396, 397, 398, 405, 407, 409, 412, 416, 455, 457, 459, 466, 470, 472, 478, 481, 482, 484, 485, 488, 490 (See also Pribilof Islands.) grounds 12, 13, 66, 164, 217, 236 Herald, The New York 321 Hesqniat Village 332 Hopucheiset Village 305 Hutchinson Hill 17 lev Bay, no seals in 239,243 Indian' hunters 208, 261, 318, 320, 322, 331, 332, 391, 474 Indians suffer from a scarcity of seals 279, 288, 289, 294, 297 Pachenah, use of seals by 305 (See f(7so Natives.) International Company has lease of Guadalupe Islands 430 Jaeckel, Hugo, corroborates Ullmann 531 Japan, hunting on coast of 427 supply of sealskins from 547 Japanese sealskins 403, 570, 571, 581 Juan Fernandez Island, seals at 430 Jumpers defined 355 Kadiak, no rookeries on 222 sealino- oft' 324, 336 Kalqui Island, hair-seal rookery on 228 Kelp beds, pups not liorn on 34, 213, 222 none outside Barclay Sound 306 Kenches defined 57 Kergneleu Land 540 Ketavie rookery 13 Killing of seals. (See »S'eals.) King-Hall, F. (newspaper correspondent) 321, 336 Kormomlorski Island sealskins 564, 570 Labor employed in sealskin industry 523, 526, 549, 558, 563, 573, 582. 588 Lngoon rookery 13 Lampson & Co., London, consignees of skins 536, 564 Lessees, policy of 136, 157, 544 Litzu Bay, no seals in 243 Little East rookery 13 Little Polavina rookery 13 Lobos Islands, supply of seal skins from 551, 556, 557, 569, 573, 578 London, capital in seal skin industry 552, 565, 576 dressing and dyeing of skins 524, 526, 527, 528, 530, 531, 539, 552, 558, 561, 563,568, 573 trade in sealskins 526,546,552,564,572 lAikannon rookery 13 McMauus, liobert (newspajier correspondent) 321 Warmont Island, spearing of seal oft' 333 Martin & Co., dyers and dressers 571 Martin «fc Teichmann, dyers and dressers 546 Massafnero Island, seals oft 4.30, 541 Mchucaleset village 305 Merriam, Dr. C. Hart 17 Migration. ( seals bom on 224, 232, 358 raids on 400 rookeries and hauling grounds, the only ones 37, 59, 164, 212, 218, 219, 223, 349, 366, 367, 368, 376, 382, 445, 447, 485 seals different from those of Commander Islands 198, 201, 203 size of herd 543 ■where situated 80 why seals chose 164 Prices of sealskins 573, 575 Prince of Wales Island, sealing off" 277, 283, 284, 285, 289, 297, 299, 302 Prince William Sound, when seals appear oft" 223, 233, 234, 236 Profits of fur merchants 526 Pups, aquatic birth impossible 5, 13, 23, 29, 34, 67, 72, 164, 165, 198, 217, 218, 221, 222, 234, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 249. 250, 251, 252, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261, 262, 264, 26.5, 266, 267, 269, 271, 273, 274, 275, 276, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 301, 302, 303, 309, 318, 319, 323, 326, 329, 331, 335, 349, 350, 356, 364, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 375, 376, 378, 380. 382, 385, 387, 388, 389, 390, 396, 405, 418, 428, 432, 439, 440, 444, 445, 447, 450, 454, 457, 459, 466, 468, 470, 478, 479, 481, 482, 484, 485 autopsies of 19 birth of 25, 81, 100, 108, 136, 148 return to place of 358 black, skins of unborn 503 Chatham Sound, in 2,50 condition \yhen born 51^ 75 departure of, from islands 100 gray 305, 401. 403 habits of 359 inability to swim 34, 41, 67, 72, 82, 87, 100 104, 108, 109, 110, 129, 133, 136, 144, 146, 149, 160, 165, 180, 189, 198, 505 killed for food 101 migration of 104, 212 mortality among 26, 32, 39, 51, 64, 69, 71, 74, 87, 89, 95, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 108, 110, 116, 128, 130, 131, 132, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 152, 159, 161, 164, 209, 374, 375, 408, 415, 426, 459, 481, 483, 484, 503, 505, 521, podding, description of 16, 56, 62, 82 Pribilof Islands, born only on. (See also Pribiloft" Islands) 356, 367 sustenance of 146, 148, 149, 165 Unalaska, natives of, take for food 209 Avhere born . .61, 189, 220, 223, 224, 226, 229, 231, 232, 236,237, 238, 23 -, 240, 258, 288 Queen Charlotte Island, no hauling up on 4,287,288 sealing off" 286^ 299 Raid on Robben Island by Mauna Loa I93 St. George Island 42i Raids 108, 111,128,133, i43,i66,'i83,'i95, 198 few have occurred 78 on rookeries 39,' 72," 76, i75, 436 Russian seal islands 217 Redriving. (/See Driving.) Rees Islet, Chile, sealing oft" 430 Revenue from seals to United States 546 Revillon, Fibres, Freuch sealskin dealers 589 Rice, George, dresser and dyer 552 Rifles. (r> BKKING SKA REVOKTEl) BY TNITED STATKS VESSELS Jf^^ ladi obJ CAMrOc Sunt/. i>wn ofllei^ rtpon* c^ 6 3ELS NED FED STATES ^5:5° h30 9.,k»rt*,a .'Wuri»i;Qi i. '^^ NomiKnstri \ /■■ / ■ ■ -PI .•.■.■ • '• '^«*j(:','"-"''""° :>;-;;V.-.:J, ■^'' ■ .V: — — ■ yu-Mi twmW (Tvo- »i mm NOnTm"^\ST POINT U(K»Kl-:ilY ST R\n.lSI.\Nl) llcnnii Sfii Alaskit. juMCi'ii STASH .Kv inio%«T.' F '■'■:.■:■■■:■%:%. K^^r W I ^A '^^■^A^ivi^^^-^^^'"' '-ik-^v\M;^,fe J/; ■^li- W'*l/, iH, ^^^-s.at;te^ps:;ssr ::v-^ &[*•.««•:■■..;. rjy!' =:rrr:-v« POTiAVINA ROOKERY BT. PAXIL ISLAND Bering Sea-ALaska. Surveyed by JOSEPH STANJLEY BROWN. 1891 SraUv 't'jii', ft. I inch 264 t32 o J 2 3 HjtAes. ntour mter-yaL approxijTUtfjely 10 ft: ncUsttzrbeAofea. - mutedy ye^et^vtCon. rt^y disturbedl' iYom time.' to time ty seals ho'iUCruf, feeding Grconxds 1891 1881 1S70 srea liaaled over in. 1891 t'liart B .*■ INDEX CHART ^ SlRjJwWi P01.AV1N.V ROOKERY ST PAIl^ 1SL.\NI) BeiJii^ Sea-AlasKii. Snrveypdby JOSEPH STANLEY BIIUWX S.-(i1i-: .'.L'liri liili-l) j,^^ QmPatu" interval appfOJ-imnleljf Ktft' 1*^*^* t'-mlisfurhed-arrfi - mt-tftl rr^littion U- - • ■ • 1 Jr** lU^rurdtdl n-umrune totimt ^ st—ls I Breedtnft OnmndB IBfH IBB*: 1870 - Area hauled over in WS\ M • v ■» J' -.'■■*• • - .' ^U^ Breeding Grounde 1891 " " lasi " » 1870 Area luuied over in 1891 KET/OTE & LUHAJJNON ROOKERY ST.PAITL ISL.AM). Bering Bea Alaska Surveyed tov JOSEPH SIMdjnr-BROWlI isal _ S.-nIf:r,20ri. limit ._^_ contour- iruerval approximately Klfi * _^ * ] Dndisturbfil iirut - rruaxd^ ^'ej/efa/u>n Area, itisnu-bf/i ii-artt tune totjjiw by Mais hautuu/. scantrorurv/brm' ffrass. C\mvl D I Breeding Ormmdfi 1891 .. 1882 1R70 - Ar«aliatileao\'»iTi\ 1891 st.palt:. island. Beiiiig Sea-iVlaska. Survi->'edl»' JOSEPH STiVKLEY "BHOnTC 1891. ScnIoiSZttri. limh ,,,^ Qmtou^ inarfalupprurimately lOtrei^. SrAliiooRocb Om^ttaM^id J 10 A "~\ ' ArtH luiiilril irfn- TOLSTOI AMI LAIIOO!* nooRKRIBS ST. mUl- ISLAND. Bering Sen . jMnsha Josm mwfLKT mtmni . 11 rhnits F A G . *. * ■4 - * 4 i *. ', - %. Lower Zapadnie ZAPAPNIE ROOKEBY AND ENGLISH BAT. ST.PALTL ISLAND Bering Sea. -v:\laaka Sm-^'eyed. tov' JOSEPH SIANLEY-BBOWJI IS 91 SiitLi^.^itiri Urn li j^_ Gfnanv inifrra& appraromugfy Kffh \^*i^i I I'hcUstiwbed' ar-en , mtxeU Ptpetaaof7 I --';„■- ;j Area/ dUstur-bal f^om iitne- to timt. byaeala liauloig, t-"'. ■ '• I sea/Jt or zirUform tfrtzss Bretdm^ GruundB- 1891 ' ri %>^ / t ^er ZapailTrie \ i English Bay INDEX CHART t ' - / - ' - ' * ■ ' I*'---'-!". .•"• s ^A 12 Nf^ - . . ■.••.•;•.■■;•-• •■Jr^. -■ EA**T & LITTI.K EAST RdOKBHIES ST. GKC^RCK ISLAM) BfT-iiii Sea -Alaska. "1^ 1891 ■.ii.^ .-.2(1 n iiofh •m. OmtBur int^fai- approxtma^li/ /0ft- \, ' J *^ I TTnaiaturbettar-fJt - Tntxedr-regetatian. ttirliett- O-om ru •uni/hr-m ffrtu INOeX CHART Cliail I NOHT]C ROOKKHV ST. GEORGE ISLAND Bei'iji^ Sea AlasKii Siirvpywlby JOSEPH STANIvEYTJROWN 1S91 w. .^M,. ?■■""-- ^^",' ' '-■;■ .^ I *«*■** j fnOlaturl'til arat- -Tnlrali>xpftatien SttuTtor ufUftirm/gmaa. ' if - i il *A' *.-■■ ^ ^ I. - - - - J ^IPT^ *V- v:"/-*W.^^^•■■ SmilHY /\KTFJ::i. niu)KERV '^^ ST. GEORGE ISLAND lieiiii^ Sra -AlasXa Surveyed bv -lOSCrH STANLFn'-BBOWN 1B91. St-nln-A2Uri- liiK'li '/•ji'-/-''--'-'- ■ • -Ail'-?'' ' "-^iv*"''.' •.' i<^»"" ' . V ^r-Vvi^^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^rfi^^ I Breeding Grotoids 1891 -, ■ ■• les; ; " •■ 1B74 ii " ArealiHuled0vwJn W91 Z.\I'ADNIK IIOOKKIO ST. GEORGE ISLAND BciTi\^ Sea -Alaiika S\ir»Typd by JOSEPH HTAMIJ^-DnoWi lasi ^ Jc4ili>: ja