ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



305 



(6) "When did this scraping- of the rookery margins and overdriving 

 begiuf There is no evidence that either began prior to 1800. Elliott 

 failed to observe or record either between 1872 and 187(j. He advances 

 in his report of 1890 no evidence whatever on the subject, though he 

 alleges at a single place that the natives assured him " that they had 

 been driving seals in this method ever since 1885; had been obliged to 

 or go without seals." 



This statement attributed to the natives is wholly uncorroborated, 

 nor does it appear in their examinations, which are given at pages 300 

 to 304; that it is in conliict with the evidence of Mr. Goft" will be shown 

 hereafter. 



(c) Mr. Elliott thinks that the necessity which leads to overdriving, 

 namely, a scarcity of killable males, began to exhibit itself as early as 

 1879, and in proof of this he alleges that a hitherto untouched reserve 

 was then resorted to, namely, Zapadnie. Furthermore, he supposes 

 that this scarcity of killable seals, making redriving essentially neces- 

 sary, was decisively manifested in 1882 and continually thereafter by 

 the fact that a constant resort was from that time made to theretofore 

 "untouched sources of supply" (VI, VIII, IX). In this particular also 

 he is totally in error. No such supposed "untouched sources of supply" 

 then, or ever, existed. Zapadnie and Polavina are intended by him. 

 They had been systematically drawn upon fro«i the first. (Vol. II, 

 Appendix to United States case, pp. 117-127; United States counter 

 case, pp. 78, 79.) 



Mr. Elliott's error in this respect is the more inexcusable, since the 

 otlBcial island records were at his disposal and appear to have been 

 examined by him. The following tables showing the drives that were 

 actually made from Zapadnie and Polavina are taken from the British 

 argument, page 103: 



Tear. 



1871 

 1872 

 1873 

 1874 

 1875 

 i87() 

 1877 

 1878 

 1879 

 1880 



Southwest 

 Bay (ill- 

 eluding 



Zapailuie). 



Halfway- 

 Point 

 (Polavina). 



Tear. 



1881 

 1882 

 1883 

 1884 

 1885 

 1886 

 18S7 

 1888 

 1889 



Southwest 

 Bay (in- 

 cluding 



Zapadnie). 



Halfway 



Point 



(Polavina). 



5 



10 

 9 

 9 

 6 



12 

 8 

 8 

 8 



(In examining tables in the United States case, Appendix Vol. II, 

 pp. 117-127, it should be remembered that "Zapadnie" and "Southwest 

 Bay" are two names for the same place, and so also are "Polavina" 

 and "Halfway Point," the latter term being the English for Polavina.) 



{(1) Upon this basis of utter misapi)rehension Elliott proceeds forth- 

 with to construct a theory, and his theory as far outruns his supjjosed 

 facts as those supposed facts do the truth. For he proceeds to assume 

 that the driving and redriving of seals have been gradually increasing 

 from year to year and very rapidlj'^ since 1884-85, that the process of 

 driving in any form renders those seals which are turned back from the 

 killing grounds worthless for rookery service, and that the work of 

 destruction thereby produced "set in from the beginning, twenty years 

 before 1890" (pp. 7 to 10). 



(e) He introduces no proof that driving, overdriving, or redriving of 

 any sort ever injured the generative organs of a seal which was allowed 



H. Doc. 92, pt. 2 20 



