FORTY-FIFTH DAY, JUNE 27™, 1893. 



Mr. Phelps. — On Friday last, Sir, as the Tribunal will remember, 

 in entering npon the assertion in resi)ect to tlie commingling of the 

 two herds of seals, belonging resijectively to the Pribilof and Com- 

 mander Islands, 1 had begun to i)oint out on tlie map the routes which 

 they followed; and. in order that wliatl am about to say may be intel- 

 ligible, perhaps you will permit me, for a moment, to refer again to the 

 map. (Kefers to the routes and distances on the map.) 



Now, what is meant by the term "intermingling"! If it means only 

 the casual intermingling of the seals in the open sea to some small 

 extent, then it is manifestly of no importance to the case. If the seals, 

 on leaving the Pribilof Islands, make their circuit and return to the 

 Pribilof Islands again, it is, of course, utterly immaterial whether a 

 few of them do or do not in that interval pass far enough to the west- 

 ward, or a few of tlie Conimander seals i)ass far enough to the east- 

 ward so that they are brought togetlier, because they separate again. 



How pre])osterous it is, I may say in passing, because no motive, — no 

 possible inducement can exist why they should turn about and go 

 against the drift current, forsakiug their ordinary migratory route, a 

 long distance to the west or a long distance to the east for the mere 

 l)leasure of encountering in the water some scattered seals from the 

 other herd, and then have to make their way back again; — but it is not 

 worth while to stop to refute it because it is of no consequence. 



If on the other hand it is meant to be asserted that any part of the 

 Pribilof Islands seals not only go out into the western sea where they 

 encounter seals from the otlier side, but go to the Commander Islands 

 and join themselves to anotlier herd, breed on the Commander Islands 

 and forsake the Pribilof^or if it appeared tliat any portion of the Com- 

 mander seals forsake the herd which they belong to, and come across 

 and join themselves to the Pribilof Island seals, then it would be a 

 fact the materiality of which would of course depend upon its frequency 

 and its extent. 



There is one consideration which is perfectly conclusive against that 

 theory before you enter upon any evidence whatever, except the evi- 

 dence afforded by the map'. If it were true, — if it is true to-day, that 

 these seals intermingle to any a])preciable extent — tlien there is every 

 reason to supjxjse that they have always done so. There is no reason 

 why that should occur now any more than always. If it had always 

 occurred, tliese two species would long ago have been entirely undis- 

 tinguishable. The cross breeding that would have taken ])lace if the 

 seals went indifferently to any extent at all to the Islands that belonged 

 to other herds, would long ago have effaced the dilference which it is 

 still conceded exists between these seals. They would be no longer dis- 

 tinguishable. It would not be true as I shall have occasion to show 

 from the evidence of the Furriers — every one of them on both sides of 

 the case — tliat there is a marked and i^lain dilference between the 

 skins which enables an expert to distinguish them from each other. 



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