ORAL ARGUMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. PHELPS. 297 



aorth 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. . . 01" all the 

 seals captured by me about one-half of them, I think, were cows with pup in 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 her. (U. S. Case, Vol. II, pp. 389, 390.) 



There are 14 other witnesses at Neah Bay to substantiate that. The 

 Indians near Queen Charlotte and Prince of Wales Islands depose as 

 follows. 



George Skultka says : 



We commence hunting when the geese begin to fly, and hunt for a month and a 

 half. The geese commence to fly about the last of April. . . I think about three 

 females with pup out of every ten killed. I kill lots of yearling seals but never 

 examine them as to sex. (U. S. Case, Vol. II, p. 290.) 



Dan Kathlan ; 25 years old says : 



Have hunted seals since I was a boy. This is the first year I ever hunted on a 

 schooner. I am now on the schooner Adventure. When I was a boy I hunted seals 

 in Dixon's Entrance and off' Queen Charlotte Island. Always hunted during April 

 and May. In June the seals all leave going north. . . About one-half of the seal I 

 have taken were females with pup. Have taken a very few yearlings. (U. S. Case, 

 Vol. II, p. 286.) 



Ntkla-ah another Indian says : 



I was born at Howkan ; I am very old, about 60 years old. I have been a hunter 

 all my life. Have hunted fur-seals every season since I was old enough in a canoe. 

 The seals always come before the birds begin to sing very much, and they are all 

 gone when the salmon berries get ripe, which I think is between the months of 

 March and July. I tliink about half the seals taken by me are females with pup. 

 (U. S. Case, Vol. II, p. 288.) 



Another witness, Smith Natch (United States Case, Volume II, page 

 298), says: 



Always hunted fur-seals between March and June. They make their appearance 

 in March in Dixon's Entrance, but at that time of the year the weather is so bad we 

 cannot hunt them. May is the best time to hunt them because the weather is always 

 good. They all disappear in June and go north up the coast, I think to have their 

 pups. . . 



Thomas Skowl, Chief of the Kas-aan Indians (United States Case, 

 Volume II, i>age 300), says: 



I always hunt seal in Dixon's Entrance and off Prince of Wales Island, and hunted 

 them each year from March to June. The seals all leave about June 1st to go north 

 and have their pups, I think. . . Most of the seals taken by me are females with 

 pup. Never killed but one old bull in my life. 



There is the testimony of a large number of these witnesses — (I do 

 not like to read what is but repetition) — which will be found in the 

 United States Case, Volume II, pp. 276 to 303. 



There is a body of evidence that speaks of the course from Sitka to 

 Yakutak, Latitude 57° to 59° 30'. Adam Ayonkee (at page 255 of the 

 United States Case, Volume II), says: 



Seals 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, where they disappear 

 about June 30th. They are constantly on the advance up the coast. . . Most all seal 

 that I have killed have been pregnant cows. 



Thomas Gondoweu, from the same locality, says: 



Have hunted seals between Sitka and Cross Sound. They first appear about the 

 middle of this month (April), and disappear about the last of June. . . Most of the 

 seals killed are cows with ])U]). A few males are killed averaging from one to four 

 years old. (U. S. Case, Vol. II, p. 259.) 



Percy Kahik I Day, who has hunted seals since a small boy, says: 



The seals first make their appearance about the middle of April off Sitka sound 

 and disappear about July 1st. They are on their way up the coast. . . Most of the 



