304 ORAL ARGUMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. PHELPS. 



the Aleutian Islands till June, perhaps well on into June, and all the 

 evidence concurs as to the time at wliich thej' arrive on the iskmds, 

 bearing in mind, Sir, a suggestion that I believe fell from you, or at all 

 events from one of the Arbitrators, that it is true that the different 

 ages and sexes of the seals do not travel together. There is a great 

 deal of testimony to that efl'ect, and a great deal of testimony other- 

 wise, which I do not care to go into; but while the bulls precede the 

 cows, the difference in time and in space is not sufficient to enable a 

 discrimination to be made. It is impossible to say that there is any 

 time for a vessel to go out, so that its catch would be confined to the 

 old bulls, even if the destruction at that time would not be particularly 

 injurious; but assuming that their jdace would be tilled from the hol- 

 luschickie if they were destroyed, it would be simply reducing the 

 number of holluschickie. The time and locality is not enough to dis- 

 criminate between the females and the holhischickie. The evidence is 

 that they travel along substantially together. There is some evidence 

 that the females precede them. Perliaps they do, and perhaps they do 

 not. I do not stop a moment to weigh the evidence on this subject, 

 because it is plain, as I said before, tiiat there is not any discrimination 

 practicable. It is not possible to say that a vessel can go in those 

 months, or into that locality, with the expectation of failing to take 

 female seals. 



The President. — Practically there does not seem to be evidence that 

 in pelagic sealing many of those old bulls are killed — I do not believe 

 there is any evidence on that. 



Mr. Phelps. — I agree with you, Sir; the testimony is that very few 

 of them are taken. I suppose they are a little in advance of the ves- 

 sels, or are more successful in keeping out of the way than the poor 

 females are. 



The President. — They might be better marks as they are bigger. 



Mr. Phelps. — Yes, and also they winter in the north, and do not follow 

 the migration of the herd, and do not come down south as far as (Jali- 

 fornia, and have not so far to go; but whatever the reason is, which we 

 need not stop to speculate on, the fact is conceded on all hands. 



I want to call attention to one other mass of testimony as to the time 

 these pelagic sealers go into Behring Sea in point of fact, and this 

 indicates something that is worthy of notice. We have examined 79 

 witnesses, that is to say, of the many witnesses we have examined, 

 79 fix a date as to the time they enter Behring Sea, and their testimony 

 is — I should say that 79 testify — that they enter the Sea after June the 

 20th, and 68 of them between July 1st and July 15th. Of course, 

 those two classes of evidence comprise a good many of the same wit- 

 nesses, because there are but 79 all told, but out of the 79, I repeat, 68 

 say they entered the Sea after the 1st July. 



Kow, of the 316 Depositions taken by Great Britain and printed of 

 the pelagic sealers of all classes, Captains, Mates, hunters, Indians and 

 everybody, the question is only put to 5 of them as to the time at which 

 they go into the Behring Sea; and those five testify precisely as these 

 American Witnesses I have cited do. One says the latter part of June ; 

 two say early in June, and the other two July the 20th. Why was not 

 that question put to the other witnesses in this great mass of eviden(;e? 

 I think I can give the reason. It is jtroposed by these Commissioners to 

 make the close time as to Behring Sea terminate on the 1st of July, 



