ORAL AKGUMENT OP SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q, C. M. P. 151 



For the first few days, and ]iossil)ly for a week or even ten days the female is ahle 

 to nourish her young, or offspring, but she is soon compelled to seek the sea for food. 



It is no disrespect to Mv. ]>iowii to remind the Tribniial tbat till his 

 visit in 1891 to these Islands, he knew nothing about the seals at all. 

 Ill 1892, he makes a further affidavit, and he says. 



I was able to satisfy myself that females begin to go into the water from 14 to 17 

 days after first landing. 



It is a remarkable extension of the previous opinion showing- how 

 untrustworthy tirst impressions are, because the "week or ten days" 

 has become " from 14 to 17 days". The point is, the first going into the 

 water. 



The next fact to which Mr. Brown speaks is to be found at the bottom 

 of page 38G : 



The movements of females can also to a certain extent be well observed by their 

 appearance after giving birth to their pups, after fasting, and alter gorging them- 

 selves with food. After (lie birth of the pup, and after remaining upon the rookeries 

 even for a few days when the }H'riod of coming from and going into the water has 

 been entered upon, the mother lias a very decidedly gannt nppearauce, in strong 

 contrast to the 2jluni))uess of pregnancy or fall fee(ling. After feeding at sea they 

 come ashore again well rounded out. So marked is this that 1 have repeatedly been 

 misled by mothers in such a condition, mistaking them for pregnant cows, and have 

 discovered my error by seeing her call her pup and suckle it. If I had any doubt in 

 my mind as to the cows feeding at sea it was dispelled by an examination of three 

 cows I shot at Northeast Point on July 25th, 1892. Two "sunburnt " cows were first 

 killed and their stomachs were found to be empty. 



Not an unimportant fact, that as late as the 25th of July, 1892, two 

 sunburnt cows, by which he means cows frequenting the Rookery, were 

 killed in order to try to solve this question, and were found to be empty. 



Another was shot just as she came ashore and her stomach was gorged with half 

 digested codfish, which was identified by Mr. C. H. Townsend, an expert of the 

 United States Fish Commission. A dissection was made of this seal, and the udder, 

 which extends as a broad thick sheet at the centre, but thiuuing out towards the 

 edges, over the entire abdominal portion of the cow and well up to the fore flijipers, 

 was so charged with milk that on removing the skin the milk freely flowed out in 

 all directious, and previous to skinning it was possible with but little effort to extract 

 a sufficient amount to enable me to determine its taste and consistency. A large 

 supply of food is necessary to furnish such an abundant amount of milk. I have no 

 doubt that a well-developed mother seal could yield between a pint and a quart of 

 milk in the first 24 hours after landing from a feeding expedition, and with such 

 rich fountains to draw upon it is no wonder that the voracious pups increase during 

 their residence upon the island not less than four times their weight at birth. And 

 it is equally certain that without such a coustant supply of nourishment it could 

 not make such a rapid growth as it does. 



With all deference to Mr. Stanley Brown's opinion, I do not wish to 

 discount it unduly, he is a geologist, and I have no doubt the study of 

 that enables him, to a certain extent, to follow out the matter closely; 

 but, v.iien we have to deal with this opinion and the facts proved, it 

 amounts to this, that there was one seal, as late as the 25th of July out 

 of three, — two being killed with no food and one that had some (whether 

 the seal had a pup or not upon the Islands, we are not able to tell), — 

 but it is obvious that Mr, Brown could not ascertain every fact about 

 it. It is not a matter which is in any way sufficient to enable this 

 Tribunal to overset and disregard the body of testimony to which I 

 called attention in regard to this matter yesterday. 



Now, I come to that to which I ask the close attention of this Tribunal, 

 and that is a petition which I have never made uusuccessfuUy yet. 

 The United States believed, in 1891, that they had conclusive proof that 

 pelagic sealing caused the death of the seals, and accordingly they 

 stated that the death of the pups in 1891, to the amount of several 



