FORTY-FIRST DAY, JUNE 20™, 1893. 



Sir EiCHA_RD Webster. — I bave but one other concluding subject to 

 touch, Mr. President, in any amount of detail; and you will remember. 

 Sir, that I had addressed this Tribunal with reference to the existing- 

 conditions of the Islands, and had argued to the best of my ability, 

 citing numerous passages of the evidence, that there is the strongest 

 possible testimony to show that the condition of the Islands in the years 

 subsequent to 188G, and I niiglit even say earlier than that, was due to 

 the reckless killing of the male-life for a long series of years. I know 

 or I believe the Tribunal will be good enough to read fin- themselves the 

 passages in Mr. Elliott's Keport that bear upon this; but, in order to 

 complete my statement, I will enumerate the pages that they may api>ear 

 upon the note. 



You will remember, Mr. President, that two features of active male 

 life upon those Rookeries are figiits among the males and a ]>roportion 

 as we contend of not more than 15 to 20 females to each male bull as 

 compared with the condition of things which has been described, and 

 of which I gave the evidence of tlie other day, — practically speaking 

 no fighting at all among the bulls, a large number of com.iDaratively 

 speaking effete bulls and a comparatively few bulls with very large 

 harems. 



I call attention to page 24 of Mr, Elliott's report. 1 will only give 

 you, so that you may have them on the note, the pages, and I ask tlie 

 Tribunal to be good enough to read the series of extracts. About the 

 middle of the page he speaks of the absence of bulls which formed 

 the striking feature of that changed order of affairs and declares a 

 reduction of more than one half of the females and fully 9/lOtlis of the 

 males on this rookery. 



Then the third paragraph on that page: 



Eigliteen years ago tliese slopes of "Garbotch" and the Reef Parade were covered 

 ■with angry, eager lusty bulls, two and three weeks before the first eows eveu arrived : 

 they came in by the 5th to the 22ud May in such numbers as to fill the space at close 

 intervals of from 7 to 10 feet apart, solidly from the shore line to the ridge summit, 

 and over, even, so far that it required the vigorous use of a club before we could get 

 upon "Old John Rock" from the rear: 



That is the name of the place: 



then two, at that time they were fighting in every direction under our eyes. 



This season I do not observe a bull here, where I saw at least ten at this time 18 

 years ago. Now, not a fight hi profjress anjiwhere here, there are not bulls enough to 

 quarrel, they are now scattered apart so widely over this same ground as to be a 

 hundred and eveu a hundred and fifty feet apart over ground where in 1872 an inter- 

 val of ten feet between them did not exist. 



Now I remind the Tribunal this is referring to animals of an average 

 of eight years old, and many of them still more. It is most pointed 

 testimony and the Tribunal already know that which I have told them 

 so many times — they will find in Lavender's, Goff"'s, and the other con- 

 temporaneous reports, the strongest independent confirmation of this 

 statement. On page 33, the bottom of the page, 



On Lukannon this last summer, while there were two fifths as many cows as in 

 1872, yet the bulls did not average more than ouefifteenthof the number they showed 

 in 1872. On Keetavie 



232 



