234 ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 



a drive, occasionally pass into a state of violent spasmodic activity, wliicli is aim- 

 lessly maintained till death eusnes. Under such circumstances, drives have not 

 infrequently had to Ije abandoned. 



On St. Paul Ishmd, the longest drives now practised are those liom Polavina to 

 the vicinity of the salt-house near Rocky Point, and from Tolstoi to the vi]la.<;e kill- 

 ing grounds. These are about equal in length, and each not much less than two 

 miles. On St. George, the longest drives are from the Great Eastern Rookery and 

 from Starry Artcel Rookery to the village killing grouu<ls, each being about three 

 miles in length, the time occupied in driving being from four to six hours, according 

 to the weather. Under the Russian regime much longer drives were made, and in 

 the curtailment of these a very considerable improvement has been effected, but the 

 essentially injurious features of the drive remain the same. 



On liehring Island, of the Commander gronji, the fU'ives are short, the longest 

 being about one and a-half miles, from the South Rookery. On Copper Island, on 

 the contrary, the drives generally extend across the island, and are from three to 

 four miles long, verj'^ rough, and crossing one or more intervening steep ridges. 

 These drives nuist be much mote trying to the seals than any now made upon the 

 Pribilof Islands, and are, in fact, only rendered possible by extreme caution on the 

 part of the drivers, and by the expenditure of much time. 



If it were ])ossible to drive only those seals which it is intended to kill, little 

 exception could be taken to the method of driving in the absence of any Ijetter 

 method, but the mingling of seals of varied ages ui)on the hauling grounds from 

 which the drives are taken, even under the original and more favourable conditions 

 of former years, renders it necessary to drive to the killing place many seals either 

 too young or too old to be killed. It is sometimes possible to "cut out" from the 

 drives many of these unnecessary individuals eit route, and great care is exercised 

 in this respect on the Conunander Islands, though little appears to have been prac- 

 tised on the Pribilof Islands. 



It admits of no dispute that a very considerable impairment of the vital energy 

 of seals thus driven, and eventually turned away from the killing grounds, occurs, 

 altogether apart from the certainty that a proportion of such seals receive actual 

 physical injuries of one kind or another, but this appeared to have been recognized 

 on the PribilotF Islands only within the past two or three years. 



Then come a citation from Mr. Goffs report which I have ah-eady 

 read. 



'Now, Mr. President, I want to say a word with reference to the facts 

 of this matter by calhng attention to the citations at page 2(31 of the 

 Counter Case, passages which have already been read and I will not 

 trouble yon by reading them again, of a number of people Avith regard 

 to the cruelty of the drives; but I do want to say one word about Mr. 

 Palmer. And I will ask you to be good enough to turn to pages 187 

 and 188 of the British Commissioner's Eeport, where Mr. Palmer's 

 Eeport upon this matter is set out at length. 



Now, what are the facts with regard to this? If you will look, Mr. 

 Palmer, of the United Stales ISTational Museum, Washington, a geutle- 

 man whom it is not suggested had either motive or object in saying 

 what was not true, personally dissected and examined a large number 

 of these seals. The facts are stated at page 188: 



When driven into the water the seals are weak from two causes, the drive and 

 lack of food; beibre they can secure food they must rest, and rest is only obtainable 

 at the exp<'nse of that most vital necessity of these animals, their fat. I remember 

 looking with great curiosity for the cause of death of the lirst dead seal that I found 

 stranded on tlie beach, l^xternally there was nothing to indicate it, but tlie lirst 

 stroke of the knii'e revealed instantly what I am contidcnt has been the cause of 

 death of countless thousands of fur-seals. It had been chilled to death; not a trace 

 remained of the fat that had once clothed its body and protected the vital organs 

 within. Since the day that it had escaped from the drive, it had consumed all its 

 fat in the effort to kee]i warm, and nothing remained but to lie down and die. I 

 opened many after this, and always discovered the same, but sometimes an addi- 

 tional cause, a fractured skull perhaps. I have even noted those lelt behind in a 

 drive, and watched them daily, Avith the same result in many cases. At tirst they 

 would revel in the ]^onds or wander auu)ng the sand dunes, but in a few days their 

 motions became distinctly slower, thi! curvature of the spine became lessened; 

 eventually the poor brutes would drag their hind Hippers as they moved, and in a 

 few days more become food for the foxes. In every case the fat had disappeared. 



