ARGUMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN. 71 



to. This consists eitlier of mere assertion, or, wlien proof 

 is endeavonred to be advanced, it is quite inconclusive in 

 character. 



Observations in 1892 show that young seals do at least British conn- 

 occasionally obtain milk from other mothers than their own. dix, voi.'i, pa43- 



"3. Period at toJiich the Female Seals go into the Water. ^^ 



In regard to this subject, as in the case of the last, it ^'^s**^ ^7,58. 

 will be found that the Eeport of the British Commissioners 

 makes no definite " assertion," though it is represented as 

 so doing in the Counter-Case of the United States; wliere 

 it is also stated that the lieport "practically adopts the 

 opinion of Siiegiloft", the native foreman on the Kiissian 

 Islands," though this is likewise not apparent in the Eeport 

 itself. In the Eeport it will, in fact, be found that all the 

 evidence available, together with the personal observations 

 of the Commissioners, has been collected and discussed 

 impartially. 



The general conclusion arrived at by the British Com- 

 missioners is to the effect that the female seals remain some 

 time on land after giving birth; that when they begin to 

 return to the sea they do not at once resume their feo<ling 

 habits, but resort to the waters close to the shores, and that 

 probably about the middle of September, they may again 

 begin to spend a considerable portion of their time at sea 

 in search of food. 



It is because these conclusions, and the evidence support- 

 ing them, are found to be adverse to a new position since 

 taken in the Case of the United States, that it appears to 

 be considered necessary to commit the British Commis- 

 sioners to some "'assertion" which may effectively be 



attacked. 

 83 The evidence obtained from the natives of the poJ p^joe ^^' 



Pribyloff and Commander Islands is rejected by the 

 United States because the names of the Commissioners' 

 informants are not detailed, a point dealt with elsewhere. 



Information regarding the feeding habits of sealsobtained „,ii'siuneTs'^°Ke' 

 from Her Majesty's Minister at Tokiois rejected, and stated port,_ AppemUx, 

 to be "based on no actual knowledge," though he specially ^'' ^'''' 

 states that the notes prepared by him were "based on an 

 experienced authority." 



The published statements of Capt. Bryant as to the P"ses58, 69, 

 period during which the females remain on shore after giv- 

 ing birth are next attacked, and it is endeavoured to show 

 that discrepancies occur in his Eeport; while the fact that 

 the same author (a Government ofhcial) does not repeat the 

 statement of the actual period during which the females 

 remain ashore after giving birth, in a later communication 

 addressed to Professor Allen, is said to show that — 



Captain Bryant had publicly discarded the opinion used by the Com- 

 missioners to maintain their jyosition. 



And, as evidence of this, references are given to two state- 

 ments made to Professor Allen, in neither of which does 

 Captain Bryant say anything at variance with what is 



