SCO ARGUMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



over one seal to every hundred shot at. (Vol. II, p. 335, of the Appen 

 dix to tbe Case of the United States.) 



We shall now lay before this High Tribunal additional testimony as 

 to the nature and extent and effect of pelagic sealing. The extracts: 

 and references about to be given may seem monotonously cumulative, 

 but it is important to show, otherwise than by mere -affirmation, how 

 far the existence of the herd is menaced and how soon extermination 

 may be expected unless prompt and efficient measures of redress be 

 adopted. 



The evidence of credible witnesses, dealing neither in generalities nor 

 in speculation, leaves no doubt as to the appalling extent of the massa- 

 cre. It is impossible to assume that the witnesses produced for the 

 United States deliberately perjured themselves as to numbers, dates, 

 and distances. Even if any reason were given for throwing a suspi- 

 cion upon their character, the reticence of many of the witnesses exam- 

 ined by the British Commissioners as to the sex of the animals killed is 

 significant. It is to the credit of these persons that while they did not 

 hesitate to state that they had slain large numbers of seals in Ber- 

 ing Sea without discrimination, they refrained from giving any precise 

 data as to the sex of the animals that they captured. 



If, however, it is desired to know how far this ruthless and exter- 

 minating process is carried, the desire for information may readily be 

 gratified. 



The sealing schooner Favorite, McLean, master, according to Osly, a 

 native sealer who went to the Bering Sea on her as a hunter, captured 

 4,700 seals, most all of which were cow seals giving milk. They were 

 captured at a distance of about 100 miles from the Pribilof Islands. 



In 1888 the same hunter was on board the Challenger, Captain Wil- 

 liams, master. They were less successful and caught only about 2,000 

 seals, most of which were cows in milk. 



In 1889, he again went to sea on the schooner James G. Swan, but 

 the seals were not so abundant; they were rapidly decreasing. (Ap- 

 pendix to the Case of the United States, Vol. II, pp. 390, 391.) 



Niels Bonde (ibid., p. 315), of Victoria, British Columbia, was a sea- 

 man on board the schooner Kate. He went to the Bering Sea, arriving 

 there in July, and left in the latter part of August. They had caught 

 about 1,700 seals in that time between the Pribilof Islands and Un- 

 alaska. These were caught from 10 to 100 or more miles off St. George 

 Island. The seals caught in Bering Sea were females that had given 



