THE DEPONENTS AND THEIR EXPERIENCE. 21 



oil's Entrance and off Prince of Wales Island during the month of 

 May and June each year. 



Q. What is your name, age, residence, and occupation? — A. My 

 name is Luther T. Franklin; age, 35; residence, 

 at present, Oakland; occupation, seal-hunter. Luther T. Franklin, p. 



Q. Are you a citizen of the United States ? — 425. 

 A. Yes, sir. 



Q. What State are you a resident of? — A. State of California. 



Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Be- 

 ring Sea? — A. Yes, sir. 



Q. For how long a time have you been so engaged? — A. Three sea- 

 sons. 



Alfred Fraser, being duly sworn, says: First, that he is a subject of 

 Her Britannic Majesty and is 52 years of age and 

 resides in the city of Brooklyn, in the State of Alfred Fraser, p. 554. 

 New York. That he is a member of the firm of 



C. M. Lampson & Co., of London, and has been a member of said firm 

 for about thirteen years; prior to that time he was in the employ of 

 said firm and took an active part in the management of the business of 

 said firm in London. That the business of C. M. Lampson & Co. is 

 that of merchants, engaged principally in the business of selling fur 

 skins on commission. That for about twenty-four years the firm of C. 

 M. Lampson & Co. have sold the great majority of the whole number 

 of seal skins sold in all the markets of the world. That while he was 

 engaged in the management of the business of said firm in London he 

 had personal knowledge of the character of the various seal skins sold 

 by the said firm, from his personal inspection of the same in their ware- 

 house and from the physical handling of the same by him. That many 

 hundred thousands of the skins sold by C. M. Lampson & Co. have 

 physically passed through his hands; and that since his residence in 

 this country he has, as a member of said firm, had a general and de- 

 tailed knowledge of the character and extent of the business of said 

 firm, although since his residence in the city of New York he has not 

 physically handled the skins disposed of by his firm. 



John Fratis, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 47 years of 

 age and was born on the Ladrone Islands. I can 

 speak the English, Russian, and Spanish Ian- John Fratis, p. 107. 

 guages, and I understand the "Aleut "as it is 

 spoken by the natives of St. Paul Island, Alaska. 



I came to St. Paul Island in 1869, and married a native woman and 

 became one of the people; was made a native sealer and have resided 

 here ever since. 



From 1859 to 18G9 I was employed on whaling vessels working in 

 Bering and Okhotsk seas and the Arctic Ocean. I have been along the 

 coast of Bering and Okhotsk seas, and along the coast of Alaska in the 

 North Pacific Ocean from Sitka to Unalaska. I have worked on the 

 sealing grounds at everything there is to do, from driving to clubbing, 

 and preparing the skins for shipment. 



Thomas Frazer, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native 

 of England, and am 50 years old ; have been seven- 

 teen years in the United States, of which I am a Thos. Frazer, p. 364, 

 citizen. I am a resident of Port Towsend, and 



