THE DEPONENTS AND THEIR EXPERIENCE. 71 



In 1870 I entered the employ of the lessees of the Pribilof Islands and 

 have been so engaged ever since, and for the last thirteen years have 

 been the company's local agent on St. George Island, and dining the 

 sealing season liave, a part of the time, gone to St. Paid Island and 

 took charge of the killing at Northeast Point, which is known to be 

 the- largest fur-seal rookery in the world. For ten years prior to 1878 

 I resided most of the time at Northeast Point, having landed and taken 

 seals there in 1808. I have had twenty-four years' experience in the 

 fur seal industry as it exists in the waters of the North Pacific and 

 Bering Sea, and have made a very careful study of the habits and 

 conditions of this useful animal. 



Weckenunesch, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a chief 

 of the village of Mchulet (Barclay Sound), aud a _ , 

 resident of this village. Weckenunesch, p. 311. 



P. S. Weittenhiller, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I have re- 

 sided at Sitka the past nine years. Am now 



owner of the sealing schooner" Clara and have en- P- S. Weittenhiller, p. 274. 

 gaged in sealing this season. I first took seal off 

 Sitka Sound during the month of March. Have done my sealing all 

 this year between Cape Edgecombe and Cross Sound. 



Charley White, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am about 40 

 years old, and am a native Makah Indian. I reside 

 on the Indian Reservation at Neah Bay, State of Charley White, p. 395. 

 Washington, United States of America. I am 



by occupation a hunter and fisherman, and have been so engaged all 

 my life. 1 have hunted seals in canoes all along the coast between 

 Grays Harbor and the northern end of Vancouver Island. 



Michael White, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am 50 years 

 of age. I reside in East Oakland My occupa- 

 tion is master mariner, and I have been so en- Michael White, p. 489. 

 gaged for twenty-seven years, off and on. I have 



been engaged in seal-hunting during the years 1885, 1880, 1887, 1888, 

 and 1889, in the North Pacific and Bering Sea. I first went out in 1885 in 

 the schooner City of San Diego, chartered by myself and others. * * * 

 In 1880 I was master of the schooner Terese. * * * In 1887 I was 

 master of the schooner Lottie Fairfield. * * * In 1888 I took the 

 schooner Undaunted on a fishing and sealing voyage. * * * I did 

 the same in 1889. 



William Wiepert, being duly sworn, says : I am 47 years of age, a cit- 

 izen of the United States, and a resident of the 

 city of Brooklyn, State of New York. I am, and Wm. Wiepert, p. 535. 

 have been for the last six years, the superintend- 

 ent of the manufacturing department of the house of Asch & Jaeckel, 

 which carries on a general wholesale fur business in the city of New 

 York, and between the years of 1880 and 1880 I w*as the foreman of 

 this establishment. Prior to 1880 I had already handled large num- 

 bers of fur-seal skins, and since the time when I entered the employ of 

 Asch & Jaeckel I believe I have handled, assorted, and closely in- 

 spected at least 100,000 dressed and dyed fur-seal skins. During the 

 past two years I have handled large numbers of northwest-coast skins 

 (i. e., skins of animals taken in the Pacific Ocean or in Bering Sea). 



