238 THE SEALS. 



these "drives" did not exceed one hundred, and the majority of them 

 were killed by the large seals crushing the smaller ones to death. In 

 every case of a seal being killed on the " drive," I , as Government agent, 

 imposed a fine in order that they might be more careful in the future. 

 And T remember when 1 was first rated a man, some twenty-three 

 years ago; it was when Kerrick Buterin was chief, and he used to fol- 

 low us up when we went to drive seals, and tell us to walk along as 

 slow as we could, so as not to tire the seals or worry them in any way. 



When we used to kill 85,000 seals in two months we had to work hard, 



and we had to go out at night to drive, so that 



Jacob Kotchooten, p. 131. the seals should not be hurried, nor driven in 



the daytime when it was warm. In those days 



seals were driven from Halfway Point to the village, when the ground 



was wet, a distance of about 6 miles, and we used to start the drive at 



6 o'clock at night, and get into the village between 6 and 7 o'clock next 



morning. * * * 



The drives are always made by our own people, under the direction 

 of the chiefs. 



Copper Island is some 30 miles long and from 1 to 3 miles wide. 



The rookeries lie on the easterly and the village 

 C.F.EmilKrebs,p. 196. and killing grounds on the westerly side of the 



island. Between the rookeries and the killing 

 grounds a continuous ridge, ranging from a few hundred to 2,000 feet 

 in height, runs the whole length of the island. Over this ridge, at a 

 point where it reaches about <><>(> or 700 feet in height, all the seals are 

 driven, the journey requiring from five to twenty-four hours, depending 

 upon the weather. The practice of thus driving them has been pursued 

 ever since the earliest history of the business. Many of the seals are 

 repeatedly driven and redriveu over this trail in a single summer, but 

 I have never seen any injury to them from the exertion to which they 

 are in this way subjected. The statement of an expert that the virility 

 of the seal is sapped and his powers of reproduction in any way weak- 

 ened by such redriving is not borne out by the facts. On the contrary, 

 the steady and rapid increase of the herd at Copper Island, already 

 pointed out, again proves the old adage that in this matter, as in others, 

 " theory is everywhere good except in practice." 



The driving is all done by our own people under direction of the 



chiefs and we never drive faster than about half 



Nicoli Krukoff,p. 133. a mile in one hour. We very seldom drive twice 



from one rookery in one week. * * * 

 I never saw a seal killed by overdriving or by overheating; odd 

 ones do die on the drives by smothering-, but their skins are taken 

 by the company and are counted in with the others. 



I have been told that there are persons who claim we are not careful 



in driving seals and that we kill them regardless 



Aggei Euslien, p. 129. of sex. These statements are not true. I have 



taken my turn at driving seals from the hauling 



to the killing grounds every year since 1870, and I know the driving is 



vvvy carefully done. When I first came here seals used to be driven 



from Halfway Point to the village, a distance of about miles; and 



from Zapadnie to the village, a distance of nearly 5 miles. W et, or very 



eUmp| cool weather was choseuior such drives, and we started the drive 



