246 THE SEALS. 



made, after such had taken place. I became familiar with the manner 

 of driving, handling, and killing the seals by the natives, and I con- 

 sider tin 1 methods employed by them to be practically perfect, and no im- 

 provement can be made on such methods. The greatest care is always 

 taken not to heat the seals in driving them, and in case the sun came 

 out during a drive the seals were allowed to return to the sea. 



The work of taking the annual "catch' 1 was done in 1883, 1884, and 



1885 under my management in the same way in 



LeonSloss, p. 91. every particular as under my predecessor. The 



seals were carefully driven, handled, and killed 



m an orderly manner, the whole work being carried on as sy somatically 



and quietly as in the well-conducted slaughterhouses in our cities. The 



talk about lasting injury resulting from overexertion to such seals as 



are turned back to the water after having been driven to the killing 



grounds is nonsense. 



I made a very particular examination and study of the methods em- 

 ployed by the natives in driving and killing the 



W. B. Taylor, p. 176. young males, or bachelors, and in my opinion these 

 methods are the very best that could be adopted, 

 and I can conceive of no other way which could be employed and pre- 

 serve seal life so effectually. In starting a drive the bachelors are 

 driven from the hauling grounds, which are separated from the breeding 

 grounds. * * * A drive is always made between 2 and 6 o'clock in 

 the morning, when the weather is cool and there is less liability of over- 

 heating the seals. Seals are driven as slowly as is possible and still 

 keep them in motion. 1 do not think that there were fifty seals killed 

 during the season by overheating and smothering, and in all cases the 

 skins of these were taken and counted with the other skins transported 

 to the salt houses. 



While located on St. George I became thoroughly acquainted with 



the methods of driving, handling, and killing the 

 Geo. Wdrdman, p. 178. bachelor seals by the natives. I believe those 

 methods are the very best that could be adopted 

 for the preservation of the rookeries and conservation of seal life. 



Seals were rarely killed by overdriving; but when such an accident 

 occurred the skin was taken off and included in the quota. Often after 

 the drive 1 went over the ground where the seals had been driven 

 and counted those left on the road. They were very few in number, 

 and did not affect seal life in general on the island. 



After I learned the business one of my duties was to have charge of 



one of the gangs of natives engaged in driving the 



S. M. Washburn, p. 155. seals from the rookeries to the killing grounds 



and there slaughtering them. Such seals as we 



did not slaughter for their skins were allowed to return at will to the 



rookeries and were in no way injured by such driving and return. On 



getting back to the place whence they started they were, after a short 



rest, as playful and active as ever. 



The longest drives made on St. George Island are from " Starry 

 Ateel" and "Great Eastern" rookeries, and they 



Danl. Webster, p. 181. are less than 3 miles long. Drives from these 

 rookeries require iroin four to six hours, accord- 



