ORAL ARGUMENT OF JAMES C. CARTER, ESQ. 199 



amoiis, insomuch that one male suffices to serve from twenty to forty 

 females, and for a long series of years large dralts have been made 

 upon the males. The females therefore greatly outnumber tlie males — 

 perhaps three or four to one. Therefore the catch of tenia les would 

 naturally outnumber the catch of males by three or four to one. Again, 

 while the seals are on their northerly migration the females are easily 

 approached and more easily killed. Such are the probabilities; lunv 

 what is the evidence as to the fact*? The testimony given on our side 

 by a multitude of depositions proves that the catch of females is as 

 much as eighty or ninety per cent, of the whole number taken. Tluit 

 evidence is derived from individuals engaged in pelagic sealing. In the 

 next place we have the evidence of the furriers who handle the skins, 

 and who can tell at a glance the difterence between a male and female 

 skin; and their evidence tends to show that the pro|»ortion of females 

 is very much greater than seventy-five per cent. Against this we have 

 a very large number of conflicting affidavits on the part of Great 

 Britain, and I may allude to these affidavits. There are twenty-six 

 witnesses whose depositions were given on the part of Great Britain 

 who state that the catch of females is larger than that of males. 

 Nineteen agreed that the proportion of females in the whole catch was 

 sixty per cent, one placing it as high as eu/hty per cent. There were 

 thirty-five witnesses who said that the numbers were nearly the same. 

 Thirty-eight stated generally that more males than females were taken ; 

 and then there were thirty who stated that there were sometimes more 

 females and sometimes more males. 



Now, putting all that together, it does not displace the superior evi- 

 d^ce submitted on the part of the United States, fortified as it is by 

 the probabilities of the case, that at least seventy-five per cent, of the 

 catch is composed of females. In the next place, iu pelagic sealing 

 there are of course— it must be so — a great many seals fatally wounded 

 which are not captured. Now the general purport of the evidence of 

 the United States is to the effect that at least a quarter of the numl»er 

 of seals that are wounded and eventually killed are lost and not recov- 

 ered. And the other fact which I have stated as an inseparable feature 

 of pelagic sealing is that a large proportion of females are either heavy 

 with young, or nursing mothers. Those killed on their migration North 

 to the Pribilof Islands are heavy with young. They give hirth to their 

 youug a day or two after landing. They appear to land only when 

 forced to do so for the purpose of giving birth to the young. And 

 these affidavits give sickening details which I do not think it proper 

 to dwell upon now respecting the slaughter of females heavy with 

 young. They are skinned upon the deck of the vessel, and the young 

 drop out bleating and crying upon the deck and remain in that condition ; 

 sometimes for days. After giving birth to their young on the island 

 the females are obliged to go out to sea in search of food, and they 

 travel great distances, sometimes, it is said as far as a hundred and 

 fifty miles. They have been found and killed at such a distance, and 

 it was apparent from their condition that they had young on shore. 

 The details of the killing of these nursing animals— mammals with 

 distended breasts, are sickening; but I do not dwell upon them here 

 because 1 am only dealing with the material facts which I shall 

 endeavor to bring to bear upon this question of property. Now this 

 recital of the principal facts which it is needful to take into considera- 

 tion in determining the question of property embraces the following 

 propositions which I believe cannot be disputed by the other side: 



1. The seal is a mammal, highly polygamous, but producing one only 

 each year. Its rate of increase is, therefore, exceedingly slow. 



