ORAL ARGUMENT OF FREDERICK R, COUDERT, ESQ. 403 



The large majority of seals taken on tlie coast and in Behring Sea are cows with 

 pups in the Pacific Ocean and with milk in Behring Sea. A few young male seals 

 are taken in the North Pacific Ocean from two to three years old. Have taken females 

 that were full of milk 60 miles from the Pribilof Islands. 



And Bernard Bleidner was out in 1887 and 1889. He sealed in the 

 JSTorth Pacific. 



Most all were females and had pups in them. 1 think fully two- thirds of all we 

 caught were females and a few were bulls. 



Then Niels Bonde, of Victoria, Sealer, has been for four years in this 

 business. 



The President. — We are struck by the appearance of Scandinavian 

 names, here. 



Mr. CouDERT. — Yes. Wherever anything is done on the high seas, 

 you will be sure to find their names. They found Iheir way to America 

 before Columbus. 



The President. — Yes, the successors of the ancient Vikings, no 

 doubt; but I suppose these people did their business under the British 

 or American flags'? It is not a case of the Scandinavian flag appearing 

 on these scenes"? 



Mr. CouDERT. — No; there was no Scandinavian flag. 



NiFLS Bonde, of Victoria, Sealer, has been out four years on sealing schooners 

 from Victoria, namely from 1887 to 1890 inclusive. He says: 



The seals caught along the coast after tlie first of April was mostly pregnant females 

 aud those caught iu Behring Sea were females that had given birth to their young. 

 I often noticed the milk flowing out of their breasts when being skinned and have 

 seen them killed more than 100 miles from the seal islands. I have seen live puj)S 

 cut out of their mothers aud live around on the decks for a week. 



Then he was crossexamined, and he says this: 



That on each of said vessels (namely the f .ur he had served on) I had more or less 

 to do with skinning the seals, and would say that about 60 per cent on the coast were 

 females and about 50 per cent in Behring Sea. I distiuguish the male skin from the 

 female by the absence of teats. 

 Then Thomas Bkown, of Victoria, Sealer, says of 1889: 



Most all the seals that we shot aud secured were females and had young pups in 

 them and we would sometimes skin them. 



He says of 1890: 



We were sealing about three months and got ahout 400 seals, most all females. . . 

 We did not enter Behring Sea^ aud returned to Victoria in April. Our catch was 

 fully 80 per cent females. 



He says of 1891 : 



Commenced sealing off Cape Flattery, and all the seals which we caught were 

 pregnant females. 



So that the Admiral was literally right when he said they were killing 

 females with shot-guns. 



Then Christ Clausen, of Victoria, Master Mariner. 



Acted as mate in 1889. Was navigator on schoouer Minnie in 1890. 



My catch that year was 2,600, of which about two thousand were caught in Beh- 

 riug Sea. 



Acted as navigator on same vessel in 1891. 



The seals we catch along the coast are nearly all pregnant females. It is seldom 

 "we capture an old bull, and what males we get are usually young ones. I have fre- 

 quently seen cow seals cut open and the iiuboru pups cutout of them, and they would 

 live for several days. This is a frequent occurrence. It is my experience that fully 

 85 per cent of the seals I took in Behring Sea were females that had given birth to 

 their pups, and their teats would be full of milk. I have caught seals of this kind 

 from 100 to 150 miles away from the Pribilof Islands. 



