ORAL AEGUMENT OF FREDERICK R. COUDERT, ESQ. 407 



Sunday, 30 Angnsc. Result of huut: First boat, two seals; sea-boat, one ; Indinn 

 canoe seven; total, ten seals, seven of which were cows in milk. Several, as usual, 

 reported wounded and lost by the boats. The great superiority of the Indian spear 

 evident. 



I want to say, in connection with tliis gentleman, that his testimony 

 is confirmed by Mr. King Hall, a son of the British Admiral of that 

 name, Sir William King Hall, who was on board as a corresiiondent. 

 I have not taken it out, it will be found in the United States Case, 

 volume 2, pages 332 to 334, and the Tribunal will be much interested 

 in reading it. 



Now that we have given this testimony, it may be proper to read 

 what the British Commissioners, in their Report, express as their views 

 with regard to pelagic sealing. 



Those views may be specially noted in connection with the foregoing 

 descriptions of how gravid nursing females are killed: 



By the pelagic sealers and by Indian hunters along the coast, fur-seals of both 

 sexes are killed, and, indeed, it would be unreasonable, under the circumstances, to 

 expect that a distinction should be made in this respect, any mure than that the angler 

 should discriminate between the sexes of the fish he may hook. 



That I have read before. Then 610. 



The accusation of butchery laid against those who take the seals on shore cannot 

 be brought against this pelagic method of killing the seal, v.'hicli is really hniitinfj 

 as distinguished from slaughter, and iu which the animal has what may be described 

 as a fair sporting chance for its life. 



[The Tribunal then adjourned for a short time.] 



The President. — Mr. Coudert, we are ready to hear you. 



Mr. Coudert. — When this learned Tribunal adjourned for the recess, 

 I had just read extracts from the British Commissioners' Reports charg- 

 ing butchery against those who killed the seals on the island, and 

 expressing the opinion that the slaughter which I have described at 

 sea was sportsmanlike in its character in that it gave the animal a fair 

 sporting chance for its life. I could not do justice to that by any com- 

 ment, and I leave it to the Tribunal without criticism. 



I proceed now with what we call the American evidence. The Tri- 

 bunal will observe that the United States, in offering this proof to the 

 Tribunal, could give no other evidence of its respect for the nature of 

 the Court than its evident attempt to get all the best evidence on 

 the subject that it was possible to secure. We have produced before 

 you the Furriers of all the nations where these articles are dealt with. 



We have even given you the testimony of our adversaries the Cana- 

 dian sealers. We have given you the evidence of high official gentle- 

 men on the other side, and I now propose to read (and not to any great 

 extent), some of the American evidence, repeating that this small pam- 

 phlet only contains extracts from a part of the depositions. 



I will read the evidence of Captain C. F. Hooper, of the United States 

 Revenue Marine ( U. S. Counter Case, page 214). Captain Hooper made 

 extensive official investigations in regard to seal-life on the Pribiloft" 

 Islands, in Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean in 1891, and 1802, 

 In the course of these investigations he captured, between July 24 and 

 August 31, 1892 forty one seals iu Bering sea. 



Of course, he made no effort to capture any large number, but his 

 effort was to ascertain scientifically what the real condition of things 

 was then, and he secured a sufficiently large number to guess, if you 

 please, at what might be the fact with regard to the whole business. 

 He secured 41 seals and examined them, and of those he found that there 

 were of old males only 1, young males 11, nursing cows 22, and virgin 

 cows 7. That is stated in full in the American Counter Case, page 219. 



