212 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



(},. Is not the whale the same ? — A. The whale is no more a fish than the seal. 



Q. It is a mammal; it is a swimmer? — A. If you were to fall overboard in mid- 

 ocean you would he a swimmer. 



Q. How is it with the walrus? — A. It is a mammal, not a fish. 



Q. So is the whale is it not ? — A. Yes. 



Q. How do you draw a distinction between the whale and the seal; the one you 

 consider a fish and the other not ? — A. I don't consider the seal a fish. 



Q. I thought you did. Now, don't you consider it a very unr easonable action on 

 the part of the United States, the refusal to admit seal-oil as fish-oil. Perhaps you 

 don't care to answer ? — A. I don't object to answer. lam not a politician. I am per- 

 fectly willing to answer the question. I know that the p enguin is considered a fish, 

 commercially — that is, that penguin-oil is received in En gland as fish-oil. 



Q. That is a very important matter. I should like very much to have it taken down 

 that, as a commercial oil, the penguin-oil is considered a fish-oil ?— A. It is in London. 



Q. Is it not in the United States ? — A. No ; but as far as I am informed the oil is 

 classified in the London custom-house and trade returns as a fish-oil. 



Q. What is the quintal in weight? — A. 112 pounds in some localities, and in some 

 100 pounds. 



Q. It was given here as 114 pounds? — A. Well, it might be 114 pounds. It is sim- 

 ply my impression that the quintal is considered 112 pounds. I would not be posi- 

 tive. A practical fish-dealer would give more positive information than I could. 

 By Mr. Dana : 



Q. Here, on the 148th page of British Testimony we have a letter from Governor 

 Hill to the Earl of Kimberly, taken from the journals of the legislative council in 

 Newfoundland. It appears here, in the evidence of Judge Bennett, as follows : 



Government House, 



Neivfoundland, July 4, 1871. 

 My Lord : I have the honor to inform your lordship that on the 1st instant I sent 

 a telegram to your lordship, as follows, viz : "In reference to terms of Washington 

 treaty, it is understood that fish-oil includes seal-oil. Explanation will oblige this 

 Government." And on the 3d instant received the following reply, viz: "lam of 

 opinion that fish-oil does not include seal-oil.— Earl Kimberly." 

 I have, &c, 



STEPHEN J. HILL. 

 The Right Honorable the Earl of Kimberly, 



4-e., cj-c, cfc 



Now you were asked a question what you thought of the exclusion of that oil. 

 Mr. Whiteway. He didn't answer it. 



Mr. Dana. You withdrew it, didn't you ? Perhaps this letter occurred to your 

 miud. 

 The President. We suggested that the question had better be withdrawn. 



By Sir Alexander Galt : 

 Q. Before you leave, there are one or two questions I would like to ask you. We 

 have been told by a witness — I think it was a pilot— that there was a difference in the 

 appearance of the codfish that was caught in certain waters. I would like to ask if 

 you have noticed that yourself? — A. Yes, there are a great many varieties -of cod. 

 They are, as far as I believe, one species, but they assume peculiar varieties, depend- 

 ing upon the particular bottom they are found on and th%food they consume. Experts 

 will tell you from what Banks particular fish are taken. For instance, inshore cod 

 are nearly all red, while outside cod are gray. Some have larger heads, some smaller, 

 some have stout shoulders, and some are sleuder, but all these differences are local 

 and do not involve a distinction ..of species. 



