98 REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



345. Tn order to exliibit tlie circnmstaiices surrounding this fact and 

 to arrive at a in-obable explanation of its true meaninii', it will be neces- 

 sary in the lirst instance to ^ive in sununarized form the observations 

 and notes bearinji' upon it made on the jiround by ourselves. 



34(). When visiting- Tolstoi Rookery, St. Paul Island, on the 29th 

 July, we observed and called attention to several hundred dead pups 

 which lay scattered about in a limited area, on a smooth sloi)e near the 

 northern or inland end of the rookery j;round, and at some little distance 

 from the shore. The bodi(\s were i)artly decomposed, and appeared 

 to have lain where found for a week or more, which would place the 

 actual date of the death of the pujjs, say, between the 15th and 20th 

 July. Neither the Government Agent who was with us, nor the natives 

 forming our boat's crew at the time, would at first believe that the 

 objects seen on the rookery were dead pups, aftirming that they were 

 stones; but when it became clearly ap])arent that this was not the case, 

 they (iould suggest as causes of death only over-running by bulls or surf 

 along the shore, neither one of which appeared to us at the time to be 

 satisfactory. JNlr. 1). Webster, interrogated on the subject some days 

 later on St. George Island, oifered merely the same suggestions, but a 

 few days still later, both Whites and natives on the islands were found 

 to have developed cpiite other o])inions, and to be ready to attribute the 

 deaths to the operations of pelagic sealers killing mothers while oft at 

 sea, and leading to the death of pups from starvation consequent on 

 such killing. 



347. Believing the matter to be one of considerable importance, how- 

 ever it might be ex])lained, i^articular attention was paid to it on sub- 

 sequent visits to rookeries. On the 31st July and the 1st August the 

 rookeries of St. George were ins])ected, but no similar appearances were 

 found, nor was anything of the same kind again seen till the 4th August, 

 on Polavina rookery, St. Paul Island, where, near the southern extrem- 

 ity of the rookery, several hundred dead ])ups were again found by us, 

 here also covering an area of limited size, which Ave were able to exam- 

 ine carefully without disturbing the breeding seals. It was estimated 

 that the pui)s here found had died between ten days and two weeks 

 before, which would place the actual date of death at about the same 

 time with that of those lirst referred to. 



348. On the following day the extensive rookeries of North-East 

 Point were visited ami examined, but very few dead pups were any- 

 where seen. Mr. l^'owler, in charge of these rookeries for the Comi)any, 

 Avas specially questioned on this point, and fully confirmed the nega- 

 ti\^e observations made by ourselves at the time. It may here be men- 

 tioned that the vicinity of Korth-East Point had been the principal and 

 only notable locality from Avhich, uj) to this date, sealing vessels had 

 been sighted in the ofling, or had been rei)orted as shooting seals Avithin 

 hearing of the shore. 



341). On the lJ>th August, alter a cruize to the nortlnvard of about 

 a fortnight's duration, Ave returned to St. Paul, and on the same day 

 revisited Tolstoi Rookery. Oji this occasion the dead pups previously 

 uot*^d Avere still to be seen, but the bodies were flattened out and more 

 or less coA'cred Avith sand, by the continuous movement of the living 

 seals. There Avere, however, on and near the same place, and i)articu- 

 larly near the angle betAveen I'olstoi Rookery and the sands of English 



Bay, many more dead pups, larger in size than those first noted, 

 62 and scarcely distinguishable in this resi)ect from the living pups 



Avhich Avere then "podded out" in great numbers in the immedi- 

 ate neighbourhood. Messrs. Fowler and Murray, who accompanied us 



