240 REPORT OF RRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



If younfi; pups ai'e obsoi-vcd, please state whether th(^ Indians know their mode of 

 Vdrth, i. e., whether boiii on shore or at sea. 



3. Do any of the Indians in your district know of bretding places formerly resorted 

 1o by the fur-seal, or do they remember to have heard that such breeding places form- 

 erly existed? 



4. Have the fur-seals been more or less abundant on the coast within the past few 

 years J 



Information received in rejdii to the foregoin;/ Questions. 



West Coast In'dian Agency, Nanaimo, July 30, 1891. 



Sir : In answer to Circular of the 20th July, received from India Office, I have the 

 Imnonr to state that fur-seals are hunted by the Indians on the west coast, and are 

 found in great numbers in February. Arc lirst seen in December and last in April — 

 that is close in shore. After that they begin to travel along the coast of Vancouver 

 Island and Queen Charlotte Islands towards Behring Sea. Fur-seals are not known 

 to give birth to their young on any part of the coast in my Agency. All Indian 

 scalers inform me that seals are born on shore (from their experience in Behring Sea, 

 wliere many females are killed), and that the mothers leave the young on shore in 

 daytime, going some miles out to sea in search of food, returning at night. Indians 

 in my district do not know of any breeding ])lace8 formerly resorted to by the fur- 

 seal, nor do they remember to have heard of such places. 



With regard to the last query, I should say that the I'ur seal have been less abun- 

 dant on the co.-.st the last few years, as the schooner coast catch has been less than 

 formerly. From the Barclay Sound Indians rejjort the seals have licen unusually 

 abundant this and last season, but were scarce for three seasons before. The reason 

 given to me by one of the best Indian sealers in Barclay Sound for the number of 

 seals in the mouth of the Sound this year was that the hunters on the schooners 

 who seal farther Irom shore than the Indians shoot at the seals so much that it 

 frightens them in shore, of which the Indians, who use only speiirs, take advantage, 

 and get the skins they want without frigliteuing them away; also the seals follow 

 theherriugs for food. Some 1,300 skins were taken to Victoria this spring at one 

 time speared by Indians in or near the motith of Barclay Sound. 

 I have, &c. 



(Signed) Hakry Guillod, Agent. 



Dr. Dawsox, 



(Care of C. Todd, Esq.. Metlakahtla.) 



Kwaw Kewltii Indian Agency, Alert Fa>i, Avguf<t IS, 1891. 



Sir: I have the honour to forward, as requested, the information which I have 

 obtained irom the Indians at the north end of Vancouver's Island, viz., the Nfiwitti 

 Indiiius on the east, and the Kwatseno Indians on the west side, as these are the 

 only two tribes in my Agency who hunt the fur-seal. 



The fur-seal is found in greatest numbers about the last week in December, and 

 continue to be seen for about a month or six weeks, when they decrease in numbers, 

 and are only occasionally seen after that time. 



The Indians have never known them to have young during the time they are in 

 the neighbourhood, and none have been killed younger than aliout six months old. 



They have never heard of any breeding grounds in the vicinity. 



They say that during the last two years the fur-seals have not been nearly so 

 plentiful as in former years, and this year few have gone out to hunt them on that 

 account. 



The Indian name here for the fur-seal is " ka-wha." 

 I have, &c. 



(Signed) R. J. Pidcock, Indian Agent. 



Dr. Dawson, Metlakahtla. 



171 North-west Coast Agency, 



Metlakahtla, B. C, September 4, 1891. 



Sir : In reply to a Circular letter from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Vic- 

 toria, dated the 20th July, 1891, requesting iny answers to certain questions concern- 

 ing the haliits and haunts of the fur-seal in British Columbia waters, after full and 

 exhaustive inquiries, I have the honour to subjoin the following: 



1. Yes; they are hunted and killed by Indians all along the north-west coast and 

 Queen Charlotte's Islands, their route whilst travelling south being near the coast- 

 line east of Qneen Charlotte's Islands, and returning to the northward mostly on th^ 

 west side of said islands. 



