REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 243 



I have had to rely iipou the recollection of individuals, which has proved very unsat- 

 isfactory. To-day 1 received a note irom C;iptaiu E. H. McAlnioud, of Now Duu- 

 geness, Washington, iu reply to a letter from mo. Captain McAlmond writes, 1st 

 November, 1891 : ' The first schooner to take Indians that I know of was the schooner 

 'Lottie' in 1869 from Neah Bay; believing that we were the pioneers, I afterwards 

 understood that a vess(d from Victoria was also taking an Indian crew.' 



" On the 28th October last I received from Mr. Charles Sirring, of Victoria, a letter, 

 dated the 27th, in which he writes : ' The first attempt at sealing, in a practical way, 

 with schooners and Indian hunters was made in or about 1869 by James Christiensou 

 in the schooner " Sur])rise," owned by the late Captain William Spring, of Victoria, 

 British Columbia.' This is evidently the vessel referred to by Captain McAlmond, 

 No record of catch has been kept by any one that I have ascertained, and the recol- 

 lection of individuals is very uncertain. For instauce, Captain James Dalgardno, 

 for many years a Puget Sound pilot stationed at Neah Bay, was quite certain that 

 schooner ' Potter,' of Port Townsend, took Indians with canoes to the sealing grounds 

 iu 1861. But Captain McAlmond, who was at Neah Bay the same time, writes in the 

 letter received from him to-day: 'Captain Norwood, iu the " Potter," took Indians 



to ])i]ot him to the halibut bank.' 

 173 "The only official account of the seal catch at Cape Flattery that has ever 



been kept is the one I had charge of for the tenth census of the United States 

 under instructions from Professor Spencer F. Baird, to make a full Report on the 

 fisheries of Cape Flattery, including fur-seals. This Report, in full, may be found 

 in 'The Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the United States,' section 5, vol. ii. 

 This is the most complete and reliable Report ever published of the Neah Bay fisher- 

 ies, and was compiled by me during the entire year of 1880 while I was in the otiQcial 

 capacity of Ins])ector of United States Customs, stationed at Neah Bay. Since that 

 time no account has been kept of an official nature, nnd any attomjit to make up a 

 statement would be mere guesswork, and utterly unreliable. I think Captain Charles 

 Spring, who was with us during our interview in Victoria, is a thoroughly reliable 

 man, and his statement of seal statistics the most correct that I have known. I have 

 endeavoured to obtain statistics from parties at Neah Bay, but without success. 



"The whole of tlie seal catch by the ludians of Cape Flattery has been sold in Vic- 

 toria, and I think, classed with other skins procured from the west coast Imlians. 

 I would have supposed that the Indian Dopartiueut at Washington, ever mindful of 

 the good effect on members of Congress it is to malse a good showing of IiHtian 

 industries, would Ijave instructed tlic Indian Agents to have kept a record similar 

 to mine, so that they could show to Congress that the Makah Indians of Cape Flat- 

 tery are a self supporting people. Had such a record lieeu kept, its value at this 

 time would liave been appreciated, but it seems to have been the policy of the author- 

 ities at Wasliington to ignore all kuowledge of seal industries except those of the 

 Pribyloff Islands ; hence the impossibility at the present time of reaching any reliable 

 results." 



Under date of the 10th January, 1892, Judge Swan writes: 



"Your kind letter of the 22ud December was received on tfie Slst. Since then I 

 have been endeavouring to obtain past statistics of the seal business at Cape Flat- 

 tery, but witiiout success. I have, however, arranged with an intelligent half-breed 

 Makah Indian, who has the agency store and trading post at Neah Bay, to keep au 

 accurate account of the catch during the present season. 



"Yesterday a number of Makah Indiiins came to my office, and I had a long inter- 

 view with them. They told me that the.\' had come to ht out their schooners 'Lot- 

 tie' and 'James G. Swan' for sealing. These schooners are in winter quarters iu 

 Scow Bay, opposite the city. Those Indians say that seals are unusually ])lentiful 

 at Cape Flattery and Barclay Sound, and if the weather is good they hope to make 

 a large catch." 



Under date of the 6th February, 1892, Judge Swan writes: 



" I have seen several Makah Indians who have been here, and they tell me that 

 Indians lose very few seals, whether they spear or shoot them, as they are always so 

 near the seal at such times that they can recover them before they sink. 



" Captain Lavender, formerly of schooner 'Oscar and Hattie,' who is a fine shot, 

 told me that he secured ninety-live seals out of every hundred that he siiot. He said 

 that poor hunters, of which he had several on his vessel, would fire away a deal of 

 ammunition and not hit anything, but would be sure to report on their return to the 

 vessel that they killed a seal each time they fired, but that all the seals sank ex( e]>t 

 tlie few which they brought on board. Captain Lavender was of opinion that not 

 over 7 per cent, of seals killed were lost." 



