REPORT OP BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 305 



229 71. Q. Was tlie loss last year more than in previous years? — A. I conld see 



no difference. 



72. Q. As a reason for the small percentage of loss, you get very near the seals 

 before shooting? — A. Yes, Sir; the usual distance is within about 20 feet to the 

 sleeping seal. 



73. Q. If a man has a higher percentage of loss than that, he must be careless, you 

 think? — A. Yes, I should say so, and not a first-class hunter, for there is no necessity 

 for losing a seal. 



74. Q. Does your percentage of loss agree with other hunters with whom you have 

 conversed?— A. Yes. 



75. Q. So that on the coast and in Behring Sea the same percentage would apply ? — 

 A. Well, on the coast one does not very often sink a seal; but in Behring Sea, if a 

 cow, having delivered her pups, is shot, she will be more apt to sink, as the blubber 

 is very much thinner. But, on the whole, I think the percentage will not be more 

 than 3 or 4 per cent, of loss. 



76. Q. Have you taken notice in hunting whether there are more females than 

 males, or the reverse, taken? — A. There is fully 80 per cent, of bull seals killed off 

 the coast, as well as in Behring Sea. I think the reason for this is that the younger 

 bulls are driven off by the older ones, who guard their particular herds. 



77. Q. In the three years you have been in Behring Sea has it always been your 

 experience that there were more males caught than lemales? And in what propor- 

 tion? — A. I say about the same as this year; [ don't see any difference. 



78. Q. Does your percentage of females taken agree with that of other hunters 

 with whom you have conversed? — A. Yes. 



79. Q. As an experienced hunter, then, you adhere to the statement that for the 

 whole season's catches for the years you have been hunting, that the percentage of 

 seals caught will be about three males to one female? — A. Yes; about that. 



80. Q. Do you include in that statement barren cows? — A. Yes. 



81. Q. Have you any idea or reason of your own why the males come to predomi- 

 nate so much? — A. I think it is because the females make for the islands earlier than 

 the young bulls and barren cows. 



82. Q. Have you ever heard of any Canadian vessels raiding the seal islands? — A. 

 No, Sir. 



83. Q. You have never heard of any Canadian master or owner offering any induce- 

 ment to hunters to raid the islands? — A. No, Sir. 



84. Q. There has never been any bonus offered you to raid the islands? — A. No, 

 Sir; while in Behring Sea we are always too anxious to get away from the islands. 



85. Q. If any Canadian vessels had raided the islands you would have likely heard 

 of it? — A. Yes. I think it is impossible to keep it as quiet as that. 



86. Q. You have heard of American vessels raiding the Copper and Pribyloff 

 Islands? — A. I have heard it. I have known of the American vessels going into 

 Sand Point just after they had raided the islands, and I was in Sand Point when one 

 vessel was fitted out for the purpose of making a raid. 



87. Q. The masters with whom you have sealed all seem to have avoided the 

 islands? — A. Oh, yes; they keep away from the isiauds between 50 and 100 miles. 



(The foregoing having been read over to the said Henry Crocker, he corroborates 

 and substantiates the whole of the said statements.) 



(Signed) Henry Crocker, Hunter. 



Sworn to before me, at Victoria, British Columbia, this 18th day of Tnnuary, 1892. 



(Signed) A. R. Milne, Collector of Customs. 



George Roberts, hunter on board the schooner "Annie E. Paint," being duly 

 sworn, says: 



55. Q. How long have you been engaged as a sealer? — A. I have been at seal- 

 hunting for three years, one season as a hunter. 



56. Q. Were the seals more plentiful last year than in previous years? — A. They 

 were just about the same as regards number. 



57. Q. How do the seals generally travel — in mixed numbers, nviles and females 

 together? — A. The seals travel in bands of bulls and bands of cows, both by them- 

 selves. 



58. Q. What is the proportion of seals lost by inking after being shot? — A. Well, 

 I should say that 3 to 5 per cent, would cover the whole loss. It is not more. 



59. Q. What is the distance you are off a seal when you shoot, generally? — A. 

 Well, from 20 to 30 feet for a sleeper, and for a traveller from 25 to 30 ieet. 



60. Q. What part o^the seal do you aim att — A. I aim at the head, aa the best 

 place, being the surest. 



B S, PT VI 20 



