204 PELAGIC SEALING. 



Examinatiou of of sldiis landed at San Francisco from sealing 



pelagic catcli of 



i«92. vessels, being the ''spring catch" for 1892 of 



said vessels. These lots aggregated 813 skins, 

 which on examination proved to consist of 681 

 skins of adult female seals, 49 skins of adult 

 male seals, and 95 skins of pup seals less than 

 one year old.^ The projDortion of cows in these 

 lots is shown to be to the males as about 14 to 

 1, or 93 per cent. The increased proportion of 

 females in this examinjition over the examination 

 made in New York is explainable from the fact 

 that the New York examiner did not extend his 

 examination to seals under two years of age, 

 while the San Francisco examiner classed as 

 pups only the seals less than one year old On 

 the 13th of July, 1892, the same expert examined 

 the catch of the schooner Emma and Louise, 

 consisting of 1,342 skins, taken this spring along 

 the Northwest coast. Of the number, 1,112 were 

 the skins of females, 132 of males, and 98 of 

 gray pups less than one year old.'^ The propor- 

 tion of female seals taken by this vessel as 

 compared with ihe males is thus shown to be 89 

 ■per cent. George Liebes, a furrier, who has 

 handled many thousands of the Northwest 

 skins, in connection with his deposition attaches 



'Vol. II, p. 402. 



