SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 7 



conjectures were confirmed. Nor have I had any information since 

 sufficiently reliable to cause a change of opinion. 



(3) The mortality was at first local, and though later a certain number of dead pups 

 were found at various rookeries examined, nothing of a character comparable with 

 that on Tolstoi rookery was discovered. 



Treasury Agent Barnes, who was on St. Paul Island long after the 

 commissioners left in the fall, is my authority for saying that the " same 

 state of affairs or worse was found later on Polavina and on Northeast 

 Point/' the two rookeries visited by him. 



(4) The mortality first observed on Tolstoi and Polavina was at too early a date to 

 enable it to be reasonably explained by the killing of mothers at sea. It occurred, 

 as already explained, about the 15th or 20th of July, at a time at which, according 

 to the generally accepted dates, as well as our own observations in 1891, the females- 

 had not begun to leave the rookeries in large numbers, or when leaving them, to do 

 more than swim or play about close to the shore. 



As already shown, there were no dead pups seen most certainly 

 nothing worth noting until August 19. 



As the commissioners did not land on either of the seal islands till 

 the latter end of July about the 28th, if I remember rightly I can 

 not see how they could have personally observed the movements of the 

 females or the condition of the breeding grounds about the 15th or 20th 

 of July. 



Section 356. (a) It is well known that in consequence of the decreased number of 

 killables found on the hauling grounds in late years, it has been found necessary to 

 collect these close to and even on the edges of the breeding rookeries. * 



It is also known that the driving and killing in the early part of the season of 

 1891 was pushed with unwonted energy, and it appears to be quite possi- 



ble that the females thus driven from their young, though afterwards turned away 

 from the killing grounds in an exhausted and thoroughly terrified state, never after- 

 wards found their way back to their original breeding places, but either went off to 

 sea or landed elsewhere The places where the greatest number of dead pups were 

 first seen on Tolstoi and Polaviua were just those from the immediate vicinity of 

 which drives were most frequently made. 



The reading of the above quotation staggers one who ever had expe- 

 rience on a rookery or a killing ground. 



The "it is well known," is surely unworthy of the commissioners. 



Which of the men on the islands ever said such a thing? Whoever 

 said that seals were collected close up to the breeding grounds! No 

 man who ever made a drive or saw one made. Who is responsible for 

 the story of the driving of females in the early part of the season of 

 1891 f No sealer, of course, for he would know that there are no females 

 on the rookeries in the early part of the season. 



The commissioners found more dead pups on Tolstoi than on any 

 other rookery, and they endeavor to show that collecting and driving^ 

 of seals from near the breeding rookeries and the consequent taking of 

 some females or the disturbance of the herds caused the death of the 

 pups. 



The island records of all the drives made on St. Paul Island in 1891 

 are at hand, and I will produce a copy for the purpose of showing that 

 no drives whatever were made from either Tolstoi or Polavina during 

 the year 1891 ! 



And yet the commissioners, who were supposed to make an impartial 

 report, say: 



The places where the greatest number of dead pups were first seen on Tolstoi and 

 Polaviua were just those from the immediate vicinity of which drives were most 

 frequently made. 



The fact is, as may be seen by consulting the records for 1890-91, in 

 the Appendix, that no drives were made from Polavina since July 13 r 



