202 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



with but a single exception, were females, and had their young inside 

 or were giving suck to their young. Out of some 500 or 600 skins on 

 board I only found some 5 of the number that were taken from males. 

 I have also been present at numerous other seizures of sealing vessels, 

 some 18 in number, and among the several thousand skins seized I 

 found on examination that they were almost invariably those of females. 

 There certainly was not a larger proportion of males than 5 to 100 

 skins. This great slaughter of mother seals certainly means a speedy 

 destruction of seal life. (James H. Douglass.) 



While in Unalaska in September, 1891, awaiting transportation to 

 San Francisco, I had an opportunity to examine personally the catch 

 of the steam sloop Challenge, which had been warned out of the sea, 

 and was undergoing repairs at the harbor named. The catch amounted 

 to 172 skins, which were all taken in Bering Sea at various distances 

 from the seal islands, and of this number only three were those of male 

 seals, one of those being an old bull, and the other two being younger 

 males. (A. W. Lavender.) 



In July, 1887, 1 captured the poaching schooner Angel Dolly while she 

 was hovering about the islands. I examined the seal skins she had on 

 board, and about 80 per cent were skins of females. In 1888 or 1889 I 

 examined something like 5,000 skins at Unalaska, which had been taken 

 from schooners engaged in pelagic sealing in Bering Sea, and at least 

 80 or 85 per cent were skins of females. (A. P. Loud.) 



I have personally inspected skins taken upon the three schooners 

 Onward, Caroline, and Thornton, which skins, taken in Bering Sea, 

 were lauded in Unalaska and were then personally inspected by me in 

 the month of May, 1887. The total number of skins so examined was 

 2,000, and of that number at least 80 per cent were the skins of females. 

 I have also examined the skins taken by the United States revenue 

 cutter Rush from one of the North Pacific islands, where they had been 

 deposited by what is known as a poaching schooner and taken to Una- 

 laska, which numbered about 400 skins, and of that 400 skins at least 

 80 per cent were the skins of female seals. I have also examined the 

 skins seized from the James Hamilton Lewis in the year 1891, by the 

 Russian gunboat Aleut, numbering 416, of which at least 90 per cent 

 were the skins of female seals. From my long observation of seals and 

 seal skins I am able to tell the difference between the skin of a male 

 and the skin of a female seal. (T. F. Morgan.) 



I examined over 12,000 skins from sealing vessels seized in 1887 and 

 1889, and of these at least two-thirds or three- fourths were the skins of 

 females. (L. G-. Shepard.) 



REASON PREGNANT FEMALES ARE TAKEN. 



I think cow seals are tamer than young male seals. (Martin Benson.) 



A cow seal that is heavy with pup is sluggish and sleeps more soundly 

 than the males, and for that reason they are more readily approached. 

 (Henry Brown.) 



They are very tame after giving birth to their young and are easily 

 approached by the hunters. When the females leave the islands to 

 feed they go very fast to the fishing banks, and after they get their food 

 they will go to sleep on the waters. That is the hunter's great chance. 

 I think we secured more in proportion to the number killed than we did 

 in the North Pacific. (James L. Carthcut.) 



