FUR-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 135 



year to prevent Tingle from fooling him. And I was always fearful 

 that he had not the determination to withstand the pressure brought 

 upon him by the company crowd. I don't claim to be a scientist 

 or capable of writing an extensive dissertation upon seal life, but I 

 am surprised that Murray would assert that he wrote my report. 

 He is surely losing his wits, as this acknowledgment will give him 

 away, if he assumes to hold the position which Lutz alleges he does, 

 and has no force whatever upon the subject matter at issue. Now, 

 Professor, if this crowd presses us too hard, I want you to call for an 

 investigation and I will stand by you until the last"! I was opposed 

 to it all along, but Williams, Brown, and Barnes can't misrepresent 

 facts and expect us to accept their statements, placing us in a false 

 light before the American people, without an effort to vindicate our 

 actions. We are right, were right last summer, are right now, and 

 may we live long enough to see right prevail. You can count on me 

 standing by you in this matter, until I am called over Jordan; and, 

 if I meet Tingle on the other side, I'll quarrel with him there over it. 

 Your lasting friend, 



Charles J. Goff. 



September 18, 1891. 



Prof. H. W. Elliott: Your letter of the 5th came duly to hand 

 and I am so s^rry I am unable to give more than the most meager 

 details respectmg the killing on St. Paul and St. George up to the 

 15th. I have just learned that it was prearranged that Murray 

 was to be decapitated officially and that at Washington Tingle 

 represented him as being crazy and consequently entireh" unfit 

 to hold any responsible position under the Government at the Seal 

 Islands. It seems Tingle knew all the time that he was patting 

 and pumping Murray that the latter's tongue had already been long 

 enough to hang himself with. However, I imagine that Tingle 

 represented to Murray that the latter had no friends; that they had 

 all "gone back" on him, just as he did to me, although, at the time, 

 I knew he was lying. Tingle also possibly represented himself as the 

 only person able to save Murray in case he was in danoer. He could 

 cause the removal of whomsoever he pleased ; and he could, if he wanted 

 to, cause any one's position to be secure. Mu^^ray eagerly swallowed 

 such bait as this together with all the belittling statements and slan- 

 ders that Tingle could invent respecting yourself and Mr. Goff. It 

 appears as though Tingle did really intend, at least for a while, to do 

 something towards rewarding ^lurray. At any rate Mr. Tingle prepared 

 and wrote out a statement to the eifect that "We, the undersigned," 

 having messed with the Hon. Jos. Murray for the past 15 months, 

 had ever found him to be a most worthy upright and honorable 

 gentleman, and a wise, capable, intelligent, and efficient officer, 

 always kind to the natives and a jealous and watchlul guardian 

 of the Government's interests, etc. 



The paper was handed to me by Tuigle with the information that 

 he would like me to read it over, sign, and return it to him. It was 

 alreadv signed by J. C. Redpath, X. A. C. Co.'s agent on St. Paul 

 Island"! and Edward T. Baldwin, bookkeeper. I read it over and after 

 considering a moment I returned it to Tingle with the remark that 

 I really did not think I could put my name conscientiously to that. 



