248 OFFICIAL REPORTS. 



The following statement in relation to insurance on sealing vessels 

 was given me by It. P. Ritket & Co., agents of the Sun 

 insurance rates. Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of San Francisco, 

 and also for Lloyd's agency at Victoria. The rate on 

 sealing schooners and cargo is 7 per cent per annum, 4 per cent guar- 

 anteed, the policy to be canceled 24 hours after the arrival of the vessel 

 in port. For short rates they gave the following figures: ltate for 4 

 months, 4 per cent, or $40 per $1,000; rate for 7 months, ■& of 7 pei 

 cent. or$40.83 per $1,000; rate on a vessel while lying in harbor, 1£ per 

 cent per annum. 



I hereto append a memorandum handed me by one of said firm in 

 relation to the insurance rates above referred to, which is marked 



Exhibit A. 



I was further informed by Eobert Ward & Co., insurance agents of 

 Victoria, that the rate on sealing schooners and their outfits is 7 per 

 cent per annum, and the rate is the same on steam schooners as it is on 

 sailing vessels. 



The sealing schooner E. B. Marvin having been advertised for sale 

 by an auctioneer on November 7th, 1892, a copy of which advertisement 

 1 hereto append, marked Exhibit B, I made inquiries as to the cost of 

 furnishing said schooner with steam auxiliary. I received from the 

 Victoria Machinery and Iron Works a written tender by 

 est of engine and -^hi^h they offered to furnish me an engine and boiler 

 boiieTtnis.B.Marvm. f ^ ^ gchooner E B Marvin as follows: "Upright 



engine. 14x14, with Clyde boiler, 84 inches diameter, 120 inches long, 

 delivered at Victoria, for the sum of $4,400," which tender I hereto at- 

 tach marked Exhibit C. They also stated to me that such an engine 

 and boiler would be of sufficient power to drive the said schooner at a 

 speed of from 8 to 9 knots an hour. 



The said auction sale of the schooner E. B. Marvin having been 

 adjourned until the 9th day of November, 1892, I at- 



Auetion sale of E. tended such sale in the company of Captains Piuckney, 

 m ' McClellan, Seiward, McLain, Smith, and McDonald. 



The price for which the said vessel was sold was $6,800, all complete, 

 with seven boats, ten Parker shotguns, one rifle, and everything belong- 

 ing to her except the stores and provisions. 



bit the 3rd day of November I viewed the model of a sealing schooner 

 which a Mr. Cline, of Victoria, intends to build this 



Cost of schooner Winter. He stated to me that he already had the lum- 

 now building. ber Qut f()r her ^ and the sea]mg . boats, and that the size 



of the vessel would be as follows: 0b' feet keel; 83 feet over all; 20 feet 

 beam and 9 feet hold, with a registered tonnage of 65 tons. The cost 

 of the schooner and six boats all ready for the rigging and sails 

 would be $5,000, and the cost of the rigging and sails would be 

 $1,500, making a total of $6,500 for the vessel outfitted with boats, 

 sails etc., ready to receive her stock of provisions for a cruise. 

 Charles Powers, an old seal hunter who had had seven years' experi- 

 ence, stated that the lay of hunters 5 or 6 years ago was 

 only $1.50 per skin, and that the wages of boatmen and 

 seamen were $30 per month. 



I had several conversations with Captains Morrison, Pinckney, Mc- 

 Lain, McClellan, Smith, and several others who are in the sealing busi- 

 ness, and who practically agreed on the following facts : That the seals 

 ffo as far south as the coast of Lower California, and 



Migration «>l seals, v, „ , , , , , . ,-, •. ,, __ , « 



that many of the sealers start out in the latter part of 

 January or fore part of February, and go south until they meet the 



