RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 43 



islander's club to fear, which, iu the best interests of commeroe, should 

 uot be used on him uutil the followiug year. 



After the third migration the femate returns to the breeding grounds 

 to be delivered of her first pup, and the male comes 

 again to the hauling grounds, but, as a whole, consid- bT^h of"fil8T*u° *'''^ 

 erably earlier than he did when 2 years old. Here he ''^ ^"^' 



remains pretty constantly, if he escapes the club, until the beginning: 

 of the rutting season, when his instincts lead him to stay mucli of the 

 time iu the water adjacent to the breeding grounds through which the 

 females are passing from and to the rookeries, or when allowed by the 

 older non -breeders, to coquette with the females upon the beach stones 

 awash at the edge of the water. 



, The fourth and fifth migrations are about the same as the third. 

 The female lias already become a yearly x^roducer of a 

 single offspring, and the non-producing male is, in each nnVratidLs*"'^ ^^^^ 

 of the fourth and fifth years respectively, contributing 

 a decreasing number of skins for market, and gaining size and strength 

 to enable him, when 6 or 7 years old, to usurp the authority and juris- 

 diction of some old male whose days of usefulness are numbered. This 

 change is not effected without sanguinary conflicts. 



The food of the fur-seal I believe to consist mainly of fish, and prob- 

 ably chiefly, while in Bering Sea, at least, of codfish, 

 the partially digested vertebrae of this species having- '^^^ ' 

 been found in the stomachs of slaughtered animals more frequently 

 than any other food. Squid and crustaceans have also been found in 

 some instances, but the supply of these is comparatively limited, while 

 it is a well-known fact that the waters of Bering Sea at nearly all 

 points, and particularly in that zone, from 20 to 60 miles south ol 

 the Pribilof group abound in cod. The presumption is Avell grounded 

 that the old male, at least, makes good use of his oppor- 

 tunity in the off season, for he leaves the islands in ^"""^ ^'"""^• 

 August, after an absolute fast of three to four months, very lank and 

 lean, and again takes his place upon the breeding grounds in April or 

 May well rounded out with a thick envelope of blubber. 



In regard to the material facts here recited, there is, as far as I am 

 aware, no controversy. All who have studied the matter with any care, 

 and whose opinions are entitled to consideration, including many whose 

 testimony haiS not been and can not now be recorded, agree to all the 

 substantial facts as I have herein written them. 



H. H. MclNTYRE. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of March, 1892. 

 [seal.] Sevellon a. Brown, 



Notary Public in and for the District of Golumhia, TJ. 8. A. 



Deposition of H. JI. Mclntyre^ Treasuri/ af/ent, and superintendent for 

 the lessees of the, Pribilof Islands. 



rookeries on pribilof islands. 



District of Columbia, 



City of Washington, ss : 

 H. H. Mclutyre, of Randolph, Orange County, Vt., on being duly 

 sworn, deposes and says, concerning the fur seals of -^^ erience 

 Alaska and matters relative thereto, as follows: I am ^penence. 

 a native of Vermont, 48 years old, commissioner from Vermont to the 



