92 TESTIMONY 



were being sent to market, and that this number grew constantly larger ; 

 Ayastoofiife ^^^^ ^ ^^'^ "^^ ^^^^^ know, as I now do, that each skin 



sold representated a waste of two or three and perhaps 

 even four or five seals to obtain it. Nor was any attention given to the 

 now well known fact that these animals were a i)art of our herd, as 

 wrongfully stolen from us, I believe, as my cattle would be if driven in 

 and appropriated from the highway when lawfully feeding. 



Prof. H. W. Elliott says in his report of 1S74 tliat: "With regard to 

 the increase of seal life, I do not think it within the power of human 

 management to promote this end to the slightest appreciable degree 

 beyond its present extent and condition in a state of nature." 



if he means by the words "in a state of nature," a condition inwhicli 



no slaughter is allowed, I quite agree with him; but I 



Breeding of 8eai8. ^^^ ^^^^ .^g,^,^^ ^l^^^ ^^^ iucrcasc cau not bc aided by 



killing surplus bulls. When herded in common pasture, tln^ greatest 

 number of progeny from our domestic animals will unquestionably be 

 brought forth and live to adult age if a large portion of the males have 

 been killed or castrated. The same no doubt holds good with respect 

 to the seals. It is only when, as in the case of tJu^ seals, that the mothers 

 and young offspring are slaughtered that the increase is checked. I 



am informed by our London sales agent, and believe, 

 Mostly females taken, ^j^^^ nearly or quitc uiue-tcnths of the Victoria catch 

 is comprised of females. 

 I am. asked if a zone of prohibition about the islands, a teiritorial 



limitation, or a close season for j^elagic sealing, one or 

 rote'ction^'^^'^^^ ^"^ '^^^ ^* thcsc restiictious Avill not, in my opinion, prove a 



sufficient restraint upon marine hunters to allow the 

 rookeries to grow again. I answer emphatically no. I do not believe 

 they will suffice, and my answer is without personal bias, for I am not 

 now engaged in the sealskin trade and have no interest in the industry 

 other than that of the average American citizen. The scarcity of seals 

 and consequent high price of skins stimulates the ingenuity of every 

 man in the business either to evade restriction or invent more certain 



methods for capturing the animals. The rookeries are 

 nenr*'"*^*^^^"'' ™™' dooiucd to ccrtaiu destru(;tion unless brought within 



the sole management of those on the islands, whose 

 interest it is to care for them. Marine sealing should be absolutely 

 prohibited and the prohibition enforced. 



I have handled numy sealskins coming from both north and south 

 of this port, and can readily distinguish the difference between them. 

 Those from the southern islands are from a different species from the 

 Alaskans, and both differ from the Asiatic skins. The skins from the 

 warmer latitudes are greatly inferior. The fur is short and thin, and 

 of a reddish brown color. They can be detected at once. It is not as 

 easy to distinguish the Alaska from the Asiatic skins, bnt experts in 

 handling them, nevertheless, do it with unerring accuracy. 



Leon Sloss. 



Subscribed and sw^orn to before me this 7th day of May, A. D. 1802. 

 [SEAL.] Clement Bennett, 



Notary Fulilic, 



