98 TESTIMONY 



lu 1886 the conditions had somewhat changed. The natives com- 

 phiined that big seals were growing scarcer, that there 

 1886?'"^^''^^"^^'"*^'*^° wxre many dead pups on the rookeries, and the Super- 

 intendent intimated to me that he did not like the out- 

 look as compared with a few years previous, and said he thought either 

 the number killed or the size of the animals taken lor their skins would 

 have to be reduced if things did not improve. Still we had no particu- 

 lar scarcity of killable seals, and the w^ork went on as during my first 

 year (1882) in the service. 



But the trouble of which they complained grew more serious in the 



following years, and I think it was in 1888 the Super- 



kined'^in fsss. ^^^^^ iutendent told the "bosses" they must kill less large 



seals and more " yellow bellies," or two-year olds. In 



1889 a very large proportion of the catch was made up of this class. 



It was then perfectly apparent to everybody, myself included, that 

 the rookeries were " going to the bad," and that a smaller number must 

 inevitably be killed the following year. 



The work of herding and managing seals does not differ materially 



Habits. from that pursued with the stock-farm animals with 



Eesembiancetofarm which we are most familiar. The herdsman has chiefly 



auunais. ^^ learn their quick motions and propensity to bite in 



order to handle them at will. 



I tried to thoroughly train the young seals, hoping to make valuable 



Domesti tion ^^^'^ ^^ them, and succeeded as far as the taming went, 



omes ica ion. j^^^ could not get them to thrive on cows milk or the 



condensed milk of commerce administered from a nursing bottle. They 



became, however, very tame, stopped trying to bite unless they were 



made angry by rough usage, and followed me about like pups of the 



canine species. When they are older and before they leave the island 



in the fall they may still be handled with impunity, and their habits 



are such of massing and herding by themselves apart 



.^Possibility of mark- f^.^^ ^^^ ^j^^^j. ^^^jg^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^j^^^ ^^ ^j^gQy " TOUUdcd 



up " from the beaches in favorable weather and " cor- 

 ralled " and marked. It would be perfectly feasible to drive them into 

 and keep them in such a corrall or inclosure as would be constructed 

 for calves or lambs, surrounded by a fence 3 or 4 feet high, and while 

 there to catch each one and brand him. This has already been success- 

 fully done on a small scale by naturalists who wanted to identify cer- 

 tain ones for a future purpose. 



This is not mere theory with me, for I was bred to the management 

 and handling of young domestic animals, and have handled the young 

 seals, and have seen them handled by the natives in the same way. 

 There were a great many dead pups on the rookeries during my last 

 Dead pups three years on St. Paul Island. Many of them wandered 



helplessly about, away from the groups or " pods" where 

 they were accustomed to lie, and finally starved to death. We knew 

 at the time what killed them, for the vessels and boats were several 

 times plainly in sight from the Island shooting seals in 

 cause*^'" ^^""""^ ^^^ the water, and the Ke venue Cutters and Company's ves- 

 sels arriving at the island frequently reported the pres- 

 ence in Bering Sea and sometimes the capture of these marauding 

 crews. If all had been captured and the business broken up the seal 

 rookeries would be healthy and prosperous to-day, instead of being 

 depleted and broken up. I speak positively about it, because no other 

 cause can be assigned for their depletion upon any reasonable hypoth- 



