RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 103 



obey the law and my young men liow to drive seals to the killing 

 grounds without iiyiiring them. I know, and all my ^^ 

 people know, that the Government told us we must not kurcowY. ^ 

 kill cows, and we never kill them. 



The Company Agent says to me: '•' Karp, be careful that no cows are 

 killed." I know, and we all know, if we kill cows the seals soon die 

 out and we would not have meat to eat; and if anyone told me to kill 

 cows I would say " Ko." If I or any of my people knew of anyone 

 killing a cow we would go and tell the Government officer. The Gov- 

 ernment officer told as that the Government did not like to have cows 

 killed, and that we should not kill any more pups be- ^^ 

 cause it was wasting seals, and that the Government '"P'^p^- 

 would give us plenty of other meat instead of pup meat, and we all 

 agree to that, and we have not killed any pups since. And all my peo- 

 ple will do everything the Government wants them to do. If any of 

 our men get bad and kill cows or pups or do anything bad I punish 

 them and I bring them before the Government officer. 



Our priest tells us to obey the law and to do everything the Govern- 

 ment asks us to do, and we are all pleased to do it. We all know that 

 the food and clothes we are getting has beeu given us by the Govern- 

 ment, because we are not killing any seals to earn money to buy things 

 for ourselves, and we know it is the Government sends us plenty coal 

 when we have no money to buy it. 



When we first noticed that the seals on the rookeries were not so many 

 as they used to be we did not know what was wrong, 

 but by and by we found that plenty of schooners came ^crease, cause o . 

 into the sea and shot seals, and we often found bullets and shot in seals 

 when we were skinning them. 



And then we found plenty dead pups on the rookeries, more and more 

 every year, until last year (1891) when there were so ^^^^ 

 many the rookeries were covered with them, and when ^^ ^"^^' 

 the doctor (Akerly) opened some of them there was no milk or food in 

 their stomachs. Then we all knew the cows had been ^^^^^^^ feedino- 

 shot when they went into the sea to feed, and the pups ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^' 

 died because they had nothing to eat. Plenty schooners came first about 

 eight or nine years ago, and more and more every year since; and the 

 seals get less and less ever since Schooners came; and my people kept 

 saying "no cows," "no cows." 



First the cows get less, and then the "bachelors" get less, and the 

 company agent he says " kill smaller seals," and we 

 kill some whose skins weigh only ^ pounds, instead of seS^kTuedon £df 

 7 pounds, same as they always got. Then we could not 

 get enough of seals, and at last we could hardly get enough for meat. 



Schooners kill cows, pups die, and seals are gone. Some men tell me 

 last year " Karp, seals are sick." I know seals are not 

 sick; I never seen a sick seal, and I eat seal meat every se^"*^'^®^^®^ among 

 day of my life; all our people eat seal meat, white men 

 eat seal meat, no one ever seen bad seal meat or sick seal. No big seals 

 die unless we club them, only pups die when starved, after the cows 

 are shot at sea. When we used to kill pups for food in November they 

 were always full of milk; the pups that die on the -^ , , ^. 



, . , -^ -n mi • j_ ii J. Females feeding. 



rookeries have no milk. The cows go into the sea to 

 feed after the pups are born, and the schooner men shoot them all the 

 time. 

 The " HoUuschickie " (bachelors) do not go out to feed. When they 



