112 TESTIMONY 



Difficult for com ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ quite difficult for the lessees to obtain 

 pany tTobtato q^ota tlieir fiill quota of 100,000 skius; so difiicult was it in 

 °^®^^"^- fact, that in order to turn oflt' a sufficient number of 



four and five years-old males from the hauling grounds for breeding 

 puri)oses in the future, the lessees were compelled to take about 50,000 

 skins of seals of one or two years of age. I at once reported this fact 

 to the Secretary of the Treasury, and advised the taking of a less num- 

 ber of skins the following year. Pursuant to such report the Govern- 

 ment fixed upon the number to be taken as 60,000, and 

 lowed^to bTukenln further Ordered that all killing of seals upon the is- 

 I'^^o. lands should stop after the 20th day of July. I was 



farther ordered that I should notify the natives upon the Aleutian Is- 

 lands that all killing of seals while coming from or going to the seal 

 islands was prohibited. These rules and regulations went into effect 

 in 1890, and pursuant thereto I posted notices for the natives at various 

 points along the Aleutian chain, and saw that the orders in relation to 

 the time of killing and number allowed to be killed were executed upon 

 the islands. As a result of the enforcement of these regulations, the 

 lessees were unable to take more than 21,238 seals of the kiUable age of 

 from one to five years during the season of 1890, so 

 qu^toS^i89o. °^*^™ great had been the decrease of seal life in one year, and 

 it would have been impossible to obtain 60,000 skins 

 even if the time had been unrestricted. 

 The Table A appended to this affidavit shows how great had been 

 the decrease on St. Paul Islands hauling grounds, bear- 

 cJafe.^ ^^""^^ ^^' i^g" in mind the fact that the driving and kUling was 

 done by the same persons as in former years, and was 

 as diligently carried on, the weather being as favorable as in 1889 for 

 seal-driving. I believe that the sole cause of the de- 

 Cause, pelagic seal- crcasc is pclagic Sealing, which from reliable informa- 

 tion I understand to have increased greatly since 1884 

 or 1885. Another fact I have gained from rehable sources is that the 

 ,,...., . great majority of the seals taken in the open sea are 



Majority taken m » ^> ^ ^^ ., „ - . . , ri. ■ 



water are pregnant or pregnant fcmalcs or females m indk. It is an unques- 

 miiking. tionable fact that the killing of these females destroys 



the pups they are carrying or nursing. The result is that this de- 

 struction of pups takes about equally Irom the male and female increase 

 of the herd, and when so many male pups are killed in this manner, 

 besides the 100,000 taken on the islands, it necessarily 

 Effects of. affects the number of killable seals. In 1889 this drain 



upon male seal life showed itself on the islands, and this, in my oi^inion, 

 accounts for the necessity of the lessees taking so many young seals 

 that year to fill out their quota. 



As soon as the effects of pelagic sealing were noticed by me upon the 

 islands I reported the same, and the Government at once took steps to 

 limit the killing upon the islands, so that the rookeries might have an 

 opportunity to increase their numbers to their former condition; but 

 it will be impossible to repair the depletion if pelagic sealing continues. 

 I have no doubt, as I reported, that the taking of 100,000 skins in 1889 

 affected the male life on the islands, and cut into the reserve of male 

 seals necessary to Y)reserve annually for breeding purposes in the 

 future, but this fact did not become evident until it was too late to re- 

 pair the fault that year. Except for the numbers destroyed by pelagic 

 sealing in the years previous to 1889 the hauling grounds would not 

 have been so depleted, and the taking of 100,000 male seals would not 

 have impaired the reserve for breeding purposi s or diminished to any 



