134 TK.STIMONY 



Siibsci'ihod iiiid sworn to hcibrc, nic, nil officor o,uipow(M"e(I to admin- 

 ister oal lis under scctioii l*.)7(i, lvX!vis(^d iSt;itiit('s of the United State's, 

 this Stli day ol" June, LSDL*, at St. Paul JsIaiHl, Alaska., 



Wm. ]I. Wii.lt atvis, 

 Treasury Agent in Charge of Seal Islands. 



J)ep()sUion of JI. W. Mefnti/rej ehief mechanic and resident agent of lessees, 

 on Nt. Paul Jsland. 



MANAGEMENT. 



StATIO Ol'' Cat.tfoknta, 



County of Tehama^ ss : 



M. W. Melntyrc, liavinjn" been <lii]y sworn, d<'])Oses and says: lam 

 an American eitizeii, a native ol" the State of Vermont; my a^e is 57 

 years; I am a resident of Vina., Teliama County, Oalifornia, and by oc- 

 'cii])ation (General Manaj^er of Senator Leland Stanford's \nna ranch and 

 Palo Alto Vin(\yar(l. In the year 3871 1 (mlered the service of the 

 Alaska Commercial (Jomiiany, and was assii^iUMl to duty at the Pribilof 

 ji^roup of islands in Ueriiii;- S(ia, lirst in the cajiacity of chief mechanic 

 and later as resi<lent Aftcntin cliar^e ol' the island of St. Paul. 



I left San Francisco for Alaska, early in April of 1871, and arrived at 

 St. Paul Island about the be.i«iiinin.i;- of May the same 

 '.xpouence. yojii', Oil wliich island I resided continuously until the 



close of the sealiniu- season of the year 1881, leavin^tlu're in the mouth 

 of Anjjnst, ex<'ept that J was absent on leave dm in<>' a i)orlion of the 

 winter sea son in 1»74, 1877, and ]88(). l)uriiij;thei)eriod of my residence 

 T visitcHlthe islands of St. (Jeorge, Unalaska, aiul other [>rincipa.l sta- 

 tions of the Alaska. (Commercial Company in P.erin.n' Sea. and the North 

 Pacific, ami obtained throuj^h observation and from information very 

 accurate knowledge of the fur seals andtlieirhaliits while upon or near 

 the islands w liicli coiislilute their breedinij;- i»lac<'. 



Under j)ersonal instruction from the late Senator John P. Miller, 

 then ]»resideut of the Alaska Commercial Comjianv, I 

 sfi'aur£\V"" "* eommenccd shortly after my arrival upon (he Island a 

 series of observations in or<ler to determine as nearly 

 as iirai'licable the area of ground (x^cujiied by the seals, and incident- 

 ally their number, api)ro\imately, duriuii- the season of 1871 for the 

 purpose of iiotiui;- the chanj^cs which might occur from year to year. 

 To this end, in the year 1871, I (;a.iefiilly noted the i)osition of the seals 

 on breeding rookeries and iqion the several hauling grounds wherc^ old, 

 young, and middle-aged seals were congregated, and by delinitely 

 markingthe jioints reached was enabled, alter the animals had migrated 

 in the autumn, to carry forward <'i survey of the Island as a whole, and 

 on the ])lator maincsulting from said survey was designated accurately 

 the ground occupied by the seals. 



The work of sui\-ey was carried on as rapidly as possible, and 1 was 

 enabled from the observations so made to make a. chart or maj) having 

 uiion it bearhigs and distances, the whoh^ ofwhicli were veritied by 

 Lieut. Washburn IMaynard, of the U. S. Navy, slight dilferences in our 

 measurements and observati(Uis only being noted. 



Owing to the fa.ct that l*resident Miller took occasion to impress u])on 

 me thcuecessity of exorcising the greatest care in comidying strictly with 



