154 TESTIMONY 



club, in the nso of wiiic.li lie becomes so ex])('rt tliat, witliont striking; tlie 



seal or in aiiv way injiuin.u' liiin, lie ]»rot(n;ts liimsclf most thoroughly 



against the snappnig jaws and shai-p teeth by which he is eonfrouted. 



Before tlie young seal leaves the island for the first time, in the year 



, ^ of his birth, he is less vicious, or less oxi)ert in the 



Young seals tamo. ^^^^ ^^ ^^.^ ^^^^^^^^ .^^_^-, j^.^^. ,^^^ ^^.^,^.^,^-, ^^^^ ^^ ^,^^^ HippcrS, 



or, if necessary, marlced or branded; and at the proper season of the 

 ><>ar I think SO or 90 per cent of all the young could be brought up 

 iVom llic benches and so dealt with. 



i make thesi' stateniiMits because I have heard it said that the seals 

 are wild animals and can not be identified as belonging to any partic- 

 uhir herd or rookery when ott' on the feeding grounds where they are 

 captured by the marine seal hunters, 



1 again visited St. Paul Island a'.id remained there several days in 



No .iaiiiMi,'o by le.s- ^I't' summer of ISSf), but saw no evidence then, (U- when 



sees. " formerly on the island, to lead me to think that the 



lessees were damaging tlie rookeries, or doing anything different from 



what a judicious regard for the future of the industry Avould dictate. 



In giving this evidence I am as freefrohi ])rejudice as is i)ossible when 

 entertaining, as T do, a. feeling that the late lessees treated me in some 

 measure unjustly, nor have 1 any interest whatever in the seals or the 

 l)roducts of the sealeries. 



It is asserted by J\Ir. Ivlliott, in a report made sid)sequent to tluit above 

 cited, from which I have seen extracts, that permanent 

 seals '"'"'^■^ *" '""'' injury results to the male seal from the practice of re 

 peatedly bringing him up to the killing grounds and 

 letting him go aga n because of some defect in his skin, or for the 

 reason that he is needed as a breeiler. He does not say wdiat he saw 

 among the old males to justify any such conclusion, and I do not be- 

 lieve it is wariante<l by the facts. When the seals get back to the 

 water after a long driv^e, they are, of course, considerably fatigued, but 

 leap as gaily as usual after a little rest, and pliy with their fellows on 

 shore with their accu-itomed vivacity on the day following the drive. 



There are always some disabled seals on the beaches described by 

 jNIr. Elliott as "hospital rookeries,''' where those maimed in the con- 

 flict for supremacy on the breeding grounds and decre^iit old males too 

 old for fmther service, haul up to rest and heal their wounds. The 

 number of such animals is never large in propDition to the whole herd, 

 and all others represent the highest type of virility, vigor, and strength. 



Geo. 11. Temple. 



Subs'ribed and sworn to at Randolph, Vermont, this Kith day of 

 June, A. D. 1.S92. Before me, 



J. B. Eldredge, 

 [seal.] Notary FuUic. 



Deposillon oj Scth M. Wd.sJihur)}, assistant agent of lessees and teacher on 

 M. Faul Island. 



MANACtEMENT — HABITS. 



State of Vermont, 



County oj Windsor, ss: 

 I, Seth M. Washburn, depose and on oath say: That I am 42 years 

 Ex > Tioiic ^^ "•^*'' '"'"^ I't'^itlt; in Bethel, Vermont, where I have been 



".xpenoiico. ^ merchant since 1S78. I was born in Bandolph, Ver- 



mont, and lived there until 1874. I was a graduate of the State iformal 



