RELATING TO ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 179 



abraded. They were footsore, you might say, but there was no in- 

 jury to the reproductive organs of the males driven. I am satisfied 

 the natives would have noticed it and spoken to the Government 

 agents about it if we had overlooked the fact. My attention was never 

 called to anything of this kind, and in all my experience I never heard 

 of a male being so injured. Even if a male were driven once a day for 

 ten successive days, I am certain that such driving would not impair 

 his future usefulness as a progenitor of his species. 



I am of the opinion that all killing of seals in the 

 water should be prevented, both in Bering Sea and the sao'.*'^''*'°° """'" 

 North Pacific, because the seals thus killed are slaugh- 

 tered without discrimination as to age or sex. In case .^infiiscriuunate idii- 

 such killing be prevented in the water, such regulations 

 can be enforced upon the islands that the Pribilof seal herd will yield 

 a supply of skins for an indefinite period without reducing the size of 

 the herd. If, however, the killing of seals in the water is not pre- 

 vented, all calculations looking toward the preservation of them on the 

 islands by the Government and the lessees will be of no avail, and the 

 Alaska seal will be exterminated. As seals are found in large numbers 

 over 100 miles from the islands during the entire sum- 

 mer, a zone 30 or 40 miles about the^islands in which ^*'°'' "'''^^''• 

 open-sea sealing were prevented, if such could be done, would be of 

 comparatively little protection to seal life. 



Geo. Wardman. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the 

 District of Columbia, this 15th day of April, 1892. 



Chas. L. Hughes, 



Notary Fuhlic. 



Deposition of Daniel Webster, agent of lessees on iSt. George Island. 



MANAGEMENT AND HABITS. 



ST. GEOB.GE ISLAND, Pribilof Group, ALASKA, U. S. A., ss: 



Daniel Webster, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 60 years 

 of age, and am a resident of Oakland, Cal. ; my occupation is that of local 

 agent for the North American Commercial Company, and at x^resent I am 

 stationed on St. George Island, of the Pribilof Group, ^^ ^^.^^ 

 Alaska. I have been in Alaskan waters every year but ^penence. 

 two since I was fourteen years of age. I first went to Behring Sea in 

 1845 on a whaling voyage, and annually visited those waters in 

 that pursuit until 1868, at which time the purchase and transfer of 

 Alaska was made to the United States; since that time I have been 

 engaged in the taking of fur seals for their skins. In 1870 I entered 

 the employ of the lessees of the Pribilof Islands and have been so en- 

 gaged ever since, and for the last thirteen years have been the com- 

 pany's local agent on St. George Island, and during the sealing season 

 have, a part of the time, gone to St. Paul Island and took charge of the 

 killing at Northeast Point, which is known to be the largest fur seal 

 rookery in the world. For ten years prior to 1878 I resided most of the 

 time at Northeast Point, having landed and taken seals there in 1868. 

 I have had twenty-four years' experience in the fur-searindustry as it 

 exists in the waters of the North Pacific and Behring Sea, and have 

 made a very careful study of the habits and conditions of this useful 



