RELATING TO SEIZURES IN BERING SEA. 187 



outright. It is almost impracticable to take a seal in the water unless 

 it is wounded so that it is stunned, when it goes into a "flurry," simi- 

 lar to that of a whale when wounded. The boat then being pulled 

 alongside, the seal is gaft'ed and dragged into it. The skill of the 

 hunter has a great deal to do ^ath the number of seals secured of 

 those killed or wounded, but the most expert does not 

 get more than half he hits and the average for hunt- i'™P°^t'«'» ^^^t- 

 ers in general would be about three in ten. It is impossible to distin- 

 guish the sex of a seal in the water, unless it is an old bull. I am un- 

 able to state anything as to the proportion of females taken, but the 

 seal-hunter shoots every kind of seal he sees. In my opinion open-sea 

 sealing is very destructive, and unless prohibited will 

 result in the extermination of the species at no verj^ saf™'^''^'^"'° "*'^^^' 

 distant day. I also believe that it would be utterly 

 useless lo protect the rookeries on the seal islands and not protect the 

 seal herd while in Bering Sea. 



C. A. Abbey. 



Subscribed ami sworn to before me this Sth day of April, 1892. 

 [l. s,] Sevellon a. Brown, 



Notary PiihUc in and for the District of Columhia, JJ. S. A. 



Deposition of L. G. Shepard, captain U. S. Revenue Marine. 



pelagic seizure. 



District of Columbia, 



City of Washington, ss : 

 L. G. Shopard, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 45 years 

 of age; a resident of Washington, D. C., and am cap- 

 tain in the U. S. Revenue Marine Service, chief of divi- Experience. 

 sion Eevenue Marine, Treasury Department. In com- 

 mand of the revenue steamer it»s/j., I made three cruises Cruises in Bering 

 to Bering Sea in the years 1887, 1888, and 1889 for 

 the purpose of enforcing existing law for protection of seal life in 

 Alaska and the waters thereof, and also to protect other Government 

 interests in Alaska. Pursuant to orders received from the Treasury 

 Department, I sailed from San Francisco June 4, 1887, arriving at Una- 

 laska on the 15th of that month. On the 18th I commenced cruising 

 in Bering Sea. I hereby append to and make a part of this affidavit a 

 table, marked A, giving the names of the vessels seized 

 by me in Bering Sea while violating the law of the *^''''"^^ ° ^''^^'' "" 

 United States in relation to the taking of fur-bearing animals (all these 

 vessels so seized were unmistakably engaged in sealing), together with 

 the date of the seizure in each case, the nationality, rig, tonnage, hail- 

 ing port, master, and managing owner of each vessel, the longitude and 

 latitude in which each vessel was seized, the white men, Indians, and 

 Chinamen on board at the time of seizure, the number 

 of sealskins and the weapons on each vessel. In the iengi^AnnfBe^k."'w. 

 cases of the Challenge, Anna Beck, W. P. Sayward, p. sayivard, Dolphin', 

 Dolphin, Lilly L., Grace, and San Jose the vessels were i^l^issK^'"''' *"'* 

 towed to Unalaska, and their sealskins and arms were seizure of j?(7«n ai 

 taken from them, and they were sent to Sitka. The herT^Tdams,'' Tilnie, 

 FAlen, Albert Adauis, Annie, Alpha, and the Kate and i^J^^'lsl? ^"'* "'"^ 

 Anna were disarmed and the sealskins taken on board 



