TAKEN IN YAKUTAT BAY. 241 



seal to be hauled up on the coast of Alaska from Icy Bay to Wraugel. 



I have been up and down between those places many times. Fur-seal 



are not as plentiful on the coast as they used to be. The Indians kill 



but very few now. In former years they used to get many of them, 



but the last few years they have become very scarce 



and the Indian liunters take very few. I think the <'<^™*''e- 



reason of the seal becoming so scarce is that there are too mauy white 



men hunting seal in the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean and it 



should be stop])ed. Have never seen any fur-seals in 



the sounds or inlets between this place and Wrangel p™*^''"""- 



at any time of year. In early days a few pups used to F„,..seaLs„eversepn 



be driven inti> this bay in the winter by the storms on atwian-ei any timo 



the coast, I have no more to say. ^'^ -^ '''"^" 



Nechantake, his x mark. 

 Witness to his mark: 

 Peter Church, 



United States Interpreter. 

 A. W. Lavender. 

 Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1892. 



A. W. Lavender, 

 United States Treasury Agent. 



Deimsition of W. Roberts, sealer {master). 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



W. Roberts, being duly sworu, deposes and says : I reside at Takutat 

 Bay, Alaska, and I am by occupation a mariner, I have been engaged 

 in the business of catching seals in tlie North Pacific 

 Ocean and Bering Sea for four years, three years as ^[perieuci,. 

 sailor, one year as captain, two years off the coast of British Columbia, 

 two years off Southeast Alaska and Bering Sea. 



I have found that seals appear off the Farralone Is- 

 lands about Christmas, off British Columbia in March, First appeavauce of 

 off Yakutat liay April 15th. ""'' "^ ""'■ 



Have used both rifle and sht)tgun in killing seals, but now use shot- 

 gun only, having found tliat for same number of shots ^ ,. 

 more seals are taken therewitb. VVheu rifle is used liHe. 

 less than one seal for five shots is secured; many shots w.isteotiife. 

 miss, but of those seals hit about one-half arc secured. If shot in the 

 head a seal will usually float and is taken. If shot through the body it 

 usually sinks, or escapes to die later. When shotgun is used about 

 one seal is secured for five shots, those not secured generally sink at 

 once or are badly wounded and escape to die. Of seals shot dead about 

 one-half siidc at once and one-half are taken. 



In the trip just made off this coast, I Inive taken eighty-one seals, of 

 which three were bulls, three were bachelors, two were 

 yearlings, about fifty Avere females pregnant, rest fe- catch ifrSuant c3! 

 males barren. This is a fair average. It is harder to ' 

 take an old seal than a young one, the older ones being- more on the 

 alert and are not less active when pregnant. 



Yearlings are rarely taken in North Pacific. The age or sex of a 

 seal in the water can not be distinguished, except that when close 

 the apparent size is an indication of age. 

 2716— VOL II 16 



