2()G TESTIMONY 



Deposition of George Mc Alpine, sealer (boat-stserer). 



PELAaiC SEALING. 



Gcoriifo Mc Alpine, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at 

 Juneau. Spent the last season on the Allie 1. Alger, hunting seal, as 



boat-steerer. First seal were taken ofif Cape Flattery 

 Experience. about the middle of February. We followed them up 



the coast as far as Mount Edgecumbe. Thelastof April 

 we went into Sitka, and had taken 402 seals. The shotgun was used 



exclusi^'e]y. Over 50 per cent of the seal shot were 

 m^.^witiTplfp!*'" ^^' 1*>^^*- ^^^^^^ of the seal taken were females with pup. 



A few male seal were killed, ages ranging from 1 to 

 5 years. One old bull was taken. Everything was killed that came 



near the boat; we did not use any divscrimination. 

 _^in(iis<niinnate kill- ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^,j^l^ p^^p ^jjj Q^r^f^ lighter thau a male when 



killed, Never knew of pups being born in the water 



No pelagic birth. nor auywherc else. Never knew any ftirseal to haul 



Do not haul up on ^p qu tiie land along the coast of Alaska. I think all 



pelagic sealing should be stopped for a few years in 



Protection. ordcr to givc the seals a rest, for they are now hunted 



eight months in a year, and if we expect them to increase again, we 



must stop hunting them in Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. 



G. McAlpine. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of April, 1892. 



A. W. Lavender, 

 United States Treasury Agent. 



Deposition of J. D. McDonald, sealer (master). 



pelagic sealing. 



J. D. McDonald, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside at 



Sitka. Own and command the sealing schooner Adven- 



Eipenence. ^^^.^,^ ^Ym ijy occupation a miner and hunter. Have 



been engaged in sealing two years. Have hunted from San Francisco 



to Kodiak. First start to hunt about the last of March. They are con- 

 stantly on the move up the coast. Have always used 

 Migration. ^^^ shotguu for Sealing. I think we lose about 6G per 



cent of the seals shot with shotguns. Most of the seals taken by me 

 have been females Avith pup. The female seals are 



femries\/e™^°''"* casicr killed than the male, and we aim to get them, 

 A few ycailiiigs have been killed by me, mostly females. 



The sex can not be distingnishcd in the water unless it be the case of 



an old bull, which is distinguished by its size. Everything is killed in 

 the sha])e of a seal that comes near the boat. We al- 



_^indiscriminate kill- ^^,.jyg y|,^^,^ ^^,.^| j„ ^|jp j^p^^j ^^heu possiblc. If head is 



not exposed, we shoot them in the most exposed part 

 of their body. When a seal is killed instantly, he will sink at once, 



and is hard to secure under those conditions. Have 



Decreaae. noticcd a dccreasti in seal along the coast, and it is the 



general opinion that they are decreasing very fast. There can be but 



