272 TESTIMONY 



longer distance from the boat. Most of the seal taken 

 vrSS feu" lelf '" ^y J»e have been females with pii p. I tlii n k the female 



is more gentle, sleeps more, and is more easily captured. 

 A few male seal have been taken by me, ages ranging from 1 to 4 years 

 old, I should think. Some yearlings have been taken, a majority of 

 which were fenuiles also. Very few old bulls have been killed by me. 

 Sex of seal can not be distinguished in the water, except in the case of 



an old bull, which can be told by its size. No discrim- 

 _^imiiscriB.muto kill- i,i;ition is uscd ill taking seal; everything that comes 



near the boat is shot at. If the seal are instantly 

 killed they sink at once and are hard to secure. Seal are always shot 



in the head when possible. Have noticed the seal have 



Decieaso. becii decreasing along the coast the last lour years. 



Think the cause of the decrease is that there are too many schooners 



, . ,.^, engaged in pelagic sealing in Bering Sea. Have never 



No pelagic birth. i i x- i • i ■ ^i 



seen or heard oi pu])S being born m the water or on 



the land on the coast of Alaska. Have heard that pups are all born 



on the Pribilof Islands. Have never known or heard 



Do not haul up on ^f y^j^j ijauliug Up ou the Uiud on the coast of Alaska. 



A-liiskiui const o jl 



Have heard that they do haul up on the Pribilof Is- 

 lands. Think if sealing by the schooners in the open waters of the 

 North Pacific and Bering Sea was prohibited, the seal 

 Protection. would again become plentiful along the coast. 



his 



„^. James x Unatajim. 



Witness: mark. 



George Kostrometinoff, 



United States Court Interpreter. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8tli day of April, 1892. 



A. W. Lavender, 

 United States Treasury Agent. 



Dei)osition of Rudolph Walton, scaler. 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



Eudolph Walton, being duly sworn deposes and says : I am 25 years of 



age; born at Sitka; am at present on the police force. 



Experience. jj^^.^ huiitcd scal thice scusons, 1889, 181)0, and 1891, 



around Biorka Island. Have seen and taken seal from the middle of 



April to the middle of May. They are on their way 



Migration. 



north at that time. I use shotgun and rifle to take seal. 



Majoritv taken Abdiit 50 pcr ( ( ut ai 6 Icst wLcu sliot with shotgun: 



pregnant kmales. r, ^- ^ i i ^-1.1. rni 



when rifle is used a much larger per cent is lost. The 



majority of seal taken are cows. Cows are more easily captured because 



they have pups. A few yearlings are killed, mostly females. Sex of 



„ seal can not be distinguished in the water. No discrim- 



Intliscrinunatekill- .... , . 1 i x- n i -n i ^1 i. 



ing. ination IS used in seal hunting; all are killed tliat come 



near. Seal are deci easing on the coast. Have no 

 ticed they have decreased rajiidly the last two years. 



The decrease, I think, is caused by the indiscriminate killing of female 



seals. Some seal when shot and killed dead sink at 



Kopeia-ic birth oiicc. ihivc iievcr kuowii a pnp to be born in the 



water. 1 have never known of a pup seal being born 



