288 TESTIMONY 



Bepotiition of Ntkla-tih^ sealer. 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



Ntkla-ab, l)eiiig duly sworn, deposes and says : I was bori at Howkaii. 



Ex )eriencc -^^ ^^'^^ ^^^^.' ^^^^^ ^^ ycais old. I have been a liun- 



.xpenencc. ^^^ ^^^ ^^ j.^^^ Have liunted iiir-seal every season 



since I was old enougli, in a canoe. The seal always come here before 

 ^ ^^^ the birds begin to sing very mnch, and they are all gone 



igra ion. when the salmon berries get ripe, Avhich I tliink is be- 



tween the months of March and July. Have used a Hudson Bay shot- 

 gun since I can remember for taking seal. I very rarely lose a seal, 



because I shoot them close to the boat. I think about 

 nanf fenlaks" ^"^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ scals taken by me are females with pup. Have 



never taken but a few old bulls in my life. Have taken 

 a good many yearlings, but never examined them as to sex. When I 

 was a young man seals were much more plentiful than they are now. 

 The last three years, since the schooners began hunting seals, they 



have become very scarce. It is hard for the Indians 



Decreaae. ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^| ^^^j^ ^^^^, ^j^^^ HaVC killed but tWO. 



About the time the wild geese are flying north the seals are most plen- 

 tiful. I can not tell the difference between a male and a female seal in 

 the water, and I shoot every seal that comes near the 

 TiKiiscriminatekiii- can( c. I think if the schooners are not stopped from 

 '"^' hunting seal the seal, like the sea-otter, will soon be 



all gone. I have never known or heard of pups being 

 No re. agio i. . ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ watcr or on the land anywhere in British 

 Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, or Alaska. I have never knoAvn 

 or heard of fur-seal hauling up on the land anywhere 

 Do not iiaui up on j j^ British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, or Alaska. 

 *^°'' ■ Ntkla-AH (his X mark). 



Witnesses to his mark: 

 A. W. Lavender, 

 H. R. Gould, Interpreter. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12tli day of May, 1892. 



A. W. La VENDEE, 



United States Treasury Agent. 



Deposition of Peter Olson, fur hunter. 



PELAGIC sealing. 



Peter Olson, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born at 



Howkan, and have lived at Kasan since I was a boy. 



xpenence. Havc bccn a huuter all my life. Have never hunted 



fur-seal; always hunted on the land; a great many of our people hunt 



fur-seal along the coast of Prince of Wales Islands and out in Dixon's 



Entrance. I have never seen any fur-seal anywhere in 

 in^iXnd''wTJi"'! ^^^^ tlie inland waters, nor have I ever heard of any being 



around the inland waters of this part of Alaska. I have 

 1 im'i' ""' '"""' "'' '" iiever known of any fur-seal pup to be born in the water 



or haul up on the land anywiiere in Alaska. The In- 

 dian fur-seal hunters of my people all tell me that the fur-seal are be- 



