TESTIMONY TAKEN AT VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Deposition of Peter Anderson, sealer (boat-steerer), 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



• Peter Anderson, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I reside in Yicto- 

 ria, Britisli Columbia ; am by occupation a seaman and 

 hunter; bave been engaged in the last three years in Experience. 

 taking seal in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea 

 in capacity of boat-steerer. The vessels I was employed stack Diamond, 

 on are as follows : Black Diamond, Ariel, and Umbrina, ^"''' ^"'^ umbrina. 

 all British schooners. First saw and took seal ofl'Cape Appearance of seaia 

 Flattery in March and we followed them clear up the ^^ '^''^^*' 

 coast into Bering Sea, where we arrived about July 1. We used the 

 shotgun and rifle exclusively in the boats I was in. From my expe- 

 rience I am satisfied that 33^ per cent shot with a -vs^ t fi • 

 shotgun are lost, and when a rifle is used a larger ^^^° '*^' 

 per cent are lost when killed. A large majority of seal taken on the 

 coast and in Bering Sea are cows, with pup in the Pa- 

 cific Ocean and with milk in Bering Sea. A few young nuSg^cows^''''* *"" 

 male seal are taken in the North Pacific Ocean from 

 2 to 3 years old. Have never taken an old bull in the North Pacific 

 Ocean in my life. A few yearlings have been taken by 

 me, but not many. Use no discrimination, but kill all ^indiscnrainate km- 

 seal that come near the boat. The best way to shoot 

 seal to secure them shoot the en in the back of the head when they are 

 asleep with their noses under water. Have never 

 known any seal pups to be born in the water nor any- nofoutSonsiInds^ 

 where else in Alaska outside of the Pribilof Islands, 

 nor have I ever known fur-seal to haul up anywhere on the land except 

 on the Pribilof Islands. Have taken females that were i f d' " 



full of milk 60 miles from the Pribilof Islands. I think ^^^ ^^ "^"^ ^^°' 

 seal ought to be protected in the North Pacific and p x f 

 Bering Sea from April 1 to September 1, in order to ™ ^° '°°' 

 give them a chance to raise their young.- 



his 



Peter x Anderson. 



mark. 



Witness : 



J. M. Potter. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of May, 1892. 



A. W. Lavender, 

 United States Treasury Agent. 

 313 



