320 TESTIMONY 



Ex erience ^™ ^-^ jears of age. I went seal hunting in 1889, 



xper ence. ^^ mate of the British schooner C. H. Tujjper, Capt. 



Kelly, master. She carried seven boats and white hunters, who used 



mostly shotguns. Sailed from Victoria in February, 



a H. Tupper, 1S89. ^^^ commenced sealing off the California coast and 



hunted seals all along the coast to TJnamak Pass, and went into the sea 



the 2d of July and caught seals around the eastern part of Bering Sea 



until the latter part of September, and then returned to Victoria. We 



had very poor hunters and only caught 600 that season, 400 of which 



we took in the sea. 



In 1890 I was navigator in the British schooner Minnie, and was 



equipped with canoes and Indian hunters, who used 



Minnie, 1890. gpgars chiefly. Sailed Irom Victoria and hunted along 



the coast up the Unamak Pass and entered Bering Sea about the 10th 



of July, and hunted off the Pribilof Islands until about the 1st of 



September and then returned to Victoria. My catch that year was 



2,600, of which about 2,000 were caught in the Bering Sea. 



In 3891 I went as navigator in the same vessel and with the same 



.^ crew, and they used spears in hunting. We sailed 



^"'"*' ■ • from Victoria and hunted along the coast over the 



same course we did the year before, and went into Bering Sea through 



the Unamak Pass, about the middle of July, and caught only about 



400 that season, none of which were taken in Bering 



injs™"^ °^* "^ ^^'^ ^^^- ^^® ^^^'® warned out of the sea before we lowered 



any boats and returned to Victoria. 



The Indian hunters, when they used spears, saved nearly every one 



they struck. It is my observation and exj)erience that 



8pear*'^^* ^^*^ *^^ ^^ Indian, or a white hunter, unlo' very expert, will 



kill and destroy many times more tuan he will save, if 



Waste of me with j^e uscs firearms. It is our object to take them when 



^^°^^^- asleep on the water, and any attempt to capture a 



breeching seal, generally ends in failure. The seals we catch along the 



coast are nearly all pregnant females. It is seldom 



femafe^if ^^^ ^'^^^'^"^ "^^ Capture an old bull, and what males we get are 



usually young ones. I have frequently seen cow seals 



cut open and the unborn pups cut out of them and they would live for 



several days. This is a frequent occurence. It is my experience that 



fully 85 per cent of the seals I took in Bering Sea, 



mSg^femafes! ''^''* ^^i"® femalcs that had given birth to their pups, and 



their teats would be full of milk. I have caught seals 



Prohibition of shot- of thls kind from 100 to 150 miles away from the 



gun necessary. Pribilof Islauds. It is my opinion that spears should 



be used in hunting seals, and if they are to be kept from extermination 



the shotgun should be discarded. 



Ohr. Clausen. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 23d day of April, A. D. 

 1892. 

 [SEAL.] Levi W. Myers, 



United States Consul, 



