334 TESTIMONY 



slaiigliter, as it is impossible to tell tlie sex or the exact age of a seal 

 until it has been taken into the boat, whereas on land careful discrimi- 

 nation can be made. 



Granting that open-sea seal hunting is to be allowed, the use of the 

 gun should be absolutely i^rohibited, and a close time 

 Protection. established which should extend from tlie beginning of 



the year until all gestation is finished. Further to protect the nnrsing 

 female seals, it will be necessary to proliibit sealing within a zone ex- 

 tending at the very least 100 miles from the rookeries, in order that 

 the females may be unmolested while feeding, and even under such re- 

 strictions there is no doubt many pups would die of starvation tlirough 

 the deatli of their mothers, which would be killed outside the protected 

 zone. This method of protection I suggested to several owners and 

 captains of the sealing vessels at Victoria, who all approved of the 

 plan, naturally, to a certain extent, from selfish reasons. In my own 

 opinion, however, the most perfect method of protecting the Alaska 

 seal is to kill only the young bachelors, and as this discrimination can 

 be made on shore alone, it naturally restricts all killing to the Pribilof 

 Islands. 



Francis E. King-Hall. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public in and for the 

 District of Columbia, this 25t]i day of July, 1892, 



[seal] Sevellon a. Beown. 



The above statement is made by me on oath without regard to any 

 international question, as I regard both the Canadian and American 

 pelagic sealers equally destructive of the seals. 



Francis K. Kingt-Hall. 



July 25th, 1892. 



Deposition of Andrew Laing, trader and. sealer (mate), 



pelagic sealing. 



Province of British Columbia, 



City of Victoria, ss : 

 Andrew Laing, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am 42 years of 

 Ex erience ''^^^'' I'^sidencc, Victoria, British Columbia; occupation, 



• xperience. trader. I went out as trader on the W. P. Sat/icard, 



^Zf^e^tTsiH^^^'' o^ which I was part owner, in the vears of 1882, 1883, 

 ' . 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1889, and 1890. In 1888 I went 



Favorite, 188S. as mate ou the Favorite, my hoai having been seized 



the year before by the revenue cutter Hush, but was finally released, 

 so that I went in her again in 1889 and 1890. My vessel carried In- 

 dian hunters in all her trips previous to this year (1892) 

 ^^crews and weap- g^jj^j ^^^y ^^q^ cauocs and spcars in hunting seals ex- 

 clusively. Prior to 1886 I nor my vessel had ever been 

 in tlie Bering Sea hunting, but had cruised along the coast each year 

 from the Columbia River to Kodiak Island, and then returned to Vic- 

 toria and had caught seals in greater or less numbers each year; but in 

 1886 and each year thereafter, excei)tiug 1891, I have not only sealed 

 on the coast but have also been in the Bering Sea hunting seals. 

 My vessel went to the Bering Sea in 1891, but I did not go with 



