344 TESTIMONY 



Sea, but sealed off tlie coast. The Indians used spears and sometimes 

 would have an old musket. There was hardly ever a sealing schooner 

 that went to Bering Sea during these years or prior to 

 Be^LVseSoTe\'885'^ 1885, and there were only four or five that sailed from 

 here in the sealing business, and these carried Indian 

 crews, who hunted with spears and seldom went far from the coast. 

 In 1882 and 1881 I sailed as cook in the British schooner Onward^ 

 Onward, 1881 and ^^cCoy, master. She Carried Indian huntcrs and Sealed 

 1882. ' along the coast. Did not go into Bering Sea. Seals 



In those da 8 senis ^^^^^ almost cxclusively takcu on the coast during these 

 taken aimost'^lxciu^ years and by Indian hunters, armed by spears. I do 

 wrthVars?"'"'* ''"'^ ^^^* \u^ow of any sealing schooner that went to the 

 Bering Sea until Captain McLean went there about nine 

 Favorite. years ago in the Favorite. Indians were the principal 



hunters until about six years ago, and they scarcely ever used anything 

 but spears and would save most all the seals they killed, but since it 

 has become the practice to hunt seals witli guns a good many are killed, 

 Waste of life wouiuled, and lost. Green hunters bang away and 



wound more than they kill and will shoot six or seven 

 before they get one, and sometimes more. Good hunters will do much 

 better. I used to get most of the seals I killed, but I have killed five 

 Seals ainkin-. ^^^'"^^ ^'^ successiou and lost the whole of them. A 



female seal will sink much quicker after she has given 

 birth to lier young than before. We are more sure of getting a sleep- 

 ing seal than one that is breeching. 



My observation on this coast is, that the young seals are nearest to 



land and the cow seals have a course some farther out. The bulls are 



still farther out and much more scattered and shy. The seals lay 



Miration around off the coast of California and north of there 



igra ion. until early in February, when they commence to work 



slowly along up the coast and enter Bering Sea in June and July. 



Their habits in this respect are well known to the hunters. The catch 



. . along the coast for the last six or seven years, since 



paiiy^femaias. ^"°^^' thc rifle aud shotgun have come into use, is principally 



females and the grown ones have pups in them. The 



catch of young seals is much less in proportion to the number caught 



than they were when Indians used to take them by spearing. I have 



cut the young seal out of its dead mother and kept it alive for several 



weeks by feeding it on milk, but it would eventnally die. I have 



known them to live days without eating anything. I have put pujjs 



cut out of dead seals to the breast of dead female seals when milk was 



running out of their teats, but they would not touch it. 



The seals taken in Bering Sea are nearly all grown. We get but 



very few young seals. I think we catch in Bering Sea 



infs'ei.*^''^'' '° ^*''^' more males in proportion to females than we do on th3 



coast. We catch a good many females in Bering Sea 



that have given birth to their young on the islands and were in milk. 



Nursing cows taken I |iave caught plenty of COW seals in milk a hundred 



100 miles or more from milcs Or more from the islands, but seldom get any 



islands. ^|^^|. j^j^yg .^ pjjp jj-^ ti^eiyi iu those waters. Seals were 



Decrease. much less iu uumbers off the coast in 1890 than they 



were about 1885. They have either been destroyed or 



driven off. We had no trouble in making a season on the coast, 



weather permitting, of from 700 to 1,300, and now 500 is a good catch. 



