364 TESTIMONY 



Deposition of James Balgarduo, sealer {master). 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



James Dalgarduo, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a na- 

 tive of Scotland and am 58 years of age; have resided 

 Experience. in the United States forty-five years, and have been a 



naturalized citizen forty years: I am a resident of Port 

 Townsend and have resided in this vicinity for the past forty years, 

 during which period I followed the business of fishing and piloting. 

 I have been in the seal-hunting schooners for a period of eight years, 

 either as master or owner of the schooner, and I hunted in the vicin- 

 ity of Cape Flattery, say 30 miles off the cape in each direction. 

 The first six years I employed Indian hunters from Cape Flattery and 

 they used spears exclusively, as the opinion then was that the sound 

 of firearms would tend to drive off the seals as well as waken the sleep- 

 ing ones, thus making it more difficult to secure them. 



During two of tlie eight years I employed mixed crews, some In- 

 dians and some whites; some using rifles and some using spears. The 

 catch was in round numbers from 1,500 to 3,000 skins per year, these 

 figures representing the lowest and the highest numbers ever taken by 



me in any one year. From 75 per cent to SO per cent 

 ^Mo^iy pregnant fe- ^f ^^jj the seals takcu wcrc mothcrs in young, and when 



cut open on deck we found the young within them. It 



is my experience that very lew, if any, seals were lost by the hunters 



Waste of life. ^^'^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ spcar, but fuUy 75 per cent of all those 



killed by the rifle were lost. I have cruised up and 

 down the coast of Vancouver Island, but never found a place where 



fur-seals hauled out ui)on shore, nor have 1 ever heard 

 PrSf ManTs!^ ''^ of any fur-seal rookeries in the ]S"orthern Hemisphere, 



except those in Bering Sea. I have never seen seals 

 poSibfif ^''"' ™' born in the water or on beds of kelp, nor do I believe 



a young pup could live if brought forth at sea. It was 

 while the seals were asleep on the water, as a rule, that the Indian 



hunters succeeded in capturing them with the spear, 

 splar!'''"" ^'^'^ *^^ and this is the reason they lost but very few of what 



they killed. Were I engaged at present in sealing I 

 should prefer the spear to the rifle or shotgun, and I believe its use is 

 not near so destructive to seal life. 



James Dalgarduo. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, 1892. 



Joseph Murray, 



United States Treasury Agent. 



Deposition of Thomas Fraser, sealer. 



PELAGIC SEALING. 



Thomas Frazer, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am a native 



of England, and am 50 years old; have been seventeen 



Experience. ycars in the United States, of which I am a citizen. I 



am a resident of Port Townsend, and have resided in 



this vicinity duriug the past seventeen years. My occupation is that 



