TAKEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. 409 



J)eposition of James L. GarthGuf, sealer {master), 1877-1887. 



pelagic sealing. 



State of California, 



City and County of San Francisco, ss: 



James L. Ca-rtliciit, being' duly sworn, deposes and sajs: T am 79 

 years of ag^e. I reside in tlie city and county of 8an Francisco. My 

 occupation is that of a master mariner. I was engaged ^^ ^^.. 

 in bunting- the fur-seals in the Kortli Pacific in 1877 '^p^^''^^'^^- 

 to 1887, and during the latter part of the time in Bering Sea. I 

 usually left San Francisco in Fel)ruary or March of each year and 

 sealed along the coast, following the herd north on 

 their way to their breeding grounds on the Pribylov ^'sration. 

 Islands in the Bering Sea. I usually entered the sea about the 1st of 

 July and cajne out in September. About 85 per cent of my catch of 

 seals along the coast of the North Pacific were females, and most all of 

 them were cows in pup, and I used to kill most of them while asleep 

 on the water. I lost a great many that were killed by ^^^^ . 



their sinking before we could get to them. I think on an cipaUy '^female,' ^ami 

 average I got one out of every three killed, but some mostly preguaa. 

 of my hunters did not do as well. It is diflflcult to get more than one 

 breeching seal out of six killed. It is the custom for hunters to brag 

 about how many seals they get out of the number killed, and in trying 

 to outdo each other they generally exaggerate the facts. During- the 

 months of March, April, May, and June the seals in the North Pacific 

 are traveling leisurely towards the passes into Bering Sea. 



About 80 i)er cent of the seals I caught in the Bering Sea were 

 mothers in milk, and were feeding around the fishing 

 banks just north of the Aleutian Islands, and I got reeding females 5o 

 most of my seal« from 50 to 250 miles from the seal priblof "si'iuds.*'^"™ 

 islands. I don't think I ever sealed within 25 miles of 

 the Pribylov Islands. They are very tame after giving birth to their 

 young and are easily approached by the hunters. When the females 

 leave the islands to feed they go very fast to the fishing banks, and 

 after they get their food the> will go to sleep on the waters. That is 

 the hunter's great chance. I think we secured more in proportion to 

 the number killed than we did in the North Pacific. I 

 hunted with shotgun and rifle, but mostly with shot- "earms. 

 gun. Seals were not nearly as numerous in 1887 as they were in 1877, 

 and it is my belief that the decrease in numbers is due to the hunting 

 and killing of female seals in the water. I do not think 

 it possible for seals to exist for any length of time if Decrease. 

 the present slaughter continues. The killing of the fe- Dead pnps. 

 males means the death of her born or unborn pup, and 

 it is not reasonable to expect that this immense drain on the herds can 

 be continued without a very rapid decrease in their numbers, and which 

 practically means extermination within a very few 

 years. If the seals are to be saved there must be no aary"^'^'*'*'" "^*'^'' 

 killing at any time in the waters of Bering Sea, and it ' 

 is also very important for their preservation that no females be killed 

 in the North Pacific. They must be protected in both of these waters or 

 they will be exterminated. I have never known of 

 seals hauling out on land anywhere on the coast except prfwiorfsiand?*'" 



