448 TESTIMONY 



In witness wlicreof, I have hereunto snhscribed my name and afnxed 

 my seal of office this 26th day of February, 1891*. 

 [seal.] Clement Bennett, 



Notary Fuhlic. 



Deposition of James Kean, scaler. 



pelagic sealing. 



State of California, 



(Jity and County of San Franciseo, ss : 



James Kean, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: I reside in 



Victoria, British Columbia; my occupation is that of a 



Experience. scamau aud scal hunter. I tirst went seal hunliiig- in 



1889 on the schooner Oscar and Hattie. She had six 



^Oscar and Hattie, ^^^^^ .^,j^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^.-^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^pj^ ^^.^^^ gj^^ 



was armed with shotguns and rifles. I shipped as a 

 hunter. We left Victoria the latter part of February and weut off 

 south to the Columbia Biver and commenced sealing off" there and fol- 

 lowed the herd along the coast up to the Bering Sea, 

 Bermg Sea, time of arriving there sometime in June. We cauglit some- 

 en ering. where about 500 seals before entering the sea, of all 

 ni.^e^°"*"^ *^^^° ^^ ^^^^^^^' There were a good many females among them; 

 there was a good many more of them than males, but 

 the exact number I do not know. The old females had young pups 

 in them. I saw tbem taken out, and a good many of them skinned. 

 We entered the sea and caught about 1,000 in there. We seaknl all 

 over on this side of the Bering Sea, sometimes being over 150 miles off' 

 the seal islands, and sometimes we were closer. I did not pay any at- 

 Nursing females tcutiou to the proportiou of fcmales, but I know we 

 tsken, some over 100 skiuncd a great many that were gixing milk, because 



miles from islands. ^^^^ ^^^jj,, ^^^^j^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^.^ brcastS OUtO tllC dCCk 



when they were being skinned. We killed mother seals in mil k over 100 

 miles from the seal islands. We generally shoot them when they are 

 asleep on the water. 



In 1890 I went out in the Walter Rich. She had eierht boats, three 

 Walter Rich 1890 "^*^^^ ^^ ^ boat. Wc had shotguns and rifles, using the 

 former almost altogether. We left Victoria about the 

 latter part of March, and came down off the Columbia River and com- 

 menced sealing as the previous year, sealing along the coast to the 

 . . Bering Sea, arriving there, I tliink, about the 1st of 



enterinf. ' "^ July. We caught between 300 and 400 seals on the 

 coast, and COO in the Bering Sea. We sealed on the 

 Sealed from 10 to 150 Amciican sidc of the Bering Sea around the Pribilof 



miles from islands. jgij^j,^|g^ auywhcrC flOUl 10 tO 150 UlilcS oft\ Tbc Cap- 



Proportionoffe- ture of 1890 was about the same in proportion to sex 



'""^^^ '^ *^°' as the year before. We sold our skins in Victoria. In 



Wages. 1389 f received $4 for every skin I got, and in 1890 



received $3 for every skin I got. I think I got lialt of what I killed 



^ , .... and wounded. I do not think that the green hunters 



Waste of life. . ., , c- ^- J^ .1.1 i. xi 



get more than one out oi every lour or hve that they 

 Decrease. ^^^^- ^lic scals wcrc uot ucar as plentiful along the 



coast and Bering Sea in 3891 as they were in 1890. 

 They wanted me to ship this year on a sixth lay, tliat is, every sixth skin 

 was to be mine, but I thought the seals were so scarce it would not pay 



