eries. 



450 TESTIMONY 



Antarctic seaiin 1843. My flrst voyage was from Newport, E. I., to tlie 



icseaing. (..^gt coast of Soutli America, at Lobos Island, off" tlie 



teDos°yraiKi,'^'pata- moutli of the river Platte, at Castillos Island, and on 



gouia, and I'aikianci the east coast of Patagonla. Afterwards I went to the 



fJiaudi""*^ "^^^^^^""^ Falkland Islands, to the South Shetland Islands, and 



to the west coast of Patagonia. In those days we 

 Destruction of rook- j^iHetl the seals on land with clubs, but all those rook- 

 eries have since been destroyed through the constant 

 hunting of the seals. Afterwards I came to California and made my first 



seal-hunting voyage in the North Pacific in 18G8 and 

 Arctic sealing. ^^ morc rcccut ycars in Bering Sea. I have given 

 much attention to the study of seal life as well as to the methods of 

 hunting in the sea and the consequent effect of this upon the possible 

 extermination of the seal. I usually commence the voyage near the 

 coast of California in the early part of January and continue along up 

 the coast, following the herd on its way to its breeding grounds until 



the latter part of June, hunting all the way and enter- 

 onteriulauTieavfng^ ^^S Bering Sca about the 1st of July, and remaining 

 "in those waters until about the 10th or 15th of Septem- 

 ber. My experience has been that the sex of the seals usually killed 



by hunters emplo^^ed on vessels under my command, 

 tiiosf^L^d cows* °^ botli in the ocean and Bering Sea, were cows. I should 



say that not less than 80 per cent of those caught each 

 year were of that sex. I have observed that those killed in the 



North Pacific weremostly females carrying their young, 



fe^aies^in Nort^rpa* ^ud wcrc generally caught while asleeep on the water, 



ciflo and nursing fe- while tliosc taken in the Bering Sea Avere nearly all 



ering ea. jj^q^j^^j. scals in milk, that had left their young and 



were in search of food. My experience convinces me that a large per- 



. centage of the seals now killed by shooting with rifles 



Waste of life. ^^^ shotguiis are lost. My estimate would be that two 



out of every three killed are lost. 



Formerly the killing was done by spearing, and in later years it was 

 learned that shooting them was a swifter method of killing. At the 

 start the hunters were inexperienced and a large i^roportion were lost. 

 Many are shot while asleep ; some while breeching, but such are more 



difficult to kill. I never have known of seals being 

 poSibit" ^^^^ ^' born in the water. In fact I do not believe they are, 



except by accident, in which cases theyAvould certainly 



die, as young seals have to be taught to swim by their mother, just as 



children have to be taught to walk. My knowledge being from long ex- 



D crease pexience, is that the seals are becoming gradually 



scarcer in the northern waters, particularly so in later 

 years. The cause of this decrease I believe to be the indiscriminate 

 slaughter of the mother seals. They are hunted too much, and hence 

 mother seals are becoming scarcer, which, if not checked, will lead to 

 their early extermination. Constant shooting has frightened them and 

 made them wild, so that they have to be shot at great distances unless 

 found asleep. Much depends for successful hunting, upon the weather, 

 as it is difficult to get accurate aim when both the hunter's boat and the 



seal are in motion. A poor hunter does not secure 

 iiun^ex.''^*'^'*'"*'*''^ more than one out of every five shot or aimed at. 



Good hunters do better, I think many of the mother 

 seals go from their breeding grounds on the islands many miles into 

 the Pacific Ocean in search of food, often to a distance of 150 to 180 

 miles. They travel very fast, and it is on these excursions that many 



