468 TESTIMONY 



Q. Are you a citizen of tlie United StatevS? — A. I am. 

 Q. Wliat State are you a resident of? — A. Kentucky; I was born 

 there; I am now residing in the State of California. 



Q. Have you been engaged in catching seals in the Pacific and Bering 

 Sea, and for how long ? — A. For five or six years I have 

 xpenence. bccu catching scals. 



Q. Do you know of what sex the seals were that you 

 femails.*''^*'" """"^^^ l^^ve takcu in the Pacific and Bering Sea?— A. Mostly 

 females, 

 Q. What percentage of the skins you have taken were cows? — A. I 

 should judge about 90 per cent. 



, ^ Q. What percentage of the cows you have taken 



Seventy-fiTe per ^ -.i ^ ^ » * a n j_ rr j. •j.i. 



cent of which preg- wcrc With pup? — A. About <5 per cent were with 



nant. p^p_ 



Q. When does sealing commence in the Pacific, and when does it 

 ^ ^ , end? — A. It commences about the 1st of January and 



Commencement and , i . , i t , ,. t 



ending of sealing sea- CUdS abOUt the UlSt Ol JUUC. 



^''°- Q. When does sealing commence in the Bering Sea, 



and when does it end? — A. It commences about the 1st of July and 

 ends about the 1st of November. 



Q. What percentage of seals are taken, compared to those you 

 destroy in doing so; in other words, how many do you actually get out 

 Waste of life ^^ tliosc you slioot? — A. About 75 per cent. We lose 



about 25 per cent. 



Q. Is it not a fact that when you first started in the business, and 

 was inexperienced in hunting,' that you, like all other beginners, 

 destroyed a much larger proportion than you do now? — A. Certainly; 

 there is no doubt about that. 



Q. Are the seals you shoot at mostly asleep on the water or awake? — 

 A. They are mostly asleep. 



Q. If awake, do you shoot at them while breeching? — A. Yes, sir; 

 we shoot at them anywhere, either while they are breeching, or heads 

 up or any way. 



Q. Have you ever seen any seals born in the water, and is it your opin- 

 ion that it is possible for them to be born in the water? — A. Tiiey are not 

 „^, ^ born in the water. A seal can not swim when it is 



Not born m water. ... . , 



first born. 

 Q. Do you know of any x>lace where seals land outside of the seal 

 islands? — A. I do not; no, sir. 



Q. Have you noticed any decrease in the quantity of animals in the 



last few years ? — A. There is no doubt but what there 



Decrease. . , '' 



IS a decrease. 

 Q. To what do you attribute that decrease ? — A. From the killing of 

 seals, both by hunters and others. 



Q. Do the pups perish with the cows that you kill? — A. Certainly. 

 That is, if the coavs happen to be with pui). 



Q. Is it your opinion, if sealing continues unrestricted, that they will 

 soon be exterminated? — A. There certainly will not be as many in a 

 few years as there are now. 



Q. In your opinion is it absolutely necessary to protect the cows in 



the Bering Sea to prevent the herd from being extermi- 



Protection neces- natcd? — A. Certainly it is. 



^^'"^' Q. What months in the year do you think they 



Close season. ouglit to be protected ? — A. Well, from about the middle 



of June to the 1st of October. 



