COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 95 



109 ACTUAL LENGTH OF RESORT TO BREEDING ISLANDS. 



From a study of tbe most noteworthy published obser 

 vatioiis, notably those of Bryant, Elliott, and Maynard 

 (writers who, in framing their official Reports, had no 

 reason for unduly limiting" or extending the period during 

 which the fur-seal naturally resorts to the land), the British 

 Commissioners rejiort as follows : 



With reference to the length of the period during which the fur- British Com- 

 seals resort to the shore: — the breeding males begin to arrive at the ""®^*°°^5*' ^®" 

 Pribyloff Islands at varying dates in May, and remain contimiously ^""^ ' ^^"^^^^ 

 ashore for about three months, after which they are freed from all 

 duties on the breeding rookeries, and only occasionally return to the 

 shores. The breeding females arrive for the most part nearly a month 

 later, bearing their young immediately on landing, and remaining 

 ashore, jealously guarded by the males; for several weeks, after which 

 they take every opi)ortuuity to play in the water close along the 

 beaches, and about a month later they also begin to leave the islands 

 in search of food, and migrate to their winter habitat. The young 

 males and the young females come ashore later than the breeding 

 seals, and at more irregular dates, and 'haul out' by themselves. 

 Lastly, tlie pups of the year, born in June and July, commence to 

 'pod,' or herd together away from their mothers, towards the middle 

 or end of Augiist, and after that frequent the beaches in great num- 

 bers, and bathe and swim in the surf. They remain on the islands 

 until October, and even November, being among the last to leave. 



Details respecting the landing and departure of the 

 various classes of seals will be found in paragraphs 174 

 and 188 of the British Commissioners' Report. 



From the quotations and references given above, it is 

 clear that the fur-seal has never been considered by natur- 

 alists "a land animal;" and almost innumerable citations 

 in support of this statement might be made. 



SEAL INDUSTRY, IN ALL STATE PUBLICATIONS OF THE 

 UNITED 

 FISHERY 



UNITED STATES AND ACTS OF CONGRESS, CALLED A 



It will, however, here be sufficient to show, in addition, 

 that in the official publications and documents of the United 

 States, as a matter of common usage, the industry depend- 

 ing on the fur-seal has throughout been called a " fishery." 

 It is not to be assumed that in the choice of this term the 

 fur-seal was supposed to be a " fish " from the standpoint 

 of a zoologist, but rather that its nature and habits clearly 

 show that it is a marine animal, and not a product of the 

 soil, as is now, and for the first time in history, gravely iTnited states 



' i. J mi, • 1 i. • J. J? ii J- Case, p. 300. 



asserted. The industry growing out ot the capture 

 110 of the fur-seal is in efiect a "fishery "in a sense 



analogous to that in which this term is used in many 

 other cases, such as the " whale fishery," or the "oyster 

 fishery." In the Appendix, the titles of several Acts of. Appeudix, vol. 

 Congress and other official documents, ranging in date '' ^' 

 from 1832 to 1892, are cited as examples of this, in which 

 the industry is invariably described as a " fishery." 



FOOD ENTIRELY DERIVED FROM THE SEA. 



It should further be borne in mind that the food upon 

 which the fur-seal subsists is entirely derived from the sea, 

 and no portion of it from the land. The quantity con- 



