154 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



CONFIRMED BY OBSERVATIONS IN 1892. 



Mr. J. M. Macouii, after a patient and scientific investi- 

 gation of this subject in 1892, lias readied conclusions 

 which fully bear out the statement just quoted. After 

 detailing his observations, he writes: 



Appendix, vol. When on the islands I was aj^ain and again told that the yellow 

 i, pp. 150, 1.31. grass marked the limit to wjiich seals had reached. Admitting this 

 to be trne, there is no way of determining what proportion of this 

 gronnd has been occupied by seals at one time. The lichen-covered 

 rocks prove that nmch of it has been deserted by them for many years, 

 while there are other jtarts of it that exhibit unmistakable evidence 

 that seals have been on it within a few years; and in yet other cases 

 seals were seen in great numbers in 1891 and 1892 hanled-out to the 

 extreme edge of the ground defined by yellow grass, and in not a few 

 instances a long way beyond it. 



When the rookeries on St. Paul Island were last visited in Septem- 

 ber, it was found that at all the larger rookeries, such as Eeef, Tolstoi, 

 and Polavina, the seals had hauled-out as far as there was any signs 

 of there ever having been before, and in many cases much farther: 

 photographs showing this were taken at all the principal rookeries. 



OBSERVATIONS AT SEA, AS WELL AS ON ISLANDS, MUST 

 BE CONSIDERED IN JUDGING OF INCREASE OR DE- 

 CREASE. 



British Coin- Another matter to which special attention is drawn by 

 mi-ssioners' Re- the British Coinmissioners, in respect to the whole number 

 port, para. o. ^^. g^^^jg^ jg ^^^^ uecessity of taking into account observa- 

 tions made at sea, as well as those made upon the breeding- 

 islands, in order to arrive at a true conclusion respecting 

 statistics show tlic iucrcase or decrease of seals on the whole. They state 

 ^^'^*>'^^^-^^<^ '''that attention has heretofore been too exclusively given to 

 the islands alone in this respect, and quote much evidence 

 of a general kind, to show that no decrease corresponding 

 with that observed on the islands has been met with at sea. 

 Ibid,, paras. Tlicv luivc also, for the purpose of arriving at greater cer- 

 tainty in this matter, instituted a comparison of the actual 

 number of seals taken at sea relatively to the numbers of 

 boats and the numbers of men em])loyed for five years, 1887 

 to 1891, both inclusive. The figures thus obtained show a 

 Ibid., para. 399. practical Uniformity ill catch duiing these years; though 

 Ibid!! ^]Tar a*s' ^t the sauic time nearly all the evidence shows that 



408-426. See also 177 the scals are yearly becoming more wary and dififi- 

 Appe'ndfx.voi. iii cult of approach, and the statements of Indian hiint- 



pp. 140-156. gj.g prove that they usually keep further from land than 

 before. 



STATISTICS FOR 1892 INDICATE AN INCREASE. 



The catches made by Canadian sealing vessels in 1892, as 

 compared with those of 1891, show a decreased number of 

 skins in proportion to the number of vessels employed. 

 This circumstance Is, however, fully accounted for as a 

 result of the modvs vivendi of 1892. Notwithstanding the 

 modus Vivendi of 1S91, a considerable proportion of the catch 

 of that year was taken in Behring Sea, but in 1892 scarcely 

 any of the vessels entered Behring Sea, and it is known 

 that the total catch in the eastern part of Behring !Sea did 



