COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 163 



sources of informatiou in addition to those accessible to the 

 public previously, or now submitted in connection with the 

 Case of the United States. He characterizes statements to 

 the efltect that not more than 5 per cent, of seals shot are 

 lost as "absurd," and goes on to say that 



only such seals as are instantly disabled can be secured, and even Ibid., Appeu- 

 many of these must be lost, since the specific gravity of a dead seal ^^^> voLi, p. 4U9. 

 is greater than that of the water in which it is killed. 



He proceeds to argue that further great losses must arise 

 from wounded seals which are not taken, and concludes 

 that about 60 ])er cent, of the seals killed at sea are lost 

 by sinking before recovery alone. 



THE FACTS ARE OPPOSED TO THE CONTENTION (7.), AND 

 TO PROFESSOR ALLEN'S STATEMENT. 



It is only by ignoring the well-known facts as to the 

 recovery of fur-seals which have been shot in the open sea, 

 that the argument that they sink immediately can possibly 

 be brought forward. 



EVIDENCE OF MR. ALEXANDER. 



With reference to this question, Mr. A. B. Alexander, 



Fishery Expert to the United States Fish Commission, says: 



187 In sleeping, the seal's head is to leeward and the steerer will United States 



endeavour to work the boat so as to a])])roacli from that direction '. ^?^.'. -^PPfudix 

 and give the hunter an opportunity to shoot the seal in the back of ^" " '**''' 

 the neck. When so shot they take longer to sink than when shot in 

 the face; that is, if a seal bobs up in the water, its body being in a 

 submerged and horizontal position, and if it be instantly killed by 

 the shot it will at once sink. It is then that the 8 or 10 foot gaff is 

 used to recover it. It has been my observation that the rapidity with 

 which seals sink is influenced by several conditions. A pregnant 

 female will sink less (luickly than a male of equal size. If a seal be 

 shot at a time when the air is well exhausted in the lungs, it will sink 

 more quickly than if killed when the lungs are inflated. If a seal is 

 asleep and shot in the back of the head it will float for several min- 

 utes, thus enabling the hunter to secure it. 



FACTS RESPECTING THE KILLING AND RECOVERY OP 



SEALS AT SEA. 



As regards the length of time for which fur-seals float ..Appendix, vol. 



1 i 1 n ) 7—1 



after being shot at sea, hunters are practically unanimous 

 in saying that, in the great majority of cases, they always 

 float for a sufficiently long time to enable them to be 

 secured, if they are looked after at once after being shot. 

 Sometimes, however, a second seal will be seen close at 

 hand, and may be fired at before the endeavour to secure 

 the first, which in the meantime occasionally sinks. Under 

 ordinary circumstances, a seal is picked up as soon as pos- 

 sible after it is shot, and nothing more is known of the 

 length of time it would float than that it floated until 

 secured. Seals are, moreover, occasioiuilly shot from the 

 deck of the schooner itself. If the vessel is under way, a 

 pole heavily leaded at one end and with a small flag attached 

 to the other, is at once thrown overboard, which marks the 

 position of the seal. A boat is lowered a;; soon as ])ossible, 

 and, with very i'ew exceptions, the seal is secured, eveii 

 under these circumstances. 



