214 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



yearliiig.s tiiat wore s])ai(<l last suniiiicr, sncli of tbem as shall return, 

 Avill liave thuu uiatured ami take their ])laces on tlie breediiii;- j^rouuds. 

 . . . . lint one very iiuportaiil I'ait should 1m' ke])t iu iiiiiul; that 

 fact is, that when killing u]) there i.s again renewed lor tax and ship- 

 lueut, no cuUifig of the driven herds must bo allowed; all the seals 

 dri\en must be taken; for unless this is dofie, then history will i'e]>cat 

 itself — every 3- and 4-year-ol(l male will be killed as it grows up, and 

 the rookeries soon be again deprived of that regular su])ply of fresh 

 Ula]<^ blood, whieh is absolutely uecessary for tlieir maintenance iu 

 their full Ibrm and number. 



CAPTAIN BRYANT'S EVIDENCE QUOTED IN UNITED 



STATES CASE. 



The evidence .c:iven on this subject by Cnptain Cliarles 

 Bryant, is not here si)ecially leterred to in the United 

 States Case, but apj)eais in the Appendix to that 

 247 Case. In his affidavit of April 1892, alter stating 

 his experience on the I'ribyloff Lshmds, which ex- 

 tended from 18Gy to 1877, he says: 



TTnitefl States 'phe whole time I was there there was an ample supply of full- 

 voMi p y' '■'^' grown vigorous males suflicieut for serving all the females on tlie 

 islands, aiul every year a surplus of vigorous bulls could always be 

 found upon the rookeries awaiting an opi)ortunity to usurp the place 

 of some old or wounded bull, unable longer to maintain his jdace 

 upon the breeding-grounds. I should except from this general state- 

 ment the seas(ms of 1873 and to 1875, when the destruction of young' 

 nuiles iu 1868, and the error uuide by the Company under their misap- 

 prehension as to the character of the skins to be taken for market, 

 perce])til)ly affected the males on the breeding-groniuls. It is not 

 certain that the fertilizing of the females was thereby alFected, and 

 this gap was tilleil up, and from this time on there was at all times 

 not only a sufficiency but a surplus of male life for breeding purposes. 



PREVIOUS OFFICIAL REPORTS BY THE SAME OFFICER IN 



1875. 



As Captain Bryant's notes on the condition of the breed- 

 ing-islands contained in his Reports, furnished to Professor 

 Allen and published in that writer's monograph, afford 

 some of the most trustworthy information respecting the 

 earlier period of the United States management, it is 

 necessary to point out that Captain Bryant's recollection 

 of these events, as embodied iu the above mentioned affi- 

 davit, is not entirely accurate. 



In his official Keiwrt for 1875, addressed to the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, Captain Bryant writes as follows : 



H. II.,Ej:. Doc. At time of writing rav detaih^d Report on the habits of these animals, 

 Cm'v ^^st s'*!^''^"^^'*^ ^'"' "^"^^ Xoven'iber, i8()9, it was stated to be 100,000. This 

 pp"nd-178. ^^'^^ number was based on the liest information obtainable at that time 

 from the natives of the island and the few employe's of the former 

 Russian Fur Company remaining in the territory. tSinee then a resi- 

 dence of seven successive seasons on the island, in charge of these 

 animals, has furnished me with the desired opportunity for deter- 

 mining this surplus product by actual study of their habits and 

 requirements, aud the result is, (lie IciUiiiti of 100,000 per ainiitm does not 

 leave a autficieiit viDiilHr of vialex to mature for ihe waiils of the increase 

 in the 7>nml>e)' of females. Aud, as it is desirable to state some of the 

 methods by winch these conclusiims have been reached by me, a brief 

 etatcmcnt of the habits of these animals and the elfect of the killing 

 of 100,000 per year for the past five years seems uecessary. 



#*#»»■ 



These hauliug-grounds are swept and driven two or three times a 

 week during the months of June aud July, and the prime seals culled 



