606 



APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



At Tolstoi and Polavina rookeries the sandy nature of much of the soil at the 

 back of the breeding-groniids made it difficult to note how far the seals had extended 

 in the i)revions year, but there was no unoccupied ground that showed signs of having 

 had seals on it in 1891. 



As was to be exi)ected, in accordauce with tlie relatively small number of young 

 seals killed in 1891,. it was everywhere apparent that the number of holluschickie 

 had increased. At every hauliug-ground they covered the areas on which seals had 

 been last year, and at every one of them large bands of holluschickie had hauled 

 out on new ground. This is shown in ])hotographs of Zapadnie, North-east Point, 

 Lukannon, &,c., on St. Paul Island^ and North and Starry Arteel rookeries on St. 



George Island. 

 152 During the time I was on the Pribyloff Islands I never heard any one, white 



or native, say that there were fewer seals tban there were last year, though it 

 was frequently said in my hearing that there were not so many seals now as there 

 were in former years. Mr. Stanley Brown expressed great surprise when he heard 

 that the pelagic catch had been large, as, from the appearance of the rookeries, he 

 had come to the conclusion that but few seals could have been killed at sea. 



Injury to Seals resulting from "Drhing" on the Islands. 



When on the Pribyloff Islands I was present at four "food-killings," three on St. 

 Paul Island and one on St. George Island, and was thus enabled to observe carefully 

 the metliod.s employed by the agents of tlio North American Commercial Company, 

 and the natives working under them, in selecting from the thousands of seals driven 

 to the killing-grounds the few hundreds that were to be killed. I had expected that 

 the driving and killing of these seals would be under the direct supervision of an 

 officer of the Government, for Avhile it was well understood that the skins of the 

 seals killed wonhl be taken over by the Company, the object of the killing during 

 the modus virendi was supposed to be not for the purpose of taking skins for the 

 Company, but to sujjpl.v the natives with food. I did not myself accompany the 

 natives during the whole progress of a drive from the hauling-grounds to the killing- 

 grounds, but on three occasions on St. Paul Island I accompanied the drive for 

 some distance before the killing-grounds were reached. On none of these occasions 

 did an oflicer of the United States Government see anything of the seals until they 

 were all driven together near the killing-ground, and once the killing had to be 

 delayed for some time until the Treasury Agent reached the ground. Once only on 

 either island did an officer of the Government in my presence interfere in any way 

 with the natives or the agents of the Company in their wt)rk of clubbing and skin- 

 ning the seals, or make to them any suggestion as to which seals ought to be killed 

 and which spared, and the number of seals killed on every occasion depended not 

 upon the wants of the natives, but entirely upon the number there were in the drive 

 that were thought by the agents of the Company to be of a size that would give to 

 them skins of the greatest value. The one instance referred to above was at the 

 killing on the 1st July. A seal with apjiarently a broken shoulder was allowed by 

 the luitives to escape, though they noticed its condition. Colonel Murray then 

 ordered one of them to go after it, and it was killed. At this killing less than 300 

 skins were taken. A careful account was kept by me of the number of seals that 

 were driven up to the clubbers, and were allowed to escape .after having been 

 huddled together on the killing-ground, while those of a killable size were selected 

 from the drive. 



But 14.1 per cent, of the whole number of seals driven at this time were killed, 

 while auionii- those that escaped I counted seventeen that were badly enough bitten 

 or wounded to bleed considerably, and there were doubtless many more that I failed 

 to nui ice. riirec of those injured were young seals that bad evidently been struck 

 by the clabbers, as they were badly cut about the head. One seal, about G years old, 

 tiiat had been wounded in the belly, was allowed to escape. I went to where it had 

 rested for a few minutes, and found as much clotted blood as would have filled a 

 breakfast cup. Another seal had a gash in its back about 5 inches long, and though 

 a four-year-old seal of the size that was being killed was allowed to go free, as the 

 skin had been injured. A wounded or bleeding seal was to be seen in nearly every 

 small ))od of from thirty-tive to fifty that passed through the hands of the clubbers. 

 There were, of course, numy others that had blood on them that had come from the 

 killed or wounded seals, but on the seventeen referred to above the wounds could be 

 plainly seen. 



At the killing of the 2.5th July one young seal escaped with a broken nose, and 

 another with an eye hanging out. Such things attracted no attention from either 

 the natives or the officer of the Government or Company, being apparently considered 

 by them to be quite matters of course. 



I noticed at every killing on St. Paul Island at which I was present, that as each 

 little pod of seals was driven from the killing-ground to the lagoon 20 or 30 yards 



