604 APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



8. It is mucTi more diflficiilt to take seals wlien a number of them are 

 together in this way or near one another, as one seal is sure to give the 

 alarm to the others. 



9. I found them more in schools this year than ever before. I account 

 for this by saying that the seals, being hunted more now, lie single on 

 the water much less than they formerly did, as when a seal is frightened 

 by the report of a gun and starts away, he will startle all he passes and 

 they will join him. 



10. That in August 1890 I saw seals about 300 miles from Kadiak, and 

 in August 1891 I saw seals about 250 miles from Kadiak. 



11. That I have seen seals as far south as Queen Charlotte Islands in 

 August. 



12. I think the seals were wilder this year than last. 



13. I have frequently examined seals closely, and frequently noticed 

 that male seals have small teats ; even a bull 2 years old will have them. 



14. I make a point of cutting open seals as I want to see whether or 

 not I am on feeding grounds. In doing this I have seen the teats with- 

 out having to move the fur. 



15. I have been out sealing with Indians who carried both guns and 

 spears. 



16. I have, when in Behring Sea, seen seals cohabiting in the water, 

 and know a hunter who shot both male and female. 



And I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the 

 same to be true, and by virtue of "The Act respecting Extra- Judicial 

 Oaths." 



(Signed) Charles J. Harris. 



Signed and declared by the said Charles J. Harris before me, the 

 Undersigned, a Notary Public duly commissioned, and residing and 

 practising at the city of Victoria, in the Province of British Columbia, 

 this 20th day of October, a. d. 1892. 



[SEAL.] (Signed) Arthur L. Bel ye a, 



A Notary Public in and for the Province of British Columbia. 



Declaration of Charles Le Blanc. 



Canada, Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, 



I, Charles Le Blanc, of the city of Victoria, in the Province of British 

 Columbia, seal-hunter, do solemnly declare: 



1. That I have been out on sealing- vessels on the North Pacific Ocean 

 five seasons, two of which I was in the Behring Sea. The first year, 

 1888, 1 was a boat-steerer on the "Maggie Mac;" in 1839, on the "Mary 

 Ellen" as mate; in 1890, on the " Henry Dennis " as boat-steerer; in 

 1891, on the " Carmolite" as mate; and in 1892, on the "Annie E. Paint" 

 as a hunter. 



2. This year we got 200 seals, and I lost by sinking 4. I remember 

 this distinctly. 



3. In the five years I have been sealing I have been with twenty- five 

 different hunters, and I do not remember of any of them losing in this 

 way more than 4 or 5 in a 100. It is always the excuse of a poor hunter 

 that the seals he shot sank, but as a boat-steerer I know better. Poor 

 hunters miss the seals they fire at much more often then they lose them 

 by sinking. 



