APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 611 



Declaration by J. 8. Fanning, 



Dominion of Canada, • 



Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria, 



I, J. S. Fanning, of the city of San Francisco, make oath and say: 



That I have been sealing four years. In 1889 in " Lillie L.," of San 

 Francisco; in 1890 I shipped in the "Allie J. Alger," of Seattle, but 

 was out a short time only. In 1891 and this year was in the " Henry 

 Dennis." The 21st day of April last, when about 80 miles off' Sitka, 

 we were asked on board of the United States cutter "Corwin." Six 

 hunters in all went on board of the " Corwin," but one only, Ernest 

 Miner, was interviewed by Captain Lavender, an Agent of the United 

 States Government. Mr. Milner was not interviewed in my hearing. 

 The first year I was out I got 227 seals, and there were about twenty, 

 I think, that I killed and did not get, and besides these, crippled a 

 good many. I lost many more this year — that is, 1889 — than I would 

 have done had I known anything about sealing. In 1890 I was not out 

 long enough to do anything worth while speaking of. In 1891 I got 

 167, and killed 7 that I did not get. I kept count of the seals I shot at 

 that year, and know just how many I got and how many I lost. This 

 year I secured 385, and lost 14. I am sure there were no more than 

 that, for every one I lost I made a note of it. A good average hunter 

 ought not to lose more than I did. I shoot at sleeping seals when 12 

 to 15 yards from them, and at a travelling seal when 30 or 40 yards 

 away. Seals were found most abundant by me on the Fairweather 

 Grounds this year. I have seen seals in schools every year. I saw 

 bunches of twenty-five or thirty off' the Columbia Eiver this year, but 

 when they are in bunches they are much harder to get. Generally, 

 cows and bulls travel together, but this year we found when about 00 

 miles oft' Mount St. Elias we got 1,019 seals; of these there were not 

 fifty cows. I killed while there 158 seals, and of these there were not 

 more than eight cows, and the other hunters had the same experience. 

 Both last year and this year, when going to the Eussian side, and while 

 south of the Aleutian Islands, we killed seals when about half-way over. 

 Coming home this year we saw seals in the IsTorth Pacific. I killed one 

 of them myself. 



One of the hunters on our schooner this year killed a female the 28th 

 day of July. It had in its womb an unborn pup, which we had in the 

 schooner for an hour or so. 



This year we travelled about the same route as usual, and I saw more 

 seals than I ever did before. I have seen seals attempting to cohabit 

 in the water, but never saw them actually in the act. The male was on 

 top of the female, and it seemed to me that he was attempting to have 

 connection with her. In 1889, in Behring Sea, I got more females than 

 males. I have not been there since. I talked with Mr. Alexander this 

 year, who is an Agent of the United States Government, I 

 56 believe, and I gave him much the same evidence as I have given 

 now. I have read the above statements as written down, and 

 swear that they are true to the best of my belief. 



(Signed) J. S. Fanning-. 



Subscribed and sworn before me the 30th day of September, a. d. 

 1892, at the city of Victoria, Province of British Columbia. 

 [seal.] (Signed) A. L. Beltea, 



A Notary Public, by Royal Authority, in and for the 



Province of Britiah Columbia, 



