APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 659 



Declaration of John Christian. 



Dominion of Canada, 



Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria. 



I, John Christian, of the city of Victoria, in the Province of British 

 Cohimbia, sealer, do solemnly and sincerely state and declare as follows: 



I have been sealing two years on the North Pacific Coast and Beh- 

 ring Sea. In 1891 I was on the " Ocean Belle" as hnnter, and in 1892 

 on the " Mascotte," in the same capacity. In 1891 I got 803 vseals, and 

 this year 144. In 1891 1 lost not more than ten, principally seals I 

 shot from the schooner, and which sank before I could get a boat over 

 and reach them. In 1892 I did not lose any, except one that slip])ed 

 out of the hands of one of the boatmen. A few seals might have been 

 badly wounded and escaped. Some of these might die, but the number 

 is very small. 



I shoot sleeping seals from 15 to 20 yards, and "travellers" and 

 "breaching " seals from 20 to 50 yards' range. About two-thirds, j)er- 

 haps more, of the seals I got were shot sleeping. 



In 1891 I saw seals in greater numbers on Fairweather Grounds than 

 at other x)laces. I have seen seals in bunches, or schools, all along the 

 coast from Cape Blanco north. Off Fairweather Grounds the schools 

 were more numerous and in larger numbers. Seals in schools are much 

 harder to get at than when found singly. Some of the seals in the 

 school are always awake, and those awake warn those asleep. I have 

 seen seals on approach of a boat go up to seals asleep and strike or 

 shove them to awaken them. Sometimes they "breach" alongside the 

 sleeper to w^ake it. Sometimes we get among young seals, mostly males, 

 for a day or two, then among cows and bulls mixed. On the coast I 

 have noticed more salmon food in the stomachs of seals than anything 

 else, but in Behring Sea it is mostly squid. 



I cannot detect any difference between seals on the American and 

 Asiatic coasts. I have seen seals in small numbers about 200 miles 

 south of the Aleutian Islands, in mid-ocean. This was about 1st Sep- 

 tember. Seals are not so wild on the Asiatic side as on this side. 



On the coast I got about equal numbers of male and female, and 

 rather more females than males on the Asiatic side. I saw fewer seals 

 this year than last on the coast, but nearly all hunters I have talked 

 with tell me they saw more this year than ever before. 



I don't think male seals have teats, but I never examined them to 

 see. 



I have never seen seals cohabiting in the water. 



Indian hunters now use mostly guns; a few use spears still. 



Cows with young are more on the watch than others, and much harder 

 to get; in fact, all female are harder to get than males. 



This year I got four or five old bulls ; most hunters get about that 

 number. 



I have read the above, and have nothing more to say that I think of. 



And I, John Christian, make this solemn declaration, conscientiously 

 believing the same to be true, and by virtue of " The Act respecting 

 Extrajudicial Oaths." 



(Signed) John Christian. 



87 Signed and declared at the city of Victoria, British Columbia, 



this 6th day of October, A. d. 1892. 



(Signed) A. L. Belyea, 



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



