694 APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Declaration of John Matthews. 



Dominion of Canada, 



Province of British Columbia, City of Victoria. 



I, Jolin Matthews, of the city of Victoria, in the Proviuce of British 

 Columbia, Canada, fur-seal huuter, do solemnly declare: 



1. That I have been hunting- fur-seals in the North Pacific Ocean two 

 years, and in Behring; Sea a short time — one year. 



In 1891 1 was hunting on the " Umbrina," and in 1892 I was on the 

 "Brenda." 



2. That in 1891, my first year, I got 87 seals on the coast. 71 in Beh- 

 ring Sea on eastern side, and 30 on the Copper Island grounds. The 

 "Umbrina" was warned out of Behring Sea after two or three weeks* 

 hunting, and we went to the Asiatic side. 



3. That in 1891 I kept account of all the seals I lost by sinking. I 

 marked every seal I lost that way in my book. 1 lost 4 on the coast, 

 none in Behring Sea, and 2 at Copper Island. I wounded a few seals 

 that got away, but I am sure I got 8 out of every 10 seals that I shot 

 at, taking the season through. All the seals I lost were old bulls, 

 which sink very quickly when shot, because they are generally very 

 poor, all skin and bones. One of these old bulls I got alongside the 

 boat, but he was too big to get on board, and I let him go. 



4. That in 1892 I got 99 seals on the coast, and lost none at all by 

 sinking. I wounded a few, but got most of those I wounded. I got 

 98 seals on the Copper Island grounds this year, and lost by sinking 4. 

 A few that I wounded escaped, but, taking the season through, I got 

 at least 8 out of every 10 I shot at. 



5. That I did not pay much attention to the number of either sex of 

 seals I got in any year, but my recollection is that the sexes were about 

 in equal numbers. Of the seals I got both years on the coast, not over 

 one in five weie females with pup. 



- In Behring Sea, in 1891, my catch was nearly all bulls, at least five 

 out of every six. No cows with pup were got, but a very few cows in 

 milk were got, some of them nearly all dried up. 



G. That on the "Brenda's" voyage home this year from Copper 

 Island grounds I saw seals in the North Pacific about 300 miles south 

 of Middleton Island. This was about the middle of September. We 

 also saw seals about 15 miles off Caj^e Flattery about 21st September. 



7. That I did not notice any difference between the seals on the two 

 sides of the North Pacific, except that the seals on the Asiatic side 

 seemed not so wild as on this coast. I think there were a larger num- 

 ber of darker coloured seals on that side, but the difference is slight, 

 and I have seen seals of the same shade of colour on this side. 



And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the 

 same to be true, and by virtue of "The Act resx)ectiug Extra- Judicial 

 Oaths." 



(Signed) John Matthews. 



Subscribed and declared by the said John Matthews before me, a 

 Notary Public duly commissioned, and residing and practising at the 

 city of Victoria, in the Province of British Columbia this 6th day of 

 December, A. d. 1892. 



[seal.] (Signed) Arthur L. Belyea, 



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



