APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 699 



The captain and mate of the " Zambesi" have told me that in Janu- 

 ary last they saw seals in about the same place, or a little to the west 

 of where I saw them. When I saw them they were about as plentiful 

 as sealers generally find them, but the ofticers of the "Zambesi" report 

 them as being much more abundant than that. I consider that they 

 came from the Japan side, and were a part of the seals that go to the 

 Commander Islands. 



In 1889 I was captain of the schooner "Ariel," which went to Behring 

 Sea on a sealing voyage. In tbat year we saw a good many females in 

 milk that had liad their young, south of the Aleutian Islands, and in 

 June, north of Qneen Charlotte Islands, we saw a few young seals at 

 times swimming in the water; they appeared to be about two months 

 old. I do not think that all the seals go to Behring Sea, but believe 

 that some of them remain around the Queen Charlotte Islands all the 

 year round. I cannot give an estimate of the number of females taken, 

 as I never kept any record. 



I do not think that more than one out of ten or fifteen seals killed is 

 lost at the very outside. While I was out a good many seals were shot 

 from the schooner, and they were nearly always got, although it takes 

 some minutes to lower a boat. I have very seldom seen them sink. 

 Hunters will sometimes shoot three or four seals before picking them 

 up. I have noticed that wben the carcasses of seals are thrown over- 

 board a great many float, more than half of them. My hunters shot 

 at seals when about 40 or 50 feet from them, and at that distance it 

 does not take long to reach them after they are shot. 



On thinking over the matter, I do not believe that more than one 

 seal out of twenty or twenty-five killed is lost. I have seen the seals 

 catching a fish like a mackerel, but I have never examined the con- 

 tents of a seal's stomach. 



I have never seen more than eight or ten seals together in fine weather, 

 but in rough weather they seem to travel more, and then I have seen 

 many more than that; as far as half-a-mile would be covered with them 

 a little distance apart. I have found that some boats would bring in 

 all small-sized bulls, while others bring all females. 



Barren females are often found, I think that the young males travel 

 together, and that the older ones go with the females. 



I never saw a skin taken in the summer that was poorer than at other 

 times. 



(Signed) S. W. Buckman. 



Victoria, June i, 1892, 



Declaration of Captain William Grant. 



I, Captain William Grant, declare: 



That I made many voyages to and from China and Japan, and that I 

 have often seen seals at sea. The following is an extract from my pri- 

 vate diary when a passenger on the " Parthia": " Noon, the 3rd Decem- 

 ber, 1890. Latitude 42° 29' north. Longitude 157^35' east. At 10 a.m. 

 saw lots of seals around the ship in large schools jumping out of the 

 Avater, heading towards the south." Some of the officers had noticed 

 seals when day broke, and they were very plentiful until about 11 

 o'clock, when the sea grew rough, and they could no longer be seen. 

 They were travelling for the most part in schools, sometimes as many as 

 30 or 40 together. They were not of one particular age or sex, but 



