896 APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



I think the disappearance of the North-west Catch would be a serious 

 loss to the fur trade. Without this catch the entire seal business 

 would be in the hands of the lessees of the islands, who could control 

 it entirely as they wish, and this I think would be a very dangerous 

 state of affairs. 



And I make this declaration conscientiously believing the contents to 

 be true, and by virtue of "The Statutory Declaration Act, 1835." 



(Signed) Aug. Allhausen. 



Declared at No. 37, Carter Lane, in the City of London, this IGthday 

 of January, 1893, 

 Before me: 



(Signed) Walter B. Priest, 



A Commissioner for Oaths. 



No. 33. 



I, Henry Poland, of No. 110, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of 

 London, fur and skin merchant, do solemnly and sincerely declare as 

 follows : 



1. I am a member of the firm of P. E. Poland and Son, of No. 110, 

 Queen Victoria Street aforesaid, which has been established since 1785, 

 and I have been engaged in the fur trade for over twenty-two years. 



2. I have besides taken a deep interest in natural history, and have 

 made a special study of the fur-seal and other fur- bearing animals, and 

 have also i)ublished a book on " Pur-bearing Animals" treating on these 

 subjects. 



3. I consider that to a skilled expert the difference between Copper 

 Island and Alaska fur-seal skins can readily be distinguished, but that 

 in the subsequent processes of dressing, dyeing, &c., such distinctions 

 disappear to a great extent. 



4. That the chief distinguishing difference between the Coi^per Island 

 and Alaska skins lies (taking of course an average year) that the Cop- 

 pers are more of a yellowish brown than an average Alaska, although 

 I have known one year when the Alaskas were lighter in colour than 

 the Copper Island skins; I think it was the year in which the new 

 Company — the North American Commercial Company — was formed, 

 that is, 1890. 



5. Further, I admit that amongst the Copper Island catch there is a 

 certain percentage of skins which are for the most part undistinguish- 

 able from the Alaska (or Pribyloff Islands') catch, although that per- 

 centage would be difficult to ascertain. At a guess I should say that it 

 was not more than 30 per cent., but of course the fur of some of these 

 would be less dense. 



6. I have also noticed in the Alaska catch that there are in some par- 

 ticular years skins which are uudistinguishable from Copper Island 

 skins, and this fact is borne out by the opinion of the late Mr. Charles 

 Collins, a well-known dresser and a good authority on seal-skins, to 

 whom I am indebted for many important particulars in the fur-seal 

 business. 



7. The next difference between Copper and Alaska skins is the quality. 

 By this I mean density of fur. Density, of course, signifies a greater 

 number of atoms of fur on the animal. This is undoubtedly the chief 

 commercial difference between the Cojiper and Alaska types. Alaska 



