APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 958 
31. Q. Barren cows travel with bulls, do they?—A. Yes, Sir; barren cows usu- 
ally travel with the bulls. 
32. Q. Are there any months in the year during which there are more females 
than males killed? Any particular time that you have observed?—A. No, Sir. 
33. Q. Is it your candid opinion that there are more barren cows killed than seal- 
bearing cows?—A. Yes, Sir; I think there are more. 
34. Q. Do these barren cows, from the knowledge you have of seals—do you think 
that they ever become bearing?—A. I think they do, 
35. Q. That they will have periods of bearing?—A. I don’t think that a seal will 
bear before she is 4 years old. 
36. Q. How long does a seal carry her young?—A. It is understood to be eleven 
months. 
37. Q. Were there any circumstances occurred to you upon your last voyage 
which would indicate a marked decrease in the number of seals?—A. None what- 
ever, Sir. On the contrary, I should say there were more, ‘There seemed to be more 
last year, at least we saw more that year than for several years previously. 
38. Q. In your observation as to the habits of the seals, they appear to be like the 
salmon—that they return from no known cause in larger numbers?—A. Well, I don’t 
know, Sir; I think that they have their annual migrations; but there is question 
whether they follow the same track every year. You will find them on some grounds 
one year, and in other years on other grounds. 
171 39. Q. Do you think that the number of female seals killed in the hunt is 
materially injuring the reproduction of seals?—A. No, Sir. ; 
40. Q. Can you give a reason for that?—A. From the small percentage of females 
killed, I don’t think it would injure reproduction in any way. 
41. @. Were you in Behring’s Sea last year, and were you ordered out?—A. And 
was ordered out by the United States ship ‘‘ Corwin.” 
42. Q. Before being ordered out, what was your usual fishing distance from land ?— 
A. 60 to 100 miles. 
43. Q. You found seals all along that distance from land?—A. Yes, in large numbers. 
44. Q. You had the prospects of a fair catch?—A. Yes, Sir; I had the prospects of 
a very fair catch up to the time I was warned. 
45. @. You consider if a very material loss, being warned at the time out of Beh- 
ring’s Sea?—A. I do, Sir; I consider it a very heavy loss. 
46. Q. You still adhere to the statement that the seals between 60 and 100 miles 
from land were as plentiful as in any previous years in your experience?—A. As 
plentiful as they were in any year since 1886. 
47, Q. Did you observe in your catch in Behring’s Sea any preponderance of females 
over males, or vice versé?—A. Yes, Sir; the males were in excess. 
48, Q. Can you state from recollection an average day’s hunt in Behring’s Sea?— 
A. Forty-eight was about the largest I made while in Behring’s Sea. 
49. Q. Do you remember hearing any of the hunters speak of losing any seals by 
sinking?—A. No, Sir; I don’t remember any instances of such loss. 
50. Q. Did you cross from the American side of the Behring’s Sea into the Russian 
side?—A. No, I didn’t, I came straight home to Victoria through Ounimak Pass. 
51. Q. During the year, did you hear from any sonrce that any Canadian vessels 
had raided the seal islands or any of them?—A. No, Sir; I never heard of any 
British or Canadian vessels, not during the past year, or any year I have been 
engaged in sealing. 
52. Q. Captain Petit, do you believe any of the stories that are told about the 
“Geo. R. White,” the ‘Daniel Webster,” and the “Mollie Adams” raiding these 
islands?—A. Yes, Sir; I believe those reports. 
53. Q. These were all American vessels, were they not?—A. Yes, Sir. 
54. Q. During the last two years it is reported that the American sthooners 
“J. Hamilton Lewis,” formerly the British schooner ‘‘ Aida,” and the “City of 
San Diego,” raided the Copper Islands?—A. Yes, Sir. 
55. Q. Do you believe that is trne?—A. I do, Sir; and also in 1886 or 1887, the 
American schooner ‘‘ Look-out,” raided the Pribyloff Islands, so that the history of 
raiding the seal islands is peculiarly American, and solely by American schooners. 
56. Q. Was not the British schooner ‘‘ Aida” seized by the American Government 
and sold?—A. Yes. Sir. In 1887, and renamed the ‘“ J. Hamilton Lewis.” 
57. Q. Is not this same vessel, the ‘‘J. Hamilton Lewis,” the same vessel as was 
seized by the Russians this year, in the vicinity of Copper Island?—A. Yes, Sir; and 
served her right too. 
58. Q. If any of the Canadian vessels had raided either the American or Russian 
seal islands, your long experience in the sealing fleet here would have insured your 
being aware of it?—A. Yes, Sir; I should certainly have heard of it—learned it from 
hunters, masters, or seamen. It would have been sure to have leaked out. 
59. Is it your opinion that ship-masters or ship-owners have been most careful in 
instructing their masters or captains to avoid any interference whatever with the 
