> ware 
.) 77a. 
7 
APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 955 
19. Q. You are quite of a clear opinion then, Captain Baker, that there is a con- 
siderable percentage of barren cows?—A. Yes, Sir. 
173 20. Q. Are there more seals shot whilst sleeping than in motion?—A. Yes, 
Sir; my experience has been that there are more seals shot whilst sleeping, and 
that is the experience of most of my hunters, by their report. 
21. Q. What do you consider the vital part of a seal?—A. The head or the heart, 
or in the neck. 
22. @. Do your hunters prefer to shoot the seal in the head?—A. Yes, Sir; on 
account of preserving the skin, and also that, the moment the seal is shot in the 
head, the head sinks and the wind cannot escape. Then, if the seal is not killed, 
the shot will stun it, and its head will drop below water, so that it cannot sink. 
23. @. What is usually a safe shooting distance?—A. For sleeping seals the dis- 
tance would be about 10 yards, and for travelling seals the distance would be about 
10 to 30 yards. 
24. @. Considering that the seals are shot in the head, and the greater portion 
whilst sleeping, will you state the proportion of seals lost, as compared with those 
hit, in sealing ?—A. The proportion is very small, because, as the usual distance for 
shooting is about 10 yards for a sleeping seal, we most always kill them instantly, 
and being so near the seal—even if they are inclined to sink—they are gatfed before 
they have time to sink. If they even did sink 15 feet, say, we could catch them, as 
when sinking they go very slowly. The only time I know of when a seal is likely 
to sink is after it has been chased around in the boats and winded, then shot again, 
so as to be thrown backwards, allowing the wind to escape from its mouth, when it 
sinks tail first. Every boat is supplied with a long pole, about 15 feet, and a spear 
and gaff on the end, so that we can reach that distance. It is very seldom that a 
seal will get away. I would say, therefore, from personal experience, that the per- 
centage of loss, as compared with those hit in sealing, would not exceed 3 per cent. 
Last year I killed, myself, on the coast, fifty-five seals, and out of that number I 
lost only one by sinking. 
25. Q. As a general thing, is the percentage of loss more now than it was four years 
ago, or is it smaller?—A. From personal experience, I think about the same, and 
from the reports of the hunters I should judge it was the same, as they all report 
their experiences on their return to the vessel each night, and when a seal is lost it 
is always spoken about. From a record kept by hunters during two voyages the 
aggregate loss by each hunter is shown, and the percentage is not greater, on an 
average, than 3 per cent. 
26. @. How many hunters do you usually carry?—A. Six; and I hunted myself. 
The ship’s company consists of twenty-three persons. 
27. Q. What size shot do you use in shooting seal?—A. No. 2 buek-shot, or “S” 
Canadian shot; and the guns are of the very best material and very expensive, 
costing from 70 to 100 dollars. 
28. Q. What do you think is the proportion of females to males in the number 
killed in the different months of the fishing season?—A. I don’t know, I am sure. 
It depends upon circumstances. My experience last year was very largely on the 
bull side on the coast; that is, the proportion taken were largely male seals. I can 
conscientiously say that it must have been three bulls to one female, and I had a 
larger number of seals than any other vessel on the spring catch. 
29. Q. In the Behring’s Sea, to your observation, were the males or females in the 
preponderance?—A. My experience is that they are very much as they are on the 
coast. Sometimes I would meet with groups of all bulls, and again with groups of 
all cows. 
30. @. While in Behring’s Sea last year, what would be your usual sealing distance 
from the land?—A. 1 was not in Behring’s Sea last year, but in previous years it 
would be from about 30 to 90 miles from land. The usual distance is about 60 miles. 
Sometimes we are inside of that, sometimes outside of it. 
31. Q. Last year, I understand you to say, Captain Baker, you were not in the 
Behring’s Sea on the American side?—A. No. 
32. Q. Do I understand you to say that on the Russian side the same observations 
will apply to the habits and shooting of seal as on the coast?—A. Precisely the same 
as to their grouping and habits. 
33. Q. During the four years that you have been sealing, Captain Baker, I would 
like you to state explicitly if you saw or heard of any Canadian vessels raiding the 
American seal islands?—A. No, Sir. To my knowledge I have never heard of any, 
and I have every reason to believe that there has never been any Canadian schooner 
raiding any of them. 
174 34. @. If anything like this had happened, you would have heard of it?— 
A. Most certainly I would have. 
35. Q. You have never heard any information of any of our sealers conniving to 
raid the seal islands?—A. I never did. 
36. Q. ‘Two years ago it was reported that some American schooners had raided 
seal islands. Did you hear such a report?—A. Yes, Sir; I heard a report that cer- 
