APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 961 
38. Q. If you were bound to make a statement on your oath, you would say you 
believed no Canadian vessels ever raided the Pribyloff Islands fo seals ?—A. Not as 
far as I know. 
39. Q. You believe, asa matter of fact, that the owners of Canadian sealers and 
their masters have never countenanced this raiding ?—A. I believe that is the feeling 
that prevails among them all. 
40. Q. You have heard mentioned the names of the American vessels that raided 
those islands?—A. Yes; I heard of the ‘‘Mollie Adams” and ‘‘George R. White,” 
but not any others. 
180 41. Q. You have not heard of any others?—A. No; I have not heard of any 
others. 
42. Q. You have heard of vessels raiding the Copper Islands?—A. Yes; I have 
heard of the ‘‘ Hamilton Lewis” and ‘ Webster” raiding Copper Island. 
43. Q. Those vessels you name are all American vessels?—A. Yes. 
44, Q. Manned by American crews?—A. Yes. 
45. Q. Have you any recollection of seeing any of those vessels in this (Victoria) 
Harbour?—A. No. 
(Signed) Tnro. M. MAGNESEN. 
Sworn befure me, this 23rd day of January, a. D. 1892. 
(Signed) A. R. MILNE, Collector of Customs. 
Henry Crocker, hunter on board the schooner ‘Annie EK. Paint,” having been 
sworl: 
65. Q. How long have you been engaged in sealing?—A. I have been hunting now 
for three years; this is my fourth. 
66. Q. From your observation, do you think that the seals were as plentiful last 
year as they were during the previous seasons?—A. Yes; from what I saw of them I 
am sure they were just as many as before. 
67. Q. In what months do the female seals seem to be the most plentiful in the 
sealing-grounds?—A. I believe that from lebruary to May the females seem to pre- 
dominate in numbers; that is, when the cows are getting heavier with young, they 
make for the islands sooner than the bulls. 
68. Q. Is it more difticult to shoot a female seal than it is a bull?—A. The males 
are more easily killed than the feinales, owing to the inquisitiveness of the males, 
and the females being more shy, and also as they move along the water with only 
their nose visible. 
69. Q. As an experienced hunter, what percentage of loss have you had by seals 
sinking ?—A. It is very rarely that a seal willsink. I have been a whole season and 
have not had more than half a dozen sink during the whole season. 
70. Q. Can you form any estimate of what your loss has been?—A. I would say not 
more than 3 to 4 per cent. 
71. Q. Was the loss last year more than in previous years?—A. I could see no 
difference. 
72. Q. As a reason for the small percentage of loss, you get very near the seals 
before shooting ?—A. Yes, sir; the usual distance is within about 20 feet to a sleeping 
seal. 
73. Q. If a man has a higher percentage of loss than that, he must be careless, you 
think?—A. Yes, I should say so, and not a first-class huuter, for there is no necessity 
for losing a seal. 
74. Q. Does your percentage of loss agree with other hunters with whom you have 
conversed?—A. Yes. 
75. Q. So that on the coast and in Behring’s Sea the same percentage would 
apply ?—A. Well, on the coast one does not very often sink a seal; but in Behring’s 
Sea, if a cow, having delivered her pups, is shot, she will be more apt to sink, as the 
blubber is very much thinner. But, on the whole, I think the percentage will not be 
more than 3 or 4 per cent. of loss. 
76. Q. Have you taken notice in hunting ‘whether there are more females than 
males, or the reverse, taken ?—A. There is fully 80 per cent. of bull seals killed off 
the coast, as well asin Behring’s Sea. I think the reason for this is that the younger 
bulls are driven off by the older ones, who guard their particular herds. 
77. Q. In the three years you have been in Behring’s Sea has it always been your 
experience that there were more males caught than females? And in what propor- 
tion?—A. J say about the same as this year; I don’t see any difference. 
78. Q. Does your percentage of females taken agree with that of other hunters 
with whom you have conversed?—A. Yes. 
79. Q. As an experienced hunter, then, you adhere to the statement that for 
181 the whole seasons’ catches for the years you have been hunting, that the per- 
centage of seals caught will be about three males to one female?—A. Yes; 
about that. 
BS, PT vV-——61 
