962 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
80. Q. Do you include in that statement barren cows?—A. Yes. - 
81. Q. Have you any idea or reason of your own why the males come to predomi- 
nate so much?—A. I think it is because the females make for the islands earlier 
than the young bulls and barren cows. baa . 
82. Q. Have you ever heard of any Canadian vessels raiding the seal islands?— 
A. No, Sir. 
83. Q. You have never heard of any Canadian master or owner offering any 
inducement to hunters to raid the islands?—A. No, Sir. 
84. Q. There has never been any bonus offered you to raid the islands?—A. No, 
Sir; while in Behring’s Sea we are always too anxious to get away from the islands. 
85. Q. If any Canadian vessels had raided the islands you would have likely 
heard of it?—A. Yes; I think it is impossible to keep it as quiet as that. : 
86. Q. You have heard of American vessels raiding the Copper and Pribyloff 
Islands?—A. I have heard it. I have known of the American vessels going into 
Sand Point just after they had raided the islands, and I was in Sand Point when 
one vessel was fitted out for the purpose of making a raid. 
87. Q. The masters with whom you have sealed all seem to have avoided the 
islands?—A. Oh, yes; they keep away from the islands between 50 and 100 miles. 
(The foregoing having been read over to the said Henry Crocker, he corroborates 
and substantiates the whole of the said statements. ) 
(Signed) Hrnry Crocker, Hunter. 
Sworn to before me, at Victoria, British Columbia, this 18th day of January, 1892. 
(Signed) A. R. MILNE, Collector of Customs. 
George Roberts, hunter on board the schooner ‘‘Annie E, Paint,” being duly sworn, 
says: 
55. Q. How long have you been engaged as a sealer?—A. I have been at seal- 
hunting for three years, one season as a hunter. 
56. Q@. Were the seals more plentiful last year than in previous years?—A. They 
were just about the same as regards number. 
57. Q. How do the seals generally travel—in mixed numbers, males and females 
together?—A. The seals travel in bands of bulls and hands of cows, both by them- 
selves. 
58. Q. What is the proportion of seals lost by sinking after being shot?—A. Well, 
I should say that 3 to 5 per cent. would cover the whole loss. It is not more. 
59. Q. What is the distance you are off a seal when you shoot, generilly?—A. 
Well, from 20 to 30 feet for a sleeper, and for a traveller from 25 to 30 feet. 
60. Q. What part of the seal do you aim at?—A. [ aim at the head, as the best 
place, being the surest. 
61. Q. Do you think there were any more female seals shot than males last year ?— 
A. No; I think there were more males shot; in fact, I think that since I have been 
engaged in the business there have been more males killed than females. 
62. Q. What months have you noticed more females than males?—A. In the months 
of March and April there are more females than at any other time. There are more 
females killed during those months than there are any other time. 
63. Q. Have you ever heard of any of the Canadian vessels poaching on the seal 
islands?—A. I never did; I would have heard of it if there had been any. I have 
heard of the American raiders; but I do not know of a single Canadian vessel raid- 
ing a seal rookery. 
182 64. Q. If a seal is sinking, does it go quickly or slowly?—A. If it is not too 
far away it can always be secured, as it does not go too quickly to get it. 
(The above having been read to the said George Roberts, he corroborates and sub- 
stantiates all of the foregoing statements. ) 
(Signed) GEORGE ROBERTS, Hunter. 
Sworn to before me at Victoria, British Columbia, this 18th day of January, 1892. 
(Signed) A. R. Minn, Collector of Customs. 
Richard Thomson, hunter on board the schooner ‘‘Annie E. Painter,” being duly 
sworn, says: 
40. Q. How long have you been engaged in sealing ?—A. I have been engaged as a 
hunter for two years. 
41. Q.. Were the seals as plentiful last year as they were the previous year, to your 
observation?—A. Yes; I believe they were. 
