86 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



they are entitled to work there; they are well .treated aud they are 

 geuerally willing. They are a childish sort of people. They are not a 

 people who are aggressive in any way unless they get quass aud get 

 drunk, aud they are very ready to do their work generally. They some- 

 times get a little quass abroad and get ofl'ensive and unwilling, and in 

 cases of that sort the company has no right to interfere in any way, and 

 it is immediately referred to the Government agent. The Government 

 agent is a sovereign there, and his word is law. 



Q. He has charge of all the police arrangements ?— A. Yes, sir ; the 

 Treasury agent is supreme. 



Mr. Jeffries. I would like to ask you — it is a little out of place — but 

 do you know the fact that tue company and the Treasury Dej)artment 

 at one time several years ago tried to induce the natives to change their 

 meat, and instead of eating salt meat, to eat fresh meat furnished by 

 the company in lieu of that without charge ? Do you remember now 

 about that "? Probably it was while you were in Germany. 



The Witness. The company has always furnished dried fish, and I 

 know they furnished seal meat. 



Mr. Taylor. Mr. Chairman, may I say a word on that point? 



The Chairman. Certainly. 



Mr. Taylor. When I was there I recollect that the population had 

 been killing seal pups and it was stopi)ed for two or three years, and 

 the natives complained in the spring of the year that they did not have 

 fresh meat, so as Government agent I permitted them to kill a few pups 

 early in the year, or rather late in the fall, for their food. It is now 

 proposed to erect an ice-house to put the seals in during the summer, 

 so they may be used, the older seals — the carcasses of those from which 

 the skins are taken for the market. These are to be put in the ice-house 

 there and kept all the year round so as to keep fresh meat. I mention 

 that in this connection. That is the idea now. 



Mr. Jeffries. You can go on now aud go back to where yon started 

 from. 



The Witness. If there is anything further that any of the commit- 

 tee would like to ask, or details of these matters, so far as my knowledge 

 goes, I should be happy to answer any questions, but, as already stated, 

 the general management both of the seals and the general management 

 with regard to the supervision of the Treasury agent is, so far as I 

 know and so far as the company know, conducted for the best interests 

 of tbe natives, and also for the best interests of the company. There 

 has never been any occasion in which there has been any collision be- 

 tween the company's agents, resident on the island, and the Govern- 

 ment agents, and there has never been an occasion but what the Gov- 

 ernment agent has been recognized as the final authority in any matter 

 which may come up. 



By Mr. Felton : 

 Q. I would like to know — I do not know that it is just the proper 

 time — but I would like to get the idea of those conversant with the 

 habits and nature of the seal, as to what their 0[>iuion is upon the effect 

 of the indiscriminate killing of them while they are coming to and 

 going from the islands. — A. That is a question which I think most any 

 of us here can answer. If you note the conformation of the Aleutian 

 Islands, which form a wall, and note the gaps through which the seals 

 come from the Pacific Ocean seeking the haunt on these islands, that is 

 the whole point. When they come through these various i)asses, gen- 

 erally through the Oomnak Pass, the sea is reasonably shallow, and the 



