INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 439 



Mr. Clark. No, sir. I have looked at thousands and thousands of 

 them, and I can not do it. 



The Chairman. Do you say under oath that that is a fact? 



Mr. Clark. I do, if you will put it in this way 



The Chairman (interposing). You can see that they are smaller, 

 can you not ? 



Mir. Clark. Yes; but if a smaller animal appears the next day after 

 I have fixed my judgment on the first small animal, the next smaller 

 animal that comes along is the yearling, and my judgment is thrown 

 into confusion. 



The Chairman. How much larger is a 2-year-old than a yearling ? 



Mr. Clark. Mr. Elliott has fixed 



The Chairman (interposing). Not what he has fixed, but what is 

 your judgment ? 



Mr. Clark. I have not had great opportunity of dealing with 

 yearlings. 



The Chairman. But you wrote me a letter and stated you had 

 remarkable knowledge as a sealing expert, and it seems to me the com- 

 mittee would like to know what your judgment is about that. 



Mr. Clark. All right; I will give you my definite judgment on the 

 basis of the experiment in branding which I was permitted to carry 

 out in 1912. As a result of that we snared a branded animal on Reef 

 rookery during this past summer, I think about the 26th of July, and 

 measured it, and it measured 361 inches in length, I would have meas- 

 ured others of them, but as they are very much like wild cats to handle, 

 and as I got very nearly bitten in the face by one through the native let- 

 ting go of it, I ceased getting the tests in that way. We did get one 

 branded yearling, however, and that is the only yearling anybody 

 could swear to who has ever had any connection with the fur-seal 

 islands. 



The Chairmax. Then you do not know a thing about it? 



Mr. Clark. I know that. 



The Chairman. That is a particular instance; but as an expert 

 can you tell the difference between a seal 2 years old and a seal 1 year 

 old if you saw the two of them ? 



Mr. Clark. No; I could not. 



The Chairmax. Then that ends it. 



Mr. Clark. Let me say this. I could ask you, Mr. Rothermel,. 

 whether you could distinguish between two children you met on the 

 street 



The Chairman (interposing). That is no comparison at all, and 

 besides I am not under examination. Do not talk about making 

 comparisons like that when you tell the committee you can not tell 

 the difference between yearling and 2-year-old seals. 



Mr. Clark. In my own case, I could not go out on the street and 

 distinguish between two children of those ages. 



Mr. McGuire. Can anybody else? 



Mr. Clark. I should say that nobody else could. 



Mr. Walsh. What is the maximum age or life of a seal ? 



Mr. Clark. Well, we have very definite knowledge that the average 

 adult life of a seal is 13 or 14 years. 



Mr. Walsh. Would not that make quite a distinction between the 

 age of a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old seal as compared with a 2-year-old 



