INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 455 



not on the hauling, grounds. I contend that the yearlings do not go 

 to the hauling grounds. 



The Chairman. Dr. Evermann says it can be easily discovered. 



Mr. Clark. What is that ? 



The Chairman. A yearling. 



Mr. Clark. Oh, yes. I will admit that it is exactly true what he 

 said, that the yearling is the easiest distinguishable animal, because 

 it is the smallest one. The point at issue was whether you could dis- 

 tinguish a 2 -year-old from a yearling. 



The Chairman. Why could you not say it was not a 2-year-old if 

 a yearling is so easily distinguished ? 



Mr. Clark. That is the point. But here we have an arbitrary 

 standard, and any skin below 5 pounds is a yearling and any skin 

 above it is a 2-year-old. 



The Chairman. If they are so easily distinguished, why can you 

 not tell that a 2-year-old seal is not a yearling ? 



Mr. Clark. Because a 2-year-old seal is just a shade bigger, and 

 that is a vastly different proposition from distinguishing the smallest 

 animal. 



The Chairman. Is there any difference in color? 



Mr. Clark. There is no difference in color. 



The Chairman. But you say it is larger. Could you not go on the 

 grounds and pick out every yearling you would see ? 



Mr. Clark. No. I could go to the grounds and pick out the 

 smallest animals that I could see and conjecture that they were year- 

 lings. 



The Chairman. Is that the way you would reach such a conclusion ? 



Mr. Clark. That is all I could do. 



The Chairman. You saw them killed when you made your daily 

 reports and reported that to the Department of Commerce and Labor, 

 did you not ? That is where you got your information from ? 



Mr. Clark. There were only 16 of them killed. They were not 

 killed in my presence at all. They were killed in food killings. 



The Chairman. How do you know they were not 2-year-old seals ? 



Mr. Clark. The ones under 5 pounds ? 



The Chairman. No; I mean those you reported. How did you 

 know they were not 2-year-olds ? 



Mr. Clark. Because they had skins less than 5 pounds in weight. 



The Chairman. Is that the only reason? 



Mr. Clark. That is the only reason. 



The Chairman. Under the act of Congress passed some time, I 

 think, in 1896 you helped to prepare Part 1 of the Report of Fur Seal 

 Investigations, 1896-97; is that correct? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



The Chairman. The title-page of Part 1 of Report of Fur Seal In- 

 vestigations reads as follows: 



The fur seals and fur-seal islands of the North Pacific Ocean, by David Starr Jordan, 

 president of Leland Stanford Junior University, commissioner in charge of fur-seal 

 investigations of 189&-97, with the following official associates: Leonhard Stejneger 

 and Frederic A. Lucas, of the United States National Museum; Jefferson F. Moser, 

 lieutenant commander, United States Navy, in command of the United States Fish 

 Commission steamer Albatross; Charles H. Townsend, of the United States Fish 

 Commission; George A. Clark, secretary and stenographer; Joseph Murray, special 

 agent; with special papers by other contributors. 



You were the secretary and stenographer of this commission ? 



