INVESTIGATION" OP THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 463 



Mi. Clark. Because the mark put upon the seals for breeding 

 reserve was temporarily made with sheep shears. The fur was 

 clipped otT leaving a white spot on the tip of the head, which pro- 

 tected the animal for the season and by the next spring it had dis- 

 appeared, and the animal had no mark on him. 



The Chairman. Then why did you say this if you could not sse 

 any of them? 



Mr. Clark. How could they have survived ? 



The Chairman. Not how could they have survived, but how 

 could you say it if you did not find it ? 



Mr. Clark. Because I believed it to be a fact. If those animals 

 had not had the clipping on them the year before they would have 

 been killed then. They were clipped the year before and protected 

 throughout the season, but the next year the mark was obliterated. 



The Chairman. This morning you said that you made the notes 

 of what you saw on the island day by day. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



The Chairman. Do you mean to say that you did not see this 

 and yet you say it in your report ? 



Mr. Clark. Well, I admit that — I do not see any difficulty about it, 

 Mr. Rothermel. 



Mr. Patton. Nor I. * 



Mr. Clark. I say that these animals were killed in 1909, but 

 if they had not been marked the year before they would have been 

 killed the year before. Now, I want to say right here to the members 

 of this committee that I am being caught up on field notes. Field 

 notes are made from day to day in the report as you see it, but they 

 are not the final judgment. They are a truthful record of my impres- 

 sions. I might record something to-day that might appear to be 

 right, but the next day it might be wrong. 



The Chairman. Did you not take this from your field notes ? 



Mr. Clark. It is in my field notes, but not in my report. 



The Chairman. But it is made a part of your report. 



Air. Clark. Very true, because I was asked to put down my 

 observations, but my judgment is what ought to be depended upon 

 and not nry rough field notes. 



Air. Patton. You say that the ones that had been marked were 

 killed ? Do you mean that the hair had grown out and they could not 

 be distinguished and they were killed? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Patton. That is clear then. That is only a catch question 

 in the matter. He says, Mr. Chairman, that if they had not been 

 shaved they would have been killed the season before. 



The Chairman. But he says : * 



As the end of the killing season approaches it is plain that no seal is really too small 

 to be killed. Skins of less than 5-pound weight are taken and also skins of 8 and 9 

 pounds. These latter are plainly animals which escaped the killing of last year 

 because their heads were shaved. 



Mr. Patton. You could not discover the marking on their heads. 



The Chairman. But it was just as much against the law whether 

 that was done or not. 



Mr. Clark. Well, I was criticising that method of making a breed- 

 ing reserve and I asked that a red-hot iron brand be substituted for 

 the sheep shears. 



