480 INVESTIC4ATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



accidents pure and simple, and no blame can reasonably be attached 

 to anyone. The foreman of a range who in rounding up 93,000 steers 

 of mixed ages and slaughtering them found himself with 711 2-year-old 

 animals killed, if the meat had been cared for, would hardly be cen- 

 sured for the accidental killing of these animals. The percentage of 

 accidents is small, and I think it is a standing vindication of the vigi- 

 lance and care of the agents that no more have occurred. 



Mr. Watkins. What becomes of the bodies after the removal of 

 the skins ? 



Mr. Clark. The natives use as much of the meat as they can, and 

 the rest of the carcasses is left on the ground and remains there until 

 the foxes dig them out of the snow in winter and feed upon them. 



Mr. Stephens. What number of seals were killed at the time these 

 711 were killed by accident? 



Mr. Clark. 93,323 for the period from 1904 to 1911. 



Now, another explanation of the killing of these yearlings or small 

 seals lies in the fact that there are food killings of the seals as well as 

 commercial killings of seals. The commercial killings were under the 

 control of the leasing company, but killings were made in the fall and 

 early spring purely for meat. From the beginning the law made an 

 exception in the case of food killings, and even pups were killed. 

 Those killings were made under the direction of the agents solely, but 

 the skins were accepted or rejected by the leasing company, as the 

 case may have been, and those accepted eventually became a part of 

 the leasing company's quota or catch. The natives greatly prefer the 

 flesh of the younger animals. It is difficult to prevent them from 

 killing them when food killings are made in the fall. No pups have 

 been killed for many years, but the tradition of small, plump young 

 animals in the food killing still clings in the Aleut's mind. I have wit- 

 nessed the efforts of the agents to try to get the natives to club down 

 lean seals with splendid skins on them in the food killings, but the 

 natives made the most brilliant blunders imaginable to miss them, 

 but if there was any opportunity to strike down a plump young seal 

 they never missed it. 



Mr. McGuire. You say that the natives prefer the pups for food 

 purposes. Please state what you mean by the word "pups ?" 



Mr. Clark. I mean those born in that particular year — milk-fed 

 seals. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you mean those that have never gone to sea? 



Mr. Clark. Yes. sir. 



Mr. McGuire. You distinguish the word "pup" there, as to age 

 and size, from the word "pup" as it may be applied to the skin of a 

 seal according to the classifications; that is, the skin of a small pup, 

 extra small pup. etc. ? 



Mr. Clark. The London classification of "large." "small." "mid- 

 dling," "extra small." pups, etc., has nothing to do with the word 

 "pups" iii the connection we are speaking of here, because all of those 

 animals had reached one year of age or above. Those are purely 

 trade designations. After they got down to "small" pups, and 

 finding still another size, they put in the classification the term 

 "extra small" pups, and you will find in the 1910 London classifi- 

 cation that they have added another classification called "extra extra 

 small" pups, but that does not refer to this category of pups at all. 



