INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 651 



on the island. They arrived on the 14th of July and we arrived on 

 the island on the 9th; we actually landed on the 9th. 



The Chairman. Were you there when the 400 seals that are spoken 

 of in the testimony were killed ? 



Mr. Gallagher. No, sir; but I understand they were killed on the 

 7th: two days before we arrived. 



The Chairman. Did you see the skins ? 



Mr. Gallagher. I saw the skins; yes,- sir. 



The Chairman. Where did you see them? 



Mr. Gallagher. In the salt house. 



The Chairman. And when ? 



Mr. Gallagher. On the 29th day of July, when we went down to 

 measure them and weigh them. 



The Chairman. When did you say they were killed ? 



Mr. Gallagher. They were killed on the 7th, I am told; the 7th 

 of July. 



The Chairman. What shape were they in when you saw them first ? 



Mr. Gallagher. They were buried in the salt when we went into 

 the kench house, and they were extracted from the salt by the natives, 

 and in pursuance to the form of procedure which Mr. Elliott had 

 prepared, and which he had the same interpreter read to the natives, 

 they were taken from the salt by the natives and bundled. 



Mr. Stephens. What day of the month was it that you took them 

 out and examined them? 



Mr. Gallagher. That was the 29th of July, I believe. The report 

 shows it definitely. 



The Chairman. You say they were in salt. How were they in salt ; 

 were they in a box ? 



Mr. Gallagher. No; buried in loose salt. 



The Chairman. And the natives would pull them out and shake 

 the salt off ? 



Mr. Gailagher. Yes; and put them on a table before us. And 

 Mr. Elliott and Mr. Hatton measured them, and Mr. Hatton would 

 then pi t them on the scales and he would weigh them, and I would 

 verify his weights, and we would call off the weights. I would take 

 the weights down. 



Mr. McGuire. Who is Mr. Hatton ? 



Mr. Gallagher. He is now 



Mr. McGuire (interposing). Who was he then? 



Mr. Gallagher. He was then the agent on the island, the agent 

 who came to take Mr. Lembkey's place. He had theretofore been 

 located on St. George Island. 



The Chairman. Now, Mr. Gallagher, just describe more in detail 

 how you were located there and who was there participating in the 

 weighing and measuring of the skins. 



Mr. Gallagher. There were five of us who really took part in 

 that work, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Clark, Mr. Hatton, Mr. Elliott, and 

 myself. 



The Chairman. Just describe how it was done and how you were 

 located — whether you were at a table, or how. 



Mr. Gallagher. There was a table there, a long, rough board 

 table. The natives extracted these sealskins from the loose salt 

 and they would put a long skin on the table and Mr. Elliott and Mr. 

 Hatton would measure that skin, calling off the number of the skin, 



