The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-05-14

| the case with higher ANIMALS. is sometimes
borne by the innocent cause of dispute
for female seal on coming ashore may be
pounced upon by two huge " seacutchers,
each taking hold of her with their Ions
tusks, and pulling in opposite directions
with tremendous force, until they boil
forfeit the fruits of victory by the death o
the poor victim.
When all the seals have come, the ''sea
butchers = that have held possession of The
beaches, have succeeded in capturing from
three to ninety females each, of which they
take the most jealous care from the time O.
parturition-which occurs in two or three
weeks after their landing-until they pre-
pare to take their departure at about the
first of October. During this long space
Of time-more than four menths-thougl
the young male seals frequently revisit the
water in warm weather several times during
the day, the seacutchers and females
never do, but remain on the beach in the
same place that they first took up theil
abode. Bright sunshine troubles them.
and creates great restlessness among them
SO much so that if it were to continue fol
more than three days, it would necessitate
their going into the water, thereby disar-
ranging the family groupings and causing
the death Of a great portion of the young
from desertion and consequent starvation.
But by a wise ordinance of Providence for
the good health of the seals. but hardly for
that Of the human beings on the islands,
this never occurs in fact, the duration of
the suns undisputed reign is rarely over
six hours in length, while week will eften
pass in which he is but "seen through a
fog darkly.' The power of these animals,
not only to exist, but to support their
young, without any visible neurishment, is
wonderful they have often been cut open,
and nothing found in their stomachs but a
few small stones. They lose greatly in
weight, however, for when they come in
the spring they are replete with fairness !:
but blythe time their young are large enough
to go into the water, they are weak and
emaciated in the extreme.
The fur seal is an entirely different ami
NAL from the common hair seal that is fire.
'4uently met with in our harbor, not only
i'll regard to general classification, but also
in relative worth the skin of the former
being very valuable, while that of the lat
ter is comparatively worthless.
As the male fur seals grow old, their size
increases with such regularity, that one ac-
custemed to see them, can readily tell their
ages at sight. When first born they are
foot in length, and covered with fine black
hair; they are then entirely useless for
commercial purposes but the next year.
the hair changes to dark gray, and under
meath it is fine yellow fur, which, after
being prepared, becomes the Fur Seal"
as generally known their size has also in
creased, and seals one year old weigh over
one hundred pounds, and are about three
feet long. From this time their growth is
very rapid so that searutcher of fifteen
years of age is often more than eight feet
in length, and in weight over two thousand
pounds. The females, however, never at
tain the size of the males. their growth
ceasing at the third year.
In order to more fully describe the man
ner in which these animals are killed, Twill
give an account of one of the many
drives in which participated during a
six months residence on the Island of ST.
George.
At two A. NJ, | was awakened by the
I" Nirachic the native foreman coming
into my room he came to tell me, that
two men had just arrived from the Star
RE Artiel, beach three miles from the
village, with reports that great numbers of
young seal had come ashore, were very well
spread over the hillside, and that the wind
was blowing in from the sea, so that there
would be no danger of their seeming our
On getting up, and finding that
the weather was damp enough for our pur-
pose, gave orders to wake the people of
the village, and prepare for drive. In
ten minutes, the driving party, consisting
of twenty men, were assembled near my
house, armed with long heavy clubs, which
are the only weapons needed in encounters
of this kind.
1t was 4 northern summer sunrise: but
a rising gale swept in fitful gusts great
banks Of thick. wet fog over the island
For few minutes it would be clear. so
that points at miles distance could easily
be seen; and then again, rushing over,
mingled with the wall Of the wind, the fog
covered everything, in a cloud so dense as
to render objects only a few feet removed
wholly invisible. We started in Indian
file, with the Nirachic' leading, at half
run, along narrow rocky path, over the
cliffs to the seal beach now skirting their
edges, so that we could hear hundreds of
feet below, the wild dash of the waves
against their base and now plunging into
deep, narrow valleys, which, retaining the
mist, were almost wholly obscurcd in dark
ness. The natives leaped from one wet
and slippery rock to another, with the
agility and certainty of a channels among
the Alpine nights the fear of slipping
being entirely obviated by the use of leather
made from the flippers of Sea Lion, for the
soles of their boots-this leather possessing
an adhesive power almost equal to that of
Il fly's foot. A half-hour's run brought us
to the hills overlooking the beach, 1t was
wholly obscured from sight. but up from
the abyss rose the moaning and believing
of thousands upon thousands of seals the
wild surroundings made it seem like the
cry of lost souls in Pandemonum. The
IS Nirachic," followed by his men, crept
softly to that point where the low, wide
beach began to slope up into the hills;
then suddenly, starting up with shout,
and waving their clubs in the air, they ran,
following each other at a hundred or more
feet apart, along the line made by the base
of the hills; the SEALS scattering in all di-
rectons, were either driven down on to the
beach, or up the hillside, between which
and the beach Gordon of men was soon
formed. The line of men then began to
advance up the hillside the poor seals
L., al