Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1872-02-03
The Sea.LiOns Of the Pacific Coast.

"Grace Greenwood, =" writing to the
New York Times from San Francisco,
thus describes . visit to the "CIiii
House." on the .ea-coast, six miles
from the city:
4 as CGG House has "a long, broad
ygrardas. .aoiug the sea, and COM
mard,pp Era Cs Of the Golden
Gate Of the f8t. bola 1suA Of !He
pen'nsula, and Of the rocky s'n1 be-
ynnd the curviog beach On ,-@
morning there were many sails in
sight, some passing through the grand
gateway, some coming up slowly be-
| fore the soft wind, some melting into
dreams Of ships down the misty hori-
zoD. The Seal Rocks, three sharp,
picturesque little islauGs Immediately
in front Of the botel, were crowded
with ses.lious, their strange, dismal,
discordant barking ftlliRg the air.
/ These particular saa-lions are under
/ the protection of the law, and such
old customers, that Hdjit,le3 1T the
/ CllT House ara able to single out the
leaders, the solid citizens, and have
given them distinctive and uistin-
guished names.
must confo7s I watched ,hom with
An eager, childish interest aud enjoy
me1t. An English tourist 81 my side
remarked with happy command Uf
words, " Whnts7 oztrtorGinsry sight,
Really, you know, | hai no idea of It !
What extraordinary creatures, and
what an extraordinary noise they
make which ere my opinions bet
ter expreored.
Some Of those soa-iiors are mon
stors Of their kind, weighing 1000 20
l, 800 pounds, they say. Al ssals,
queer, s7Otesque, u4otnny creatures,
havo FOR ne 4 strange fascinati9u-
seeming like sinful humSl t0uls Ia
wild t11"nent--men, perhaps who
have WarTed and wasted, and lived
freo hand high and fast, gonE through
IN uncomfortable melempsyChOSis,
prissned and pinioned IN these llabby,
slippery and clumsy forms. As YOU
first see thO-e on the coast, they seem
continually to, be Hopping over -hs
rocks or down into the water, and YOU
say to yourself, "What a draRry thing
il mast bean existence Of tlops -
But, ~ you watch them further YOU
see that = sea.liou'' liie is ysres, ful
there Is TRilow in the water, and the
hitch up on the reck, the siestu in the
sun, sud the bark. When he ls awake
thct is inceasant. Day and night hi:
berk is on the sea- Sometimes
when thoy are all barking at once il
pleasantly reminds ore Of the House
Of Representatives. Doubtless the sea.
lion hiss his mare tai relations oer
haps the plural style Of marriage pre-,
walls In the thriving community, ara
all the middle-sized monsters grouped
Sround the big ones were their con
sorts-" sealedn to them. If so, tn,
, ill-adiustment and discontent whicl
: nowadays seem almost inseparabl,
T. from the blessed estate OF wedlock
. may account for some of the little uu
p!easnutness observable on the rock
: In the mildest and sleepiest times
Another reason why not here, NOR
than in Congress, do we find peao
and unity, is, perhaps, that here, ais
l they have q "Sumner" and L" Be
Butler.n Another big seal has bee,
!, dubbed by some patriotic visitor
! " General Grant, This Is a yer
7. quiet Old fellow, and sleeps most O
the time. He has sullea deer
mouthsd bay,n yeti saw enough t
+ be convinced that bis bite is wore
n than his bark, for while l was regard
Q ing him as he lay In profound slumbe
!, and enormous seal hitched himself u
+ out of the water near by, made a car,
c ful reconnaissance, aud deli5eratel
It went for him. You should have see
G the old Phociden msjsstieally re,
= himself on his dippers, aud heard h
o roar of angy defiance. which RAJ
!. above the clash OF the waves, and W;
echoed by every loyal seal on Il
y rocks, except, perhaps, "Sumner,
% Then began one of the most eXcitir
. contests | ever witnessed. 1t SCENE
= 10 come of in "rounds,n like priz
., fight, the first assailant continual
2 getting the worst of it. When
~ was severely punished by the Gel
erals tusks, he invariably fell baC
~ and lifted W his voice and wept. i
X, last, after half 3 dozen disastrous a
IL taoks, he fell so far back that
topped off the rock into the watC
" where he laid his sore head on Il
bosom OF the deep and subsided. II
III victor gave triumphant har
turned over and Went 10 sleep.