The tribune. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-07-05

(after the cows have mostly all hauled
up) l saw him covered with scars and
gashes, raw and bloody, an eye gouged
out, but lording it bravely over his
harem of fifteen or twenty cows, all
huddled together on the same spot he
had first chosen" The fighting is done
with the mouth, and when the jaws have
closed on foe the effort of shaking
them loose leaves an ugly wound "the
sharp CANNES tearing out deep cutters
in the skin and blubber, or shrcdding
the fappers into ribbon strips"
The families average about fifteen
COWS each, and they take mp SO little
room that space two feet square suffices
for q COW, while the bull, being much
larger, needs about twice Us much room.
Within two days after landing the young
are born, and in three or four days more
the guardian patriarch allows the mother
to retreat to the water, where she spends
most of her time, returning to land
whenever the young seal requires food.
Seals are good mothers, and nurse their
young for nearly year, or for more than
year if they do not have another birth.
While the mothers are playing in the
water the old male remains on shore and
takes care of the pups. It is thirty y-five
or forty days before the pup can be
taken to the water, and four months be-
fore he is strong enough to follow the
mother onher migratory journey through
the ocean. AS each mother has one pup,
the four square feet of ground which
formed her resting place carries two
lives, and the computation given above
Of 3, 1913, $40 breeding seals on these
IS mo n a ~ ~f
the area occupied by the rookeries."
Plof. Elliott found their distribution SO
Uniform that he calls it ga fine instinc-
tive law of distribution, and says the
government agent can always safely re-
port upon the condition of the seal crop
by observing the area occupied by the
animals between the tenth and twentieth
of July. That is the week,of their great
est expansion. When the purpose for
which they have landed isaccomplished,
the systematic organization breaks up,
and the seals scatter, some straying in
land, and the whole herd may cover
twice it's normal ground. OF every
100. 600 breeding seals more than IS, 600
are cows and less than Is, 900 bulls, and
In few weeks after the females begin
to land, there are about 180, 900 parents
and pups on the same ground.
In the autumn and early winter the
seals take their departures Where they
go Is not ascertained definitely, but they
probably spread themselves over the
North Pacific, following schools of fish
or frequenting banks and shoals where
they CAN find food. The amount of
food required by them is immense. At
five pounds each per day, which is not
half enough for full grown male,
they, the seals of these two islands, will
eat up no less than three nillion tons
of fish in year. This immense guam
tity makes it evident that human care
can do nothing to assist their propaga-
tion. In the sea they have enemies,
but it would be simply impossible to
obtain food enough for them ut the
islands, even if it were the only point
to be considered. To get such a sup
ply they spread themselves over the
ocean, and there come in contact with
enemies as voracious as they are.
Killer-whales and sharks make such
havoc among them that of million
pups, which is the estimate of years
ii crease, not more than one-half return
the next spring. Some observers put
the proportion much lower, and with
eatprobability considering the helpless
ness of the sucklings. The second year,
however, they are better able to care
for themselves, and do not lose more
than one-tenth of their numbers. After
that they do not suffer much during
their lives of fifteen or twenty years.
From natural enemies the pups have
most to fear, for they are probably the
most toothsome, as we'll as the most
helpless. In the stomach of one killer
whale no less than fourteen small harp
seals were found. But man also has
bis share in their destruction, and he
strikes what he finds without regard to
age. The seal loves to sleep on the
surface of the water, and are often sur
prised in this condition by whal-
ers and the natives. 1t is quite common
to find shot and even bullets imbedded
in thu blubber, just under the skin of
the young seals killed ON the islands.
Were it not for these various enemies,
there is no knowing where their increase
would stop. Out of million pups born
every year, $50, 900 are destroyed at sea
in the first two years of life, 100, 900
more are killed for their skins, and
probably 25, 900 are killed by natives, or
die soon after birth. This isa total loss
of 675, 900 of less than five years of age
yearly, by accountable causes, and yet
the increase is reported at five per cent,
or 200, 00e seals a year. AS the artificial
destruction of one-tenth the annual in
crease by man does not interfere in the
least with their perpetuation, Prof. Ell
liott considers that they have arrived at
their maximum expansion. One reason,
however, for the slight effect of the
hunt upon their numbers is that none
but males are killed. OF the $50, 900
which survive at the end of the second
season, one-half are probably males.