The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-05-24

EUR SEAL.
"A Ael4alP& III Fg5 Gep@cl ai

reconnoiters for a day or two, then ven.
lures ashore and examines the rookeries,
smelling around to see If everything is
all right Ifin hisjudgment matters are
safe, he selects the most choice spot and
lies down TO rest, awaiting the arrival Of
the female or "Cow" seal. The "bull"
generally pre-empts about ten or fifteen
square feet, or as much as he thinks he
can hold, for the accommodation Of his
Cows" The space allotted is four feet
for himself and two feet for each "cow."
Other bulls arrive and soon the entire
"rookery" is taken up or "squatted"
upon The water front is the most choice
location, as these "sitting bulls" have the
first pick of the,Oows as they arrive. The
cowsecome in 3 ora weeks later. In
the mean time the bulls pass away their
time in lighting for the best location,
where they can gobble- up. the females.
"A bull may locate a choice water lot and
be driven hence to the background by
laterand stronger arrival, and thus lose
his pick of the incoming females. I'm
less he is prepared for series of fights
the weaker seal retires to the background
of the rookery and contents himself
with such females as are left. Ten or
fifteen cows are the average bulls harem,
i which is about the Mormon average in
Utah. The bulls under three years of
age, which have not yet attained the age
of puberty, are compelled to retire far
into the background, where they gener-
ally lay by themselves, or else are not
permitted to land at all, and remain off
the shore cavorting around on general
principles. They thus make themselves
useful as well as ornamental in escorting
the females to the shore, where the older
bulls commence fighting over their pos
sessions just the same as humans do,
only with this difference; frequently they
bite and tear to pieces the female, while
with us the females escape unscratched
and the two combatants get the worst of
it.
Generally female prefers her mate of
the last season-not believing in yari-
ETY.; she climbs an overhanging rock,
barks loud and then stops, as if listening
for the familiar voice of its mate. Prob.
ably some other bull comes along and
drives her to his harem, where she will
remain While he is after this COW some
other bull has approached his harem and
driven off one of his cows. Then the
row commences. The two bulls, in
pitched battle, laCerate and mangle each
other to a fearful degree with their tusks.
! One oftenTeturhs to his harem with the
hide Of his frontispece torn and gashed,
and anleye out, as if he had been to a
Republican primary, By the middle of
July the females have all arrived, and
the rookeries, holding three or four mill
/ lions, are literally alive with a barking
pandemonium of seals. Two or three
months after the arrival of2a female she
| gives birth to "pup" seal weighing
about six pounds, and twelve to fourteen
inches long By the middle of Septem-
ber the little pups, which are then about
a month or six weeks old, have learned
to swim, and general hegira takes place
P-the rookeries are deserted and the
seals are traversing the fathomless ocean.
1i ,U. HOW SEALS ARE KILLED.
But before the general breaking up of
camp takes place, many have been kill
ed, and it is done in this manner. The
seals most desirable for the skin are the
males between three and five years of
age. They are two or three times larger
than the females, consequently the skins
are the most valuable Besides, the fe-
males are necessary for reproduction,
and of far less value than the male, as
only small portion of the skin can be
used at all. The old seals compel the
| young bucks to retire into the background
beyond the breeding rookeries. Being
thus separated from the breeding females
it is an easy matter to single out the
males. The younger females are easily
distinguished from the young bucks by
their proportionate size and color. ID.
The natives, ten or fifteen in gang,
under a leader, each armed with a long,
heavy club of hard wood, stealthily get
between the doing seals and the beach,
cutting off their retreat. They then raise
a terrific hullabaloo which frightens the
seals, and they then drive out from the
main body droves of from 1900 to 1000
seals, The seals seeing that they are un-
fairly cornered, rise up in their majesty
on their tails, and Globe" or waddle along
like fish out of water. They are then
| brought into marching order by the ma
tives, and are driven like hogs TO the
killing ground several miles away. A.
seal ordinarily travels half mile an
hour, j, He does not walk, but rather
"lobes," which. system of locomotion is
accomplished by doubling himself, rear
ing on his tail, and then Hopping over.
They can be driven mile hour, but in
crowding them too fast q panic occurs,
and in the scramble some may be killed.
besides, this overheats them, and if kill
ed in that state their skins are Valueless.
These young bucks while on the march
TO- death never fight among themselves
Sometimes female or old buck is driven
with theIrest to the killing grounds, but
they are never killed, as their skin is Of
little or no value, and they soon find
their way back toNthe rookery. When
the sealnis between three and six years
old the skin is not marketable, so ii
will be seen that the females and the oil.
der bucks are as safe as if their lives were
insured. Arriving at the killing grounds
they are herded and allowed to rest and
cool off, They are then separated into
small squads of fiftyaor so, when the ma
tiVes kill those the foreman selects, and
therest are let out. Aosingle stroke on
the head with their oakeno clubs crushes
the bones of the seals skull, killing him
instantly. A knife is then plunged into
the SEALS chest to bleed it thoroughly and
| pre- vent the skin from getting heated, u
Igil7The seal is then rolled over on d his
back. The Aleut, with a. long, sharp
knife, makes one stroke, and the skin is
laid open from the neck to the tail, and
IL a minute OF two the seal is skinned,
The skins are then taken to the "saltr
house, where they are laid in bins, hair
SIDE down, on top Of one another,l after
being we'll salted. In couple of weeks
they are bundled twoin a bundle, hair
outward, ready fol, shipment These
skins weigh six to ten pounds each.a
Many ladies are under the mistaken inn
kh,N l.. I.