The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1877-12-21
Seals as Levers.

That one yCni.h has been most care
fully studied is the Fur Seal of the
North tC0N0yHii,us E(fFi""S), Known
among the early voyagcTa and haIu-
ralistS a. Stcllcr's Sea Bear. tNe
fully grown male of Alaska and th@
Prybiluv Islands, where are located
the most extensive "roOkCTies"-as the
breeding places of the seals are techni-
cally tprncd-grOwS to Il length of six
or seven feet, and weight of five or
-iX hundred pounds, the females III
most cases weighing not more than a
fourth or fifth as much. In appear
aucc this seal docs not differ much
from others of bis family, but that
which constitutes his par CrcctleHcc
tho prince of seals, is the thickness of
his soft uudercoat of fur, lying be-
meath the longer hairs, which is all
that is visible externally. This is that
furnishes the SealsEin of commerce,
and causes annually so Greata slaugh-
Ter of its unfortunate natural owners.
Il will not he without interest to give
some details of the social economy of
this seal, rs its habits may be taken
as illustrative Of those of all the cared
r,aI,. 1t j well known that almOstall
the members Of this species pass eight {
or nine months of the year far out to
sea, spread over the whole North Pa
ciiic, coming 10 the shore only at the
time and for purposes connected with
breeding. They, then, for time, be-
ccme land animals.
The ''rOoleIies' are generally Sc
Iectcd alNug the shores of an island, or
i'm some caS-9 the mainland itself, and
are resortcd to each year successfully.
'Thc PrybiIov group of islands, about
Iat. 81 dec. n, in The Sea of KANT
scbatka. is the fayorite spot on the
American coast of the North Pacific.
The seals make their first appear
,nrc in Nav, when the snow and ice
i we'll melted, the most eager and
VIGOROUS of the bulls coming first to
~ thot things are all right, and to Sc
loci their t.,yorite station, not too far
from, tho water. For among them he
who comes first is iESt served, and
fares the best all through tho season,
provided he is physically able 10 pro-
fcct his choice and hold it against all
comrrS. Through the month of May
and into June the males continue to
arrive, each one as fast as he comes
taking up his station on the beach
waiting for the female part ofthe COM
mmity. These do not generally come
IN from the open sea until summer has
well set in, from the middle to the
last of June. No sooner do they ap-
pear than the work of selection begins
ON the part of the bulls, and the fe-
males are c1aNcd, bitten, driven md
thraShcd 10 the few square yards of
rock which have been pTe-rmptcd 10y
by their lord and master. Some of the
larger bulls succeed in gettingaS many
aS twenty cows under their charge,
and many and bloody are the battles
must he fought To keep cOVetOus out
si,,ers from stealing them away. Mr..
Hcuv Elliott, in his report 10 the
1;oycrnneut on the Territory of Alas
Lo. has a vpiv interesting chapter on
the seal fisheries. OF the battles
Nvayed by the bulls at this season, he
writes as follows:
"Somc of these bulls show wonder
rul strength and courage. | have
marked one veteran who was among
the first TO take up his position, and
that one ON the water line, when at
least fifty or sixty desperate battles
were fought VIGOROUSLY by him with
nearly as many different seals who
coveted his position, and when the
fighting season was over (atter the
cows have mostly hauled up, | saw
him covered with sears and gashes
raw and bloody, AN eye gOuged out,
but lOrdiug il brdvely over his haren
of fifteen or twenty cows, all huddleC
together on the same spot he had first
chosen