The morning call., 1892-10-21
MANY ARE EXTINCT.
Changes Which Have Taken
Place in the Fauna.

The changes which have taken place In
the fauna of North America since the time
OF the discovery by Columbus afford re-
markable and striking illustration of the
effect Of civilized mans encroachment upon
new domain. When Columbus claimed the
soil he found it owned by the various tribes
Of Indians, who, while hunters in the conf
pletest sense as rule killed simply what
they needed. and as a result the animal life
Of locality remained to all intents and
purposes in its normal condition. Upon the
advent of the whites a great change began.
The game was at first driven back, slowly
bat surely. In the days of the Pilgrim
Fathers the forests of New England were
filled with game-deer, moose, the panther,
wildcat and other forms, while the bays
and inlets teemed with wild birds. ducks
and geese. The rivers of New England
were thrOnged with game fishes. The SAL
mon entered them, coming down from the
north. while the shad came from the south.
Far up the coast lived a most interesting
bird. known as the great aux, and among
the ducks was enc in later times known as
the Labrador duck. The bays of the coast
were fTeQuented by seals that swan along
shore in vast numbers. In the ocean, off
New England, large whales were extremely
common, and in the vicinity of Care Cod
the huge b0ne-shark was familiar sight to
the natives. Further down the coast the
bays and inlets were alive with feathered
game. and in Florida croeodiles were nu-
meTous, as well as slligators, the latter in
Testing the creeks and has in vast num-
bers. There, too. was a huge. bulky
creature-the manatee-lying in the shallow
water, rarely disturbed. Every inlet was
the home of cranes, herors or famingoes,
while the forests rang with the melody Of
countless s0ngsters.
II Columbus had pushed into the inte-
rior he would have found the intercon-
tinental region Astounding in game. The
bison or American buff alo fairly covered
the earth In places. Single herds could have
been seen made up Of from four or five or
more milions-berds that took days, weeks
and months to pass given point and whose
power as a moving mass was Irresistible.
These distincliEely American animals at a
not distant period roamed nearlS- ali the At
lantie States, even reaching INTO western
New, York and IS far south as New Or
leans. BE would have found vast herds of
elk, the great deer Of America that bore its
noble anGlers glOft in defiance to all enc
mics. Ia the mount rs could have been
found unnumoered be IS of the mountain
sheep. the big horn. he white mountain
goat, while as Tor deer they were as COM
mon as the autumn leaves that scurry along
before the first winter gale. 1. Columbus
had sailed up the Paeil Coast be would
have found vast herds Of seal on the islands
eff California and among them the sea
elephant
Where San Francisco and San Diego now
stand he could have watched herds Of elk
aud black: tailed deer, while the black and
grizzly bear was a common inhabitant of
the plains and mountains. II he had kept
up the coast TO our extreme northwest pos
sessions Columbus woald have found seal
roOkeTies of vast size, and, more. he would
have discovered one of the strangest animals
of modern times. th, great Rhytins. a
gigantic salt water manatee. a huge
creature that attained a length of twenty Or
more feet and weigh: Of amy tons.
Four hundred years b Ie passed away.
White men came, increase were fought of
by the natives, persis Id nd. like a slow
but relentless tidal Hav PRESSED on from
the Atlantic to the I. ALI animal
life gave before including the
native American, VIII, $ in this short
period been reduced from the proud
position of the owner Of the land to pitt
full representation, while on the Pacific
Coast the Indians have been to all intents
and purposes exterminated. Slowly but
surely the game was driven back, first into
the forests, then to the mountains, un-
til in a few years the New England
forests were practically devastated, the
mills depopulated the rivers, the ships
drove away the fea.h, came, while a
fend, yclept the moderL' miinner, laid claim
to even the song and vading birds, and they
were gradually driven rom pillar to post
until not hereDry CT ATTY size can be found
upon the Atlantic coz, and tile gulls,
terms and other forms I've been all but
exterminated.
The Florida erocodit. = almost extinct:
alllgatOrs are fast disap pearing, while the
maDatee is so rare thai the discovery of a
specimen is heralded as great event. The
whale fisheries Of New England may bt
counted as a thing o. The past. The an
mails have been killed off, while the great
bone-shark is thing Of the last generation
to a great extent. The great aux has been
wiped ont of existence within 100 years.
Man went to the islan and used the oily
bodies to burn. and shot them down simply
because they were odd looking, aud to-day
even the egg Is worth a small fortune.
while the good specimens OF the birds are
as well known as famous gems.
The buffalo has become almost extinct In
our own day. A small herd has been saved,
but it is believed that there are not over 200
full-booded bisons living and at last re-
ports band of vandals or thugs were en-
deayoring to run them down. The great
herds of elk are things of the past. Their
horns decorate few ranch houses In the
West. The mountain sheep, the mountain
goat are SO rare that TO obtain specimen
requires the greatest hardship. la Califor-
MIA the antelope that once swarmed on the
plains and in the valleys is doomed. The
elk and deer that fifty years ago were COM
mon everywhere are passing away, and it
is not too much to say that without prompt
Intervention from the Government all the
great game of the West will have become
extinct within the next fifty years.
The gigantic sea cow referred to was COM
pletely exterminated in the last century by
Steller and his party, who killed them IN
wanton sport so that the skeleton OF a
RhytIna recently received by the Academy
of Sciences in San Francisco was noticed In
almost every paper in the world as valu-
able and notable gift. In short. but two or
three good skeletons are known, while as
for the skin no authentic cut OF the shape
even has been preserved. Our seals are be-
coming extinct; the work of the poacher
can have bat one result. The sea otter is
almost extinct on this coast. while the last |
Of the sea elephants Of the California |
islands passed away during the present de-
cade.
All this IN 400 years. and most OF 1t in bali
that time. aud in the limited space OF this