New-York tribune., 1896-07-30
THE NORTHERN SEA COW.
rr DIFFERS FROM TILE SOUTHERN MANATEE.
From The Alaska News.

TT DIrrERs FROM THE SOUTHERN MANATEE.
From The Alaska News.
hSSs the k" Da of hf it is sea
owned sa Dy baye ane ever given thought The char
acicr OF the animal its mode of exstence 1000 ana
issnds hdw i o the westward this curious mixture Of
mammal and fish could formerly be ioun9 n srHnt H
IsianG which was also the home of thousands or
sea otter that extremely valuable iur bearing am
no, which Is becoming more ana more rare ed'n
n"ar ,., and which will soon be cxte'mnated com
pee al wf' Is as one IN of rts% Ss most
curious islands in the northern part OF the M aiane
II was heTe re Thsre h sea- Mhe now Ssr bears his
nm on september Il? l7il, finished his long ca
pe9s storm a SrssRSa asains
OF the island Many OF 'b ms
vho % sfs Sp'ns o description seldom
eauacd OF the natural hisory OF ns trn Sna ih mGde
Of November la. 10 Z . end OF august lIi2. -
: Tar as is known. Bchrng Island had never be
fore been bee visited by man 1t was the desire to Oh,
,";n for our museums the skins and skeletons OF
the t many curious mammifcrous animals existing
OF the island since 1t has for nearly a century
ana be cndity t Of mankind with the vivacious strk
ing description loft by Stccr which prompted "a an
Of Gentlemen for the purpose Of invesg3tng s., M ant
NAL o in ha sequestrred c1sE nhn 81 JsarS shr and
their observations and collections have proven ex-
s,ncH he time % steller the animal life has
uniergoEq considerable change on the islnnn
Ep
existed then in unusual numbers, Not alone did
they eat up everything that could ne eaten AZ al
mo The honscs during tho day as well as night.
and carried away everything they could even ra s
cice that could be of no use TO them. sucn az
knivcs SIC sticEs sacks shoes and socks Frequently
it became necessary to drive rne away wa wn
cunningness with which they manaEeG ,G fomsum
thrv combined their efforts to attain objects which
thr alone could no, nccomp.sh-rraily danser1us
then thousands upon thousands have been taken
here here by fur hunters; Now thcy are so rare that
during tbo stay Of the curio hunting party on the
Eda,f isand no.: .e .ingc animal was The remain
Ing ones are said not to have the & formerly 80
whirh a. not so Very costly on tho neighboring
copper Hind there are sti considerable numbers
81 steiler ShsS-ai"Gf anG his killed here
% css, @ s'G ana Sr ne Tn' is nD~
from Bchring lsland . ,.,,o,,, vor,. nur,ar
o Di sns ssa fs S~' now ~"y visit | the place
and. finally the most curious OF nll the former
now altogether extinct.
Steller's sea cow took the pace in certain way.
OF the hoofed animal among the sea mamma0a
II was OF a nut brown color and covered with hair
which had grown together into % an outer h,as much
according 10 stellcr. even to IS feet and its weight
n,IT Snrdv sstlDsishabe fore part OF the body thick
but suddenly narrowing backward II had two
nS shSr' msers orr n"s but gathered
hair: hind Eggs were missing altogether and re-
FsSsa Fs.s Which SS va" Very s0aH mix Ike with
males. had their place between the fore legs. The
flesh and milk resembled very much that Of neat
cattle; II was even better than the latter. accord
Ing TO Stellcr.
The sea cows were almost constantly occupied In
feeding on those sea weeds found In abundance
along the coast In doing which they moved neck
and head as on cx They show great gluttony
and were rot disturbed In the least by the presence
OF people II possible 10 20 up to and even
10 touch them without their being scared or seem
Ing 10 mind it. Toward each other they showed
great affection and when one was harpooned the
Others made unusual efforts to save II.
When steller was there the animals collected In
great herds neat cattle, grazing everywhere
along the shores. a great number were killed by
Stollcr and his companions Later the hunt for
these animals was an important food Item for those
Russians " no sailed from kamtchatka to the Aleu-
tian Islands Hundreds we're killed yearly. and
they were soon exterminated II we except q few
anirnas gone astray, AZ that time only on Bchring
Island According Ia what Middcndorf quotes from
tho very careful researches which the celebrated
acndemlcians. Won Baer and Won Brandt. had
made. the sea cow had not been seen before Stel
ler's time l74l and tie last was said to have been
killed In I7Js During the many investigate thpt
made among the natives. reliable Information
wns obtained that the COW had been killed
much later. A creole "a mixture Of Russian and