Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-03-25

AN ALMOST EXTINCT ANIMAL IN
AMERICAN WATERS.

One Time a. Thick O. Seals of the Lower
California coast-Fiercs Looking. But
Not Very oangerous-How They Wsrs
Hunted.
1t was reported some time ago that Q
yachting party thought they had dis
covered several sea elephants on the
islands Of San Diego County, Cali
fornia, animals which were supposed
to have become extinct long ago and
to be found now only among the desert
islands OF the antarctic circle. There
was time in the memory of the in
habitants of Santa Barbara, San Pedro
and San Diego. when sea-elephant
hunters made their headquarters at
these ports.
II can remember the time," said an
old beach-comber at San Pedro to a
this whole county teemed with game;
when whales were thick in the channel
here, when you could shoot deer and
elk this side of the Sierra Madres, and
man could make good living shoot
ing sea otter on the islands off shore.
one gone; but when l was youngster,
seventy years ago, or SO, sea elephants
were as thick on the islands off shore
here as seals are to-day. For several
years l was in the business. and had a
hand in the cleaning of them out. Sea
lions have outlived the hunting be-
cause they are not so good for trade;
the skins don't amount to much, and
the oil mas no special value. But with
sea elephants it's different; there Is
not bit of the creatures but what you
can gse-hide, teeth, claws, oil,
and fiesh-and that's the reason why
they've been SO completely wiped out.
THE sea elephant was just a big
seal. Some I've seen in the South
Pacific would weigh nearly a ton and
be tEUaty feet long. but those up this
coast seem smaller, though big enough
to give you all the fight you wanted.
Lying on the rocks or beach, you might
take them for big seal or sea lions, but
the minute they saw a hunter and
sprang up, the tops of their noses
would swell, making regular trunks,
like those of elephants, only smaller
through which they would snort. Ug-
lier-looking brutes you never saw.
They were worse in their looks than in
their actions. When they came at you
with rush, snarling and Kissing, tos-
sing their heads into the air and show
ing their teeth, il was enough to scare
the life out of a man.
There must have been thousands
of elephants around the islands hun
dred years ago, but they were simply
cleaned out, so that it's a hard matter
to find the skeleton or even bone of
one to-day. During the last of our
hunting" continued the old sailor,
they got so shy and scarce that it
was days work to get at them. There
was herding place on the west side
OF San Clemente where there was al
ways heavy sea. and we would land
there and crawl over among the sand
hills and sneak up on them-no child's
play. remember one day / had sight
when / came right on big bull twenty
two feet long and as big as a house,
lying in gully. AS / rushed at him
he came at me, with mouth open, for
all the world like huge caterpillar,
wriggling all over and making great
folds in his body. He seemed to under
stand what l was at and lodged his
head from side to side, so that could
not hit him on the head, and chased
me all around the gully. If had slip
ped, he would have caught me sure,
but as it was, one of the men with a
rifle came along and killed him. The
old males often were dangerous and
good things to keep away FROM"
The California sea elephant that the
old seaman knew so well was one of the
most interesting of California animals,
and one of the many that are, il not
entirely extinct, doomed to complete
extinction. They ranged at one time
all down the Pacific Coast as far as
Cedros Islands and must have been
seen in great numbers several hun
dred years ago. The largest sea ele-
plants from Santa Catalina, observed
years ago, were twenty-five feet from
head to tail. These were the bulls:
tie cows being sometimes sixteen feet
long, but generally about ten feet. In
appearance they were hideous brutes,
yellowish brown in color. The hair
was stiff like bristles, which grew in
punches over the eye. The |
fiippers were large and powerful, the
fore one armed with short claws or
talons with deep webs. The probes
els was found only in the males, and
extended from the angle of the mouth
forward about fifteen inches. Original
|y large herds were found from Febru-
airy to June. Coming in through the !
surf, they would wriggle slowly up over
the sand dunes, resting occasionally, |
as though progress was very difficult. |
In this way they would reach places |
in ravines and canons a half mile from
the ocean. Like the sea lion, they |
we're fond of high places and were Of
ten seen on the rocks sixty feet above
The water.
The plan of attack was as given-to |
get between the herd and the water and |
rush upon them. Sometimes sixty or |
seventy would be killed, many falling
in heaps and smothering each other.
When the surfwas heavy they were skin
ned on the beach and the blubber cut
INTO what are called horse pieces. Then
4 rope was passed through them, the
end of which was carried out beyond
he surf to the boat, and so the blubber
was hoisted aboard, and tried out at
leisure. The amount Of oil taken from
specimens varied. From one large bull,