The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-12

are still few herds. Mosely found males
here twelve feet in length, and so heavy
and Hstless that they would not leave when
a gun was fired near their heads. When
attacked by clubs the male raised its head
and tail in the air, opened it's enormous
mouth and uttered loud roars The ami
mails come inshore during the breeding
season. and are covered with fat; at this
time they do not feed, living on the thick
bubber which surrounds them.
On the weather side of Merton Island
numbers OF sea elephants still exist, or did
at the time of the visit of the Challenger.
They are probably still there unless the
sealers have devised some method Of get
ting the large animals across the beach,
where the oil could be shipped The Cal
ifornia sea elephants We're probably stray
individuals from those southern herds,
reaching in their travels as far north as
the islands of Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa,
off Santa Barbara Up TO 1850 there were
large herds on Cerros, or Cedros Island,
but the sealers discovered them, and to-
day the stone huts of the latter and the
bleaching skeletons of the elephants alone
tell the story. The herds were accustom-
ed 10 crawl up the canyons to sandy
sealers coming in from the sea. The men
| rushed at them with guns, clubs aSd
spears, and killed them in the most brutal
| fashion. Some of the old males resented
| The onslaught, and occasionally would
seize a sailor and toss him, but they were
! easily denoralized and crowded over one
| another and were killed in heaps crowded
| against the walls of the cliffs. In this way
/ Capt. Scammon and party killed a herd
| of sixty-ive sea elephants on one of the
| California islands in 1858.
This work of determination was followed
| until 1860 when there were so few animals
| eft that the business was given up as far
| south as Guadalupe and San Benlto ISL
! ands. In 1880, eighteen years ago,
| schooner the San Diego, sailed from the
| port of that name Tor San Cristobal bay,
| fifty miles from Cedros Island. Here they
| found a herd thai had increased from
| few that had been accidentally missed by
| the last raiders. With characteristic per-
severance they killed every one young
| and old, male and female bringing back
| 10 sea elephants of which fourteen We're
I large bulls. In the same year a sloop
made the same trip. the men finding
| herd of ninety-three sea elephants. The
| men seem 10 have been actuated by feel
| ngs of humanity, as they spared few
| young ones. But it was of no avail, as
| later in the season the crew OF the San
| Diego killed every one. This was report
| ed to the United States government, and
an expedition was sent there 10 see if any
| sea elephants had been spared. All the
| rookeries were visited where these fine
| and large animals had once been found
in such numbers, but skeletons alone told
the story. The party then visited San
| Cristobal bay, where, fortunately, a small
! herd of fifteen was found. The natural
list in charge believing that if the sealers
- a1s- IL f1feal.
| eddy be exterminated, killed and shipped
| the specimens to the Smithsonian, thus
| ending the history of the sea elephant, in
| these parts at least
Capt Scammon killed sea elephants at
| the following islands: Santa Catalina, San
ia Rosa, Santa Cruz, Cerros, Guadalupe,
San Benito, Naiividad San Rogue and
| ASCENSION and other places. The largest
| herd he saw numbered 1865 sea elephants.
| From February TO June was the time when
the greatest number were caught or seen,
| the young appearing in May or June. A
! few years ago TWO specimens were secured
| a Santa Barbara and sent 10 Yale college
and a rumor that others had been seen in
duced an examination of the various rock
cries on the Californian islands opposite
! Los Angeles and Santa Barab3ra counties.
| These islands number nine or ten, and are
as follows in their order going north: San
| Clemente, Santa Catalina, San Nicolas
| Santa Barbara Rock. Anacapa, Santa
| Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel. The
! writer first visited the rockeres on San
! Clemente-one on the south end of the is
! land, another on The north; the latter a
! wild, wind swept place, where a rocky
= point had apparently been broken down
! gradually by the sea. Here were twenty or
thirty sea lions, some of the bulls which
! were of large size, permitting the boat to
move quite near to them. The southern
7 rookery had perhaps ten of these animals,
but there was no evidence of the presence
of sea elephants The sea lions are doubt
less increasing, as there is an unwritten
law against shooting them. This island is
| government property, and viii probably
| never be occupied, as there is a wide and
! rough channel between it and the shore.
on Santa Catalina Island, the most at
tractive of the group, owned by the Ban
| ming Brothers, of Los Angeles, there is
one rookery at what are known as Sea-
| Rocks, on the southeast coast, a group of
! small rocks jutting out into the sea Here
were found eighteen or twenty sea lions
and a number of seals. The owners of the
! island have done everything to preserve
the rookery, and the huse animals were so
tame that the boat approached within
twenty feet of them. 1t was impossible to
determine the number comprising The herd
I as the animals were continually climbing
on the rocks or leaving, many 1t was
learned, making trips of eight or ten miles
| up the island every night. while others
followed the fishermen and made heavy
! demands upon them. The writer saw one
sea lion lying fifty or sixty feet from a
gill net. which il frequently examined As
| soon as a fish became entangled the sea
lion would dive down and seize IL. rise
| 70 the surface and toss 1t in the air liter
! ally in the faces of the men,