The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-04
THESEA ELEPHANT HUNTER
4DTENTrRFS ~ KERGf ELEN'S L'ND'
ar JHE END OF JHE WohLD'
showing ar ~Sleeting All the Iim"-fe"'
gums so Thick That II Is Hard I" tor'"
Your way Through Them rs M""s
as rifty Elephants killed ~ an HOUR

,,,,. a., Thick That II Is Hard to Force
Your way Through Them rs M""s
ms Titty Elephants Killed IN an HOUR
A little man with q red faco and faded OUT
hair. with hands deep in his pockets roan's
about one ~ tho resorts in southern CALIFORNIA
and he would attract little or NJ attention eN'
cept bv "A particularly Jolly smile which ripr'es
over his weather. worn face on the very sIght'
est proyoration. The writer found MN ono
evening At the end Of the long pier looking out
on the water with a contem platiro EXPRESSION
and, temarking upon the beauty oil the hlsht'
the little man replied, Yes. this l. PARADISE 70
me- with a curious infection which was father
pulling until Il was known that ms mother
was a Swedo an his father an lrlshman'
How so? Why" he continued. shining me
soft evening air that came in from the niue
bay. because the hest part Of my life spent
OF the end Of the world. right where they
Jump of. at inaccessible Island, down on tho
edge of the Antarctic Ocean; there ana NJ
| Kerguelon's Land. was a sea elephant
hunter. and I'm so glad TO br in such a country
, M this after all my rovings that il seems Ike
"A regular paradise. | never believed that l
| would take up with such a life, but men are
| curious things. and one dav. when my ship
! made polt At tho Cape Of Good Hope. | LETT
her-no matter how-and shipped on boarda
| whaler. They told me | would come back, at
the end Of u year with, perhaps s2.ooO' ana AZ
thai beat $50 n month | shipped.
These sea cio plant islands are IN a region
where II either SHOWS or rains sle"t an tne
time continued the. former. sea elcIhant
hunter, settling himself comfortably as though
for a long talk. and whore ! spent two wears
was the most dcsHlnte place ever saw. The
men there told me that sometimes the, Saalers
well bcliavr them. Ii was all volcanic rock.
with not n tree on II, and covered with, snow.
s sound. % %S nrnI,i w% %Ta ,F FIar roartns s% Of III, ins w Snlss
broke, %r an drtted away. When we
cam a.oari ! wondered how men. could get so
low in looks; but ! was Just as. bad IN a short
time You couldn't helr IL The only house, u
had washed ashore, and or. which the men had
piled big rors. to prevent the roof from blow;
ing away and TO protect II from being crushed!
by the ice aud snow which in ~" form or
avalanches sometimes came rushing down
from the mountains. In this hui there was
huukei on the floor on skins OF the sea lion
and feathers Of the penguin. Everything was
After leaving a load Of stores the steamer
! sailed away aud we did not see her again Tor z
wear The stores did not last very long, ana
! diet-gulls and penguin and the, meat OF the
sea elerha9t. ! knew that ! he'd been trapped:
two years, The ne1tday the lie began. Rain.
ing, or showing. We were always ronteI guy
was sent Ivy The boss 10 xiii sons
yenQuins. Tor. breakfas,. and nearly
lost nv ne in The hunt \ great pat Of H..
they were 50 thick that il was hard to force
your way through them ~ they packed AZ you
v~iciously. on all sides. The penguin %rookery
almost as high as nv head. and tho birds had
laid il ont IN streets aud lanes. and along them
The street., were, slippery and und"rminai by
other birds. and every few steIs hroks
through into these cellars AMI was also at
tackled bv the birds that came OUT.
+ protect myself laid around with the ciub
| carried, and finally turned and tried 70 run
OUT Of the place as the birds cameat methlcker
andfas'er, and nearly craZnd me with tholr peck
ing and tha noise they made. ] was hewlllered.
and only by chance found nv way out Of the
first intended, thinking t4 see low large me
rookcrv was. When | reached caInp, covered
with blood, with my arms full OF birds. the
men met me with n roar, and saw th,t 9 Joke
had been put uron me. ItDuGd later thai thev
never entered the bird city. but killed the birds
The men we're called sealors. but sea elo.
phants was the game. We were supposed ~
catch htG animals tho males being from fifteen
10 nearly thirty feet .Oug and weighing several
tons " one time, my OF, sky y"nrs ago;
they fairly covered the beaches. hut they had
been killed off so ranillv Tint they wore con.
fined to one part ~ the beach on a site that
could not be- approached by sen, So we had to
travel over the glaciers and Wountnins. rolling
our barrels. When rear the divide We could
look down on the elephants that looked ike
great black slugs on the white sand. We
crossed down without frightening them. get
ting between them and IN" water. Then AZ the
word from the boss We made u rush on them.
When thew SAW ia they slowly lifted IN their
heads. inhating their curious trunks that
made them look ike elephants CIumsily thev
tried To reach the water. hut a sharp blow over
the head laid them out Once one caugbt a
man by the coat and tossed him into the herd.
whore we thought he would be torn 10 pieces.
as he fell on the back Of IN Old bull. hut he
escaped after having the clothes literally torn
Of him. Sometimes forty or Nifty Of the
an mails would be killed in an hour: then the
work Of SHINING them began, and the boiling
down. was soon rocking in oil and that was
the condition Of us all the time.
In the course OF the year never sawa
wloe day o. sunshine, and sometimes for
weeks the sun did not appear n all. That soon
takes the lt'o ont ~ one. ] can tell YOU. that and
the snow. rain and slcet. At the end of the
year some % the men whose time was M were
paid on. perhaps they had hecn working on
shares. and they went to the Cape ~ Good
Hope aud in "A week or two their money was
gone in WAYS known only to the sailor. and
several " rh' soa elephant hunters came back
10 the life Of aludge and ice. OF dirt and slauCh.
ter. But two years were enough for me. and
two years too much said the little man. ris-
ing from the box on which he had been sitting.