The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-10

his throat is cut before he recovers cor
 sciOusness. The skins are removed an
 packed away in salt, and the meat i
 used by the natives and for fox fee { in the winter We ate some of tn 1 meat and found 1t very delicate, thoug
 little bluer in color than was attrac
 tive Seal liver is finer than the fines
 calf liver.
 The family life of the seal is remark
 able and shows intelligence that can
 not be accounted for in an anima
 which is said to be absolutely un l teachable, as the fur bearing seal is
 During the winter the rookeries are de
 serted the seals being off to the warm
 CT waters of the south, but from Ma, 1 10 to 15, the bull seals make their ap
 pearance and take up positions on tn
 rocks, selecting locations as near tn
 water as they can get them and fierce | ly fighting any others who seek to dis l possess them. The weaker brothers must take their places further bacl and so on til. the bachelor seals arc reached and they are driven entirely
 off the rockery proper.
 These bachelor seals are young fel
 lows and years old who have moi yet grown sufficiently strong to fight
 the old ones and take a family, but ii they escape the killers they will dis possess the old bulls in time to be driven forth themselves when they have grown old.
 On each plot of space selected, say a rod or more square, the bull seal main tot, l, l.; he engages in a constant succession of battles in which both contestants are not frequently slain. About the first of June the COW seals appear and then the battle of the bulls ranges more fiercely than ever until the households are all made up.
 The bull seals do not agin return to the water after have come out on the rocks until the families begin to break tip in the autumn, and they neither eat or drink during that time They come out as fat as they can roll, weighing sometimes as much as 400 pounds, and when they return to the sea they are so thin and weak that they can scarce ly get about
 In pleasing contrast with the dis agreeable displays of temper and jeal- ousy on the part of the male members of the various families is the delight fully amiable disposition of the mild eyed, sweetfaced females They never complain or quarrel or fight, and even when they are severely injured in the battles over them they submit to it all in perfect spirit of gentleness and resignation.
 The real family life of these inter- esting animals begins with the ap- pearance of the puppy seals. Thousands of little fellows chase over the rocks and play, quite neglected by their par ents as son as they get beyond the linn its of their homes. A mother seal shows no affection for her baby if it gets beyond the home limits, and it may be killed before her eyes without a protest from her, but either father or mother will fight for it to the death within the limits of it's birthplace
 At the same time a mother seal will select her own puppy from among 1O,- 900 when she comes in from the sea at nursing time, and she will not permit a strange puppy near her. She recog- nizes her own by it's voice, and if she calls and get no answer she will lie down to sleep for aw hile and wake to call again. When she hears it's voice among the thousands she pushes her way through the throng until she reaches it, and then gives it the care 1t needs. She will sometimes be away for two or more days feeding out at sea, but the puppy doesn't seem to miss it's mother for any ordinary length of time.
 A puppy seal does not like the water 1t first, and though the mother teaches t to swim in several weeks, it is nearly half grown before it becomes an ex- pert. As soon as they have mastered he rat however, seals are the most graceful of swimmers, and they can nave more fun dashing through the surf and riding the waves than a dozen small boys.
 The bachelor seal is really a pathetic individual He has no home to go to- Tor has he any social recognition in 'eal society, and he is compelled to i've away back in the suburbs of the cookery. narrow street is left open
 
 he rookery and he is not disturbed IS long as he keeps in that narrow | path, but woe to him if he gets off it. The old seals thump him and beat him md drive him forth in utter disgrace. n addition to his hard domestic lot he | s killable and at any moment after the l st of July and until the 10th of August | le may be driven to the slaughtering | rounds and be knocked in the head. | Single Massachusetts no snap in seal | fife. As the season advances, the family | citations and regulations are gradually | elaxed. The husband grows less jeal- us, the wives go further out to sea eeking food and stay away longer the achelor seals are not fought so fierce 7 by the old fellows and by the middle August the rookeries present a cene of genral disorganization and reaking up as if the entire community ere about to move out. The husbands nd fathers now desert their homes and ike to the water or herd to themselves way from the rookeries and begin to at and drink.
 During the autumn the departure of le seals is gradual, the puppies in 1me instances not getting away until s late as January but by that time Il are gone and the rookeries are still, we for the cries of the innumerable "a fowl that have their homes in the ifs.
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