Mexico weekly ledger., 1903-10-15
AUDRAIN COUNTY. MISSOURI, THU
Written for the Ledger
THE SEA LION.
BY W. W. cLENpEsrN.

where his head and neck join, for his
ears look like they are halfway down
on bis neck.
With his huge flippers he can propeI
himself throughthe water as fast as a
bird can fly and there is not a fish
that swims that can escape him. He
lives entirely on fish and full-grown
sea lion will consume 200 pounds of
fresh fish every day. Some of the
males grow to enormous size, weigh
ling from 5000 to 5000 pounds, and
saw dead one lying on the beach that
from the tip OF his nose to the end of
his hind fiippers measured l8 feet in
length.
stood on the beach near the Cliff
House one morning and saw sea
lion give an acrobatic performance
worth seeing. He would leap 10 feet
above the water and then turn beau
tiful somersanlt and few moments
later he would rise SO yards from the
spot where he had disappeared and
then repeat the performance. AS he
kept II up for quite while, thought
he had been in circus some time and
learned how the trick was done.
Many years ago spentseveral pleas
ant and enjoyable days on the coast a
few miles touth of where the Pesca-
dero creek disembogues into the sea
on the north line of Santa Cruz
county and will try to tell the
young readers Of the LEDGER about
some OF the many interesting sights
that | saw along the rocky beach.
1t was about noon when we reached
the coast and we made our camp in a
pretty little cove near the mouth of a
small creek, where there was an
abundance of fine grass for our horses,
a cool spring Of pure water and plenty
Of drift-wood for our campfire. After
a hearty meal and good rest, l took
my rifle and started up the coast in
search Of place called "Pebble
Beach," After l had Travelled quar-
ter of a mile / suddenly ran up against
the most horrible stencil that my
nostrils had ever encountered and it
almost lifted me of my feet. Clasp
ing my nose between my thumb and
forefinger, / turned to the right and
travelled as fast as could until l got
out Of the awful smell and then l
walked half mile before l turned
for the beach again. When l reached
the shore and looked down on the
rocky beach, / found that l was
standing right above the very thing
that was looking for. 1t was a beau
tiful sight-for there were millions of
the most beautiful pebbles that / ever
lsaw--and when the salty waves of the
sea swept over them they sparkled
like diamonds. The pebbles were COL
ored like the rainbow and were almost
as hard as diamonds, being worn round
in shape and perfectly smooth by the
action Of the water. After had
gathered quite a number of the pret-
tiest pebbles that l could find started
back to camp and had not gone far
when l came to where about 20 big
sea lions were basklng on the rocks
along the shore. They all plunged
Into the ocean when they saw
me and / shot several of them as they
we're swimming around not far from
the shore.
When l had got about half way to
camp found a big whale lying high
and dry on the rocks, where it had
been thrown by the surf at high tide.
1t was lying on its back, with its tail
to the sea, and, as 1t was low tide, l
could, by holding my nose, walk clear
around it. 1t was about 60 or 70 feet
in length and its huge tail was about
IL feet wide and its flukes were about
the length and shape of pair of oars.
Its mouth, had it been open, was big
enough to hold stack of hay, but its
eyes were very small in proportion to
the size of its body. The rocks for
quite a distance all around were very
slippery with oil and the stencil from
the body was simply awful.
At the mouth of the creek where
our camp was located there was a
sand bar about rs yards wide and on
this the blllows broke with contin-
uous roar, like keenclaps of thunder.
About a quarter Of a mile from the
shore there was a black line Of rocks
that rose but few feet out Of the
water and the waves were constantly
sweeping over them. These rocks
were covered with kelp, the broad,
Shiny and leathery leaves of which
look very much like the ears Of an
Indian elephant.
Now, let me take some of my young
readers to the north end of that sand
bar and show them some of the
strange and beautiful sights to be
seen on the big rocks few feet below
the surface of the clear water. Over
there to the right there is beauti-
full little flower garden in full bloom.
The big flowers are about the size
and clusely resemble peonies, only they
are far more beautiful. Well, my lit
tie friends, those pretty things are not
flowers, as you will soon see, If you
will watch them closely until foolish
little minnow comes along and pokes
bis nose among the broad petals-for
the moment he touches them he is a
goner. AS quick as a fash these
petals will fold around him and your
pretty flower becomes round, Shiny
ball and remains so until the body of
the little fish is absorbed and then 1t
/ will unfold itself again. throw out the