The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-18

bull of full size claims the right to as | many cows as he can protect and SUD- port. In some cases the fiercest of the bulls have had as many as 75 cows, and a proper harem should have at least 30 or 40. As I have said the government 1 thinks the best allowance is S5.
 In their summer migration to the Pribilofs the old bulls come in advance, and each picks out a spot on the rocks, near the water, about 50 feet In circurn- ference, which he intends to use as the home of himself and his harem. About month later the cows begin to come, and he sees that he gets his share, fight Ing any other bull who attempts to come into his territory.
 A short time after the COWS arrive, each gives birth to 8 pup, and from that time on she goes out to sea, now and then, to get food for her offspring. She often swims as far as 300 miles away to find good feeding grounds. The bulls are fat upon their arrival and they eat nothing for several months, or until near the end of the breeding season. After that they occasionally go out for meal and come back to the islands.
 There is very little sea food about the Pribilofs, and at present the nearest feeding grounds are about 100 miles away. The best are on the submerged plateaus, known as banks. situated Q little north of the Aleutian Islands. The seals have great appetities. They eat chiefly squid, but are fond also of herring, srnets, sal and eat these in the water, gorging them and eat these in the water, gorging them- selves whenever they can.
 They are able to sleep in the water. At such times they rest on their backs. with their hind flippers held aloft, and with the nose just above the surface. While on the land they sleep the greater part of the time, and one can frequently see the master of the harem and his cows, and even the pups, all fast asleep.
 During the summer the pups suckls their mothers. They live upon milk until the approach of cold weather, when they have learned to swim and can catch their own food, consisting of fish and squid. As winter comes on the cows and pups start away first and the bulls and bach elors follow sometime later.
 I am told that the best furs are those taken from the animals of three and four years, and the government aims to kill only the surplus bachelors of those ages The cows are all kept for breeding. The killing is done after regular sys- tenn. It begins about the last of June and ends before September 1. The anil mals are separated, and each seal se- lected to be killed is stunned by blow on the head with a heavy club. While he is still unconscious he is stabbed to the heart and bled.
 After the whole drove is killed the seals are laid out in rows to be skinned This is done by the natives, who under stand just what Is wanted. They leave 8 layer of fat, from fourth to a half an inch thick, on the skin, and work so carefully that the skin comes off as a sort of bag with two round holes at the front where the fore f1oppers went through. The most expert of the work men can skin seal In two minutes.
 The next process is salting and curing the skins, which are then packed up in pairs and shipped to the markets. In times past all of the sealskins have been sent to London, which Is the worlds mar ket for raw furs. There they were han dled by Lampson & Co.,, being graded ac- cording to size and quality, and sold at auction in lots of 100 Tn 1910 the average price obtained by the government Tor about 1s,000 skins taken on these is-