THK F1TR SHAL: SPORTIVK HABITS. 101 



moment's cessation, around such n rock us this, oft' Nab. Speel Rookery; but in this observation 

 I may be mistaken, because the Seals cannot be told apart. 



SEALS AMONG THE BREAKERS. The graceful unconcern with which the Fur Seal sports 

 safely in, among, and under booming breakers, during the prevalence of the numerous heavy gales 

 at the islands, has afforded me many consecutive hours of spell-bound attention to them, absorbed 

 in watching their adroit evolutions within the foaming surf, that seemingly, every moment, would, 

 in its fierce convulsions, dash these hardy swimmers, stunned and lifeless, against the iron-bound 

 foundations of the shore, which alone cheeked the furious rush of the waves. Not at all. Through 

 the wildest and most ungovernable mood of the roaring tempest and storm-tossed waters attending 

 its transit, I never failed, on creeping out, and peering over the bluffs, in such weather, to see 

 squads of these perfect watermen the most expert of all amphibians gamboling in the seething, 

 creamy wake of mighty rollers, which constantly broke in thunder tones over their alert, dodging 

 heads. The swift succeeding seas seemed, every instant, to poise the Seals at the very verge of 

 death. Yet the CallorJtinus, exulting in his skill and strength, bade defiance to their wrath, and 

 continued his diversions. 



SWIMMING FEATS OF THE "BACHELORS." The "Holluschickie" are the champion swimmers 

 of all the seal tribe; at least, when in the water around the islands, they do nearly every fancy 

 tumble and turn that can be executed. The grave old males and their matronly companions sel- 

 dom indulge in any extravagant display, as do these youngsters, jumping out of the water like so 

 many dolphins, describing beautiful elliptic curves sheer above its surface, rising three and even 

 four feet from the sea, with the back slightly arched, the fore-flippers folded tightly against the 

 sides, and the hinder ones extended and pressed together straight out behind, plumping in head 

 first, to reappear in the same manner, after an interval of a few seconds of submarine swimming, 

 like the flight of a bird, on their course. Sea Lions and Hair Seals never jump in this manner. 



All classes will invariably make these dolphin-jumps, when they are surprised or are driven 

 into the water, curiously turning their heads while sailing in the air, between the "rises" and 

 "plumps," to take a look at the cause of their disturbance. They all swim rapidly, with the 

 exception of the pups, and may be said to dart under the water with the velocity of a bird on the 

 wing; as they swim they are invariably submerged, running along horizontally about two or three 

 feet below the surface, guiding their course by the hin d-flippers as by a rudder, and propelling 

 themselves solely by the fore-feet, rising to breathe at intervals which are either very frequent or 

 else so wide apart that it is impossible to see the speeding animal when he rises a second time. 



How long they can remain under water without taking a fresh breath, is a problem which I 

 had not the heart to solve, by instituting a series of experiments at the island; but I am inclined 

 to think that, if the truth were known in regard to their ability of going without rising to breathe, 

 it would be considered astounding. On this point, however, I have no data worth discussing, but 

 will say that, in all their swimming which I have had a chance to study, as they passed under the 

 water, mirrored to my eyes from the bluff above by the whitish-colored rocks below the rookery 

 waters at Great Eastern Eookery, I have not been able to satisfy myself how they used their long, 

 flexible hind-fret, other than as steering media. If these posterior members have any perceptible 

 motion, it is so rapid that my eye is not quick enough to catch it; but the fore-flippers, however, 

 can be most distinctly seen, as they work in feathering forward and sweeping flatly back, opposed 

 to the water, with great rapidity and energy. They arc <-\ idenlly the sole propulsive power of the 

 Fur Seal in the water, as they arc its main fulcrum and lever combined, for progression on land. 

 1 regret that the shy nature of the Hair Seal never allowed me to study its swimming motions, but 

 it seems to be a general point of agreement among authorities on the Phocidfe, that all motion in 



