THE STELLER. 5l 



These most voracious animals are almost inces- 

 santly feeding, and on account of this greediness, 

 have their heads nearly always under water, being 

 very little solicitous concerning life and safety. A 

 boat or a man may go into the midst of a troop, and 

 one may be selected and secured by a hook with- 

 out difficulty. All this must be done while they 

 are feeding, as at the end of every four or five 

 minutes, they raise their nostrils above water, and 

 blow out the air with a small quantity of water, 

 making a noise like the snorting of a horse. While 

 grazing, they move slowly forwards, one foot after 

 the other, and thus in part placidly swim, and 

 partly walk, like oxen or sheep browsing. The 

 half of the body, that is, the back and sides, always 

 project above the water while they are feeding, and 

 the gulls alight thereon for the purpose of picking 

 up the parasite animals with which their hides are 

 much infested, just as the ravens alight on the 

 backs of hogs to catch their lice. 



They do not devour all the sea- weeds indiffer- 

 ently, but chiefly two or three species of Fucus or 

 Kelp, of which, when these animals have remained 

 a day or so in one vicinity, large heaps of the roots 

 and stalks are thrown ashore by the waves. Hav- 

 ing gorged themselves fully, some of them sleep 

 upon their backs, at some distance from the shore, 

 lest they be left aground by the tide. They 

 are frequently killed by the floating ice in winter, 

 which especially occurs if the waves are blown 



