ALASKA. 59 



I 



it is as slack and draws u[) like tlie hide on llic* nape of a yomii;- 

 dog. This skin, which is taken Iroiii the body with but one 

 cut made in it at tlie posteriors, is turned inside out, and air- 

 dried, and stretched, so that it then gives the erroneous impres- 

 sion of an animal at least six feet in length, with girth and 

 shape of a weasel or mink. 



There is no sexual dissimilarity in color or size, and both 

 manilest the same intense shyness and aversion to man, coupled 

 with the greatest solicitude for their young, which they bring 

 into existence at all seasons of the year, for the natives get 

 young pups every month in the year. As the natives have 

 never caught the mothers bringing forth their oft'si)ring on the 

 rocks, they are disposed to believe that the birth takes place 

 on kelp-beds, in i^leasant or not over-rough weather. The fe- 

 male has a single pup, born about 15 inches in length, and pro- 

 vided during the first month or two with a coat of coarse, brown- 

 ish, grizzled fur, head and nape grizzled, grayish, rufous white, 

 with the roots of the hair growing darker toward the skin. 

 The feet, as in the adult, are very short, webbed, with nails 

 like a dog, fore-paws exceedingly feeble and small, ail covered 

 with a short, fine, dark, bister-brown hair or fur. From this 

 poor condition of fur they improve as they grow older, shading 

 darker, finer, thicker, and softer, and by the time they are two 

 years of age they are '^ prime," though the animal is not full- 

 grown until its fourth or fifth year. The white nose and mus- 

 tache of the pup are not changed in the adult. The whiskers 

 are white, short, and fine. 



The female has two teats, resembling those of a cat, placed 

 between the hind limbs on the abdomen, and no signs of more ; 

 the pup sucks a j^ear at least, and longer if its mother has no 

 other ; the mother lies upon her back in the water or upon 

 the rocks, as the case may be, and when she is surprised she 

 protects her young by clasping it in her fore-paws and turning 

 her back to the danger ; they shed their fur just as the hair of 

 man grows and falls out ; the reason is evident, for they must 

 be ready for the water at all times. 



The sea-otter mother sleeps in the water on her back, with 

 her young clasped between her fore-paws. The pup cannot 

 live without its mother, though frequent attempts have been 

 made by the natives to raise them, as they often capture them 

 alive, but, like some other species of wild animals, it seems to 



