BIOLOGICAL PAPERS. 181 



that the animals had been feeding upon squids. Some of them said 

 it was because salmon had become scarce and that the sea-lions were 

 compelled to eat squids. These same fishermen told me that from 

 ten to twenty-five years ago there were a great many salmon, but that 

 now the salmon were very scarce and hard to catch. They said that 

 the sea-lions had either destroyed them or "run them out of the coun- 

 try." 



When asked if there were not many more sea-lions ten to twenty- 

 five years ago than at present, they admitted that there were. One 

 old fisherman said that twenty-five years ago there were "sea-lions 

 everywhere on all the rocks." 



I was informed by the ranchmen and by fishermen that there were 

 no fish within two or three miles of the sea-lion rocks near my 

 camp ; the lions had either caught or driven them away. However, 

 I succeeded in catching a dozen rock-cod between shore and the seal 

 rocks. Afterwards, my boatman, George Carr, an old salmon fisher- 

 man, caught plenty of rock-cod weighing from one to eight pounds 

 each within sixty feet of the fiat rock where from 100 to 300 sea- 

 lions landed every day. He was very much surprised that he could 

 catch so many fish in such a place. Around these rocks, where the 

 sea-lions had lived for ages, proved to be the best fishing-grounds we 

 could find in that locality. The fish could not have been annoyed 

 very much by the sea-lions or they would not have remained there. 



My boatman landed me a number of times on the rocky islands. 

 In places the rocks were covered over and partially concealed by the 

 droppings from the animals. In some depressions the manure was a 

 foot deep. I looked for fish bones and scales, but not a single one 

 w^s discovered. Parts of the pens from the backs of squids were very 

 common in the excrement. 



The salmon fishermen told me that they sometimes caught salmon 

 that had pieces bit out of them by sea-lions. They showed me one 

 such specimen. The cut was a smooth one, such as might have been 

 made by a shark, but not a rugged tear, such as the large teeth of the 

 sea-lion would make. 



Whenever the sea-lions came into the bay during the salmon-fish- 

 ing season the fishermen would say that they were after the salmon. 

 They saw them diving in the waters where the salmon were, but there 

 was no evidence that I could see or that they could produce that 

 would show that the lions were after the salmon. 



The squids were in the bay at this season of the year. It is more 

 than likely that the lions were after the squids. 



The animals that I found dead had all been shot, as a rule in the 

 head. There is just one point that I am not sure of, and that is in 



