ANIMALS RECENTLY EXTINCT. C17 



Hi feet, or counting from tip of proboscis to the end of the outstretched 

 hind flippers, a length of 20 to 22 feet. When in good condition the an- 

 imal is very fat, old males attaining a circumference of 15 to 18 feet, and 

 one of the last- mentioned size has yielded as much as 210 gallons of oil. 

 Che female sea-elephant is much smaller than the male, not exceed- 

 ing 9 or 10 feet in length ; the female, moreover, is destitute of a probos- 

 cis, as are also all young, this being the mark of a full grown male. The 

 color is gray, with a blackish or olive cast, darkest on the back.* 



Considering the former abundance of these animals on the California 

 coast, very little has been recorded of their habits or habitat, but the 

 sea-elephant appears to have ranged along the coast of California and 

 Lower California, from about latitude 25° to 35°, although in early 

 days it may have considerably exceeded these limits. As just noted 

 above, the other species of sea-elephant is a southern animal of wide 

 distribution, and the nearest it approaches to the isolated northern 

 species is on the western coast of South America. It may be that the 

 gap now existing between these points was once tilled up, and that 

 since the disappearance of the animals at intermediate localities the 

 northern species has become differentiated from the southern. Or, 

 again, the California species may have originated from a few stragglers 

 who wandered north and being undisturbed increased and multiplied. 

 Prior to 1852 sea-elephants were extremely abundant in the vicinity 

 of Cerros Island, where the sealers erected rough stone huts in order 

 to prosecute their labors to the best advantage. The animals were ac- 

 customed to crawl out on certain favorite beaches, and in spite of their 

 bulky forms and slow mode of progress ascended the ravines for a dis- 

 tance of half a mile or so, congregating in herds of several hundred. 

 In such situations they fell an easy prey to the hunters whose methods 

 are well described by Captain Scammou : 



The sailors get between the herd and the water; then raising all possible noise 

 by shouting and at the same time flourishing clubs, guns, and lances, the party 

 advance slowly toward the rookery, when the animals will retreat, appearing in a 

 slate of great alarm. Occasionally an overgrown male will give battle or attempt 

 to escape, but a musket-ball through the brain dispatches it, or some one checks its 

 progress by thrusting a lance into the roof of its mouth, which canses it to settle on 

 its haunches, when two men with heavy oaken clubs give the creature repeated 

 blows about the head until it is stunned or killed. After securing those that are dis- 

 posed to show resistance, the party rush on the main body. The onslaught creates 

 such a panic among these peculiar creatures that, losing all control of their actions, 

 fchey climb, roll, and tumble over each other, when prevented from further retreat by 

 the projecting cliffs. We recollect in one instance, where sixty-live were captured, 

 that several were found showing no signs of having been either clubbed or lanced, 

 hut were smothered by numbers of their kind heaped upon them. 



"It is a difficult matter to accurately describe the color of seals, as under varying 

 conditions they appear quite differently. When alive the hair is close to the body 

 and is either wet or greasy, appearing from this cause much darker than it really is. 

 Mounted specimens are frequently stained by grease so that the pelage has a yel- 

 lowish cast. For these reasons authors disagree considerably in their descriptions 

 of tin- color of these animals. 



