116 ZOOLOGY. 



This animal, according to the officers of the Hudson Baj' Company, are leaving the coast, 

 being found no\v in much smaller numbers than formerly. They fancy that the majority have 

 gone to the Japan and Russian coasts. The few now obtained by the company are generally 

 from Fort Simpson, on the coast of Russian America, where it is still rather plentiful. They 

 are found so abundantly near Cape Mendocino, and along the coast between that point and 

 Port Orford, that several companies have been organized and equipped in San Francisco 

 expressly for their capture. The average length of the skins of full grown individuals is about 

 G feet. A very fine skin which I saw in the collection of furs in the Hudson Bay fort at 

 Vancouver, Washington Territory, measured 74 inches in length. A test of the value and 

 compactness of the fur is, that when blown upon strongly with the breath the hairs cannot be 

 sufficiently separated to show the least portion of naked skin at the bottom. Skins of full length, 

 and in prime condition, cannot be purchased at the Hudson Bay storehouse for less than $100 

 apiece, and then only as a favor. They are in good demand in the Chinese markets, being 

 considered amcing the wealthy celestials as affording the most luxurious and recherche attire. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Glisan and Lieutenant Kautz, of the United States army, I 

 obtained a sea otter skull from Port Orford, Oregon. Attached to the skull was a memorandum 

 stating that it was that of a female two years old. This was sent to the Smithsonian collection, 

 but I have not as yet heard from it. 



The sea otter is called by the Nisqually Indians Dah-JiaJdt. — S. 



MEPHITIS OCCIDENTALIS, Baird. 



California Sknuk; Western Skunk 



Mephitis occidentalis, Baird, Gen. Kep. Mammals, 1857, 194. 



[See cliap. 2, p. 94.] 



Skunks are plentiful throughout Washington Territory, Oregon and northern Cali- 

 fornia. — G. 



The California skunk is extremely abundant throughout the western portions of Oregon and 

 its sister Territory. At the Dalles of the Columbia they are so abundant as to be a pest to the 

 settlers. Major Rains, of the United States army, assured me that during a two years' residence 

 at Fort Dalles he killed 33 skunks, almost all of which had been living beneath the ground- 

 floor of his house. 



At Puget Sound they are also very nimierous, living frequently under the houses of the 

 settlers, and subsisting upon offal, carrion, dead fish, or any other edible substances which 

 chance throws in their way. They are frequent attendants upon the heaps of fish tails, bones, 

 fins, and other ofial, at the Indian salmon fisheries. They are generally nocturnal in their 

 habits, and at those times, especially when travelling long distances, prefer the beaten roads 

 and trails. 



The skunk is thought to be a very brave animal by the Sioux, Blackfoot, and other wild tribes 

 east of the Rocky mountains, and the tail of the animal, or its skin, is considered a trophy or 

 badge of distinction, only to be worn by the acknowledged "braves" of the tribe. I am not 

 aware whether this custom prevails among the Indians of the Pacific coast, but presume not. 



I have been called upon, professionally, to order treatment for men suffering from the sudden 

 introduction of the peculiar stinking discharge of this animal into their eyes. It is violently 

 irritating, temporarily causing intolerable smarting, photophobia, &c., the symptoms following 

 its introduction being very similar to those caiised by the application of tobacco juice to the 

 same delicate organs. I have usually found that washing the eyes in simple cold water is the 



