18 



starveling, intimidated, slinks away to die. These orpliaued younglings are the fruit oi the indis- 

 criminate " pelagic " sealing. Their mothers being killed, and they unable to obtain another 

 nurse, they perisli by the thousands. A United States report estimates the number for 1896 at 

 20,331. 



The following is a description, by an eye-witness (G. G.), 

 of a, seal rookery on Behring's Island : — 



The big rookery is about 14 miles from the village on the opposite side 



of the island, and is a shady spit about 70 yards wide, ruDning out less 

 tlian a quarter of a mile, and ending in rocks, some of them pretty high. 

 This space was just one mass of fur seals. To look at it one would have said 

 it was impossible to stow another one on it, while for a couple of hundred 

 yards around there were numbers of seals playing in the water. The noise 

 was perfectly deafening. It is usually called a l)ark, but although the old 

 Ijulls liad a hoarser note, the females bleat very like a sheep. There was 

 apparently a hard-aiul-fast line between each family, and at intervals of 

 half a dozen yanls, (jr, in fact, wherever there was a boulder for liini to 

 get on, an old bidl was roaring away, and keeping a M'atchful eye on his 

 numerous wives to see that they di<ln"t stray into the other Johnnie's 

 establishment, which must be a difficult joV) to prevent, as there is no room 

 for space Ijetweeii the various families. 



The seals are of all colours, ranging from a sort of dirty yellow to jet 

 black, most of the cubs being black, and several of the old bulls having a 

 sort of yellovv' mane. These seals come up every year, the bulls arriving 

 first in Jime, and having tremendous battles for their various " pitches " 

 with tlie other males, the beaten ones never being allowed near the others, 

 but on coming ashore draw up by themselves. The females arrive in July, 

 and all hands leave when the young ones are strong enough to travel, 

 about .September. The hunters have built small mud huts close to the 

 rookeries, and the day that we were there had hail a small "kilT' of ."lOO .seals, 

 the seals killed always being the beaten males, or " HoUuschuckie. " A 

 misty and damp morning is chosen, as the seal does not get so hot, and is 

 better able to travel. The hunters get between the seals and the sea, and 

 drive them inland with sticks, just like so many mobs of sheep, each man 

 taking, perhaps, 50 or 100, and marching close behind the man ahead of 

 him. The huts are built on top of a small hill rising ujj from the sea coast 

 about 600 yards from the rookery, and the grass and bushes have been 

 cleaied away to make a broad track up to the square cleared in front 

 of the huts, a spot fatal to many thousands of seals. The seals are 

 KiNii PENGUIN'. marched up this track, the leading company being halted on the killing- 



ground, and the remaining companies close up in "quarter colunju. " 

 Although a seal can travel pretty fast for a few yards overlaml, it is hard and hot work for him, so after a marcli of 

 this distance they stand tlie companies at ease for a bit to allow the seals time to cool, as the skins are not improved liy 

 the animal lieing hot when killed. They are easily killed with clubs, and as each company marches up they are attended 

 to by a ])arty of Aleuts after they liave had their rest. 



-J^ 



■:i^^^ 



THE CROCOUILE.S. 



( Crocodihis porosus.') 



These saurians omipy a large den at the further end of tlie Acpitiriiuu. The liirger auil 

 darker specimens hav(! been obtained from Northern Queensland. Tiie smaller light-coloured 

 reptile is a native of ISiani. ('rocodiles have been famous, or rather intamous, from the earliest 

 ages on account of those qualities which have rendered them inimical to man. Their ferocity and 

 destructiveness have always commanded attention and excited fear. Few can have read the 

 sublime Book of Job without being struck with the magniticent and terrible description of the 

 attributes of the leviathan, to wliich tilone the cliaracteristics of leviathan correspond. In ancient 

 Egypt they were deilied, and luid their regular assemblies of jjriests, wiio conducted the rites 

 ascribed to their worship. Herodotus says — "The crocodile some of the Egyptians liold to ln' 

 sacred, but not all, and in every city where they hold it, as in Thebes and the cities round about 

 the Lake Muuris, they keep one crocodile to which they do special honour. This they train to be 

 tame to the hand, and they put earrings of glass and of jjold into his ears, and bracelets on his 

 fore feet, and give it a portion of food day by day, and make oti'ering to it ; and when it dies they 

 embalm it, and bury it in the sacred sepulchres. But the people that dwell in the city of 

 Elephantine count them not to be sacred at all, but slay and eat them." 



