50 ALASKA INDTJSTRIES. 



pull the whiskers of any old male taking a nap on a clear place; but 

 after the first touch to these moustaches the trifler must jump with 

 electrical celerity back if he has any regard for the sharp teeth and 

 tremendous shaking which will surely overtake him if he does not. 

 The younger seals sleep far more soundly than the old ones, and it is 

 a favorite pastime for the natives to surprise them in this manner — 

 favorite because it is attended with no personal risk. The little beasts, 

 those amphibious sleepers, rise suddenly and fairly shrink to the earth, 

 spitting and coughing their terror and confusion. 



The neck, chest, and shoulders of a fur-seal bull comprise more 

 than two-thirds of his Avhole weight; and in this long, thick neck 

 and the powerful muscles of the fore limbs and shoulders is embodied 

 the larger portion of his strength. When on land, with tlie fore hands 

 he does all climbing over the rocks and grassy hummocks back of the 

 rookery, or shuffles his way over the smooth parades; the hind feet 

 being gathered up as useless trappings after every second step for- 

 ward, which we have described at the outset of this chapter. These 

 anterior flippers are also the propelling power when in water, the 

 exclusive machinery with which they drive their rapid passage; the 

 hinder ones floating behind like the steering sweep to a whaleboat, 

 used evidentl}^ as rudders, or as the tail of a bird is, while its wings 

 sustain and force its rapid flight. 



The covering to the body is composed of two coats, one being a 

 short, crisp, glistening over-hair, and the other a close, soft, elastic 

 pelage, or fur, which gives the distinctive value to the pelt. I can 

 call it readily to the mind of my readers when I saj^ to them that the 

 down and feathers on the breast of a duck lay relatively as the fur 

 and hair do upon the skin of the seal. 



At this season of first "hauling up,"^ in the spring, the prevailing 

 color of the bulls, after they dry ofC and have been exposed to the 

 weather, is a dark, dull brown, with a sprinkling in it of lighter brown- 

 black, and a number of hoary or grizzl}^ gray coats peculiar to the 

 very old males. On the shoulders of all of them — that is, the adults — 

 the over-hair is either a gray or rufous ocher or a very emphatic 

 "pepper and salt;" this is called the "wig." The bodj'^ colors are 

 most intense and pronounced upon the back of the head, neck, and 

 spine, fading down on the flanks lighter, to much lighter ground on 

 the abdomen ; still, never white or even a clean gray, so beautiful and 

 peculiar to them when young, and to the females. The skin of the 

 muzzle and flippers is a dark bluish-black, fading in the older exam- 

 ples to a reddish and purplish tint. The color of the ears and tail is 

 similar to that of the body, perhaps a trifle lighter; the ears on the 

 bull fur seal are from one inch to an inch and a half in length; the 

 pavilions or auricles are tightly rolled upon themselves, so that they 

 are similar in shape to and exactly the size of the little finger on the 

 human hand cut off at the second phalangeal joint; a trifle more cone 

 shaped, however, as they are greater at the base than they are at the 

 tip. They are haired and furred as the body is. 



I think it probable that this animal has and does exert the power of 

 compressing or dilating this scroll-like pavilion to its ear, just accord- 

 ing as it dives deeper or rises in the water; and also, I am quite sure 

 that the hair seal has this control over the meatus externus, from what 



' "Hauling up." a technical term, applied to the action of the seals when they 

 land from the surf and havil up or drag themse'.ves over the beach. It is express- 

 ive and appropriate, as are most of the sealing phrases. 



